my grandpa forwarded me the email alert he got for my birthday instead of composing a new email 😂😂

Hello, as you are the top Harding blog...any HC you'd like to share? No problem if not, but a "hardy" congratulations anyway 👏

Ahhh thank you!! I've got a couple small ones, but as always, these are my own personal HCs!

He's a closed toed crocs truther. Originally, Harding swore by clogs that most doctors used, but it only took one time in the foam for him to realize that he was wrong on insisting on just the wood ones. He likes them well enough, but the comfort made the last 30 minuets of the surgery (closing up) a breeze. Plus cleaning and care are much easier.

Sex positive ace. He's a sexual through and through and never through anything of it because he's biromantic.... if he was introduced throughly to those terms. But, he's got Mar, and he really doesn't care if people are sexually attractive, since he wouldn't go after them anyway.

Low support autistic - type a or autistic, idc. He's so strict on the rules, so through on his reads and memories, his routines. Harding excels in social situations, meaning he never cared to think if he was autistic or not. The way he was was idealized in his field and family, so he simply thought himself playing his role - quite happily at that

One day post s1, Harding says something untold to Sung infront of Fran and within 30 seconds she swooped him away and was just "Harding!! Why??" Leading to his confusion, dismissal of Fran, and moving on. Until he mentioned it to Martha and she kind of hesitated, Harding asked why. Martha was slow to say "You do say racist things, dear. I think you should take Fran up on the class." And he does and though he never apologized to Sung, he does end up treating Sung much more like he does in the book - with some respect.

The only way Harding asks for support is in the middle of the night when he can't sleep and he slides into his partners arm. In the daylight, the best he would do is a tight squeeze of hand, and his smile only slightly more genuine.

He started the embroidered lab coats. He was made fun of for 3 months for the idea. Patients loved them. Hardijg once again pointed out the sanitary cost and the customization costs being roughly equal anyway. The lab coat became a right of passage. (He still has his first attempts)

If Harding really likes someone, he won't bring them to the bar or get to know them. He won't have lunch/dinner. He won't go to a Cafe. If he really wants to offer his emotions to someone, if he wants to really invite them close, he brings them to a park. If they're distracted by the bird calls naturally, he invites them into birding. If he has to invite them and they're excited, they're instructed on good sites and books. If they're dismissive, Harding doesn't treat them negatively, but he's certainly judged them harsher l.

He will openly and willingly teach anyone anything they'd like to know - providing they show humility. If they refuse to relinquish their pride, he will ensure they are treated to the highest of his standards.

What's modern media? Aka Harding just. Doesn't care to watch TV and media; he will watch instructional videos and he is not illiterate on technology, but don't ask him to summarize the most recent (Harding checks notes.) Game of thrones? Wait that's been off air for how many years?

When Harding was a young man, he had a very close friend. They'd been friends for nearing a decade when Harding was told suddenly by his wife the unthinkable. Due to stress at work and his life, he had taken his own life. Harding couldn't attend the funeral, but he did send the widow enough money from his funds to pay for the funeral and her own life for the year after his pension ran dry. To this day, Martha and he travel to see her and their children every year in that very month, as well as both deciding to send gifts for his three sons, and Christmas cards.

Martha was infertile. Harding, for his own merit, didn't have good faith in his own ability. When Martha told him her state, he laughed on accident, before very quickly explaining why. She was extatic, but they refused to foster as his job was too severe, and her career was too important to her.

Harding (book moreso) doesn't particularly care for alcohol. TV Harding isn't a huge fan but he likes to relax due to the first shot or two, but doesn't like how he feels after that.

Medical Marijuana? He's fucking THERE FOR IT.

Speaking of: harm reduction entered his vocabulary once and never left. Harding never wants someone to turn to drugs to dealjust with life, but fuck. Harding is going to encourage every damn oppuritinty to get someone better. He will encourage you if you succeed, and be extremely firm, though not hurtful, if you fail. He'd be there to remind someone of sobriety.

"A couple small ones" I claimed.

I'm sooooo in love with him

I stand corrected about Giacomo's shape now, hahaha, I always thought it was the vest bumps and not actual belly ewe (This is sad because I've been chub my entire life AND used puffy vests at some point xwx' I should have known better) (*Has flashbacks of Guzma with Giacomo's model with white hair*) I also love that in the reference sheet it's all the Team Star members and Arven is just there because xD (Arven is my other fave uwu) Oh dear I'm as tall as Mela and Penny irl sksksjs

I like technology but I'm tech illiterate to a degree, so I got what you said about the model ripping... Partially eAe but as you said, hopefully someone rips the models soon!

(I was the dork that send the anon ask about the changes and self consciousness btw because I didn't know better... and since every other ask was on anon I did as I saw :V)

Hahaha, I don’t blame you! XD I wasn’t sure either until I looked at the model, honestly. And really? That kind of body type is probably the rarest to come out of Japanese media (or media in general I suppose), so I don’t think ANYBODY expects it...

The only reason I’m willing to believe that was their intention is because... they’ve obviously been trying hard to be more diverse in their body types lately, you can see that in the game itself in the NPCs, props to them! Also... Arezu exists in Arceus and she’s undeniably a rare build. XD Giacomo would be the male equivalent, I’d guess... also, when you take his coat layer off and stand him next to any other thin male character, his waist doesn’t taper in (like say... the male grunts or Atticus). Which could be the vest, but at the same time, it doesn’t look or behave like the vests on the definitely thin male characters. They’ve also... rigged up his coat in multiple places =T So that it will curve around that part. And they have done so in many of the animations. You can also see it in most of the “held” shots where his pose is held for a while (opening a battle, seeing him for the first time, defeating him in battle). So I feel like they wanted it to be known. Otherwise it’s a whole lot of coincidence? I dunno, I could be wrong. XD That said, Rose also exists!

I do feel guilty when people think that I came up with it though XD;; No, it’s based on the game, promise, give GameFreak their dues! Not that people will see the shots of the model since tumblr decided not to put that post in tags XD Thanks, tumblr. Let the people see Giacomo!

And hahaha yes Arven! XD He actually doesn’t have a face there because he was imported before the python script could handle their faces =D;;; There’s actually Rika (faceless) and Larry to the side of Arven, but I cropped them out to take a screenshot. I figured I’d include Arven so people could see how tall he is compared =) He’s my bestie’s favourite, so he gets special treatment. He comes out by that scale as 5′06″ (same as Rika) and Atticus at 5′08″

Hahaha, no worries! XD;; I figured I’d elaborate anyway, just in case ¦D I have no reason to hide techniques from anybody... maybe somebody might know how to get the face rigs working, that’d be incredible! I’m no expert with 3D models by far... I’m far better at ripping 2D spritework!

And don’t worry!! You can send anon or not, it really doesn’t matter. =) Just receiving asks at all is a big feel-good moment for me XD And despite what José said to Giacomo... I think his outfit DOES work in his favour and people think he’s slender, hahaha! XD I feel like that was true on the ask blog too... Hopefully his answer makes sense now though. At least for the “canon” I use on that blog. He’s not actually in denial!

INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Hello! I’m V, she/her, 25, EST, aquarius sun with an aries moon and rising. dumb as hell, illiterate as fuck. hobbies include buying books and never reading them, crying over the fact that i can't travel right now, and being consistently inconsistent with a hyperfixation.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A WRITING PARTNER

oooh! okay, so i like to think i’m pretty laid back but that’s when i’ve gotten through all the nitty gritty of plotting. I love figuring out details and timelines, trading headcanons back and forth and really digging deep into a character and pushing their morals and beliefs and connections to others. I’m also a hoe for the aesthetique and love sending off musing inspo or instagram posts and quizzes between heart-wrenching angst. My writing style tends to veer towards the introspective prose at its best and at its most direct will focus on actions instead— which makes sense when my favourite threads to write are either emotionally harrowing or big fight scenes.

WHO ARE YOUR CHARACTERS?

𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡

Faded mauve and golden gray // a soft voice in a nearly-gone memory // perfectly made earl gray tea // long-gone chateaus and gilded walls // heavy silk and creamy marble // eyes so blue you’ll drown // the safest you’ve felt in years // curated clutter // chiffon cake and pearls // peony-fragile wings // breathless laughter // subtle power // smiles are merely animals baring their teeth

Species: guardian angel

Age: Appears to be in her early/mid-thirties, dates back to the 1400’s

Occupation: real estate developer. 1% for the planet board member. LVMH shareholder

Spoken languages: The better question is, what language does she not know?

Current place of residence: a penthouse suite in downtown seattle

Time in Seattle: 10 years

𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐲ş𝐞𝐠ü𝐥 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐥

welcome to the club // deep crimson and glittering gold // the overwhelming ache of melancholia // neon lights and leather jackets // a life in the shadows // golden rings twisting with worry // sharp eyeliner or none at all // longing to belong // lithe hands of creation // more blankets than you need // starlight is the best light // half-truths and sharp knives // laughter that shakes your being // not dead yet barely alive

Species: shadow-graced

Age: 28. became shadow-graced at 24.

Occupation: jeweler. small-business owner

Spoken languages: English, Turkish, Italian  

Current place of residence: apartment in capitol hill

Time in Seattle: four years

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐢

half-finished lattes // black t-shirts // empty mirrors // cracked book bindings // piles of coffee beans // hair pomade // lingering hugs // tired eyes // chocolate fondue // cloud couches // a labyrinth in human-form // a smoke filled chest // mulberry and cedar // old leather // messy hair // a watch glinting in the light // wolfish grins // early mornings and late nights // commanding attention

Species: vampire

Age: appears to be in mid-thirties. At the age of 35. Born in 1820.

Occupation: owner of Regime du Matin, independent bookstore + cafe

Spoken languages: English, Italian, French, German, Russian  

Current place of residence: top floor of Regime du Matin

Time in Seattle: two years

PLOT IDEAS / WANTED CONNECTIONS

Annora’s plot/wanted dynamics page

Feray’s plot/wanted dynamics page (coming tonight, i’m just being finicky)

Carmine’s plot/wanted dynamics page

PRESENT HEADCANONS

𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚

To have lived for so long is both a blessing and curse. She remembers when palaces were built and bitterly recalls wars, can never hide the regret upon her features when she thinks of the fall of kingdoms and losses of beauty and majesty and brilliant minds. Devotion, steadfastness has matured, has evolved in the modern world and so too has Annora. Nowadays, you might see her working not merely to protect the people, but the place they inhabit. Technology and the divine have never been meant to mingle, but within her limits she involves herself with innovation— for the good of humanity. Of course, she is careful to remain in certain obscurity. Annora Leigh to mortals is a name forgettable and a face hardly seen. The world can not be saved by a single guardian angel, but she has not lived for so long that she can not try.

She likes to be busy, and she is. It isn’t uncommon for Annora to be in one city one day, then another the next. How she’s in Seattle continues to confuse the many as most of her real estate projects are on the eastern coast of the United States and Europe. But, she is here, and so far there are no signs of her leaving. An angel such as she isn’t so afraid of roaming the streets alone, not when her angelic lineage is so potent. If she isn’t working, she’s often volunteering, or spending time with those she considers her family— mortal or otherwise. If she could split herself into a legion, she could. Unfortunately, however, she is only one. Though that’s never quite stopped her from getting her way.

𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐲

She’d nearly died at the age of twenty-four while in London. In the years since, she and the entity she is bound to have settled here in Seattle, reverting to her birth-given name as she rediscovers herself in this new life, refining a new hobby of jewelry-making as she continues with a more quiet and subdued existence. Her workshop exists above the place where humans and supernatural-alike mingle, a club known for pleasure and indulgence. Lovers do no exist, friendships are distant if not fleeting. A love like her parents’ seems like an impossibility to her now. Her sins are her own, and watching love be wiped away by rage and betrayal was more than enough to cast herself away from the intimacy of knowing and being known. People couldn’t lose you, nor could you lose people if you weren’t present long enough for it to matter.

Though she lives in Capitol Hill, there are many days (and nights) that she’ll not stumble home until late. Her ties to the being that saved her from the brink of death are strangely pulled taut— so while her jewelry workshop (think brands like Sofia Zakia or Tippy Taste or Borcik Jewelry) and small storefront exists on the street level, an exclusive club of debauchery and sin exists below, its hours running until nearly dawn. Sometimes, you’ll find her posing as a bar girl, rarely will you see her indulging with or without the one who chose her for a life of the shadow-graced. But, she is loyal and indebted to them, and luckily in Seattle, everything is within arms reach.

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

Within him lies the great desire of perpetual warmth, and the ability to give that same warmth to others. That is what the cozy walls of his cafes evoke, what seeps from the man that seems wrapped in tarragon and cinnamon. No, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. Not when the last had left him so cold that he’d felt frozen from the inside out. The past few decades have been spent perfecting his craft, doing everything to feel warm and alive — from coffee, to spontaneous relocations, Carmine’s pursuit of never ending fire is never over. Perhaps there will be something, someone that will finally cause him to burn, to smolder brightly even in the light forever, something that’ll bring the restlessness within him to settle into sincere warmth. Or maybe he won’t, and he’ll lose his spark and suffer from an endless cold for the rest of his days.

Business as usual. The cafe caters to both humans and supernatural beings alike. However, humans only know of the main floor and upper two floors of the building. Supernatural creatures are able to access the two lower levels and the second-highest level of the cafe. Carmine lives on the uppermost floor, although all visitors have access to the roof. He’s far more content with his life here in Seattle than he assumed he would be. Although it’s largely in part to the environment he’s created for himself: not a bar, but a place to enjoy drinks and be with friends, curl up by a fire and get lost in a book that either you’d brought yourself or have pulled off of a shelf. He’s been known to be found lazing in the plush couches instead of returning to his own floor, but all staff members suggest you run when he picks up the guitar. The man has absolutely no musical talent. Please don’t ask him to sing.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INSPIRATIONS FOR YOUR MUSES 

𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

A, C, H, M, T and V!

> which oc of mine... <

Thank you! I’m going to do this based on my adult oph oc’s and put a character key under the cut since I know I haven’t properly written about some of these guys. 

A: is the most attractive.

Every time I think about Haiden, I swoon. He is pretty much everything I find physically attractive in a man - effervescent hazel eyes, dark and thick hair that falls naturally into place, tall, total geek. The jokes just keep coming and his smile is so dang charming. I’d like to wander around an unfamiliar city with him any given day. 

Personality-wise, it’s probably Becca for her selflessness and strong attitude. 

C: is the most open to cuddling.

All of them except for our messy Love Lao. She’s got way too much to do to be lying around doing nothing. 

Becca is always the one to initiate cuddling with Ethan, to the point where she just plops herself on him and he gets the blatant hint to wrap his arms around her or rub her back. 

Theo would rank a close second. He craves the validation and emotional closeness that cuddling provides, even if he doesn’t vocalize or understand this need. It takes a while for Hannah to be comfortable with the constant non-sexual touchy-feely. 

H: trusts their horoscope the most.

Odette has an app on her phone out of habit - her mom used to read her horoscope to her from the paper every Sunday since as far as she can remember. When something’s not going quite right she calms herself down by reciting that the universe has bigger plans than this. 

Love takes her horoscope and runs with it. She finds ways to apply it to her every day life. Mostly in a joking way though. It’s because of this outlook that she’s rarely ever been let down by a reading. 

M: is the biggest memer.

Has to be Haiden, only because he has a tech background and he’s an absolute joy. My doctor’s are too busy and technologically-illiterate. 

If they were all in a group chat together the people keeping it alive would be Haiden, Love and Becca. Everyone else will only chime in maybe once a day (they’d be lucky if Hannah rises from the dead once a week).  

T: is the most terrifying.

I am personally terrified of Hannah. Her character has a lot of dark energy and mental health struggles, she’s also the most unapologetic. She’s one of those characters who could walk into the middle of ongoing traffic and not give a single fuck if she lives or dies. She’s brash and cynical, and Theo’s attachment to her is the best thing that could have ever happened. If Bryce Lahela ran into the woman she was at the time she met Theo, he never would have known that’s his Hannah. 

V: is the best at video games.

Haiden and Theo for console. Odette is still rocking Wii fit as the only game she’s ever touched. The other girls play PC games like the Sims.

_____

OC KEY:

Becca Lao is my Ethan-romancing main OC. She’s the star of a majority of my fics and is known for breaking Ethan’s heart. 

Hannah Weill is my Bryce Childhood Sweethearts OC. She has a very enigmatic and closed off personality that boarders on aggressive towards the Fallout with Bryce et al which changes her. 

Odette Hall is a signed-musician-turned-doctor. Her and Ethan are playing the long friends-to-lovers game. Minimal angst. She’s a snacc. 

Love Lao; the star of The Messy Route. Girl that gets all the D. Very intelligent and a certified mess. What are feelings and emotions but a driving force to fuck. 

Theo Zaino is a love interest in Hannah’s young adulthood after her and Bryce drifted apart. They bond at first because they’re both quite broken and balance one another out. He’s in finance and battling his constant fear of failure, and terrified of dying without living up to his family’s legacy. 

Haiden Robbes is my FATL Husband - he’s the guy Becca’s engaged to when she comes back to Boston and sees Ethan again after two years. This adventurous, stable cinnamon roll gives Becca everything she didn’t know she needed without her having to ever ask. 

((Hey so like back in the beginning of February, I went through my posts in chrono-mode and just had a good ol’ time, but I also wrote down my reactions and saved it as a draft because??? reasons. Everything below is the og post!

Live notes from my throwback thursday-but-actually-its-wednesday:

-oh god the old art

-I used to characterize Willow WAaYYY differently holy shit; she started off with actual confidence?? wtf

-and remember when the tone was actually in line with AT

-do appreciate that little me was droppin' hints about Willow's past from day 1

-how old are Willow and the kids?? we just don't know; we've n e v e r known

-younger me thought she was hilarious. she was right.

-apparently Willow had an evil mudscamp twin

-remember when this blog was about mudscamps?

-she keeps saying "heck" instead of "fuck" jhgffghjk

-remember when I had to share a desktop with 8 family members and sneak on to post things in the middle of the night?

-Willow almost drowned once

-Queenie is just...absolute queen in every way, i'd d i e for her

-DEAR FUCKING GOD THE BUFFSCAMP

-Owl Wizard has always been so good... She's so important and I love and miss her more than words express;;

-The transformation scene... OW mun redrew that at some point and it was so lovely!!!!

-Willow for sure got like, d rast i ca ll y more anxious and timid once she was turned into a human. Maybe that actually kinda makes sense narratively? she had reason to be unafraid before people started paying attention. she also felt extremely uncomfortable in a human body at that point

-god i love king "i think im going to cause problems on purpose" frozen

-totally wack that at the start of this blog, Willow was completely illiterate and had 0 first hand experience with any technology more advanced than a windmill

-RAPH.... ABSOLUTE DARLING

-so many of these posts are just comedy go l d out of context

-apparently anons were threatening to sacrifice her to cthulhu for a while?????

-old willow was savage as hell sometimes goddamn

-she deadass, physically threw Sammy and Lily's birth mom away.....we love an icon

-the first comic I ever made for this blog is sweet as hell; i insulted the art in the og tags and just...you're gonna come a long way, kiddo

-Perb steppin the hell up to defend the fam against Eden?? sick as hell!!!!

-Eden has not changed one fucking bit

-Finn ALSO steppin the hell up!!! and the thread where Willow actually gets to meet him is so sweeeeet!!!

-do y'all remember puppy princess?? precious x1000000, absolute angel, im cryin over her

-TEENAGER WILLOW M!A WAS A THING AND SHE CUTE

-Willow actively trying to get someone to curse her is just so fuckin funny to me

-Saharah is here!!!! She is and always has been so pretty too godDAmN

-Raph babysitting the kids....kill me now before i go into cardiac arrest

-anon asks sammy what he wants to be when he grows up...."uh, a mudscamp...?" ICONIC

-willow stood the hell up to magdolin once holy shit??? famous last words but also u go girl

-willow FINALLY starts saying fuck

-fun fact: I didn't come up with Puppet Wizard until WAY later in the blog. She was a pretty late addition, which is funny considering how integral to the story she became

-SHEY

-I ALwaYS FORGET THEY MET CAUSE SHEY TRIED TO ROB WILLOW

-Skeletor is here for some reason??? and I am fucking ELATED

-just....this ask.... "Anonymous asked: My favourite thing to do is to watch best friends punch each other to death over me. I like that. Keeps my swag swag levels up. What's your hobby?"

-this was an awkward time for my art style....art puberty

-people keep leaving willow notes and forgetting that she can't read

-anon: "Sammy, how do you see your mom?" sammy: "With...my eyes??"

-willow has so many kickass moments in these old posts what the fuuuuuuck

-I think the mudscamp-by-day, human-by-night days were my favorite!!

-anons once gifted mudscamp!willow a jacuzzi

-i think this is about the time Willow started getting more timid, and again, it does somehow feel like a natural development. her lack of powers keeps coming up and situations start becoming a lot more dire, and interestingly enough, she starts getting real submissive around people she l i k e s. The fawning kinda behavior is definitely a result of abuse.

-WILLOW GETS A DRAMATIC CLOAK FOR WANDERING THE MOORS AT NIGHT AWWW YEAH

-Willow hasn't known what year it is for at least three years

-OW mun once spammed willow with puns and it was AMAZING

-one time lily dressed up as a ghost for halloween...just a lil sheet over her lil mudscamp self...PRECIOUS

-this post

#5yrsago Judge Posner: it should be illegal to make phones the government can't search

Cory Doctorow on why privacy is about more than concealing crime—and why backdoors are inevitably available to everyone, not just people you trust.

Speaking at a Georgetown law cybercrime conference, 7th circuit judge Richard Posner made a series of conscience-shocking, technologically illiterate statements about privacy that baffle and infuriate, starting with: "if the NSA wants to vacuum all the trillions of bits of information that are crawling through the electronic worldwide networks, I think that’s fine."

Posner went on to say that privacy is "mainly about trying to improve your social and business opportunities by concealing the sorts of bad activities that would cause other people not to want to deal with you."

On the idea of default full-disk encryption, he added "I’m shocked at the thought that a company would be permitted to manufacture an electronic product that the government would not be able to search."

It's amazing that Posner -- who sometimes can evince nuanced views -- can't figure out that privacy is more than hiding your closet-skeletons. Privacy isn't just vital for developing unfinished ideas with people you trust, allowing your work to be reviewed by trusted circles before you commit it to posterity -- it's also especially vital for the most vulnerable people among us, people whose health, race, sexual orientation, and other traits make them subject to discrimination and prejudice.

People like Posner, who believe that they have nothing to hide (he's almost certainly wrong here, but let's assume he's right), have won a lottery through no virtue of their own. But he -- and you, and I -- have people we love who didn't win the lotto, through no fault of their own. When they speak out for privacy, they magnify their vulnerability. It's the duty of lotto-winners to speak up for everyone else.

Posner also conflates secrecy with privacy, another nonsense. Your parents did something un-secret to make you, but I'm willing to bet that Posner doesn't want his own non-secret, baby-making activity to be recorded and viewed by strangers.

Just as grave as his philosophical errors are Posner's technological errors. It's been nearly 20 years since Bernstein v US, when judges were given a crash-course in crypto. Even if you support the idea that the government should be able to search anything it wants to if a judge like Posner (or even a rubber-stamping FISA court judge, meeting in secret, without any chance to hear from anyone except government lawyers) gives them permission, there's no way to make a back door that only good guys can walk through.

That means that a mobile device that the government can search is also a mobile device that criminals -- identity thieves, voyeurs, corporate spies -- and invasive corporations, and foreign spy-agencies can all search. Your bank's safe has a door that can withstand a SWAT-team's battering ram, which means that it can also withstand the most determined burglar. Making a law that requires weak-spots in the safe-door to let the cops get in will make the safe unsuited for keeping out robbers. Posner should understand this. If he doesn't, his clerks should be educating him.

“I think privacy is actually overvalued,” Judge Richard Posner, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, said during a conference about privacy and cybercrime in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

“Much of what passes for the name of privacy is really just trying to conceal the disreputable parts of your conduct,” Posner added. “Privacy is mainly about trying to improve your social and business opportunities by concealing the sorts of bad activities that would cause other people not to want to deal with you.”

Congress should limit the NSA’s use of the data it collects—for example, not giving information about minor crimes to law enforcement agencies—but it shouldn’t limit what information the NSA sweeps up and searches, Posner said. “If the NSA wants to vacuum all the trillions of bits of information that are crawling through the electronic worldwide networks, I think that’s fine,” he said.

In the name of national security, U.S. lawmakers should give the NSA “carte blanche,” Posner added. “Privacy interests should really have very little weight when you’re talking about national security,” he said. “The world is in an extremely turbulent state—very dangerous.”

Posner criticized mobile OS companies for enabling end-to-end encryption in their newest software. “I’m shocked at the thought that a company would be permitted to manufacture an electronic product that the government would not be able to search,” he said.

Judge: Give NSA unlimited access to digital data [Grant Gross/PC World]

https://boingboing.net/2014/12/08/judge-posner-it-should-be-ill.html

Hi, hi!! I'm enjoying your writing! Since you wanted to practice writing for other chars, how about the RFA treating Saeran to a guys night out? Thank yoooooou

Thank you so much!

It was their way of getting him out, and breaking you two apart for the briefest of evenings. 

It wasn’t a bad thing that you two spent so much time together, but the RFA was well aware that you both were in need of some time apart. Your desire to support Saeran unconditonally could easily become your downfall. You were unaware of when to draw the line, take time for yourself, and let him learn to stand on his own two feet again. Saeran, on the other hand, needed a push in the right direction to make friends, and indulge in them. 

Jaehee had dragged you off for a girl’s night, filled with a spa treatment, a coffee date, and friendly conversation. Saeran however…

“No no no! We gotta go to the arcade! Just imagine taking those old chipped guns in your sweaty palms and bang! Ooh, think of the retro games they’d have! Maybe they have Outrun!” Seven tugged on his brother’s arm, dragging the group to god knows where, considering they couldn’t decide on a location. 

“Arcade’s don’t have LOLOL though, we should go to an internet cafe, he could learn how to play from the #2 player!” Yoosung chimed in, uninterested in Seven’s old school arcade idea. “We live in the peak of gaming, and you want to play the same games your grandma played?”

“Hey! Grandma Seven was the best Outrun player in all of Korea, I have to carry on her legacy!”

“Saeyoung we didn’t have a grandma,” Saeran bluntly interjected.

“Shh! He doesn’t need to know that!” 

“Yah, how about we just go see a movie together, I can brush up on some acting skills that way,” Zen finally put his two cents in. Being technologically illiterate, he wasn’t interested in either Yoosung or Seven’s ideas. 

“Zen, your worklife is seeping into your personal life. You should be aware of taking time away from your work,” Jumin loosened the tie he was still wearing. Truly, the mix of such different characters walking the streets together was a sight to see. There was everyone from a CEO-to-be in a black suit, to a college student who was wearing the same shirt for the third time this week because he was too lazy to do his own laundry. 

“What would you know about a balanced lifestyle?” Zen snapped. “Do you ever actually work, or do you just load all your paperwork onto poor Jaehee?” 

“Assistant Kang does her job well, and I don’t give her more than she can handle.”

“That’s not the point!”

Saeran smiled, enjoying the banter among the group of oddly matched friends. He wasn’t worried about how his love was doing, he knew Jaehee would be good company, and the two got along very well. It was nice, to be able to trust a group of people like this. To have a wide group of people who made him feel happy. 

“Hey, V said he’s waiting at the park for us, he said we’re going for ice cream!” Seven tucked his phone back in his pocket. 

“Well, I guess that decides our plans for the night for us,” Yoosung sighed, dejected by the fact that he wasn’t going to get to play LOLOL tonight.

“That is kind of his job as our leader though,” Zen spoke.

“I can’t say I’m displeased with his choice though...” Saeran mused, thinking of how many scoops he’d get, what flavours would go together...

“C’mon, pick up the pace guys!” Seven called from the front of the gang, racing off in the direction of the park. “Last one there gets the bill!”

“Luciel, you do this every time. I’m not running in this suit, and I have more than enough money to cover for everyone,” Jumin sighed.

“Just hurry up! Saeran, race me!” 

“Fine, but don’t cry when you lose,”

Gravity’s Rainbow: Part X

About five hundred pages into this monster, the parts began to come together so I could stop asking, "Why was all of that stuff about Pirate Prentice necessary?!" Not that I'm any clearer on what his big secret mission delivered by the Rocket was supposed to be. But I am learning about the people who delivered that message and how it's tied to Slothrop's quest to find the plastic, probably the secret to Slothrop's hardons, in which the message was contained. But that's getting about 450 pages ahead of myself! Currently, I'm at a part of the book where I haven't registered that Slothrop is important at all. He's just a guy who keeps a poster of his sexual conquests that some psychic nutjobs and Pavlovians think is important. This section finds Jessica smoking alone in the dark of her and Roger Mexico's squat located in an abandoned village she can't name and thinking about the imposition of War. She would like the life she and Roger Mexico are living to be less of an imaginary thing wherein they hide from the realities of the War and more, well, you know, reality. The War is too big to conceive, too much to visualize as a whole. And it will not bother them, except maybe by A4 Rocket, and then, well, they wouldn't even know, right? Jessica thinks about a conversation she had with Roger Mexico about the Poisson distribution of the Rocket strikes. I've never had too much trouble with higher math or science (okay, Physics in my senior year of high school gave me some trouble but half of that was my attitude as a soon-to-be-high-school graduate who just couldn't be bothered with all this learning crap) but a college course in statistics was my first real indication that maybe I wasn't as smart as my mother kept insisting I was (although like my Physics course, it's possible that the situation surrounding my enrollment in this particular Statistics class and my apathetic attitude toward the material had more to do with why I didn't understand it). But with this following passage, Pynchon has me believing that my lifelong belief that Statistics is a language that very few have the capacity to learn was correct (not that I need much proof to acknowledge a belief which tends toward my own self interest). "Roger has tried to explain to her the V-bomb statistics: the difference between distribution, in angel's-eye view, over the map of England, and their own chances, as seen from down here. She's almost got it: nearly understands the Poisson equation, yet can't quite put the two together—put her own enforced calm day-to-day alongside the pure numbers, and keep them both in sight. Pieces keep slipping in and out.     "Why is your equation only for angels, Roger? Why can't we do something, down here? Couldn't there be an equation for us too, something to help us find a safer place?"     "Why am I surrounded," his usual understanding of self today, "by statistical illiterates? There's no way, love, not as long as the mean density strikes is constant. Pointsman doesn't even understand that."     The rockets are distributing about London just as Poisson's equation in the textbooks predicts. As the data keep coming in, Roger looks more and more like a prophet. Psi Section people stare after him in the hallways. It's not precognition, he wants to make an announcement in the cafeteria or something . . . have I ever pretended to be anything I'm not? all I'm doing is plugging numbers into a well-known equation, you can look it up in the book and do it yourself. . . ." See?! In Pynchon's description of Roger's statistical life, even the psychics can't get their heads around Statistics! It's mystical hoodoo! This section is a good example of why Gravity's Rainbow can be such a confusing read at times. This section begins from Jessica's perspective as she looks for a smoke in her and Mexico's squat. It then moves to a remembered conversation between Jessica and Roger. But then, during this remembrance, the scene shifts to a morning in Roger's life at The White Visitation seen from Pointsman's perspective. It's easy to lose oneself in these shifts of time and perspective, and to forget where the scene began if and when Pynchon decides to return to what had seemed like a linear bit of story telling. In the now shifted scene, Pointsman feels compelled to drop in on Mexico every morning to try to get a handle on the whole statistics thing. Pointsman's problem, as a Pavlovian, is that he only seems to understand binary results. Does a stimulus cause a reaction or not? (Yes, I've simplified this because I don't know much (or anything at all) about "summation," "transition," "irradiation," "concentration," or "reciprocal induction.") But Roger deals in seemingly random possibilities. What does a 0.37 chance even mean when you get right down to it?! To Pointsman, it simply means you don't know anything at all, really. If the numbers Mexico comes up with don't indicate how to avoid being hit by an A4, what fucking good are they then?! Pointsman's observation of what Mexico's ability to live comfortably with seemingly random probability evokes in me echoes of Douglas Coupland's Generation X (and not just because the word "generation" is italicized in the text!). "How can Mexico play, so at his ease, with these symbols of randomness and fright? Innocent as a child, perhaps unaware—perhaps—that in his play he wrecks the elegant rooms of history, threatens the idea of cause and effect itself. What if Mexico's whole generation have turned out like this? Will Postwar be nothing but "events," newly created one moment to the next? No links? Is it the end of history?" I mean, it's like Coupland's pitch for the book! Probably! Immediately after the bit I just transcribed, the scene shifts again to a night Roger was having a drunken discussion with the Reverend Dr. Paul de la Nuit about Mexico's statistics. In this brief remembrance, the Reverend asks Mexico a simple question through an analogy of a bit of trivia about the Romans: What fucking good is your chart of A4 Rocket strikes? It's a fair fucking question, really. And then we're back to Jessica's remembered conversation. Almost all the way back to the present narrative! Jessica pointing out that it isn't fair that his statistics don't tell them how to be safer; Roger once again being forced to repeat to yet another dullard that it's just an equation. Ignoring the whole discussion of statistics for a second, I'd also like to point out that the linear narrative (you know, the easy parts of the book!) is clever and enticing and beautifully written. This book isn't becoming my favorite book simply because it's smart and difficult to read and postmodern. It's because of moments like this:     "Well, it isn't fair."     "It's eminently fair," Roger now cynical, looking very young, she thinks. "Everyone's equal. Same chances of getting hit. Equal in the eyes of the rocket."     To which she gives him her Fay Wray look, eyes round as can be, red mouth about to open in a scream, till he has to laugh. "Oh, stop."     "Sometimes . . ." but what does she want to say? That he must always be lovable, in need of her and never, as now, the hovering statistical cherub who's never quite been to hell but speaks as if he's one of the most fallen. . . . The scene, once again, shifts to The White Visitation in a memory where Jessica and Pirate Prentice are talking while they watch Roger off in the distance playing in the snow. Pirate deems Roger's attitude toward the "rocket being fair" "Cheap nihilism." And later, when Jessica tells him about the exchange, he admits it. Sure. Cheap. Of course! But why should his reality, his fears, his way of coping with those fears, be less because of what others have truly suffered? Roger Mexico is just as frightened of death as anybody else who doesn't believe in something more, something after. And yet he works at The White Visitation where they all believe in more. So why shouldn't he fear death more than they do? All he has are his statistics and, in the end, they might offer an illusion of control but they offer no solace, no hope, no eternal reward. There's just the end and now, with the marvels of technology, you don't even get any warning about that. The section ends with both Jessica and Roger thinking about Pre-War life and how everything seemed silly and unnecessary and inconsequential. And as a reminder of the life one used to be able to lead without thinking about death constantly, a rocket hits nearby.