Hey yall I just wanted to come on here and bring some attention to what’s happening at the detention center (really a concentration camp) Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. There is a hunger strike going on right now to protest the abhorrent conditions within the camp (allegations of torture, maggots and other bugs in the food, etc) and protests happening outside the camp. ICE is not allowing any politicians to come in (as is their right) to see the conditions of the camp. I would urge yall to do your own research, but if you want videos of some people who are actually there, here are some tik tok accounts you can go follow: @ bethanyquilter/ @ whoiskingtrivv/ @ Status Coup News/ @ L.A. TACO
And here is a video explaining what’s going on in more detail than I provided.
With everything else going on in the world, it can be hard to keep up with stuff going on at home, but ICE is still out here terrorizing innocent people. We must keep our eyes on them, and keep fighting.
Feel free to add more sources or info to this post, should you have any.
we gotta get back to torrent distribution, i just watched someone eat eight grand in bandwidth charges because they ran a direct-download piracy site with local file hosting through cloudflare. torrents were invented literally for this exact reason
i have a file or folder on my pc that i want to share with other people. let's call it gayshit.mp3
unfortunately gayshit.mp3 is 750mb and im not paying for discord nitro so i need another way to send it
i put it into qbittorrent and it makes a torrent file. this is essentially a very small file that points to gayshit.mp3 so other computers can find it. kinda like a treasure map
i send this tiny file to my friend, who loads it into qbittorrent. their computer takes a moment to find mine over the vast expanse of cyberspace and then (as long as my pc is running and the file is still where it should be), it gets copied from my hard drive to theirs
this is the cool part: if somebody else loads that tiny file, they can download it from both of us. if i'm offline but my friend is on, the third person can still get it. this also means that if two people have separate halves of the file, they can download the other half from each other. as long as some combination of people have the pieces between them, they can all have the whole thing.
crucially this does not require a server!!! you can just upload the file to a few people and as long as they keep it, it's still accessible. as long as somebody, somewhere is still connected, it's available forever. the only way it goes away is if everybody disconnects from it.
As a Greek, in response to the current controversy about Matt Damon being cast as Odysseus, I'd just like to share that one of the moments that changed my brain chemistry as a kid was reading a novelized version of the Odyssey and coming across the following description of Odysseus when Circe sees him for the first time and thinks he's hot: "his hair curled like a clematis and his eyes were very brown".
So may I present my own casting choice for Odysseus:
Despite the temporary cessation of fire, I am still living in the tent because I found my house a pile of rubble 💔💔 You can imagine spending your whole life in a tent that does not protect from the cold of winter or the heat of summer
I am now about to give birth to my third child in the tent in the extreme cold and I fear he will die. Please help me 🙏🙏 Yesterday my tent was severely damaged by the wind and rain. Please help me rebuild my house and remove the rubble
Also, my husband still needs a lot of treatment and medicines that I cannot buy due to their high price💔. He also needs to travel to get an eye transplant and treat the nerves in his left hand😭. Please, I need your help and donation urgently Conditions are still very difficult in Gaza and there are no signs of a safe, warm life💔
Please donate what you can
Be hope and support us Please 🙏🙏
I can't find words to express the tragedy my family and I are living. Our dream has become to have a little food to live. Imagine living in the same circumstances as us, unable to provide a loaf of bread for your children. It's much harder than that. Please continue to support us financially by donating here, and morally by sharing and interacting. From the bottom of my heart, my family and I thank you all.❤️
My name is Kristina, I have gotten to know Maryam and her family through Instagram while they have been living a nightmare in their homeland
I hesitated for a long time before writing this. Not because I had nothing to say, but because I was ashamed my life had become a story of fear, loss, and constant pleading.
Yes, I never imagined I would lose so much of my dignity. Yet here I am, asking strangers for help because survival has become harder than anything I ever faced before.
I am not asking for miracles or luxury. I am only asking for a chance to protect my children and rebuild our lives. If you can help, please become part of our hope.
(a whole lot of yap below, if you're interested in an in-depth explanation...)
Hi so I've been thinking about this au for a WHILE. like a while while. It's been eating away at me. So I had to yap about it. A bit of a preface though, this is just fun au stuff, I hardly did any research and it's not the most intricate thing in the world. Just turn your brain off and read for this one <3
I had the thought of Grace and Simon both being children of Eden and everything sort of spiraled from there. In my personal take on the swap au, both Simon and Grace also exist in their opposite universe. Just. Keep that in mind.
This art focuses on Grace's pov specifically, so let's start with that.
***
Grace is one of the rare Earthlings that made their way onto Eden. His parents died at a young age, and he just so happened to be cycled through the stations when the Quiet Rapture occurred. Leaving him stranded among Martians on Eden.
He didn't believe a lick of what the Father was preaching, and he was loud about his opinions. Everyone on Eden had given up on the concept of hope, opting to let themselves die out, all except for Grace... and Simon.
Simon was smarter than Grace in a way, he was quiet, his thoughts were loud but they never made it out of his mouth at that young of an age. Seeing Grace so openly deny the death of the stars was like a spark to him, a weird, blonde haired sign that he wasn't necessarily wrong for thinking against the Father's teachings.
Grace and Simon quickly became friends, or at least something very close to friends. Simon backed Grace up and vice versa. And throughout the years, while the rest of Eden's folk had slowly, completely given up, Simon and Grace tried to keep their heads high, even after they learned that the death of the stars were never a hoax, and after the tree had died, and after that death caused the citizens of Eden to start making moves on raiding other space stations.
There had to be hope somewhere. And they were going to cling onto it like it was their last breath.
Grace's big mouth had gotten him into not so great situations before. Ones which he had barely avoided or had Simon (now properly nicknamed "Butcher") help him out of (by spilling a little blood). But surviving those encounters had just made him a bigger target.
No one on Eden viewed him as one of their own, hell, they barely tolerated Simon as their brother. Grace was an important asset, a smart, quickly learning scientific asset. But Grace wasn't like them, Grace was an Earthling for God's sake, obviously that was a sign. They had to either make him one of them, or throw him out for the betterment of everyone. They had to make sure his ideals can't corrupt anyone else.
The children presented this ultimatum to Grace, threat and all. Gave him a time limit and a dagger to think about his next move, and followed him around as he slunk through Eden's metal hallways anxiously.
The only one who would let him get close and be none the wiser was... Well. It was an obvious choice from his perspective. Grace didn't want to die.
After Simon was gone, Grace was properly welcomed into Eden. Given Simon's seed pendant, let in on all of their operations, et cetera.
And Grace took everything that was handed to him with a blank expression, a record in his head convincing himself that it was going to end in death either way. Eden's teachings can be really convincing if you've been hearing them for so long.
He did what was asked, was sent out on raids and missions, and was part of the reason Filament Station fell down so harshly. He was taken in as a Convict by the COI, and was forced into undergoing conviction realization.
The COI quickly realized that they had a bright mind on their hands, and sped up his realization. He was properly welcomed into the COI only a few months before the first blood moon was discovered.
After they discovered the first few moons, they knew that they needed to send a crew of scientists down into one of the anomalous oceans to study it properly. But they didn't have a crew of scientists—not ones they were willing to lose if things went awry.
The one from Eden though... The Convict. Grace. He could be sent down there. He didn't have any connections in the COI, hell, half of the time he didn't even look like he was aware of anything. He acted like a nutcase, at times a brilliant and perfectly stable case, but when he wasn't making breakthroughs he wasn't... Entirely there.
The Captain, Eva, trusted that he could give them all useful information though, and so, she requested that Grace be sent down into AT-5, piloting the SM-8. He went down kicking and screaming.
***
I have so many ideas for the actual like, Iron Lunging (or I guess SM-8ing) in this au but! I'll save that for a later post... 👀
Andddd I do have a swap!Simon au idea here too! If you're hungry for that... :)
***
Simon got recruited straight from prison, due to his interesting reputation and experience with piloting vastly different rigs (which he acquired while gaining his sparkling reputation)
He was involved with Project Hail Mary by mostly delivering the scientists and other personnel on fighter jets directly onboard, and maybe taking a dab or two at the future ship's controls. He was a person who was more deeply involved than the other jet pilots—or any pilots for that matter—but he hadn't been at a single meeting, and only got to see Ava through rare glimpses on the boat. Really, people only came to him sometimes for third-person advice.
He started becoming more of an important asset as time went on. His advice was useful. Word of him "being able to pilot literally anything with his eyes closed" was spreading around, but he still wasn't involved with anything directly. Sometimes people said that his experience was something to be proud of, but he felt rather bitter about those observations. He never listened to what was being said around the ship anyway, it didn't concern him.
He and Grace technically met on Grace's first day aboard, but they started to properly get to know each other through the gossip— and even though their roles were vastly different (Grace being literal second-in-command and Simon just being the guy who flew him over), they garnered a friendly relationship.
Grace could make a friend out of anyone, honestly. More than half of the sorta-unofficial group had known him on first name basis already, and still, Simon felt a little special when Grace paused to listen to a story he was telling.
Grace commented on many of Simon's characteristics— it was surprisingly nice to get compliments. Simon could be a good leader when he wanted to be, sure, and yeah maybe he really did pick stuff up quickly, but he wouldn't want to hear it out of any mouth other than Grace's.
It all comes to a sudden head when, during the last stretch of the project, an explosion errupts on the main quarters. Killing off the head of the project, and the Captains who were supposed to be aboard the Hail Mary.
Ava's death meant that someone had to take her place at the top, and who else would it be other than her second-in-command?
Sure, Grace didn't know that he was second-in-command. Grace didn't know that he would be the one people called to if Ava were to die. But everyone else knew, and everyone else needed someone to keep the project together and running, Grace was a very convenient (and lucky) solution.
They needed someone to replace the Captain as well, and fast. Someone who was quick to learn, and was already familiar with the project and its craft.
It's just. Simon didn't know what he was getting himself into. He didn't know that he was going to wake up alone, on his way to a star so far from home, and have to pick up where his dead crewmates left off. He didn't know that a return route wasn't planned.
Grace's panicked eyes landed on Simon, unsure of... everything. Simon probably wasn't the best option to send out there, Grace just didn't know anyone else who had undergone anything close to training, and he didn't exactly have all of the needed information to hand pick someone who he should've known could be better (he wasn't Ava, after all). He couldn't sacrifice Simon like that, he refused to.
But when they asked Simon about what he thinks of going on the mission, Simon (reluctantly) agreed.
Grace tried to fight Simon on it, tried to get him to refuse, but the decision was made for him, and Simon was whisked away into his coma. All while Grace stood by idly, and watched.
He didn't know it was a one-way trip.
***
But there was no reason to mope about it now (no matter how much he wanted to), he was humanity's last hope. It was just a shame that humanity's last hope ended up being such a royal fuck-up.
oh my fingers hurt. ow. yeah that's that, now both of these guys are out of my head thank god (I'm a liar) and I can move on with my life (no I can't)
I like this au a normal amount, I've thought about this au a normal amount. What? That thing above me? Text? What are you talking about there's nothing there haha
Anyways! I have at least 2 more posts planned for this au but we'll see what kind of lemons life gives me...
happy pride month to all of my latines out there... especially my afrolatines and indigenous people whose lands are occupied. tú estás hecha de la luz de las estrellas. don't let anyone ever get you down 🩷 may we all one day see freedom from our oppressors ! venceremos!
