We had our first season for 14 team Head-to-Head Cats Keeper money league consisting of pretty close friends. The first season was super successful and had a lot of activity and participation. With that kind of created this organic situation where on occasion, a team would challenge the team they were playing for the week in a side wager (example - whoever loses this week has to pay for a pizza for the winner). Additionally, about 3-4 teams in the league were a little less active than the rest, so my goal as Commish for this season is to get them more engaged by making each week more meaningful, therefore increasing waiver wire activity, trades, banter talk, etc.
We're looking to expand on that wager premise this season with a formal "Challenger" award - the team that wins the most challenges throughout the season wins a small money prize (only like 5% of the league pot). The idea behind it is to keep people super engaged each week with side wagers for anything (money bet, a vanity bet, food bet, etc etc). It can be for anything and everything that people want to wager on, and I'd like to give the league some more "standard" options - whether it's for a 1v1 or for multiple teams to "opt-in". It's all completely voluntary and given the relatively insignificant prize, won't piss off anyone. For background, we often hang out in discord watching NHL games while playing video games.
My questions is - does anyone have any unique side wagers that would be fun to add in each week? Some of the best ones so far (outside strictly $):

1. Loser has to buy a meal of some sort to the winner
2. Winner gets to change the name of loser's team (and/or discord name) for X weeks
3. Loser has to write a daily complimentary speech of at least 250 characters to the winner praising his/her greatness
4. Loser buys a subscription loot box of some kind for the winner.

If you folks have any cool ideas for what a wager outcome could be, or for what the wager could be placed specifically on (the whole scoring period, a specific NHL game, or specific NHL players), then I want to hear them!

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If anyone likes this idea, we have implemented it into our league rulebook. More than welcome to use it for your own =) --- (excuse the poor formatting after copy/pasting from Word into here).
Challenger Corner
a. The Challenger Corner is where formal & friendly wagers/bets/challenges of any kind can be made in the discord, specifically under #challenger-corner.
b. Managers are encouraged to keep the league fun and engaging by challenging their peers to fun bets based off the fantasy week! Managers have many options on how they want to do week to week bets, such as (but not limited to):
i. Challenge the specific team you are playing for the scoring period.
ii. Challenge another team that you are not specifically playing (can simply just compare stats at end of period to determine victor)
iii. Create a multi-team challenge for the period (like who’s team can score most points – everyone who’s interested puts $5 into a pot)
iv. Create a challenge where every manager involved picks 1 player to score the most points during a 1 week period
c. Examples of challenges include (but certainly not limited to)
i. Monetary bets
ii. Bets for loser has to buy winner a meal
iii. Name Change/Vanity Bets (winner changes name of loser for X period)
iv. Speech Bet (loser has to write a speech about the winner)
v. Whatever else you can think of that’s fun!
d. As we now include a “Challenger Award”, we will begin tracking a running tally of managers who have won/lost bets. In order to qualify for a formal win, you must do the following:
i. Challenge and its conditions must be formally posted under #challenger-corner before the start of the first game of the scoring week (or a specifically designated timeframe if occurring during the period – I.E. making a challenge based on one specific NHL game being played).
ii. The opponent(s) you are challenging must formally accept under #challenger-corner prior to game/period start.
iii. You must notify the Commissioners of a formal challenge accepted, and notify the Commissioners as to who the winner(s) are.
iv. Commissioners will keep a running tally and whoever won the most challenges in the year wins the “Challenger Award!”
1. In the event of a tie, the award winners can choose to either split the winnings or enter into another bet/challenge for the amount.
v. For any challenges that are agreed to during the week, it is the duties of the managers to hold themselves accountable and honor the bet – Commissioners will not enforce these side-wagers, however if the loser ultimately does not honor the commitment, they may be excluded from the formal Challenger Corner award in the future.

I've been waiting to play this one for a while now, originally I had SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo on the PSP, which I got rid of because it was just a borderline unplayable experience trying to move around and aim with the little circular PSP analog stick thing. I wanted to re-visit the series, but this time decided to swap it out with the most popular SOCOM game instead, hoping to have a less sour experience.
After about 4 hours, I put it back down again, having lost all interest in the series.
SOCOM II is very much a game from the before times, being a third person tactical shooter in the years before anyone had any idea how to do controller aiming well. To make a long story short, trying to raw-aim with an analog stick on PS2 is an awful experience, the crosshair will just swing around the screen on you. There's built in auto-aim you can toggle off and on, which has a comical implementation. Sometimes, you will see a red box on the screen, miss the target by 1/4 of the screen, then they just drop dead anyway, probably due to an act of God. Sometimes, you will be pointing right next to their head with auto-aim on, and all of your bullets completely miss, leading you to being killed in one or two hits. That's so fun...
The ai companions are sometimes so strong that you can play out entire missions by sending them in to "clear area" where they just instakill all the enemies without taking any damage (this is on the highest difficulty available to new players.) Other times, you will be on the second floor of a house, they are in the basement, you send them in to clear area or breech a door...And they just never show up. They get stuck on the stairs or something, and just never fucking come. I shudder to think of all the times I've died because my AI companions just refused to follow very simple orders. Sometimes they will die in the absolute dumbest of ways too. On the first brazil mission I had Jester die to falling off of a building literally.
Oh, and on the subject of dying, don't forget that there is *no checkpoints*. If you die you reset to the very beginning of the mission. This means that if you're doing a slow stealth playthrough, 20 minutes deep on a level, and you get instant killed by some guy with a shotgun because the room was too dark for you to see him, you have to do the whole thing over again. How exciting! Eventually, after a few resets on the same mission, the only sensible way to proceed is to run and gun every single enemy, already having their positions memorized, and just accept that the game is going to chastise you for not being stealthy enough.
I could see SOCOM II being a very good game if the controls were about twice as good, the AI were about twice as responsive, and checkpoints were added to key sections of various missions. Without them, the game feels unpleasant to play for me, and I feel no qualms about retiring it from my backlog without even finishing half the single-player campaign.

Hey and hi! I previously posted these Character Chats in order to fill the void when the comic was on involuntary hiatus, and I'm pleased to hear that it was received positively and people were asking for more. I couldn't really commit to it once the hiatus was over, since I've got a job and all. But good news, my whole team got laid off! I've got a lot more time on my hands now, so I think I'll keep this series going for a few weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays or so. If anyone complains about me surfing reddit at work during my notice period... well, what are they gonna do, fire me?
Today my giant novely ouija board has selected Prince Aaronev Tarvek Sturmvoraus. Our first Spark, and first main character, but somehow our third Valois out of five picks.
Tarvek is a member of the large and complicated Valois family tree, descended from our pal Andronicus Valois, the Storm King. He is the son of Prince Aaronev Sturmvoraus VI of Sturmhalten and an unknown mother, and the older brother of Anevka Sturmvoraus. He and Anevka share the same grandmother with the von Bliztengaard siblings and Violetta, making them all cousins. The Selnikovs may also be close family members, as their main residence is in Sturmhalten. Tarvek also calls Zulenna a cousin at one point.
The Storm King conspiracy among the Fifty Families was said to be fizzling out in the time before the comic, but the Mongfish family (i.e. Lucrezia) got involved and whipped them all into shape. Besides making most of the Knights of Jove Lucrezia loyalists, part of this involvment was ensuring there was a suitable male heir to the Storm King using Spark sceince, which ended up producing, at minimum, Tarvek and Martellus von Blitzengaard. The degree to which Tarvek's mother was involved and consenting is unknown. While we don't know how much was done, Tarvek is a powerful Spark, physically fit, and quite intelligent, so mission accomplished I suppose (though Tarvek does wear these tiny pince-nez around, so he may have poor vision - nice going, Lucrezia).
We don't have a family tree or anything, so we need to take the story's word that Tarvek's claim for being a direct heir of Andronicus is one of the most direct, if not the strongest overall. Two of the strongest claimants, Tarvek and Martellus, share a grandmother, so presumably their legitimacy is either through her or her late husband. Grandmama is once referred to with the title "Dowager Princess of Sturmhalten", it's possible Aaronev inherited his title as Prince of Sturmhalten by being her son. On the other hand, Tarvek also says that his descent comes down through his mother, so maybe she's Grandmama's child instead? Or it's wrong to trace back things to this set of grandparents after all? The family tree is thrown for another loop when Orotine declares Martellus a third-place heir rather than the commonly assumed second-place, so now who's in second place and how's that guy related to Tarvek's family tree, and... it's at this point I throw up my hands in exasperation.
Tarvek spent some of his early childhood as a political hostage on Castle Wulfenbach, being raised with other hostages by von Pinn. Tarvek recalls this time fondly, and in particular became good friends with Gil, whose identity was still hidden. When the two of them were hunting for secrets, hoping to discover Gil's lineage, they discover a red-herring left by the Baron. While Tarvek didn't buy it and tried to dig further, he got caught. Along with some snitching from Gil, this got him expelled from the Castle. Of course, everyone was spying abord the Castle, and Tarvek was just the only one kicked out. My assumption is that the Baron wasn't worried about Gil's identity being exposed, but didn't approve of Gil getting close with Tarvek for one reason or another and arranged to destroy the friendship.
He spent his remaining childhood in Sturmhalten, where he was wrapped up in family scheming, including Aaronev's schemes with the Other. Besides Aaronev, he also spent time with Anevka and Violetta during this period, and received some Smoke Knight training. He later goes to Paris for his higher education, where he was a good student and made friendships with influential young people like Colette and Neena. He was also involuntarily dragged into Gil's college adventures, where he became, uh, "acquainted" with disreputable characters like Bangladesh Dupree and Zola. He's called back to Sturmhalten after completing his education.
As a young adult, Tarvek's goals are initially to learn all he can from the Other conspiracy in Sturmhalten, destroy them afterwards, use this knowledge to overthrow the Baron, become Storm King, get the Fifty Families under control, and bring peace and prosperity to his new empire. However, Aaronev is in charge in Sturmhalten, and has different ideas. Tarvek detests his father and the Other conspiracy he's involved with, but cooperates with them to stay in their good graces and learn all he can. Tarvek attempts to act as a moderating influence on Aaronev, but Aaronev is too far gone to pull back. Aaronev ends up capturing nearly all the young female Sparks in Europa beneath the Baron's nose, and destroys them utterly trying to implant copies of Lucrezia into their minds, while Tarvek doesn't do much more than watch.
Aaronev eventually subjects his daughter Anevka to the treatment, nearly killing her. The Circus of Adventure happens to be in town, and as an expert on the Muses, Tarvek recognizes Tinka as a van Rijn original when she performs. Tarvek has his men abduct Tinka, and uses her as the basis for building a masterpiece clank which would connect to Anevka's mind and allow her to move and speak while her body was comatose. For what it's worth, he does try to pay the Circus after the fact, but they naturally ran like hell out of town. Tinka is eventually damaged beyond his ability to repair by Aaronev.
After this, he also conspires (or pretends to conspire) with Anevka to use her clank body's voice box to imitate Lucrezia's ability to command revenants, and use that ability to overthrow Aaronev and the Baron. When the Circus comes back to town with Agatha in tow, she's found out as Lucrezia's daughter at a show, with more beans being spilled later when Agatha's drugged with a truth serum. Aaronev tries to throw her in the Lucrezia-machine, but Anevka launches her coup right then, and finalizes her voice box by studying Agatha's own voice. Tarvek, having fallen for Agatha basically immediately, attempts to smuggle Agatha out of town under Anevka's nose, but the Geisters eventually get Lucrezia in her head anyway.
Tarvek, at this point, wants to integrate Agatha into his plan to use Other technology to usurp the Baron, which means keeping her safely at his side. This means both cooperating with Lucrezia to learn from her to begin with and protect Agatha's body, and also sabotaging Agatha's efforts at surrendering herself to the Baron for the greater good. One his deals with Lucrezia is making a clank head imprinted with a Lucrezia copy, designed to fit onto Avenka's clank body. Tarvek lures in Anevka for Lucrezia, and after some back-and-forth betrayals, eventually deactivates Anevka's head and puts her in storage, essentially killing her for the time being. Juggling Agatha, Lucrezia, and now a second Lucrezia proves too much for Tarvek once the Baron's troops arrive in Sturmhalten, and he ends up slashed in the gut, shot, and abandoned in the ensuing chaos.
Tarvek ends up in the Great Hospital in Mechanicsburg, as one of many of the injured from Sturmhalten. Violetta, who had been assigned to Mechanicsburg by Tarvek to keep her out of the proverbial firing line, manages to get him out of custody in the hospital... but inside of Castle Heterodyne instead, which is something of a lateral move. After connecting up with Agatha, Taevek comes down with Hogfarb's Respelendent Immolation, either due to traipsing about Castle Heterodyne of all places while wounded, or, Tarvek speculates, as a poisoning attempt from his own extended family. Gil is recruited to help with curing him, and after extensive bickering, infections, distractions, complications, and one apotheosis, he's back in good health. Tarvek attempts to help fix the Castle, and aid Agatha however he can, including fighting with Lucrezia and Vole, and attempting to strangle Zola. His bickering with Gil during this time mostly puts him on the defensive and has Tarvek trying to justify his actions, but he eventually does has a quiet epiphany.
He eventually gets grabbed by Other in a case of mistaken identity, and his quick analytical skills wind up placing him in charge of the Wulfenbach fleet's grand strategy temporarily - it's at gunpoint, but Boris assesses that he's really doing what's in the best interest of the Empire. He has to scurry off when Klaus comes onto the scene, placing him in a perfect position to recruit the Empire's Vespiary Squad and their weasels when Klaus turns on them. Notably, he risks life and limb rescuing a squad member, who he needs of course, but also Jorgi, who mostly annoys him. He sends the Vespiary Squad to hiding places abroad. As the battle for Mechanicsburg wraps up, Tarvek ends up stabbed with a poisoned dagger by Martellus just before the time-stop.
Post time-skip, Gil dedicates extensive resources towards getting Tarvek out of the time stop. Tarvek isn't able to do much before being kidnapped by the Immortal Library, and then kidnapped by Mister Obsidian on behalf of Grandmama. He does manage to breathe a bit in Paris, before being kidnapped by Mister Obsidian again on behalf of Seffie, to be sent to England. But en route aboard a pirate vessel, he's (shockingly) interrupted by a kidnapping attempt, this time for Grandmama again. Martellus sent assassins after Tarvek to interrupt the interruption, leading to bloody battle between Seffie's pirates, Grandmama's Smoke Knights, Martellus' Knights of the Hunt, and poor Tarvek. After being rescued by Gil, Tarvek flips the script, and he and Bang kidnap Gil instead, changing course to England.
In England, he can finally, you know, not get kidnapped for a bit. He decides to join Agatha in the Royal Society, and despite nearly getting strangled by Higgs, manages to reach Agatha and help work on curing her of Lucrezia, and curing Gil of Klaus. After interminable delays like a undersea cult, briefly seeing beyond time, punching Tweedle, and a revenant attack, they eventually pull it all off.
Later, in the war against the Polar Lords, Tarvek is essentially given the role of Gil's official treacherous vizier. On paper, helping the Empire helps keep him safe to further his own ambitions, but in practice, Tarvek seems more focused on doing good by his friends than anything to do with becoming Storm King.
Whew! And that's the short synopsis!
As a Spark, Tarvek's specialty is masterwork clanks in the van Rijn mold. His Anevka clank maintains full sentience even after any organic parts it was attached to died off, and continues to be used by Lucrezia to devastating effect. He also has a knack for rapid analysis, such as being able to understand the Wulfenbach fleet's strategy with just a glance. It's possible his political aptitude, scheming skills and ability to anticipate people's actions are a byproduct of his spark, but it may also just be the natural result of his upbringing. He is unusually composed for a Spark, and is very rarely seen in the Madness Place, and never for very long.
Beyond the Spark and his cunning, Tarvek also received some Smoke Knight training, making him skilled in martial arts and sleight of hand. That said, he'd prefer not to get in fights, and his first resort use his Spark or guile to get out safely (his second resort is just shooting them, with a gun). He also has a passion for fashion design, particularly lady's fashion.
Besides his conquer-Europa ambitions, Tarvek seems primarily driven to help and protect the people he loves, but his preferred tactics for doing so are often underhanded, or screw over people that he doesn't particularly love. Tarvek is the kind of guy who has to come to the conclusion that mind-control slavery is bad in general, rather than bad for people I know. He does come to that conclusion on his own, so kudos for that, but for a lot of people it's not even something you have to think about. Tarvek is also quick to use "they'd kill me if I tried, I had no choice" as a defense, but never quite understands that there was always a choice available he didn't consider - die trying. That all said, Tarvek is in generally improving his character over time, and wants to do the right thing, both in the "greater good" sense and doing right by other people individually, and finds himself frustrated at himself that he's often failed. I don't want to discuss Tarvek's ethics too much further here, since there's a great deal to talk about and this is supposed to be a discussion thread! Why do I have to do all the work?
Major Relationships:

• Agatha: Tarvek fell for Agatha pretty damn hard, internally logging her as "future bride", and even at his scummiest times in Sturmhalten was trying to act in her best interest, and just ignoring what she actually wanted and also fucking it up anyway. By the time of the Castle arc, Tarvek has mostly thrown away all of his own ambitions in favor of working for Agatha's, even in moments when he feels pretty hopeless about his actual prospects as a suitor. One major advantage in his court is that he's able to actually articulate his feelings like an adult.
  
• Gil: It's been a true roller coaster for these two, from friends to enemies to rivals to allies to secret lovers. It takes a great deal of bonding for their distrust of one another to fall away, and after the time skip Tarvek lists Agatha and Gil (and, by implication, Violetta) as the only people left he really cares about, and the two of them spend a lot more time hugging than you would have expected.
  
• Violetta: Tarvek spent a good deal of his childhood with Violetta, and earnestly tried to protect her. In natural early-Tarvek style, it was by ignoring her wishes and leaving her in the dark, but points for trying. They have a bickering siblings type of relationship, and Violetta is fine trash talking him despite the power imbalance between them. Tarvek is pretty disappointed that he's rebuffed when trying to sincerely express that he's glad she's alive, since she expects childish taunts out of him.
  
• Aaronev: Tarvek really hates Aaronev for all the horrible things he's done, especially for putting Anevka through the machine, and spends about two seconds mourning after he's killed. Tarvek had been play-acting as a loyal son for years, and it's a bit tragic that Aaronev bought his act wholesale - what little interaction we see suggests that Aaronev, scumbag that he is, did really like Tarvek.
  
• Anevka: Tarvek did not take it well when it seemed Anevka was going to die, and went to extreme measures to save her. But Tarvek doesn't assign the same level of personhood to the Anevka clank after the original Anevka dies (he's generally not the best at the whole "clanks are people too" concept), and eventually "kills" her by turning her off and throwing her head in a box, where she probably still remains if Sturmhalten hasn't been razed to the ground.
  
• Lucrezia: While most people hate the Other on a conceptual level, Tarvek has spent enough time with her to really begin to hate her on a personal level. He's aware of her foibles, such as her susceptibility to flattery, and tries to take advantage when he can. His more personal knowledge also makes him better able to detect when Lucrezia is taking over for Agatha than most.
  
• Higgs: Like many, Tarvek cottons on that Higgs has a secret in Castle Heterodyne. Tarvek does try to keep it under his hat and make excuses on his behalf, but can't resist teasing Higgs despite him being incredibly dangerous. Tarvek openly confronting Higgs about his identity later on nearly gets him strangled to death. Despite that, Tarvek and Higgs have formed a good rapport, and have solid mutual respect. He's even one of the people Tarvek pours his heart out to when he thinks Violetta is dead.
  
• Neena: Neena has a bit of a crush on Tarvek, and Tarvek for his part does some light flirting at the ball but otherwise doesn't think about her much at this point. It's an odd match for someone like Tarvek, since Neena is earnest, enthusiastic, and completely lacking in guile. Maybe that's exactly what someone like him needs - stranger things have happened!
  
• Martellus: As two men aiming for the same throne, Martellus and Tarvek are natural enemies. Tarvek obviously dislikes Martellus - and even gets a good punch in - but doesn't take any moves to stop Martellus' forward momentum, and makes no moves towards legitimizing his claim as Storm King beyond not being dead. His strategy may be to just give Martellus enough rope to hang himself with, but it may also show genuine disinterest in this whole Storm King business.
  

So, alternator and belt are in there correctly and the first few days I had no issues. Over the past few weeks the van has shut off 3x, 2x while at a stoplight and once while I was braking and moving into a parking spot. It also sometimes doesn't start the dash? Odometer won't turn on and the speedometer doesn't move. In these cases it also feels like it's straining, I didn't notice twice and tried to drive but could feel it right away. I'm afraid to turn the radio on because sometimes it feels bumpier when I do. And sometimes on the highway it will kind of jerk? I don't know how to describe it but it feels like it's resisting and then the whole van shudders and it's back. The battery gauge is always showing slightly above middle though, and it always starts back up immediately if it dies.
Any suggestions on what to look for? Idk if it's relevant but the fuse box in my engine is missing the cover (well, I can't finagle it back on top, there's too much shit in the way) so I'm worried maybe something happened to that? But I don't know what to look for. Thanks!

I have an Allo prescription which I have been slacking off on taking and the box of 300 MG pills is still full.
Did my shoulder in over the weekend (old injury) and could not sleep due to the bad pain.
Started popping “Ibuprofen” 200 MG during the night just to try and dull the pain and continued throughout the day. I was getting a bit nervous about my shoulder because it was getting worse the whole time.
I popped 10 pills over a period of 12 hours or so, jus to realize that the whole time I was taking the 300 MG allo pills instead of the ibuprofen. (Boxes were both white with similar design) so I had 3000 MG.
Anyway, it has been a few hours since I found out. Weird (kind of hot and slightly burning sensation in my knees and some other joints) but other than that, stomach and rest of body feels ok.

A few excerpts:

1. It's called shooting, but rather than expelling any kind of projectile, this little box sucks in all the world, its surfaces and contents, into its ravenous, mystifying interior.
   
2. Fassbinder's early films take place in a world where people either work themselves to death or find themselves in a permanent loose end; are way too busy or have all the time in the world; have too many emotions to process or absolutely nothing to feel and nothing to say. They keep themselves doing the least amount possible. They are both overstimulated and dolefully resigned.
   

These blank-faced groups of friends, family members, petty criminals, drinkers and idlers obey a choreography not of the damned but the debilitated. Saturated with lassitude and stifled want. Standing around not knowing what to do or say or who to hurt next. Boredom is the crucial factor here. In the face of so much 'free time' and so many 'lifestyle 'choices' one logical response is a kind of unfeeling blankness: anhedonia, existential wilting, mute withdrawal. Sudden bursts into hysterical violence. Something has torn open the social fabric, has frayed or distressed the relationship between social space, memory and experience; one consequence of this is that nobody much cares to investigate what that cause might be. It could almost be the end-result of one big successful psy-op: people who got everything they thought they ever wanted but only feel worse for it.

1. Nature is absent, by and large, from this world. No one is impatient to go back into that dark Germanic wood. Beneath the model town... unspeakable traces, tainted soil, spoiled dreams. Nowhere do we detect any hint of the utopian prospect of beneath the paving stones the beach.
   
2. Bright gaudy colours of the new consumer landscape: somewhere between Pontormo and a Christmas shop window. His films reproduce the asethetic of being right on the edge of not very tasteful at all. The huge Poussin mural in Petra Von Kant. Art as easy listening decor. Inner states made exterior in a wilderness of mirrors.
   
3. Fear Eats the Soul: a series of precise framings of people on thresholds. People framed by doorways or mirrors or windows, like figures in a painting. Astonishing colours, but also a necessary degree of distancing. It can feel at times as if we are intimately familiar with these interiors. This does not look like a movie-set room. It looks like a room you may have been in yourself, many times.
   

(Penman, author of Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors, was a contemporary of Fisher's and that whole network of blogs in the '90s. Acc to a recent LRB review, Penman is the first to apply Derrida's concept of hauntology to contemporary popular culture, which I thought was interesting since Fisher is typically credited with that)

DISCLAIMER: This is a RANT that's going here as someone who just graduated from SOA, and I'm sure there's discourse that's already been going on for a while around what I have to say that I'm just new to it but what I have to say just feels urgent to shout at a bunch of people, but specifically people who might be receptive/interested in taking action on it/at least thinking through it and debating it. SO while there might be a better space for this post, we'll see what moderators and anyone else on here might think.
SO:
As title states. IMO Big Tech has really truly gotten out of hand in controlling and having influence over every aspect of human culture and society globally; way, WAY too much power. I think this is real bad and a lot of us aren't vibing with it, and we should be trying to disrupt Big Tech's power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibMd_Jx9daw&t=1s
This conversation about AI in music/Spotify sparked a march larger chain of thought in me about something that I took for granted but didn't realize the scope of. Across nearly every industry, Big Tech is running mass/macro culture into the ground. Movie studios don't take risks on things because all profits rely on streaming services (no more Blockbuster rentals to make up box office losses). All forms of media, entertainment, even journalism or information, the whole game of content--
I don't know if anyone else has felt this way, but I feel like the algorithms feeding me content every day don't even work at hacking my lizard brain anymore like they used to; I mean most of the shit they show me on social media and other apps these days just doesn't hold my attention or interest me any more. It feels like, no offense STEM peeps, your services and function in society and humanity is vital, but seems like fueled by the structures of capitalism, a bunch of STEM peeps in Silicon Valley thought they could reduce the human spirit to math and engineering, and the feeling I have of cultural stagnation seems to me to prove the overstep of Tech Companies incentivized to grow ceaselessly with no greater reason than higher stock prices.
Has anyone else not felt like art and culture has been kind of stagnant lately? Art and culture has been taken over my tech companies and on the macro level, shit is just bad an uninspired and I feel like we're all really in need of many kinds of revolution, but also one that's more a humanistic creative artistic and cultural revolution.
Does Tech really need to just keep advancing? I'm not convinced humanity is doomed unless Tech companies just keep expanding and exploding and completely shifting the entire nature of the human experience in a single human lifetime. I'm not convinced that's necessary or inevitable. I'm not anti-tech either, but I think the version we've gotten of monopolized capitalist tech corps turning our digital commons into a deeply surveilled Digital Disney World is not inevitable.
I'm speculating here, but I'm day-dreaming about young creatives, inspired STEM peeps, perhaps even some of YOU, who might be trying to figure out how to make new decentralized internet, how to create more new micro internet culture. Create hardware systems that people can access and allows them to communicate with other people in different ways than devices created by corporations; DEI software and hardware not owned and controllled by corporations, almost a vision of anarchist tech, with clever people using the comms systems already in place to let the masses know and teach them about these new spaces forming on new internets and new systems that massive corps can't control. Make virtual meeting spaces and modes of communication that aren't owned by Musk, Bezos, and Zuck.
I know shit like this already exists and it immediately gets targeted (and i'm sure sometimes fairly when it's actually used by criminals and terrorists)--but I believe the right people are clever enough to design something that could be innocent and benign enough to really break through and disrupt the monopoly of the tech corps.
We can do better tech, better internet, and we can disrupt the power of these tech companies, because a handful of these assholes have just been going to town on human civilization for the last decade and these mfs need to be put in their place. I don't believe we have to inevitably plow into a cyberpunk dystopia; I think the last few months on campus should have everyone here in agreement that if enough people feel strongly enough about something and choose to resist it together, things can happen.

Okay good news I can start HRT like within the next week straight up. Bad news I need to hit up a bank for future reference in case I ever do want my own demon spawn. Complicated: I got laced when I was smoking with someone, saw Hell and felt it, and took 6 months of complete fear before I wasn't terrified anymore. Bad news, I lost my identity and sense of self after that (I was like parts of myself through the years). Good news, I think as of the last few months I finally have my self nearly fully back if not fully. Bad news, this has felt kinda like a whole consciousness rewrite like I was gone for years and now I'm back but all the memories were also me so I'm kinda disconnected It's weird. Worse news, I now feel like I'm at the beginning of processing my transition again. Good news I feel way more like a girl and am a lot more certain and rooted in that knowledge and feeling. Bad news dysphoria sucks. Neutral news, my walls are back up so I'm protected and funnier but also way more of a cunt and half my progress the last few years is now in a box in my mind snd idk how to get it out. I also kinds feel like who I wanted to be wasn't just genuine to me and who I wanted to be not everyone else. Like I wanted it but partially cause of everyone else. Good news I'm back to fuck EVERYBODY. Neutral news, I have to integrate what I want into myself. Good news I have the experience. Bad news, more exploration and effort. I'm back to being vaguely idgaf. I really enjoy bring extravagant and all but I did a lot for other people not completely cause I wanted to. But I did enjoy it. Fuck my life's so weird.
It's so annoying tho. I feel like I lost 5 years that I remember (long story why 5) and now feel like I'm at the beginning of my transition. I'm emotionally stronger now ig so it won't be too horrible. Just gotta focus on the want. I just got to the point I could say it with confidence that I am 100 percent definitely a girl. Life's a bitch now so am I. Fuck. It's prolly fine.

Takatoshi's universe 1)First encounter(drowning) Takatoshi 5,Emi 35
2)Second encounter(outside Takoyaki shop) Takatoshi 10,Emi 30 Emi hands him the box
3)Third encounter(on the train) Takatoshi 20,Emi 20 • Takatoshi's confession • Meeting at zoo • First and subsequent dates • Last meeting at train station, Emi disappears
4)Fourth encounter Takatoshi 25,Emi 15 Takatoshi hands Emi the drawing
5)Fifth encounter Takatoshi 35,Emi 5 Takatoshi saves Emi from the fire
During the 4th and 5th encounters,Takatoshi has all the recollections of his past with Emi.
Emi's universe 1)First encounter(fire) Emi 5,Takatoshi 35
2)Second encounter Emi 15,Takatoshi 25 Takatoshi hands Emi the drawing
3)Third encounter Emi 20,Takatoshi 20 • Emi models for Takatoshi • First and subsequent dates • Last meeting at the train station, Takatoshi's confession
4)Fourth encounter Emi 30,Takatoshi 10 Emi hands Takatoshi the box
5)Fifth encounter Emi 35,Takatoshi 5 Emi saves Takatoshi from drowning
During the 4th and 5th encounters,Emi has all the recollections of her past with Takatoshi.
What I don't understand is why Emi knew about the whole parallel universe thing when she met Takatoshi at 20 years old. Why didn't Takatoshi know anything?If the Emi Takatoshi meets in his universe everyday is an Emi with no recollection of Takatoshi's yesterday,how does that Emi still know about the parallel universe concept?

295@$1
Total Price: $295
Make and Model: Tactile DLC jigged rockwall
Timestamp and Pics: https://imgur.com/a/jj2s1Qo
Price Justification:

• The jigged DLC was an exclusive from traditional pocket knives and retailed for 429. We last raffled one a year ago at 330.

*225 for jigged ti - https://www.reddit.com/Knife_Swap/comments/1cgk13d/wts_bm_griptilian_bm_proper_tactile_rockwall/

• 250 - jigged and anodized - https://www.reddit.com/Knife_Swap/comments/1c3a4kt/wts_whole_bunch_of_tactile_knife_co_rockwalls_and/

Escrow for u/AirlineGloomy8824
Description: Full DLC, Bone jig scales, Good knife with good action (could use some break in) no issues with it at all never sharpened still has factory edge (Magnacut blade) No scratches or blend. Basically LNIB, except no box, knife only. will ensure its wrapped well for shipping.
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Okay okay, so I’ve been thinking about this really hard for a few days now, and I want to know what books you thought you would love because it seemed like they checked all the boxes for you, and why you didn’t love them or what perhaps even DNFed them! I’ll start.
Agnarr’s Teacher by Jenifer Wood.
After reading the description I thought to myself “Gee myself, this seems a lot like Ice Planet Barbarians but even better! Let’s read this!” And dove in. Here is a list of what reminded me of IPB.

• alien romance (kinda, the aliens are called orkin)
• abducted by bad aliens and dropped on a cold planet
• Fated mates
• seemingly loving if not slightly naive mmc

Here is a list of additions that made me very interested and excited!

• anxiety rep! The fmc is a teacher who has a history of anxiety and is on meds for it, as well as being very open about mental health! We love to see it!
• the lot of the human women were dumped for a variety of reasons that all boil down to being “undesirable”. That leads me to believe a bunch of other conditions could be represented in future books!
• the story seemed a little lower stakes than IPB, being mainly about the FMC’s journey to another tribe to get a certain herb used to treat anxiety. The mmc joins her because he’s fast in love with her. Not a problem.

You see, my problems lies in characters making decisions (or really only one) that seemed wildly out of pocket. (Take this with a grain of salt, I DNFed because I had a really hard time believing this)
The FMC has Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD henceforth). She is medicated for GAD. Medication is not magic and does not fix everything, and she has been without it for an unclear amount of time, but at least three days. It’s very likely out of her system. Anyway, she wakes up in an admittedly cozy room, but with an orc child staring at her. Instant panic for me (someone with GAD). Okay, it’s a child, she’s a teacher, she loves children and manages to keep it together and speak to the child. Gets kiddo to go get his mom. Great, fantastic. In my head I’d rationalized that the bad aliens did the language thing already, coolio, but she still hadn’t come to the conclusion she wasn’t on earth. Skip past some mild anxiety about possibility being captive or maybe this was some fucked up team building thing for work? Apparently her boss is weird. Comes to the realization she’s not on earth. (I would have fucking passed out, how THE FUCK is this woman still standing. A stronger woman than me.) Proceeds to hear sword fighting, gets spooked but checks out the window and ogles one of the orcs doing the sparring and listens in on their conversation. The whole thing is pretty rationalized through all this, very “I’ve been in therapy for years and know how to organize my thoughts in scary situations” of her. We love it! Kiddo comes back with his mom and she is a very kind woman who explains things to the FMC, who has been a champ up til she is told there’s no way home. She finally passes out from panic. When she wakes up she’s back in bed and the kind woman is still there, worried about her. She helps the FMC and explains some more things, the FMC tackles the “do yall have mental health care here” convo like a champ, and the orcs are pro mental health! Great! Again, we love to see it! I’m seeing myself in this fmc so much, and I’m really starting to like her, I’m feeling very represented! The FMC asks to go for a walk alone to clear her mind, and kind orc lady says “yeah! There’s a safe path surrounding the village, stick to it and you should be fine, the sentries keep the village safe and there are no predators lurking in the woods so take your time!” FMC gets dressed in new clothes, goes walking. Cut to MMC, the orc she was ogling and coincidentally the one who put her back in bed when Kind Orc Lady called for help. He felt something when he looked at her! GASP fated mates?! Yes but no, but like yes. Technically unclear, but we know how these things go. ANYWAY! He’s chopping down a tree to clear his mind because the village elders were all “mmm, let’s let these women wake up first, then we can explain things to them, introduce them to the world and let them decide what to do.” (Low female population and declining female birth rates have made the men excited at the possibility of new potential mates) (mmc agrees with them despite being desperate for a mate) so anyway he’s a warrior and not good and cutting down trees safely. Fmc is walking on the path and the tree falls ON HER!!! I repeat THE TREE FALLS ON HER!!! This guy runs to check on her after hearing her scream, starts hacking at branches with an axe to get to her, and then slows down when he realizes she’s okay! Yay! She is upset and yells at him, I would too if I just had a tree felled on me. Then they kiss? And in her head she thinks about how her “good Christian upbringing” wouldn’t condone this? I guess? Let’s fucking go? I guess??? I’m all for sexual liberation, but in her situation, not being awake for more then ten hours MAX, having just been abducted, finding out aliens are real, finding out you are “undesirable” to said aliens, being dropped off on a strange planet, then being told you can never go home because they don’t possess the technology to do that (she loved her job and I assume her students, so it’s not like she has nothing to go back to), all on top of having GAD? I’m so sorry but no amount of time spent collecting coping strategies in therapy and no amount of medicine could keep me lucid. I’d be in a spiral, if not passed out. And you’re telling me she’s down to fuck? Like they don’t actually, she gives a very enthusiastic blowjob, then gets shy when he wants to reciprocate (I get it sis, me too) so he just fingers her. BUT STILL!!!! Idk it was too fast. I like fast burn and I can very often suspend my disbelief but that really bothered me? I’m down to examine why and see if I need to re-evaluate some things about my own beliefs. I don’t think I hold it against the characters or the author, I think I just saw myself in the character so much that I basically just inserted myself, and when she did something that perhaps did suit her character but definitely was not something I’d do, I checked out.
So! Have you ever had an experience like this? What books did they involve? Let me know!

Just saw a post and somebody said that in one of the comments. I do that practically everyday, not trying to hurt anyone of course. It's just that my time slot is the last one before the gym closes its doors and right after that I go to another gym to lift weights. In my box we don't talk much. Some people normally won't even say "good night", and I totally get it since the majority are professionals (most doctors, which is strange) tired from the day. I'm 25, my colleagues are at least 32. I do my thing, put the equipment in its place and leave. By the way, I'm not the only one who does that (I don't know much about crossfit, being at it for a year and only in this establishment).
Some classes are filled with people who go out together every other day, cheer for each others PR, and whatever. They spend the whole day talking in whatsapp/sending pics. My class is the one who doesn't say a lot there and that's ok for me. I don'r really care for whatever gossip the coaches are going on about student X being hot or student Y getting pregnant.

So I've been radio silent, but I'm kinda back now. This is the beginning of my rewrite for this fic. Unfortunately I'm gonna take a bit to make the next part, this is due to me being part of the ficnnap. So future parts are gonna take a while to get going, hopefully I'll be functional enough to sit down during the summer and write a bunch.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the fic. Any feedback would be nice :).
<<================================>>
Welcome to the XCOM archives, what would you like to search for?
Search: Psionic Imprints, Class Administrator - level 9
Please input access code: ******************
Access Granted... What Psionic Imprint would you like to view?
Search: Board Member Elias Meier, Director
Beginning playback of Imprint... standby...
`Psionic Imprint Subject: Elias Meier, Exhausted Director'
Date [standardized Human time]: June 27th, 2136
Humanity learned it was not alone in the year of 2015, when it was viscously attacked by a hostile alien force intent on colonizing Earth. But humanity fought back, with the formation of XCOM. For the first time in the entirety of human history, Humanity stood as one. And we won, barely and not without consequences. Countries fell apart, or were briefly colonized; or in the case of Advent, for a couple decades.
Of course there was also the aliens that were invading. After some time it was found out that all of them of them were enslaved, controlled and distorted by the Elders.
Or Ethereals if you wanted to be pedantic. God I have had enough of pedantic people.
After a few tense decades, the aliens had slowly filtered into human society. The Vipers forming Sisterhoods, Mutons forming tribes, Sectoids getting into everything, Andromedas forming a haven for their people, and Chryssalids... once thought to be a dying race, surging back to life in 2077 and becoming a horrendous problem for everybody. There were a couple others but I couldn't be bothered to remember them.
Ding a little ring tone sounded, reminding me of my wretched job. I groaned, and waved my hand. I heard a dial up sound, as the system connected. Finally it connected, and one of the voices I dreaded hearing started speaking.
A monotone male voice, the voice of an emotionless thing created by XCOM to make death. "Hello Meier. I have a report, Wraith unit sent to System Gliese-832c has returned. A sapient alien civilization has been discovered. It is not what we expected though."
Wonderful, great even... God this is gonna be a whole thing to handle.
"Explain Odin, I will have to schedule a meeting about this new discovery."
"I have sent a data packet to your computer, which you would see if you looked at it sir"
How the fuck has he developed sarcasm? Has he always had this quirk or did he create it just to personally fuck with me?
I sighed and spun my chair around, away from the great view of my office window. The office I was trapped in was decently sized, the large desk with two 57 inch monitors on each side. The room was 10 feet tall, and 20 feet from door to window, and 12 feet wide. There was a seating area with two couches and a coffee table. A large drink cabinet flanked by two busts on pedestals, and a foyer sitting on the opposite wall flanked by tall standing plant pots with ferns. The entrance was double doors that looked like wood, but were actually plasma and explosive shielded metal doors.
On the left monitor was a display of the planet baring alien life. It was tidally locked, and was inhabited by... sheep, literal fucking sheep. Course they had paws instead of hooves and had no nose but still, literally just fucking sheep. They were apparently called Venlil. They had a decent population, and were part of a larger federation with an unknown number of species. They were at war with 7-8 feet tall nazi space crocodiles, and were deathly afraid of anything "predatory".
I glanced at a small box that appeared, it was an addendum by Dr. Valhen regarding the Venlil. It was a hypothesis regarding their physiology.
Experimental Codex Simulations put them at a 21.53% chance of surviving to a century with current physiology. Likely hood of genetic modification to weaken species at 71.89%.
The addendum pointed out the knocked knees, and the absence of a nose being the most likely areas of modification. I quirked an eyebrow up. I know Dr. Valhen had experience tearing open modified aliens and modifying people at an extreme levels. But still this had to be stretch.
"I have done my own calculations sir, and I have come to the same conclusion as Dr. Valhen sir." I stared pointedly at my monitors before sighing and rubbing my face.
Hmmm whom do I trust more? The mad scientist that walks around in several different metal bodies, or the psychopathic Codex who was created to be unnaturally good at killing. Hmmm good question... how about neither and say fuck it.
"OK Odin. Would you kindly contact the rest of the board and notify them about an emergency meeting?"
"Of course sir, I have already notified them about the scheduled meeting."
... Fucking prick. Oh well if I'm going to be sitting through a meeting I'm going to atleast drink some of the piss flavored water called vodka to pretend I can get drunk.
I stood up and walked over to the drink cabinet. A small round drone that was more of a floating camera came out of the ceiling and followed me. I opened up the cabinet and selected the highest proof alcohol I could find. After popping the bottle and grabbing a shot glass I walked back to my desk. Sitting down as an encrypted channel lit up my right side screen. I pressed on it and poured a shot, the small camera drone hovering in front of me just beyond the desk. The right monitor lit up as 6 people connected.
The Heads of Military, Research and Development, and Diplomatic Affairs were all in the meeting. Dr. Tygan and Dr. Shen heads of R&D, General Zhao and General Kelly heads of Military, Ms. Clark and Mr. Freeman heads of Diplomatic Affairs.
Dr. Tygan didn't look a day over 30, even though he was older than myself. His white coat looked immaculate, and his glasses clean. But his posture and eyes spoke of a man who was debating falling over asleep or shooting someone in the face. Dr. Shen had safety gear on, his clothing stained by machine fluids and sweat. He looked more alive in his 40's than Tygan, and behind him was a scene of a bustling space yard. General Zhao was prim and proper, his posture rigid and his face completely neutral. General Kelly looked to be in a ships captain quarters, his General uniform replaced with a mandatory protective jumpsuit. He looked like he was just woken up, a steaming cup of coffee sitting before him. Ms. Clark and Mr. Freeman looked... normal, they had proper uniforms on and looked like they had been working for a while but still had plenty of energy.
I shot the glass back then looked back at the drone, which had moved to be above the monitor. "So... I have received a report from Odin, and it is the reason for this meeting. Have any of you received the report as well and viewed the contents?"
Dr. Shen squinted at something behind the camera, before bending back and nodding. "Yeah I glanced at it, doesn't really affect my operations honestly. Besides I doubt that they could even get close to the OCDM. That thing can wipe out all kinds of stuff. "
Ms. Clark palmed her face, an exasperated look on it. "Could we not immediately discuss killing these new extraterrestrials? For all we know they number in the hundreds of species, or dozens. Not to mention we do not know the full extent of their technology. They could be much more powerful than us for all we know!"
General Zhao spoke up, a dismissive look to his face. "I have already run through some of the internal information of the Wraith unit. It appears that they have relatively the same level of technology as us. In fact they are actually inferior in some areas. For instance they practically have no cybersecurity. We could shut down their whole planet with a button press."
Ms. Clark groaned as she put her face in her hands. Mr. Freeman just leaned back looking tired. He raised a hand, a ding from the system notifying that he had a question. "Have we attempted to secure a direct access to their network? The more we know about these aliens the better. For all we know they have plans on dealing with "predatory" aliens. We could be signing the death certificate of humanity if we don't investigate more."
Clark looked up with shock and anger. "Yo-you can't be serious Mr. Freeman?! We haven't even attempted communication with these people and you're already planning on spying on them?! We should talk to them first, not just assume they are gonna be murderous!"
Everyone else on the meeting glanced around, the unsaid thing hanging in the air. Clark was very new to the board, and had grown up in New Russia. One of the European countries with the most amount of aliens. Everyone else had either only interacted with aliens as acquaintances, or killed them. Not to mention that XCOM was literally formed with the intention of pushing an invading alien empire off Earth. It had a long and bloody history with aliens, not to mention some of the things that it had done to aliens in service to Humanity.
General Kelly just sighed as he took a long sip of his coffee. Putting it down he crossed his hands in front of him. "We're getting off track people. We need to decide our course of action moving forward with these Venlil and their allies. I would recommend sending a civilian science vessel alongside two Avengers and a Hammer. The Hammer ship can operate in Stealth mode in the alien system, while the Avengers act like Cargo Ships. This allows us to put on a good face while still ensuring that our assets will be protected."
There was nodding across the board, everyone seemed to reluctantly agree on something for once. Then they all stared at their cameras, obviously waiting for myself. I sighed and poured another shot. "I concur with Kelly's plan, but I would also like to have Mothership Valhala on standby with Fleet Alpha. I would like you Kelly to command it, if you are too busy General Zhao will command instead."
Kelly and Zhao looked shocked by what I said. But they both donned neutral faces quickly afterwards. Zhao raised a hand, the system dinged signaling that he had a question. "May I ask why you are requesting this? Last time I actively commanded was for Operation Living Mausoleum and we all know how that turned out."
I shot back the glass and pointed at the camera. "That Operation was fucked from the very beginning. There was jack shit you could've done to prevent the casualties that occurred. Not to mention that you can't compare yourself to the Commander, he was inhumanly good at what he did. Hell from what I hear the man could practically see into the future. So quit it, stop beating yourself up over it. You're one of the greatest generals I've ever had the pleasure of working alongside with."
Zhao's face briefly clouded with a dark brooding look as I talked. But when I finished it lit up in surprise. He must still be beating himself up over that shit operation. I still remember reading the reports and feeling afraid about the future of XCOM. But thankfully Valhen managed to control the damn thing, and Diplomatic Affairs quelled the fires that had started from it.
"This meeting is concluded. Get back to whatever you all are doing." One by one the channel sent quiet. Tygan just stared into space, a vacant look on his face. "Tygan? Tygan!" He jumped in his seat, finally coming to. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face. "Tygan... it's getting worse... you really should reconsider your stance."
He looked up, a fire in his eyes. He put his glasses back on, tapping his fingers as he did so. "Well I won't. I'm not gonna stoop down to Valhen's level of depravity. The procedure is completely experimental and for all I know it's a miracle that I'm even still alive. I am almost 200 years old. If my mind is finally failing then so be it. I have played God long enough."
He left the channel right afterwards, only for another person to appear. It was Dr. Valhen and she had no camera feed. All I could see was a noise graph. "Meier... I would like to... make a... request- demand... I would like to attend the mission."
I slammed the shot glass on the table. "Absolutely not, I don't care what you're reason is. My final and only answer will be no. So kiss my ass, and go back to cutting apart death row inmates and war criminals."
…After a few seconds of silence and the graph not moving, it started laughing. That laugh told me more than enough. "Oh Meier, naughty naughty Meier... keeping me away from the new toys? How cruel of you... forgive me... I will honor your request..."
She... it left the channel. I closed it up, and spun my chair around. The window allowed me to view the Appalachian Mountains in all their splendor. In the distance I could see the camo fields of ships shifting as they moved about. I stared at the bottle before corking it and walking back to the cabinet.
This is gonna be an absolute shitshow. For all we knew we are boldly striding towards a war that will be the end of humanity once and for all.
End of Imprint
[Next]

I am sure it is too late now, but I hope future releases of the minimal phone can aim to meet the high security requirements to run GrapheneOS. This is the only way I can see the Minimal Phone replacing the blackberry as a secure business device.
"Hardware, firmware and software specific to devices like drivers play a huge role in the overall security of a device. The goal of the project is not to slightly improve some aspects of insecure devices and supporting a broad set of devices would be directly counter to the values of the project. A lot of the low-level work also ends up being fairly tied to the hardware.
Non-exhaustive list of requirements for future devices, which are standards met or exceeded by current Pixel devices:

Support for using alternate operating systems including full hardware security functionality Complete monthly Android Security Bulletin patches without any regular delays longer than a week At least 5 years of updates from launch for phones (Pixels now have 7) and 7 years for tablets Vendor code updated to new monthly, quarterly and yearly releases of AOSP within several months to provide new security improvements (Pixels receive these in the month they're released) Linux 5.15 or 6.1 Generic Kernel Image (GKI) support (requirement will change to 6.1 or 6.6 after the stable release of Android 15) Hardware accelerated virtualization usable by GrapheneOS (ideally pKVM to match Pixels but another usable implementation may be acceptable) Hardware memory tagging (ARM MTE or equivalent) BTI/PAC, CET or equivalent PXN, SMEP or equivalent PAN, SMAP or equivalent Isolated radios (cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, etc.), GPU, SSD, media encode / decode, image processor and other components Support for A/B updates of both the firmware and OS images with automatic rollback if the initial boot fails one or more times Verified boot with rollback protection for firmware Verified boot with rollback protection for the OS (Android Verified Boot) Verified boot key fingerprint for yellow boot state displayed with a secure hash (non-truncated SHA-256 or better) StrongBox keystore provided by secure element Hardware key attestation support for the StrongBox keystore Attest key support for hardware key attestation to provide pinning support Weaver disk encryption key derivation throttling provided by secure element Insider attack resistance for updates to the secure element (Owner user authentication required before updates are accepted) Inline disk encryption acceleration with wrapped key support 64-bit-only device support code Wi-Fi anonymity support including MAC address randomization, probe sequence number randomization and no other leaked identifiers Support for disabling USB data and also USB as a whole at a hardware level in the USB controller Reset attack mitigation for firmware-based boot modes such as fastboot mode zeroing memory left over from the OS and delaying opening up attack surface such as USB functionality until that's completed 

In order to support a device, the appropriate resources also need to be available and dedicated towards it. Releases for each supported device need to be robust and stable, with all standard functionality working properly and testing for each of the releases."

I was more or less listening to Moona's High Tide and thinking about how she does the circular clap when you hit the build-up moment in the song, and I began thinking about what other iconic or signature moves other Holomem do in their performances, MVs, or lives. Something that had become uniquely theirs, whether it be a simple move like Moona's clapping or a whole dance section like Suisei's now extremely popular Bibity Bobity dance.
Other examples I can think of off the top of my head would be:
Korone's cartwheel, which has now evolved into an aerial cartwheel.
Subaru's Shuba duck dance, which has now become the Holotori Dance.
Marine's moves in Treasure Box when she's moaning Opening the door.
Or even something silly like Okayu lying on the floor during a performance.
Please let me hear everyone's thoughts on any more that they can think of, it would be awesome if you could post a link, source, or a clip for it too! I love the idea of signature dances or moves and it would be really cool to identify all the moves each of them do! Also, I'm certain that some Holomem have multiple signatures or iconic moves that are uniquely theirs, so if I missed any from the above-mentioned, please let me know more!