Some Quick Tips For Browser Search Engines (ie Google, Bing, Duckduckgo) That Folks Might Not Know:

some quick tips for browser search engines (ie google, bing, duckduckgo) that folks might not know:

exact phrases : if you put your search in quotes “like this” then it’ll look for that exact phrase, those words in that order. this is how people find sources from screenshots of text.

ex. “a far green country under a swift sunrise” will search for results that contain the exact phrase “a far green country under a swift sunrise”.

combining phrases : AND, OR, and NOT

ex. “cookie recipe" AND “chocolate chip” will search for results that contain both of those exact phrases

ex. “cookie recipe” NOT “peanut butter” will search for results that have the exact phrase “cookie recipe” and ignore all results that include the phrase “peanut butter”

ex. “chocolate chip” OR “peanut butter” will search for results that contain either of those phrases

please note: using any of these words inside quotes will make your search engine think it’s part of the phrase that it’s looking for! “cookie recipe and chocolate chip” will search for those exact five words in that order.

operations: if you want to use two of the above, put the second part in (parentheses).

ex. “cookie recipe” AND (”chocolate chip” OR “peanut butter”) will look for results that contain the phrase “cookie recipe” and either the phrase “chocolate chip” or the phrase “peanut butter”

ex. “cookie recipe” AND “chocolate chip” (NOT “peanut butter”) will look for results that contain the phrases “cookie recipe” and “chocolate chip” and exclude results that contain the phrase “peanut butter”

specific websites: if you’re looking for a page on a specific site, anywhere in your search, you can specify where to look with the site: command.

ex. “djimon hounsou” site:imdb.com will search the website imdb.com for pages containing the exact phrase “djimon hounsou”

specific file formats: if you’re looking for a specific kind of result, such as a .pdf or an image file like a .png or a .gif, you can specify that with the filetype: command.

ex. “a general history of the pyrates” filetype:pdf will search for .pdf files associated with the exact phase “a general history of the pyrates”

happy searching!

Just so we're all on the same page with the writer's strike.

If during the strike, it's announced about AI generated shows. We are not watching them. Not even out of curiosity. Let them fail every AI generated show they try make.

The human voice can not be replaced by AI. Don't let them try.

I am consuming a media and you are going to hear about it

Kaz Isn't Actually Motivated By Greed

Or at least, not primarily. Don't get me wrong, his stated primary driving factor is getting the money he was promised from Van Eck, but his reasoning isn't actually greed-based. Kaz's desire for money is goal-oriented and his fixation on it during the duology is fairness-based. He initially wants his share of the money because it will allow him to split from Per Haskell and start his revenge scheme over Pekka. He then pursues getting it with such zeal because Van Eck broke their deal and Kaz (rightly) feels cheated; Van Eck contracted him for a job, which he successfully completed, and then refused to pay him for it.

He fixates on destroying Van Eck because like Pekka Rollins, he broke his deal with Kaz and scammed him out of his money. It's the scamming and deal-breaking (and his inability to figure it out beforehand) that hit Kaz's pride and motivate him. If it were really just about the money, he could have gotten it any number of ways. But despite talking a big game about worshipping money and it being his primary motivating factor, he throws away an awful lot of opportunities to get and keep it during the duology:

He doesn't take the Ice Court job until he's shown the effects of parem and promised 30 million kruge (enough that when split he could realize his dreams of splitting from Haskell and taking out Rollins)

He gives up his shares in the Crow Club and Fifth Harbor to Pekka in order to rescue Inej and kickstart the Sugar Silo scheme

He doesn't abandon Inej after she's taken by Van Eck to sell Kuwei to the highest bidder, even though that would have been the most logical and lucrative option (as both Inej and Matthias think about)

He liquidates all of his existing financial assets to free Inej AND tells her where his emergency stash is so she and the rest of the Crows can get out of the city safely

He gives Rotty and Specht Per Haskell's share of the Ice Court Heist money (recognizing their loyalty and help) and Nina Matthias's share (to somewhat compensate her for her grief and fund her new cause) instead of keeping it for himself

He buys Inej a ship with HIS part of the money

And while several of the things he abandons money for are for Inej, to keep her safe and free and happy, the rest of the Crows and the Dregs at large benefit too. So do people he's probably never met. Pre-canon!Kaz fixed up the Slat with his own money so it's a safe-ish place for the Dregs to live, for example, and in Crooked Kingdom he totally goes along with Nina's plan to get all of Ketterdam's Grisha onto the boat to Ravka after a mostly token protest even though it massively complicates his plans.

It's pretty clear that no matter what he says, at the end of the day Kaz values loyalty, fairness, and keeping his promises more than he values money. The money is just a means to an end for him: he wants it because it will a) allow him to have an amount of safety and security for himself and the people he cares about (and those who have pledged their loyalty to him), b) let him keep his deals with and promises to said people, and c) give him the ability to one-up Pekka and destroy his empire.

what is a love story if not falling to your knees and pressing your shaking hands to his wound, as if the desperation of your heart could stem the blood pumping out of his; and what is a love story if not holding out a sticky-sweet handful of death to the greedy cameras; and what is a love story if not your one wish being to send her home, with all the reasons why hanging golden around your neck like a willingly-worn noose; and what is a love story if not hitching yourself to the puppet strings of politicians in a last ditch attempt to save each other across the miles; and what is a love story if not the ever- unspoken mantra “take my life: take it, take it, take it” — and what is a love story if not the burned and blistered realization that offering up your life is not enough, not quite, but that offering your lover’s life back to them might just be? so you plant her primroses in the ash, and you mend his mind with the thread of new memories, and it isn’t pretty, but it is a love story — because what else could it be?

I am a hater of the strong woman loses power at the end of the series and lives a normal domestic life to my bones but I will always defend that ending for Alina Starkov and Katniss Everdeen, it makes perfect sense for their story arcs and literally can be argued to be their driving force at times.