#I can only learn to use so many tools so fast when its not my full time job

[bethelctpride]

Tumblr has a reputation as a dumpster fire, but somehow of all the social media we have to manage, it's the one that works the best when asked to talk to another service.

The tumblr to Discord webhook in Labs worked right, on the first try, and took less than ten minutes to make it work.

MADNESS.

And it's just continued to work, absolutely reliably, with no fiddling with it required, through several Discord updates.

ABSOLUTE INSANITY

That Tumblr just makes a nice pretty RSS feed to work from means we also use it to automate posts to other things. It still sometimes looks a little wonky on other service... but it's functional. Unlike things from Meta which break on the regular and then spit out things that look like an AI chatbot and the Zalgo text generator fucked.

So kudos to Tumblr for somehow being the social media that can talk to the other ones in a functional way with the least having to go fix things when there's an update.

[plutosfallenangel]

Random Moon Sign Observations | pt.II

(*based on personal experiences and opinions. look at the whole natal chart to gain complete insight, some aspects/house placements can make contradictions to the below information*)

• Scorpio Moon •

-always watching, taking it all in..

-knows most of the answers to questions before they ask

-dry humor (which I personally love)

-passionate about whatever they put their mind to, no half or 50% effort (they do have to be emotionally bonded to the person or hobbie/task, if not, they're redirecting their energy elsewhere)

-prone to becoming hyperfocused on one specific thing (most times to their detriment)

-mommy issues (but they don't talk about them, and hate when you assume you know the relationship dynamic, it's a very unique relationship dynamic and overtime it can grow to be stronger or more distant)

-deep conversations if they trust you, which is hard to gain. Trust is earned through sacrifice most times.. even if something small, they need to see you prove your loyalty and trust)

-the one I would call to bury a body (jokes pls)

-doesn't like to make assumptions, uses their earned knowledge on human behavior, they will study those around them like a case study, only to come to their own conclusions after seeing all the "facts". They can be extremely patient in this act too... they want to know you from the inside out

-sensitive to shifts in the mood, but again.. most times they will keep this information inside and watch, study you to see why it shifted

• Sagittarius moon •

-life of the party (unless heavy earth placements, bedtime comes sooner than later especially with age)

-will be the one you can call to come help you get your car stuck out of the mud, or go biking in the backwoods.. just down for anything and personally I love that about them

-can be too concerned about keeping the good times rolling, doesn't always directly express emotions.. but it's more like a dark joke, everything is turned into a joke, you just need to decipher it most times. And if it's not turned into a joke, they will laugh after they tell you horrible news. Imo a defense mechanism

-may lack boundaries when it comes to those they connect with emotionally, this isn't always a bad thing, they're coming from a place of exploration... like "how far can you and I go?" However sometimes I find they are the most capable of staying in bad situations, always trying to see the good in everyone

-can start a campfire with their bare hands, or atleast minimal tools, very attracted to fire.. find them near a fire all year round if its possible for them to do so

-can sometimes be sneakier than Scorpio moons.. when they set their eye on something in the distance that they want, they go about it most times in silence (this does depend on which house the moon is in)

-big lovers, big emotions, and larger than life dreams

-facial expressions for DAYS! I love how expressive they are.. warm smiles

-definitely rebellious in their younger years

-doesn't like to be tied down by family, but can adapt (most often moves away from mother)

• Capricorn moon •

- lives by the work hard, play harder motto

-always learns the hard way, doesn't like to take advice, rather learn through experience

-tells you like it is when you ask for relationship advice

-too many responsibilities when they were young, even if they had a good solid foundation growing up and were provided for, the expectations put on them were very heavy

-its never "how are you feeling", more "do you need anything?" and I love them for it

-happiest when they're putting themselves into something they can build on long-term, when they don't have that they can spiral FAST

-these people can drink.. and when I say drink, they're the ones to clear a 12-pack and act like they're still sober (from my experience lol)

-in my experience is much of a mommy's girl/boy as cancer moons are (esp when they're young.. they always want to take care of their mom)

-very in tune with the weather, I notice they most times have allergies or can feel a storm coming from how their body reacts

-big provider energy, but they can feel like they can't accept help from others, and end up toughing out the storm by themselves.. this is often from early childhood experiences that breed the need for extreme independence in some form

• Aquarius moon •

-they are on their own energetic wavelengths together, all aqua moons come here for a very specific reason that aligns with what society needs to be shifted/changed.. no matter how big or small the reputation they have they make an impact on those around them. Most are well-known in their local community

-big futures/big dreamers.. these people can see themselves 10 years down the road when you ask them where they'll be, they might not have a CLUE how to get there (depending on the rest of the chart) but they'll always have a sense of direction intuitively on how to get there

-can become way too overanalyzing of their own feelings and that of others.. over thinkers. They can have a hard time reading emotional encounters in the moment.. they need some time to brew with it, read into it, and for them it's easy to sit with these memories of emotion because aqua is a fixed sign

-there is an inner hermit that exists within all of them, do NOT disturb them during their hermit hours

-doesn't give much energy out to people who do them wrong, or atleast out loud to others. They love to share stories about other people, but aren't the first ones to bring up drama when it happens

-their mom is supportive of their endeavors and always wishes the best for them.. I've never met an aqua moon that didn't have a supportive mom (again this does depend on the whole chart, esp 12H moons)

-naturally creative, most I know are very passionate about creative projects and can easily bury themselves in one for long periods of time

-most times they hate having to cancel plans, not because they dont want to go, it's because they hate feeling like they let someone down

-if they invite you to their house, they will make sure you feel at home

-big social circles, few close friends that understand them

-loves to share their viewpoints, but can have bad memories lol they tend to "misplace" memories, you never know what will trigger an old forgotten memory to come up only to dissappear again

-very smart, loves YouTube videos, emotional comfort documentaries

• Pisces Moon •

-can become their mothers "mother" in a sense, their mom might rely on them a lot

-doesnt mind crying infront of others, and for me I admire this... let it out!! There's NO shame in it! (Just don't do it to manipulate others obv)

-vivid imagination, lucid dreamers, I have a 12H moon and often find myself bonding over dream stories with them

-doesn't mind disappearing until they feel up to being social, just don't forget to check in on them, they love compassion

-i often see when they share their emotions and unfortunate stories with others that it causes them to open up too, they love to hold emotional space for people especially those closest

-can often feel the "blame" from others even if it's not theirs, they can feel like they're always doing something wrong or someone is upset and it is because of them, which is most often not the case

-will decorate with a lot of pastels or a wide variety of colors in their home

-the best mentors in their life are women

-journals, journals, journals... let me into your mind palace

-soft poets, or amateur artists, this moon sign expresses a lot of emotion through art. Art helps them put a finger on how they're feeling. They channel divine messages and emotions through a craft, and even if it's not their own art they are connecting with, they will resonate with it and pass a message along to others that helps them understand something they need to at the time

-either early bedtime or no bedtime at all, creature of the night or morning star.. there's no in between with them

-being alone helps them process the most. Especially the shower lol they can process days worth of emotions in the shower I'm convinced

[wellfine]

HII I love your art so much it's so expressive and it feels like theres so much movement in it! I was wondering if u had any tips or advice to help with that? I practice anatomy and expression so much but it seems like everything I draw on my own is so stiff!! Anyway I hope you have a great week :)) <3

Hi there! Firstly, thank you so much for the kind words, it means a lot that you would take the time to tell me!

Second- my advice is to take everything you've learned about anatomy and THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW!!!!!!!

... For now. Just into the front yard so you can keep an eye on it. But I have seen many artists concentrate chiefly on studying anatomy only to feel like their art ends up too stiff. My own experience has been to treat anatomy as a tool best used to correct an image in the later stages of construction rather than as your driving foundation.

If "correct" anatomy (however you choose to define that) is the priority of your undersketches, I find that you end up with a sort of Skeleton Song approach to drawing - y'know, the knee bone's connected to the thigh bone, etc etc. Whatever energy, emotion, or intent you wanted your drawing to convey is getting lost each time you split it into another anatomical segment. By over-focusing on individual parts, you lose sight of your image as a whole.

The key to conveying dynamic movement in motionless art is to ensure every element of your image agrees on and communicates the same action, the key to which is something called the line of action.

A line of action is simply that - an implied "line" with wich you lead the viewer's eye and communicate movement. Think of it as the core of your figure's action, simplified to its rawest form. By knowing this, you know what to emphasise and what to de-emphasise.

Well, art is a visual medium and I am better explaining with drawings than words or I'd never have picked up a pen in the first place, so:

Images can have multiple lines of action, lines of action can complement and contrast each other, and a line of action isn't always as obvious as something like running. Imagine you're tring to make your art more "aerodynamic" to the eye. Since I draw a lot of One Piece fanart, I assume you're also familiar with it, and you can probably imagine how Oda uses "lines of action" when composing panels of Luffy punching something, Zoro slicing something, Sanji kicking something- etc etc. He's really good at selling the "oomph" of action shots by reducing visual clutter so that the impact of the action is greater.

(The Monster Trio's abilities are all designed in such a way that allow for REALLY striking lines of action... you can tell Oda loves studying manga fight scenes and wanted to create a world where he could push these concepts to the limit, and it's no wonder One Piece caught the eye of animators even before it was serialised by Toei)

You're probably already noticing how line of action also feeds into composition and silhouette when it comes to conveying movement in an image. Basically put, once you've isolated whatever action it is that you want to convey, the more visual clutter you can streamline away from that action, the stronger an impact that will have on the viewer. A firm line of action, an uncomplicated silhouette for your figure, and a readable overall composition of your image/panel are all ways to minimise visual clutter.

You can also use this information to achieve the opposite effect! Sometimes the ideal action you want to convey is not fast, or powerful, or confident, and you can use the same principles.

In fact, you can apply line of action to images that don't have any "action" in them at all. You can make a drawing of someone simply standing there feel more lively by applying these same principles to their body language:

You can develop an eye for how to simplify movement down to its "lines of action" by studying real photos and other people's art. Try simplifying a figure to its silhouette, and then simplify that silhouette further to a stick figure. And honestly, a lot of this could be boiled down to "see your image as a whole and not just a collection of individual pieces". Set anatomy aside during the composition stage and bring it back in when you start building up the sketch.

Moving away from the line of action, my second piece of broad advice is simply to exaggerate more. Lots of artists subconsciously hold themselves back from pushing motion, expression, etc. out of concern that it will look "too much". Well, maybe it will- but you won't know that unless you try! You can always walk it back if you think you took it too far, but I think you'll be surprised by how far you can push your art before you hit that point.

My final piece of advice is to work on line confidence. Even if you follow the rest of this advice, if you have hesitant and scratchy lines, you're undermining the flow and punch of your art. The best way to improve line confidence is simply by practicing! Do a lot of quick, timed studies, and use a permanent medium like a ballpoint pen or marker. Focus on unbroken lines wherever possible even if it makes your studies look like garbo. I find traditional studies are best for improving line confidence, but if you'd really rather stick with digital then just don't let yourself use the eraser tool, and try using a chunky brush with limited pressure sensitivity.

And that's it! Don't stress about it too much though. Loosen up with your art and, like any other skill, you'll improve with practice, time, and analysing what you like about other people's art. Good luck!

[goodolddumbbanana]

There are so many things to analyse for today's episode, omg.

Especially the way Dark Sun talks with Sun.

Something very endearing about how, Dark Sun, like I said before, still thinks of himself as Sun. Like, instead of distinguishing himself and Sun, or think of himself as more superior like Moon with Nexus, I feel like he sees Sun as a past version of himself, the one who hasn't got tired of Moon yet, the one who still naive.

"I am speaking of myself, for myself..."

"He isn't at that level... Yet"

"I can't believe how naive I was..."

He never talks bad about Sun's intelligence, never in every single episode when Dark Sun shows up.

"... Unlike you, I don't hold such bad manners about my name.."

"... And Sun was preoccupied..."

When he talked with Puppet, when he mentioned about Sun, he never said Sun is not important because he is dumb. No, what he said was Sun's focus was in another place back then.

Lunar, Moon, Nexus, Puppet... A Lot of people even if they are Sun's family or they care and love Sun, they still usually look down at Sun's capacity or intelligent. Even Moon, sure, he is much nicer than he is back then, but he still thinks Sun is a bad actor and doesn't believe in Sun's capacity to handle himself, or to fool Ruin.

He only criticises Sun's naivety, or Sun's lack of confidence in learning everything.

Sun is not stupid, of course. But his trauma makes his head blank and he gives up on things very fast. Like the thing with magic, portal or things with machines. He even gives up to save Moon because he doesn't think he can cast magic.

The only time he keeps going, the only time he tries to find things his way and never gives up and try to find solutions is the time he tries to kill Eclipse v2.

It does not end well.

It seems like, the way Dark Sun sees Sun, is like the parent seeing their kid doesn't live up for its potential.

"I hope the next time we meet, you will grow a spine, Sun."

That is what I don't understand. Or hardly understand that term. Why, Dark Sun said that to Sun, when obviously, Sun doesn't put up with any of his bullshit.

Like, Dark Sun wants Sun to open his eyes, but...? It doesn't make any sense!!? Unless, Dark Sun wants Sun to see his way and choose his way? Dark Sun wants Sun to be more active? Or, he wants Sun to eat Moon's brain?

Just like how in Nothing happens dimension, sun sees NHD! Sun is naive and doesn't have any backbone by how Moon treats This Sun. Does it mean, what Dark Sun implied is... Sun needs to be more aggressive and try to do things his way?

They are obviously machines. By that count, Sun can be upgraded to be more intelligent than he is by now. But he chooses not too, or he doesn't think any of that, because he is scared.

When Sun is terrified, he usually just freezes. He doesn't know if the way he decides things, will make it worse or not. And with how anxious and failure he built up in these years, to grow day by day, I don't blame him for being like that.

Still, there is something very intriguing about how Dark Sun speaks with Sun with that level of patience, or such gentle manners we only see nearly, not enough, on Foxy.

Sideline: I hate that Dark Sun doesn't argue back when Moon said he doesn't see Nexus as his brother. Because it can interfere with many things.

1. Moon is right, Nexus is only a tool and Dark Sun only uses him. But because Dark Sun hates to see Moon being right, he directed the conversation and threw it out of the window.

2. Deep inside, Dark Sun truly thinks of Nexus as his brother, the one he makes, the one who stayed with him. He still uses him though.

3. 1 and 2 combined.

Or I just think too deep and I hope it doesn't happen.

[aesfocus]

aes' video game gif making tutorial 2024 Part 1

Using your own footage. While everything regarding photoshop can be applied to nearly all media, apart from long form videos(5+mins) and videos not in mp4 format; I am still focusing on walking you through making your own footage look as nice as possible.

Needed:

A game and potentially mods for said game

Camera tools for various games (optional)

OBS

Photoshop

My gif making actions so you too can be fast

This tutorial simply opens your recorded footage in photoshop, no other screen cap software is required. Lets fucking go!

[Part 2]

INTRO: From Skyrim to Destiny, recording your own footage of various games is the best method of making your own gifs.

The reason for this is myriad; 

+ less artifacting vs YT vids, as seen below

+ you’ll have more control over the content + you can have personal characters + you can alter the settings of the game to be better for gif making purposes

While this tutorial does walk you through most of the steps it is light on exactly/why I use various adjustment layers for coloring, mostly because tumblr began to block my images/links. Other folks have tutorials but I can make one if its something people want.

But the real purpose of this tutorial is to cut the time it take to make gifs down by just opening your file vs. screencaping and so on.

1. Select your game and edit game settings for gif making.

Because we are using OBS, and recording the screen and not the game itself(more on this later), what game you are playing matters little. 

Other paid programs like FRAPS still work, as do some free programs like Afterburner/RivaTuner, but when it comes to multiplayer, some may be caught by various anti-cheats and shut down. (ESO will not launch if afterburn is already open, for example). OBS has simply been my go to for around seven years.

Settings.

Please feel free to play around with your game settings to find what works, you may even play a game on different settings from what you record footage under. I do not play with DOF settings on in games but do record with them on.

Dropping your screen-size from and being able to turn on ultra vs medium settings may make your gifs look much better as another example. 

+ At least 30FPS, try to avoid stuttering, lower the settings if needed. + Avoid crushing of blacks or blown out whites, especially when giffing POC! Adjust brightness and gamma as needed, HDR isn't your friend here. + While dark nights maybe more realistic and challenging for you, it often produces a dark gif in which nothing can be seen. + Turn off motion blur and film grain, these both add needless file size and look off when scaled down in photoshop. If you want grain add some after. + 720p is about as low for footage as you want to go unless making gifs for very old games. Work with what you have with old games. + Using mods and things like reshade can make your game shine.

Example time; ENB only on top, heavily modded on bottom, no adjustments were made in photoshop.

Modding can really alter a game. 

Skyrim is very famous for it, but everything from Mass Effect to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous have visual mods! They can make your footage stand out immensely, they can make your FPS drop, or even make it better. 

Please be respectful of mod authors. As someone who made them in the past, we are not content farms, we are just folks with a fun hobby like gif making!

I highly suggest any mod that removes screen blur, vignette and film grain!

2. Camera Tools (optional)

So you have your game, now it's time to learn what camera tools exist, if any, for your game. Many games like Rogue Trader and Dragon Age, have free camera mods. Some games like Bethesda games and some Mass Effects, have built in, or partially built in fly cams.

I used to back in the day before DA:O had camera tools back myself into a corner and swing the over-the-shoulder camera around to get gifs, so you have to work with what you have.

If you want to go the paid route there are plenty of camera mods available from assassin’s creed games to BG3. These are generally of better quality and work smoothly, but check around for reviews before you dish out your hard earned money!

Each of these tools will have different commands that you will have to learn. 

3. Obtain OBS & set it up

Why OBS?

It's free, it uses very little of your computer's resources. OBS also allows you to switch between screen recording, what I always use, and recording a specific program. Many other recording programs will not record some very old games, some can't record specific games.

Add to that, some hardware recording software will not record shadows or can get light values wrong and you are fighting a battle game after game. So I just go for what's free and works consistently.

I've only known one person for whom OBS failed to work, and that I think was a version issue. 

Install OBS, and then make a specific scene all the way on the left;

You can rename this or duplicate it if you also intend to stream(right clicking scene will bring up the menu to do so), I don't use OBS when streaming so I leave this as is.

Right click on the source and ensure it is set as Display Capture. Because some, especially older games, won't work with Game Capture you are going to record the screen. Double click Display Capture if you have multiple screens(I have 2) and select which you want to record!

Next we need to go into settings, over there on the right under Controls. Once in settings, go down to Video and keep the base and output values whatever your actual display size is. I have a 1440 display so it's set to 1440, if you are running 720 make sure it's 720 and so forth.

Ensure 30fps is chosen. Anything more is overkill, for both photoshop and your rig!

Next go to Hotkeys. This will be different if you are using OBS to stream as well, but because I am not, I cleared everything but the recording hotkeys and I assigned them to scroll lock. This is because I've yet to encounter any game or mod that uses the key for anything. Use what makes sense for you, however.

Finally make your way to Output, this is important. Ignore streaming, look at Recording.

+ Pick a folder you want to save in + pick indistinguishable quality, large file size. + Pick MP4+ which encoder you use is up to your system! This is the one that made sense for me and my system. There are tons of videos on YT that go over each encoder. Also here https://obsproject.com/kb/audio-video-formats-guide is the official guide. We need to be able to open the file in photoshop so I tend to lean toward H.264.

3. Test OBS and your game footage together!

Go into your game, record a menu!

If you see something weird here, like your game footage not actually recording, troubleshoot!

With your recording you shouldn't see any stretching.

Now go into game and for 3-5 seconds record you playing, if something isn't recording well, again, troubleshoot. OBS takes a small amount of resources but for older rigs you may need to adjust settings in either game or OBS to get better recordings.

Once you are comfortable, it's time to go wild!

4. Record your gif footage.

+ 5 second clips are best for scenery gifs, + anything from 2-10 seconds can be used for a character talking + anything more than 10 seconds? You'll hit tumblr's limits instantly and will need to make multiple gifs. Which isn't a big deal, but do make note of it as it is much harder for older rigs to open a 5 min 1440p recording than 10 seconds. Depending on the rig it may not even open, so try and make several recordings rather than one long one.

5. Photoshop set up if you pirated an older version

If your gifs look weirdly stretched, check pixel ratio! If your photoshop is legit, or you know that it isn't stretching your gifs wildly you can skip this step.

I don't care how you obtain photoshop, but photoshop has had the ability to open MP4 videos for nearly 15 years. You do not need to, and I do not encourage you to use any screencapping software. That's great for long-form videos, but my computer 12 years ago could open a 5min music video fine and it was a potato.

Often photoshop 'portable' aka pirated photoshop comes with some wild settings, namely, pixel ratio changes. Please check this first;

And look at what default is actually set at, if your gifs always look stretched oddly when uploaded to tumblr.

It should be 1:1.

Then look at,

Again set it to square! Newer photoshop, and non-pirated versions often will let you look at other aspect ratios but won't save weirdly. so 2:1 will still save to 1:1, this hasn’t always been the case with cracked photoshop, especially the version from around 2014.

6. Open

Either drag in all your videos, or just... file → open.

This is why you saved as 5 seconds and MP4, so you didn't need any extra steps!

++Please be aware that older/weaker rigs and laptops can struggle, and if you are seeing crazy hot temps and such its an issue. Seeing Photoshop pause to open/play an action is normal but not chugging. I tell you this so you remember to dust your case and give your hardware some love, fiddle with settings and if this straight up doesn't work with your version of photoshop it might not be for you.

7. Crop your videos

Once you have your video/s open, select the crop tool. (it should be right here in the default setup. or Simply press C on newer Photoshops)

Step 1-  in the far left box you want to select Width by Height and then type what size you want to crop to. Height Matters little but Width does matter.

Here are tumblr’s current 2024 sizes again!

10mb is the max, anything more will have a new compression algorithm applied to make it under 10mb.

Please look at the sizes closely. I'll give you an example! Lets say you make your widest gif 1000 pixels, a common wrong size.

I could only fit 20 frames in this bad boy, and its squished, despite the saving compression used, tumblr eats the quality to make it pixelated/artifact-filled.

Compare that to this, 66frames

Slightly different cropping but you get the point.

Same thing with using 540px in the 268px spot.

Compare it to the gifs below which is a 4.83mb 133 frame image in the 268 spot. see how it's less pixelated?

Now back to that Image. Lets talk about... Step 2. Select a range from within the image, try to avoid going to the edges, otherwise you get a 1 pixel wide transparent line. It's hard to see on some blogs, and so obvious on others. Mobile users won't likely see it, but it does take a slight amount more file size as well.

This is what I mean.

Step 3. Time is money, friend. And by this I mean I am going to provide you with the means to skip a TON of steps in the gif making process and just use my action, I'm even going to help you figure out how to fix it when it fails. For the low price of free. If you want the how to, I can break down what all the action is doing, but I haven't even thought about these steps in about 8 years or so.

PART 2 THIS WAY

(because tumblr hates more than 30 images)

[beannary]

Hi! Thank you for blessing us all with tlp :) it’s such a cool au and I like it a lot!! I have many thoughts about it so I’ll start writing them now:

With Donnie being raised by Big Mama, the change in dynamics with literally everyone is interesting to think about, so of course my brain has latched onto the concept of how Donnie’s dynamic with his own brain (his neurodiversity/autism) effects his relationships with himself and his family. 

(beannary note: putting everything under the cut so this doesn’t get too long)

Comparing Donnie’s relationship with his own neurodiversity in tlp to canon makes me so emotional you have no idea…..in canon he’s never had a need to mask, living in the sewers with a family who accepts him for who he is, so he has difficulties doing so when needed; we’ve seen him in situations where he is unable to mask/act “socially appropriate” (the mystic library episode comes to mind - he can’t control the volume of his voice when he gets excited. Also every single time he is put in a situation where he has to lie but he is comically bad at it. Also the many many instances in which he is shown being unable to ‘read the room’). But in tlp he seems to be masking a lot, either when he’s interacting with Big Mama’s guests or with Big Mama herself (your Masking is Hard comic comes to mind instantly - how Donnie has a hyperspecific role to play as Big Mama’s Son and the pressure to not only be sociable, but be sociable in a way that meets his mother’s expectations. Its a lot to handle, acting a way that doesn’t come naturally to you and no matter how many times you go through the motions you feel as if it doesn’t get any easier and you dont know why). Tlp Donnie can mask far more convincingly than canon Donnie, but only because he’s had to mask frequently throughout his life. It seems to me like he’s been taught at a young age that he needs to stop acting so “weird” (for example, stimming in obvious ways), because that kind of behavior loses its cuteness fast with Big Mama & most of the company she associates with. I imagine lots of his behaviors are discouraged as he grows up because they’re “not cute anymore” and he’s “not a little kid anymore” and he “needs to learn some manners/self-control” even though everything “weird” Donnie does feels like so natural to him, even as he gets older. Although I do think Donnie has instinctively coped with this by making his stims more subtle (this is where I get to be self-indulgent and imagine his stims - humming, tapping his feet, fiddling with any object he can get his hands on, blasting EDM in his headphones etc), and he only pulls out the big guns (aka big stims) when he’s in his own room with the door closed (or when he’s locked himself in a bathroom stall and physically cannot hold himself back anymore). 

Unfortunately for Donnie I also figure that this amount of masking makes him more susceptible to meltdowns. In canon Donnie has so much freedom and control over his own life that the only time I can remember him being even mildly close to Meltdown Territory is during the Todd Scouts episode when his tech was taken away. And even then, he immediately knows how to cope with the change by Creating with whatever tools he is able to find, his brothers just accepting his absence as he goes MIA to build the things he needs to make himself feel better (like the wooden battle shell). But in tlp au does he even know how to cope in healthy ways? Does he get to go MIA for long periods of time so he can pull himself together and prevent a meltdown from happening? Oouuggghh I just want him to be happy :( poor guy feels as if he has no control over his life to the point he develops an eating disorder, he absolutely has no idea what a healthy coping skill is. I’m torn in between concepts for how he processes his neurological differences - either he goes the “autism? don’t be ridiculous, everyone feels this way” route or the “I am astronomically Different from anyone else I know. surely this is just due to my superior intellect and not a developmental disability of any sorts”. Either way this dude is not connecting any dots nor processing any emotions in a healthy way. (Now that I think about it, while Donnie lives with Big Mama, his unique and different skillset are probably what he clings onto to feel needed and useful to his mother, so the latter makes sense for him during that time. But the former makes sense when the concept of Different scares him, when it’s not just intellect and fixations and tunnel vision but sensory issues and social awkwardness and repetitve movements, things that very clearly separate him from his family and make him less of the Perfect Son he is expected to be.) 

Another thing I’d like to ramble about is Donnie, his autism, and his relationship with his brothers and his dad….you mentioned in an ask that he doesn’t know he’s autistic but that may change when he starts living with the Hamatos. This made me think about how Donnie’s brothers react to his autistic traits in canon versus in tlp (assuming that no one knows that Donnie is autistic; they just know that his brain works Differently than the rest of theirs). In canon, Donnie has lived with his brothers for his entire life. His brothers know his habits, his preferences, his sensitivities, his moods, etc. He may be Different than the rest of them, but not so much that they think about it for more than 5 minutes. Donnie is their brother - any “weird” behavior is not too different from how how he usually acts. Donnie may be weird but they all are in their own ways and it’s not a big deal to them. His brothers are used to accommodating his needs and dealing with his moods. However, in tlp, Raph, Mikey, and Leo don’t know him very well yet. They’ve never lived with him before and when they do accept Donnie into their home as an Official Brother (a development I’m very excited for), they also can’t help but immediately recognize the stuff that makes him Different from the rest of them (if they’re the ones that recognize that it could be autism, than it’s Differences in a way that’s Familiar, if that makes sense). Differences that aren’t just unhealthy habits and mindsets from his previous shitty living situation. Obviously they can be accommodating but it would understandably take longer to adjust simply because they’re not used to Donnie’s specific quirks. They don’t know right away what makes him uncomfortable, or what textures he prefers, or why he moves and talks and acts the way he does. It’s a learning experience for everyone. 

As for Donnie and Splinter….they make me so emotional!!!! Your art of the two of them is so so good and captures that emotion. When Donnie lives with the Hamatos, everything changes. Anyone would have difficulties adjusting to this huge change, but I imagine for Donnie it’s a lot harder. How do you cope with leaving your mother, your only family member you’ve known your entire life? And now suddenly he has to stop being His Mother’s Son and become His Father’s Son, another role he has to create and adjust to (he doesn’t realize yet that his father doesn’t need Donnie to try to be someone he’s not - he loves Donnie unconditionally, just the way he is ;-;) because having a role to play is familiar to him, the only familiar thing he can cling onto during these huge changes in his life. Unfortunately though it just makes everything more exhausting, not only coping with the move into a literal sewer but trying to act like a perfect son for Splinter. Donnie doesn’t know yet that he doesn’t have to mask in front of a parent or meet impossible expectations to “earn” parental love and approval. Meanwhile Splinter sees how Donnie acts with his brothers (much more casual because Donnie doesn’t feel as if he has to “impress” his brothers the way he has to with a parental figure) versus how Donnie acts with him and thinks he’s doing something wrong, that he’s the one giving off an impression to his new son that he has to suppress his stims or say the “right” things or do stuff that makes him uncomfortable because he thinks it’ll make his parent happy…..but I have faith that this pressure eases with time, that they get more comfortable around each other the longer they live together. Eventually Donnie won’t be hesitant or embarrassed to take off the mask in front of his father. Maybe one day he’ll get rid of the mask around his family entirely!! Either way I’m excited to see tlp Donnie’s journey :) thanks for sharing your au with us!

HI THIS IS BEANNARY SPEAKING NOW wow this was so much and im sooooo glad that you are enjoying this au! And for real its so flattering that you like?? wrote all this about my silly au this has actually been the only thing that I could think about since you asked if you could send this in and yeah it’s just really nice to see that people like my comic and this little separated au that i dreamed up

One of the big differences between canon donnie and tlp donnie is tlp donnie’s ability to mask really well. When he was a kid, a lot of his stims were cute and adorable so Big Mama didn’t like encourage them? but let him you know stim freely since she thought it was cute, but as he got older and he kept on stimming in obvious ways she started really hounding him to stop. I do really like the idea of donnie starting to stim in more subtle ways, and im definitely going to try to incorporate that in some of the comics! He still needs to stim, because you know of the autism, and so he does tap his feet and play with whatever little object he can get in his hands when he’s in public. His room is his one safe space where he can really be himself, since its the one spot where he’s not being watched by anyone (his safe space isn’t his lab because what he does in his lab is highly controlled by Big Mama so while he does like being in there and getting to do his science, he’s still pretty on edge since he never knows if his mom is watching him or not). Donnie really loves spending time in his room, though he doesn’t really get a whole lot of time there by himself since Big Mama has filled his schedule with as many extra curriculars as possible so she can show him off all the time). But speaking of his room it sure would be bad if something happened to it! Sure would be bad if it was destroyed in some way thereby destroying his one safe space! Haha! ;)

And no! Donnie does not know how to cope in healthy ways! He is very good at figuring out when he is about to have a meltdown and at figuring out a way to subtly get out of a situation so he can go recuperate somewhere in private, but even then, he can never spend a whole lot of time to himself because if he ever disappeared for an abnormally long amount of time, it would draw attention to himself and more specifically to these meltdowns that he’s having and he really wants those to stay off of Big Mama’s radar since if she knows about them then that’s one more thing for her to criticize and then it’ll be even harder for him to deal with them with his mom now being aware of them. And yeah he does know about autism but he’s still like no it simply could not be me but in that way where he’s like 99% sure he’s autistic but is just refusing to acknowledge it so he can keep on pretending to be ‘normal’. if that makes sense alksdjfh

Living with the Hamatos is going to be very hectic and scary for Donnie just because of how different their home is from his current home. In tlp, Raph also is autistic im pretty sure idk I might change that as the comic progresses but at this point that is what im going with but just havent had a whole lot of time to develop, but that’s part of the reason why the hamatos are so accepting of Donnie, its because they’re already used to living with a sibling who is autistic so all of this is second nature to them, it’s just normal and that really throws donnie for a loop because he’s so used to walking on all these eggshells making sure to act as allistic as possible 24/7 only to be suddenly dumped into an environment where its completely normal and accepted for him to just be himself. And sure it’ll be a learning curve for the hamatos because like obviously not all autistic people are the same but it’ll also be a learning curve for donnie since he’ll finally be able to relax and figure out who he is without having to hide himself all the time. 

Donnie and splinter’s relationship is what im really the most excited to write about. I really want Donnie’s experience leaving Big Mama to mirror Splinter’s experience. And I really don’t want to spoil too much but Donnie is really not gonna like Splinter much at first, and it’s gonna take a while for Donnie to warm up to his dad, but also Splinter is going to be the most understanding of what Donnie is going through because well, Splinter also left an abusive relationship with Big Mama. I dont really want to say much more about their relationship because I dont want to spoil the good angst I have planned but I’m really excited to explore their relationship more!!!!

Also just for the record I have not like proofread any of this so there may be typos or maybe i said something dumb so just lmk and ill fix it aklsdjhf Im not autistic (or am I! I havent been to therapy in a while and I would not be surprised to find out that I am autistic or that I have adhd or something else) so lmk if i said something stupid or phrased something in a dumb way and I cannot emphasize how fast I will fix it 

Ok bye now!!! this was fun!!! and thank you for sending this in!!! Idk it just really warms my heart that someone out there is thinking about this silly au this much, makes it feel like all the work ive put into making this comic is worth it :)

[rhubarbes]

via Johnson Ting 

Text by Johnson Ting 

“ <This image is made by an AI, someone fed my works to it as data> About Ai 

“ Ok, guys since I've been sharing about AI stuff recently and I have a lecture tomorrow to give, where there will be discussions about AI, I might as well lay some of it off here to share with you guys my thoughts at this period of time in AI development. Long read ahead.

I know I joke about things like quitting and retiring, but I'm not. No worries about that, thank you guys for messaging me and giving me kind words about it. My stance on AI is that it is definitely, at this point, inevitable. Sure, some companies are banning AIs in their creation process, but it is only a matter of time before AI can produce "ethical" art, just like how the issues with hands are almost gone in just a year or so, seeing there are less and fewer arguments about AI on public spaces, it will also be a matter of time when people will just accept AI and embrace it. What I am currently doing and what I encourage people to do, is to keep their heads dug in and improve their own skillset no matter what, no matter how fast the world is changing out there, focus on improving you as an individual, try to bulk up your leverage, be good at what you do and when the time comes you are able to wield AI as one of the many tools that have come before. There will definitely come a day when digital artists MUST work with AI art, and to prep for that day, we can only do what old masters have done before us, keep our heads held high, practice, and improve. But here's a fact: It's going to take twice if not more, effort and passion from this point onward, it's going to be hard to get your artwork out there and get your voice heard, rough ride ahead, but not unbearable, only the best survives and thrives, and this is the time where we have no choice but to absolutely be the best. Be prepared, arm yourself with skills and knowledge, don't stop learning, don't stop yearning for more! What you shouldn't do is sit still and watch it happen. I personally am not supportive of AI art because of its unethical process, but I am also not naive to hope for a future without it, because it is definitely here to stay. The best-case scenario is that everyone can adapt and thrive, but as history shows when it comes to technology, there will be a cost, and there will be casualties. I hope we as artists, can keep up the motivation to hone our crafts, so we can continue to inspire the generations after. So there's no point in hoping for a no AI future, it is already here, let's work for a peaceful scenario where we can both co-exist in peace. Otherwise, you may find me giving blowjobs to our AI overlords in a dark alley in 2046. “

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 245 (Spoilers)

I was so worried that we'd get cockblocked again by Gege by jumping to another fight. Luckily we only start the chapter with those two and its an awesome start

We learn that Hakari's healing is faster than Sukuna's and Gojo's. The question is how long can he keep this up outside of a Jackpot. Taking damage even if you can heal fast isn't ideal though. Uraume just has to target his head.

I also got Mugen Train flashbacks from all of that fast healing.

The Essence of Cursed Energy and of other techniques is most likely something that will get more important later on. Something like Kashimo's polarization or Hakari's CE that has an additional property will come into play then

Uraume makes an imposing figure here and I'll bet that Hakari won't be able to defeat them on his own. My theory on that is still that Kashimo will get back up again to aid Hakari.

After this we get back to the courtroom but Gege's unpredictability strikes again. We made so many different theories on how this would go: would Megumi be pulled to the stand? Will Sukuna find a way to talk himself out of this

NO!

Sukuna says fuck it, I'm guilty, get that sword out

In hindsight, this is absolutely typical of Sukuna. He wants to fight and test his boundaries until he either surpasses them or fails and dies. This entire day is most likely his happiest in all of his life.

No one knew that the confiscation of his CT would be applied to his cursed tool. Like, did the good guys never train with each other and their DE? They could've found out about this earlier!

Who or what warned Higuruma about his impending death? Was it instinct like with Toji? Was it his shikigami? Maybe even Tsumiki?

Not gonna lie, I completely overlooked those three when I first read this chapter with the bad translation. But this is also the extent of their planning in case Gojo was defeated. They need to win and they'll do whatever it takes.

Will a 5 vs 1 battle be enough though?

Maki is the most high profile character who's missing here

Because Sukuna still has his CT, he sent his attack to Higuruma and Kusakabe but they only looked a little sliced up, meaning that Sukuna couldn't fully charge his attack. In other words his CE is on the low end.

What could this mean for the future fights? Could he e.g. use Megumi's CE as his reserve? And who will die next? When will Nobara use Resonance on him?

Overall, an awesome chapter but we didn't get to see the courtroom play out. Maybe Higuruma will activate it again. It seemed to me as if he might get the spot light again in the upcoming chapters.

[light-lanterne]

my brother's watching evangelion and i can barely remember the plot, but here's an idea:

cw // self-dehumanisation, light mentions of violence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ☽ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - small offering, @boycattj, @byelerss, @catboy-cabin, @conanssummerchild, @cosmobrain00, @dark-quill, @fenixashes, @fluffyfangirl, @holyvirgilscriptures, @foodiewithdahoodie, @hyperfixationcentralsvoid, @ivytheenbyfae, @runninguplenorahills, @rotisseries, @saffirez, @willow-lark, @yearninginblue.

au where mike is a mech pilot who's long forgotten how to feel. who only knows how to kill and be part of the machine.

he obviously didn't start off this way, of course. as a child, he used to be vivacious and energetic; full of dreams and creative ideas he constantly shared with his friends. but then he grew older and the people around him pressured him into joining nerv and, because he isn't strong, fast, and no one would listen to the ideas of a complete newcomer, he somehow ended up piloting a mech unit, his determination and desire to prove he could be useful somehow rendering him an amazing pilot.

so he dedicated himself to it. volunteered to take on other pilots' shifts. spent far too much time in the machine for it to be healthy but it was the only way he could be helpful in humanity's struggle against the destructive angels. the only thing he was good at. little by little, he grew used to the many negative symptoms of being inside the biomechanic suit, and even came to think of them as normal. little by little, his brash and defiant personality mellowed out and soon, he became a husk of his former self, the only emotion he knows anymore being that of constant anxiety but not from having to get inside the mech.

from being away from it.

from having to rest in a home where nobody will talk to him anymore; from having to go to school and see the classmates who are now afraid of him; from being forced to spend time with "friends" who don't even address his mere presence unless it's to remind him of his place.

from having to walk amidst humans who only see him as a tool, just as easily breakable as he is replaceable.

and he is. replaceable, that is. he's a frail flesh being with a mind that could easily collapse if he's not careful, and whom the higher-ups would never hesitate to toss in the trash if they ever deemed him ineffective. whom the machine could simply go on without should he not be in perfect working order, ready to help it fulfil its duty.

that's why he must devote his entire self to his mech. that's why he mustn't think, talk or question orders and instead wait patiently for any and all indications. because he needs this. he needs to be good, follow the rules and fulfil his role; he needs to be a perfect engine part and work for the body he's become a part of as best as he can. he's eager, desperate to obey and serve this being for which he feels he was made for, and anything that distracts him from his only purpose is not worth any attention.

he's no longer human. he's only a cog.

and maybe he would question this conclusion he's come to if anyone told him he was wrong. if someone reminded him of his humanity and his life before nerv,,,

but everyone seems to agree with his assessment. in fact, everyone's been instructed to treat him as an object by nerv's higher ups, and everyone is happy to oblige and perpetuate mike's self-dehumanisation.

,,,everyone but the mech technician who's been tasked with helping mike and his mech recover after a bad encounter with an angel. who constantly pushes for conversations even if he never gets a reply, who learns to give him faux orders to get basic answers out of him, and who eventually figures out that the only time he can talk to mike (the only time mike's conditioned himself to allow himself to think) is when he's inside his mech.

the mech technician who is secretly an angel and whose plan to destroy nerv from within has taken a detour for he really wants to see what mike can do (for or against the angels) once he's taught it's okay for him to be human again.

- the end -

(in this au, brenner's the head of nerv, henry and willel were normal children who he turned into angels, and mike's the poor soul he's picked to see what happens if a human deludes themselves into seeing themselves exclusively as part of the mech (a process mike unwittingly began by himself and brenner merely picked up on and decided to exacerbate). oh, and of course, will's the angel who nearly took out mike~ )

[inoppositionflorien]

You know, the more history I learn the more I'm beginning to think maybe the system is mostly fine and doesn't need revolutionary change, and that nearly all issues are solvable through changes most systems currently in existence are compatible with. (Not that those changes are happening everywhere particularly fast, but they have been happening in many places and the revolutionary change method tends to lead to a lot of problems.)

Like sincerely I must be missing something because everyone talks about how corrupt and bad things are but I just don't see what they're talking about, it doesn't seem to line up with reality at all, and in the cases it does line up with reality the proposed solutions very obviously don't fix the problem in question, and often have a proven track record of not doing that.

I do think at least part of it is because people in my extended circle have decided liberalism (the thing that gave them rights as it expanded) is actually a bad thing. I've seen some people having success by framing liberal positions as anarchist positions (which is not too far off, liberalism and anarchism come from similar roots, though anarchism has struggled to exist in the real world at scale in places where people can see it such that they'd see the key issues with its structures beyond that it loses every war. Primarily that it relies a lot on mass participation which encourages mob justice and will eventually favor a small minority of highly engaged people. You want the subjects of Tumblr callout posts to be kicked out of town? You want a homeowners association's totalizing control of your life where you nominally could participate but it's kind of a chore so only the most insufferable people are there? No legally enforceable protections for minorities because the community's power is absolute and the community says you stepped out of line by being queer or not white or mentally ill or some combination thereof and even slightly offbeat undermining community spirit? Anarchism might be for you!) but the thing is it's kind of hard to argue in defense of liberalism as a useful tool in conjunction with Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy when the problems people have with it don't seem to be liberalism problems, but instead a combination of problems that remain unsolved and may be mathematically unsolvable, foreign policy issues which they propose to solve via isolationism (which worked... Well it didn't at all really but I'm sure this time it's a good idea), and stuff that just isn't even true like you can do fifteen minutes of fact checking and learn it's not true, and then look into those sources for that claim for weeks and see "yep it still isn't true"

[sailorsplatoon]

What if Pixel was the new host for the Absolute Solver?

ooh actually that makes a lot of sense since they are a robot. Tiny disclaimer, I know I said this in my last MD post, but I feel the need to say it here too; I haven’t seen the finalle yet so this post might not fit right with whatever new lore is revealed in that episode. (Assuming new lore is revealed, maybe there isn’t any. Idk, I haven’t watched it yet.) There will be spoilers in this post for other episodes, just not the finalle!

Pixel has kind of made themself the perfect target already, seeing as they gave themself a ton of weapons. Not only that, but they also have access to the Memverse. If the Absolute Solver is in their programming when they enter the Memverse, it then has the tools it need to take over the whole world and then destroy it, seeing as the Memverse allows access to literally eveybody’s souls. 

What I can imagine happening is the Absolute Solver manages to get Pixel as it’s host and then it starts working to slowly take over. But then halfway through the process when Pixel is quickly figuring out what’s happening to them, the solver learns about the Memverse. Now that Pixel is figuring out that the Absolute Solver is using them as its new host, they’re not going to just let it into the Memverse, so the solver works extra fast to be able to possess them and get into the Memverse using their body. If the Absolute Solver can act well (which it probably can knowing the whole Tessa situation), there might be a chance that no one even notices Pixel was possessed. Because Pixel’s typical color is yellow, and the solver’s typical color is yellow, so aside from personality there aren’t many major immediate tells. 

So essentially if the Absolute Solver uses Pixel as a host, the world just ends. But because I tend to prefer happy endings, I’m going to say that Marina figured out something was wrong with the code in the Memverse the moment the solver started mesing with it. Seeing as this happened before with Smollusk, she has safety protocols put in place now which she activates immediately. She traps the Absolute Solver in the Memverse without access to people’s souls. However that means no one can get in or out, so Pixel is stuck in there with the Absolute Solver and they have to beat it on their own. Marina is able to help a little with her hacks, but other than that they’re alone. It’s definitely a stuggle, but Pixel eventually manages to win. 

Thank you for the ask!!! I didn’t realize before how easy it would be for the solver to take over the world if it did it through Pixel…

[adamwatchesmovies]

Encanto (2021)

Encanto is an instant favorite. You watch it once, you’re blown away, you look up its songs and listen to them on repeat. Filled with memorable characters, breathtaking visuals and complicated emotions, there’s something here for everyone.

At the heart of the isolated community of Encanto is Casita, a sentient house that grants magic gifts to the members of the Madrigal family on their 5th birthday. For two generations, the Madrigals have used their abilities to serve their neighbors, except for Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) who mysteriously received no gift. Now 15, Mirabel notices Casita acting strangely and begins investigating. All signs point towards her uncle Bruno (John Leguizamo) - who vanished ten years ago - being tied to an incoming disaster.

Writing my summary of the plot, made me realize how complicated this story is. When animated films were drawn by hand, you usually had one to three central characters and their journey was about their own physical, internal or emotional changes. Once the era of computer-generated imagery began, plots began to shift towards characters who change/explore the world around them. Encanto takes this to a new level. While Mirabel is the protagonist, every member of her extended family & her home is given enough screen time to be called an important character and the story is ultimately about so many topics it’s a wonder they’re all squeezed into the 102-minute running time - keep in mind that includes the credits.

How does “Encanto” do it? By utilizing all the tools at its disposal with peak efficiency. The film begins with a song that lays out the groundwork for everything we need to know about Encanto, Casita and the Madrigal family. The beat and lyrics are so catchy you don’t even realize it’s a deluge of exposition. From there, we’re on a fantastical journey with plenty of real-world equivalents. Maribel’s oldest sister is Isabela (Diane Guerrero) who can make flowers bloom everywhere and can seemingly do no wrong. She always looks perfect and is constantly showered with compliments. Maribel’s second older sister is Luisa (Jessica Darrow). Her superhuman strength allows her to move buildings and everyone knows they can count on her whenever there’s an emergency. Take away the fancy superpowers, look at the family dynamics and who is Maribel? The youngest sister who will never be as good as her other siblings, no matter how hard she tries. It only takes a song and a few lines of interaction for us to “see” all the years these people have had together. Encanto is ultimately a mystery. It’s about Mirabel trying to discover why her uncle disappeared all those years ago. Beneath that, it’s about our responsibilities towards each member of our family and how we want to separate ourselves from them while also remaining connected.

As Maribel investigates her uncle Bruno and his sinister ability to see the future, we learn more about the family. The knowledge we gather often comes in the form of catchy tunes - the best Disney has produced since Moana. They’re accompanied by stunning visuals, the kind that makes you pause and wonder “How did they do that?” You know they didn’t need to get actors and animals to learn any kind of choreography but it’s so well done and there is so much detail packed in every frame you forget you’re watching computer-generated graphics. This is the kind of movie you could watch over and over and always discover something new. Either in the backgrounds, the character designs, the lyrics, the dialogue or the emotions. 

If I had to find a flaw in Encanto it’s that there are a lot of big emotions here that are resolved quickly. Familial and generational trauma, sibling rivalries, resentment because of the expectations (or lack of) placed on you and more. Love sweeps them all away so fast. That’s me looking for something. I can see many people thinking the resolutions make perfect sense and feel genuine because for the large part, they are. The way the film solves the mystery at its core and deals with all of the matters of the heart is exemplary.

Everyone who sees Encanto will find something about it to call their own. This is a beautiful, memorable, emotionally complex film with great characters and top-notch writing. You should see it if only so you can be part of the conversation because once you get going about this 2021 Disney release, you won’t want to stop talking about it. (November 5, 2022)

[reborrowing]

I hate ai in creative spaces naturally but it's also so demoralizing to know that that's the only use people generally know of and base their opinion on

like

it has massive potential in the world of augmentative communication. the only way to process natural human speech at human speed is if there is some idea of what's coming next and what muffled or otherwise degraded speech signals should have been. (this is a big part why a second language sounds "too fast" to learners btw, when we listen to speech we jump ahead, prime activation of words we expect to come next, fill in obscured sounds, and adjust as needed. a learner doesn't have enough context to do this) machine learning is the only real method we have to get computers to do this and it must have a broad set of data to train on or else it will be easily tripped up by slang, jargon, accents, and other nonstandard language. This is why auto-generated captions have only come anywhere close to decent transcriptions fairly recently. They use AI.

additionally slow speed is a frustration for many aac users because others end up speaking over them before they can finish. (Sometimes, before they can even start!) If a board can offer up fast, accurate predictions as shortcuts, that's a good thing.

Like I'm in applied ling so of course most of my knowledge of where it can be applied ethically is in NLP

even then, even if we regulate it to be only for non-artistic purposes (which. mm. If a tool exists, humans will use it for art so I'm a little skeptical of that sorry), regulate it so all models must be trained on ethically acquired corpora, there's still the environmental impact. Training a model currently has a massive carbon footprint for its usage and arguing about when or where we can use AI brushes that further under the rug.

It's like. We've opened a fresh pandoras box and the argument that follows is whether or not we should be allowed to admire the color of the explosion.

[firelord-frowny]

YIKES lmaooo accidentally made myself cryyyyy re-reading this bit of fanfiction i have no recollection of writinggggg omfg.

tbh i feel like this is worth the read even if you dont give a fraction of a flying fuck about fanfic or about assassins creed lmao bc like. its a very expressive and eloquent exploration of how hard it is to see yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you when you fucking hate yourself 🙃

“My body, it… it’s so weak. And soft. I’m not strong enough to fight anyone. I’m not fast enough to run away.” 

“Your mind is just as effective a self-defense tool as any sword or shield.” 

“Is it, though?” 

“You’re here. You’ve survived things that many people wouldn’t have.” 

“That is true. But what I’ve had to give up? The things I’ve had to let happen to me? A man invites himself unto my body. And I don’t want him there. But I can’t stop him. At the end of it, I’m uninjured. But not because I fought him off. I’m uninjured because I negotiated. Because I figured out what he wanted most out of me. And I handed it over. So he wouldn’t have to hurt me in order to steal it. I get robbed all the time. But I don’t lose my most prized items because I’ve learned how to hide them. Or disguise them. Or convince my assailants that my less expensive belongings are worth more than they really are. I never win anything, Alexios. I’m never saved by my intellect. And you should know what I’m talking about, because you are exactly the kind of person who relishes in finding a mark like me. One who is so painfully aware of their own shortcomings that they don’t even try to put up a fight. I survive. I don’t triumph. And if my body were strong, then maybe I could triumph. Someday. In some way.” 

“Not everyone can be… strong, or fast. And not everyone can be brilliant. I think if I had a mind like yours, then… I would probably have become someone I could be a lot more proud of than I am. You think having to use wit instead of force to protect yourself is a weakness, but what I wouldn’t give to know how to end a conflict without resorting to extreme violence. I’m not saying that it doesn’t make sense for you to feel how you do. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that kind of helplessness. I’m just saying that the way you are… the body that you have… there is nothing wrong with you. You are beautiful. And worthy, and powerful in your own right. You, exactly the way you are, have a valuable place in the world. Especially my world. I need you. The version of you that sits before me right now. That’s what I need.” 

“I don’t understand. I can’t do anything for you.” 

He looked at me for a long time. The calculating look. The one he gets when he’s examining a rockface he’s never climbed before. Looking for footholds and handholds. Scoping out the most efficient rout. Or, perhaps, the look he gets when he’s gauging just how fast he needs to run to clear the jump from one plateau to another. Estimating how much strength he’ll need to conserve to reach the top of a mountain. The only difference between Alexios and a mathematician is that Alexios never actually deals with numbers. But he calculates all the same. He solves equations in a glance that a polymath would need an abacus for. Perhaps he can’t tell you in numbers exactly how far away one handhold is from the next, but he’ll launch himself the precise distance, nonetheless. And it’s because of that look in his eyes that I know that the next words he said to me would be thoroughly considered and thoughtful. 

We’ve been this close, and closer, thousands of times by now. But this time felt brand new. Breathtaking. Absolutely ethereal. 

His hands slid to rest on my outer thighs, pressing gently so the contact between my inner thighs and his hips was solid. Then he held me by my waist, traveling again to the small of my back, then up higher, moving slow and reverent. 

Then he told me, “I wish I had your gift for words so I could tell you what this feels like for me.” 

I said, “Just close your eyes and speak.” 

I closed my eyes, too, and then after a moment, I heard him sigh. Then he speaks. Quiet, low, and slow.

“This… is the softest place I’ve ever been in my life. As long as I can remember, everything around me has been… sharp. Serrated. Hard. Rough. I’m smashing metal against metal. Bone against stone. I’m cutting, or being cut. I only touch people to hurt them. The most soothing thing I ever feel is someone else’s blood warming my skin. But now I’m here. Between your thighs. And the way your body ‘gives’ under my touch… you don’t even have to hold me to embrace me. You’re so. Soft. And all I have to do to be surrounded by you is touch you. All I have to do is touch you, and now everything jagged in me gets to know what it feels like to be smoothe. I’ve always been so angry about my life. Resentful. Suffering for no good reason. But now I come home to you, and lay beside you and all I can do is thank the Gods for everything I’ve ever been through that turned me into someone who can keep a soft, precious thing like you safe.”

Oh. 

One day, someday, maybe it will stop surprising me every time Alexios takes my breath away. Maybe I’ll stop being caught off guard every time he finds a new way to tell me he loves me. 

Then he said, “I wish you could appreciate the balance. Appreciate that maybe, in some way, people like you and me are made for each other. Who you are brings such wonderful meaning to who I am and what I’ve been through. I wish who I am could bring similar meaning to you. I wish you could love the things about yourself that are so precious to me.” 

I think I left my body in that moment. Sitting there in front of Alexios. In front of this man made of solid audacity and nerve, smelted and forged. I couldn’t remain in my body if I was to stand a chance at fathoming how the words he just said could be said about me by anyone at all, let alone him. 

I know I left my body because when I heard him finally say, “Why are you shaking?” I didn’t know why he’d ask such a thing. But I looked down at my hands, and yes, they were trembling. And I felt myself slam back into my corporeal form - heavy, and unsteady, like an earthquake. 

Indeed, I think I was shaking because my whole world had just been rattled. My entire self-concept, shifted like a fault line. That there should be any use for the utter desolation I’ve suffered through? That all the things I hate most about myself could bring any meaning at all to another person’s suffering? I was shaking with the exertion of struggling to hold my understanding together. But when I answered him, all I said was, “I’m sorry.” 

He held both of my hands.”You’re sorry? What for? What did I say that made you think you should be sorry?” 

The grief in my throat was so thick, I could barely speak. But I forced the words out: “I’m letting you down.” And right around this moment was when tears overwhelmed my eyelids. And I think I could hear Alexios’s heart shattering.

He gasped a little and then said, “What? By the Gods, no, no. That’s not it at all. Never.” He let go of my hands, but only to slide his arms the rest of the way around me. I felt his lips on my forehead, and then my ear against his chest. He held me just like he did that very first time. It took my breath away then, and it still takes my breath away now. “I don’t ever want you to believe anything other than that I’m so, so proud of you. Proud to be with you. Honored that you’ll even look at me. I didn’t say all those things in criticism. I said them to try to help you see how much you mean to me.” 

That only broke me even more. And racked me with even more guilt. I didn’t want to disappoint him more by apologizing again, so I didn’t. Not out loud, anyway. In my head, I was pleading. Praying. I’m sorry your love is wasted on me. 

Then he looked down at me and said, “...But you can’t, can you? You really… you honestly just can’t.” 

He pulled me in close again, gently swaying, rocking. And I heard him say, “I’m so, so sorry for what’s been taken from you.

[gamergirljournalist]

First Impressions: Cities: Skylines II is mid

Rating: 3/5 stars (so far) Played on: Intel Core i7-11700KF + RTX 3060 12GB

It's been a week and a half since Cities: Skylines II was released. While I haven't created my perfect societal utopia that this game is capable of, this latest instalment looks super cool. But is it worth the $100+ AUD for the Ultimate Edition?

Note: As of writing, we reached level 3 in terms of city growth and haven't bought that many squares.

Just like its predecessor, Cities: Skylines II is a game where you can build your dream city. Only this time, improvements and changes were made to make this a way more advanced city building simulator. Similar to the first game, you get to select a handful of maps that the game provides. From there, the sky's the limit on what you want to do in this world. The only thing that's stopping you is your imagination and budget.

One of the big changes this game made is that the budget that you start with has drastically increased. However, it also meant that the cost of service buildings, resources, and roads, have risen as well. If you plan well, fingers crossed you don't fall into bankruptcy. Many features from mods and DLC made their way to the base game, like making interesting road patterns. Unfortunately, you can't control the traffic manually.

One big surprise that I witnessed during the first few minutes of playing is how resource buildings, like power plants and windmills, have increased in size. It felt more appropriate in terms of appearance. Another shocker is how the terraforming tools, like flattening or making hills, are easily accessible at the start of the game. No need to wait or increase your city if you want to level the lands. And unlike the first game, terraforming tools are much easier to use and aren't as clunky compared to the first game's vanilla options.

Other cool changes and features that were created exclusively in the sequel are as follows:

You can build bridges and adjust where the ramp starts.

There are skill trees that can help improve your city's efficiencies

You can drop roundabouts in the middle of existing roads

Roads already have pipes and electricity grids, making your infastructure sorted automatically.

Landfill is its own designated area, just like how you can draw industry areas in the first game. So you can create and shape this dumpster fire to your heart's content. The same can be said for other industry areas, like farmland.

You can buy around 80 squares as the maps have gotten bigger and more detailed.

Buildings, like hospitals or cemeteries, can be upgraded to add more capacity for people or trucks.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Now let's go to the elephant in the room - performance. 

I was shocked when I learned that the recommended specs to run this game are an RTX 3080 (10 GB) and a 12th gen CPU. We're also aware of the comments the developers made about the game's performance during a Reddit AMA. So I had my fingers crossed that this purchase wouldn't lead to a refund.

Just playing the game, it's pretty clear that the frame rates are bad, to the point where it lagged in some areas. However, running the default settings on a 3060 didn't hinder the experience. It is important to note that we're playing this game on a 1080p monitor. Also, I've noticed some lag when you move around the map very fast or how it takes some time for some of the buildings to properly render. It's playable, but when compared to playing the first game with a ton of mods, you do question why game devs are doing this.

Overall thoughts

It's no secret that Cities: Skylines II has more detail compared to its predecessor. The sequel has added more options and opportunities to develop your city. While everything does look pretty, there are some buildings, like housing, that kinda look... eh? It could have been designed better.

Overall, Cities: Skylines II is more micro-managey than the first one and it's gonna take at least 2 more cities to fully grasp the game. It's going to take a while to get used to the game, especially since we're playing without mods. But based on how it's currently running on a current-gen PC, it's up to you if you want to tolerate the poor graphical performance that this game offers.

It's such a shame we have to choose between good graphics to PC performance. Perhaps it could improve in the future, or maybe not. At least it can run.

[nickgerlich]

When Life Hands You Lemons

The semester is starting to wind down these days, especially for my grad students, whose term lasts only 13 weeks. It may seem like it is long at times, but it really is fast. And like many other semesters before, we have been treated to some very newsworthy, sometimes amusing, other times anger-inspiring, events that cause us to stand up and pay attention.



Like the ongoing worries over TikTok and whether it should be banished not just in individual states and on their government-owned devices, but nationwide. Australia just announced its complete ban on government-owned devices. In the US, in a rather odd come-together moment for the Right and Left, there is momentum to ban it here as well.



It’s just that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has more ammo in its case. The top apps right now for lifestyle and video editing are owned by them: Lemon8 and CapCut. Take that, you pompous lawmakers. We’re not just going to roll over and die.



CapCut is a handy tool for creating the reels that users post to TikTok or elsewhere. I only learned about it this last weekend from my oldest daughter, who said that “everyone’s using it” at the digital marketing agency she calls her professional home. Me, I use Mojo, which, for all I know, could be owned by ByteDance as well. She says it is much better than Mojo. I messaged Oldest Daughter yesterday about CapCut’s owner, and I could almost hear her gulp all the way from Dallas.



And then there’s Lemon8, the new social media app that is designed to take on both Instagram and Pinterest. But in the case of Lemon8, it’s only new to the US. Launched in 2020 to little fanfare, ByteDance kept it in limited circulation until now.

And now we know why.

Lemon8 is not an exact Instagram clone, however, focusing—at least for now—on fashion, food, wellness, and travel, among other general interest topics. Like BeReal, it shuns pretense, and urges users not to stage photos like many we see on Insta. The site also encourages users to include direct links to where viewers can buy featured products.

My question now is whether a ban on TikTok would also include a ban on Lemon8 and CapCut. And even if it does, what’s to stop ByteDance from continuing to roll out new apps to dodge federal bullets? Will it boil down to banishing all Chinese-owned apps, like Pinduoduo and Shein? This could lead to war, you know.

Which makes me begin to wonder if all this pomp and circumstance, this drum-beating, is an exercise in futility. Short of erecting a massive firewall around us, like the Chinese do to keep out western media, there’s little that can be done. Worse yet, it leads to frustrations among the people, especially when we live in a place that espouses First Amendment rights and freedoms. Fire up the VPN, as I have said before, and hope you don’t get caught. I hear that Chinese citizens can be in serious trouble if they do so. The last thing we need is a similar clamp down.

The other part of me wonders how people can continue to absorb so many social media sites. I am not opposed to the development of new ones at all. It’s just that there are still only 24 hours in the day, and I have a hard enough time just attending to Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. I have work to do, you know. Heck, my LinkedIn looks like a ghost page. I guess if I were looking for a job, I’d hop on it.

All of which means we are continuing to slice the market into ever smaller pieces, and as long as it can be done profitably, new sites will continue to roll out. Stir on the controversy of Chinese ownership, and Ima gonna have things to write about for a long, long time.

Let the user beware. There may be someone in Beijing looking over your shoulder.

Dr “But Still I Must Check It Out“ Gerlich

Audio Blog