#I know not everyone thinks Wikipedia is reliable

[forsoobado137]

THE IN-UNIVERSE POSTS GIVE ME LIFE AHHHH

Definitely didn't break out into endless fits of laughter when reading them, nope, definitely didn't.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on countries/NPs in the Nations Revealed AU finding out they have their own Wikipedia pages, etc, like in a scenario where they've never known it existed in the first place and they hav just found out and maybe some get together to laugh at the inaccuracy and misinformation (the funny ones) within the articles?

(Not sure if anyone's asked this before, but curiosity killed the cat, hehe)

I feel like some would be kind of shocked like "holy shit I'm famous". Most already know about their fame so they wouldn't be too shocked.

Wikipedia is actually one of the more reliable sources of information about nation people. Nowadays, most articles are heavily researched and regularly updated to accuracy. But in Wikipedia's infancy, things were NOT as well regulated. I imagine there were even some nations becoming editors solely to embellish their articles/trash other articles.

Did you hear about that controversy where the Scots Wikipedia was written by a random American kid using a shitty translator? I imagine something like that has happened where articles about smaller nations were written by people who weren't from there and didn't know what the hell they were talking about.

Idk if every article about an NP is so consistently egregious that they all have a little group call and laugh at them. I feel like those are reserved for compilations of article vandalism, or maybe they laugh at articles from sites like Conservapedia.

Also I'm glad you like my in-universe posts! :D

[hungriesttable]

if the Sinners got a dog

(below the cut because I actually have a decent amount of thoughts on this)

Outis: one of the only (and possibly THE only) sinners committed to disciplining the dog. She’s a bit perturbed that the dog won’t reliably sit/stay on command because it tends to jump at random intervals instead (Don Quixote’s influence).

Has some belief that if she speaks in a voice that’s authoritative enough, the dog will understand what she’s saying. Is displeased when that doesn’t happen. “Why are you trying to sit on me? No.” “It’s because the dog likes you” “If she likes me she will sit politely on the ground as she is supposed to”

Rodya: She was the one who named the dog, and probably rescued it off of the street, insisting that they should keep the dog at least for a little while. Feeds the dog a bit of whatever the Sinners are having. “That’s not good for dogs!” “A little won’t do her any harm~”

Sinclair: He wasn’t sure what to make of the dog at first (it’s probably not vaccinated, and he only became sure it didn’t have rabies after a couple of days), but he’s pretty fond of it. Whenever he’s in need of company, the dog appears without him needing to say anything. It’s warm, soft, and close, and he definitely thinks of it as a family member. That being said he personally has a steep learning curve of “how to take care of a dog” (if he had one in his previous years then there was probably a butler to take care of it)

Heathcliff: I recently read Wuthering Heights. This gives me reason to suspect that Heathcliff would not be a big fan of the dog, at least at first. He’s fine with it from a distance, but protests to having to touch it (and to having it touch him). I’d imagine that it gets on his good side eventually, though, and he’d probably be one of those people who wants the dog to love him the most out of everyone.

Ryōshū: They weren’t really sure how she would react to the dog at first. She’s currently trying to teach it how to sic. Given the opportunity, she’ll examine the dog’s body. Her efforts of questionable motivation led to the discovery that the dog is missing a tooth.

Gregor: After 5.5, I think it’s safe to say that he’s the “dad with the dog he didn’t want”. He notices that the dog is repulsed by the smell of cigarettes and doesn’t smoke as actively when he’s around it.

Don Quixote: She wants the dog to be her sidekick. She’s taught the dog how to hug (ie how to jump and put its paws on her chest/shoulder), and is hoping to teach the dog how to do some advanced stunts. “Move forth, my companion, and fetch mine lance!” (Dog does nothing)

Yi Sang: The dog is his buddy. He’s a bit concerned about the idea that the dog could be involved in Limbus Company’s business, but has no problem with the idea of teaching the dog some more simple stuff (eg how to track scents and find lost people/things).

Faust: If there’s a City equivalent to a Wikipedia page on dogs, she probably read it. Several times. She wouldn’t say it, but the dog’s capriciousness often confounds her. In lieu of a microchip, she made a tracking collar for the dog.

Meursault: He and the dog share a certain special bond due to his willingness to walk, clean up after, and generally take care of the dog when others don’t feel like it. He’s not necessarily a fan of the whole “spontaneous tackling” thing, but he’s big enough to avoid being pushed over and has few other complaints about the dog. With the lack of interest in training the dog on the bus, he doesn’t see the use of disclosing what he knows about training dogs.

Ishmael: She likes the dog. Walking the dog often brings her mixed feelings, since it reminds her of the other experiences she’s had with being on the end of a guiding rope. She’s figured out that she can derail Heathcliff’s train of thought by invoking the dog, either physically or in name, and she’s greatly enjoying this ability.

Vergilius: He was dubious about the whole “dog on the bus” thing. Since Charon seems to enjoy the dog’s presence, however, he sees no point in objecting to it. He doesn’t dislike dogs, but the fact that anything bad happening to the dog could have catastrophic consequences means he’s always a little on edge around it. If the Sinners weren’t planning on doing their best to take care of it before, they certainly are after receiving some Red Gaze-brand reminders to be responsible pet owners.

Dante: Rewinding dog scratches is a small burden, but please, can SOMEONE cut the dog’s nails? They like the dog, but their clock head doesn’t seem to win them any canine popularity points. They’re both disappointed and relieved that the dog doesn’t count as a thirteenth Sinner.

[myemuisemo]

Suddenly we're three Letters from Watson into The Valley of Fear. I'm fairly sure I didn't read it during my late-childhood discovery of Sherlock Holmes, so my tabula is more than usually rasa.

In chapter 1, Watson refers to the date as being in the late 1880s. Since the serial started publication in September 1914, and was presumably written not too long before that, this would be like you or I writing a novel set circa 1999. Some of the readers who eagerly awaited their updates, back in the early weeks of World War I, would not have had adult memories of 1889-ish.

The events of chapter 1 appear to hang on Whitaker's Alamanack, which it turns out was in continuous publication until... wait for it... 2021. Here's the site with some information on the final edition. Whitaker's was a compendium of useful facts, updated annually. For Americans like me, the near equivalent would be the World Almanac, which may still be published. Both Whitaker's and the World Almanac started up in 1868, so apparently that year was a cultural moment of feeling that a person needed some handy way to understand an increasingly connected world.

The idea that "everyone" owns the same book, in the same edition, feels absolutely wild now, in 2024. This was true in my childhood for the World Almanac, though, and probably for a couple other books.

For Holmes' era, "Bradshaw" was, of course, the big railway guide. What ended its importance was not the internet, but railroad consolidation, with its influence waning as early as the mid-1920s.

As we get into chapter two, I am quite liking Inspector MacDonald, who is in on the stereotype of the practical, energetic Scotsman.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze was a real French painter in the 18th century, working in a soft, but very nearly photorealistic style (catalog). Per Wikipedia, La jeune fille a l'agneau also exists and sold in 1865 for more than a million pounds. I'm not surprised that Holmes is most interested in one of the "genre" paintings (scenes of everyday life) rather than the portraits of the famous, but it seems like an odd like insight that Professor Moriarty is, too.

I'm having a heck of a time identifying an online pic that is actually, definitely La jeune fille a l'agneau, rather than one of the many copies, reproductions, and pastiches. This raises a question that Holmes and MacDonald do not: could Moriarty's painting be a copy or reproduction? Greuze had multiple legit pupils who at some point copied his style: not only was copying a master's works a standard part of art education, but it would have been a normal practice for pupils to have painted portions of Greuze's works. Heck, if Moriarty is a master criminal, surely he knows a good art forger or two. I do not entirely buy that Holmes could distinguish a forged version from the original -- that's such a specific skillset. I do think Holmes would prefer his art to be originals, and he believes the same of Moriarty.

Master criminal Jonathan Wild is also a real person who was the real head of a crime ring, back in the last days of the reign of Queen Anne. Wild was also a professional thief-taker, recruited by London's Under Marshall (essentially chief policeman), Charles Hitchens. Hitchens was wildly corrupt, and his pals were known as the "Mathematicians"... at which point, honestly, is Moriarty a projection of Holmes' psyche? (I know that's the premise of The Seven Percent Solution, a movie I adore for its train chase. I just... never quite appreciated the fit before.)

Birlstone is the beneficiary (or victim, depending) of the phenomenon that reliable and extensive railroad travel made it possible to live in a quaint rural exurb while still conveniently doing business in London as needed. I feel like Birlstone wants very badly to be East Grinstead, which is about 15 miles from Tunbridge Wells, at the edge of the forest, and possessed of convenient manor houses.

As an aside, East Grinstead is known for the East Grinstead Martyrs, who were burned at stake for heresy in 1556, when (Catholic) Queen Mary I was slaughtering Protestants. I've been dabbling at 16th- and 17th century history a bit lately, mostly to appreciate how much Reign (which I adore for its batshit OTT drama) deliberately got wrong about actual history. I was surprised that although it was Henry VIII who split with Catholicism, it was not until Elizabeth I that English Protestantism was codified with distinct rituals and the Book of Common Prayer. Just not a thing I'd thought about!

We have a manor house with working drawbridge! Also, a suspicious couple, an even more suspicious brand on the mysterious (and dead) American husband, a suspicious friend, a butler, a note in code, and a missing wedding ring.

I started this one not sure how into it I'd be, since I'm not a great fan of the entire idea of Moriarty, but now I'm on tenterhooks to see what we find out about the dead American's past.

[jasper-the-menace]

Jasper's Barely-Hinged Discord Scorpion Rant

Alright, context, I started this rant because I was mad about how the tlincallis (of Dungeons and Dragons second and fifth edition) were designed and handled. I put my foot down at the point where they were reported to have eggs. No, I refuse to accept this.

PLEASE NOTE! While I will not be showing any actual images of real-life scorpions, there will be drawings of them and drawings of fantasy and sci-fi characters inspired by scorpions. Some of them are even weirder-looking than actual scorpions. Fellow arachnophobes, continue at your own risk.

We are also going to be talking about scorpion sex in the context of how they mate and launch babies out. This is my second Tumblr post on the subject and I'm afraid that this might become a repeating pattern. Everyone on Tumblr thinks I'm the scorpion person now.

With that said, have this barely-edited compilation of my feral Discord messages on the subject.

You can tell someone who doesn’t know a lot about scorpions wrote the lore for the tlincallis because there’s a heavy emphasis on egg-laying for their reproduction. Meanwhile, scorpions are one of the only arachnids that give live birth.

I’m not expecting WOTC writers to watch videos of scorpions molting or launching baby missiles over and over again, but I am expecting them to at least skim the Wikipedia article, ya know? I understand that I’m Scorpion Research Georg, but still.

Scorpions fuck weird. Both “sexes” have the same thing - an orfice known as the genital operculum (plural: genital opercula). In order to reproduce, the male will drop a sperm packet on the ground and “dance” with the female to lead her over it. If she’s game, she’ll squat and just kind of vacuum it up into her genital operculum. This is followed by what is called a “mating plug” to keep the sperm inside. The two scorpions will then split away from each other, because scorpions don’t believe in cuddles and aftercare.

Then we get to the actual birth. Or as I like to call it, the Fedex packages.

A scorpion will give birth to between 3 and 100 young, depending on the species - though notably, the size of the scorpion does not impact the number of babies they can have.

The babies are folded up very nicely inside of the mother, and when she gives birth to them, they launch out like little missiles into her waiting pedipalps and front legs, unfold, and then climb onto or are placed onto her back while their next sibling is launched. A mother scorpion is actually a super good parent, and the entire brood will attach to her with little suckers on their tarsi, because they can’t eat or sting yet.

Depending on the species, it will take between 5 and 25 days for them to undergo their first molt - in unison as a brood, taking between 6 and 8 hours - and reach the juvenile stage. Juveniles resemble small versions of the adults and can eat and sting, though they’re still soft and unpigmented. They’ll leave the mother’s back to explore in safety, but then scurry back to her if there’s danger around. Once their carapace hardens and gains color, they can start hunting on their own and will often leave their mother.

A scorpion will undergo an average of 6 molts to reach full adulthood, which, depending on the species, can take between 6 months and nearly 7 years. The average lifespan depends on the species, with some living up to 25 years.

Re: the biological terms I used, here’s a picture and explanation from the Wikipedia article:

1 = Cephalothorax or Prosoma; 2 = Preabdomen or Mesosoma; 3 = Tail or Metasoma; 4 = Claws or Pedipalps; 5 = Legs; 6 = Mouth parts or Chelicerae; 7 = Pincers or Chelae; 8 = Moveable claw or Tarsus; 9 = Fixed claw or Manus; 10 = Stinger or Aculeus; 11 = Telson (anus in previous joint); 12 = Opening of book lungs

Post-coitus cannibalism has never been reliably reported in scorpions.

Scorpions are also kinky fuckers but no one’s ready for that conversation.

So, I will give this much to WOTC writers regarding the tlincallis - most species of scorpions do actively hunt their prey. (Though there are several species that are just sit-and-wait predators.) They are also opportunistic hunters, eating primarily invertebrates but occasionally also going for things like lizards, snakes, and small mammals, though scorpions with larger claws will also go after earthworms and mollusks.

What I will not give them credit for is the method of hunting. A scorpion’s primary hunting tool is its claws. Only large and aggressive prey is given a sting - the method of death is still typically via claw, even in that case.

They also don’t chew. They rip off pieces of their prey and put those pieces in a pre-oral cavity, which uses digestive juices from the gut to start the digestion process. Once it’s liquid enough, it gets sucked right into the gut. Any indigestible matter is ejected at this stage.

They do have an anus separate from the genital operculum, and it runs up into the tail. Scorpions will eat a large amount of food in one meal, and when this is combined with their low metabolic rate and relatively inactive lifestyle, it means that they can survive for 6 to 12 months without starvation.

So no, Wizards Of The Coast, a band of scorpion people would NOT be migratory by compulsion, even if they were aggressive.

And yeah, scorpions are mainly found in deserts, but that’s so limiting. They’ve adapted to nearly every sort of biome and appear all across the world, except in Antartica. So you can literally put them anywhere.

The scorpion is found in Greek mythology (Artemis or Gaia sending it to kill Orion) along with in a page of the Anglo-Saxon Herbal.

Despite the scorpion’s usage in myths, stories, and weapons of war, very few of them are actually capable of killing a human (barring allergy). 25 species out of more than 2,500 have venom deadly to humans. Most of, if not all of these, belong to the family Buthidae, which is the largest family.

Now it’s time for “Jasper analyzes scorpions from different media”! I’ve already dragged the tlincalli for filth, so we’ll pivot to look at another WOTC media: Magic The Gathering.

Scorpions don’t get a lot of rep. At best, they appear as one-off cards. However. Thanks to vising two primarily-desert planes (Amonkhet and the Vorthos-panned Thunder Junction), we have some Guys.

We’ll start with the Scorpion God of Amonkhet. This guy did not used to look like this, but once Nicol Bolas got all up in everybody’s business, he twisted the Scorpion God, Locust God, and Scarab God into giant monstrosities and erased knowledge of their names, even from themselves, and then used them to “harvest” the mortals he had been cultivating to create an undead army. The Scorpion God killed the gods Rhonas, Oketra, and Kefnet, before finally being killed by Hazoret and a group of rebelling mortals.

He is notably the only one of the “twisted” gods to have been killed – the Locust and Scarab Gods both survived, as did Hazoret, and all three defended Amonkhet later from New Phyrexia getting all up in everyone’s business.

(Re: that third artwork, why is he kinda...)

Meanwhile, on Thunder Junction...

Oh, Thunder Junction. If not for the fact that no one in the design and writing department could agree on and work together to determine the right approach to Western tropes, you could have been interesting.

Having said that, the scorpion dragons? Not native to there. Instead, they’re from Gastal, a plane that was mentioned one (1) time back in the day. I’m willing to overlook some questions about these blokes for the sake of blaming the dragon half on everything I don’t think are scorpion-enough when it comes to these guys.

Now, for my third example... I’m going to preface this with the fact that LEGO’s Legends of Chima theme was a problematic mess in hindsight. I still love it with my entire soul, but it was a fucking nightmare.

But within that is the Scorpion Tribe, what is possibly my favorite current example of what you can do with scorpions in a (science-)fantasy setting.

The Scorpions were accidentally evolved with the magic MacGuffin of the series (Chi) thanks to some foolishness going on, and they were the antagonists of season two (or rather, wave two, as they were technically the latter half of season one and the beginning of season two). They’re led by a king, Scorm, and a general, Scolder. And yes, they all stick to the Sc- naming theme, with one exception from the online game.

So, how do you create an anthro Scorpion Lego figure? Like this, of course!

Now, something interesting to note is that because the Chi was not safely introduced to these guys, some of them didn’t “evolve” all the way and still have a scorpion lower body, like a weird centaur. Meet Scutter, posterchild for this, even though his brother Scrug speed-“evolved” to humanoid form.

Something interesting to note is just how flexible and catlike the tails of these Scorpions are. They can flick around and even hold things when curled up.

Another fun thing about Chima is that they don’t put my boys in the desert. Instead, they live in caves in a very hostile jungle. I’m so proud of them.

Analyzing the venom of these guys, though...

Scorpion God = full of god-killing venom

Akul = a "dark curse" that's basically fantasy tuberculosis

Scorpions from Chima = hypnosis mind-control agent that wears off fairly quickly

(Preface for this section: These were random additions that I sent a while later, with little connection to each other.)

Scorpion dads do tend to be deadbeats, but a scorpion mom figure? I would chew that right up.

Re: molting, it is a long, long process, even for something as small as a scorpion. So the bigger they are, the longer it's probably gonna take. It requires a lot of calorie-loading beforehand and can be predicted based on “air pockets” that appear at the sides of the exoskeleton, to give them wiggle room. Scorpions are soft for several days after molting and avoid eating anything until they harden back up.

And did I mention that scorpions glow under ultraviolet light?

So...yeah! Scorpions are so fucking cool, and this is just an overview! This isn't even getting into any particular species! There's just so much to explore in terms of scorpions in fantasy settings, so seeing them reduced to Desert Bad Guy over and over again annoys me.

Put these animals into some situations.

[manicpixxiedreambitch]

I need to vent (and settle an argument) My younger brother was born in 2010 and exhibits traits of a Gen Alpha. He keeps insisting, however, that he is Gen Z. When we look it up, most sources claim that Gen Alpha started in 2010, but the issue is, other articles say that Gen Z ended in 2013. I keep saying my younger brother is Gen Alpha because not only is he bratty and digitally addicted, he’s also entitled, and overall, born in 2010. But he keeps dismissing any evidence or claims I make and saying that his whole middle school is on his side and saying they are Gen Z, when they’re obviously not. He keeps making up bullshit claims that he is Gen Z and he keeps changing his reasoning. At one point he said the generation changed in the MIDDLE of the year, which has never happened. He acts like he knows everything. He acts like all the sources and citations I pull up are inaccurate and false, and says that a .com website isn’t a reliable source, despite him literally citing WIKIPEDIA as HIS source. He has also tried to claim that he gets to decide what generation he is because of the supposed gap. I keep telling him that that’s not how that works He curses at me and thinks he’s in charge and on more than one occasion, he has swung at me, pushed me, etc, just because he wants to. He claims he treats us all like we’re stupid because we all “Treat him like shit” when in reality, we’ve just decided we’re not letting him get away with doing whatever he wants anymore. He constantly takes passes at everyone, calling me a walking stereotype, taking digs at my mom, saying I side with my older brother more than him because we both have mental disabilities (my older brother has Autism and I have ADHD). And on more than one occasion he has said and done ableist things to both of us. He talks to himself loudly about us and then snaps at us when we comment on it or scold him for being rude, saying we should just know that he’s talking to himself whenever he does it. He has almost no manners, he thinks he should get whatever he wants, and he’s been low key homophobic as of recently. He drives me insane. He tells me to shut up any time I say anything he doesn’t like, he likes to tower over me (because he’s taller) and try to intimidate me to get what he wants, whenever someone takes something of his in the house he threatens them telling them that if we don’t give it back it counts as stealing and he can sue us. He once said this to OUR MOM after she took his phone away because he wasn’t doing what he was told. He always likes to make accusations and say that we treat him poorly but never has evidence or examples when we ask him. He just expects us to know everything all the time, and he gets pissed whenever he has to repeat himself, explain his actions, or even just plain communicate.

Keep in mind

My brother is 14.

Now here comes the argument I want to settle

[tprings-hair]

8 for the ask thing

8. Is there anything I wish people would write more about in fics? (A dynamic, an exploration of an arc, just a character that doesn’t get much screentime, etc)

oh my god, there are so many little character choices that the actors/writers/directors of tos have made that I am obsessed with, and I can't imagine how they don't have pages and pages of fic. these include:

- in spectre of the gun, the way the sheriff talked with kirk (putting his hands on his shoulders to keep him there, kirk looking up at him with that desperate look, the tone they took with each other) and the way kirk reacted to him made me wonder about his relationship with his father. shatner's novel collision course has a bunch of stuff about how kirk doesn't get along with his ex-starfleet father. I would be really interested to see a deep dive into that and how it shapes kirk as a leader. you can't just drop that scene of kirk getting angrier and louder than he's ever been with anyone in the show and expect me not to think about teenage kirk!

- kirk and shakespeare! you can't tell me he and spock and uhura aren't bouncing shakespeare quotes back and forth on the bridge to pass the time on boring shifts. I firmly believe he has said "do you bite your thumb at me, sir?" to an alien diplomat as a joke, only to find out it's either horrifically offensive or lewd. before beaming down for shore leave he would tell spock "parting is such sweet sorrow" just so he could see spock sigh at him. he has definitely quoted kent in act i scene ii of king lear in a fight. (I will elaborate on any of this in a fic if anyone would actually be interested.)

- uhura. just anything about her. we don't know how she grew up, why she joined starfleet, what's waiting for her on earth, or why her only real connections seem to be with her crewmates when she's so friendly and open with everyone. I know it's a side effect of being a black female character written by white men in the 60s but please, I want the kind of backstory and motivations for her that people make up for other characters like chekov and mccoy! it's not like we don't have material. she's got a fear of dying a long and painful death (see that one episode with the creepy kids in season 3), wonderful musical and theatrical talents, an insane amount of charisma (what's under that?), and she admits that she's afraid on the bridge and finds security in knowing that kirk has the situation in hand. we also have an underdeveloped last minute relationship with scotty, which actually makes sense if you think about it? she doesn't need a defender or a musketeer like sulu tried to be, she just wants to know she's going to make it out okay, and scotty is the one who makes sure the ship can take them home safely. plus, he's less vain and more reliable than kirk. it came out of left field for me, too, but I honestly see it now that I think about it. so yeah, I want more development for uhura as a character, and for her relationship with scotty.

- any of the women, really, but I'm a little obsessed with the woman in who mourns for adonais, lt. carolyn palamas (played by leslie parrish, who was according to wikipedia an activist against the vietnam war who created her own tv station to give the average american a more in depth look at their news! sounds very cool). her arc is literally the same one that the male main characters repeatedly get (seduced by alien, must choose between career/following orders and being lost in this new romance) and she's just so cool. imo this episode was more feminist than people give it credit for, not just for giving her that choice but also showing her as someone who is good at her job to the point of being absolute instrumental to the plan. she wavers, just like kirk is allowed to do, and she chooses duty in the end, and it doesnt make her two-faced. she's allowed to be human. I love her.

[destinationtoast]

How to address non-binary characters in fandom stats about gender

@once-a-polecat asked a thoughtful and interesting question in response to my post about Canon gender representation & shipping:

So, I know this is a VERY small number of characters (statistically speaking), but how do you deal with, or plan to deal with, the increasing numbers of characters who are non-binary in canon? (Jim Jimenez in OFMD, or Desire in Sandman for instance.) If you’re documenting how prevalent it is that fans introduce gender diversity to binary characters at some point you have to address the question of canon characters who do not have a binary gender. And I understand how much of a tricky question this is because it’s less easily traced across fandoms and some characters may not have a binary gender in ways that do not track with Western human society (they may have culturally significant genders or be non-human beings etc…), but small numbers and diverse types of genders gets difficult for data visualization purposes.

I wanted to give a long-ish answer (or really, to discuss a number of possible answers, all of which sometimes apply but aren't complete on their own), and I also wanted to open it up to others for ideas, so rather than reply in the notes, I'm replying here.

One answer is to say that I'm limited by the data I have available about canon (e.g., in that past 2018 work I was pointing to about Gender representation in canon vs. fanworks, I was working with someone else's movie data set, which didn't contain any data about canon nonbinary characters). That raises a question for future analyses -- does anyone know of a reliable list of canon nonbinary characters that is kept up-to-date? How good is Wikipedia's List of fictional non-binary characters, e.g.? Also interested in lists of canon trans characters.

(A quick aside, because I'm about to talk about limitations: I'm incredibly grateful for the AO3 tagging system, and everyone who makes it work! In part because it allows me to do far more complex stats about all this stuff than any other fandom platform -- or other media platforms, period. And because it gives us all some pretty outstanding sorting and filtering superpowers. Hallelujah! Okay, now onto some limitations. :) )

Another possible answer is to say that my stats are about how people tag things on AO3. So for the most part, I just follow however people are tagging things on AO3 -- and if AO3 users start tagging more ships as "Other" as they often do when a canon nonbinary character like Jim Jimenez or Desire is involved, some of my tag-based stats will pick up that kind of thing (even though I'm currently investigating F/F and M/M specifically, about which more below, I do often include more shipping categories than that). However, this is also only somewhat satisfying, since tagging practices differ between fandoms and change over time (e.g., I *think* more people used to tag some ships involving nonbinary characters, like LaFontaine/Perry from Carmilla, with gendered tags like "F/F" rather than with "Other" -- though maybe that particular example was just because L/P was often a background ship). And I know the use of "Other" can also be touchy; it can be frustrating to lump together human-only ships like Oluwande Boodhari/Jim Jimenez with ones like Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, for one thing. (And AO3 could even change some of these tagging options in the future, which might make such data even less useful.)

Another answer is to say, "Nonbinary characters are usually just noise, statistically, because there are so few of them -- I can ignore them most of the time." (Which you nodded to in your question, though you didn't suggest being so dismissive about it. :) ) There are some times when I make those kind of omissions or oversimplifications, though I avoid it when possible. For the purposes of my upcoming "F/F vs. M/M" analysis, this answer and the previous one both come into play -- my initial goal is to look at how explicitly queer fic differs between fanworks tagged "F/F" vs. "M/M." Which will unfortunately miss a whole bunch of queer fanworks featuring nonbinary characters. But I am going to simplify things by initially focusing on those two largest and most explicitly queer ship tags.

A final answer is to say that I've tried to make up for limitations in my other work by explicitly seeking out and analyzing gender diversity in some of my stats, like my analyses of Trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse characters on AO3. [Edit: and then I addressed the possible visualization complexities by looking at each of the common tags -- like "Nonbinary Character" -- separately.] At the same time, because I don't know which characters are trans or nonbinary in canon, those stats have been vague about which gender diversity is coming from canon vs. from fandom -- see my above question about good lists of canon gender diversity. (Also, this doesn't capture types of gender diversity that aren't reflected in the tags.)

Finally, a shoutout to @centrumlumina who does a fantastic job hand-labeling the gender and race of all the characters for the annual top AO3 ships analysis. I am in complete awe. Canon race and gender are both things I wish were easier to analyze/find data about -- but at least for the characters in the top 100 ships each year, Lulu has provided a great data source!

Thanks for the question -- curious to hear if/how others think about this topic.

[marxistjughead]

tagged by @kommunarde to talk about five things i like. i can definitely do that :-)

1. i like history and recently i've been focusing on the nineteenth century for some reason because it's a time period we tend to not study a lot in schools anymore. and when we do study it i start having amnesia because of unrelated factors (in quatrième i was suicidal and in première i was too busy getting brain damage from supernatural. i only started really killing it in history class in my last year of high school when we talked about economy and politics as factors all the time). it has been crazy to realize specifically the articulation between the french revolution the empire the other revolutions in france the second empire the commune the first world war and so on and so on. like to me until recently there was a huge hole between 1794 and 1914 and i knew about the events that happened in between obviously but i wasn't really connecting them well. and right now i am making the connections it's actually maddening. for example victor hugo author of les misérables french poet novelist playwright politician and overall legend lived at the same time as karl marx which somehow never occured to me. but now it has and i feel like i've unlocked a secret of the universe. & we'll be studying a time period from the late nineteenth century to the 30s next year. i fr can't wait to go back to history class in september it's going to be so awesome!!!

2. dark netflix is one of my favorite tv shows of all time it's basically about becoming your own worst enemy and how fate might or might not be inescapable. it's a circular narrative spanning multiple generations and decades and universes. it's awesome it has everything important namely philosophy failed marriages and killing people with rocks. it's a crime tv show slash horror slash mystery except then it becomes something else i can't tell you about but fleabag voice this is a love story. it's like stranger things if stranger things was better and about something else entirely. it's incredibly smart and it's the only tv show i've rewatched so far in my life because it's just so well made i don't think i'll ever see something like that again. i can't tell you about it without spoiling it and it's definitely necessary to not look at anything online before finishing the show but please watch it please please please

3. i love falling into wikipedia rabbit holes!! everyone makes fun of me for it because apparently that's not a "reliable source" (some students don't go to the source section and look up the sources listed, and instead they mindlessly copy what the page says instead of going deeper in research or at least rephrasing it a little or just. at least at the very least deleting the hyperlinks. that could not be me! wikipedia is a great tool when you know how to use it and when you use it to its full potentialities. i could never hate wikipedia my beautiful website. it's just that some people are really not smart when it comes to plagiarism). and also because reading stuff for fun and remembering all of it forever is not "something everyone does" and i need to "get diagnosed with autism". WHATEVER. i'll remain cool and knowledgeable about many fun facts and you'll do nothing about it. what i have open right now: prépa as a system, the far left in france, a bunch of pages about the weimar republic, republican calendar, pierre-sur-haute military radio station, les cloches de bâle, rené girard, lycurgus, junge welt, sdaj (i've been looking up far left looking stuff i see stickers for as a desperate attempt to understand the political landscape of this country but alas it's something that wikipedia cannot bring me i think), harmodius and aristogeiton, maquis du limousin, acéphale. also chronology of social movements in france (i am cooking something)

4. okay bear with me for this one because it's going to sound insane and parasocial but i'm aware that it is so it's basically fine. maybe. it's not that i "like" him he's just extremely entertaining and something is wrong with him in a way that is also wrong with me. so there's this guy who used to be in charge of the social media strategy for arguably the most famous french left-wing politician (jean-luc mélenchon, our bernie sanders, even though that's not an adequate comparison because france is a pays finito as i like to call it but not as finito as the united states of america. anyway) and said politician is like 70 but every once in a while during the presidential campaign he made this really funny social media post and every jeune con dépolitisé was like oh mr mélenchon you know memes you're so cool i'm going to vote for you. not me because i'm a critical thinker and i can't even vote but i do love myself a good reformist grandpa post i'm sorry. the first half of 2022 was a weird time. and we knew the guy behind that it was the guy i'm going to be talking about next. so we did not win that presidential election obviously (insert image of me crying tears of blood) (it's fine haha reformism is a dead end) and we have this second round between margaret thatcher and a fascist. but since we do not have a loser mindset and need to bounce back (this country is rotten to the core and we are never going to win electorally or otherwise unless a biblical level miracle happens. when i talk to my neighbors and my family members and my classmates i realize how fucked we are and how truly awful it could get and how easy it would be for a lot of us to look away. it makes me a little sick to think about. but there is much pain in the world but not in this room right?) they said hey! vote for us in the legislative elections! and in france we have a constituency system basically you have a local mp. so our social media guy became a candidate! and he was elected! and then inexplicably (i've followed him for several years and can confirm it came out of the blue) the man turned into a hardcore robespierrist like a month into it. i got really into the french revolution in may to cope with well everything so i was like oh okay interesting that's cool. it's cringe because he's a grown man with a job but it's also sort of funny, in an absurd way. it's a waste of taxpayer money but he's a good mp as far as mps go and i don't pay taxes so i don't care. and at first it was just like a few tweets here and there, he also invited a ya author who makes educational tiktoks about the terror to the national assembly in robespierre cosplay, but recently well uh. he quotes either robespierre or the 1793 constitution literally every intervention. he wore a wig. we're technically in the same political movement because i was peer pressured into joining and in my city the choice is between them or maoists (which way modern man). but i don't have the time to be that invested unfortunately since i have to go to my beautiful torture labyrinth (prépa) every day. during the pension reform protests (don't even talk to me about it.......) a few videos of him surfaced going to face the police in order to well i don't know intimidate them with his écharpe de député into not being violent anymore. it didn't work he got hit tear gassed multiple times but then he had proof of police violence and he could say look at this it's not normal and it didn't achieve much because this country may be beyond hope but it's very brave of him i think. or in another video he was being kettled with a colleague and said colleague was like hey antoine can you quote an article of the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen at this policeman? and he did. like overall he's a really cool mp he's just also very dedicated to rehabilitating robespierre for some kind of reason. and the real life embodiment of this emoji combination 🤓☝️. and he has a child i think. and we're twitter mutuals

5. i like this poem i think about it so often i have bits of it memorized bouncing around in my head like a dvd screensaver. the way i want you has its own climate like how storms are magnetic. shortest war on earth. every room i enter is empty and i wake searching for you still. and so on and so on i actually want to chew on the poem a little it's like a really comfortable mattress but for my brain if that makes sense

okay this got long!! tagging @isaidilovedu2death @brutalistarchitecture2 @vassyflorence @sotiriabellou and anyone else who wants to do it really. please tell me about things you like!! i haven't written most of this tonight but tonight i am sad and there is a chance i'll be sad for a little while so tell me about you. i care. i love to hear about the things you all are passionate about. if not in public send me a dm. actually you can send me a dm about virtually anything

[friendofthecrows]

The thing that gets me about chat gpt is how tempting it is. If everyone was aware of the flaws and willing to do their own research on topics then there isn't really a problem. In that case, it could be like any other chatbot or AI generator that people mess with for fun or out of curiosity to see what it says.

Given that it generates stuff based on all the relevant sources it can get its metaphorical hands on, it's pretty good at seeing what kinds of thing people would talk about for a subject. It's GREAT for analyzing cliches and very typical structures in writing, if you give it vague creative writing prompts (fun exercise: tell it to generate some fiction writing prompts, then give it each of those prompts. get ready for some of the most generic fiction you've ever read.)

For research...I mean. Sometimes it does give a good overview of something but as the topics get more and more niche and there are either fewer papers/articles about it or the ones that exist are behind paywalls, chat gpt becomes less accurate and more of an estimation of what it thinks a paper about this should sound like. (using thinks loosely here). And as I said, so long as people are willing to do their own research, this is fine.

But getting a quick, easy, overview of the facts without having to do potentially hours of research, having a summary of many sources already synthesized rather than going through all of them and trying to mentally compare and contrast what different people say as you go...if it could work, any college student or knowledge/research-based professional can see how tempting it would be. "Wouldn't that be great? Think about all the time and effort saved!" your average person says. But your average person does not work in AI. Your average person does not work in data science either. Nor does your average person work as a librarian, archivist, or related field. Some of them do, but enough of them don't. The average person has already ignored every teacher's advice that there is really, unfortunately, no substitute for looking through as many different reliable sources as you can. We know the AI is mostly for fun, curiosity, or perhaps a jumping-off point, but they think "well it's accurate enough isn't it? The things it says are based on way more sources than I could read in the hour or two I'm willing to spend. So it's better, right? And it's so much easier." My beloved but misguided dude, a Wikipedia article is based on way more sources than you can read in an hour or two. And that at least has a fact-checking/review process! People have to add sources! Chat gpt is an estimated imitation of a Wikipedia article, but without the weirdly dedicated nerds (complementary) who check things for accuracy. And Wikipedia isn't even considered a good source. You'll notice that it's considered...a jumping-off point. *gasp* exactly how you should treat chat gpt if you ever want to use it to actually start researching something. Pls for the love of academic integrity just do further research.

But people are sooo tempted by the easy answers (understandable). And that's why so many people are blindly trusting chat gpt.

[ichinisankaku]

Backstage Translation - The Only Suitcase of it's Kind (Part 2)

Misumi: Hooraaay! We got it all in~!

Izumi: Thank goodness! Now you can go to Hokkaido safely.

Misumi: Yeah! Thank you for helping me pack my luggage Director-san~

Izumi: Don't mention it. You should thank Tenma-kun for lending you the suitcase too.

Misumi: Yep! I'll make sure to say thanks to Tenma later~

Izumi: Though, you won't be able to take such a big suitcase on board with you, so make sure to leave enough time to deposit your luggage on the day.

Misumi: Got it, I'll remember to go through the procedures early!

Option 1: You're looking forward to Hokkaido, huh

Izumi: You're looking forward to going to Hokkaido, huh.

Misumi: Yeah! I'm really excited to walk around town!

Um, it snows a lot in Hokkaido, so a lot of the houses have triangular roofs~

Izumi: I-I see.

Misumi: So I think I'll be able to find a lot of new triangles just by walking around, I'm looking forward to going~!

Izumi: (As expected, Misumi's collected detailed information on the triangles there...!)

Option 2: I wonder how cold it's going to be

Izumi: I wonder how cold Hokkaido's going to be.

Misumi: Hmmm~ I don't know very well either...

But don't worry! I packed lots of clothes in the suitcase I'm borrowing from Tenma, so I'll lend you some if you get cold~

Izumi: Fufu, how reliable. Thank you!

Misumi: And then, if that's not enough, I'll give you a biiig hug!

If the others all squeeze in too, we'll definitely be super warm~

Izumi: Ahaha, sounds like Oshikura Manju*.

Misumi: Playing Oshikura Manju sounds fun! I absoluuutely wanna do that at Hokkaido!

Izumi: Oh, and when you arrive, you need to be careful you don't mix up the suitcases and take the wrong one.

Misumi: Mix up?

Izumi: Right. At the baggage reclaim, the luggage all flows out and you pick it up yourself, so some people get mixed up.

Suitcases in particular tend to look similar, so they probably get mixed up more than other bags.

Misumi: Eeh~!

What'll I do if Tenma's suitcase gets taken away by someone I don't know...

Izumi: It's not the kind of thing that happens often, you just have to be careful when you're there on the day.

Oh, and it might be a good idea to put a mark on it so you can find it at a glance.

Misumi: A mark...

Misumi: Haaa~......

Kazunari: Sumi, what's up? You alright?

Misumi: Aaa~aaa, Kazu got worried too.

Kazunari: "Too"?

Misumi: Ehehe... I've apparently looked down all day...

Kazunari: Did something happen?

Misumi: Um, Tenma lent me a suitcase for the trip to Hokkaido, but-

I heard that things can get mixed up at the baggage counter, so I'm scared it'll get taken away.

Kazunari: I see~ so that's why you look down, huh.

Misumi: It's Tenma's important suitcase, I don't want to lose it.

Director-san said it might be a good idea to add a mark to it, but... Kazu, do you have any ideas?

Kazunari: Hmm, the cliché way is to put a sticker on it, but...

Ah!

I just had a great idea☆ Let's gather everyone together.

Hey hey, let's do it together Sumi!

Misumi: Yeah, let's do it!

...Wait, do what?

*From Wikipedia: "Oshikura Manju is a simple Japanese singing game that is played on cold days in order to get warm. The game is played with at least three players, but it is better if there are more. The players first gather around in a circle, as close to each other as possible."

Part 1 | Part 3

[clover-46]

David as a professor (ignoring the complications of this)

David who is a strict teacher, but everyone adores his class. (I could see him being a history professor) David leaning against his desk as he talks through the early periods of South Asian culture. Him knowing a headache is coming every time his best friend and teacher aide interrupts his lecture to slide in a joke.

David who believes that he should dress seriously if he wants people to listen, so he walks in each day with a freshly iron black dress shirt with matching dress pants. The sleeves get rolled up somewhere in the middle of the day and by the end a couple buttons are undone because he's really not a fan of formal attire. But if his students are really lucky, he might pair it with a form hugging vest. 🤤

David who fidgets with a ruler when he talks and he doesn't really notice what it does to his students as he taps it against his palm.

David wearing a simple string bracelet that a long forgotten friend made for him when he was a kid. Sometimes he wonders what happened to Caleb... Cal... Something along those lines.

David who looks sternly at anyone who starts to speak over him and gives a curt nod when they shut the fuck up.

Except this one student. They only grin at him before continuing their conversation.

Angel who doesn't even need to take the class to get their degree this year, they just heard the professor was hot and wanted to see if the rumors were true. And wowza they definitely were! They can already feel their nerves firing on all cylinders as David enters and puts his stuff down on the desk at the front and calls out a "Alright can we get this over with?" to get everyone's attention.

They love his fuck around and find out energy. And they've always been one to push the limits.

At first it's purposefully getting on his nerves, enjoying the way he clenches his jaw and forces himself to calm down. Then they start asking him for help on their essays (which is also because they actually do need help. Who knew history was so complicated. The American public schooling system didn't prepare them for this. This isn't just learning about the revolutionary war every year.)

David who is actually patient when Angel doesn't understand something. But Angel doesn't know how to handle that so they keep trying to flirt.

"No wedding band, huh Mr Shaw?"

"Don't forget to add commas. Punctuation saves lives and all."

"I don't have a wedding band either. Want to fix that?"

"wikipedia isn't a reliable source and you need to cite what reputable source you do have in the proper format."

Yeah... It's not working so well. But at least their grades are improving. It'd be nicer if their grades improved the way that the spicy films always showed though. They were pretty sure his desk was the perfect height to be on top or under. Or ben-

David who is proud of Angel and how far theyve come, although their pickup lines are getting any better.

"Professor Shaw, my phone is broken or something. I think it's missing a critical component..."

"if you say what I think you're about to say...

"it needs your number."

"oh God."

But the cheesy lines are beginning to grow on him. He finds himself looking forward to the conversations at the end of his class, or in the hallways, or his office, or those couple of times they both ended up at the same restaurant, store, and park. He wondering if it's an accident as much as Angel claims it is

And he thinks he would call Angel a friend.

Angel who finally graduated with their degree and immediately runs to find David to show it off. David who is proud of them because he knows how hard they tried. But hes also curious.

"why did you take my class? Was it for the credit?" He asks as Angel shoved a shot into his hand before downing their own.

"nope. I heard you were hot"

- 🙊

hello, 🙊 anon i see we’re back to our regular scheduled ficlets!!

“ignoring the complications with this” HAHAHAHHA

THIS certainly makes for nice imagery 🤤🤤

…. ☹️☹️☹️☹️

ANGEL IS SO SMOOOTH i aspire to be like them someday

i’m certainly not one to like student/professor tropes but it’s david thicc ass shaw and your writing is one of my favorites so i did enjoy this 🥰🥰

@messenger-of-stupidity

[excessively-english-jd]

Also Wikipedia is actually GREAT for academic citations. You know why? Because information on Wikipedia is (usually) cited!! A Wikipedia article is basically a giant list of papers, videos, and websites that are all potential sources that you can look at and cite yourself!! While you shouldn't really cite the Wikipedia page itself, you also shouldn't really need to.

Of course you have to be able to evaluate those sources yourself to see whether they are reliable or not, but if you're an academic that's basic shit. Honestly, I believe it should be basic shit for everyone.

My professors at university literally told us that when researching online, Wikipedia is a great starting place because it has a massive reference page full of papers and articles to check out, evaluate, and use. You just need to have the most basic critical thinking skills, and the ability to read an academic paper for information.

So when you have questions about something, go forth and research! Read the Wiki! Check the sources! I promise it's easy.

If I may, I must make the gentle request that people consult Wikipedia for basic information about anything.

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but more and more people coming to me saying they can’t find info about [noun], when googling it yields its Wikipedia entry on the first page.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll gladly say it again: You can trust Wikipedia for general information. The reason why it’s unreliable for academic citations is because it’s a living, changing document. It’s also written by anonymous authors, and author reputation is critical for research paper integrity.

But for learning the basics of what something is? Wikipedia is your friend. I love Wikipedia. I use it all the time for literally anything and everything, and it’s a huge reason why I know so much about things and stuff.

Please try going there first, and then come to me with questions it doesn’t answer for you.

[purplesurveys]

1765

Have your parents ever tried to control your relationship?  No, the one time I was in a relationship I hid it from them and they're not the type to meddle too much so it was never brought up.

Have you ever had to give someone directions before?  I've been approached before, but I have the worst sense of direction and don't trust myself to guide them, so I usually redirect them to just use Waze. Which tbf why won't they use Waze anyway? Hkdhfkjsfhskhahaha it has such a good handle of even the most obscure roads and streets at this point.

Speaking of which, are you good at understanding driving directions? Like, signs and banners on the road? Not at all. I easily forget them. I need to have Waze on every time I drive; I use it even when I perfectly memorize where I'm going.

How many people do you text daily?  Outside of work, anywhere between 5-10. I don't converse with people often and keep it to family and best friends.

Do you have an iPod or an MP3 player? Which brand?  Not anymore, but I have a subscription on Spotify.

What was your favorite television show as a child?  I loved Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Drake and Josh. Oh and I also liked My Life as a Teenage Robot, which I'm pointing out in particular because I knew absolutely no one else who was into the show. :(

Do you play any instruments? Which instruments do you play?  I can't play any of them.

Is there anyone who you call by their last name?  Nah, I was never one of those people who everyone called by their surname.

What did you do on your last birthday?  Yoongi's album and documentary came out that day, so I planned out a gathering with my closest friends that revolved around the two. We listened to the album; watched the documentary when it came out at like, 8 PM or 9 PM I think? on Disney+;and I also prepared dinner spread for them.

It was also a holiday that day so there wasn't much we could've done outside, which was partly why my birthday was spent at home.

Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you commit the most?  Gluttony, and I'm terrible with it. I order food too frequently and I also get too much every time, to the point that I rarely actually finish it all and usually have to throw the rest out.

Has anyone ever told you that you're incapable of whispering?  No. I think I'm pretty good at whispering.

What is your least favorite subject in school?  Chemistry.

Have you ever been involved in a custody battle before?  Nope.

Do you know a couple who constantly sucks on each other's face?  I don't.

Who was the best kisser you've ever dated?  I've only dated and kissed one person. Ever since them, I've never been quite interested in relationships the same way anymore.

When was the last time you watched a YouTube video?  Last night. It's 3 PM and I haven't been on YouTube at all today, I just realized.

Have you ever babysat a newborn baby before?  Not really babysit, more like watch over while the elders were running errands and chores. I always had an older relative with me.

How many times a week do you usually see the person you love?  I don't love anyone.

When was the last time you held someone's hand?  Sometime last month, I'm guessing.

How many meals have you eaten today, so far?  I'm currently having a Hot Pocket and this is my first 'meal' of the day so far, if that even counts as one.

Do you think it's stupid for people to call others "hot?"  Well, no?

Do you personally think Wikipedia is a reliable source?  I get why it wouldn't be considered a reliable source on its own, but the pages are also strictly moderated with credible references. It's definitely not as sketchy as teachers tend to make it out to be, especially when I was still studying.

Are you someone who listens to more girl or guy bands?  Ones with guys.

Have you ever shopped at Wet Seal before? Did you like it?  I don't even know what that shop is.

Do you care about spending money if it's someone else's money?  Of course.

What is your favorite Disney movie of all time?  Toy Story.

When you were a child, did you ever want to become a wizard/witch?  No.

What are the color of your walls? Do you want to repaint?  White. I just repainted my walls at the end of last year.

Would you rather have hardwood floors or carpet?  Hardwood. The idea of carpet flooring is very foreign to me, and I've never seen a house with so much...carpet on it haha.

Do you have any siblings you neglect you?  I don't know what this is trying to ask but if anything I'm not on speaking terms with my brother.

Who would you say is the most selfish person you know?  I can't think of anyone I know who fits this.

Who was the last person you yelled at? Why?  Not a person, but I had to tell off Agi for smelling and getting his mouth way too close to Cooper's shit LOL

As a kid, did you ever go to camp?  I've never been.

What were the last three movies you watched in theaters?  BTS Yet to Come in Busan, fucking Knives Out lmao, and idk...Portrait of a Lady on Fire I think? I never go to the movie theatres as I stopped being interested in movies a long time ago.

There's an upcoming local film festival that will be screening a remastered version of A Clockwork Orange, though...so I might be returning to the cinema sooner than I think.

Have you ever made out in a movie theater before?  I've never done that. When I go to a theatre, it's always to watch something hahaha.

Are you currently trying to learn to play any instrument?  Nah.

Do you believe in ghosts, spirits or demons?  Nope.

When was the last time you went somewhere you thought was haunted?  Not sure, I don't encounter eerie places too often.

What is your favorite breakfast meal?  Garlic rice, sunny side up eggs, and slightly burnt hotdogs – better if with chili garlic oil. Filipino breakfasts are the best :)

What does the lead singer of your favorite band look like?  She is petite, with pretty eyes and hair that's always a different color every time you see her.

Who was the last person to compliment you?  Two weeks ago.

How old were you when you got to go on your first date?  I was 16, if I remember correctly.

Would you call your parents over-protective or under-protective?  They used to be strict and overprotective, especially my mom. While I still live with them, they've definitely loosened up the older I got.

Did your parents ever let you play in the pits of those multicolored balls?  Yeah, every chance I got.

What is the best movie you've seen in the last five years?  Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Has anyone ever called you a good kisser before?  Sure.

Have any of your siblings ever had a crush on your significant other?  I don't think so.

Are you the jealous type?  Before. Not really the same now as I just mind my own business these days.

Does life ever seem overly ironic to you?  It can be.

When was the last time you felt like you were high on life?  Being in Thailand with friends last June.

Do you know someone who cares about themselves more than their child? I know someone who seems that way, but then again social media can only show you so much.

Do you still watch cartoons on television?  I'll get in the mood to watch old episodes of Spongebob for the nostalgia high but it doesn't happen often.

What do you usually order at Taco Bell, if you go there?  Idk, some burrito. I've never memorized their menu because we have very few stores where I live.

Is there anyone currently annoying you?  Yeah everything about work this past week has been pissing me off but I'm not about to get into that. I want to enjoy my weekend...

What's your favorite hairstyle you've had so far?  My shoulder-length purple hair from last year.

Do you have freckles?  I don't.

How many dogs do you have, if any at all? Two.

Have you ever witnessed someone being beaten up?  Yes. It is my least favorite memory that I have to live with.

Do you think biting is weird or sexy? Idk, depends on the situation I guess? Can work both ways.

Would you rather be called hot or beautiful?  Beautiful.

[melymbrosia]

Part of the world is navigating reliable vs unreliable information. Wikipedia has little source numbers next to all claims that allow you to examine the source of it. To write off an entire, massive, database due to unwillingness to investigate a source reveals a weakness to being mislead easily. I know not everyone had a mean english 200 professor to knock them down a peg for not sourcing properly but at a certain point the responsibility will always come back to you and what you are willing to put into your own critical thinking.

next time you encounter something confusing, try using your fan fiction reading device to access websites like "wikipedia" or "miriam webster" to break down those pesky difficult topics. its sorta like a "enemies to lovers" situation, where the scary new knowledge can become your friend - and then you won't look so unflattering when you comment

[myseniorproject]

Do You Know the Bias Behind Where You Get Your News From?

Is our Media Biased?

Do you know if your media is straight-up neutral facts? According to several resources that I’ll later get into, our media can be skewed depending on where we get it from. News can come in the form of broadcast, radio, social media, and print. Each outlet lies somewhere on a spectrum of left, right, or neutral. Whether you like to get political or not some articles can have their own way of delivering news.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Finterestingasfuck%2Fcomments%2Fl42eo4%2Fa_chart_showing_the_bias_of_different_news_sources%2F&psig=AOvVaw0ZeVnLw_s2LAC7ifbVLpj5&ust=1677222783784000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCLihyIGMq_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAP

According to Nielson Rating Reports the top 10 broadcasting programs are all under Fox News. Fox news falls under the scope as it skews right and is fairly unreliable. About 3.5 million people watch Fox news and are in the top five most-watched cable news. The way I interpret this information a lot of people who still do watch cable TV are still tuning into an entertainment channel. From my own observations, I have noticed not so many 18–25-year-old are watching cable anymore, especially for news. I think their demographic is long-time loyal viewers. Do they know their source is skewed towards to the right? Probably not, but it seems to match their views. When I think of Fox news, I think about all the news I really dislike hearing about. It can feel very tabloid at times.

Let’s talk radio. When it comes to getting your news from talk shows and podcasts the top three stations are BBC Global News, NPR Weekend Edition, and PBS NewsHour. This information is directly from YouGovAmerica. Going back to the graph above, All those stations appear to be very neutral and very reliable. Another station that was on there was the Joe Rogan Experience. He seems to be very neutral but also very unreliable. That is a little concerning since the Hollywood reporter says each episode gets 11 million listeners. The good news about NPR, Wikipedia says NPR gets 32.7 million listeners. My interpretation for radio media is that it gets a lot more viewer demographic range and listeners. These stations are very neutral so many people who listen to the news on the radio probably have a good understanding of what’s going on in the world.

When it comes to the top 10 radio stations it seems pretty divided. Fox was at the top being a conservative station. The top ten seem pretty divided since there were no neutral stations with a 6-4 liberal-conservative ratio.

The next medium is newspapers and magazines. I’ll also be merging digital news subscriptions. In the top 10, we have the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Of these top five outlets the top one, Wall Street Journal is a right-center biased outlet. I think they come at number one because a lot of people will read Wall Street for news on stocks. This can be where they get most of their viewers. The others listed were left-centered biased. The Washington Post has a circulation of 159,000 according to Wikipedia. The New York Times has 8.6 million digital subscribers this seems like a small number when you compare it to the number of subscribers the Wall Street Journal has at 42 million digital readers. My interpretation is if everyone reads Wall Street and not only for stocks, the comparison between all other sources is probably split half and half of viewership between left and right.

There isn’t so much information when it comes to social media since it’s open to the public to post it’s hard to track each account. Mark Zuckerberg owns both Meta and Instagram. Although he remains independent. Elon Musk has recently acquired Twitter and Pew research says 69% of users say they get their news from Twitter. My interpretation is this demographic is geared toward those interested in the news but are too busy to actively read news articles. Twitter will give a quick gist which might be enough for some of their population. I also think this might be a young demographic and then journalists.

[embervoices]

*deep sigh* It's not at all new.

Alas, neither is the need for more context than Google is any good at reliably providing. If anything, that part has gotten worse with the increase in deliberate disinformation.

Where's that old rant I wrote years ago now... Ah, here it is (updated a little, here and there).

"Just Google It"

I see this phrase a lot in a few different contexts and there's some where I think it's fair, but mostly I think it's kind of cruel. There's a whole pile of assumptions that go with it, and it's almost always used dismissively to tell someone that being curious about something they don't already understand is an unacceptable burden on others. Thankfully it's rarely used outside of the 'net, so it's safe to presume they have access to Google, at least, but dear gods if I ever hear someone say it in person when they don't know if the person they're talking to has those kinds of resources? ~shudder~

Now, when the issue is someone demanding that you provide proof to back up a bloody obvious claim like "the political minority I'm a member of is systematically oppressed", "OMG Google it, asshole" is a totally fair response. And I get it that the perpetual demand for [Var]ism 101 conversations can derail more nuanced discussion. We absolutely need to create and respect space for advanced conversations!

But this is not an either/or kind of deal, and I'm seeing it used in places where the conversation was relatively casual, not a space created for advanced conversation on whatever topic, and the person was quite sincere in their confusion or curiosity, and not necessarily already educated enough to do their own effective research. Nor is the topic consistently a [Var]ism, politically charged conversation - I'm seeing people use it as the moral equivalent of Newbie Bashing in a Geekier-than-thou competition.

That's the problem.

I do love tools like Google. I'm not saying it's not a wonderful that we have them, although I'm not a fan of the "bubble" effect Google increasingly creates. Wikipedia, too, is a useful place for crowdsourced information with all the flaws and glories that implies, and sometimes I love nothing more than footnote chasing from a Wikipedia entry on some fascinating topic I hadn't pondered an hour before. For that matter, you'd be surprised how useful sites like TVTropes and Cracked can be. And for more advanced searches, there's Google Books and Google Scholar, not to mention various actual academic sites.

I get that people don't necessarily want to be treated like on-demand tutors just because they were thinking in my earshot about something I don't understand. I DO get that, because sometimes I AM that person who just wanted to think about the complex thing that requires an advanced understanding, and didn't want to back up to explain the basics to someone just to have permission to speak. (I have that experience on a regular basis when discussing my faith, for example, especially with non-Pagans.)

But I also know that if you don't know enough about what you're trying to research, you have no way to filter for accurate information. If you don't know enough about what you're trying to research, you may not even have a fruitful way to acquire ANY information of value, because research requires knowing what you're looking FOR. I know that even if you know what you're looking for, you may not find it if you can't figure out the particular search string that will get you where you're trying to go. Research is itself a skill not everyone has.

Even if you FIND what you're looking for in amongst the masses of useless information, not to mention misinformation doing its best to pretend to be useful while being horrifyingly misguided, what if you're not the kind of person who learns well from reading a bunch of static information written by a stranger? That's not actually a rare trait. Pretty well everyone learns better from interactive methods like conversation, lab, etc. than they do from static reading or lecture.

Let me give a more specific example:

My favorite research topic is religion (ya think?), especially religions other than the "Big Five". I'm particularly interested in Indigenous American traditions (not for myself to practice, but because I want to honor the land and the people of the land are part of that, but also because it's just really frelling interesting).

You know what? 90% of what I can find on my own without guidance from people who know better from direct experience? Is complete fucking CRAP. Most of what's out there about Indigenous peoples is either obviously (to me) wrong vilification or probably wrong romanticization. And I often have no way to detect the difference between well-meaning romanticization and legitimate materials.

The author has degrees? Degrees in the applicable field even? Not a guarantee of quality, and definitely not a guarantee of lack of bias. The author has an ethnic name? Provided it's the applicable ethnicity, and I know how to tell that by looking, that might help - IF that's actually their family name and they're actually directly involved with the culture in question. And even then that's not always helpful, because there ARE folks out there who have figured out that they can make a neat profit on selling bullshit to naive outsiders (like me). (Ever tried doing research papers about Mayan religion? Don't even get me started!) Conversely, plenty of folks who are writing about their own culture have Anglo family names thanks to hundreds of years of oppression.

One of the things this comes down to is something I've read repeatedly recently: We're still "teaching" victims not to be victims instead of teaching perpetrators not to be perpetrators. But telling perpetrators they're supposed to have educated themselves just isn't effective, so there needs to be a third option. It's another round of Blame =/= Responsibility =/= Power.

But more to my current point, I get that even if they are somehow motivated to do so, researching from scratch when you don't have another human being to interact with on the topic isn't likely to be effective either. There's not enough to attach all that raw information to without a basic framework, and it takes basic knowledge to filter advanced knowledge. You have to already be past 101 for that kind of research to be very useful to you. You have to have that base level of knowledge before the search can begin in earnest.

That third option DOES exist: Allies who are in-or-past the 101 level of any given [Var]ism discussion need to step up to being educators to those who aren't. If we don't get that ball rolling on behalf of our more burdened friends, there's no guarantee the ball will ever get rolling in the right direction. We can't afford to just set them aside as derailers who should step up to take care of themselves, because many of them can't even if they wanted to.

It takes outside hands to set them on the path. THEN they can start walking it.

A legitimately weird thing I notice a lot these days are people more and more demand answers from strangers on the internet that they could easily type into Google themselves.

Like, my guy, I know no one taught you how to look things up on the internet -- but it's really about time you learned.

Go to your local library and ask a librarian how or something.