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velvetvexations · 2 months ago

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i feel really selfish saying this, but i really wish there were more general trans movies with characters who aren't trans women. like, i'm really glad that they're there and there should be more, but on the other hand, its kinda all thats there? obviously there ARE movies like this, but 9 times out of 10 when there's a recommendation to go see a trans movie, its either a trans women or a character heavily implied to be a trans women there. and i'm really glad those movies are there! but i'd just wish there could be a big discussion about movie and there would be a trans man or a nonbinary person representing the community.

(this also goes for other types of media too)

i sent an ask complaining about how the majority of trans movies that the community talks mainly show trans women and i wanna take that back cause a lot of those media are shitty towards trans women. i dont think its fair to complain about that when those media are awful towards trans women. i apologize

anon of the trans ppl in media asks you can publish them! i retracted it cause im kinda emotional rn and i couldn't really remember if i was being fair or shitty

I think what you're forgetting, anon, is that while trans women are depicted badly in a lot of places - less so over the years, people mainly reference things from the previous century - there's still way more positive transfem rep than there is of anything for transmascs, and that doesn't mean transfems have it better, but as always hyper-visibility and invisibility are two sides of the same coin. It's okay for invisibility to not feel good. There should indeed be more media about transmascs.

Now I'm finally doing that. This year I made my first ever hand sewn cosplay. There are definitely mistakes, but it's pretty sturdy and I can't express the sheer sense of pride I got from wearing something I sewed myself. There are some things I wanna tweak on it, like I must have made a mistake when measuring the waistband because it's WAY too thick. But it's functional, it's accurate, and it even has a zipper! It was expensive because of course for my first ever sewing project I picked a character with a pleated skirt (you need 3x your waist in fabric and im fat which definitely adds up lmao, plus i got the fabric custom printed from a print-on-demand company) and the pleats took forever to do. But I'm so so so proud of it. I'm looking into armor crafting with EVA foam for a future cosplay, and it's intimidating but I'm really excited at the idea of working with it. I've seen so many amazing armor sets and props made with EVA foam and I can't wait to make my own. I'm thinking I'm gonna cosplay Maple from BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense.. Then again, that might be jumping off straight into the deep end again like I did for the last cosplay since she has a GIANT shield. At least I'm sticking to her main outfit, not the one with giant angel wings lmao. I may have watched several videos on wing crafting but even I'm not brazen (or stupid) enough to try making those for only my second real cosplay lmao. Anyway this has been your regularly unscheduled cosplay info dump. Thank you for tuning in, we'll see you next time!

Ambitious! I hope it all turns out great, it sounds like a lot of big projects to have on one's plate.

My opinions are a lot more nuanced than most takes on 'shipcourse' that ive seen, but I've gathered that im generally included when people say 'proshippers dni' based on how people define it in said dnis. I'm not gonna purposefully interact with someone who obviously doesn't want me there. But that makes it frustratingly difficult to find people to follow who also believe in things like transandrophobia. It happens all too often that I find someone with great takes and go to follow them, then see that they have a dni that includes me. It especially sucks when all the other things in the dni are things like "racist" and "transphobic". I'm sorry, but I just can't see having a nuanced opinion on fiction as being on the same level as being a bigot towards others. It sucks to be put on the same level as actively hateful people because I have concerns about the normalization of censorship. I believe that when you open the doors to censoring media because of morals, you set the groundwork for things like the Hays Code. Censorship has always been disproportionately used to silence marginalized groups. I just can't get behind that, no matter how 'noble' the intentions behind it might be.

If it helps any, I'm also what one would call a pro-shipper but find the word itself beneath my dignity because I think it's ridiculous it's an argument in the first place.

#discourse

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silverskye13 · 7 months ago

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could I ask how far into building you are when it comes to the uhhh

court of remembrance? was it court? church? order! the order of remembrance lol

how far have you build out how they work, like their common routines/rituals/etc.

I was considering making my hels!oc part of em cause the hermit-adjacent/"original" player version of my sona is really big on documenting things as they have poor memory, and I want that to be something that ties the two together? if that makes sense?

I'm so sorry this got so long. I. Have a lot of fun world building.

My notes on the Order of Remembrance, as cohesively as I can jot them down, below:

Sooo, when I was figuring out hels stuff, the Order of Remembrance [OR for short] kinda turned up as the equivalent of a culture developing an afterlife, in a world where "afterlife" demonstrably doesn't exist. What would you replace with the idea of an eternal spirit/soul, in a world where superstition and religion still exist? What do you cope with? How do you comfort? Who fills the gaps and holes in the community that people slip through, and why? What informs purpose and meaning?

Memory, the importance of remembrance, the idea that you owe it to the people around you to remember they existed, and that existence affected your life. The idea that you, as an individual, can make someone's life matter by celebrating them, mourning them, even hating them. The universe is indifferent. The greatest sin a helsmet can commit is being indifferent as well.

This started the Remembrance Walls, which gave them importance as landmarks and places of spirituality. And any place with importance deserves protection, preservation, and accessibility.

OR probably started as a small neighborhood collective dedicated to preserving the Remembrance Walls. Which turned into being the people who also supplied the bricks made for those walls, and helping people carve them. Which turned into people who would check in with folks in the neighborhood that hadn't been seen in awhile, making sure they were safe, and taking their names down if they were gone. Eventually a collective turns into an organization, and the ritual of that collective turns into a religion. Now there are helsmets who dedicate their lives, or large sums of money and material goods, to the church. In turn, the church gives back to the community in any way they can, because the more people are involved with each other, the more memories they make, the more that can be preserved.

This is also why OR is so big. Successful people in hels want a legacy that's remembered, so you put your name on every landmark in town -- the OR cathedral is a massive landmark. Memory is important [even the most self centered and heinous need purpose and fulfillment] so a lot of people associate themselves with the church in some way or another. Being remembered is a goal for everyone, not just the community minded. The OR will be important until memory stops being important.

The Staff:

Members directly serving the OR in an official capacity are: Priests/clerics [with one presiding Head/High Priest], scribes, clerks, historians, brickmakers, knights [and squires], and one or two paladins. Various members of the official congregation [they consider all of hels their congregation, given everyone deserves to be remembered, but the official congregation are those who actually attend the church services and functions] will also work for the church if they can donate relevant skills -- this is a part of the church's community building. They will seek needs and fill them with skilled individuals within the church or, if they don't have a recommendation, will contact other churches for members of their congregation. If you need a stone mason for a project, a jeweler for a custom piece, or someone to provide wheat for your new bakery, and don't know where to find one, asking at the OR cathedral is a good place to start.

Priests: Deal with the more spiritual and communal aspects of memory and remembrance. The church has divided the city into districts, and every district has at least one priest who regularly attends it, though the church's goal is to have 3 per district. Every district has at least one remembrance wall, and it's the priest's job to know all the names on that wall, as well as to know as many people as they can in their district, so they can do regular check ins on their well-being. They hold services to add new names to their walls, host and organize community events for their districts [plays, cookouts, parties, gatherings, etc]. They don't pray in the traditional sense -- Memory is more of an idea than a true deity -- but their prayers involve memorizing names, events, dates. A lot of priests will write songs and ballads to aid in this, which they will perform for each other or sing at organized events.

Scribes/clerks/historians: Exactly what it says on the tin. Stationed at the church, these guys get down to the brass tacks of putting ink to paper and codifying memory. They keep accurate records of everything from city economics to books written to personal anecdotes, and they guard their work jealously. Transcribing is a job of great importance, and accurate scribes are revered by the church. The OR has been known to pay a small fortune to individuals who can write quickly, accurately and legibly. Most of the statues decorating their cathedral are scribes revered for their dedication to their craft. Historians meanwhile function as both researchers and, to an extent, unintentional journalists, following developments in hels so they can document them as they happen. While the OR doesn't own news or run a newspaper, the handful of newspapers in town are all run by people who either used to work for the OR, or have friends on the OR historical staff.

[It's important to note the historians and clerks aren't detectives or police. They find information and write it down, they do not solve crimes or prosecute criminals. However, their thoroughness and impartiality means they're often called on as witnesses and informants to crimes. They have been attacked before for either sticking their noses in business someone didn't want remembered, or for providing information someone wanted ignored/erased. Their documents hold a lot of weight.]

This division is also in charge of the OR's extensive library. There is one main library in the cathedral, where every collected written work the library can get its hands on exists. They collect everything from journals, to poetry, to fiction writing, to recipe books. Anything written that can be remembered. They also keep transcripts of hymns and songs written by priests and knights, and up to date registries of the names on the remembrance walls. There is a second, public library that is free for hels to access, which contains every copy the scribes have gotten around to making from the main library. They encourage people to make their own copies of the library works they borrow, and can be paid to make specialty copies of popular works.

[Given how hard it is to grow large amounts of paper in hels, most books in the OR collection are written on vellum (hog skin). Almost every off-world smuggler in hels has a regular customer with the OR if they collect paper/sugar cane on their travels. OR has a current project trying to put every book they own on paper (The Nice Copy TM) and every 2nd or 3rd copy of a book on vellum. Only their best scribes are allowed to write paper copies.]

Knights: Knights are a relatively new addition to the OR staff, in that they weren't really needed when hels was small. As hels got bigger, however, and things like vandalism and crime became big and unruly, knights eventually made their way onto the scene, starting as priests with particularly good PVP skills, and eventually graduating to in-house trained fighters. You can still see their priestly roots in their practices. They too are assigned to districts. They too memorize the names on their associated walls and try to make themselves known in the neighborhoods they patrol. Instead of organizing events and focusing on the social aspects, however, they focus on making a safe place for people to live. They aren't police. Unless the crime is strictly related to memory [for example, destruction of stones on the remembrance walls] they don't track people down and drag them off to jail. They do help the community though. They will stop active crimes, they will stay with people who feel unsafe, they break up street fights, they escort their priests in rougher parts of town, they volunteer to clear out mobs that wander into the city, and have even been known to simply help with building projects for people who need a few extra hands around. Because of their generally neutral disposition towards events in hels [they protect individuals and their church, instead of business or gang interests] they are sometimes asked to be conflict mediators for battling factions in the city who are trying to reach a negotiation point. As a whole, the knights can always be found walking in groups of 2-5 on their routes. They're very rarely seen alone.

The Cathedral:

Paladins: Paladins are an enigmatic rarity for OR. Generally speaking, a paladin is a knight or priest of a given order embued with supernatural power by a deity. OR, as a godless religion, shouldn't be able to get them -- and yet sometimes they do manage to pop up. Some people think they're evidence of a Universe that actually does care about hels, sending someone who can literally fight for the rights of people to be remembered. Only a handful of paladins have ever been called, and they seem to coincidentally pop up whenever someone has done great harm to memory: massive destruction of remembrance walls, burning books, intentionally trying to erase someone from history, fraud. Generally they are compelled, like a very angry sleepwalker, to track down whoever was responsible and stop them. Sometimes this entails violence, but more often than not it involves the perpetrator being imprisoned for a very long time by what amounts to a preternaturally knowledgeable lawyer. It is probably from the OR paladins that the rumors first started that, if you angered the OR, they would have you forgotten [who else could strike someone from the memory of the world, than a guardian of memory itself?]. When they're not actively pursuing holy justice, the paladins look and act pretty normal, though their memory skills are uncanny, near perfect, and they have the habit of just Knowing Things they shouldn't be able to -- speaking and reading languages they've never learned, prophetic visions, etc. When they're being compelled to justice, they describe it as being "dreamlike". In the same way in a dream you Know you can fly despite it being untrue in reality, a compelled OR paladin Knows a destruction of memory has happened, and is unable to stop pursuing that destruction until it's been righted. In the moment, paladins describe the feeling as intensely peaceful: the ability to Know and be Sure. The only frustration is when forces actively try to hinder their task. Because of the intensity of their compulsion, they often have to fight to keep up with basic needs, and it's not uncommon for paladins to lose weight, fall into sleep deprived psychosis, and collapse from exhaustion. Paladins released from their compulsion often have to be nursed back to health again, though none yet have expressed regrets about the rough treatments of their bodies. The way they see it, whatever force compelling them has never been human, and therefore doesn't understand the toll it takes on a living body.

As with all paladins in hels, while they're recovering or in between compulsions, they tie a peace knot around their weapon to symbolize their dormancy.

Squires and apprentices: alongside their regular training with their chosen staff and/or clergy, squires and apprentice clerics/scribes/historians work as the general help staff of the cathedral. If errands need running, someone needs contacted, a mantle needs dusted, an odd job needs filled, they're the ones who catch the chores. They also have the very important responsibility of brick making -- or helping with brick making. The cathedral does employ master brick makers, but those brick makers often need extra hands, so every day the squires and apprentices set aside time to make bricks. This is a time of concentration and meditation, and the apprentices are encouraged not to talk during the process. When each batch has finished baking, the master brickmaker working with the group will call an end to the silence. When this ritual started, the ending was a lot more reverent. Over the years though, the brickmakers have taken more joy in their work than solemnity. It's not uncommon for the brickmakers to break the silence with increasingly bad jokes, rewarding the apprentices that laugh first.

The Head/High Priest: The high priest differs from the other priests and clerics by taking on mostly administrative work. They do not work alone. They have a board of 10 priests, clerks and scribes that help keep things balanced. Balance is the high priest's main objective. The OR excels because it stays as neutral as possible in all of hels's affairs. It does its best to owe nothing to anyone, repays all its debts, and doesn't work with one or two of the various hels factions exclusively. Its goal is to remain as uncorrupt as possible in a system rampant with political and financial corruption. Hels is a place full of evil halves and dark mirrors, a lot of very selfish and manipulative people end up in power, so it's a hard line to walk.

The First Church of Hels, also known as the Cathedral of Remembrance, was the first dedicated church erected in hels. It started out much smaller, a netherbrick building with a brickworks in the back for providing stones. As they grew in importance, so too did the building, until eventually the large cathedral was erected. It was a massive effort from many different hels denizens, and almost every room in the cathedral has a place to display the names of contributors to the project, from the people who laid the mosaic tiles to the folks who soldered the stained glass. The original bricks of the first iteration of the church are enshrined as a pathway that leads through the back garden of the building to their new, much more impressive brickworks. These foundational bricks remain empty, and are blanket dedicated to any helsmet who managed to slip through the cracks in society, whose names were forgotten, never known, or never noted.

The cathedral has one main sanctuary where worship and prayer are performed. They have one holy day a week where all their various members, and any congregation who wants to join, gather to sing songs and hymns, poetry and lists. There are meditations done on works written by bygone individuals, studies and philosophies discussed. While the topics of the main service change from week to week, the basic formula of singing/recital, meditation/discussion, singing/recital happens every time. They open and end every service with the list of names added to the walls that week.

During the week, the cathedral plays host to any number of meetings and events. They have many rooms dedicated as spaces for community gatherings, from small clubs for youths to workshops to food drives. People are constantly coming and going from the place.

Because of the church's center as a place of refuge, history and memory -- and by extension, power -- it has no small amount of detractors and enemies. HumanCleo doesn't allow the OR's knights on her turf, in part because of fear of retaliation: if her gangs attack any of the Order, she risks a paladin ripping down her criminal empire brick by brick. The Demon is one of OR's paper suppliers, and has been known to try to corner and intimidate scribes sent to document his shipments. Many of the historians cannot walk the city without an escort. Even their clerks have been scouted by influential merchants who want an expert in numbers looking over their books. Scribes with a particularly steady hand have been harassed and attempted coerced about forging documents and reproducing copies of cursed books. Thieves and vandals have attempted break-ins of their treasury. They have also had to deal with gang fights and general violence at their larger events. This is where their connections with other churches come in handy. Organizations like the Church of Blood and Steel, with knight and paladins who specialize in fighting, are often contacted to help when the OR needs a little more muscle. In return, the OR will loan them use of their scribes, arrange for their monuments to be built at a discount, etc.

The OR has a few loose ties to the Colosseum. All the statues of past champions that line the corridors are designed, drafted and prototyped by OR affiliated builders. Their epitaphs are drafted by their scribes. They have a team of knights whose main job is to attend Colosseum events and study and transcribe fighting styles of the various fighters, so their martial memory isn't lost when they return to the universe. They also record the Colosseum matches, and send a copy of their notes to the showrunners for the use in writing future fighting arcs.

[Also this is just me, but I think there's a writer in hels somewhere that spends all day making serialized literature out of the Colosseum matches, and submits them to the newspaper for people to read after a match. They probably also are very grateful for the OR's Colosseum notes lol].

I think! That's! Everything! I can think of! Though I'm sure I'll remember something else in an hour! Oh well!

#rns asks #order of remembrance #the order of remembrance #hels worldbuilding #hels world building #hhhhhhh oh my gosh #sorry this feels like it might be too much info #i tried to keep it organized

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the-lark-ascending69 · 7 months ago

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Near-future, black mirror esque AU in which Nancy, stressed college student with loads of childhood trauma, gets recommended by her psychologist to get an emotional support robot. That's what they're called, yes. They're sold to very lonely people to pretty much look after them emotionally. Nancy has always hated the idea, and doesn't really like androids or robots of any kind. Plus, she thinks it's quite sad that she's so lonely she needs an android to keep her company. She also couldn't possibly afford it.

Her friend Steve, though, who hasn't seen her in a year despite living 15 minutes away (she has a tendency to isolate herself and use her studies as an excuse), got her one. It's a second-hand unit, a slightly older model that's seen several repair shops in the past, but it works, and it was half the price of a new one. He shows up to her apartment with the box, looking smug and proud of himself. If anything, Nancy feels insulted.

She doesn't touch the box for a few weeks, and doesn't get rid of it either, because her studies take her so much time, she can't bring herself to keep her apartment clean. When her mother visits and sees the mess she's living in, with a perfectly functional android willing to help her, she finally caves, and as soon as she's alone, she decides to see if this thing can at least help her clean up.

It surprises her that it looks so... human. Its skin is soft and warm, with all the natural imperfections of a human's skin. Same as her hair. She's dressed in old worn-out clothes, and she curls into herself, in fetal position, inside the box. Only the button under her skin on the back of her neck reveals her as an android. Nancy reads the instructions, presses there for 10 seconds, and waits.

Or she planned to wait - eight seconds in with Nancy's fingers pressed on that spot, and the android's eyes flew open. She cried out, screambled out of the box and looked around, breathing heavily and hugging herself. Her eyes fix on Nancy, look her up and down with a frown, and asks:

"Who are you?"

Nancy opens her mouth to reply, then looks down at the instructions, hoping they'd say something about this kind of scenario, and that her new robot didn't go rogue and try to kill her.

"Wait, are those my instructions?" The robot asked. She looked down. "I really don't mean to complain about my living situation going from extremely fucked to simply fucked, but that is not my original box. Mine was smaller, and it had a bunch of little dots on the side. Did they sell me again?"

The instructions said nothing about this possibility, so Nancy decided it was time to improvise.

"I... my friend got you at a garage sale, I think."

"Oh. Well, that is low, even for me," the robot said. She rubbed the back of her neck. "Should my neck hurt this much?"

Nancy blinked.

"Shouldn't you know that?"

"Honestly, I don't even know what levels of pain are normal for me. It always hurts just a little bit somewhere, like, right now, my whole spine really hurts." She laughs. "At least I think it's supposed to feel like pain? I don't think we're wired to feel pain, exactly, I mean, that would be just sadistic. Talk anti-natalism to me. But I swear this spot right here just feels really really bad. Or maybe it's anthropocentric to... perceive it as pain, don't you think? It's very existentialist, actually, the whole... perceiving thing - I bet Berkeley wrote something about it, at some point, but I haven't read him in ages."

"You read books?"

"What? Oh. Oh, uh... I - I think I'm offline? Like, I don't have access to the database, so I kinda have to do it the old-fashioned way if I want to learn somethin," she said. "It's cool, though! I like reading a lot."

"...Okay. So, um... here it says your model is..."

"Robin," the android said. Nancy looked up.

"I'm sorry?"

"That's my name," she said. "I came up with it, I - I thought it sounded nice. Do you like it?"

Nancy stared at this... thing, a million thoughs coursing through her head. The first one was a newfound understanding of her low price.

She made a movement with her head that could be understood as both a shake and a nod at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah, sure" she said, brows knit together. What the hell did Steve get her into? "It's... nice."

"Oh, thank God, because Mom and Dad hated it."

"Mom and...?"

"My first owners - Richard and Melissa, I always called them Mom and Dad. They... they, uh, they hated that, too."

Jesus Christ.

"So... Robin," Nancy said. "I was wondering if you could help me put away some of my things while I study."

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure." She stood there, eyes wandering, around, until they fell on Nancy's bookshelf "Holy shit, you have Dostoyevski! Is it in Russian?"

Nancy blinked, opened her mouth, took a step back and shook her head. Robin was already striding towards her bookself, tracing the spines of books with her fingers.

"Actually, why don't you read after you clean this up?"

Robin turned to see her, eyes wide and a growing smile, like a kid in a candy shop.

"I - I can read all of this?"

Nancy was going to kill Steve.

She shrugged and shook her head.

"Sure," she said. "After you clean this mess."

"Aye aye, cap!" Robin chirped, making a quick salute with her hand and getting to work.

Nancy was, for certain, going to murder Steve for making her responsible for this... thing. There was something wrong in her system, and that was very much obvious. She looked down at the instructions manual - surely there would be a way to turn her off for the night. She wouldn't want Robin to murder her in her sleep, or worse - wake her up at 4 am to talk about books.

Or she could just tell her to shut up. She was a robot, anyway. It's not like she could feel anything.

#ronance #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #Android Robin AU #my posts #wake up baby new AU just dropped

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jizzweiner · 9 months ago

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what are your dirkjake gender heaadcanones

my fanfic acc is @jermer10, i mostly write for tf2 but i take reqs for a number of diff fandoms including homestuck disclaimer: i have to stress that some of these practices are extremely dangerous irl, please do your research before binding and taking hrt

dirk: - ftm transgender, homosexual - doesn't have top or bottom surgery because he lives in the middle of a fucking ocean - he binds using bandages and duct tape - created his own testosterone through extremely dangerous trial and error (doesn't give a shit as long as he can grow sideburns) - he mechanically created his packer (yes, it is completely functional as the real thing. no, he would not recommend trying to penetrate with it) - he primarily wears masculine clothing but likes headbands and hair clips - will also wear makeup occasionally - extremely secretive abt his gender identity, the only people who know are his bro and roxy - jake and jane don't find out until they meet him in person and see his bewbs and then it clicks why he never joined vc or would use funny voice changers when he did, why he never really sent selfies and when he did they would be head n shoulders only

jake: - amab nonbinary, bisexual - they use he/they pronouns and have no intention of any surgeries (social dysphoria + gender dysphoria but not much dysphoria abt his body) - they mostly wear feminine clothing because its comfortable - had the most trouble with his gender identity, and didn't even know dirk was trans until he met him in person for the first time - and that's when it clicks that they might alsoooo fall under the trans umbrella - he confides in jane about this before making a coming out speech to dirk and roxy - the general consensus is literally 'yeah i mean it was kinda obvious' - (all of the alpha kids r trans to me so like yeah ofc they dont care) - doesn't really like labels and prefers to remained undefined, he's the kind of person who hates feeling trapped or held back - absolutely HATES being perceived, they hate when others try to project a certain image onto them that they don't agree with but also hates it when they give him labels that he does agree with

#homestuck #dirkjake #dirk strider #jake english #homestuck headcanons #dirkjake t4t

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dokidokitsuna · 9 months ago

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...I just remembered I wanted to make my own statement on the AI thing. ^^;

So you've probably heard, but in case you haven't: Tumblr just sold out everyone's data to the AI trash compactors, they probably did it long before they gave us the option to opt out, and even if you do opt out they're probably still taking and using your work anyway (telling people to opt out instead of actually asking for their permission is already scummy business practice, but when it comes to AI it's functionally meaningless. :/ It's always "well, we're telling them not to use these people's data and we're hoping they'll be nice and go along with it" with no regulations or consequences if they decide to just steal everything indiscriminately...)

Despite that, I am not leaving Tumblr anytime soon. I'm looking into other sites*, but at this moment in time, I have nowhere else to go. ^^; Besides, I still like it here. When I left DeviantArt I was already getting sick of the place, having my art stolen regularly by "fans" and paradoxically getting less and less interest in my work over time. By the time the devs turned the website into eye-blinding slop with Eclipse, I was more than ready to move on.

But I still enjoy using Tumblr. I like writing long text posts that no one would bother to read anywhere else, I like answering asks, and I like the unique sense of humor and style among the users here. ^^ It would take a lot to force me out.

Also, I can take a little solace in the fact that AI-bros do not value "low-quality" art like mine. ^^; If messy cel-shaded sketches with visible pixels ever become popular, then I'll worry, but for now I think it's highly unlikely that anyone will want to wholesale regurgitate my art. If anything, I think prioritizing it in their datasets would only make them worse...and on that note, if you do have "high quality" detailed/painterly/semi-realistic art that would be targeted, I'd recommend 'poisoning' it with Nightshade/Glaze. Although I heard a rumor a while back that AI is "building immunity" to Nightshade and already learning to work around it, but I'm really hoping that was just a wishful lie from the trash compactors themselves. I haven't heard it repeated since then, so I think it's still worth a shot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So anyway, like the post I reblogged said, I think the best thing we can do now is to make it clear that WE DON'T WANT AI ART. We don't care how easy it'll be to instantly generate thousands of hours of mindless 'content' to look at; we don't want it. Since regulation is lagging so far behind (wanna know why Disney's copyright hounds didn't shut this down on sight? Most likely, they're hoping to profit from it down the line) the only way to fight this right now is with individual litigation and consumer demand.

Don't support projects made with AI**; don't hate-watch them or spotlight them. Focus your energy on the millions of human artists who are still here, and need your support now more than ever.

*I've heard people mention moving to Twitter and/or Artstation: fam, you're jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. ^^;;; IIRC, Arstation was one of the FIRST art sites to start flirting with AI, and Twitter has been selling off its users' data for several months already. Go there if you must, but don't go under the impression that it's "safer".

**Please keep a cool head when discussing AI art, and keep in mind that it used to mean something other than "mass theft". Artists have and still do create AI tools that are built on limited data sets with permission/compensation, that are used to aid them in their work and encourage human artistry (Vocaloids and DAW's, for instance) rather than stamp it out. Until a specific word evolves into popular use for exploitative AI, we're kinda stuck with this confusion, so remember to get the facts before you speak out.

P.S. Praying every night that this is a dumb fad that will soon die and go to the same hell as NFTs. >_< Praying every morning that the influx of AI art into its own datasets will eventually corrupt itself and make it useless. >_< >_< Praying every afternoon for both at once! >_< >_< >_< Like to charge, reblog to cast, all that

#musings

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probablytrapped · 3 months ago

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There's been an ongoing debate for years between users on AO3 about whether or not people should be allowed to add works from other authors to collections.

Generally this debate is now over with the the default for a work to not allow others to add it to anything, meaning less and less works are available to add, which I really do think it is a shame. I understand the the general danger of losing fics since whoever was running the collection could make the works all anonymous, and the original author couldn't undo. That's pretty scary and annoying. Not sure exactly the the mechanics, but in general the issue stems from the fact collections were not designed for what users were ending up using it for.

Some argue that this is what the Bookmarks function is supposed to be, but I disagree. Bookmarks, while they can be either public or private, don't have the same social or organization power that collections had. (And if I'm remembering correctly, have a slightly stunted filter..)

Any reader could see what collection a work had been added to...And this is a bit of bad thing honestly, some fics have been added to SO many collections that it sometimes is a larger block than the actual tags. But that doesn't change the fact that it was a user built "what to read next" function.

I'm not suggesting that that's something that AO3 needs, I DO believe that a huge part of reading fanfiction is learning to fucking dig and search for what you want. But, user curated lists of recommendations? I don't see the harm in that. If often times is just a smaller pool to dive into rather than all of a specific tag or series.

Bookmarks aren't that easily delved into. Usually you might find an author you like and check out their bookmarks, but it isn't quite work the same as reading a specific fic and then seeing it's part of a collection called "NaruSasu timetravel fics I LOVE". Someone else also really loved that story! and here are some other works that they thought were similar! how nice!

If we COULD keep the collection system open and in use as it was or create something similar, I do think it would need some improvements:

Default number of viewable collections or rec lists should be capped at like 10, and then there's either a toggle to show more or a link to a new page with all the collections the fic is added to.

The ability to hide the collections list entirely from readers. It'll still be in the index page or something, but ultimately if authors don't want people redirecting to other things from their story....I get that.

I don't really love the idea of authors being able to remove their stories from a list, but that might be something to keep people appeased. But I don't think people should be able to opt out?? If there's no harm created by adding to a list I really don't see the point. Of course maybe someone starts a "Trash fic that should DIE!" kinda thing....anyway it's complicated

Being able to subscribe to a collection who be rad as hell. This unfortunately feeds into the social media aspect that I think AO3 tries to avoid, so I'm not sure if that would go over well. Maybe the people who run the collections can't have their accounts public on the collection page? dunno

And to spice things up, some general OTHER upgrades to AO3:

can i PLEASE get some easy to read indicator on a fic in the search level that i've read it before? There are so many extensions I've used over the years for this, but most of them break after a certain point...But I just need a "you've given kudos" or "you're subscribed" or SOMETHING. I don't mind rereading fics, but I don't love being Gandalf half the time!

In the same vein as above....just a personal status tracker button. Maybe it's visible on the front end, but anything really to indicate if it's "TBR", "Reading", "Finished", or "DNF". The "DNF" is kinda important to me. Since if I mark it, that means I gave up for A REASON. This should all be private an not visible to authors or anyone else.

I would like to see all the fics I've given a Kudos to. please.

#ao3 #archive of our own #here's my 15 years of use complaint lol #fanfiction

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skinny2tb · 5 months ago

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€d vent and life update:

Sooo... I'm really upset rn because I managed to fast for 5 days without anyone noticing and it felt GREAT. I mean it's kinda sad that my parents just simply don't care anymore. They used to encourage me while I was in recovery and actually getting better but oh well that's how it is sometimes I guess. I once weighed 43kg that's why I originally went into recovery and as I began to gain some weight back they just assumed my €d was magically cured. But that just wasn't the case and here I am once again. Without anybody noticing or actually caring. Sadly my eating disørder is even worse this time and I'm feeling no will to live anymore.

Anyways, I'm thinking of another liquid fast right now because as I said I'm really upset that I just broke mine 20mins ago with some leftover noodles (230 + 55kcal for the cheese) and I'm freaking out atm because I'm afraid I'll gain weight after eating those. But I can't work out because my parents and their friends are downstairs and I don't want them to hear me doing some exercises. Although I know they probably wouldn't even care.

Lately I've been pretty busy studying (literally lol) because of my finals this and next week. I've already completed three out of four and I just have to pass the math test and honestly I'm shitting myself even thinking about it. But as for the others I'm pretty confident.

My hot guess:

• english: 1-2

• french: 1

• german: 2-3

• maths: 4?

Only thing I know is that this years final math exam will include exponential functions which I hate.

I also wanted to say hello to everybody new following me, just wanna let you know I do appreciate it<33

Btw I managed to book my first ever nail appointment for next week and I'm kind of excited?? Let me know if you guys have any cool design recommendations. So far I really fw acrylic, stiletto shape, classy french nails with some gems and tiny rhinestones..

(not my pic btw)

Prom is also coming soon so ofc I'm hella nervous because I haven't fully opt which of my two dresses I'll wear but eitherway it's gonna be navy blue with sparkly details and an open back. And when I tried the dresses on infront of my mom I could clearly see the disbelief in her face of how thin I have gotten again. She didn't say anything tho. I just looove the feeling of clothes that have gotten too big on you and would slide down your body if you didn't use a belt or hairtie.

Yeah, also there's this cute guy in my class. Same age and we went to the same elementary school but back then we had nothing to do with each other. You're probably asking what that has to do with me. Well, at the beginning of the school year when I was the new girl in my class he asked me to go to prom with him and I agreed but now I'm scared, because I do know and everybody always tells me that he has a huge crush on me. But I just can't handle that much affection yk?? The dance course will also start in a few weeks and we both can't look each other in the eyes... Everytime I think about him I'm like what do you even like about meee, I mean why me when there's a bunch of other beautiful girls, right? But well, what can I say at least I pull? Seems like I got that shy rizz*~*

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally happy but at the same time I feel like I don't deserve this kind of love. He's so good looking too with his hazel eyes, big lips and dark brown hair, plus he's way taller than me. So literally my dream guy? I even got to see his abs and stuff when our class went on a trip to a water park. Since then I'm head over heels.. I catch him often secretly staring at me but as soon as I gaze in his direction he pretends to be busy doing other things, like sir I SAW THAT

Ugh, I'm sorry that was pretty much about my personal shit but also pretty much needed.

(Lastly I wanna say that you guys DESERVE recovery and if you feel like you or anybody you know might suffer from an eating disørder don't hesitate to see professional help. You're loved♡)

I'll probably post again in a minute cuz I'm bored rn and want to avoid a b¡nge.

#anorexla #ed dairy #starv1ng #tw ed but not sheeran #tw ed sheeran #pro @n@#pro miiia #crush #promdress #nails #tw 3d vent #tw ana bløg

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thatskindarough · 6 months ago

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Oh it was only 3 actually, counting that one animatic on YouTube (that BTW i had no idea was yours! I was pleasantly surprised <3)

And I found it so funny that you have somewhat an idea of who I might be PFFF you can throw the guess, it would be funny if you get it right (don't have to say my name if you don't remember it, you can just go for something you remember NFKDSJ)

also time for an actual question since i'm already here, what program did you used for the animatic? I've always wanted to get into animating but most softwares cost money or are free but really bad so I could use some recommendations 👀

Good to hear there is no imposter lol. I should probably start using the false pfp so people know it’s me but I’m too lazy to change them all 💀 also my guess was right as to who you were but probably mainly because I put on my Aziraphale detective hat and you were the last notification before the ask inbox notification and your icon had a red beanie. We meet once again.

As for the animatic I used procreate for drawing and capecut for composting. Not the most efficient method but I liked it. I ended up segmenting off each camera angle into a different canvas and making any animation for the shot that way. I love capecut because the free version has every editing function you need for an animatic and the watermark only appears as a black screen at the end so it’s so easy to crop out. It’s probably the best free editing software I’ve found. (I also used a screen recording device to record the audio cause even if you buy a song it sometimes doesn’t allow you to put it in the program.)

I honestly recommend procreate if you have a device that supports it. I think it’s still only a 10 dollar onetime purchase. But if you don’t have a device that supports it, I have used things like flip a clip which is free, and the paid version is pretty cheap. I have also dabbled in an app called rough animate, also free (you don’t have to pay for the onion skins) which was also okay. I got frustrated cause of the lack of brush choice but other than that it’s not bad at all. If you can’t pay anything at all I’d recommend this because, unlike flip a clip, you don’t have to pay to unlock the a lot of the really helpful features. Ibis paint also added an animation feature I think so that’s an option. Idk if you need the paid version for it, but I remember only having to watch ads for a minute to unlock all the brushes so maybe it’s the same for the animation feature lol.

If you have a computer set up, I’ve also heard nice things about Krita for animation. It’s free and from what I remember it had a really good timeline set up. I actually tried to use it, but my computer at the time was old and slow and it lagged to much, and then I had a shitty no screen tablet and my hand eye coordination when it came to drawing and writing is quite bad, so it just wasn’t a good set up for me personally. But I know people make it work. I mean, people make this kinda shit in MS paint, if you’re dedicated enough you can technically do it in almost any program (though you may not be able to make it as polished as you’d like.)

Then there is Clip Studio Paint, which does cost money but is way less expensive than like, harmony or adobe. The EX version which gives you a second of free animation per project is a $5 monthly subscription for once device, PC MaC IOS, and the Pro version (which is more expensive) gives you unlimited animation animation access for I believe around 10 -15 dollars a month (still less than most streaming services lol). There’s also a one time purchase version that is $50 dollars, but it goes on sale A LOT for $25! Although I don’t think it gives you more than a second of animation. CSP also has a very long free trial period, for EX it was legit like 3 months. so if you try it out and like it, I’d definitely suggest finding a way to pay for it. It’s actually used in some professional studios in Japan, so if you have any professional aims for your work it’s a good starting platform to get into industry software. However a lot of the nice things CSP offers for animation are not needed in the story boarding/animatic stage, so if that’s as far as you wanna take your animations it maaaaaaay not be worth it unless you love it.

If anyone else has other cheap or free recommendations feel free to add on. I have attempted to make animatics on procreate, rough animate, and flip a clip; all of which I have uncompleted projects on. It just so happens that procreate is what I was using when I finally made an animatic I liked enough to see until completion. Whatever software you do use, just make sure you learn how to use it before attempting a big project. Do some smaller stuff before you try anything big.

Edit to check the comments! We got other good recommendations for computers!

#personal

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az-cain · 2 years ago

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Rhett Abbott NSFW Alphabet

i’m going to hell lmao

A: Aftercare

Rhett is the aftercare KING, he always has a bottle of water for you to drink and a soft rag to clean you up with, kissing over any marks he left, and murmuring sweet things as he cuddles you to sleep!! He was kinda touch-deprived as a kid, living in a quite conservative family and only seeing sex as a release rather than an opportunity for vulnerability, so now that he has you and the opportunity to be loved, he will cuddle you any chance he gets, especially after sex.

B: Body part

His favorite part of you is your ass. He loves to watch it jiggle (even if it doesn’t jiggle much) and will not hesitate to grab it when it’s 100% unwarranted. A very close runner-up is your thighs, which he loves to see get a little bigger when you sit, and will also grab for no reason.

His favorite body part on himself is his hands! He loves knowing that they’re capable of so much, that they let him lift things that many couldn’t, that he can make you feel so good with them. His other favorite is his own thighs: they’re wildly sensitive, something he didn’t know until you scratched down them with your nails when you were blowing him and he came faster than when he was a teenager.

C: Cum

Marking you up is his favorite part of oral, honestly. As much as he loves seeing you swallow him down, he’s a sucker for a pearl necklace, and it makes his refractory period nonexistent. He’s also not afraid to go down on you, and if you squirt, he is absolutely ecstatic and will try to get you to do it as often as possible.

D: Dirty Secret

He wants to get pegged 👍🏼. But that’s not really a secret anymore, now is it? Because while the two of you were watching porn together (typical couple behavior), a pegging video popped up in the recommended videos, you clicked it, and he absolutely whimpered. Watching the male actor ride the female’s strap-on had him burying his head in your shoulder and blood rushing to his cheeks with shame. Needless to say, the porn website was quickly abandoned in favor of a search to order a strap.

E: Experience

He was known as the town manwhore, obviously he’s pretty experienced. He won’t hesitate to try anything you want to try, because chances are it’s not his first go-around with it.

F: Favorite position

Doggystyle, because he gets a gorgeous view or your ass and thighs rippling every time he thrusts into you. I mean come on, what else would it be. It’s even better if there’s a mirror involved, because then he can see your face.

G: Goofy

It depends on your definition of goofy, but he doesn’t really try either way. He’ll make you laugh a little, but it’s just loving. The two of you function like a married couple; you’re best friends, and that means every aspect of your relationship has that fun part of him that makes you love him so much.

H: Hair

He stays well-washed, but shaving is too time-consuming and gets itchy, so he just leaves his body hair natural. He likes the hair on his head long enough that it drapes, but he can pull or gel it back if need be.

I: Intimacy

He’s a hopeless romantic through and through. Everything you do, he’s admiring you. He’s the kind of man to kiss your wedding ring and hold your hand as he fucks you ruthlessly into your mattress. He knows everything you like, and you come first for him, be that in your day-to-day life or in the bedroom.

J: Jerk off

He is not at all opposed to getting himself off, but it’s never as good as you. If he’s doing it, it’s fast. Just enough to hold him off until he sees you again after this trip, panting through his nose and clamping his lips shut so no one in the motel room next to him can hear. Sometimes, he’ll struggle with it and turn up at your door looking like a kicked puppy, horny as hell and completely unable to help himself.

K: Kink

He loves tying you up and being tied up himself An absolute sucker for complete loss of control, he always keeps some rope and Aquaphor (for aftercare) in his closet. He’s a master at tying knots, and loves to teach you, even in a non-sexual way. It’s just lovely to hear your little victory shout when you finally get it.

Public sex is another big one, but more on that below.

L: Location

He loves to rail you in or over his truck, usually after you tease him at the bar. Also, he loves doing it at home outside. The two of you will be stargazing on one of your pastures and he’ll just start kissing up your neck, begging you to be as loud as you want because no one but the cows can hear.

M: Motivation

Plain-old domesticity. He grew up watching his parents make pancakes and kiss each other on the cheek, but he never got that. He was always taking the blame for his brother’s mistakes, being sent out to tend the cattle on holidays because he was the last with a lover, and being told he wasn’t strong enough. You, letting him cry on your shoulder, petting his hair as you cuddle, wrapping your arms around his waist while he’s elbow-deep in dishes, make him so grateful that all he wants to do is make you feel good like you do for him.

N: No

He doesn’t want to do non-con. He is just not a fan of having to try and read whether he’s taking it too far, whether you’re scared to say your safeword, whether you’re hurting and can’t get it out, etc. He wants sex and your bedroom to be a safe place where neither of you have to worry about that.

O: Oral

I think that because Rhett was a manwhore for a while, he’s given head, but he wasn’t ever particularly good at it. When you’re town-famous for your dick and most of the people you screw are only there because of how good you ride bulls, most people aren’t too interested in your mouth. That being said, after you teach him what makes you feel good? He’s the master of oral sex— getting you over the edge within 5-10 minutes without fail.

P: Pace

It definitely depends on his mood, but usually if he’s setting it, he likes a good fast pace. That doesn’t mean that he won’t drag it out by edging you, but he likes the ache that the fast thrusts create in his thighs and hips. If you’re setting the pace, he absolutely loves a slow, deep, driving pace. Riding him until he’s whimpering and crying and begging you to come, or making him ride you slowly as you rock into that spot, his head buried in your neck and his tears running down your shoulder.

Q: Quickie

ALL THE TIME!! Before he leaves for a ride?? Quickie. When your alarm goes off to get ready for work? Quickie. If you’re teasing him with a hand on his thigh while he’s celebrating a win with some friends? Quickie.

R: Risk

As mentioned earlier, he’s down to try nearly anything except non-con. He loves to see you figure things out, and he always wants to give you the best experience possible.

S: Stamina

On the top, he pushes himself pretty hard, so he can last for hours, but then takes a while to get it back up. On the bottom, you can tease him for hours and he’ll cum as soon as you touch him. When he gets off fast, though, he can get it back up within minutes.

T: Toys

Other than the aforementioned strap-on (that came with two dildos) and a vibrating plug you used on him when you were first playing around, he doesn’t have many toys for himself. For you, however, he has many a vibrator that he’s more than willing to use to enhance your fun.

U: Unfair

If we count pictures/videos as teasing, he is so unfair. If you leave early for work and he wakes up hard, he’s sending you a mirror pic of his cock standing hard against his abs, one veiny hand wrapped around it while the other holds his phone. He’ll only tease if you’ve teased, but it goes back tenfold. If you edged him all day yesterday, today you won’t even be touched except for in the morning when he gets you right up to the edge and ruins it.

W: Wild Card

He really, really likes wearing your clothes. And makeup, too. It all feels dirty, having been told for his entire life that a man wearing women’s clothes was no man at all, but the first time he sees the pretty blouse and necklace on, he’s done for. The clothes are a bit tight on him, but he can’t get over the way your dresses look on his thighs, showing each and every muscle. You’ve even let him put on some lingerie once, the sheer panties doing wonderful, horrible things to both of you. For makeup, you will sit on his lap and do his makeup for hours, patiently awaiting his dark red kisses all over you as soon as you’re done.

X: X-Ray

This man… is so thick. He really brings the phrase “dick like a can of coke” to life. Probably about 6 inches when he’s hard, and the tip gets really red and absolutely leaks when you tease him. He’s uncut, because in my mind he was a home birth, his family having lived so far from a hospital.

Y: Yearning

He’s an absolute dog. He’s always bending you over something or feeling you up.

Z: Zzz…

He’ll go to sleep right after he can tell you’re asleep. He always wants you to go to bed first, so he knows you’re completely sated.

#rhett abbott #rhett abbott pegging #rhett abbott smut #rhett abbott fluff #rhett abbott x reader #rhett abbott/reader #rhett abbott x female reader #rhett abbott/female reader

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nexus-nebulae · 2 months ago

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would you recommend terraria

‼️‼️INFODUMP INCOMING‼️‼️

uhh i mean probably it's a pretty good game like a 2d minecraft (i started playing mostly bc i stopped being able to play mc), we mostly play it because there's a lot of items we can sort and alphabetize (spin go brrrr) (and we haven't even started modding yet! *stares at the dozens of mc mods i downloaded solely bc they add hundreds of items*) also similar to minecraft the devs are still making updates and putting out new stuff,

it is pretty hard to Just Start Playing, you'd have to read the wiki a lot or look at reddit for tips (or we can try to give tips if we know the subject (NOT wiring i repeat NOT wiring we are just as bad at terraria wires as we were at minecraft redstone 😔)), and I'd kinda recommend playing in Journey mode at first to get your bearings. Journey mode is like terraria's almost-creative mode, where you can still play survival but everything's super easy and also you have options to turn on god mode and item duplication- except to duplicate an item you have to collect a certain amount of it first, so it's not an instant cheat code. personally we actually love it that way bc that's how we've always wanted to play survival minecraft (i mean, we basically do by using commands to get infinite amounts of what we know we've already collected once). if you're too lazy to collect all the items yourself tho there's also character downloads you can get that have everything already so you can just get it all at once

it's an enclosed world, it's not infinite, though you can pick different sizes of world (small, medium, and large). Worlds always spawn with the same major biomes (minus a few), and usually in the same order, but there are also a lot of special (and sometimes rare) mini-biomes you can find within the big ones. Also some things are mutually exclusive items to spawn in the world, like if you have Corruption you can't also have Crimson (usually), so to get certain things you will probably have to jump worlds multiple times (there are special worlds that do combine these things into one world BUT I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM FOR A BEGINNER THEY ARE. ROUGH)

You can create multiple player characters and each of them can play in literally any world, and go between them (while keeping your items!) so it's like. GREAT for when someone is in front and wants to look like themselves. also you can change your characters' name and appearance at any time. it reminds us a lot of the Stardew Valley character creator, with how you can pick your hair and eye colour and your tiny pixelated outfit (you start with a pretty plain outfit, though, until you can find other clothes in the world) also! you can wear functional armor AND cosmetic armor so if you hate how your armor looks you can just wear something on top of it or just remove it from view entirely.

the lore seems to me similar to minecraft again, where none of it is in your face but you just find relics with no clue how they really connect. There's A LOT of outer gods/lovecraftian type stuff (there's gigantic skulls in the backgrounds and creatures that seem to be the somehow still living decapitated body parts of beings beyong your understanding and also there are QUITE A FEW random floating eyes. like everywhere there are so many eye motifs in this game). there are A LOT of bosses, and as you travel up the chain you sort of see a vague story piecing together, it's kinda cool. Also the npcs sometimes have lore dialogue depending on the time and state of the world. there's also a lot of enemy spawning events, like blood moons and goblin armies. Some of these you can do at any time, some of them are a progression chain you need to move up. It's actually not that hard to speedrun the game since you can technically skip a TON of bosses that are not enforced but definitely suggested within the progression chain (the in-game achievements can sometimes give you a vague hint as to what to do next) though once you unlock Hardmode- kinda the halfway point of progression- it becomes a little more linear

we bought the game in february (of this year, 2024) and so far we've clocked in a little over 1600 hours (THATS. OVER 66 FULL DAYS. HADN'T DONE THE MATH UNTIL NOW DEAR GOD. OUR PLAYTIME TAKES UP A FULL 2 OUT OF THE 8 MONTHS WE'VE HAD THIS GAME) in this game so uh. i guess that kinda speaks for itself huh

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bisexualbaker · 1 year ago

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Dreamwidth and Lurking

In (I think) the notes on my "Why is everyone recommending Dreamwidth as a Tumblr alternative?" post, someone asked if it was possible to lurk on Dreamwidth. My first instinct was to automatically reply with "yes", since wasn't lurking just kinda. Hanging out and reading someone's posts and generally not letting them know you're there in any way? But getting the question at all made me stop and think for a minute, because if that's all that lurking is, then why would someone feel the need to ask the question in the first place? Does that mean that lurking means something different on Tumblr than I'm used to?

This lead to my initial question post, and, a few days after that, my All About Lurking Poll, which wrapped up yesterday. I personally found the results fascinating, and while the answer that got the most votes out of the 2808 responses was "You do not interact in any way with the poster(s); you can only read", other answers together made up more than 50% of the responses.

So when it comes to the question of whether it's possible to lurk on Dreamwidth, it depends heavily on what you consider lurking to be! I'll be covering the first four options, which should between them cover at least most of the rest of the poll answers.

Option one: "You do not interact in any way with the poster; you can only read"

Generally possible! I had five different Tumblr accounts each open to their own tabs before I broke down and got my own account to condense them down. Given how many tabs I have open as a result of that decision, for reading or reblogging later, that backfired a bit, but the intent was there!

I did it for at least five LiveJournalers back in the day that I was too intimidated to add to my friends list (basically the equivalent of Following on Tumblr), only that was also before tabs, and I hated having extra windows open, so I would cycle through the links in the search bar.

That said, there are some people who have their journals set to "Access Only"; they have posts that only people with a Dreamwidth account who they have granted the ability to access these "Locked" posts will be able to see. It's a privacy feature that's very beloved at Dreamwidth, and it means that anyone without an account, or without access, can only see posts that are shared publicly.

I want to add that I'm not actually sure how Dreamwidth works on other RSS Readers, which I'm sure would simplify things somewhat, but I do know that you can subscribe to RSS accounts through Dreamwidth! If someone wants to chime in with more details, I would welcome them!

Option two: You can follow the poster, but not interact any farther than that

Yes! I've got any number of "ghosts" following me, who have Dreamwidth accounts and who have subscribed to my account, but who haven't granted me access and who don't comment on my posts.

Aside from the above-mentioned RSS Feed idea, the easiest way to do this is to create a Dreamwidth account and, well, subscribe to someone whose updates you want to see! It's basically the same as following on Tumblr, with a few functional differences; and for the purposes of this poll answer, it may as well be exactly the same.

As an important note, you don't actually have to grant anyone access to your locked posts in order to subscribe to them! On LiveJournal, these features were connected (you could only follow an account by adding them to your "Friends List", and this would grant them access to all of your locked posts, IIRC), but Dreamwidth made a point of separating them. This allows greater privacy for everyone involved. Dreamwidth went one step further, and created "Access Filters", so a given journal owner could make a post that only a certain subset of people could see, but that's a post for a different time.

Option Three: You can follow the poster and like their posts, but not reblog

Unfortunately, this is where things fall apart for anyone who likes this answer best: Dreamwidth has no "Like" function. The closest you can come here is to create an actual comment, and only include an emoji in the text. This is probably a little bit more interactive than a lot of people are interested in when it comes to lurking, and understandably so!

If you want to read about why Dreamwidth doesn't have a "Likes" system, site co-owner/co-founder Denise talks about that in a comment on an official news post right over here. (Full disclosure, I'm soc_puppet on Dreamwidth, so that's me replying to her comment there.)

Option Four: You can follow the poster and reblog their posts, but not like them

Almost no one picked this option 😂 I can understand why, since reblogging is a higher-interaction function than liking, and if you're reblogging already, you might as well go for the lower-interaction function as well.

That said, the answer for this is surprisingly: Yes! You can do this form of lurking!

Reblogging is not a native function of Dreamwidth, though, so it takes a bit more work to do it. If you want to reblog things, you need to learn how from this post. I'm still used to the old way of signal boosting from LiveJournal, so it's not something I ever installed myself, or really intend to install. But if you're looking for a way to reblog stuff on Dreamwidth, this is your answer!

Ironically, I'm pretty sure this script makes the Dreamwidth equivalent of reblogging lower-interaction than the Dreamwidth equivalent of liking. I'm reasonably sure that the person you reblogged from with this script doesn't actually get any sort of notification of your reblog, so you can add just about anything in the tags, or even in your own reblog, and it's very unlikely that they'll see any of it.

What about Asks, anonymous or otherwise, and DMs?

Dreamwidth doesn't really have an Ask function. A lot of Dreamwidth users have a pinned introduction post, and some of them doubtlessly use it to welcome questions from the public, but Tumblr's Ask function is pretty unique. There may be communities with an equivalent feature or interaction (such as posting questions to a community, which may or may not have moderated posts), but it's not something you can generally do with individually owned journals. But Asks aren't something that everyone on Tumblr has enabled either, anonymous or otherwise.

Dreamwidth does have a Private Message feature, but as on Tumblr, a journal's owner has control over who can send them a message.

So that's it!

That's all I can think of to tell you about Dreamwidth and lurking, and lurking on Dreamwidth. If you have any questions I didn't already cover, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to answer them!

#long post #lurking #let me tell you about #dreamwidth #let me tell you about dreamwidth #lurking on dreamwidth #internet culture #dreamwidth culture #tumblr culture

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lordofdragos · 3 months ago

Text

BIG TEXT POST PART 4

Oogh I should really be copy and pasting this part or something... Anyway! This post is about me playing through In Stars and Time, and I highly recommend you do not look if you haven't played the game before! If you think you may at any point play the game DO NOT LOOK BELOW

Is this actually helping...? Aren't we kinda robbing the person of their agency Like they haven't given it to them yet... Oh well. Love wins!

This is one of my favorite dialogues!!!

This picture part is gonna ruin me at some point I already know

uH I swear this dialogue wasn't like this Didn't they like its small face or something? OH OF COURSE I ACTUALLY HAVE TO HIT IT FIRST SO THEY CAN SEE IT OF COURSE ACTUAL LOGIC I THOUGHT I WAS GOING INSANE HELP WHY DOES THIS GAME GET EVERY DETAIL RIGHT ARGHFDGF

The game does the time blip thing when you open the door to the keyknife but Don't I need that…? I can't just open up the doors up when I loop right I always start at Dormont because I'm a weirdo but Then I wouldn't be able to get the stone… right…? Hrngh… might have to use game mechanics at some point… lame…

Bathroom conversation huh because I'm not cheering to myself? Sure . . . Ah. I'm pretty blind aren't I. That... makes a lot of little things fit.

OH GOD THE MUSIC STOPPED AGAIN WAS COMING BACK HERE A MISTAKE OF COURSE ITS HERS AND WE MADE FUN OF IT DAMNIT EVERY TIME MAN

That's the spirit!

Sif says something when they sharpen? It's the name isn't it I SEE THE PIECES BUT I CANT PUT THEM TOGETHER YET ARGH THE CARVING TOOLS ARENT HERE ARE THEY The party looking at Sif run around like a maniac looking for the carving tools room (it ain't here) then calling Loop It's Joever Well King time I guess The shield should still help right?

Oh yeah Claude is Mirabelle's roommate I was right!

I have fought so many battles so definitely enough for them to notice and for it to not be weird honestly

I can... not take the fritters...? That would destroy Bonnie I think GAH THIS GAME THE TASTE IS ALREADY FADING FOR SIF ITS SO OVER

DOES HE THOUGH?? ODILE EVEN KNOWS I MEAN I GUESS THAT MEANS HE IS IN TUNE WITH THEM JUST NOT ACTING ON THEM BUT-

. . . I'm asking.

Yeah so he's talking about that huh...

bro? I can't do that?

Yeah ok you need that shield like 100% uptime it does so much less damage and you will instantly die without it

G-Good? Anxiety meter rising... Let's keep that shield up no need to save my very large amount of salty broths anymore

BONNIE STOP TALKING SHIT THE KING IS GONNA NOTICE YOU I should probably break this tears...

I mean There is a point there A bad point but it kinda exists Like when Mirabelle mentioned how her friend at least had their dog with them so they'd be happy This is giving me chills man I don't feel good OH WAIT THATS NOT LIKE A PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE THATS A HINT TO USE THE SHIELD AGAIN How do I function sometimes honestly?

also uh Stars.

No music.

NEVERMIND HYPE MUSIC THE GAME IS GONNA RUIN IT SOMEHOW THOUGH TAKIN BETS!

I suddenly feel like I should get a new real life hobby Some change can't hurt I guess...

The King is gonna punt Bonnie like a football that's what I would do in his position

SIF PORTRAIT YOO

ITS HYPE!!!!

Bro if the game is like "Um actually if you were a higher level you would've hit him hard enough and won" I will have words

He was talking about that huh... HOW DOES IT ALL CONNECT

ACHIEVEMENT GET!

Alright one final post after this one

#isat spoilers #isat #drago plays games #some people know whats coming next #I am one of them since I'm from the future after I had all of these thoughts

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dnpsuck · 2 years ago

Note

If you could recommend Dan any comedians (or media) to study who/what would you choose? Like things that might help him improve his craft? Not in a mean way just in a honing his skills type of way. A little homework as a treat.

you have no idea how much you're indulging me with this right now, but let's fucking gooooo

i honestly think dan is well-versed in comedy and having the experience he's currently having with touring his comedy material is only gonna help him (even if it's mainly to an audience that already likes him), so in general i think he's on the right track, so the things i say here are way more for people who are interested in comedy in general than about what i think dan should do, but i will mention some stuff related to him just to further contextualize his comedy.

what i would recommend anyone that is interested in comedy (not only as a career path but as a genre, a study subject, etc) would be getting into theory to understand some of the whys and hows of comedy.

i wrote my undergraduate thesis on comedy (and i got an 100% score 🤓) and as torturous as writing a thesis can be, reading and learning more about comedy through an academic lens was extremely exciting, which is why i recommend diving into the different theories and theorists and how comedy is perceived in different historical contexts.

under the cut i put some more thoughts and recommendations to learn more about comedy:

There are several theories that try to explain what is comedy, humor, why we laugh, etc. but I try to narrow it down to 3 main ones: Incongruity, Superiority and Relief.

Although I have not read ALL of them ENTIRELY (some of these I've only read the bits that helped my thesis), for pure theory I recommend some of the work I used for my own research:

• Poetics by Aristotle

• Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson

• Humour by Terry Eagleton

• Essays on Poetry and Music by James Beattie

• Humor by Sigmund Freud (Yup. That guy)

• Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious by Sigmund Freud

• Human Nature by Thomas Hobbes

• Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

• On Humor by Luigi Pirandello

• Histoire du rire et de la dérision by Georges Minois (I couldn't find an English version of this book online, but it's available in French and Portuguese)

Another way to be exposed to some theory without a lot of effort is by watching Nannette by Hannah Gadsby because she quite directly addresses Incongruity and Relief in that special. I also think it's a good experience overall, so even if you don't wanna learn about comedy, go ahead and watch Nannette.

When it comes to comedy as a tool for social change (which I see as an important aspect of comedy, and I believe that is also a goal for Dan's journey with comedy) I recommend the following (especially the first one):

• A funny matter: toward a framework for understanding the function of comedy in social change by Caty Borum Chattoo

• Storytelling for Social Change: leveraging documentary and comedy for public engagement in global poverty by Caty Borum Chattoo & Lauren Feldman

• Why stand-up matters by Sophie Quirk

When it comes to mental health, a big topic in Dan's comedy, needless to say Bo Burnham is a great source for that kind of material, but the truth is many comedians (big names and beginners) are talking mental health nowadays in their work, so there is a lot of work to explore out there. But I recommend watching Laughing Matters, a short documentary featuring several comedians talking about their mental health and their careers in comedy, and John Mulaney's part on Netflix's The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up where he talks about Robin Williams. These works help demystify that terrible myth that in order to be a comedian or seek comedy you have to be some sort of tortured soul, that whole idea of "my trauma made me funny", etc. Still kinda on that line of mental health but a bit more, like, autobiographical, which is kind of the line where Dan is going, I feel like Nannette, as previously mentioned, is a good one and so is Rothaniel by Jerrod Carmichael (HBO Max). Although most comedians will do kind of autobiographical work, I think these two just kind of hit closer to where Dan is aiming.

To understand more comedy from the POV of comedians themselves I recommend any podcast on comedy like Comedy Bang Bang, You Made It Weird, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, etc. and listening to episodes featuring comedians you like. I think having a favorite comedian and watching anything by them where they talk about their journey with comedy can make this easier. Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is also this great window into this world of comedy and the way these comedians see their craft and their journeys (fair warning about this show and, honestly, getting into comedians in general: many people here are talented but suck ass as people. Consume their work at your discretion).

For me, I love John Mulaney as a comedian, so I tend to favor his views on comedy and I find that his interview with Larry King in 2018 is quite a great way to see his understanding of performing comedy and his own role in it. I also like Robin Williams, Bill Hicks, Julio Torres, George Carlin, Patti Harrison, Maria Bamford, Jerrod Carmichael, Joel Kim Booster, and many more. But honestly, my main reference is John Mulaney, and most of my comedy knowledge comes from the US comedy, so I do think having a niche helps.

You may like British comedy better, or maybe you enjoy comedy from your country better, or maybe you just don't get physical comedy at all, or you can only feel alive when you consume cringe comedy, etc. I like comedy a lot but I'm not into every kind of comedy in the same way. But I would say that being exposed to as many different kinds of comedy, formats and comedians as possible can be very positive because there's so much to learn from any well-done joke, y'know?

For me, one type of comedy that feels indispensable to any performer is improv comedy. The "yes, and..." mentality is essential to anyone going on stage and facing an audience. And to anyone writing comedy, being given a random situation and not escaping from it but learning to expand it is essential. And, honestly? Just regular living can be improved with some improv. So, obviously: Whose Lines Is It Anyway? is a good way to start there (I favor the older ones but that's because I ferociously consumed every 90s-2000s episode of the US WLIIA when I was a teenager). If you're Brazilian, Improvável by Barbixas is a great way to start as well with almost endless content to explore.

And, honestly? Any video essay on comedy, comedians or comedy media you enjoy. We all love a good video essay. I like:

• How Nathan Fielder Undresses People by Nerdwriter1

• The Power of Storytelling: John Mulaney by PhilosoFun

• The Hidden Formula Behind Almost Every Joke on Late Night by Slate

• Efficiency in Comedy: The Office vs. Friends by Drew Gooden

• The Death of Laugh Tracks by Drew Gooden

• Is SNL Even Funny? by Drew Gooden

• I watched one SNL episode from every season by Drew Gooden

(What I mean here is that Drew Gooden needs to make more video essays on comedy, please.)

Oh, another thing that is really important is delivery. I will, once again, bring up John Mulaney because I think his delivery is phenomenal. The Salt and Pepper Diner is a masterclass on comic delivery, I believe. I mentally quote "Hey, November Rain is over! ... No, it's not. There's more." all the time. Which brings me to another point, listen to stand-up albums. I love watching a good stand-up special but audio makes you really appreciate the delivery of the joke. The comedian has to convince you they're worth of your time with their ability to get a joke out of their brain into the world with no help of visuals. It helps you understand that comedian's comic voice. And I think John Mulaney does that really well.

Of course there is a variety of different comics with different deliveries to also be impressed by: Dan Mintz and Nathan Fielder have kind of similar styles of voices but their humor is kind of different. Leslie Jones, Pete Davidson, Conan O'Brien, Katt Williams, Bo Burnham, Julio Torres, Daniel Sloss, Ali Wong, Katherine Ryan, Hannah Gadsby, Wanda Sykes, Tig Notaro, Chris Rock, etc, they all have different ways to speak, but they know how to work their rhythm well enough to land their jokes the right way. You gotta find your own rhythm.

And I think a final thought is: authenticity. Not that you have to give 100% of yourself all of the time. You can tweak stories, enhance certain situations, hide things, not tell the full truth, you can even straight up LIE, and all that. but you gotta make it believable. An audience that senses a lack of authenticity, won't be entertained for long. If you're not explicitly coming in with a fictional character, your audience will be seeking your essence. Your comedy is a reflection of you. So whatever you say, whatever part of your life you decide to expose, whatever vision you share, your audience is associating that to you. You're not just a medium from where the jokes come from, you are it. Which is why you can't just tell a joke because you think it will be funny, you gotta tell it because it's honest to you, to your beliefs, it resonates with you. You have to understand that the audience will see that joke as an expression of yourself.

See why Dan's joke about not washing his feet back-fired? He either picked something unauthentic to him - according to him he just chose a random example - or he did pick something authentic to him but, like many comedians do, backed out once he got called out. He had the choice of running with it, owning the joke but he backed out. And if he's honest when he says he just chose a random example, then he made the mistake of not being authentic to his own beliefs when telling a joke.

In the endddd, my favorite way to learn about comedy is by watching comedians talk about comedy. And comedy is too rich of a field to be explored only through the academic angle, or one theorist's point of view so having people who live and breathe comedy talk about it is a great source of knowledge. That's one of the reasons why in my thesis, when I explained the theories of comedy, I didn't just quote theorists, I also quoted comedians.

Final thoughts: just, y'know, be yourself. Have fun. Don't joke about not washing your feet if you don't want people to think you don't wash your feet, etc. And most importantly, punching up will always be the best way to use your craft for the better.

If you read until here, why the fuck would you do that? But thankssss. <3

#lola.ask

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oreramar · 6 months ago

Text

Florist Talk: Funerals

Time to talk about the morbid side of floristry, the true bread-and-butter of the business, the dark elephant in the room: funerals and all they entail from this particular angle.

As always, keep in mind that this is from the personal experience of someone working in a small shop in the US and as such isn't gonna be full of universal truths. Use what I share as inspiration for your own writing and change what you must to make cultural sense of things.

First of all, here's a hard truth: your Florbo might well make more flower shop money from funeral pieces than from all the birthdays, anniversaries, congratulations and love-you's that might otherwise fill their days. Funeral arrangements tend toward the big and showy, with the center pieces like casket or urn sprays being the Most of all.

Heckin look at these things ^ Nobody but the rich is buying this kind of nonsense for an anniversary that comes around once a year, every year.

In short, Funerals are kinda important to the business side of things, so a Florbo might occasionally talk about them or reflect on that, depending on how philosophical you/your story/your character would tend to be.

So here's a few other details just to know or consider:

A Florbo will keep track of Obituaries for work. This could mean a subscription to the local newspaper and cutting the obits out every day it comes, or keeping local funeral homes' websites as pinned addresses on their browser. Yes this does look on the surface like the kind of thing a death-obsessed goth teen would do as a special interest. Do as you will with that knowledge.

They will also, as I said in my overview post, know the local Funeral People by name. They are essentially Business Associates. A good relationship with the people at a local Funeral Chapel means extra business as they will recommend Florbo's shop to those who ask, and they will default to ordering from Florbo whenever a family leaves those details to them. A poor relationship means Florbo's competition will get that business instead.

Sometimes funeral families - relatives of the deceased put in charge of ordering the official funeral flowers - come in person to look at pictures and flowers and decide what they want. This could be done in minutes. It could take them an hour. They could be in good humor as they reminisce about the deceased, or they could be functioning at neutral or just barely holding it together. The last can be the hardest if Florbo is very empathetic in the "if you start crying I'll start crying" sort of way.

Knowing the date and time of a visitation is actually more important than the date and time of a funeral - they're rarely the same thing. Often, but not always, a visitation will be the night before a morning funeral, and flowers/plants/gifts need to be delivered a couple of hours before visit. so that the funeral chapel people have time to place them on stands or easels.

Sometimes people will order something and tell Florbo the date for the funeral. Sometimes they will order something online and set the date for the funeral. Sometimes they will order something an hour or less before visitation starts reasoning that the funeral is tomorrow, so they aren't late. Florbo must be on top of all these things in order to get flowers to the visitation on time.

If your Florbo delivers flowers, and if you're writing a culturally US setting, then it might just follow that the Florbo will have seen more dead bodies than any other character aside from, say, a Mortician or similar role. This is because sometimes Florbo must carry the funeral flowers into the funeral chapel and place them on or around the funeral casket, in which already lies the funeral subject. An experienced Flower Delivery Florbo has been within arm's reach of bodies, multiple times.

Sometimes fate conspires so that the funeral chapel is closed and it is late when such a delivery is made (Florbo has a key or knows where an emergency key is hidden for such a situation) and it's winter so it's already dark outside as well as in, aside from a few low lights left on, and it's all in all very spooky feeling, being the only living person in the building and knowing there's also a corpse in the room.

Anyhow...

Aside from the big fanned-out floral pieces shown above, there are some key Types of florals exclusive to funerals, or at least very rarely encountered outside of them.

In order above: Casket Spray, Urn Spray, Hanging Spray and Wreath

All of these have particular frames and forms that help give them those uniform shapes. If you've ever wondered what's holding together the "big bouquet on top of the casket" at funerals (and why perhaps you should not throw it into the crowd to "see who dies next" wedding bouquet style), today's your lucky day.

First off, there's this plastic thing called a Casket Saddle, into which you place a block of green florist foam - aka wet foam, as it's designed to soak up water like anything. The foam is fixed in place either with those plastic cages or blocky U-shaped things in the first example, which snap into place snuggly over the foam, or with florist's tape if you use the cheap open saddles like the last example. Those are the ones I'm used to. The legs snap on, which means the frame is pretty useful for making hanging sprays without said legs attached.

The foam is thoroughly soaked - some casket saddles come with reservoir spaces inside them for more water to sit and feed into the foam as it dries over time - and greens and flowers are cut and inserted into the foam, which keeps them hydrated for a bit.

A big casket spray is unwieldy and, due to the soaked wet foam, kinda heavy. You can carry it fine, once you've managed to reach under and past all the hanging flowers and greens to find the saddle, but there's way more oomph there than a simple tied bouquet. It will not fling easily or lightly. In case you needed to know.

Also, sometimes people will order Script Ribbons on the spray - ribbons that say things like "Mom," "Grandma," "Great Grandma". These are going out of style a bit but are still common enough where I work to be worth mentioning. It's hard to get more than four ribbons into a single spray due to the size of them. Also the script names come as sticker sheets - you peel the cursive script stickers off and put them on the ribbons yourself.

Like this ^

When someone wants a script that doesn't exist on the sheets (for example, Grandma and Grandmother are standards here; Nana or Mimi are not) then you gotta use sheets of individual letters to spell the word(s) out bit by bit. Sometimes you don't have a single instance of a particular letter in the entire folder. Then you have to get creative and/or butcher some of the less-used scripts for scraps.

Typically we tell people that they should use the words/names they used to refer to that person, so "Mom" might be more appropriate to them than the more formal "Mother." That might vary culturally, though.

By the way, back to the wreaths and stuff - you might see those in shapes like Hearts or Crosses if you ever look it up. If you wonder how that's made, I've got the answer:

Floral foam again! Soak it and poke it (full of flowers and greens), easy as that.

For urn pieces, the place I work at just uses a circle wreath form, laid on the table, sometimes cut in half for a half-circle around the back but not front of the urn.

As a quick note while I remember - blocks of floral foam are also used to help those big fanned-out arrangements I showed at the start of this post in place. Wedge them into the containers at the base and they keep the flowers from just flopping all over the place, which is how you achieve that particular "long flower stems hovering perpendicular to the table" look at the bottoms.

So yeah! Florists and Funerals and all the details I can currently call to mind about them ^

#florist talk #funerals #this time with pictures #all pictures were found via simple google searches #you too can trawl the internet and find examples now that you can guess at what things are called #long post #florist au #flower shop au

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