#It helps us stay motivated!

[subwaytostardew]

You probably get this all the time but just wanted to say I really appreciate the time and hard work you guys put into this mod. coding and implementing these things can't be easy and I'm sure it's very time consuming and tons of frustration in some instances. I heard there's an upcoming update? May you guys overcome any challenges that it brings. We will eventually reach our destination, All Aboard!

Aww thank you so much!! It's always nice to hear that our efforts are appreciated! It sure does take a lot of time. I believe we may be approaching a year since I first decided to implement Emmet as an NPC on a whim...

April 25th, 2023... It's getting close. And it won't be ready for release anytime soon! Especially since I'll have to go back and update the mod to be compatible with the 1.6 update (I did try updating their dispositions to the new format but well... It didn't load properly after that and I decided to put it off until later. Later is coming verrrry soon!).

But yes! The journey may be long, but we will eventually reach our destination! All aboard!!!!

▷ Station Steward Thylak

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

On the subject of gotham county line and batman noel and so on and so forth it’s pretty frustrating (from a watsonian pov) that anytime Bruce hallucinates Jason being loving/ caring/helpful/compassionate towards him it’s always as robin and never as his current self

[pilonciillo]

on another note

[thethingything]

I really don't like our brain's ability to jump from "I'm going to organise all this stuff and catch up with a bunch of tasks" to "it's time to get stuck in an increasingly distressing thought spiral for several hours, accidentally trigger yourself, then feel like shit because you haven't done anything but also haven't managed to rest".

like please can we maybe have like a nice middleground where we do a few things and then rest for a while and don't experience the full range of human emotions over the course of about 3 hours

[poisonouspastels]

[pebbledrat]

The longer I'm around the more convinced I become that Jill and Michael also had some kinda codependent-besties archetype thing going on?? they may or may not even have been aware of it, but like. they're kind of a matched set, you know? Frequently purchased together, do not separate them

[stars-and-spice]

god i really need a social media, internet, technology cleanse right now

[kindnessoverperfection]

i've been working hard on NPD recovery for a little over three years. the other day i was breaking down hard over "i've been doing everything right, but i still feel terrible and idk how to change my emotions"

but this past week, i feel like i've really taken a big step forward? by just... acknowledging and working with my emotions?

if i heard myself say that a week ago, i'd feel frustrated. because "yeah i know, i've been admitting it for like a year now. i feel like shit, i have an underlying fear of intimacy, my symptoms are due to trauma. i know. i've been trying to address those things but nothing is working!"

i feel like the shift came from

a) acknowledging that I have RSD and anxiety (both of which I kept adamantly denying I have)

and b) being mindful of those feelings and thoughts as they come up in the moment, and reacting to them in healthier ways (which I couldn't do before because I denied them entirely, so I wasn't aware of how I was reacting unhealthily)

And these past three years of work are probably making it a lot easier to move forward, make progress, and remain relatively stable throughout the process of doing this. So... @ myself, it felt like it wasn't doing anything, but you were building a foundation.

[beastwars-transformers]

Hmmm something I’ve been mulling over is that possibly people defend AI art for the sake of “people who want to draw but can’t now have an outlet!” because they consider writing to be a lesser form of art.

I can’t draw. I will never be able to draw. The way my mind barely comprehends shape and size and geometry connecting to my limbs, it doesn’t translate. But what does work is the written word. When I couldn’t even draw a stick figure, I would write up a paragraph describing one.

Writing is extraordinary easily, just open any typing tool and go for it. Any idea you have, you can do it. If you have trouble, writing advice is always there just as art advice is. Prompt blogs exist if you’re stuck. And then there could thousands of others on a single prompt post commenting ideas to flesh it out and you can just yoink those. Writing takes practice, just as art does, but it’s considerably easier to start writing than to start drawing. Especially since the thing is, people want to draw super well right away but get discouraged. Writing is a lot less frustrating for beginners, and a lot more fulfilling.

But…a 3 page short story or a 4-stanza poem aren’t as flashy as a giant illustration with a rainbow of colors with their favorite characters or animals or whatever. It’s just “words.” Who cares about that? It’s not as cool or impressive, it takes longer to digest words than to stare at an art piece (I’m not really giving AI art any grand meaning…the deepest they go is shitty political propaganda). And they want to make these giant art pieces with no effort, no work because they can’t or won’t bother to pick up the skills themselves. They want the product with none of the work, and they’ll delude themselves into feeling the same sense of accomplishment when all they did it type in a few keywords and hit a button.

Which goes to show how much they truly disregard literature when they also use AI to generate writing for them. Even typing words is too much, or it’s not cool enough for them to give much of a shit anyways.

[zichqec]

Hello Zi, I just thought I'd write a little something to thank you for all the things you do for this community, i just saw the 2023 summary and I don't think I can ever thank you all enough for your contribution, the Dream Team is truly the pillars of English ghost and I hope you are all proud of you

If one day my dream of making my own ghost becomes true it'll be all thanks to you. So many dreams have already became reality thanks to your hard work, isn't that wonderful ?

Ohhh thank you so much for taking the time to send this! This means the world to me to hear <3

It makes me so glad to know that my work is helping people! My dream is to see ukagaka fully realized in the English community the way it is in the Japanese community, and for making a ghost to be a normal creative project and not seen as a huge, insurmountable task that only the most determined people can accomplish.

There's a long way to go and a lot of resources yet to make, and sometimes I feel like I'm just treading water when I'm staring at my monitor at 2AM, revising a draft for the 4th time. But messages like this really make me feel like the effort is worthwhile, and that I should continue on, because my planned future projects will make an impact.

So, thank you for this <3 It really is wonderful to see people making so many things, and having so much fun exploring ukagaka. Best of luck with your own ghost projects! If you eventually make a ghost, I'd love to see it!

[unproduciblesmackdown]

fr if taylor and philip don't kiss then what's this all been about. (the entire series of billions) what is it all for

[running-in-the-dark]

just realised I've got a week left to finish my thesis. a week. one. fucking. week.

and it's still not enough. I'm not getting the last minute panic adrenaline that I'd need to get it done. I just do not care.

I try. I do try! it just doesn't work. doesn't matter how long I sit there. I've tried the 'just write anything! you can edit later!' advice but there is.. nothing.. in my head. I can't absorb any of the shit I read because I just do not care I don't want to think about this anymore I don't care I just don't care I just want to go away and never think about this again

[booasaur]

Something really amazing happened in France, and I think it'd help us in the US to learn about it. Forgive the long read, but I think this is genuinely great both because of what happened and how.

So as some of you might have seen, in a decision historians will debate for years (mostly to figure out just WTF he was thinking, even though he is alive right now and can be asked), the French president, Emmanuel Macron, currently in power and THREE YEARS before the scheduled election, seeing the far right rise in popularity decided to dissolve the assembly and hold snap elections.

577 seats were up for grabs. Remember that number. Since half of that is 288.5, 289 seats are needed for a majority.

The first round happened last week and boy, was it bad. The far right made HUGE gains. It won or was in first place in so many races. And Macron's party ended up third!

Overall, this is how things ended up after the first round:

Far right bloc: 33%

Left bloc: 28%

Macron's centrist party: 20%

Conservatives: 7%

The way the French system works is that if a candidate gets over 50% of the vote, they win outright, and some of the far right did manage that. But, many races went to a runoff.

Immediate projections after were that the far right bloc might win anywhere from 240 to 310 seats, a catastrophe.

A shameful swing to the far right leading to the first time they'll be in power since the 1940s? Yes, but maybe not??

This is where things get interesting.

Unusually, a lot of these runoffs are 3-way, instead of a simpler 2-way choice. And in pretty much every case, that helps the far right.

So on June 30th, the night of the first round, this is how things went down:

Immediately, the left parties put out the call: anywhere they were third, they withdrew and their voters would go over to whoever was running against the far right candidate. Their goal: form a "republican front" to block the far right. The far right cannot get 289 seats.

Macron's bloc was not so...motivated. Different people put out different instructions: in some places, if they were third, they should drop out, but only to help the center left, not far left, in other places, see how far you are, only then drop out, that kind of thing.

The conservative party simply said they won't drop out and won't give their voters instruction either way in races they're not involved in.

Late night developments:

More people in Macron's party are now beginning to realize the situation and starting to coalesce around whichever candidate can beat the far right one. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, from Macron's party, says clearly the priority is to block the far right. BUT, some Macron spokespeople on TV say they'll form a coalition only with the center left and conservatives, splitting the left bloc if needed. Some individual Macronists still saying they won't drop out, even if there's no hope of winning.

Lol.

So, now July 1st:

Only half so far. In one race, where the sister of Marine Le Pen (the far right leader and the face of their movement) was leading, the third place Macronist refused to bow out.

Excellent quote from another Macronist:

Perhaps realizing the same thing, that Macronist in the race against the Le Pen sister now drops out.

In some places, third place Macronists are dropping out DESPITE Macron bewilderingly telling them NOT to?

Halfway through the day:

Of the 311 3-way or 4-way runoffs, the number is down to 135 because of these candidates dropping out: 121 Left, 56 Macronists, 1 conservative.

Oh, there was this, in case people had any doubts about how terrible the far right are:

And to show the selflessness of the left:

July 2:

The deadline to decide if they want to stay in a runoff is today.

A dozen new third place Macronists who said they'd stay in have now dropped out. One got a call from both the PM Attal AND Macron to drop out, signalling the dawning understanding of the importance of this moment.

Even some conservative party members are now backing the left candidate who faces the far right.

A Macronist who had 30.55% of the vote in the first round and came in third to the far right's 33.11% and left's 32.73% and who would have been tempted to stay has dropped out.

The deadline to stay in or not has now passed.

Look at these far right shenanigans!

Macron still being a freaking loser:

July 3rd:

In the end, of the 311 3- or 4-way run offs, only 91 left. Some polls come out that have the far right getting between 190 to 220 seats.

July 4th:

New polls say the balance of the voting itself isn't transferring between the left and center and predictions have risen for the far right, now predicted to get between 210 and 250 seats.

July 5th:

New polls again, left voters now predicted to do better transferring vote to the centrists, decreasing the far right projections again.

However, scandalous reporting emerges: while Attal was trying to fend off the far right, Macron was not only NOT taking the far right seriously, he was undermining efforts to defeat them. His team shrugged off the first round results and celebrated a BIRTHDAY as the results were still coming in?

July 6th:

A few runoffs happened yesterday, nothing much unexpected, some left and center wins.

July 7th:

The day of reckoning. At this point, the expectations are that the far right won't come close to that 289 number but could still easily have the most seats.

GUYS.

It's over and the left are in the lead!

A LOT of cases where a leftist or centrist was 2nd in the first round and now won.

Amazing:

SO many lessons to take from this.

First, you have to vote! You have to. You can't do anything without voting. The freaking French, who'll protest for anything, are showing up to vote. If you're trying to achieve any kind of result and it's not going to happen by January 2025, you have to vote now.

But just as importantly, the left and center (and even conservative) parties made very key decisions. They were all lucky that Attal, who Macron chose, saw the big picture, bigger than indeed Macron could. A stupid selfish centrist leader could have still ruined everything if it were up to him.

TL;DR: After a disastrous first round in the national French elections where the far right was on the cusp of taking power, the left and center formed a strong coalition and through the power of voting and unity, overcame the far right AND their selfish centrist president to win.

[hauntingblue]

This volume is called ace's introduction. Nothing more to say.

"You hire comedians here?" He is so funny....

Who's gonna tell him..... He literally will never get a break

Ace being so proud of Luffy not accepting to join and being a little shit... Also right here is where I got ROBBED of my acesan content.... Also he does fight whitebeard... In marineford... GOD!!!!!

GOOOD TAKE ME INSTEAD!!!! TAKE MEEEE!!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH

You cannot see me but I am on the floor on my knees and I am crying and sobbing and hitting my chest asking the gods to spare him

[professionaljester]

googling: is there something wrong with me bc when i wake up i’m so depressed in the morning i wanna kms

[crispycreambacon]

Cut Through The Noise

Even as the strike ends, the Palestinian genocide has not.

Now more than ever, there are so many conflicting voices. People with their own self-serving, hateful motivations speak over us, and sometimes our own voices can turn against us. We may feel like our voice isn't enough or we aren't doing enough.

This is why it's so important to learn to shut down that noise. No matter how much people scream that what we're doing is useless or a waste of time, keep talking. Keep talking about Palestine. Keep talking about Palestine for as long as this goes on, both online and in real life. If Israel won't end their genocide, we won't end our protest.

Below is a list of what you can do and the poem transcript.

Check and spread this post which contains a comprehensive list on how to help Palestine.

Learn about the history of Palestine and how the displacement and eventual genocide of Palestinians started in 1948.

Learn more about Palestine, the myths surrounding it and the arguments debunking it.

Boycott companies who are either directly or indirectly supporting and finding Palestine's genocide.

Click a button to raise funds for UNRWA – an organisation aiding Palestinian refugees.

Attend a protest.

Help Gazans stay connected by purchasing eSims for them.

Donate to the following organizations – any amount, no matter how small, goes a long way:

UNWRA

Care for Gaza

Medical Aid for Palestinians

Palestine Children's Relief Fund

Islamic Relief

Here's another post detailing more charities you can donate to

And most importantly of all: Don't Stop Talking About Palestine! However you interpret it as – creating art, talking to the people in your life, emailing and calling your representatives, even reblogging and making posts – make your voice loud and clear!

— Poem Transcript —

There's a lot of noise right now

Screams dehumanizing poor souls

Groans from those in willful ignorance

People digging deeper and deeper holes

And it's overwhelming, it really is

I do not blame you

Sometimes you feel that your voice is too small

I feel that way too

But despite that, I urge you to keep going

And demand for what's right

Even it sounds like a whimper

You're still joining in the fight

And soon the rest of us will join

We can stand together here

We can cut through the white noise

And make our message clear