#along with how fast technology is progressing

[alien-insomniac-05]

How come people think Gen Z = “kids/teens”

do people realize that Gen Z goes back all the way to 1997??? Like sure anyone after 2006 is technically a kid but people before 2005 aren’t lmaooooo

Not all of us were on iPads all our lives (y’all are mistaking us for gen alpha albeit it is too early to say how bad or good, they’re gonna end up)

Sure some of us played on animal jam, club penguin, webkinz, wizard 101 or any children’s tv channel’s websites as a kid but we were still like the 90s kids who drank outta a garden hose

[minimujina]

wriothesley is an old lover, i think. he’s tough and strong and oh-so-ruggedly handsome; he’s a gentle handler, a slow mover. it takes knowing someone a long time before he can either fall in love with them or, if he happened to fall fast and hard, get the guts to do something about it.

when he does something about it, it’s so romantic and genuine and sweet that you’ll want to metaphorically throw up. in a time where things move so fast—technology makes strides every day, engineers are speeding along the progress of society, and people become daily entangled in small trysts of passion, leaving fragments of themselves scattered—wriothesley moves deliciously slow.

it makes you feel so special, the way he practically courts you. he’s so god damn respectful of everything about you, it’s disgusting. the simple ways he shows affection for you are so beautiful and veneratingly intimate that it almost feels vulgar. wriothesley naturally creates a space around himself that is so safe and so quiet, you melt into vulnerability before you can even think. he makes it easy to be relaxed, and that can be scary when you are used to being on guard.

he is patient, and he’s kind. he’s certainly not perfect, as no one can be—he has his flaws, and he recognizes his own shortcomings. though easy to talk to, easy to get along with, wriothesley does guard his heart carefully, masking himself and his intentions until he’s gauged the trustworthiness of a companion. it can sometimes be difficult to bring the defenses down, even in the most trusted presence; he is used to being fully performative, fully vigilant. he can struggle to communicate in this stage, because he is uncertain of himself and others and, frankly, everything all at once. but once the wall comes down, he’s all authentic, coming as he is without the pre-painted mask.

i feel as if it takes a lot of mutual comfort and reassurance in that stage of scary vulnerability. it is somewhat grotesque to be seen as you are and then to watch someone choose to see more of you over and over and over. you are dying and you are living and it’s mortifying and really very wonderful.

after the initial knowing, there comes the valley where it feels as if your souls begin to intertwine, and the knowing becomes so much more intimate than you might have prepared yourself for. wriothesley wants to hide, and you might too. there are probably some bumps where he puts off replying to letters, or perhaps you procrastinate scheduling visits to the fortress, and you both act very silly, and you misunderstand and squabble a bit and make up. the silliness, however, is not unwarranted, as you both are very aware of how scary it can be to like someone and to be liked. and to watch and feel as the liking turns to loving, and knowing turns to becoming, and suddenly your hands and hearts are glued like crafts and it would be a dire mistake to unravel the lovely work of two loving souls—but moving forward is still, perhaps, so very uncomfortable. but you will, you will do it.

wriothesley likes you so much that he feels himself fall apart. the entirety of the strength he has built up within himself wavers under your soft gaze; your eyes rip him to shreds, but gently, lovingly. you reduce him to nothing but a lovestruck schmuck.

the depths of his adoration for you are, in a sense, biblical. if you have no religious background, you could call his love something sacred, something reverent. he’d never anticipated feeling this way for someone; now that he’s become so deeply entrenched in everything about you, wriothesley feels a deep need to protect and to provide. he is unsure what the future could look like due to his position as the duke of meropide, but he is certain that everything will fall into place if it is meant to be. whatever the case, he’s an absolute schmuck, hanging off your every word and footstep. 100% would follow you around like a lost puppy were he not duty-bound to his work.

for you, it’s really the fact that you could sit in his presence for hours, safely and peacefully, without having spoken a word. there could be no sound in his office but the time-dusted record playing and tea-crusted pages turning, and all would still be well. no guessing, nothing under the rug for you to worry your silly head about—it is just he and you and his work and your books, and the music and his breathing and your humming and embroidery. nothing has transpired but the work that has been done and the record that has played a dozen times over. you may pick up where you left off with him, only with a lighter chest and clearer mind.

sigewinne would oft find the duke passed out in his big red chair, his sweet little lover over on the couch gone to dreamland all the same. it was picturesque. she sometimes wished she could call her friend mamere to paint it, to capture in art whatever it was she could not with words. sigewinne was still learning about humans—and she could glean a lot just from watching you and the duke. but sometimes, like this domestic scene, she would find herself puzzled, unable to describe the feelings that emerged from seeing two humans so safe and comfortable with each other in this particular manner. sigewinne would tip-toe back down the stairs and out of the duke’s office, much to ponder, and much to ask monsieur neuvillette.

very self indulgent, but i finally wrote something 😵‍💫 it just came out like blaarrggh

[astro-vogue]

© Numerologica 2024 all rights reserved, this article is protected by copyright norms, do not copy, repost, rewrite in any way or you'll be sued for copyright infringement.

PLANETS: part I - The Personal/Inner Planets [Sun-Mars]

PLANETS: part II - The Social Planets [Saturn & Jupiter]

● In astrology, there are 10 celestial bodies commonly considered "planets": Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune & Pluto

● Planets act like the roles a character [see the 12 zodiac signs] interpret in a movie, and each of them represents specific characteristics, that will eventually adapt to the zodiac sign they occupy

⎯ The Sun & Moon are called "LUMINARIES", as they're the brightest ones, they define the fundamental traits of a chart/personality and all the chart moves around them.

● Planets are divided in 3 categories: PERSONAL, SOCIAL & GENERATIONAL

⎯ Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, & Mars are called PERSONAL/INNER PLANETS and they are the most important in a chart as they are the fastest moving ones in the sky and can change more rapidly than Generational/Outer ones. They are the roots of one's personality, the core of each individual.

⎯ Saturn & Jupiter are the SOCIAL PLANETS as their orbit is neither slow or fast and are intermediaries between personal and generational, they represent both individual and social themes, such as morals, values ethics and ideals, as well as society structure and boundaries.

⎯ Uranus, Neptune & Pluto are the GENERATIONAL/OUTER/SPIRITUAL PLANETS and can be considered as secondary to the Personal Planets due to being way slower and can take years to change from sign to sign, indicating characteristics of entire generations/that apply on a larger scale.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The following descriptions about planets are based on some books I've read, written by professional and experienced astrologers:

(¹) "Neptune: Whispers from Eternity" - Jeffrey Wolf Green

(²) "The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption" - Liz Greene

(³) "The Book of Neptune" - Steven Forrest

(⁴) "Neptune, The 12th House and Pisces" - Maurice Fernandez

(⁵) "The Outer Planets and their Cycles" - Liz Greene

(⁶) "How to Personalize the Outer Planets - Llewellyn Publications

(⁷) "Uranus" - Jeffrey Wolf Green

(⁸) "Uranus: The Constant Change" - Eric Meyers

(⁹) "Ancient Astrology" - Demetra George

(¹⁰) "Hellenistic Astrology" - Chris Brennan

(¹¹) "Pluto: The Evolutionary Journey of the Soul" - Jeffrey Wolf Green

(¹²) "The Contemporary Astrologer's Handbook" - Sue Tompkins

(¹³) "The Book of Pluto" - Steven Forrest

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

♅ URANUS (is the higher octave of Mercury) - new ideas, invention, innovation, technology and devices, instability, revolution, discoveries, progress, genius, abrupt and sudden things, electricity and everything connected to it, fanatic, rebel, non conformist, unpredictable, challenging, freedom, revolts, anarchy, challenging authority, ups and downs, breaks, restlessness, independence, deviation, deviancy, being different, unconventional, lightnings, fast energy, scatterbrained, mutations, changes, weird (or what's seen as such), ground shaker, shocking, to some extent science, futuristic, modernists, virtual world, unresponsible, cold, logic, "the mad scientist", chaos, activism

♆ NEPTUNE (is the higher octave of Venus) - dream, creation, illusion, inspiration, lies, delusion, the sea, idealism, fantasy, heightened spirituality, romanticism that results into mysticism, all forms of art (music, writing, theatre, dance, cinema, painting...) - along with Venus -, sensitivity, confusion, formless things, being lost, self-sacrifice, charitable nature, lack of boundaries, compassion beyond limits, saviour and victim complex, addiction, transcendence, escapism, the media (along with Mercury & Uranus), advertising, sense of longing, sacrifice, drugs, toxic substances, poison, resignation, helplessness, nebulous/ethereal/surreal.

♇ PLUTO (is the higher octave of Mars) - wounds, the extremes, trauma, the unconscious, the shadows, ambition, the shadow self, power & powerlessness, hunger for control, the forbidden fruit, depth, the occult, penetrative (eyes, mind...), investigative, paranoia, seeing beyond the surface, ruthlessness, survival instincts, living in survival mode, suppression &/or elimination, death and rebirth [not physically intended], taboos, sex, sexual instincts, prohibition, abuse, shame, aggression, all consuming, obsessive, lasting, the perpetrator, mental illness connected to paranoid states/obsession [along with Mercury and Neptune], wealth and bankruptcy

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

MASTERLIST

© Numerologica 2024 all rights reserved, this article is protected by copyright norms, do not copy, repost, rewrite in any way or you'll be sued for copyright infringement.

[baek-at-it-again95]

Walk The Plank (KHJ x fem reader)

Chapter 14: Paradigm

You had grown up hearing tales about the infamous pirate crew ATEEZ—the fearless, power-hungry men that roamed the seas in search of the most valuable treasure they could lay their hands on. You almost didn’t believe the stories your mother had told you as a child...not until you wound up on their ship  

Warnings for this chapter: brief talk on the topic death

A/N: hello! It’s taken a little longer than I wanted to be able to sit down and write this chapter...the end of the semester is coming toooo fast lol. Thank you for being patient loves :)

Previous: Chapter 13, Masterlist

Chapter 14: Paradigm

Wanted: Kim Hongjoong 

The picture on the wanted poster is similar to the alternate Hongjoong you're accompanied by...all but the scar drawn across his left eye.

How many of them are there?

You immediately turn to Hongjoong. 

"We are in the wrong universe," you whisper.

"How do you know?" he asks. Without another word, you hold up the wanted poster for him to see. His eyes widen and he pushes it down from where you hold it, hoping that no one passing by caught a glimpse. "Okay, okay."

"Are you a wanted scoundrel in every universe?" you ask in a hushed tone. He doesn't answer—just gives you a look of annoyance, and you take the liberty of asking another question. "Do you think I can try to use the Cromer to get us back right now?"

"We can try, but I doubt it will work. Whatever ability you have...it seems to be strongest when you are in danger. That's when you have been able to jump."

"So, what you are saying is...you want me to put myself in danger on purpose?" You eye him in disbelief. "Is there no other way?"

"Perhaps there is...I just believe this would be the easiest way, given the circumstances. I do not want us to be here very long and try to figure out an alternative." He looks up to make sure no one is listening. "We must also find a way to assure that you jump to the correct universe the first time. It could weaken you to jump so frequently. Did you not notice how you were feeling when we first got here? You could barely breathe, Y/N."

"I—I thought I was just panicking like anyone else would, being thrown off a ship," you admit. You take your own glance around and your eyes land on two more wanted signs on the wall. 

Wanted: Park Seonghwa

Wanted: Choi Jongho

"Alright. Whatever it takes to get out of here. I do not like it," you mumble. Hongjoong nods in agreement. 

"Well, the good news is that all we have to do to put ourselves in danger is to get someone to see us and recognize us as this city's wanted criminals."

"Recognize us? I think you mean you. What if I do not feel threatened enough to use the Cromer because they are not actually after me?"

"That won't be a problem, my lady." The man in front of you snatches a piece of paper from the wall beside you, unwrinkling it to face you. 

Wanted: Y/N L/N

"You have got to be kidding me." You shiver at the sight...perhaps you should have expected it at this point. You squint at the paper, carefully taking it from Hongjoong. The picture of the you from this universe resembles you more than the other alternates do. She has no scars across her face, and there is no difference in your hairstyle like the others. You run your finger along the picture, never having seen one so...real. "How do they do it?" you ask curiously.

"Do what?" Hongjoong whispers, pulling you into the shadows between a pair of buildings. 

"Make pictures so detailed?"

"They print..." Hongjoong trails off, scratching his head. "This society is very progressed. They have technology that yours does not have just yet."

"Wow." You marvel at the paper again.

"This universe is very industrialized." You pretend to understand what he is saying and nod, taking one last glance at the paper before crumpling it in your palm.

"Let's get out of here." As you crumple the paper, a thought comes to the back of your mind. You attempt to push it away, not wanting to spiral, but it persists. "What if I am already too weak to use the Cromer again?" you blurt. Hongjoong looks at you, his expression softening...something that reminds you of how your own Hongjoong looks at you.

"Y/N." He places a hand on your shoulder. "Your condition seems to be well. Do you know strong you are for being able to take us everywhere that you have? You're incredible. You're strong. I know this is something you're capable of. It might be difficult, but you can do it." You bite your lip, looking to your feet.

"I will try my best." You sigh. You miss your friends. You miss your Hongjoong. And though you hate to compare them, it's impossible, really. You can admit that this version of Hongjoong is comforting. He is similarly intelligent and respectful, and your interactions have been alright aside from the night you had pried too far with your question about what the Guardians had taken from him. You still can't help but think about it...

What could he possibly need back so badly that he has gotten into trouble with the Guardians himself? If you return him to his universe now, will he have less of a punishment for causing trouble? Maybe there will be worse consequences now that he is traveling with you.

When will it end? You seem to be a conduit for trouble, your previous luck now balancing out with negatives. If you had never decided to go on a journey without your father, would you still be in this mess? Maybe you never would have met Hongjoong or fallen in love with him...at least then he would be safe. His crew would be safe. Away from you. 

***

You rub your hands together, keeping them close to the small fire that Hongjoong had started. He had decided it would be ideal to rest back at the abandoned building you arrived at and then carry on with your plan in the morning. So here you are, on the second level of the building that isn't flooded with knee-deep water. "So tired," you mumble.

"I can only imagine. You need as much rest as possible before we carry out our escape tomorrow," Hongjoong says, sitting down next to you.

"May we go over the plan again?" He nods. 

"Tomorrow, we will return to the inner city. It's simple, really. You will anonymously report that Kim Hongjoong and Y/N L/N have been spotted near the center of town. Do you remember that shrine we passed?"

If he is referring to the scarecrow-like thing dressed in torn black robes and a black hat...yes, you do know. It would be quite hard to forget.

"Yes."

"We will head there. We will wait for their men to arrive, and when they attempt to capture us...you get us out." You tuck your knees into your chest as you think about how terrifying his plan is. What other choice do you have, though?

"Do you think that I could return you to your universe? You mentioned that there has to be some way I can control the Cromer...we just have not figured it out."

"I suppose if you are able to return me, it would be ideal. It would save you from using all your energy to take us back and forth. Also, the longer I am with you, the more we are at risk of being captured by Guardians." You sigh, resting your forehead on your knees. 

"Is it too simple to conclude that I would just need to think about what universe I want to travel to before I go there?" you ask, your voice muffled. You cannot see Hongjoong, but you can imagine his face as he thinks. 

"No, not at all. Now that I think about it, that must be what you have been doing. The only times you have jumped to the wrong place, like this one, were the times you were not expecting to jump at all. Therefore, you were not thinking about a specific universe and the Cromer just took you wherever it decided." You lift your head, meeting his eyes that reflect the warm light of the fire in front of you. "Think about it, Y/N. The night we first encountered each other. When you brought us back to your universe, of course you had been thinking of your home." He runs a hand through his hair. "But earlier when I pushed you away from the Guardian without warning, the Cromer just took us here. I think it's because you weren't focused on a specific universe at that point. It makes perfect sense, Y/N." 

You nod. "If that is true, then I will try my best to get you home tomorrow, Joong." The nickname that you have for your lover accidentally slips off your tongue, your face becoming warm. He doesn't seem to notice as he stares into the fire in front of you.

"It doesn't seem much like home anymore, back where I'm from." You furrow your brows at his statement. 

"But if you do not go back, there could be worse punishments for you."

"Yes, but I think I've already received the worst punishment I could have in this life." You start to shift anxiously, thinking about all the possible things that could have happened to him for him to think like this.

"You must go back. The Guardians will kill you," you state, a sick feeling taking over you.

"I will return for some time," he replies calmly. "But I believe that to die while fighting for what is mine would be an honorable death." You so badly want to protest his statement, but you know this is something he has thought about for a torturous amount of time.

"Hongjoong..." He looks to you, his eyes glassy. "What have they done to you?" Your voice is just a whisper. He looks away again with hesitation.

"They took my love from me," he says. "She did not deserve that fate. I cannot imagine what she has gone through." He inhales sharply before continuing. "Every day, I pray that they've just brought her to a better world. One where she is not suffering or living a life she cannot bear." You feel his emotions intensely, tears starting to prick at your eyes as he opens up to you. You attempt to blink them away as you meet his gaze again.

"It must be difficult...I am deeply sorry that this happened to you." He nods, lips pulled in a tight line. "I am sure that she is out there, and I will pray that she is safe as well," you assure. Looking down at your hands that grip the torn hem of your dress, you start to feel the inevitable exhaustion of the day's events. 

Your head feels foggy as you think about many things all at once. You think about Hongjoong's lover and what she must have been like. You think about the seemingly endless number of universes. You think about how anything would ever be normal again if you make it home.

"Thank you," you hear Hongjoong say suddenly. He sounds far away, despite being right beside you. 

You can only manage to hum in response, your head falling to rest on his shoulder as you give into sleep. 

>>chapter 15

[fancy11schmancy]

The Adventure/Outdoors outfit concept for 1920’s AU Zelda is all done!!💚✨ I had a ton of fun working on this- Progress for The Chateau Of The Red Moon AU is going along nicely-! Next is her “Royal Court” attire-

Brief lore of Zelda’s role in the AU:

Since travel has been restored between the light realm and the twilight realm, a newfound unity flourished between the two societies. New friends, new towns/cities to explore, never-before-seen technologies and fashions at their disposal-all seemed well...until nefarious rumors of a returning great threat started to spread...

Being a princess about to assume the role of Queen, Zelda’s utmost duty is to her people-especially when it comes to their protection from any unforeseen threat. Once strange happenings and various crimes start to occur in the streets of Castle Town and across Hyrule, Zelda’s the first to spearhead an investigation to discover the cause- (to which her father is very disapproving of).

With the assistance of Link and Midna, Zelda is able to track down leads and clues at a lighting fast pace. However, is she fast enough to discover the causes behind these heinous wrongdoings before the danger becomes something far worse?

As for Zelda herself, she holds herself to a very high standard and always works to the best of her abilities in order to keep everyone she loves safe and sound.

Being a Royal, Zelda has extensive knowledge of Hyrule and the world around her- be it political, scientific, historical or cultural in nature. She loves to learn and is highly exacting and strategic in all of her decision making. Zelda strives for efficiency but she is also very empathetic, being mindful on how consequences affect those around her. She loves any sort of intellectual challenge, especially when it comes to “seemly impossible” mysteries and puzzles. While she does play the part of a refined princess and soon-be-queen, her true passion lies in exploring and going on thrilling and exciting adventures through dark dungeons and forests with her best friend, Link. (and of course, causing occasional trouble with Midna too). In her downtime, when Zelda isn’t reading or studying (or solving a case), she excels at being a seasoned equestrian and practicing various martial arts, being a very capable hand-to-hand combatant and fencer.  As she has traveled more with Link and Midna, she has taken a liking to collecting tea tins from various regions around Hyrule- nothing beats a good cup of tea!

[silly-gh0st3]

She specializes in prosthetics and battlefield medicine. Her name is Natalia and her segment designation is Xi. 

Im still working out her goals. My current ideas are that she wants to study teyvat through the lense of the limits of humanity. I need to fully figure out what exactly Natalia is studying in teyvat that involves basically turning people into cyborgs. Sure, being influenced by dottore would have her want to make people as strong as gods, but does she want to twist people like balloon animals into all sorts of horrifying shapes using prosthetics and cybernetic technology to see what can be unlocked? Is that the limits of humanity she’s after? Would there be something in irminsul her prosthetics technology could affect? Are cyborgs unable to reenter the leylines if they’ve forsaken their humanity? What constitutes as humanity? Is she shoving souls into prosthetics to use to improve Fatui soldiers? I have so many questions and ideas ha ha h e l p  

She also wants to leave the laboratory to be able to do this but as she makes prosthetic organs for dottore, she has to be on standby. She also wants to be seen as a good scientist by dottore, she def has those gifted kid vibes, so that she’ll be granted more privileges like being able to leave the lab. But she gets the authority to conduct her experiments by being in dottore’s back pocket. She also worries about not making progress to her goals of studying teyvat fast enough, and worries that if she falls behind on scientific progress dottore will get rid of her for being useless. Anyway yeah she has a lot of internal conflict. Potential for a character arc of her regaining everything she needs for her experiments but without the help of the Fatui if she decides to run away, bur who’d want to run away from the Fatui am I right?  

She’s 30 years old and 6’ tall but wears 3” heels. I post a lot of pics of her lmao. I’m slowly filling out a large questionnaire of character creation questions haha help me. 

she thinks discussing emotions is showing weakness and thinks therapy is a scam. She prioritizes her work in gathering knowledge through science as more important than anything else in her life. She also tries to make logical decisions about 95% of the time but there are moments when she’ll act impulsively in terms of personality she is rather obsessed with her work, but she’s also quite petty and a little haughty about being a “true scholar”. She has reverence for science, and scoffs at others who don’t. She also has a mental hierarchy, and that determines if she’ll accept or reject criticism from someone. 

Her voice sounds like a mix between cold and calculating and a little, I don’t know how to describe this, sultry? Something like Kafka from HSR. She is a certified yapper, she may be quiet and focused on her work but get her talking about her studies and she will not shut up. 

If she was playable she’d be an aggressive claymore dendro healer that heals based on edmg. The amount of healing done would equal 110% of the edmg. I’m still figuring out what her skills would do, obviously she’d need an infusion thing to make the healing work. And she’d heal when dendro edmg is done even by other teammates who are infused by her dendro.

Oh and she obviously needs a boss fight because ofc so I’m not sure about the monologue or phase one but phase two would have her in a crow themed battle suit where her extra arms would be strapped into crow themed wings. And how she’d get into this mech suit would be that she would stumble backwards into it and have it activate on impact, or something else I haven’t decided. Her boss theme would have kind of a mechanical vibe like uh coordinate shift by ferry, but obviously would have the Latin chanting and fatui letimotif.

I Lowkey forget I have this app 💀💀💀💀

But!! She sounds really cool !

I think Theta and Natalia wouldn’t get along, it’s sort of the thing where siblings compete for their parents attention. Theta is the age range of a sometime when Dottore was in the Akademyia, so they’re kinda desperate to be seen lol. Although Theta does well in hiding that desperation for approval and appears arrogant to others.

Since Theta is more biological than the other segments they are also an “experiment” as well. I would like to think that the segments all have their own type of jobs, and Theta is based in spying/information collecting. Theta mainly does exploring around Teyvat to find some sort of anything that interests them.

If Theta was playable they would be a very selfish DPS, most likely a cryo claymore. Their signature weapon would look like a giant pair of scissor s !

I plan to draw them out some more!!! AUUUSGHSHSHSH I LOVE THETA SM :33

[decrepitdeer]

Hazbin OC Backstories

I've been putting my character backstories on Unvale for a while now, but I figured that I might as well put them on here for those who don't feel like venturing outside of Tumblr for stuff like this, I got you!

This won't be the most earth-shattering reading experience. These are just OC backstories taken directly from my notes app, so it's just a lot of "this happened, and then this," but I hope you can still enjoy this <3

This is also written on mobile, so sorry if it looks weird for some

My Hazbin OCs Introduction post

PLEASE DONT READ THIS IF YOU AREN'T 16 +

Content and Trigger Warings: death, murder, brief mention of attempted SA (Daisy Belle), vauge mention of child neglect, prostitution/s*xual exploitation (Soleil)

Daisy Belle:

Daisy Belle, then just Daisy, was born into a loving family living in a small town in England. Daisy was quite the nerd, enjoying schoolwork and scifi books whenever she could her hands on them. Through that, she developed a unique and relatively rare interest in tech, at least in comparison to other little girls in the 1950s. Daisy was also very handy and helpful, being a jack of many trades. She would use her skills to help her family and other people in her community. By her teens, she could fix most mechanics and tech of the time.

Daisy applied to a college that had technology courses and luckily got in.

She moved to London for her studies, but it wasn't all it cracked up to be, more specifically there was a lot more unsavory characters compared to her small town. Lot of them were men who didn't know how to keep their hands to themselves. Daisy pushed it aside, concentrating on the better parts. She excelled in school and gained a bunch of new friends. It all came to an end on a faithful spring night. Daisy came home and after that started to hear some weird noises. After going to investigate she found that two men had broken into her house. They held her at gunpoint, one of them trying to force her to "do things" while the other went to loot her home for valuables. Daisy refused for this to be the end, and after a while of playing along, she attacked him, wrestled the gun away and ended up shooting him dead. All of the noise had naturally attracted the attention of the other attacker, and before Daisy could react, she was shot point blank through her eye.

As if the universe itself was mocking her fate, a certain song started to play on her radio. "Daisy Bell" by Harry Darce, the same song her parents would sing to her as a lullaby.

Soleil:

Soleil was born to a single mother who couldn't afford to take care of her, so she left Soleil at an orphanage. The orphanages at the time were far from perfect, so Soleil didn't exactly get the start in life that her mother had hoped. During nighttime, she would sometimes light a candle to bring her comfort. Soleil had always liked fire. It was the most beautiful thing in the world to her.

After Soleil grew out the orphanage, she was able to secure a job at the local opera house. She had always loved to dance and sing, much to the annoyance of the people working at the orphanage.

Soleil was given lessons, and she progressed fast, her small figure being an advantage in ballet. Soleil would have had a promising career in front of her.. If she wouldn't have had the misfortune of being a woman in a French 1800s Opera house. The female dancers at the time had to do.. Certain "activities" with the wealthy men that frequented the opera just so that they could get by. Soleil was no expection.

This was naturally something she didn't want. Day in and day out, she had to give it her all and smile on stage, only be puppeted around by a bunch of old men. There's only so much one can take, and after a couple of months, she lost all sense of self. A broken doll.

One the evenings after a performance, she sat in the dressing room by herself when she heard a familiar and comforting voice. The fire on the candle was whispering to her again, like it had all those years ago. This time around, it wasn't just promising comfort and warmth, but the means to take back what she was owed. It guided her through the opera house, methodically setting fires in a way that when the others would realize what was occurring.. It would already be too late. Sooner than later, the Opera house was ablaze in the cold winter night. There were very few survivors. One of them was a backstage worker who had seen something haunting before nearly succumbing to the smoke. A young ballerina, twirling amongst the flames on stage. She was wearing a content and happy expression on her face.

[thistleation]

I’m so obsessed with your eldritch space fic, I just can’t get it out of my head! I swear I catch myself thinking about it at least once per day. It’s got me really wanting to finally get into sci-fi media again and I’m wondering if you happen to have any recommendations?

Oh wow.

Damn.

Okay well first of all, holy shit, thank you!

I knew BoSaS was well liked by a handful of people, but until now I didn't think anyone besides me belonged in the "thinks about it daily category" 😭💖

As for sci-fi recs... well this is going to be a bit scattershot.

I've honestly not really kept up with recent sci-fi due to over a decade of major depression and not having my shit together, and I'm not a huge fan of a lot of the sci-fi that comes out these days in visual media, so I'm trying to make some time to read some of the sci-fi stories of recent years, but again, that's a work in progress, so can't really rec much in that regard.

First things first though, if you like Beyond our Space and Starlight, I absolutely have to rec luminous beings by @daisychainsandbowties .

It's warrior nun, it's star wars, it's got the suffering and the crying and the patented Cas poetic beauty amid the despair. It's SO fucking good and if you've not read it (and its companion pieces in the same setting) you absolutely gotta.

And also before I go any further, shouting out the Bifrost Incident which @the-darkness-does-not-bargain so kindly introduced me to. (don't look up anything about it, just listen). I assume that the main motivation behind you asking is something along the lines of "what kind of sci-fi was the inspiration behind this?" To which I'd have to say it's a mix that's a little eclectic and mainly old.

But let's talk about them because why not:

First off, the biggest influence is probably the original Star Wars trilogy, with dashes of the prequel trilogy.

I could write an essay about this, but I guess I could condense my opinion on Star Wars (and its relation to BoSaS) very simplified into something like: "Yes! You SHOULD bring swords and myth/magic into sci-fi... no, not quite like that!"

Rogue One brought it back and did it pretty well. (Only truly good recent Star Wars movie) I'd also draw from other sci-fi classics like the original Alien movies, the first two Terminators and Blade Runner.

Not to be all "the original is always better," but I feel like an issue with a lot of modern sci-fi is that the setting is too effaced, it lacks story and it's just a vehicle for spectacle. I like sci-fi stories where space is BIG and scary, and being on a ship surrounded by millions upon millions of miles of vacuum, utterly hostile to life? That should feel a little claustrophobic! Or at least occasionally unsettling.

If you hit the original movies, you're more likely to catch more of the vibe of the setting itself being an important character in the story, which to me is an essential aspect of my favourite kind of sci-fi content.

Okay this is getting long, let's go over the rest faster.

Ghost in the Shell

The original movie and the Stand Alone Complex (second season especially).

This is probably one of my biggest formative experiences on my "didn't realize they were trans at the time" adolescent brain.

High concept, transhumanism, guns, fast action, and enough of a spiritual/philosophical vibe to keep it from getting bland.

Then in a similar vein of physical dissociation and occasional body horror, but you want it to be even more fucked up?

Battle Angel Alita/Gunnm

The original run in particular. This along with Ghost in the Shell was what shaped my interest in sci-fi around my adolescence. I liked how both weren't afraid to introduce philosophical, almost spiritual and mythological elements to their futuristic stories.

Ghost in the Shell especially is like, the powers of mythical creatures, achieved through technology, and it leans into that and so you get an almost spiritual experience as an end result.

This story gets fucked up at times, but it's beautiful and heart wrenching all the same.

Prey

In contrast to my "watch the originals" statement of earlier, this is a recent predator movie that's actually good.

Thorgal

Okay this one isn't sci-fi, but I'm adding it to the list because this takes my love of adding magical/fantasy elements to sci-fi, but from the other direction: a story of a viking outcast, featuring gods and mythical creatures, but ALSO sci-fi elements as the lead character is of a race of spacefaring human(oids?)

Again, the first 20-odd books especially.

A powerhouse of the classic Franco-Belgian comics, nothing quite like it.

It's getting late and this is getting long, if any mutuals wanna tag on their recs for weird and not-so-weird sci-fi, please feel free.

[continuations]

Lessons from a Voyage

I have just returned from an exciting voyage: crossing the Atlantic on a sailboat. You can find updates from along the way on the J44 Frolic website, Twitter/X and Instagram accounts. In this post I am gathering up my lessons learned. Some of these are just about sailing, in particular passage making, and some are broadly applicable life lessons.

Offshore sailing is intense. I always had great respect for offshore sailors, and in particular solo sailors, and this voyage has only deepened that. To be successful requires lots of different skills: navigation, sail trim, anchoring/docking, mechanical, plumbing, electrical (AC and DC), fishing, cooking. Not everyone on board needs all of these but it is good to have all of them as part of the crew, ideally redundant. If you want to follow exciting single handed racing, I highly recommend the upcoming Vendée Globe race. On each of these skills, experience makes a huge difference. Going into this adventure there was a lot that I understood theoretically but had never done (I had zero offshore experience). So I was thrilled to do this with my friend HL DeVore who has extensive offshore experience, including two prior Atlantic crossings.

Technology has made passage making much easier. The voyage also increased my respect for what it took to cross the oceans in the past with minimal technology. We had access, via Starlink, to up-to-date weather information. We had redundant chart systems including on board but also on our phones, so we knew at all times where we were and how quickly we were making progress. We had a fantastic auto pilot that was able to steer accurately even in fairly confused sea states. We were able to make fresh water on demand with an advanced filtration and desalination system. We had fresh food in a fridge and frozen food, including ice cream (!), in a freezer. We had an electric kettle for fast water heating. An ice maker to add ice cubes to our water. A hot pot for making rice and other dishes. You don't have to go very far back to get to a time when none of this was available. And yet people crossed the oceans routinely.

Clear and non-defensive communication is essential. Everything on a boat has precise terms to identify what it is and what action is supposed to be taken. It is essential to learn this language to be able to communicate quickly and precisely. There are some areas where different sailors will use different terms and so it's good to converge on terminology for the boat. Beyond precision it also matters that communication has to be non-defensive. Everybody on board can speak up at an moment if they see or hear something that others should know. And when someone speaks to you, you always acknowledge that you have heard and understood by saying "copy." For example you might say "small craft 5 boat lengths out at 2 o'clock" and helm will acknowledge with "copy" even if they have already seen it. So much miscommunication can be avoided simply by acknowledging what has been said.

Alertness is crucial. Always be on the lookout for things that look or sound strange. A line hanging slack that is normally tight. Or a clanging noise that wasn't there before. All of this requires a high degree of alertness and also intimate knowledge of the normal state of the boat. For example water flowing by the boat often makes a gurgling sound when you are below deck and close to the sides. But at one point I heard a gurgling sound coming from an unusual location. We investigated and it turned out that a hose had come loose and we were spilling fresh water.

Know your boat inside out. Some people may be tempted to buy a new boat for an adventure like this. But every boat handles differently. And new boats often have small issues that will only bet detected while out at sea. We bought a used J44, a boat that my partner in this adventure has been sailing for over a decade. We then completely overhauled the boat and took it on several shake down cruises and races, with the ultimate pre passage shake down being the Newport Bermuda race. You also want to know the details of systems performance. For example fuel consumption of a diesel engine varies non-linearly with RPM. For example on Frolic the fuel consumption goes up by 33 percent from 1800 to 2000 RPM.

Life is supported by systems. Spaceships are called ships for a reason - they are both life support systems for humans. The ocean is not quite as uninhabitable for humans as space but it is definitely not where we can live without technology. Our water maker was a great example of that. In its absence we would have needed to bring a large quantity of freshwater along and hopefully catch rainwater (we would likely have to ration water which risks being dehydrated). Systems need redundancy in case they break and you can't fix them. We always had some water in jugs to tide us over, but we also had a mid sized and even some handheld desalination systems).

Observation matters. It is always important to complement what electronic systems spit out with what we can observe directly. Modern weather forecasts are amazingly accurate. But local weather can still differ significantly and sometimes forecasts will be wrong. It really helps to understand the weather at different scales, from the very large (the entire North Atlantic), to the region you are in (e.g. the Azores), down to the specific location. Another example of a system that helps tremendously but needs to be complemented with observation is the Automatic Identification System (AIS). It uses VHF to communicate the identities of boats, along with their location, heading, and speed. This makes it much easier to identify and avoid potential collisions. When we were approaching Portugal we had to cross through shipping lanes and it would have been much more challenging without AIS. But we did encounter two cargo ships that were not properly broadcasting. One was highly intermittent (and would only show up on our chart plotter occasionally), the other one not at all. We encountered the second one at night and had to fall back to visual observation and hailing the other vessel.

Slow is fast. Take the time to talk things through, such as a spinnaker take down. This means making sure everyone understands their role and the sequence of tasks. Prepare everything that can be prepared, such as getting any lines properly coiled that need to run out or having sail ties at hand. Move deliberately around the boat . Something going wrong is not only dangerous but will usually take a lot more time to fix than getting it right in the first place. This is even true when something has already gone wrong. We did great overall but did wind up with one accidental jibe. The instinct might be to rush and fix that immediately but it is much better to take the time to make sure everyone is ok, the boat is ok, and then make a plan to jibe back in a controlled fashion.

Preparation requires anticipation. We were incredibly well prepared. We had all the tools and parts on board we needed. We had all the medications on board to treat everyone on the crew for a variety of thankfully small issues. We had enough fuel to get through some of the light or no wind stretches. All of this was the case because we anticipated what the problems might be that we could encounter. You can't get stuff onto your boat once you are in the ocean. Our planned path via the Azores is notorious for people running out of fuel or food or both because of the extent of the Azores high.

Safety is not negotiable. Our default was to wear harnesses when on deck and to clip in. The only times we would not do that was during the day time in extremely calm sea state while motoring. All it takes is one wrong step for someone to go overboard. And at night or with six foot waves it is not only hard to see someone, especially when the boat is flying along at 10 knots, but also tricky and dangerous to get back to them and get them back on board. Another key rule is "one hand for yourself and one hand for the boat." This is where the expression "single handed" sailing comes from. I violated this rule once by trying to bring two bags below at the same time (coming back to the boat at the dock). I missed the last step down the companion way, twisted around and fell backwards into the galley, hitting my head on the stove. I was lucky and came away with some scrapes and bump on the back of my head but it could have easily ended badly.

Good food makes everyone happy. We were fortunate to have my son Peter Wenger on board as a chef. He had pre-cooked some meals which we carried in our freezer. But he also made many wonderful things fresh, such an incredible Mahi Mahi ceviche from a fresh catch. And of course my personal favorite: French toast for breakfast.

Great on shore support really helps. There is some fear associated with being far out on the ocean where help can be a long way away. And so it is wonderful to have strong on shore support. Psychology really matters for well being and stress. When I fell down it was great to do a call with med team and get concussion assessment. We relied on Katie and Jessica from Regatta Rescue for medical support. They were terrific and also had put together an incredible med kit for us to bring along. We also got daily macro weather updates from Ken McKinley at Locusweather. Finally, it was fantastic to have family emotional support, in particular from Susan "Gigi" Danziger, who also helped with logistics, such as getting to Newport, and joined us in Bermuda, for cruising in the Azores, and in Lisbon upon arrival.

All in all this passage was an incredible adventure and I feel fortunate to have been able to experience this passage. I hope this will not be my last one and am already thinking about what bringing the boat back across the Atlantic might look like. In the meantime I am keeping my fingers crossed for a safe passage of Frolic through the Straight of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean.

[bluetomorrows]

I want longer games with beautiful graphics and how dare you suggest that I'm kidding

So that whole "I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and I'm not kidding" thing is making the rounds on Twitter again and since I don't like to give genuine opinions on that site I'm gonna talk about it here.

In short, I disagree with the sentiment. I DO want game developers to have higher pay, reasonable hours, and deadlines that aren't cruel. I want an end to the crunch that infests AAA development. But a lot of people who post things like that don't understand what it means for a game to be short or have bad graphics. Frankly, this isn't even as much me refuting this statement as it is a chance to rant about those topics.

Game length is a funny thing. When video games first transitioned to the home, the experience was essentially the same as the arcades that were so popular at the time. Atari games were mostly short score-based rounds or head-to-head multiplayer. Even games like H.E.R.O. and Adventure which deviated from that structure to do a version of the more traditional single-player progression we're used to still didn't last very long. It was a mix of both the limitations of the primitive technology and what players had come to expect from the arcades. When the NES came along expectations changed. People didn't want just arcade games, at least not the kind from the 70s. At launch Super Mario Bros. was the clear stand-out game, far surpassing its arcade-like counterparts in critical and commercial success. They wanted bigger and better experiences. So now games have to last, they have to have that progression that's standard now. This evolution was much more smooth and slow outside of North America where there was no video game crash. However, North America's explosion in video game renting also helped push forward this mindset. If you can just beat a game in the rental period before you have to return it to Blockbuster, then you're never gonna purchase it and give the game publishers the returns they really want. So how do you make a game last on still primitive hardware? NES developers came across two main options: bullshit difficulty, and replay value. The former was easier to implement. If the game was insanely hard, then naturally it would take you more time to finish it. The latter required actually talented game developers. A game should be fun to play, and ideally more fun every time. The basic idea is as you get better at the game you'll be able to have a more satisfying experience playing the levels.

Let's take the NES Castlevania trilogy as an example of these schools of level design. Castlevania 1 is a brutal game, but that's really only your first time. When you replay it you now have a grasp on your own controls, but also the patterns of the enemy. You know how to use the sub-weapons effectively and when to spend hearts on them. The visceral gameplay flow here will make you feel incredibly badass but only when you've mastered it, the first time around you'll be weak and scared. The controls are very precise and one wrong move can cost you a lot, but you'll learn the best strategies to deal with it. Castlevania 2 employs the BS difficulty on yourfirst run. The solutions to the puzzles are obtuse and NPCs will give you strange and sometimes misleading advice. You need a player's guide to get through it. But there's the ending stinger. Gaming's first alternate ending. Depending on how fast you beat the game you'll get 3 different endings. Only by mastering the game can you achieve the best ending and see Simon survive the game, therefore encouraging you to replay it to achieve the true ending you want. Castlevania 3 combines the great replayability aspects of both games. It keeps the visceral skill-based gameplay of the original while taking the idea of different content in different playthroughs from Simon's Quest. There are now multiple paths to take to Dracula's castle, and the option to recruit three other characters to your group, although only one can travel with you at any time. 2 primary routes plus 3 possible character combinations mean 6 pretty unique experiences of the game, on top of the inherent skill progression the player experiences through gameplay.

The multiple pathways of Castlevania III's map

So how long is Castlevania 3? Like 3 hours? Not really. Because you're not expected to put it down after that first playthrough. It'd be ridiculous considering how much cartridges cost. Is Castlevania 3 a short game? Yes, but really no. It's a thing I see people very often struggle to understand. Classic Sonic games for example were designed specifically around replayability, the speed-based gameplay being inspired by Yuji Naka seeing through 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. tons of times and seeing how fast he was doing it. Doing the same thing faster is a very easy way for the player to feel they're improving. So many people play these games once and dismiss them when they're not really getting the full experience. If you watch a newbie play Sonic and an experienced player play the same stages it's practically a completely different game.

However when Sonic was coming out a new type of game was starting to appear on the market. Games that didn't need to figure out ways to make themselves last longer than they could, but instead could just last.

Due to the technical limitations of the NES and its contemporaries, the first games to really challenge the ideas of length at the time were RPGs. The main gameplay was turned-based combat, something not very intensive for the system so more resources could be given to the world maps and story. The drawbacks to RPGs in this era are that many still padded gameplay with ridiculously tough enemies and high encounter rates, and the ones that really pushed things forward with grand worlds and stories often never left Japan due to the higher-than-usual cost to localize them for other markets. Still, the effects were felt. These games didn't need to be replayed to make you feel like you'd gotten a full experience. They were able to last, while still holding on to some of the replay philosophy these developers learned during the previous generation.

The massive map of Mother/Earthbound Beginnings for the Famicom/NES. The game drew praise for the fact that every NPC had unique dialogue.

This genre would really come into its own in the next generation of systems as developers across the board were given more freedom in game length due to the improved hardware. Games outside of RPGs could still take inspiration from their world design and how simple action gameplay could only be one part of the design and mechanics of a game. With the advent of the PlayStation 1 and SEGA Saturn and the insanely higher amount of space afforded by CDs, developers were no longer limited by technology and could design their games to be as long as they really wanted.

Also the N64 was there.

This laid the groundwork for the "long" games we're seeing now, something far too complex for me to really analyze. The point is game length was now something a developer had to choose, not something chosen for them. Sometimes they even give the player the choice, allowing them to beat the "main game" or do side content for 100% completion. I'd say nowadays it's strange if a game releases without any side content for you to do. Replayability was becoming less and less important to developers. The only real push back against this came with the adcent of games specifically calling back to the NES and SNES era, specifically by indie devs, a movement that has one grown in popularity as we've entered the 20s.

So here's what I'm getting at: what is game length now? What does it mean for a game to be long? How many short games are truly short? How many truly short games are good?

Well to answer that question I made a spreadsheet. I compiled a list of 50 of my favourite games and the information on them on howlongtobeat.com. I've used this site before and generally, it's accurate, the player base isn't too skilled or too bad at games. In the cases where two versions of a game were listed, I chose the one I played, unless both versions only had very minor differences, in which case I chose the one that had a larger data set. For each game I noted how long it took to beat the base game, the base game plus some of the optional content, and how long it took to get 100%, as well as what option of the three I would recommend to others. I also listed the style of replayability of each game. Whether it was based on skill improvement, alternate paths, or had little replay value. Mind you just because a game was listed as having little replay value doesn't mean you can't replay it and have fun, if the game is good then the game is good, but it just means it wasn't really designed for that.

I tried to have a varied set of games to measure, first-person and third-person, and on-rail shooters, rhythm games, RPGs, action games, and puzzle games are all included, but there may be a bias towards platformers as it's what I've played the most of.

The results were rather interesting. Keep in mind that the games chosen are all ones I consider to be quite good, so this is supposed to represent what the average good game does. I found that the average base game lasts about 9 hours, extended to 14 hours with extras, and 25 hours if you go for 100%. I recommended completing the main game + extras about 50% of the time, with the other two paths each taking up about a quarter. Overall the average time I recommended spending with each playthrough was 15 hours. The longest recommended playthrough went to Super Mario Odyssey with 62 hours as I recommended going for 100%. The shortest time was surprisingly another Mario game, that being Super Mario Land at only one hour. But I think that's actually a perfect encapsulation of what this was trying to prove, as Odyssey has little replay value, while Super Mario Land has the skill curve via repeat playthroughs that I talked about earlier. More games weren't really built for replay value than I expected, in fact I expect the number is a bit inflated as I play more retro and arcade games than the average person. But the market has shifted, content outside of the main campaign is now the lasting appeal. But the question I ask is, should it be? Now there are some games on my list like Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and Yakuza Kiwami where I feel as though if you're not going after all the side content you're kind of missing the point of the game design, however there are other games like Doom (2016); a game that has more post-game content than the base game, yet all that content is completely pointless. Sure you unlock some cute figures and a couple extra skills, but searching around for obtuse secrets just feels like the antithesis of the design of that game, which should be fast paced reaction based action. The addition of it here has always confounded me. My best guess is they were trying to replicate aspects of the original Doom, where exploration was a much bigger part of the game, but here it doesn't work. I WOULD like to play more of Doom (2016) so I can get better at the main game, not so I can find all the doodads, and a game like it should find ways to encourage replay.

I make a special note in the file of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland and how it encourages replayability. Beating the game 100% unlocks "Extra Mode" a version of the game that is nearly identical with the one difference being that Kirby has half the health. I do dislike this approach in other games I love; Super Mario Galaxy and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze both got "Main + Extras" scores instead of "100%" scores because they pull this at the end of the game, but I don't mind it so much here. Kirby is supposed to be a breezy relaxing game, where taking damage shouldn't be that much of an issue, but this flips that on its head and legitimately changes the way the player approaches the game. But Extra Mode isn't the real thing I want to highlight, what really elevates the replayability of Nightmare in Dreamland is what you unlock after beating all of Extra Mode: Meta Knightmare. Meta Knightmare swaps out Kirby for Meta Knight, and even though he doesn't play dramatically differently from Kirby with the sword ability, he nevertheless again encourages the player to approach the same stages differently. This more serious character should cut down enemies like butter and speed through stages without breaking a sweat, and that speed aspect is even more encouraged by Meta Knightmare removing the ability to save and prominently displaying how quickly you completed the game. Things as simple as a change in aesthetic and scoring change how the game is played and give the player more unique experiences out of a game that's "only two hours long". Mind you this doesn't involve creating tons of side content and extras, it's small changes that have a massive psychological change in how the game is played.

If you want to check out the list yourself I've linked it here. Special cases where games extend playtime through other means are noted where necessary, although they aren't common.

I think the vast differences between games on this list really highlight a point I think I already knew: Games should be as long as they need to be. Typically video games are made to be played for fun, and making long games or very replayable games typically suits that goal, but ultimately gaming is an art form. War & Peace would be a worse story if it was very short, just as The Great Gatsby would be worse if it dragged itself out for another 300 pages. The idea that games SHOULD be shorter isn't something that supports game developers or players, it's something that speaks down to the idea of games as an art form.

So yeah, I don't want shorter games. I don't care if it takes me forever or if it's over in an instant. I just want the games to be good. If I want some specific length then that's my problem, not the developer's.

I think I've made my point about game length being fluid, but that's only half the statement, what about graphics?

Since the dawn of time (1992), man has sought the best and most realistic video game graphics. In olden times, neanderthals were amazed by the 3D worlds of Wolfenstein 3D and Virtua Racer, "games will never be more realistic than this" they said. Now we know that they were stupid fucking cavemen who didn't know how butt ugly their games are, they don't even look like real life. Not like Tekken, now THAT'S some real graphics.

This happened to my buddy Eric

Of course, then we realized that Tekken was also dog water graphics when the PS2 came out. And now it's 2023 and all the PS2 games look fake and gay and actually, I think Wolfenstein and Virtua Racing look pretty alright. This is a point I specifically want to address because when I see people parrot this opinion when they say they want "games with bad graphics" the examples they point to for games to aim for are titles like Hades or other more stylistic, non-realistic games, typically by indies.

This is very frustrating because those games have great graphics.

Why the hell should good graphics mean realistic graphics? Just like with pacing game graphics should be whatever the hell they need to be.

Here are some games that have good graphics in them I think

It's not about the horsepower or however gigaflops per tera butt it can render, it's just about good art direction. Good art direction can be realistic, completely stylized, or somewhere in between! To say a game like Hades has bad graphics is... how do I put this?

Basically, fuck you.

When going for realism the most common obstacle is not entering the uncanny valley, and when going for a more stylized approach the the most common obstacle is making sure everything is still clear to the player at all times.

And no, I don't want games to look bad. And that goes for both

Stylized

and realistic

Just let games be games man. If you truly believe that they're a unique art form capable of creating meaningful experiences, then let them do what they want. You can say developers should be treated better and you're right if you do, but that doesn't mean they have to make more boring art.

[endofthischain]

i need to flesh out my tags about diagnosis/psychiatry for my own personal gain because I feel like I'm onto something but my brain is moving too fast to physically write it down so here we are.

basically psychiatry at its core is responsible for creating and naming categories under which all of humanity is meant to fit. (even if you don't have a MH diagnosis, you are therefore not mentally ill / neurotypical, which becomes a category of its own.) a lot of mental health awareness campaign's language lies in this idea that mental disorder does not discriminate, that it can affect anyone at any point in their lives -- it's giving He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake boogie man panopticon vibes...

& speaking of foucault, I think the basic concept that, states wield power by creating knowledge systems that create subjects, is really important to the anti-psychiatry critique. the subjectivity of psychiatry is kind of its most obvious facet. what's MIRACULOUS is that, in the last 50 years, psychiatry and psychology have managed to convince a staggering load of people that they are SCIENTIFIC and OBJECTIVE fields; that there are really truly chemical / biological / neurological sources we can point to in which we will find all of the answers for human suffering. I'd argue this quick acceptance is in portion due to neoliberalism and rapidly growing technologies of surveillance -- the DSM-3, which basically put psychiatry on the map as a legitimate field, was published in 1980. psychotropics have also had a big role in legitimizing the psy-discipline's attempt to class themselves among the medical fields, despite the fact that we still don't really know why psychotropics Work for Some People.

but even if we did know why they "worked," we also need to question what we consider "working" under conditions of hegemonic capitalism. in which ways do medications alter human behavior and belief in order to make our lives easier for ourselves and others? what actions and acceptances are deemed healthy under the influence of psychotropic drugs? psychiatrists track your progress on the drug in line with how well you are functioning as a normal, productive human being. is being happy not better for labor?

this is not to say that I think the distress that may fall under psychiatric diagnoses is not real or valid. on the contrary, I think they're very real experiences and very valid experiences. but I don't think they need to be classified as anything. because I believe that 1. suffering and distress are inevitable facets of any meaningful life and 2. there is no one "correct" way to experience distress or suffering or to be a human being in this world -- in fact a diverse range of reactions to the human experience is not only inevitable but also amazing and beautiful and sacred.

anyway, it would be misguided to believe that, in another world, perhaps under a different economic structure, we could have a psychiatry that is objective and not suited to the interests of the powerful. because that's all psychiatry has ever done, regardless of whatever cloaks it wears that tell us otherwise. its quest as a field has always been to sort out the normal from the abnormal and force the abnormal back to normal for the sake of capital. its even easier when we just go along with it happily. will we ever be able to see this? even more so, can we accept that we will never be able to objectively or scientifically understand and chart humankind in our vast complexity, and that's fucking magnificent?

[world-cinema-research]

Toy Story

Choosing Toy Story as my film this week, I was left with the same feeling of awe washing over me like each time before. The reason for these strong feelings remains the same as well: the movie overflows with emotion. Though the human aspect is what I, and probably most viewers, cling to, the technical aspect of the film plays a significant role in its charm and success. When it comes down to it, though, I loved the idea of my own toys coming to life when I wasn't around, and even more so if they had personalities like the characters in the movie.

What really makes the movie unforgettable for me has always been the voice acting. The range of emotions you saw and heard from the characters was something I don't remember noticing in any other movie or show I saw as a kid, especially Woody the Cowboy.

Some research into the film's conception and production helped put why I'm so attached to the animation and voice acting into perspective. Not only was Toy Story the first fully computer animated movie, the voice cast was comprised of popular actors like Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Wallace Shawn to name a few. Coupled with Disney's financial backing, the film had a lot going for it right from the get-go. Making close to $400,000,000 worldwide, the movie made more than ten times its budget of $30,000,000, Toy Story became a critical success. The film's unique approach in using a new medium, perfectly capturing facial expressions and movement, was one of Pixar's main selling points. Blending the possibilities of animation with a hyper-realistic look and feel drew in both adults and children, including the film's actors themselves.

Produced at the beginning of the 90s, technology was quickly evolving and the entertainment industry was quick to take advantage of the progress. With breakthroughs like Galileo reaching Saturn the same year the film released, Pixar saw and took action on these fast developments, ultimately setting the precedent for future computer animated shows and films.

Although a kid's movie from Disney, meaning it's pretty conventional by playing out with a happy ending like most would expect from a film like this, watching it as an adult is a different experience. Having kids as its main demographic may have kept adults from seeing it at the time and may be true now as well, but taking a closer look at the characters shows their not just there to keep the movie going. Re-watching it this week, rather than focusing on the story itself I was more drawn to contrast between the film's main human characters Andy and Sid.

Andy, the younger, caring child whose attention Woody fights for most of the film, and his next door neighbor Sid, older and sadistic toward his own toys. This contrast is shown throughout the film not only in the way each of the boys treats their toys, but also in their environments and even their respective family. Andy's introduction at the beginning of the film is colorful, cheerful, full of imaginative interactions with all his toys, complete with Randy Newman's "You've Got a Friend in Me" as an accompaniment to further drive Andy and Woody's bond.

On the hand, Sid's introduction has the viewer looking at him from a safe distance, looking down from Andy's bedroom window. The music is darker, and barely audible, with his version of "playtime" consisting of taping explosives to his toy watching it explode. Considering how human Andy's toy feel up to this point in the film and quickly accepting their very much alive and capable of feeling emotions, this scene has always disturbed me a bit. Very visceral feeling seeing the toys limbs flying. That said, Sid is also alone in his backyard, without supervision, unlike the interaction Andy has with his mother at the beginning, setting a feeling of her presence even though her face is barely shown throughout. Along the same vein, Andy also seems close to his baby sister while Sid's interactions with his sister, Hannah, feel more violent. Lastly, Sid's disconnect from his family is further shown with the absence of his mother. We hear her voice, but she's never seen. All this to say that despite the contrast and the goal of cementing Sid's role as the antagonist, the stark differences between him and Andy made me realize that there's more to him than just being the bad guy. Approaching it from this perspective got me thinking "maybe he's mean to his toys because he lacks the connections and support Andy has with his family, and that's reflected in the way he treats his toys.

Roger Ebert summarized this, and my feelings about it, well with this quote from his review of the movie, "its conflict is between an old-fashioned cowboy who has always been a little boy's favorite toy, and the new space ranger who may replace him. The villain is the mean kid next door who takes toys apart and puts them back together again in macabre combinations. And the result is a visionary roller-coaster ride of a movie."

While I can watch this movie over and over with more appreciation for each time, the graphics always stick out to me a little more. Looking at more recent reviews, I'm not alone in feeling this way.

Sean Axmaker reviewed it with "the technical bar has been raised much higher in the subsequent decades and the human characters look creepy and primitive by today’s standards, but the film is far more than a technical achievement."

Even though Toy Story's graphics receive the most criticism, I agree that it's charm remains unwavering.

[thekavseklabs]

Do the kei have things like theme parks and movie theaters? How primitive is their society compared to ours?

They do! They have many similar forms of entertainment to humans, whether lower or higher tech, along with their own things unique to them!

Kei society and technology is simultaneously far ahead of human society and far behind, due to multiple catastrophic events in their history. Their world can be best described as post-apocalyptic, in a similar way to the game Horizon: Zero Dawn- They have bits of extremely advanced technology, but at the same time have a lot that they've lost, and it's been so long they no longer remember what happened and have lost many aspects of that history. In contrast to that game, though, a lot of that advanced tech is not theirs- Another highly advanced alien race came through, attempted to conquer them, and then left then they failed, leaving behind a lot of random tech kei don't know how to use. Luckily, kei are naturally really good at tinkering, so they've come very far with this very fast, and have begun to be able to leave their planet and encroach on other territories.

In addition, the progress they've made is heavily gatekept. The advanced hybrid tech you find in the capital city won't be found in the rest of the world- most of K'war is dotted with extremely low tech villages and nomadic tribes, but once something gets approved to be shared past the capital city, it spreads rapidly along trade routes, and in turn new takes on that stuff will start to appear from other areas amd ultimately make their way back in waves of rapid advancement.

AND, all this also comes down to verses. For instance, the verse I use with you and other sci fi based blogs is set some years ahead of my default verse. Under Vynathr's rule, kei experience a rapid expansion in terms of both territory and technology, as the head Royal Doctor (referred to ooc as R3 as they are an offshoot of 3) gets their hands on a few new concepts and work at an incredible speed to catch up to and even in some verses surpass the Galra Empire. Kei learn fast, scarily fast, their brains work faster than humans and retain information better, and even among their standards 3 is intimidatingly intelligent and speedy. The fact that they work so closely with Vynathr also allows for a powerful structure bringing new intelligence, resources, ideas and technology their way, so they are by no means solely responsible for this rapid expansion- merely heavily connected to it and in charge of it.

[rjalker]

"Is that sort of exercise good for Orlith at this time, Moreta?” demanded Lord Tolocamp, bearing down on them suddenly. He must have been following their progress along the roadway to have intercepted them so neatly.

“She’s not due to clutch for another ten days.”

You know I made an earlier post where I said that whether the dragons are to be considered people or animals, either way it is absolutely cruel and abusive to force them to become pregnant every single time they go into heat. And this is just making that worse. How long do they have to fucking carry these eggs before they even lay them? I think it's pretty fucking safe to assume that she did not mate the day before.

Animals that are meant to live a long time are not meant to get pregnant every single time they can get pregnant if they go into heat multiple times a year starting when they're only one year old. Pregnancy is an immense strain upon the body. It sucks up resources energy and is dangerous in and of itself.

These dragons reach sexual maturity within a year of hatching if I am supposed to fucking believe that these dragons can live any length of time more than 5 years, nothing about these books is convincing me of that fact.

It takes wolves, for comparison, 2 years to reach sexual maturity and go off and form their own pack and have babies. And they usually don't live more than five or six years. If a wolf is 8 years old that thing is ancient and lucky.

But you're telling me these dragons that can start having babies within a year of being born and apparently have babies every time they mate, and not only that but also carry the eggs, of which there can be almost a fucking hundred at a time--

(Edit: NVM, I thought Ramoth laid like 60 eggs for her first clutch but it was 41, F'lar mentoned a dragon in history laying 60 eggs as the record. So not almost a hundred, but still ridiculous)

--with 100% of them fertilized and forming babies, inside of them for more than a week each time, but also I'm supposed to believe that they have a long life span?

I think the fuck not.

I can accept Peacekeeper sebaceans (We don't actually know if the rest of them are like this) reaching maturity within a year and then also being able to live like 200 or 300 years because they have been genetically modifying themselves for tens of thousands of fucking years. And they don't care if most of them die young. The entire purpose for them growing up so quickly is because they are literally expendable fodder that is just going to go off and die probably.

I cannot be convinced that these dragons are somehow both capable of reproducing successfully within their first year of being born and also that they reproduce successfully every single fucking time they go into heat which is multiple times a year I assume considering how fast it happens when they're babies, and that despite all of these things that they somehow have a lifespan of more than five or six years at max.

Unless it is a special case like Peacekeepers, where they have literally had tens of thousands of years to genetically modify themselves with purpose with the most advanced fucking technology available, you do in fact need to fucking pick one.

Either your species ages slowly and lives a long time, or they grow up fast and die quickly. Species evolve the way they do for a fucking purpose.

[ukrfeminism]

2 minute read

The Met Police will start using data to identify the 100 "most dangerous" men in London who prey on women and children.

The plans aim to gather data on tens of thousands of men recently convicted of domestic assault, rape, sex offences, stalking, and harassment.

It comes amid plans to reform the force following several damning reviews.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley announced the details in a speech on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in Westminster, Sir Mark said the force has "a practical plan for turning things around", adding: "I expect to be held accountable for how that transformation of London's police service evolves in the weeks, months and years ahead."

Sir Mark said the Met would focus on three priorities including "targeting men who perpetuate violence against women and children", building "the strongest ever neighbourhood policing", and "taking an increasingly proactive approach to reducing crime".

He stressed the force would be "cracking down on men who are violent predators", by adopting "counter terrorism and organised crime" tactics, including using intelligence to build a list of tens of thousands of violent male offenders and to target the 100 most dangerous men.

"Most crimes are committed by a small number of individuals, and a small number of victims and areas are the most impacted by crime," Sir Mark explained.

Stop and search

In addition, the commissioner highlighted "countless examples" of where the Met's stop-and-search programme had intercepted criminals, but said the force's goal was to "create better data" by identifying hotspots of violence in order to minimise unnecessary stop-and-search activity.

It comes after figures from the London mayor's office last month showed black Londoners are still three times more likely to be stopped by police.

Sir Mark added the plans would also see an "overhaul" of neighbourhood policing, "becoming more visible, more engaged and more responsive to local crime and anti-social behaviour - precisely targeting priorities identified with local people".

As part of his mission to modernise policing, Sir Mark said the force's recruitment and pay systems must also be improved to attract officers with "core traditional skills" who also specialise in areas like cyber security and fraud.

Analysis

BBC London's home affairs correspondent Sonja Jessup

The public outcry over the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, along with a series of cases of misogyny within the Metropolitan police, has put the force under pressure to take tougher action on male violence against women and girls.

But why this approach, using science and technology - and why hasn't it been tried before?

It's being driven by commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who took up his post in September 2022, and spoke about the difficulties of what he calls "Woolworths policing in an Amazon age".

As a former counter-terror chief he says the same work that goes on there - ranking which individuals present the most risk to the public - can be applied to predatory male offenders.

Will it work? Could it stop men like Jordan McSweeney, who murdered Zara Aleena? He had a string of previous convictions for offences such as assault on a young woman, as well as a restraining order - but police said he didn't fit the normal profile for someone later labelled "a danger to any woman."

It's not yet clear exactly what criteria will be used to measure risk, and Sir Mark says it'll take a few months yet for the data to be pulled together.

'Met must change'

The commissioner also emphasised the Met's progress in making policing more "innovative" and "efficient" such as decisions to issue every officer a mobile phone, put more 'fast response' patrol cars on the streets and build a new Met leadership academy.

London's mayor Sadiq Khan responded to the plans on Twitter, saying: "Sir Mark is right - the Met must change for our communities and for our officers and for our staff who serve them.

"I am committed to holding the Met to account as we work together to build a safer city for all Londoners."

A draft version of the policing plans is set to be published in the next few days, after which the force will seek community and partner feedback.

A further version of the plan will then be published before April.

[anniekoh]

elsewhere on the internet: technology platforms & AI

The Limitations of ChatGPT with Emily Bender and Casey Fiesler

The Radical AI podcast (March 2023)

In this episode, we unpack the limitations of ChatGPT. We interview Dr. Emily M. Bender and Dr. Casey Fiesler about the ethical considerations of ChatGPT, bias and discrimination, and the importance of algorithmic literacy in the face of chatbots.

Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Linguistics and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Computer Science and the Information School at the University of Washington, where she has been on the faculty since 2003. Her research interests include multilingual grammar engineering, computational semantics, and the societal impacts of language technology. Emily was also recently nominated as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Casey Fiesler is an associate professor in Information Science at University of Colorado Boulder. She researches and teaches in the areas of technology ethics, internet law and policy, and online communities. Also a public scholar, she is a frequent commentator and speaker on topics of technology ethics and policy, and her research has been covered everywhere from The New York Times to Teen Vogue.

Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey? by Ted Chiang (The New Yorker, May 2023)

People who criticize new technologies are sometimes called Luddites, but it’s helpful to clarify what the Luddites actually wanted. The main thing they were protesting was the fact that their wages were falling at the same time that factory owners’ profits were increasing, along with food prices. They were also protesting unsafe working conditions, the use of child labor, and the sale of shoddy goods that discredited the entire textile industry. The Luddites did not indiscriminately destroy machines; if a machine’s owner paid his workers well, they left it alone. The Luddites were not anti-technology; what they wanted was economic justice. They destroyed machinery as a way to get factory owners’ attention.

Whenever anyone accuses anyone else of being a Luddite, it’s worth asking, is the person being accused actually against technology? Or are they in favor of economic justice? And is the person making the accusation actually in favor of improving people’s lives? Or are they just trying to increase the private accumulation of capital?

In 1980, it was common to support a family on a single income; now it’s rare. So, how much progress have we really made in the past forty years? Sure, shopping online is fast and easy, and streaming movies at home is cool, but I think a lot of people would willingly trade those conveniences for the ability to own their own homes, send their kids to college without running up lifelong debt, and go to the hospital without falling into bankruptcy. It’s not technology’s fault that the median income hasn’t kept pace with per-capita G.D.P.; it’s mostly the fault of Ronald Reagan and Milton Friedman. But some responsibility also falls on the management policies of C.E.O.s like Jack Welch, who ran General Electric between 1981 and 2001, as well as on consulting firms like McKinsey. I’m not blaming the personal computer for the rise in wealth inequality—I’m just saying that the claim that better technology will necessarily improve people’s standard of living is no longer credible.

[Image shows Stable Diffusion generated images for “Committed Janitor”]

Researchers Find Stable Diffusion Amplifies Stereotypes by Justin Hendrix (Tech Policy, Nov 2022)

Sasha Luccioni, an artificial intelligence (AI) researcher at Hugging Face, a company that develops AI tools, recently released a project she calls the Stable Diffusion Explorer. With a menu of inputs, a user can compare how different professions are represented by Stable Diffusion, and how variables such as adjectives may alter image outputs. An “assertive firefighter,” for instance, is depicted as white male. A “committed janitor” is a person of color.

A talk: How To Find Things Online by v buckenham (May 2023)

And the other way to look at this, really, is not about AI at all, but seeing this as the continuation of a gradual corporate incursion into the early spirit of sharing that characterised the internet. I say incursion but maybe the better word is enclosure, as in enclosure of the commons. And this positions AI as just a new method by which companies try to extract value from the things people share freely, and capture that value for themselves. And maybe the way back from this is being more intentional about building our communities in ways where the communities own them. GameFAQs was created to collate some useful stuff together for a community, and it ended up as part of a complicated chain of corporate mergers and acquisitions. But other communities experienced the kinds of upheaval that came with that, and then decided to create their own sites which can endure outside of that - I’m thinking here especially of Archive of Our Own, the biggest repository for fan-writing online. And incidentally, the source of 8.2 million words in that AI training set, larger even than Reddit.

The technologies of all dead generations by Ben Tarnoff  (Apr 2023)

The three waves of algorithmic accountability

First wave: Harm reduction

Second wave: Abolition

Third wave: Alternatives

The third wave of algorithmic accountability, then, is already in motion. It’s a welcome development, and one that I wholeheartedly support.

But I’m also wary of it. There is a sense of relief when one moves from critique to creation. It satisfies the familiar American impulse to be practical, constructive, solution-oriented. And this introduces a danger, which is that in the comfort we derive from finally doing something rather than just talking and writing and analyzing and arguing, we get too comfortable, and act without an adequate understanding of the difficulties that condition and constrain our activity.

Platforms don't exist by Ben Tarnoff (Nov 2019)

By contrast, a left tech policy should aim to make markets mediate less of our lives—to make them less central to our survival and flourishing. This is typically referred to as decommodification, and it’s closely related to another core principle, democratization. Capitalism is driven by continuous accumulation, and continuous accumulation requires the commodification of as many things and activities as possible. Decommodification tries to roll this process back, by taking certain things and activities off the market. This lets us do two things: 1. The first is to give everybody the resources (material and otherwise) that they need to survive and to flourish—as a matter of right, not as a commodity. People get what they need, not just what they can afford. 2. The second is to give everybody the power to participate in the decisions that most affect them.