#and maybe not necessarily actually based in the majority of work done by the majority of positions in that category

[sad--tree]

keep saying i don't want 2 work another retail xmas but canNOT 4 the life of me make myself finish my goddamn fucking job applications !!!!!! death & dying & despair etc. etc.

[pseudophan]

PHANNIE COOKBOOK SIGN-UPS!!

Do you have a really good recipe you think Dan and Phil would enjoy? Consider submitting it to this collaborative phannie cookbook that will be given to DnP at a meet & greet! It will also be available to everyone to download as a PDF.

Family recipes or your favourite dish from your country/culture is a bonus, but it doesn’t have to be that personal. All I ask is that you don’t go rip something random off the Internet right now just to be in the book, I want food you genuinely enjoy!

I’ve decided the most efficient way of doing this is to let you submit up to 3 different options, that way if there are any repeats (and I’m certain there will be) I won’t have to message everyone it concerns to ask if you have any alternatives. Besides, that way I can choose which version gets in based on your other options rather than which one “sounds better” to me, cause I think that would be a little unfair. I also have no idea how many people will actually participate in this yet, which is currently the biggest hurdle in terms of planning. If only a few sign up there is a chance we’ll end up using multiple recipes by some, and if somehow we get too many I’ll have to pick and choose. I do really want to include as many people as possible, but until I actually see the recipes it’s hard to tell what will end up happening.

The main focus of this will be actual food, but we obviously need to include a few desserts, so feel free to submit those as well just be aware the chances of those getting picked might be lower. The same goes for soups, I assume a lot of people have soup recipes and we might include a couple, but for obvious reasons it's a low priority.

Some key things to keep in mind:

Phil is a bit picky and has some dietary restrictions! He shouldn’t have dairy or chocolate and he doesn’t like cheese or mushrooms, among other things. That doesn’t mean you have to avoid these things entirely, but maybe your grandma’s mac and cheese recipe isn’t the best choice

While neither of them is vegan they do eat a lot of vegan food, so we definitely need some vegan dishes. I also think it would be really great if you suggested vegetarian and/or vegan substitutions you know work well with your recipe! That isn’t a must for every dish, but it’s a nice addition where possible

Tragically, Dan and Phil are British, meaning they won’t necessarily have access to all the same ingredients as you. Luckily they are also rich and live in a major city with a lot of options so they aren’t limited to what they can find at their local Tesco, but since the aim of this book is to encourage them to cook we probably shouldn’t be sending them on a scavenger hunt either. I don’t think this will be a huge issue, but if your recipe calls for something you think might be very niche or local to you it might be worth googling it or asking around

The final book will be using UK measurements, but if your recipe doesn’t then don’t even worry about it for now. We’ll get to that later. You also don’t have to worry about typing out the whole step-by-step in detail in the sign-up form, I just need a list of the ingredients and roughly how to prepare it to gauge whether it’s a good fit.

I promise I’m almost done yapping but lastly, about some of the questions on the form - you don’t need to know exactly how long the dish takes to prepare, that will depend on the person or people making it anyway, but we do need a rough estimate. The difficulty level is obviously quite subjective, but I just want to hear how you personally would rank it, and if there is a specific part of the process you think someone who doesn’t cook a lot might struggle with. As for the last question about photos, I’m asking both if you have the time and opportunity to make the food and if you are able to take a good photo of it. Obviously it doesn’t have to be anything professional, a phone camera is fine, it just needs to be well lit and decent quality.

Okay, I think that’s everything-

Here's the sign-up form

The deadline is in a week, at midnight Thursday to Friday CET :)

(I also made a blog for this @phookbook for information and updates! A lot of it will probably still be on this blog, but I'll try to post/reblog the most important things on there for those who want to keep up with everything but who may not want to deal with all the chaos of pseudophan)

[evillemons]

heyy! i hope you’re doing well :) i was wondering what do you think bts would be like courting someone? e.g making CDs, or writing love letters or giving just cute simple dates. more romantic gestures or more simpler / practical ones?

and how long do you think they would court someone until they give up💀(if they do lmao). also i love ur writing :)) 🧡💜

Hello! I am doing excellent, thank you. And I'm glad to hear you enjoy my writing! I often get demotivated, but knowing that there are people out there who actually read my content makes me want to keep going :) Here is my take on this prompt:

How BTS would court someone

V - It would take Tae quite a while to develop feelings for someone that are beyond surface level (and I don't think he would approach someone unless he feels a strong emotional pull towards them). However, the hopeless romantic that he is, he would be relentless when it comes to winning over his crush's affection. He would definitely be the type to deliver flowers to her work or home on the regular (by hand), or show up at her house spontaneously to ask for an impromptu date. He might also try to impress her with his creative side by taking her to a pottery/painting class or playing his beloved saxophone for her. While I think he would be relatively persistent and not be quick to give up, he might lose interest or motivation if she does not reciprocate after a while.

Jungkook - It wouldn't take much to fall for Jungkook for most people (because look at him) but I have a feeling he will end up falling for a girl one day that is completely uninterested in him and his fame. In this case, he would become completely tunnel-visioned towards winning her over. All the romantic gestures - offering to take her on fancy dinner dates, inviting her to watch rehearsals/shows backstage, driving around the city in his Mercedes, buying her a pair of luxury shoes - anything flashy to impress her. I think he would be so blinded by the fact that that he likes someone so much and be inclined to skip the "get to know you phase" completely. I don't think he would be unreceptive to feedback, though; if he senses that she's uncomfortable, he'd probably back off a little and take things slower.

RM - Namjoon wouldn't be very likely to court someone "officially", as he would prefer to observe and learn first. He would start by getting to know her very slowly and gradually, maybe slipping out a witty compliment or two to peak her interest. When he's ready to pursue a relationship, he might gift her something small but thoughtful like a plushie that she admired in a store alongside a handwritten note, or a delicately selected music playlist based on her tastes (I truly see gift giving being his love language). If she's an intellectual, he would want to impress her by reading up on a topic she's interested in or by having a deep conversation. He definitely would not go overboard in fear of scaring her away or making her uncomfortable. He also would disengage immediately if she gave him the slightest hint that she wasn't interested, not because he gave up, but because he's a gentleman who respects people's boundaries.

SUGA - Not much of a courter at all. It's much more likely that someone would approach him first, or that a long-term friendship would evolve into a relationship gradually. His version of courting someone, however, would be getting to know all the little things about them, discovering their interests (especially their music taste), and figuring out what makes them happy. This would be all be done quietly, and then shown in subtle ways like making a playlist he thought she would like or joining her in an activity she enjoys (that he may not necessarily care for otherwise). It would be an organic process with someone he has a natural connection with, so there wouldn't really be an opportunity for "giving up"; it would just naturally fizzle out if it didn't work.

Jin - As I've mentioned many times, Jin is a major introvert and doesn't like to expend too much of his energy on other people. However, I don't think he would be lazy when it comes to someone he likes. Like many of the other boys, flowers would be a go to, but likely shipped to her rather than hand delivered because he would get too shy to do it himself. Courting would be a rather slow process, with interactions being more "formal" in the early days, and there would be absolutely no physical touch until the relationship is official. Outings would be traditional and romantic - dinner dates, walks along the river, a drive-in movie theater. If he's really brave he might hold her hand. I actually do think Jin would be very determined when courting someone because he does like to hold that traditional "masculine" role.

j-hope - Hobi would hardly need to go out of his way to peak someone's interest, as his naturally vibrant and positive energy would make anyone fall for him. He's also quite attentive and considerate towards the people he cares about, so I think this would be magnified x10 when he's interested in someone romantically. He might bring her flowers if he's feeling extra romantic, but his displays of affection would mostly be via acts of service like bringing her lunch at work or offering to run errands with her. Although Hoseok is the bougie king himself, he would offer more casual dates like a picnic at the park or a local fair or couples class. I actually do see him being relatively determined in courting her - he would be consistent in trying to talk to her on the daily/asking her on weekly dates. And it's not because he's trying too hard, that's just how he is.

Jimin - Jimin would be the sweetest man alive when he's smitten. He is visibly loving and affectionate, so it wouldn't be difficult to tell when he's interested in someone. He would use a combination of light physical touch, teasing, compliments, lighthearted dates, and maybe small gifts, to woo her. I see Jimin being the type to want to go above and beyond and put maximum effort into showing someone that he likes them, but I also think he would be aware that it might come across as overbearing. He would start with something small, like giving her a bouquet of flowers with a note asking her on a date, and then following her lead based on what she likes from there (by possibly straight up asking what she would like him to do). Jimin is persistent in the sense that he would not give up easily even if one of his plans doesn't go well, but only up to a point where she is comfortable and receptive.

[chevelleneech]

I have a question. (Or maybe rant)

We all saw how many staff members are there in all 3 episodes. Let's just say Jikook is actually a couple ...Why would a couple who hasn't spent any time together in so long want to spend the time they finally got for themselves in front of so many staff members?? Why would they flirt in front of so many people knowing they were getting filmed when they could have done it all in private??? Isn't it uncomfortable and weird for any couple?? Especially a closeted queer one?? This thought always comes to my mind before too whenever I see any jikook moment. It can only mean 2 things... 1- maybe staff also knows about them and are close to them both as friends so jikook has no problem flirting and behaves couply in front of them. Or 2-- maybe they are not a couple...and staff knows that..so everything is just normal for them to see cz they know jikook friendly dynamic is just like this.

Or Maybe.... Against all of this...

Some of the staff don't know about their real relationship...that is why the car talk happened...the control touches happened... teasing which almost sounds rude sometimes happened cz they need to hide from some of their staff too?? At least for sometime when cameras are on.

I don't know but this thing sometimes makes me confused and thought. Before.. whenever I see a jikook moment...I was like...okay sometimes couples do slip. You know... working together basically 24/7 in front of cameras all the time...make you alert but also makes you slip sometimes whenever you are around your partner. But I don't know now when I see how many people are there just filming the two of them. It should be awkward for a closeted queer couple as famous as them...be continuously filmed without any other member. Just the two of them . It always makes me doubt that their relationship isn't a romantic one.

Well, to answer this question honestly, it requires kind of ignoring the possibility of them being in a relationship entirely. That aspect is completely subjective and is based purely on how we as fans interpret their behavior, which could very easily be wrong on our end.

As such, I think your question should instead focus on your curiosity in how the members have any sort of normal/natural interactions whilst being filmed and overseen by at minimum 10 people everyday. And I don’t remove Jikook dating from the equation to be evasive, but to be realistic.

Realistically, all of their interactions are being watched. The seven of them have not been without a camera crew for the last twelve years. Yes, they take personal trips and can live their lives relatively without them, but majority of their lives are filmed and edited. As a result, they have had to grow extremely comfortable with being who they are both on camera and in front of a rotation of strangers. We know their camera men are not always the same, because they’ve mentioned before how they remember this or that one from previous times working with them.

So I imagine their freedom to be themselves relies heavily upon Big Hit keeping a more or less familiar rotation of crew. Not necessarily people who the members would consider friends, but people they have grown to trust over the years. And that trust is not something given blindly. It is obtained likely out of years of these people not breeching their contracts. Which is another aspect of what the members had to become comfortable with.

Contracts, contracts, contracts. Especially in the last five years or so, BTS crew are working with the some of the most famous people in music, but also in South Korean entertainment entirely. Meaning their contracts are very likely iron clad. These people will be sued out of not only their own ass, but their great grandchild’s too, if they speak on anything the contract tells them not to.

So for example, if we use the fact that RM has been dating around (as he’s told us himself), and the assumption that at least one of his partners was a man, since he’s also used gender specific pronouns in his lyrics and at the very least left questionable hints on his IG, it is very reasonable to assume the BTS film crew is aware that there is a queer member within the group, yet nothing about it has been leaked.

Did they film them together? Not that we know of, but it proves their lives off camera continue to happen. Same with Tae and Jennie. We didn’t see any footage of them interacting from official content, but it would be ridiculous to assume they never interacted within each other’s personal spaces just because their camera crews and staff were around. In fact, there is a photo of Tae getting his hair and makeup done with Jennie in the background.

So it’s really just a matter of which partners the members want to integrate into their work lives, as well as them simply being people with personal lives.

Therefore, if we do circle back to the possibility of Jimin and Jungkook being romantically involved, the reality of a film crew who are contracted to essentially ignore any and everything the guys do, and just film it… don't really matter. They matter as people obviously, but it is literally their job to see and hear nothing. They get paid to record, and keep their mouths shut. It is then the editors jobs to remove any and everything “incriminating” to ensure no one knows who the members are dating, who they hate, who they wanna fuck, etc.

At the same time however, the members are incredibly professional and it is highly unlikely they talk cash shit or actually kiss anyone in front of their crew. Not because they’re afraid, but because it lowers the risk of a crew member going rogue and saying, “fuck this contract!” and blasting any photos or videos across the media.

So if Jimin and JK truly are together in some form, it is most likely they just don’t do anything in front of their crew. Skinship is not abnormal in idol groups, so they’ve got that going in their favor. They’ve also been friends for over a decade, so no one is really going to bat an eye at the two of them being emotionally connected and concerned about each other. They’re close, but not stupid, basically.

Lastly, I also have to say, even though I am choosing to believe them saying they didn’t see each other often during early 2023, I do also think it’s important to keep in mind they don’t live an average life. So their time apart being for various reasons including work, is not the same sort of time apart non-famous people would be seeking private time to reconcile. Jimin and JK (if they were reconciling romance) killed two birds with one stone.

They filmed content for when they enlisted, but they also got to spend time together. Presumably, they are also in charge of what the camera films. So knowing 1) the cameras turn off when they say, 2) the crew is contracted to basically shut the fuck up and look away, and 3) editors will chop out whatever they tell them to… anything more than what they want to show in a professional setting is not getting filmed nor overheard by crew.

So, seeing as I truly do not think any of the members are out here being reckless when the crew is nearby, I must assume its probably not that difficult to maintain a line between professional and personal when filming reality content.

[flockoff]

Devil May Cry Netflix Opening Credits Partial Deepdive/Shouting Part 1

AUUUUUUGH I gotta do a lot of work today and return a library book but GOSH I wanna shout about it.

FIRST THINGS FIRST! Love the style of the intro, Love a color block, love a dot tone. SECOND! Dang what a opening credit scene. I feel like it really shows a lot about how the creators do love the series.

I am going to ramble and talk about the big scenes that made me excited so--if you want to see that read more below xD Future Flockoff Note: This is Part 1 I hit the image limit orz

Part 2: Link

First and foremost, I do not necessarily think that this intro is showing things that will turn up in the anime. I think above all at this time, I am going to focus on this being a love letter to the series. Though MAN it could so easily add fuel to the "Anime is Nero has to disguise himself as Dante for Reasons" Joke Theory/Fun AU. I swear if this actually happens I will both be delighted and also insufferable from how much I will shout about it.

Edit: Having done a scene by scene on accident (whoops), it does actually look like a lot of the scenes will be actively relevant to the series than I initially thought. Which does have me wonder--how does the Order of the Sword play into this?

Even with this shot, not only doe sit prominently feature Rebellion, Alastor (MY BOY! :D), Force Edge, and Red Queen (RED QUUUEEEEN), but there is also Agni and Rudra, Goddamn Vendetta, Merciless, AND Lucia's Klyamoor from Devil May Cry 2! (Honestly there are probably more in the far background but--It is so fun to see those guys be put out there so prominently <3 <3)

Also the like--The way they are teasing Vergil in this is so fun. We love the Rebellion flickering in and out of being the Yamato.

Bby girl you look beautiful.

But also the changes that happen with each of the effects-the Hell landscape turning into a city is just fun :D

But it also just looks SO COO! Like Aaaaugh I love color blocking so much.

And excuse me is is this Cavaliere Angelo?

Like the eyes, face shape and chest has similar design shapes and language to Cavaliere.

But--A part of me is hoping. That perhaps maybe its Alastor. We have very little that is considered canon for non-sword Alastor and I could see Alastor and Cavaliere having similarities given that they are both electricity based. Furthermore, the idea that Urizen modeled Cavaliere after Alastor somewhat. But of course--that is just me doing BIG wishing cause I love that sword so much. I want Dante and Alastor to have the most one sided situationship.

Classic DMC times, City getting invaded with demons. Love that the Rabbit is the "Warning!" sign. I'll probably be squinting at the shape in the sky for a bit. Though Currently-No idea who the heck that is.

I thought maybe it could be a stylized Qliphoth--but it also could be a guy.

Kind of guy shaped in this one.

Great illustration, good Pizza. But also more importantly-Ebony and Ivory. :)

Also WOW

So Many Strawberry Sundaes for Dante.

And they go straight into our good friend,

Jackpot :)

"🍕 :>"

WE LOVE TO SEE LADY PROMINENTLY FEATURED IN THE CREDITS. Also Lmao that she appears at the "Hey Ladies" part of the intro xD

Lady's gear! Considering what was done with the Netflix Adaptation of Castlevania and Sypha--I wouldn't be surprised if they go more indepth about Lady's Devil Hunting equipment.

THIS GUY THOUGH--Not sure who this guy is. I don't think its Arkham. It could be a entirely new character. But if this is a intro featuring major players, and he is a previously established character my wild card guess would be Gilver. Big thing to note is that he comes in to the part of the song that goes "Guys who don't give a Fuck" and his sub animation is a zoom in on his shades--where you can see a Demon Flying towards him.

His tools of the trade are shown as two monitors with the logo for Darkcom in the center (which I don't recognize Darkcom from the series--Only know the name from a future shot), and-- Okay I am bad at identifying guns but I can at least say that it isn't the shotgun that Gilver had in the light novel. I think

Followed with this

Angry demon Skull logo yaaaaay! But also-Two DNA diagrams behind it. Which I think could hint at Gilver.

We love to see the Human World and Demon World paralleling Dante and Vergil :>

But time for the big shouty things...

THE BIG ASSHOLE HIMSELF! LOOK AT THAT! MUNDUS YOU LOOK SO GOOD!

ORDER OF THE SWORD, HOW ARE YOU DOING!?

RABBIT WHO MAY BE ARKHAM WITH A SWORD RIDING A BIG DEMON, WAHOOOOOO! Also behind him you can see a rabbit fighting animation happening so that will be fun :D

Go you funky lil rabbit man. Get closure for your arc. 🫡

Also LADY YOU LOOK SO GOOOD!!! Aaah she is so cool and beautiful <3

I spent too long going scene by scene I forgot that they had the two halves of the amulet be the human realm and demon realm whoops lmao.

But more than that--LETS GO SEE A VERY SPECIAL BOOOOY

Admittedly-not fully sure that this is Nelo Angelo. Could not be Nelo Angelo. BUT OOOOH I want to believe. If it is Nelo Angelo, looking fantastic buddy. Love to see you even if you make me so sad.

We also have a shot of Rabbits Crew--There we see the Not-Cavaliere-But-Maybe-Alastor, Some vines on the one toward the left which makes me want to say a Echidna like, and got no thoughts towards the other 3 yet.

These are unrelated I just like these two frames that I accidentally paused on.

Genuinely love to see it actually.

[cursecrazy-writing]

It's not like this blog has attracted virtually any attention so I don't know what good it is posting here, but I feel a little guilty saying nothing at all when the least I could do is leave a sort-of farewell note explaining why I'm not around.

Uh basically I'm very done with writing. I owe thousands of words to various commissioners, and I still intend to get that work done, but beyond that, I'm not going to waste any more of my time writing stories. The whole endeavor has plainly not been worth it, all the stress of a second job but with a fraction of the pay, so I'm just going to stop.

And really, it hasn't been about the money. I've always undersold myself because I know the true value of writing as a job is worth extremely little, and that most of writing is based on passion. What I've strived for previously was not to make a lot of money or a living off of writing, but to simply put stories out and have them be read. What I desired most was feedback -- not necessarily criticism, but literal feedback, any signal or indication that people are reading my stories, that these stories affect people and that they're happier having read them. But for years none of my stories have been getting noticed, certainly not enough attention to merit months of work or even the amount of effort it takes to upload and advertise a story on social media. You can see how a vast majority of my uploads here on this Tumblr have 0 notes. On Twitter, I was lucky to get two or three likes from some of my regular followers that habitually liked anything I posted. I go to my Patreon stats and see mere double digits of anyone even clicking the damn links. So this main goal of mine, to simply have my stories be enjoyed, is utterly failing.

The reality is that I am not a good writer. If I was a better writer, I'd see more success -- my momentum from Endless would have continued for a little more than just a couple months of attention. Even Endless itself was a strike of luck, because the only reason that story saw so much success is because it got stuck on the first page of giantessworld.net so it got a disproportionate amount of notice. Maybe this wouldn't bug me so much if I didn't see other writers of varying skill levels doing much, much better than me with regards to social media interactions -- blogs that have existed for days get triple digit notes, blurb-sized fetish writing tweets that get shared by dozens of accounts, etc. Clearly there's a right way to do these types of things and I've just been doing them wrong lol.

Not helping whatsoever is how anti-erotica every social media seems to be. And I do mean erotica specifically. Obviously you can find tons of outright porn here on Tumblr or Twitter or basically where the fuck ever. But an account that just posts writing? Weird fucked up niche writing about fetishes? With NO pictures??? The algorithm simply will not allow it. I'm constantly under pressure to have to expand my skillset to include abilities I have not honed, leaving me with the option to either learn how to draw myself (basically taking on a third job so I can practice an art craft i don't even want to be practicing just so my main craft can get non-fucked by an invisible intangible algorithm) or, my favorite, ~hire an artist~ to make images for me so that I can at least pretend it's my writing that people enjoy and not the actual art I had to pay someone to make.

To top it all off, I just don't feel like writing any more. I've been writing giantess stories nonstop for five years and I'm basically done with it. I haven't had any ideas that genuinely interest me, no inspiration to create, everything feels like it's either been done before or it's trying way too hard to be an original concept for a size setting. More than just a case of writers block, I really don't feel joy from writing anything. On a technical level, all I can imagine is the silent criticisms, people cringing at my writing but never explaining why it's bad, because again, none of my stories ever receive any category of feedback, so I'm left wondering completely how people felt any way about a project that took me months to finish. I just have to assume that if no one is saying anything, it must be because there's nothing good to say about it; I see all sorts of dumpy little comments on other people's publications, but I get zero, implying something critically wrong with my art compared to others.

Eventually, the goal is to close the Patreon, the discord, and all other accounts -- probably only once I've caught up on all commission work and can just deactivate peacefully. By then I hope to have at least uploaded or re-uploaded everything I've written onto some place for record purposes, maybe ten years from people will feel like reacting to my writing lol. Until I fully deactivate, expect me to be basically gone, I won't be taking any extra work and won't be checking messages. I hope some of you enjoyed what I made. Thanks for reading.

[emptymanuscript]

Learn this 1 WEIRD trick!

One of the weirder tricks I ever got from a therapist was a sort of instinct trigger facial analysis. As a sort of conscious way to make yourself do a gut check on someone.

And I do weirdly still do it for any therapist I consider seeing. Others as well upon occasion.

So I'll go find their official glamour shot and put it into a some kind of image editing software.

And I'll note my first impressions like, nice smile, leans into left side, kind of back and maybe a little defensive on right. Chosen to display as efficient, utilitarian instead of fancy or slovenly. Not necessarily just one of the regular folk but also not trying to put herself in a superior position. She is business appropriate professional but relaxed as that allows.

And then I divide up the face to sort of burrow in.

So, I'll start at the bottom and go counterclockwise spiral.

I notice that the smile seems to really shine in isolation. She feels pretty friendly.

look over to the right and now she seems intense, focused, it feels like her brain is ON which makes me feel a little uncomfortable with the intensity but also like she's not going to miss a trick which is good.

Up top and both eyes together feels a little more gentle. Intellectual (possibly from the glasses) but compassionate with it.

Drop to the right and she looks playful if anything. She gives me the feeling of enjoying life. The sort of person whose presence might be pretty enjoyable.

Swing past the bottom and out to the bottom right and it's still got a little of that playfulness in the intensity for me. Like she won't take it too, too seriously, she feels willing to back up and laugh if it gets TOO intense which is comforting to me.

Up to the top right and, yeah, on, perceptive, she's actually, actively LOOKING rather than just being there for the camera.

Top left corner and yeah, it's ok, she feels engaged, not like I'm a bug under a microscope. Interested rather than finding me an interesting specimen or something like that.

Bottom left, and that feels like pure playful friendliness. She feels very open and safe in that corner.

And finally I'll go back to the whole picture and remember that my first impression was that simple she is leaning into the left, what I am perceiving as her friendly, engaged, welcoming, even playful side. So I'm feeling like that may be her dominant way of looking at things while the sort of height of the right shoulder is her defensive reaction - she goes intellectual when things go wrong. Which reflects on her outfit choice, she's balancing these two forces. She wants to be friendly and leans in as much as she can but is also aware that things are expected and that there are certain things that must be done for whatever reason and she'll modify her instinctual behavior for engagement with logical detachment.

The most important thing to remember at this point is that NONE of this is true.

This is purely my bias and gut feeling based on extremely little information. All I have is a name, picture, and vague context (therapist). She might be radically different than I imagine her. It's extremely probable that I am not miraculously correct about her deep inner nature just by looking at a photo on a website.

AND we do this sort of thing ALL the time.

This is the underlying basis of bias, discrimination, racism, etc. Our subconscious immediately makes up bs stories about people we see.

We then delete those assumptions (ideally) as new information comes in.

The two major differences here is (1) the artificial oddity of how I am doing it so that (2) I am doing it in a slow conscious fashion rather than a lightning quick unconscious one.

I'm examining my instincts more, rather than less, and that is probably a lot less information than my subconscious is deciding to work with and probably nowhere near as efficient. However, it's a good bet that we're reaching the same conclusion.

My gut is telling me, yeah, she's probably someone who it is safe to risk contacting and seeing if we mesh because so little is giving me warning signs that I can at least suspect I'm not going to sabotage the relationship out the gate by distrust. Her still feeling a little friend-shaped after all that uncomfortable staring at features in isolation is probably a good indication that something about her triggers some connection with something I like, even if I'll never figure out exactly what that is.

And I'll also pass on that if you do this a lot, you'll start to notice a lot more people than you would think don't feel very good or positive when you do this with them. The weirdness of the process tends to make people feel weird and uncomfortable and dangerous. I suspect it is biased by the process toward distrust though it is hard to say because I certainly do have trust ISSUES. But the flip side of that is that when someone passes as ok, I feel much better about taking the next step.

So... I figured I would pass it on.

Again, no truth or fact in it. This is pure assumption and imagination work. There is Ø EXTERNAL validity. It isn't really about them. It's about the perceptions and assumptions that I am having so I can look at them clearly.

Just something that occasionally helps me move forward when I'm not sure about doing so because I am feeling frightened of what can go wrong between me and someone. It makes me feel calmer and safer and like it is possible instead of overwhelming anxiety.

I was making this one anyway, since I'm thinking about making an initial consult with her and am reluctant to get the treatment she provides. But the positive perceptions I'm getting are telling me that I am more FOR seeing her than I am AGAINST seeing her, whatever the actual reasons. Which is good to know. It lets me say, hey, I should take that next step, it'll be ok.

Maybe it might help you too if you have trouble with checking your nervous gut like I do. Let you bring your feelings more clearly front and center. Can also help you identify oddly recurring biases you can't otherwise explain. So I offer it on.

[the-acid-pear]

well, made a secondary Dialtown sona: regular dude edition (not getting rid of Dandy; they're still here).

so...introducing Kasper [not sure of a last name yet]!!

Kasper's main colors are pastel yellow and blue, as well as just generally being more soft-looking in general. got a yellow head with some stickers on there, and wears a generally masc-looking outfit with a pastel blue cardigan. she also has a knee brace that she usually wears ("Y'never know when physical activity's gonna happen, and I'm not taking that risk."), as well as a cane for balance (i've got a few balance problems irl, and while i don't have a cane yet i'd like to get one mostly for stability reasons, just in cases where i'm worried balance might be a problem). the knee brace is actually based off me irl kinda. basically i've got what my family calls "weak knees" (something related to like this ligament/muscle that's supposed to Not make my kneecap dislocate. and it sucking and Not doing that) and i have dislocated the same knee twice when i was younger. don't really like doing physical activity because of that, because i don't wanna risk it. so y'know!! making Kasper a lot like myself :]

Kasper's generally pretty sweet, and only acts rude when joking around with others they're close to. the one exception to this is when people are being rude to xem and its loved ones. Abel is the very MAJOR exception to this rule as well: Kas doesn't like him, and he doesn't like her. it's practically instant hostility between those two.

Kas knows just about all of the datables (except for Bigfoot, but he's not even really surprised by that one when he discovers he exists, just like "sure, i'll incorporate that into my belief system."), and has been nice to just about all of them. Oliver? she's done her best to give some money to keep the theater open (basically by "overpaying" for a movie and food/drinks and telling Ollie to keep the change), as well as the fact that they are both Very Not Cis and are into horror (something you wouldn't guess from Kas just from appearance alone). Randy? they've given the poor guy some extra money and a shoulder to cry on before. xe has, in fact, said "Can the universe give this poor man a break for one second?" Karen? it goes to talk to her relatively often, just to give her something to smile about. heck, they've even talked to Jerry before! just kinda standing around and giving him someone to talk to.

Kas works at a daycare in town every few days, and gets paid decently well for it. also gives him a lot of free time, as you can imagine.

i feel like the name of Kasper's chapter two section would be "The Friendly (Not Quite) Ghost" ('cause y'know. Kasper). the route itself i feel would go over things like That Very Specific Form of Autistic Trauma That Happens When You Haven't Been Bullied, Necessarily, But You Didn't Really Have A Great Social Life Growing Up Either And It's Affected Your Social Skills In Adulthood. also stuff like masking and (still) feeling alienated from your peers and people around you. so y'know, Fun Stuff (aka I'm Projecting). basically the entire route would just be Kas and Gingi fucking around in town and having a good day.

the World's Weirdest Polycule (Gingi, Olli, Randy, and Kas) still happens, and Randy is still the most normal person here (Kasper's also a monsterfucker).

anyway! dt!Kasper my beloved <3

- dee-in-the-box

I love that you gave him your other name there are many pros to multiple name usage smfbfngb but DT!KASPER MY BELOVED 2 🫡 literally so fun and kind putting her 2 cents (well maybe a little more) onto making Dialtown suck less. Honorable behavior . . . < 3

[lovedistrict]

Hi! I really need some advice because I feel like I can't really talk this through with my friends or anyone else.

I was in a situationship with a guy for around 3 months and he recently ended things rather abruptly after meeting my friends at a party for the first time. He said his reason was that he can't fall in love and/or be a good partner because of his bad mentalhealth.

I was shocked and confused but we did talk it out a few days later and both of us apologised for everything we did/might have done wrong. I thought about it and then told him the next day that I want to try things again with him. This time communicating better and paying more attention to both our own and each other's mental state and emotions. He is open to the idea but hasn't decided yet.

I truly believe we could make things work. I want to get to know him better and deepen our connection. I think he is a good person and what we had was special and worth holding on to.

But,

I just learned that he said some mean things and hurt one of my best friends' feelings at the party. I think he did not mean it and didn't realise he came off as rude. And this is absolutely a boundary for me I can't be with someone who is unkind to my friends.

How can I bring this up? How can I talk about this with him and ask him to apologise to my friend?

My friends say I should just let it go because I deserve better than him. And I understand that someone having a bad mentalhealth episode is not an excuse to hurt me or anyone else.

I can't help but feel like their opinions are biased since they've only seen him at his worst. I know he's kind and open-minded and funny and sweet. He also helped with my anxiety a lot. But he really needs to work on his social skills and emotional intelligence. He tends to be a people pleaser to the point where he easily snaps and has major depressive episodes during which he becomes apathetic and mentally drained.

He is so important to me and my heart wants to be with him again. This time really be with him, despite his flaws and everything that happened. But my mind can see that it is extrmely likely that we'll have problems and possibly hurt each other and the people around us again.

How do I know if he's worth waiting and enduring all this for? Can I trust that he will work on our relationship and himself? Am I making a mistake if I follow my heart and trust my intuition?

Thanks in advance!

Ok so we know that he ended things up with you because of what he did to your friend. I think you have to wait for him to decide if he truly wants to be with you too first. In case he does, you can bring it up just so he know you know about it. He doesn’t necessarily needs to apologize now because he doesnt really know her. Next time he sees her, maybe. It’s up to him.

But we do have a great sign that he’s aware of his mental issues, does he do anything about it? Therapy? I think that’s an important conversation to have. Because I agree, you’ll have problems if he doesn’t. Actually, it’s really hard to be at a relationship when you know about your flaws, or that your mental health isn’t 100% , and don’t do anything about it. Just flee from people? Relationships are meant to help us in that way, because through love and understanding (being open and true) one will give strength to the other so they can work on their inner problems.

On your last questions, the only way of knowing that for sure is by his behavior. Does que truly want to be with you too? Does he show that his me tal problem bothers him and he does something about it.

It’s not a mistake to trust your intuition, but you have to be wise to know what is your heart versus your intuition. I always like to make decision based on rationality also because if we only listen to our hearts, we sometimes end up making wrong decisions. The heart is deceitful.

[allsassnoclass]

Fic ask game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14 & 15!

oh wowza!!! alright! let's go! thank you for asking!

1. Favorite place to write. the corner of my couch in the living room! preferably with a blanket

2. Favorite part of writing. i love lightbulb moments! that feeling when you finally figure out a little detail that fills a plot hole, or when writing an au you have a great idea for how to incorporate/parallel a canon event. even just having a realization of what your story is actually about and how to lean into that more. stuff like that is so satisfying to me, so I absolutely adore when I get those moments.

3. Least favorite part of writing. i've been unhappy with editing lately. it used to be a breeze for me, but lately i've been getting really critical of my writing and much harder to satisfy, which means editing either takes forever or it feels hopeless and i end up releasing something i'm not fully satisfied with or confident in

4. Do you have writing habits or rituals? i don't think i have any specific ones! maybe developing a few would make it easier to get into it when the time comes.

5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most. i really love Maggie Stiefvater, especially the way she uses figurative language, but I don't think my personal style necessarily reflects that, at least not as much as I would maybe want to. honestly, i don't know who has actually influenced my style. every author that i read works for leaves a little itty bitty speck of influence, so it's probably a combination of fifty billion different people.

7. Favorite author. as stated above, it's Maggie Stiefvater. The Raven Cycle is my absolute favorite book series and Ronan Lynch is my absolute favorite character. I do also want to mention Terry Pratchett though, because I'm into Discworld and I really appreciate his ability to write wacky humor and social commentary, plus having Death talk in all caps all the time is a vibe.

8. Favorite trope to write. fake dating, baby!!!!! I have posted 5 fake dating fics so far. 3 of them are the 3 longest fics i've ever written. i have many, many other fake dating ideas. i love how blurry the line gets between acting and sincerity, and the exploration of how much of love is a feeling and how much is actions and how much is based on outside perception or not, plus it is SO tasty for pining.

9. Least favorite trope to write. i don't like "getting to know each other" moments, so strangers to lovers can be a challenge. getting characters from not knowing each other at all to being in love is difficult and tedious for me.

11. Describe your writing process from scratch to finish. oh man. screaming and crying :) no i'm kidding. first i am hit with an idea. then i let the idea marinate for anywhere from 1 day to 3 or 5 years. then i begin the wip! i start writing from the beginning and just keep going until it's done, often with many, many interruptions and forays into other wips in between. then when I finish, i edit (which is mostly spelling, grammar, word choice, and double checking throughlines and cohesiveness. to date, i haven't rearranged the order of scenes or major plot points in the editing phase). after i edit, i post! then the cycle begins again (or continues with a different fic, as i always work on multiple at once).

13. How do you deal with writers block? historically, not well. i get upset about it and complain. but because i have so many wips and well over 100 ideas jotted down, i can always pivot to another fic if it's plot/character-related writers block. if all writing is difficult, then i might take a break and try to focus on reading or other things

14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book? pas de deux took a decent amount of research on professional ballet companies and various twin cities details. by the time unmute is over, however, it will have significantly more research sunk into it. it already has had so much. not only have i had to do a huge amount of research on 5sos and significant events in their lives/career beginning in 2011, but i researched visual art programs at colleges (including individual class listings), salt lake city, utah, when gay marriage was legalized in utah/the entire USA/Australia, the legality of getting married in a country where you're not a citizen, social media/chatting apps of the early 2010s, etc. there's a lot going on here.

15. Where does your inspiration come from? anywhere! everywhere! i take inspiration from other stories, songs, things that happen to me, things that happen to my friends, basically anything can serve as inspiration!

Thank you for asking!

[krystynaekstoms]

Do You Required a Caretaker or a Cleansing Business?

At some time in time you may decide to obtain additional assistance on your housekeeping. Maybe it is due to the fact that your timetable has actually ended up being a little bit busy lately or possibly fairly the contrary and you now stay in a residence, scratch that, palace that calls for that you strictly do refrain from doing any housework. When you promote for a caretaker both companies as well as individuals will react. How do you decide which one it is you want? Both have their strong points and drawbacks and we are checking out just how to choose based on these factors.

Just how much can you afford?

You initially require to exercise simply just how much you want to spend on housekeeping. This decision will certainly determine whether you will certainly take a cleansing company who are pricey off the bat or individuals that might be open to arrangements and also are adaptable. The company can be cheaper in the future but these this must be considered. Balance a routine you can manage and also contrast both as well as see who can get it done.

Relationships

Connection in this case indicates communication between you as well as the housekeep. Do you require someone that simply does his or her work without making any unnecessary talk with you or do you desire someone you can have a discussion with. Depending upon a great deal of things like social class or your schedule, you might discover that you need one or the other. Specific housekeepers often tend to be much easier to strike up a discussion with while many company staff members have a tendency to like doing their tasks and being typically out of your means. These are much more like guidelines than rules.

What do you require done?

Producing a listing of points you want done will provide you an excellent idea of the volume of work as well as subsequently prepare a work timetable. This job schedule will educate you whether a firm or an individual is called for. If as an example, you require a regular dusting on weekend breaks when around then you might call for an individual housekeep, https://zavashiavhod.com and also not necessarily require a firm solution. The reverse holds true when you simply had a celebration as well as obtained your home trashed in a manner of speaking.

Safety

This is a wide subject and also all elements will need the exact same degree of concern. First safety and security for the housekeeper. When the cleaning in your house might position a danger after that it is safe to opt for a company since the majority of them insure their workers. Check on the firm concerning insurance simply to be certain. Unsafe work in this situation do not have to be dealing with uranium (it is possibly prohibited) however much more benign ones like dusting a chandelier that may need the housekeep to climb up. Risk of falling appears as well as might land you a suit if you took an uninsured individual.

Security for you and your family members also is important. Obtaining a company means that you have some level of tranquility since you know they did a background examine their team. Hiring a specific means you have to do this on your own.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Hi there. May I ask what exactly changed your opinions on Byler? I’m feeling a bit discouraged as well. I hope you’re well btw x

I am not well, but I will be. This isn't the first time I've been disappointed. It's just the first time I've made matters worse by reading into things.

Quite simply, we deluded ourselves. We made assumptions about the writing that don't align with what the Duffers are actually trying to do. I, for example, tried to apply psychology to the situation, but it was ridiculous in retrospect considering the Duffers have no background in psychology. These characters aren't intricately developed, except maybe El. A ton of it is made up as they go along in the process of creating the story they want. This is why characterizations can seem so inconsistent. What worked one season doesn't necessarily work the next.

We also based a lot of theories off of things that were essentially marketing gimmicks and merchandise. The Duffers have absolutely no input into any of this. We never should have put any stock into any of it. The fact that we did is just testament to how desperate we were.

Mike having Smalltown Boy on his "official" soundtrack? It's because he's literally a small town boy, nothing more. The people making those playlists weren't doing deep dives into the lyrics and themes of songs to make matches, and they certainly didn't know about future story arcs.

StrangerWriters saying that they don't believe in love at first sight? Just the opinion of the person running the account as they try to engage with fans.

"Let's start a new party, you and me"? Same situation, it was just the account engaging with fans.

When all is said and done, we can really only trust what the show portrays. Unfortunately, they've decided to go with Mike and El being in love. We see it as a relationship with terrible development, but most people don't agree with that, unfortunately. Will's love, meanwhile, is being used to not only benefit El's story, but also set up his own. Will is going to likely be victimized by Vecna, and his rejection by Mike is likely going to be how he succeeds. Will is going to lose all his fight when Vecna exploits those feelings.

Right now the biggest hope I see people clinging to is how horrible of an ending it would be for Will if he doesn't end up with Mike. I agree. However, the Duffers, and the majority of the audience, don't.

I also see people bringing up the fact that there won't be any new characters introduced. People are assuming this must mean that Will gets with Mike because the Duffers wouldn't just let him be the only character without a relationship. Again, another assumption based on something only this small part of the fandom even thinks. The best thing we could hope for with Will is that he gets a shallow, undeveloped love interest. That's what they're doing with Robin, after all. Do you guys really expect to see much of Vickie in season 5? I don't expect her to even be there.

Will is being set up to be yet another addition to the tragic gay character trope. His journey exists to allow a mostly straight audience to sympathize with him because of his pain, but without risk of alienating that audience by giving him what he wants. Honestly? I'd be surprised if he even survives.

[lazyliars]

/rp

Before I get into it, I want to state that is EXPLICITLY an analysis of the Characters, and is not intended to touch on how the cc’s played them in a meta sense unless specifically stated otherwise.

Also, this is technically a part two to my other post, which took a more in depth look at Techno and Phil’s reactions to Tommy’s death. It’s not necessary when reading this post, but I don’t address their reactions here.

So. The question must be asked.

Are we [the Syndicate] the baddies?

Yes.

The End.

 Why are the Syndicate the baddies?

They got damn logo is a wither skull.

The End.

That's not how this works.

Yeah, yeah. You’re right.

The Syndicate's goals as an organization are not inherently bad. They seem to have good intentions behind them, and the focus on the freedom of it's individual group members is important to remember when talking about it; It is not a government. There is no hierarchical power system. No one is forced to do anything against their will, or surrender any of their rights or power to remain a member. It is not a government.

I also want to address Techno and Phil backing Ranboo into a corner – I see them getting a lot of flack for this, but I personally do not think it is relevant to the greater discussion, or necessarily representative of any contradictions within the organization. It was clearly played for laughs, and after they back off they clarify to Ranboo that they won't force him. Then later when Phil and Ranboo are alone, Ranboo feels safe enough to express that he felt like he was pressured into it, and Phil assures him he is allowed to leave whenever he wants; He is not being forced to do anything, and he is not being coerced or blackmailed.

None of the Syndicate members have done any wrongs against each other in the context of the Syndicate, OR gone against any of the Syndicate's core principles.

That, said, holy shit are they the baddies.

Listen, there's trying to telegraph a meaning or message to the audience and then there's having your logo be wither skulls on blackstone. That is straight out of the skit I keep referencing, seriously.

Okay, but, they laughed at it! It was played as a joke, just like the Ranboo thing!

The Ranboo thing was improv, the Syndicate's headquarters were planned – the artistic choices that they made reflect on what role they want the build and the organization inhabiting it to play in the future storylines.

Wither Skulls kind of have some CONNOTATIONS. Techno is an English major, I don't think he chose the most threatening imagery possible on accident, and then joked about the way people would interpret it just to stir the pot. This reads as hugely intentional.

And beyond that, the jokes they make during this part aren't “haha yeah, we look bad but we're actually good!” they're “you can tell by looking at these that we're the good guys wink wink, this is good guy stuff right here :)” It is a joke about how they are definitely not the good guys. This isn't even a case of unreliable narrators, this is one step down from flat out saying the meta intent.

But okay, I hear you, I'm talking about things that haven't happened yet. The Syndicate hasn't used any Withers, they could be an aesthetic choice.  Lets look at what they do in practice.

So, they barge into private property, assess Snowchester's right to continue existing based entirely on their own ideals of what Freedom is, and then only once Tubbo assures them that they have no standing leader do they grant the place their approval to, and I gotta stress this part, continue existing.

 In my Quackity meta, I already talked about how Government in the context of a M1necraft RP cannot be compared to IRL Governments on a one-to-one scale. They don't serve the same purposes or have the same type of power. What I didn't talk about was Agency in the context of m1necraft governments.

In an irl government, if you are born into one, you can't really leave without committing a massive overhaul on your life, which can be expensive and difficult, if not impossible for many people. Even in a “benevolent” government, the simple physicality of where you were born can prevent you from leaving it easily.

The same hurdles do not exist in the Dream SMP. People who join M1necraft governments choose to. They want to, either at the beginning when they form one, or later on when they join up. So far, no Government has just Sprung Up and forced the current residents of an area to become dependent on them, except maybe the Eggpire, who's status as a government is... shakey.

And even when people want to leave or separate from the government, they have been historically able to do so without any trouble or any effort from said governments to stop them. Jack Manifold emancipated from Manberg. Fundy and Quackity both left to start new nations. In all cases they were allowed to do so without any attempts on the part of the governments to stop them, either through force, or institutions preventing them from doing so.

The most anyone has lost when leaving a government is their house, which is still usually their property anyway, and is something that is easily rebuilt elsewhere and is inconvenient to move anyway.

The only exceptions to this might be Schlatt exiling Wilbur and Tommy - but even then, they weren’t trying to leave, they were trying to get back in, and of course the original L’manberg revolution, where Dream attempted to force L’manberg back into the Dream SMP, which wasn’t even a government at that point in time.

I don’t consider Phil’s house arrest an example of a government forcing someone to stay a citizen - that was treated less as a matter of a citizen wanting to leave the country and more as a threat to national security. Still pretty fucked up, but it’s a different issue.

What I'm saying is, If Tubbo wants to create a government out in the middle of nowhere, threatening no one, forcing no one to join either through force or desperation, and allowing people to join willingly because they want to, then he should be allowed to do that.

The Irony of the Syndicate, a group of people consisting of some of the richest, strongest people on the server, going around and enforcing 'Freedom' that entails no one person having more power than any other, is absurd. 

It shows an extreme lack of self-awareness and/or self-righteousness, as they seem to think that they deserve to be the ones who decide what constitutes a government.

Snowchester is a small independent nation - they shouldn’t have to live in fear of being obliterated if they don’t walk on eggshells to meet an arbitrary standard decided by people who’s only authority on the matter COMES FROM THEIR PERSONAL POWER. No one elected them! No one chose them! They were not “approved” by the server at large to enact this kind of law.

The Syndicate are not a government, but they are an unsupervised power structure exerting their ideals on a land that did not ask for them. Like, These people have invented an actual Authoritarian-Anarchist faction. How the hell did they manage this?????

Back on topic.

Tubbo shows them the crater left by his nukes. The reaction is oddly positive – the nukes are fine by the morals of the Syndicate, apparently. I'd argue that they come across as more impressed than anything else; they seem to respect Tubbo for having gotten ahold of “real” power.

(There's a few good memes out there about “We can excuse nuclear weaponry, but we draw the line at Government!”)

So. By the Syndicate's standards: A single person or group of acceptably equal persons with weapons of mass-destruction are only worth “keeping an eye on” because they might provoke other people.

Like, I consider Project Dreamcatcher to be one of, if not the most morally ambiguous thing Tubbo has ever done, largely because it was all on his own initiative. He holds some culpability for The Butcher Army and Phil's house arrest, but they weren't his ideas and he was mostly following Quackity at that point.

And Phil tells Tubbo, IMMEDIATELY AFTER SEEING THE NUCLEAR CRATER:

“Looks like you've reformed a little bit Tubbo, I'm proud.”

And it's fine. Crimes against nature? Fine. A sign of healing in fact!! Tubbo is having a sweeeelll time and he definitely didn't make these nukes specifically in fear of being attacked by these exact people! Tubbo is doing great. Tubbo is doing fine. Tubbo. is. FINE.

Anyway.

I don't think this presentation of the Syndicate was an accident. Looking at the greater lore of SMP right now, after the Egg is done, their list of enemies is slim, and considering that they seem solely invested in taking down governments, that leaves maybe Snowchester, Kinoko Kingdom, and Eret and the greater Dream SMP.

Snowchester has not been shown to be corrupt, evil, or have any intent to go down that route. The most ambiguous thing they've done is, again, is the nukes. Other than that, it's pretty much your average cottagecore snow village.

Kinoko is presented in an even more morally 'good' light, Karl having founded it specifically for his Time-travel library purposes, which are currently being treated by the narrative as a selfless act, if not downright heroic.

Eret is also a fairly 'good' aligned character atm. He's been on that redemption grind since the og betrayal, and doesn't seem keen on backtracking. He's actively tried to leverage his position as king to make things better, and hasn't been quiet about that. He was also 'validated' by Tommy*, a character who has been described both by his allies and enemies as “the hero,” so take that as you will.

What I'm getting at is, all of the current potential enemies for the Syndicate aside from the Egg, are currently being cast as 'good,' and if they were to be attacked, they would undoubtedly have the moral high-ground, unless something drastically changed.

The only potential shakeups I can think of is are a Dream escape and/or a Wilbur revival, both of which could draw the Syndicate's attention and ire, depending on how things go. That said, it's just as likely that either or both of them would join the Syndicate – Dream still has that favor, and Phil and Techno both seemed to think Wilbur would've agreed with their blowing up L'manberg.

Both of those characters are currently **villains – the fact that they're both prime candidates for the Syndicate is a huge indication of the direction it's going to go as the plot moves forward.

((*I know some people are gonna come at me for painting Tommy as the “deciding factor” of what is morally good, so lemme just stop you there. I'm not talking about Tommy somehow having the 'right' to decide who is and isn't good, and definitely not the right to decide who should and shouldn't be king. I'm saying that Tommy, a character who the narrative treats as, if not a good person, then a person who is trying to be good, was in support of Eret, a character who has also been trying to be good.

Eret doesn't gain the moral highground because Tommy said so, he gets it because a character who the narrative treats as trying to do better, acknowledged Eret's earnest attempts at doing the same.

**I'm referring to Wilbur here as a villain because Tommy seemed convinced he would be if he were to be brought back. There is always the possibility that he's wrong.))

So, to summarize this: I read the Syndicate as being intentionally positioned as future antagonists, if not outright villains of a future arc. They are NOT a Government but their goals are contradictory with their means, and it is important to keep in mind that they plan to enforce their own brand of freedom on people who did not grant them either the authority or permission to do so.

So, uh. Can you tell I loved these streams? They were seriously so good. I kept switching between Ranboo and Techno's POV's trying to keep up with everything. I still have to watch Niki's!

All in all, I'm super, super excited for whats coming next, egg stuff, Syndicate stuff, Tommy stuff, all of it.

[writingwithcolor]

Hey, I have kind of hc'ed myself into a corner. I'm working on a oneshot based on someone else's art, which takes place at an office christmas party. Somewhere along the way I started hc'ing one of the chars as jewish tho. I went through your tags and it appears to me that it wouldn't actually be a problem for him to be at the party, as long as it's not overly religious? (Which it isn't. It's just a "christmas party" because of christian culture.) My main question is now, what would be good, small ways to keep the character noticeably jewish, esp in a relatively short story? My thoughts so far were that he'd probably object to someone putting a santa hat on him? And/or his colleagues might thank him for taking some extra shifts during christmas itself so they can stay home (in exchange for covering shifts for him during Chanukah? I know it's not a major holiday but around the same time so an exchange would make sense?) Mostly I'm just looking for every-day details, maybe something you guys would like to see more of? Thanks in advance!

Jewish character attending office Christmas party, also Chanukah

I like thanking him for working on Christmas — but working for him "on Chanukah" really doesn't make a whole lot of sense because you wouldn't be missing work. Recognition of the holiday is done mostly through lighting candles at night. If you want the exchange to be fair, they could always have traded just for him traveling at a different time — like oh, thanks for working for us on Christmas, now I'll work for you the following Tuesday — a day off is a day off.

Mileage may vary on the Santa hat. I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with someone putting that on my head if I was already at a Christmas party but someone else might, so I'm curious what our Jewish followers will say about this in the notes. 

He can maybe bring something traditional like rugelach or babka as his contribution to the party's dessert potluck... or if you want something specifically seasonal, jelly donuts (which are a Chanukah thing for some people.)

--Shira

I'll start with a caveat I've made before: Jewish people are varied. Our practices, views, and choices are manifold. 

All of that being said, there's no way I would go to a Christmas party. I know what you mean when you describe the party as not being overly religious but "Christmas because of Christian culture." From where I'm sitting though, you can take the Jesus out of it, but it's still a Christian holiday, Santa, trees with lights, caroling, Christmas music (even the heaps of songs written by Jewish people) are all still Christian culture. Christian being the operative word, and with my operative word being Jewish. 

Now, let’s say I went to a secular, winter-party. We'll imagine that there are no decorated trees, no gifts being given, just snowflake decor and mulled wine. If someone at that party (or any other), who knew that I'm Jewish, tried to put a Santa hat on my head, I would be immediately arguing with my fullest, deepest voice. Christmas is pervasive, it's music in the stores, lights on every street, public buildings closed, and everyone wishing you a "Merry Christmas," and then angry when you smile and say "thank you, but I celebrate Chanukah!" Even if you use your cheeriest voice, and your happiest smile. It's great that other people are so excited, and happy at the time, but it can be exhausting to have to be constantly reminded that I am largely forgotten, and when I am remembered, I'm expected to assimilate. Why would I put myself through an extra portion of that?

I don't mind one, or two examples of stories where Jewish people go and participate in Christian holidays, plenty of us do! But it's all the time, in books, tv, movies, comics... I'm exhausted by the premise, and frustrated as the overabundance of that particular story contributes to the broader culture's expectation that I should be willing to be culturally Christian for a night, a week, a month, or more. 

-- Dierdra

Like Dierdra, I have largely stopped going to these, but I would reiterate that there are many reasons why people would go. For example, being Orthodox, it’s hard enough not being able to join colleagues for drinks on Friday night or dig in when a manager takes pity on us and orders pizza. I don’t want to be that Jewish girl who never gets involved.

With this in mind, I would avoid using refusal to take part, or even getting annoyed at being forced to take part like with the Santa hat, as the parameters that define your character’s Jewishness. Especially at Christmas, where there’s already the common assumption that only the biggest killjoys refuse to celebrate.

Because of the seasonal aspect, this is one of the few times that I actually would consider Channukah to be one of your best options for introducing Jewish identity. Pre-Covid, I would often bring a dreidel and a box of chocolates to my very non-Jewish office during Channukah, and anyone who wanted could play with me at lunchtime. There’s no reason this couldn’t be taking place at a Christmas party, since it’s a very simple game to learn and most people find it fun the first few times. If you can, try slipping into the dialogue that this isn’t the only holiday the character celebrates though, since we are very tired of seeing that.

If you’re confident in your ability to write microaggressions, you could also create one or two uncomfortable moments for the character, because when people get drunk they often ask really weird questions about your religion and culture. For example, I was once at a work party where someone managed to get out of me (despite my attempts to dodge his invasive questions) that I was Jewish, and he immediately asked me why all the Jews in a particular ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood drove similar cars. The same night, my boss’s boss told me three times that he had loved going to Israel as a kid and thought of it as Christian Disney Land. You don’t have to get into microaggressions if this is just supposed to be a short, festive story, but I think it would feel very real and refreshing for a lot of Jewish people to see those experiences validated.

Other than that, I also like Shira’s suggestion of bringing Jewish food. I’ve turned up to many a ‘winter holiday’ party with latkes, even if I was the only Jewish person there. Covering Christmas day and getting a day back later is also very common, although I agree with Shira this wouldn’t be for observance of Channukah. It would either be a random day in the near future, or saved up for Passover, which is the next holiday requiring time off work.

-     Shoshi

[canmom]

i can't believe i've been summoned like this, what am I (<- secretly well chuffed)

honestly it sounds like you know way more about what's going on in this field than I do! most of these are new to me. the last AI* project I heard about was that Wit Studio short with the AI backgrounds, which looked bad, but that was a while ago. I also heard of some anime that was using AI for like, rendered-up static illustrations.

*here I'm using AI to mean 'neural nets', since that seems to be the language the world has decided on, but it's arguable how many of these would fit what most people think of when they imagine 'AI'.

that said, when it comes to 'AI animation', there really is a pretty wide possibility space. a lot of uses of AI are likely to be invisible.

for example, AI denoising has been around for years as a way to speed up render times. it's actually enabled in Blender's Cycles renderer by default nowadays, but you wouldn't know where it's been used and where it isn't. I don't think that really 'counts' though - it's a shortcut that saves on compute, the AI isn't doing anything that you wouldn't get by running the raytracer for longer. the AI is not doing a human's job.

so right now the forms of 'AI animation' that I know about are:

'style transfer': video + text prompt -> video. this is the method that Corridor used to generate their 'anime' video. tends to have problems with temporal coherence even if it works pretty good on a static image. can be compared to rotoscoping in that the effect is kinda like films like A Scanner Darkly or Aku no Hana. much cheaper than traditional rotoscoping, but the results are generally kinda ugly, and it would look super uncanny if you don't shoot the whole production like that, at which point it's basically a live-action show with an unusual filter.

AI backgrounds: text prompt -> image (or theoretically image -> image - e.g. draw a LO and convert it to a BG). current gen AI is much better at static images than video. backgrounds are something you need a lot of for traditional animation, and they take time. the problem is artistic control and consistency. and also that AI-gen backgrounds tend to look bad. still, I expect this is the most likely one to become popular soonest. backgrounds are often pretty half-assed already.

the more interesting question to me than just prompting the AI with 'anime background, wallpaper, cozy, studio ghibli' etc. etc. is whether AI could be used to automatically render up the LOs drawn by genga artist. that would not necessarily save time since the backgrounds are usually made in parallel with the rest of the animation pipeline.

AI inbetweening: this is called 'video interpolation'. it's usually done unofficially by fans who make '60fps' versions of their favourite cartoons. Animators generally hate this. it completely ruins their intended timing and turns everything into mush, especially since animation tends to involve held frames which really throw interpolators for a loop. however, we might at some point see studios figure out a way to use this to generate inbetweens during production, and cut out the overseas outsourcing studio that currently does it.

traditional 3D but with AI gen of some part: text prompt -> texture, text prompt -> model, etc. - you're doing regular old 3D animation, but maybe you use an AI for something. definitely an area of active research, particularly on the prompt -> model front. I can definitely see the use of this for banal grunt work like 'texture all the books on this bookshelf'. I can also see the potential for using it for things like 'base models' for sculpting - take the AI output as a starting point and modify it. I don't think AI can make production-ready 3D models yet, and if you need some kind of generic anime model, there are already tools like VRoid Studio which have you covered.

AI-based mocap: video -> skeletal animation tracking data, which can be further processed and applied to a 3D model. I think the major area where this really changes things is realtime applications like vtubing and VR - this kind of tracking just plain wouldn't be possible otherwise.

the neural nets are very simple and fast and they're basically black boxes, you give them camera data and they tell you where to put your bones, and you smooth it out and restrict its range in various ways to hide the jank. mocap is old hat by now but using neural nets lets you use fewer cameras and avoid having to dress up in weird mocap suits, which is definitely more convenient for everyone.

for film animation, mocap data still needs a whole buncha cleanup, but in realtime people have a higher tolerance for jank. basically simplifies an established technique - not to be underestimated! we've gone from 'thing you need a whole studio to do' to 'can be done in realtime with cheap hardware'.

AI-generated skeletal animation: text prompt -> skeletal animation tracking data. this is mostly relevant for games, which require a lot of short animations, and now tools are appearing which will pump out a library of animations for your game. I haven't tested these so I can't say how well they work. the big advantage will be that the AI will theoretically be better at filling in the combinatorial explosion of animation blends, sort of a next-level motion matching.

personally I much prefer hand-authoring animations, it's one of my favourite parts of gamedev, so I'd rather not let the AI do it. I also think good animations are incredibly important for setting the tone of a game.

AI interpolation warps: series of prompts -> video. the AI generates latent space vectors and blends between them, for each one generating a series of frames of video. creates a weird surreal 'warping' visual effect. you saw this technique appearing in short films a couple years ago (I remember it was used briefly in the Gobelins film Vulvine Reine d'Extase, otherwise traditionally animated). I think this is a passing fad, once you've seen this technique once you've seen it all.

AI animations on still images: image + video/text prompt -> new video. AI tools can do stuff generate a small head rotation, adding a small amount of motion to an otherwise still image - this technique was used in those 'x by Balenciaga' meme videos (example). A few months ago that 'Animate Anything' paper extended this technique a lot further, using video clips and text prompts to generate a large variety of motions. Still a very immature piece of technology, so hard to say how useful this will be in a real production.

AI directly makes a video: text prompt -> video. this is what Sora promises. the results are startlingly good compared to anything we've seen so far in this field in terms of spatial and temporal coherence. however, almost nobody can use Sora yet.

why? I think the most likely reason is that it probably takes an obscene amount of compute. even before you try to make video, current AI models are already outpacing cryptocurrencies and scaling up their demands far faster than the world's computing capacity is growing. OpenAI has not, to my knowledge, reported on how much electricity and time is needed to generate a Sora video, but my bet is that it's prohibitive to offer it to the world at large.

and for any practical purpose, you'd have to iterate - tweak the prompt, mark areas to be regenerated, etc. etc. without knowhing how long that takes on Sora, it's hard to evaluate it.

for this reason, Sora might not actually be cheaper than current VFX methods, i.e. overworked humans + renderfarms.

...so overall AI is sorta infiltrating the fringes of the medium. it's too jank to really offer replacement for anything at the moment but I'm sure studios will pounce on it as soon as that changes. still, I expect it will be a while before we see anything that really extensively uses AI, just like it took 3DCG a long time to produce results which could stand up against traditional animation. I also expect the future is going to be a hybrid approach which uses AI a little bit here and there rather than a 'full AI pipeline'.

and that's assuming it doesn't all crashing into a wall of compute and ouroboros garbage-in-garbage-out, bursting the bubble, anyway...

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out to see if anyone's started using AI at Annecy this year though.

I don't think there is anything wrong with making a movie using motion capture & AI generation tools, I just don't know if that really qualifies as the first "AI" movie? Obviously it a buzzword, so there is no right answer here, but its not like we haven't been algorithmically generating "animations" from constructed 3D models built on motion capture footage for many years now. I guess I would need to see more production details to see if this in any way a new idea versus just an iterative step on old methods. (though ofc everything almost always is the latter)

Also I am not a hater (normally), this looks like ass of course but a lot of things look like ass. It reminds me of early Youtube, Red vs Blue type stuff ya know? People with no budget and a lot of ideas making a story "work" for them the best they can with the tools at hand. I play ugly RPGMaker games all the time, if its a niche product you align the economics with the niche.

But if you are gonna do that:

Why tell the most anondyne, paint-by-numbers survival horror story you can find? What is the point, this story already exists. I get it is a proof concept kind of thing but come on, prove a valuable concept.

[pterodactylterrace]

Major

Title: Major

Pairing: Syverson x OFC Sugar (could also be a reader insert)

Rating: T

Summary: Don’t worry, we’ve met.

Warnings: Innuendo, Daddy kink

Returning to base for work was an odd feeling to say the least. Syverson was used to being in the field. He’d gone straight from a year and a half deployment to three weeks of leave when he got home. Now, for the first time in years, he was expected to sit behind a desk and do paperwork instead of leading armed men into buildings. What kind of horse shit was this? At least he still got to oversee the basic fitness program, otherwise he’d probably lose his mind.

It was noon before he finally left his office for the first time, his hand cramping from how many times he’d had to sign his damn name. As it turned out, no one had taken over his duties while he had been on leave, so everything had just been left to pile up. It would be days before he was finally caught up on all the bureaucratic nonsense.

“Hello, I’m here to see Major Elliot.” That voice… he knew that voice.

“Hey, Sugar.” He drawled as he turned the corner, glancing between her and the receptionist.

“Oh! Umm… hi.” She mumbled, Syverson not missing the nervous flit of her eyes.

“You need help with somethin’? Got another fence problem?”

“I umm… I’m actually here to see Major Elliot.” Major Elliot? As in his commanding officer Major Elliot? What could she possibly want with him? How did she even know him? A slight hint of panic shot through him when the thought of her maybe coming to complain about his off-base activities to his Major. How would she know who to contact, though? She didn’t even know his name, let alone that he was in the military.

“Uhh, yeah. Right this way.” Syverson offered, waving for her to follow him.

“So… you’re an army man?” She noted quietly.

“Captain Syverson.” He confirmed, shooting a cheeky smile over his shoulder at her. “Major. A young lady is here to see you.” He announced, his large body taking up the doorway, stepping aside when his CO motioned for him to let her in.

“Daddy!” She squealed, and damnit if Syverson didn’t have to catch a groan. Why did that do things to him?

“Oh, there’s my girl!” Elliot laughed, rounding the desk and wrapping her in a hug.

“Syverson, I’d like you to meet my daughter.”

“We’ve already been introduced, sir.” Syverson responded.

“He’s the neighbor.” She supplied, taking a step back from her father and offering the small basket she’d held in the crook of her elbow. Oh shit. She probably told him all about their first meeting. Maybe him saving her from the fence would be enough for him to overlook the fact that he’d been naked at the time? It wasn’t like he could necessarily do anything to him professionally. He had been off duty, on leave and on his own secluded property. Technically she had been the one trespassing. That didn’t mean he couldn’t find ways to make Sy more miserable while on base, however.

“Ah, yes. I guess I owe you a thank you then, Captain.” Was he really thanking him for manhandling his daughter while completely naked? Was this some sort of fever dream? Did he pass out at his desk after sifting through the first mountain of paperwork?

“My little girl here has a knack for getting herself in trouble. I’m glad someone like you was nearby to help her out.”

“Daddy!” She whined and goddamn if his cock didn’t fucking jump at that.

“Oh, you know I’m just teasing you.” Elliot laughed, giving her shoulders an affectionate squeeze. “Now I hate to run you off, but I have a lot to get done today. Captain? Can you make sure my little girl makes it back to her car safely?”

“Yes, sir.” Syverson affirmed, once again leading her down the hallway. “So… you told him about the fence?”

“Well… sort of. I just told him I got stuck and my neighbor had to help me down.”

“Well then, Sugar. Thank you for keeping some of those details to yourself.”

“It wasn’t just for you, you know. You really think I’m gonna tell my dad about the naked beefcake next door having to free me from the fence my skirt got stuck on?”

“Ah, so now I’m a beefcake?” Syverson teased, chuckling at her flustered huff. Her car wasn’t hard to find. It was the exact same one that sat in her driveway at home, and Syverson wasted no time in opening the door for her. “I’ll gladly help you off anytime you need, Sugar.”

Tags:  @weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient @summersong69 @mis-lil-red @lharrietg @amberangel112 @mansaaay @packerfan43