#because normal people make decisions they think are good based on the knowledge they have

[moreespressoformydepresso]

Let this poor man eat!!!

HELLOOO

What do you think about Eurylochus???

I like him so much and I'll defend him always but I see a lot of people that hates him a little bit too much 😭

which side are you?

I'll defend him forever

he's just hungry, man

[nil-nothing-nada]

Mr. Qi Headcanons

All of these headcanons are based on my wider lore I wrote for Mr. Qi so if you're confused, check out this other post. Also, this post is written a bit more casually (kinda like my old style of posting) so let me know if you like this style better!

Basic Information

Species: Vessel of the Universe's Will

Gender: Masc Non-Binary

Height: 6'3" Tall

Age: 32 Years Old

Birthday: Born on Winter 4/January 2

Physical Traits

Around the time he turned 19, Mr. Qi was possessed by the universe's will, transforming him into the uncanny blue creature he is today. He was terrified at his transformation at first, but he eventually began to enjoy his newfound power, despite the loss of his humanity.

Mr. Qi always wears reflective sunglasses when he's in public to protect people from the intense dread-inducing effects of his cosmic eyes. He'll only use his eyes to intentionally scare someone if they are being particularly troublesome.

Mr. Qi has sharp claws and shark-like teeth, which he'll occasionally use to intimidate people when needed. 

Mr. Qi's skin is smooth and slightly iridescent, with some light patches of scales around his shoulders and back.

Mr. Qi has a long, split tongue.

Mr. Qi's blood is slimy and pitch black.

Despite it not being very visible, Mr. Qi is supernaturally strong and can magically regenerate from almost any damage immediately. He's also immune to radiation and most toxins, though they might temporarily make him a bit sick.

Mr. Qi has a magic aura that can disrupt electronics and cause them to malfunction if he experiences extreme emotions. He has mostly learned how to control it, but rarely he'll break things by accident.

Personality Traits

His full name is Adam Qi, but he dislikes his full name because it reminds him of his past humanity. Instead, he prefers that people call him Mr. Qi or just Qi.

Mr. Qi used to be a normal human, but he doesn't like discussing it. He'll become aggressive if pushed too much on this topic.

Mr. Qi is extremely good at masking his true emotions, maintaining cool confidence and composure in almost every situation. This skill allows him to easily befriend people and keep his control, but under this persona he's secretly extremely volatile. Only a few things can cause him to let this act slip, but when it does, he will explode with uncharacteristically violent anger. Cheating at his games especially angers him, and he's carefully "disposed" of the worst offenders.

Mr. Qi maintains a constant smile as a way to hide his true intentions.

People often mistake Mr. Qi for being older than his actual age due to the large amount of knowledge he inherited from the past vessels of universe's will.

Mr. Qi is likely autistic, but he hasn't bothered to try and get any diagnosis because he doesn't think that it's important.

Mr. Qi is very sensitive to touch and hates unnecessary physical contact. He's also very picky with textures, even having his clothes specially tailored with a shimmering fabric that's both soft and light.

Mr. Qi secretly dislikes his physical appearance because of the way the universe's will changed it, but he's mostly gotten used to it. He still prefers to wear clothes that cover most of his body, though.

Mr. Qi often holds his hands behind his back to stop him from fidgeting, which makes him look more professional. He also tends to over-correct his posture, which makes him look a bit taller.

[shadystranger]

"The fandom unnecessarily villainizes sam and dean for choosing each other over strangers when it's literally how humans work" great critic but I actually think the fandom (those interested in the brothers' relationship) are reacting to it how they're meant to: in a negative light.

To trace things back, yes, it's a given, kind of an innate human nature to respond in situations by prioritizing the people you know over ones you don't. That is true. On an individual basis, each person would do this, I would do this, and anyone'd be crazy to villainize this act on my and your part. But sam and dean do it, and it's painted in this hyperbolic moral degeneration light both by the narrative (we could argue) and by the fandom. Because see, sam and dean are a little different than you and me.

They're positioned in their world as tragic heroes who, given the nature of their job, are expectedly deprived of things the normal person could enjoy. They don't get to lead normal lives, they don't die by natural causes, and they must navigate through life bearing more than they must know with soul-crippling responsibilities. "We're the people who save the world," sam and dean don't spend much time before they assume the token role of saviors in their world. Along with that role comes even more imposed limitations.

They are more viscerally equipped and knowledgeable. They have access to things randoms could never dream of having (like death and god). The more you know, the worse you sleep and comes with the mere knowing is the obligation to do something about it. Someone ignorant to the whole ordeal simply doesn't have to answer to it.

Basically, they're soldiers. Imagine samdean reporting for duty, they preserve peace of the public and their blind following to decision moral rightness is taken for granted. It comes with the job. You don't get to make ill-advised progress in your self-interest as a person (sth random ppl can enjoy) when several lives are at stake.

At some point, sam and dean themselves are metaphoricaly acting Gods: people's survival or death depends on them. Sometimes, it's a city's worth of population. Other times, it's the entire world. Their right to free-decision making stops depending only on its virtuous intent and starts being consequential. They're elevated to adhere to higher standards and criteria than normal people are held to.

The rightness of their actions will not be determined among a set of feasible options but instead assessed by whether they chose the option with the best consequences. Or not. The main decision-making factor for "heroes" like them should be putting the general welfare at its fore interest. Not one individual's. Especially not if it's one individual's.

When dean and/or sam sacrifices someone stranger to save his brother, it's a subjective good call I can relate and see myself in it, but given their position within the universe it's irresponsible and far objectively wrong; especially if at the cost of saving his brother, several others suffered.

There are criteria for judging the actions of the pivotal role they uphold. From a subjective moralness standpoint, sam and dean are only humans, and they can be cut some slack or even not at all villainized for doing what their instinct demands. On the other hand, moral objectiveness influenced by the world-setting's structure deems the goodness or badness of how they behave based on the particular consequences of their given actions and whether said actions affected people in good or bad ways. If sam and dean did something that brought peace to the world on the whole and reduced suffering, it's good and logical, whereas if said action caused suffering and threatened peace, it's bad.

dean grudgingly accepting sam’s plan to overtake lucifer even though it meant losing his brother is the objectively morally good choice to make. He had to sacrifice his precious family, but he ultimately was rational and responsible enough to know his brother's life is not a fair trade-off to millions. both sam and dean here act in accordance with their positions within the story/world: they're heroes. But by S8 dean doesn't let sam make a similar sacrifice. He prioritizes sam's life over the many who'll be possessed and will either kill others or be killed themselves. sam releases a world-ending evil to save his brother, and later on, both take turns facilitating the guy who practically promises them an apocalypse to once again save each other.

"The good of any one person is no more important from the point of view of the universe than the good of any other." sam or dean's lives aren't more important than someone else's, this was a point so base sam felt the need to make because it needed to be addressed, their lack of changing anything about it is another matter. Thing is they're the world's designated saviors be it by choice or not, the narrative views them as the fact, they're expected to value the well-being of all individuals equally, regardless of their personal closeness. Imagine a firefighter postponing saving you because someone he knows is more important even when the situation for them is not as grave as you. It'd be unethical and worthy of condemnation because in this line of work, and in general when your job is saving people and work towards the greater good, you do it indiscriminately, you don't get to privilege the well-being of yourself or your family over the well-being of distant others.

sam and dean hold a rightful consequentialist commitment to their actions being as good as possible: the basis on which one outcome is better than another is only if it contains a greater sum total of people's betterment. No impartiality.

Yes, it's his brother, his only family, but it's still morally wrong to prioritize him (in their case). Let's use a patriotism allegory. Imagine a general of a losing army. He catches wind of the enemy's secret bases or is exposed to confidentials enough to turn the tide to his side. However, he finds out his family at home is being held hostage. The moment he reveals what he knows, they get killed. A man has to save his family it's the most basic human instinct, yes, but you'd think it's irredeemably wrong for him to prioritize his family in this case. You'd think he doesn't even have the right to choose when it's a choice between two insignificant people and the entire country being infiltrated and invaded, with the deaths of million soldiers and citizens. It's not even a choosing matter. sam and dean are the general in this scenario, and instead of the country being at stake, it's sometimes the entire population they're throwing to the fire for each other. Anyone'd think it's messed up. You're supposed to.

There is a good reason to save your family (brother) over a stranger (or two, or hundred or million); but labeling both actions as right would risk ignoring the important moral difference between the two. And we need to draw an account of what a hero is obliged to do in order to meet minimal moral standards. sam and dean's constant moral failure to meet such standard despite their role in their universe paints them as flawed, sometimes as the story's designated antichrist.

Their ceaseless prioritizing of themselves marks their moral debauchery and decline as heroes. they get away with not fulfilling their obligations that are thrust upon them by design, they're using a cheat code acting not how they're supposed to and that's the characters/narrarive's grip with them. I don't blame corbin for what he did, while It’s extremely wrong that he tried killing sam, it was a call for survival. Your savior normally doesn’t come with conditions. He was faced with an oddity from the typical rescue mission. And he did what he had to ensure the more number of people survives. We sympathize with sam and dean, so we criminalize corbin immediately and side with dean. We're swept by emotions and our judgment is clouded you could say but from a utility standpoint, dean's decision to stay with a dying sam would've lead to four people's death, or three and one heavily wounded meanwhile corbin's leads to three people's survival and the loss of one. With corbin, more lives are saved, with one unfortunate but necessary sacrifice. Morally and objectively, corbin was more right in choking sam than dean was in staying.

[pseudowho]

haitch i think this is a very personal question but i’m having this little moment in my life where i don’t know what i’m gonna do and you’re someone that i trust to make this question

how did you choose your major/job ? i’m brazilian and we had this huge exam that is basically the way to get into college/university and on the 13th i will get my results and depending on them i will know if i’m able to get to into a good place (here we have public universities, like you don’t pay shit but it’s kinda of hard to get in and you need to have “decent” results but we also have private ones)

i’m struggling because i don’t really have something that i dream of doing and i know that i don’t need to do something for the rest of my life based on the major that i did but it’s just so hard

i’m not against going to a different city/state for it, my main struggle is just deciding, obviously i know that going to a new place is going to be hard since everyone that i know lives in the same state as i do at this moment and going to a place without someone to help on a emergency is hard and probably dangerous

i’m just sad and anxious and i don’t know what to do with my life right now, i always thought that i was too stupid to do certain majors (i know i’m not but it’s hard to not think this was when you were never encouraged)

im really sorry for the long message just to ask a question, i just thought that giving you a little perspective would help

also i’m pretty sure that i made some grammatical mistakes but i’m sleep deprived and with a killing headache i’m sorry

Morning! 🌞 I'm sorry you're feeling shit. Take some pain relief and have some water if you can. I'm sure it's really late there, but early here.

The truth is, it's normal to not know what you want to do, with a job or career. Especially, as young as you are. Our society pushes us to choose a route early, before we even truly know ourselves, or what the world of work in any given career is like.

I, for instance, would choose something other than Midwifery, if I could go back with all the knowledge I have to my 18 year old self. It's not to say I don't love the job, and it's changed me as a person for the better I think; but it's also taken a lot away from me. As it is, I cannot regret it-- I've helped a lot of people and it's made me who I am today. But...you see what I mean. Still, I would choose something else.

It's important to accept that whatever job you take, it's how you grow as a person that will affect your future happiness the most. You are not your job. The way you grow to understand yourself as an adult, your morals and ethics, your ability to remain accountable for your actions and growth at all times, are vital, whether you're a cashier, or a horticulturalist,

Still, I'm realistic; you do, unfortunately, in the world in which we live, have to make a decision.

I think the best thing I can recommend, is trying to widen your perspective away from a singular job, and into an career area; ask yourself:

Is there a job I could do which would be adjacent to a lot of different jobs I may be interested in, one day?

Is there a job I could take, which would offer me further training opportunities which would make me a good candidate for a great number of different jobs?

Is there a job I can take which would offer me attractive transferable skills?

Is it more important, at this point in time, to choose any job in my local area, so I can work on myself, my anxiety and my self-confidence before I venture further into the world?

Don't be overwhelmed by these questions. You are not a failure if you don't launch headfirst into the career you will have for the rest of your life in your early twenties. It's just an opportunity to know yourself better. Build the infrastructure on which you're healthy enough, and varied enough in your transferable skills, to then confidently choose a career path if and when you feel ready. There will be opportunities.

You are smart and capable enough to do this. Come out of panic mode, and into the light.

And remember...as our favourite best boy says:

Whatever you do, there will always be an element of work that is shit.

But the moral of Nanami's story is that enjoying life should not be put on the back burner until certain 'ideal conditions' are met, and that you are not the sum of your job. And also that you should hit things that personally offend you, protect the weak, and remain suspicious of people you barely know who are touchy-feely. And you should help the babies.

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

[figurativepieceoftrash]

Got briefly, somewhat, got interested in bnha again (possible manga re-read currently pending), so I read your fics Sympathy for the Devil and The Line, and going crazy for the psychological horror aspects in both omg? Just WOW, I love 'em! Are there any notes or ideas or literally any rambles you wanna share about these two fics?

Omg thank you sm for asking! I'd be ecstatic to share a bit about both actually, overjoyed that you decided to briefly return to my work bc you're one of my coolest mutuals and your comments are some of the best I receive, used to always so look forward to seeing your kudos signature at the bottom of my fics 🥺💕

Sympathy actually has a sequel in the works, but I'm not sure if I'll ever publish it considering the oneshot didn't perform as well as I'd like it to and I think the work stands alone fine as it is in terms of what I was hoping to say thematically. That said what's written of the next installment has a v heavy focus on identity (SHOCKING for my writing, I know lol): an on-the-run Izuku still doesn't trust his father despite being forced to rely on his resources/connections/knowledge for survival, and is attempting to figure out where the person he was ends and the person All for One's made him into begins so he can decide exactly how far his loyalty should extend. Although Izuku chose his father during the resolution of Sympathy, there was. Uh. Obviously a lot going on, at the moment, and people tend to make dubious decisions in the midst of heightened emotions, so it's natural that he might question things a bit in the aftermath

While the primary focus of sympathy was tackling my issues with the underlying messages conveyed by bnha's ending (I feel like most of my works nowadays broach that subject, at least to a degree), there was also a good bit in there about cycles of abuse and grappling with the less savory traits one might inherit from their parents, especially in regards to personality disorders and mental illnesses. Because of this, I wanted to really make it clear that although Izuku does share a lot of similarities to afo following the psychological redecorating he's performed, he is still capable of coming out the other end a person he can be proud of, even if it might take some real doing and constitute what feels like a lifelong uphill battle.

Because of this, the outline of the fic did slate for a happy ending; after plenty of conflict, introspection, and interpersonal drama, we'd get to a point where Izuku realized struggling to empathize with others didn't make him a bad person, there aren't good people just people trying day by day to be good, people have the capacity to accept and care for him even if he has changed, etc. etc. etc. all very and they rode off into the sunset type stuff. Even after he'd expelled afo from his mindscape he'd never go back to normal, but sometimes experiences change you and you have to learn to grow around them even if you personally can't find a positive spin to it. Not all of Izuku's friends are as close following the change and some drift away entirely (I do not write fluff and I have to stay true to my personal interpretation of realism, sorry 😔) but enough people are willing to adapt to this new version of him that he thinks he can eventually become someone he doesn't hate being.

The Line is similar both in that it dished out my beef with the bnha ending in a major way and that it got thrown in "Oh God, I wrote like eight chapters of this but no one likes it so I'll be damned if I ever publish them. Oh, the Shame! It burns!" limbo. This one also dealt heavily with themes of the self, though its grapples were less with perceived ethical deficit and more with (lack of) accomplishment-based feelings of inadequacy and the pressures of self-enforced interpersonal comparison. I feel like a large portion of fandom is in that age group where they're starting to figure out their lives, and they're either conventionally successful but grappling with the reality of leaving behind lifelong social networks/safety nets/friends (Uraraka) or failing to accomplish their childhood dreams and coming face to face with shame, aimlessness, and perceived inadequacy (Izuku).

I thought it would be really fun to explore this alongside Bnha's Issues With The Concept of Saving™️ and what it actually means to have failed to save someone. Bnha has this issue where it forces characters to infantilize and dehumanize villains for the sake of saving them. Here’s me going off about it in a private discord server with my friends bc I’m too lazy to rephrase it here lol:

But yeah! Line attempted to critique this by mirroring that same shallow dehumanizing thinking in the way the Toga and Shigaraki treated Izuku. Using a human being with agency and a complex internal reality as a personal project without considering their identity as an individual seems very sinister when the shoe is on the other foot, and although everyone involved has good intentions, dehumanization is never a constructive way to solve a problem.

I also obviously took issue with how the public reacted to Izuku and Ochako's frankly half-assed attempts at saving the villains? Shoto was very open with his intentions, but the fact that neither of the other characters with "marginalized dissidents are people too even if they use unethical means to address social issues" arcs actually went public with their desire to help means that any broader change that might've occurred as a result of their actions is negated. Weirdly enough Izuku pushes the responsibility of framing villains as people onto Spinner??? For some reason??? Which like. Okay. But I think the angry and demoralized public would be a lot more eager to listen to an ex-heroics student of considerable renown than a convicted felon, yeah? Seems kind of like you. Don't actually care??? Very weird handling of the story's central conflict, I'll say that much.

But yeah if any of those concepts interest you lmk, talking about this is kind of making me want to revisit it, if I'm being perfectly honest. Thanks again for asking me to talk about my fics, I'm super grateful, esp bc I just released another total flop lol, it means a lot to me in a time when it feels like no one likes my writing :P

[oiblackestsheep]

Hi Isaac, if you have a minute, here's another rando anon for mbti guesses according to birth chart. I'm Aries moon (12th h) and rising, MC in Capricorn, sun (3rd h), venus (2nd h) and mercury (2nd h) in gemini, mars in virgo (5th h), jupiter in sagittarius (8th h), North node in Scorpio. Thanks, and Happy New Years if you celebrate it.

Hey anon rando, I ABSOLUTELY have a minute to guess your MBTI based on your birth chart. Happy New Year to you too! Hope it has been a good one so far, and that you're getting a good start on your New Years' Resolution (if you have one)!

Aries Placements: AC & Moon

Normally, I would start with the sign your Sun is in, but since you've got prominent Aries placements, and Aries LOVES being first, thought I'd switch it up a bit >:) (not to mention you mentioned Aries first, yourself!) Two of your big three are in Aries, that's pretty significant for your overall demeanor! Aries being your rising sign might mean that you aspire to possess Aries traits and for other people to see them in you - Aries are known for being the ultimate self-starter as a cardinal Fire sign, so you might value in taking action, and doing so quickly, without wasting time. You might also see the value in conflict and strife and pride yourself on your ability to hold your ground in tense situations by standing up for what you believe in. This CAN be a combative quality, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it always is - you might also simply see disagreements and arguments as a natural fact of life, and not something to be feared, but to be embraced, because they lead to important discussions that cannot be avoided forever. This particular attitude may be more representative of your Moon being in Aries, because your moon represents your deepest emotions that most people don't see on the surface. I see Aries' intense motivation to take action as a very Te trait because they are often focused on a goal, but I see the emotional, subjective, and oftentimes impulsive nature of Aries' decision-making as a much more of an Fi-trait. The impulsive nature of Aries also might imply a preference for perceiving over judging in type dichotomy, meaning preferred perceiving function is likely an objective one (Ne or Se). I would be more inclined to lean more towards Se since focusing on the observations that are relevant here and now (rather than thinking of all the different possible outcomes) may lend itself the most handy to quick decision-making and not wasting precious time. An Aries moon can also indicate strong, difficult to control (potentially immature) feelings that may bring an element of discomfort to the native when acknowledging them, which can indicate the Te-Fi axis. I am willing to give some minor points towards the Ti-Fe axis since it still can still indicate the subjective nature of the Aries decision-making process. Same logic applies to minor points towards the Ne-Si axis, since it can still indicate the preference for a perceiving over judging dichotomy. Possible types: xSFP, xNTJ, xNFP, xNTP

Gemini Placements: Sun, Mercury, Venus (stellium!)

Ahh, love Geminis, you guys get such a bad rap, and it's really too bad. As a Gemini Sun, you'll likely love learning (maybe even alliteration lmao). Capable of seeing two sides to everything, and a curiosity that motivates you to seek them out, to boot, you're thirst for knowledge is a very important part of your core - these themes will be even stronger in your life because you've got a stellium in Gemini. I'm inclined to give points for a preference towards a Thinking attitude, since Gemini is often regarded as one of the skeptics of the zodiac. Although, they do tend to need proof of something before truly adopting it as a belief or accepting it as valid, they tend to be more open-minded at a baseline compared to the Earth signs because they enjoy giving thought to interesting ideas, even if they don't have the most practical applications, should they be proved as valid in the future. Another common trait of Geminis is their ability to change their minds, because of their ability to see both sides of a situation. For these reasons, I can see a preference for Ti as a subjective function over Te. As a Mercury in Gemini, you are a smoooooth operator. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, so having it placed in this sign means that it is in domicile - the way Mercury likes to express itself is made very easy, being in Gemini! You may have a gift for communication and connecting with other people. You might also have a knack for public speaking, or at the very least, a natural charisma that makes you interesting and easy to listen to. How else can I say it other than you've got Speech 100 lmao, congrats. Shouldn't take a genius to figure out that this can be a strong Fe trait! As a Venus in Gemini, you might attract Gemini-coded people, or be attracted TO Gemini-coded people. The way to your heart might be through intellectually simulating conversation! It would be easy to assign another point for a Thinking attitude here for that reason, but I'm actually more inclined to give points towards an iNtuitive attitude, because intellectual discussion that Gemini enjoys oftentimes revolves around perception, rather than judgement. I am inclined to give a point towards Ne, since Venus Gemini values seeing multiple sides of an issue. Of course, Ni is also possible, if my unofficial theory that Ni users appreciate the novelty of Ne users (which sparks attraction between the two) is true - this is because Venus here could indicate what you're attracted TO, in addition to how you express your attraction. Possible types: xNTP, xNFJ

Virgo Placements: Mars

We're twins with this placement (seems every chart I analyze I'm a twin with at least one of their placements lmao)! I actually really love Mars in Virgo. Similar to me, it seems to be your only Virgo placement, which makes it a bit simpler to analyze. Mars is all about your motivation, passion, and/or aggression. Having it in the pure, perfect, and objective sign of Virgo makes for an interesting combination. You may have a difficult time getting started on things because of your desire for them to be perfect - you might have some really great ideas that never make it past the drawing board for this reason! BUT, if you do find a way to make it past this barrier, then you may have this quality where you are very good at defining exactly how you want to execute something, and bringing it into existence without having to compromise much (or at all) on the, not even the quality of it, but more so the content and/or expression of the thing itself. I would say this gets a few points towards the Te-Fi axis for goal accomplishment. Possible types: xxTJ

Sagittarius Placements: Jupiter

Another planet in domicile! Interesting that you're Sagittarius and Gemini placements (aka sister signs, aka signs of opposite polarity) both have their ruling planets in the appropriate signs. Jupiter as the planet of good luck, abundance, and expansion in Sagittarius might mean that you have a knack for generosity and open-mindedness, especially with respect to foreign ways of thinking (or even foreign places!). These natives are often described as free spirits, who love adventure and studying new ideas that are different from their own, but unlike Gemini, they tend to approach with less skepticism and more optimism. For this reason, I would give a point for Fi-Te due to the optimistic nature, and Ne-Si for novel ideas. Possible types: xNFP

Additional notes

Of the planets you gave me, you've got 3 below the horizon line, and 2 above. We're missing Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, so whether you have a majority of total planets above or below the horizon line is indistinguishable and, in my opinion, can't reliably be used to determine a preference for introversion or extraversion. I'm going to consider your placements in your big three more heavily than your other placements. Since your big three is all Fire and Air, and those elements tend to be more extraverted, I'll give you a preference for extraversion. So, what's the top 5?

ENFP

ENTJ

ENFJ

INFP

ENTP

Feel free to follow up in another anon to let me know how I did! (fingers crossed lmao)

[touchreceptors]

opm 179/224(jp) TL commentary

so, about the Saitama vs Tatsumaki battle in the latest chapter.

Normally, I’m tired enough at the end of the work day that when the JP OPM chapter updates drop, I'm happy to just skim the chapter and wait for the usual fan TL team to do their good work and drop the English translation the next day. Usually, I find them very decent and competent.

This time around, however, Saitama’s lines on this particular page had me sitting up a little straighter.

I thought his word choice was oddly far too chummy given his usual personality and his attitude towards people like Tatsumaki, so I decided to check the original Japanese pages again and sure enough, found that I gleaned a very different idea from the JP lines. I would definitely have translated these differently.

Let’s take a look at the 2 phrases in question.

1. “She’s not in the mood to chat at all” (JP: 全然会話になんねえーな )

The plain form of this (i.e. after you distill it from Saitama’s typical style of speech) is 全然会話にならない which is far more often representative of the sentiment “It’s impossible trying to get through to you/this person”. It literally translates to “This is not becoming a 2-way conversation at all” or "you can't have a 2-way conversation with this person"; Google “会話にならない 英語” and you will see multiple suggestions along the lines of “It’s no use talking to you.”

This phrase is used to indicate that the other party is not willing to listen, usually to something important the speaker has to say. Saitama isn’t looking to have a friendly “chat”, he’s trying to make a point to Tatsumaki about not attacking other heroes and laying off his new home before that gets destroyed too. So, while the use of “chat” may help to preserve the lazy informality of his speaking style, it downplays the severity of the situation and his annoyance at her not getting his point. 

I personally would’ve used “Ugh, she’s not gonna listen at all, is she” or “Ugh, talking isn’t gonna work at all, is it” or a similar variation.

2. “Guess I’ll keep her company for now” (JP: 相手しとくか)

Context is everything. Just because “keep company” is the first option in a whole list of different definitions that pops up when you do a dictionary search doesn’t mean that it’s the right definition to use for a translation/localization. Nor does it mean it’s how the phrase is most commonly used in practice.

I'd wager you don’t even need to have much RL experience in Japan or with Japanese people to know which definition should've been picked. Watch enough shonen and sports anime with the original Japanese audio and you’ll soon learn that any time there is a pair activity, game and most importantly, a fight, 相手 i.e. “aite” refers to “opponent”. In a classroom setting, being asked to “相手して” doesn’t mean to keep a student “company”, it means to take up the opposite role in pair work. I’d add that in the close to 15 years I’ve spent studying and/or speaking Japanese, and the 3.5 years spent living and working in Japan, I’ve never heard this phrase being used to mean “keep somebody company” - but since experience can also be subjective, let’s just look at what we can be certain about: context, and our own knowledge of the target language and all its nuances.

a. Context - What’s happening, and who is saying it: Are they fighting? Yes. As opponents? Yes. Is Saitama referring to their fight and a strategy he's going to take (i.e. letting her tire herself out)? Most certainly, yes. Is this line being said by the same guy who thinks of Fubuki only as an acquaintance who's always dragging him into her business against his will, the same guy who in the last frame of this very chapter is thinking to himself "Man I reeeeeaallly wanna go home"? Yes. Should you have picked a definition more related to fighting and opponents from the dictionary's MANY different options like, idk, "take on a rival" to base your translation on? Yyeeess??? Why wouldn't you have?

b. Decision-making when localizing a text: What does “keep somebody company” imply in English? Is there a better way to phrase this and make the localized script more representative of the situation and the character's intent, and less loaded with English meaning that isn't present anywhere else in the text? I mean, Saitama certainly isn't suddenly thinking about loneliness and company when he mentions the lack of buildings and people - a safer distance away from civilization he deliberately went to the trouble of bringing Tatsumaki to.

I'd take some creative/artistic license here myself to make the language less stiff, but would definitely have gone for something less distorted, like "Guess I'll keep her occupied for now". If unsure, then even a more literal "Guess I'll take her on for now" would do a very decent job of conveying Saitama's intent, staying faithful to the original language without sounding too stiff when inserted into the sentence they came up with.

But well, who'm I to talk, eh? Translators are humans, there's no way to be completely objective in any interpretation, and they still do far more work than I am willing/able to do for this manga every update. I just wonder if they were letting certain biases guide their interpretations rather more than usual this time. Suffice to say, I'll be very curious to see how the guys at Viz choose to frame this bit for the official English TLs.

[mamamittens]

Had a neat OC idea I will likely do Nothing Ever With.

Rambling under cut.

So, pretty early into my daydreaming while listening to the choir version of "Like a prayer" from the new Deadpool movie, I imagined this new OC would take cues and inspiration from angels for obvs reasons.

And somehow this snowballed into Thatch growing up with a best friend (maybe they're shippy later maybe they're actually brother and sister, haven't decided but they definitely love each other) who's got a very unusual devil fruit.

The devil fruit was a decision made later (like, an hour lol) but I'm on the fence for it. Basically she's got the entirety of a universe in her head and constantly hears them speaking to her. So she's kind of slow irl to react to shit but if you give her a minute she usually has really fucking good advice. Never falls for lies unless it's OP world specific bullshit that she, naturally, would not have any clue about.

This would be hidden by simply not writing in her POV until sometime later, Thatch regarding her very fondly and protectively because of how honest but kinda ditzy she comes off as.

In reality, anyone would take a minute to respond if they had dozens of voices in their head piping up like nosy bitches.

Maybe one upside is that she learns a lot of shit really fast because in her dreams she walks the "lost world" and is usually taught stuff by people who were very knowledgeable about it. No one knows who gets to teach her next because it's decided by 'higher powers' of that world. Mainly so I don't need to explain or have her run into horrible ass people. They're there, but she won't be meeting them. Ever.

So it is funny when she learns criminal shit just because it would be handy to know and the person is actually a good person. So like, she can make explosives out of literally anything and pick locks.

Anyway, the spooky biblical angel shit is usually not active. She can give prophetic visions by eye contact and the 'godly blood' that she cries. This is just a side effect of housing deities. The thing is, if you look for too long your brain fries cause you start to see ALL their true forms, which is horrifying and brain melting. So she can only do it sparingly, and preferably just by letting them cradle a pool of tears in lieu of eye contact. Keeps the worst of it at bay. Her eyes used to be normal but are now liquid gold with a very trippy halo as her iris. Constantly blooming and rotating in unfathomable shapes. Luckily another side effect of this power is the ability to see 'past obstacles in life', which just means shit like her eyelids and possibly walls.

Now, I did want to give her wings, and I still might. An awakened form would likely sprout multiple wings with a visible halo and all. On the fence about it.

Anyway, the reason an entire universe got sealed away into a kid's head is because a horrifying creature who eats dimensions came knocking and they needed to GTFO. They claim to 'collect' universes by eating them, where they won't ever truly die but will remain in a constant loop of death. The agony and horrors fueling this monster to rip open more holes to eat more dimensions.

So they naturally, eventually, sniff out this escaped world and come to consume it in its new, conveniently small packaging. They think it's very clever and cute, almost a shame to be rid of it, but their pride demands otherwise. This is when she wields her full power and, with the BS of her home universe and maybe allies (undecided, this was the main scene based in vibes) she defeats it and the 'choir' falls silent for the first time in her life.

She nearly dies as all that energy escapes, freeing her of the burden once and for all.

"...it's so quiet... I'm so tired."

But she lives, now mostly normal. Still cries gold and fucks with people's minds with her fucky eyes though. Divinity doesn't go away that easily.

Additional thoughts I had!

I liked the idea of Thatch coming to her when Whitebeard recruited him in an attempt to get her to go with him and he just like, shows up at her door like "I'm a pirate now!"

"I thought you were a chef? When did this happen?"

"Well, I decked the owner of the pub and this pirate captain, Captain Whitebeard--"

"Call me Pops, all my kids do!"

"Pops, offered to take me on!"

"...so, a random man sees you get fired and offers to hire you. And tells you to call him 'dad' basically? Are you... Sure he's a pirate? I feel like I've heard this as a warning before somewhere. And you brought him here for... My approval? To let me know before he gives you booty shorts and tells you to mop the deck? What are you thinking right now, Thatch?"

(Whitebeard chokes on air, Marco, who followed wheezes)

"T-Thats not what's going on here!!!! He's an actual pirate captain! I came here... To see... If you'd come with me?"

"...Thatch, that's... I think that's sweet? But we both know I'm not very fast. Being a pirate is pretty dangerous you know. Weren't you telling me last week to not get into anything dangerous?"

Basically it doesn't work, she stays, if she has wings it's on the basis that the locals think her giant wings are normal but at sea everyone would know better.

Anyway, their home island ends up getting ransacked and she's on a slaver ship, picked up by none other than Roger's crew. Roger says he could "hear her voice from miles away, like a crowd of thousands screaming for help". She ends up looking after the boys and as a more positive influence that's not a pirate. Unsure about timeline, but she knows Roger's sick very early and, fueled by her own visions of the future, offers him a look. Specifically to either attempt to prevent his death or plan better for it.

Specifically getting him by mentioning the inevitable fate of his future son if he doesn't pull some massive strings before he dies.

I imagined this scene very early.

Mainly her carefully cupping his hands together (they're alone, maybe Reyleigh is there) and telling him to keep his eyes on his hands. Not to look into her eyes. And just cries unnaturally thick streams of liquid gold into his hands where the future is visible in their surface.

He sees bits of future.

He won't prevent his death, but he does ensure Rouge goes to Garps home island well before he's captured. Covers up her shit very well. Destiny secured, Ace is no longer an orphan. Would be funny if she winds up staying with Dadan and helping her actually raise baby under Garps orders. Also makes sure there's a plan for his crew to dip rather than shock them all at the last minute.

I think they run into Whitebeard while she's still with Roger, Thatch thrilled and horrified she's there. Upset she won't join them, but she promises once Roger disbands. And she does.

She offers to let Whitebeard see the future to try and make a better one but it takes telling him that he'd see the death of many sons before his own if he's not prepared to take her up on it.

I like the idea of her killing Teach by offering her power and knowledge of the future (which he may know she can do from eavesdropping) but telling him to look into her eyes for it. He dies, his eyes burned out of his skull and seizing. Very unpleasant.

Also liked the idea of her being cornered and allowing one of the souls to take over, that should being a master swordsman in his prime. Very unexpected.

[culttvblog]

Whitechapel: Series 1

Spoiler alert: this blog post gives away the conclusion of the mystery but not the identity of the killer.

Whitechapel (2009 to 2013) was an ITV series of four series. This blog post will cover the first series. This format changed over the four series, but the first series consists of a whole single mystery, in which a police department investigates killings committed by someone who is copying the killings of Jack the Ripper.

I see that the show is described as a police procedural in several places on the internet. As is so often the case, I don't think that's a fair description of the show so I'm going to have a go at broadening the online description of the show.

It really isn't a police procedural at all, in my opinion, at least not understanding police procedural to mean a show in which the investigation of the crime is the actual plot. In this show the police investigate a series of crimes, however the ongoing investigation is very much a setting for a number of human interest stories.

For a start we have a thread about the relationships within the team, particularly a conflict between Detective Inspector Joseph Chandler and Detective Sergeant Ray Miles. Chandler is considered a 'plastic policeman' by the rest of the team because this is his first murder and he's been on a lot of ocurses. Normally this would be the sort of thing which makes me lose the will to live, because I don't find that sort of tension interesting and would normally want to slap Miles for his attitude. However in this show this tension doesn't dominate because there is so much else going on, and in fact their two different approaches are contrasted to good effect in the investigation.

It is also clear that this investigation really takes its toll on the police officers, and so this show is as much about human relationships and coping as it is about murder. At one point they discuss the murder over a board game.

Then we have the connection with Jack the Ripper: Joseph Chandler was a police inspector and first to arrive at the scene of Ripper victim Annie Chapman, for example, and various other characters have names of people in the real world Ripper case. If this sounds naff, all I can say is that it isn't when you watch the show.

One of the ways the murders and show are further connected to the real world Ripper murders is that they arrest a suspect who is a Ripperologist called Edward Buchan (played to great effect by Steve Pemberton of the League of Gentlemen), which was also the name of a suspect in the original Ripper murders. Brilliantly, they take on Buchan as a sort of consultant because of his knowledge of the Ripper murders. There is also a very effective sequence where Chandler hands out books and DVDs about the Ripper murders to his team of police officers who haven't read a book in years, and suddenly they are all comparing what they're reading in the books and how it could be of reference to the current murders.

There is another very affecting scene where Buchan is leading a Ripper tour and realises that he has to stop it because he can't cope with the public's lack of reverence for the victims and bloodthirsty wish to see the scenes of the current crimes.

An element which isn't perhaps teased out to its full extent, and could perhaps have been considered as an option for future plots, is that Chandler has been parachuted in on the way to a sinecure and the power and prestige which makes decisions. The power held by the great and good is seen here but not fully expanded on: perhaps I should say that this isn't a criticism.

This complex story and investigation is told over three episodes in the first series, and I have to say it never once flags or becomes boring. It is perfectly paced and I literally can't fault the plot or production. This is some excellent television.

There are just two possible criticisms I can think of, although both might just come down to personal preference.

The first is that a show based on a historical murderer is necessarily predictable. If it's a murderer who hasn't finally been identified it can either go with an inconclusive ending or make up a conclusion, both of which might be unsatisfactory to some viewers. This show identifies the murderer but he doesn't get to justice. On reflection I don't think I was ever going to be happy with how this show ended so I'm not going to say that this is a major criticism.

The other one is that as happened in the real Ripper murders, the police interview a number of different suspects. My criticism would be that it is abundantly clear that some of them are just ridiculous as suspects, to the extent that I just think it would be unlikely they'd get as far as being interviewed under caution. One of them gets seconds into his interview before he points out that he was in police custody at the time of the murder: we all know the police are incompetent but not to notice that is a balls up of monumental proportions.

So in all a show which is far more than its listing as police procedural would suggest, with far more human interest than is apparent at first glance.

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[causeitsagame]

I've finalized all of my fangan base designs (...I think) and look, the most important part of the entire height reference chart:

She's short.

I love being able to see my kids in front of me ❤️😭 (I'm going to murder so many of you in unspeakably horrific ways)

Everyone behind the cut, with a brief bit about their design + role!

This is uhhhh nothing that will be playable any time soon, but I'm aiming for an honest-to-god full (fan) game experience. :) First trial has eighteen different truth bullets, this protag has her own unique mechanic, I'm building things out in Unity, etc. etc. etc.

I am GOING FOR IT, because setting a high creative bar and forcing yourself to push yourself is how development happens!

I'm moving from left to right and including the name/talent/MTBI in text below for readability. I included the MBTI here because I tied each one of them to an MBTI archetype as a fun self challenge (hey, sixteen people!) and so you can look to see who you match up with.

Every single talent is plot-relevant by the end of the game, at minimum. Many are plot-critical. I didn't want anyone to feel like wasted space.

Emi (Tailor, INFJ) - Sweet and humble, she's the type to just wear a standard school uniform. She focuses on assisting others, so she's always got her equipment ready if someone needs something mended.

Akari (Actress, ENFJ) - THE BEARER OF THE AHOGE. Famous ever since she started as a child star, she's always had every life decision made for her by her agent or stage parents. Sounds like you need some character development, girl!

Minata (Gardener, INFP) - Shows off detailed scientific knowledge more suited for a "Botanist" title, but he goes by Gardener for a reason. Practical and kind, he's the type to show up in a working outfit.

Hana (Cinematographer, ISFP) - Has earned awards for her work, yet currently struggles to get attached to new films. Design-wise, her formal presentation is her trying to compensate for that career struggle and look older. Girl should be on LinkedIn, she wants to N E T W O R K.

Momoko (???, ENTP) - Picture a walking pair of 🖕🏼🖕🏼. But. Like. A funny one. Don't worry, girl; as a ???, you're plot-important! You're sure to stick around! (Ignore the muffled Rantaro voice.) I actually had a very specific inspiration for her look, but it's a spoiler for why she's actually there and what her identity ends up being.

Maeko (Director, ISTP) - Three movie-related talents, by now. Is that plot-relevant? An artifact of me being near the Hollywood Sign? MAYBE BOTH? (It's both.) Anyway, Maeko is willing to Commit to the Bit of whatever she's working on, hence showing up in that old-fashioned director's outfit. She knows how the whole Ultimates thing works.

Shin (Statistician, INTJ) - My MBTI sign. :) As a kid, Shin decided that the mathematician in Jurassic Park was totally cool. That ended up steering him toward ear spikes and hair streaks instead of sweater vests. Still gotta have glasses, though.

Riko (Astronomer, INTP) - Riko is clueless about basically everything besides star maps, including "how to act like a normal teenager" or "how to stand comfortably." She gets a generic uniform (with constellation tights) because she wouldn't have the slightest clue where to start, otherwise.

Moriaki (Salesman, ESFP) - Heya pal 👉🏼👉🏼 Thanks for stopping by for a chat 👉🏼👉🏼 I definitely won't make any deals I can't handle 👉🏼👉🏼 KHAKIS 👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼

Ayame (Journalist, ENTJ) - I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that an investigative journalist is a good fit as one of the hard carries in trials. She zips around to stories on her motorcycle, hence the boots, jacket, and sunglasses :)

Satoru (Historian, ISTJ) - What an asshole. (He has my favorite of everyone's FTEs.)

Hiro (Fire Fighter, ESTJ) - A fire fighter. Literally named Hiro. His existence as a character is NOT. SUBTLE. Add in his first aid training, and you have someone too good to be true. (Maybe...?)

Katori (Beach Volleyball, ENFP) - Obviously, this design had to exist if I'm trying to respect many (but not all) of the tropes. Laid-back, optimistic, and totally into manifesting positive outcomes. She's basically an insta influencer who found herself in a killing game.

Katsuro (Rock Climbing, ESTP) - HIS SISTER WAS THE ONE TO PROPOSE THESE DUMBASS THEMED OUTFITS, FYI.

Ren (Bodyguard, ESFJ) - You might be big as hell, but that doesn't look like much of a bodyguard outfit, bro 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Daichi (Outdoorsman, ISFJ) - A second huge dude! BREAKING THE MOLD. (Actually, you might have noticed that there are four pretty ripped dudes, and that is in fact plot-relevant at multiple points. It's not only me going 'thirst traps for both sides.' Anyway.) I'd loosely planned out his outfit (flannel shirt, timberland boots, etc.), but I also wanted to involve a school uniform somehow. The only way he could fit into one: ripping his blazer's arms off to turn it into a vest.

SO, there they are. :) I'm tens of thousands of words into this fangan script, have all the trials, evidence, major plot beats, and the ending mapped out, and a 100+ CC0-license 3D objects + locations plus several hundred sound effect files stockpiled. It's happening! Slowly. But it's happening! I will try my very best to make a fun, engaging game.

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Hello, I am 16 years old. I have taken many tests, and read your blogs and descriptions about the Cognitive Functions and processes. I have narrowed my decisions down to two types. INTP AND ISTP. If you are able to find it, I could your advice as a resource to help me find my official type.

Dominant Ti- INTP and ISTP argument.

Between the ages of 6-12 and before some steess happened to me, I was a very curious child, watching many videos about how things worked, many History and Science Vids just to learn for fun. I tend to notice inconsistencies with data, and real life systems such as schools. Additionally, I also tend to have my own framework on how the world works. Such as me thinking that relationships are like an abstract system were you have to stabilize it at all angles to keep it running. I also think that many concepts like Newtons Laws can be applicable to many things like relationships . Like the 3rd Law where for every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A good example of this is that the more you love the person in a relationship, the more it will hurt when you break up. My one family member, who is an ISTJ btw told me that my logic makes sense and that it is kind of weird. I also have the thinking that School is just a chore, and that School is not real knowledge to me. I also tend to like to analyze things I am interested in such as Personality Theory, History, Science, and Math and knowing how they were formed and how it happened so I can expand my logical framework into a rich innerworld full of knowledge.

Inferior Fe-

One time when I got stressed, mainly due to me not reading social ques well which caused me to get used. I started getting so clingy to people, which caused people to become distant from me, which I didnt know was bad. I also had an emotional breakdown in front of my friend because I failed to admit that my crush didnt like me, which caused me to lose that friend. Recently, after a friend and I started growing distant, I started becoming so paranoid about how other people percieve me, which caused me to have a fear that people will laugh at me and betray me. During that time, I suddenly got stressed, and then went outside to be agressively social to someone I didnt know by cussing and emphasising logic to an extreme. I also noticed that it was harder for me to think, mainly due to the fact that I am so paranoid about others. But before that, I had an expierence where I got jealous, which caused me to suddenly want to get involved in a family friends personal business, by asking for their phone number via their parents, just so I can get invasive and make them feel uncomfy. I tend to want to have socially interactions, but I tend to fail at them due to how awkward I was.

INTP Argument Aux Ne and Tert Si argument:

I also noticed, that not only did I learn about many topics like history and science by watching videos. I also tend to make up my fictional World Wars, drawing maps based on those in the videos, and even coming up with new ways I believe the worlds problems could be fix. I tend to also find bizarre connections to things, such as me connecting Physics and Relationships, two things I somehow connected, even though they are not related to each other. I also tend to easily jump from topic to topic when talking to people about my ideas and even having normal conversations. Additionally, I seem to get really energized when brainstorming about all the possibilities, which to others can seem kinda quirky. I also tend to have a problem sticking to one possibility sometimes, due to the fact I can easily accept other possible theorys, even though it is not likely to happen. My Si shows up as me having vivid memories of things like dates. However my Si can be somewhat inconsistent due to the fact that somedays, I can be great with memories while on other days, I cant even remember where I sit in class. My Si kinda somewhat developed, thanks to my family member who is an ISTJ. She forced me to somewhat develop it because she tends to punish me for forgetting habits, routines, and chores by taking away my phone for 2 hours.

ISTP Argument Aux Se and Tert Ni

At the Age of 13, I suddenly was more active. I started playing tennis as a sport, and wanted to explore the world more by trying out new things around me. I also got less picky with food, and suddenly wanted to start trying things with a lot of topics despite me not liking those things in the past. I also started acting before thinking just for me to experience things. One time, I suddenly had a hunch that caused me to accuretly guess my friends birthday. I felt like I was in a Ti-Ni loop one time, where I was so obsessed about the future, that I slowed got less interested in staying present, and suddenly started worring more about the future.

-----------------------

Several problems with your submission:

- Overall, my impression is you don't have very deep knowledge of yourself. While some of this can be chalked up to youth, you also didn't follow the submission instructions properly, so you haven't done enough self-reflection. Remember, I'm only able to see what you're able to show, and you haven't shown enough, barely scratched the surface.

- Your descriptions of T and N overlap too much for comfort. I don't know if this is due to not understanding the difference conceptually, not being able to spot the difference in yourself, or a combination of both. Until you are able to disentangle the two cognitive processes, the dominant function remains unclear, which means it will be very difficult for the rest of the stack to snap into place.

- A lot of people, especially introverts, are socially awkward/inept but it doesn't mean they have inferior Fe - do not confuse the two. Until you are able to clarify the reasons for and/or explain the psychological mechanisms underlying your socializing issues, inferior Fe remains unproven. Additionally, there's a lot more to Fe than socializing. Until you have a better understanding of what Fe is and what exact role it plays in your mind in relation to the other functions, its stack position remains up in the air.

- The auxiliary and tertiary function descriptions were unhelpful due to lacking detailed examples and not providing exactly the information I asked for in the guide. ISTP seems unlikely, though.

Generally speaking, I need to reach >95% confidence before I'm willing to confirm or disconfirm a possibility. Unfortunately, since none of the stack positions are clear, your submission does not meet my threshold as sufficient proof of INTP, nor does it allow me to rule it out.

[bopinion]

2023 / 22

Aperçu of the Week:

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not the ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

(Stephen Hawking - British theoretical physicist and astrophysicist at Cambridge University)

Bad News of the Week:

With the Manhattan Project, mankind has already opened Pandora's box once. For there will be no way back to a time before nuclear weapons. Despite knowing better, the lid will never be put on the box, because there will always be people who see an advantage in it: personal preservation of power, deterrence against real or imagined threats, signs of national strength and other superficial egoisms. We will never get rid of this curse. And exactly the same thing is happening again now. With artificial intelligence. Says Warren Buffett, too.

The scientists can't be blamed for this. It is in their nature to test the limits of what is possible. And if the goal of their research and development is also economically attractive, there will always be someone to fund their work. It started with shopping recommendations in online stores. It continued with the analysis of movement profiles. And today, AI in insurance companies is already making decisions about who gets which rate at which conditions. All based on bare numbers, so 100% objective.

In a way, the great advantage of human intelligence is the equally human retarding moment. It is called conscience. Doubts are good, because they let humans think again, risk a second look, weigh things up based on personal experience. Artificial intelligence does not have this control mechanism. It decides purely on the basis of facts, coldly, ruthlessly. Example: how would artificial intelligence decide if the power fails in a hospital and the emergency generator only has enough electricity for one system. What would it shut down - itself or the life-support systems of patients in palliative care who were doomed anyway? Exactly.

The statements from critics - and there are many among them who have been or are in AI development themselves, such as Sam Altman, the head of ChatGPT creator Open AI - calling on policymakers to act are serious. Once again, technical progress is much faster than regulatory requirements. Still, for example, the handling of fake news and hate speech in social media lags far behind. But this time there is (even) more at stake: the control of the human over the machine.

Joachim Weickert, professor of mathematics and computer science at Saarland University, lists four areas of risk: Upheaval in the labor market, even for highly skilled professions. Destabilization of societies through disinformation. Loss of control, intransparency and one-sidedness. And finally, the damaging independence of AI itself - by simply taking command itself, fully aware of its own superiority. Almost 40 years ago, we were introduced to the central machine instance Skynet in the cinema. Let's hope it's not "I am back!" one day in reality.

Good News of the Week:

I am a child of the Cold War. Germany and Europe were divided. In school we learned what to do in the event of an atomic bomb explosion and subway stations led to bunkers. The world seemed clearly divided into good and evil. Nevertheless, I took to the streets against the stationing of Pershing missiles, found the "nuclear sharing" frightening - to this day, we Germans do not know where the U.S. forces keep how many nuclear weapons in our country. Neither do we know about Great Britain and France. Creepy.

Then came the turning point. Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union collapsed, the war of systems seemed to have a clear winner. And nuclear weapons were to rust away uselessly, serving only as a fetish of Arab and East Asian rulers. With Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, there are now two men in power in undemocratic states for whom nuclear weapons are a perfectly normal utensil of geopolitical interests.

And the United States is not very squeamish about its words either. In the future, the United States should be able "for the first time in your history, to deter two roughly equal nuclear powers," says national security adviser Jake Sullivan. And, "one of our greatest nonproliferation successes in the age of nuclear weapons has been extended nuclear deterrence, which gives many of our allies the assurance that they don't have to develop their own nuclear weapons." In short, living with the bomb is again (or still) quite normal.

At this point in Sullivan's speech on Friday in the White House press room, I would have preferred to get out of it and would have expected unpleasant dreams for the following night. But then I was surprised: In light of the New START nuclear arms control treaty, which expires in 2026 and which Russia suspended four months ago anyway, Sullivan called for talks "on how to deal with nuclear risks beyond 2026" so that no new conflicts would arise.

And then came a double whammy: first, the U.S. called for talks "without preconditions," and second, it directed that call to Russia - and China. And thus, for the first time, acknowledges an equal footing. Therefore, the talks will happen. I am not naive, there will be no large-scale waiver with reciprocal controls that everyone would then abide by. But whoever made the statement "Where there is talk, there is no shooting." was almost always right.

Personal happy moment of the week:

My son returned yesterday from a vacation in Italy with his mother and sister. Where he was not only willing to risk a glimpse of nature and culture, but also went swimming for a whole two hours every day. And today he left with my father for a week-long bike tour, from Koblenz along the Moselle to Luxembourg. And he has already declared that he will also make a detour to a church or castle worth seeing. In addition, he not only tanned his skin in Italy, but also overtook my wife in height. So in every sense it means: he is getting big.

I couldn't care less...

...about the further rapprochement of the Arab powers Saudi Arabia and Iran. This time in the form of the establishment of a naval alliance. Officially it is said that this is the only way to bring security to the region. Iranian naval commander Sharam Irani declares: "Then we will witness our region being liberated from unauthorized forces." This can only mean the U.S. naval base in Bahrain. A common adversary is apparently enough to bridge fundamental differences - in this case, the Shiite versus Sunni faiths of Islam. Unfortunately, this will do nothing for democracy or even human rights. On the contrary: The oppression of women, for example, will be cemented even more firmly.

As I write this...

...a mixture of full moon, everyday worries and Monday horror keeps me from sleeping. Well at least I'll get my blog done, which I didn't get around to finish yesterday / Sunday.

Post Scriptum

On Saturday was organ donation day. A topic that urgently needs more attention. Because about 8,500 Germans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, for kidneys, for example, about eight years - too long for many. And in 2022, only 900 people donated an organ. Theoretically, people are much more willing to donate, but bureaucracy is the main obstacle: many relatives don't even know what the deceased person's position is on the subject, and there is often no valid identification. The so-called "objection solution" would put an end to this, as the donation would then have to be actively and centrally documented. But there is currently no majority in parliament for this. And at least one person dies every day in Germany - avoidably.

[imranslm]

Book Notes

The human brain is the most incredible information-processing instrument in the universe. However, we need to learn how to use this tool. We usually think of ourselves as driving this instrument. We are not practical thinkers.

How do you use your mind to get what you want? Change your thoughts, change your life. It is a normal part of a normal life to feel stuck. There are useful and useless thoughts. We need to stay grounded and listen to all facts. The mind is a body that needs regular exercise to keep in shape. We like to have the same thoughts cause it makes us feel comfortable. We usually say we must relax and watch Netflix, BUT why do we get tired?

Your mind is your most important thing, and you must train it. The life of wisdom is a life of reason. I always ask myself where my brain's stop button is.

Not all thoughts are good. The universe changes, but our lives remain the same, and we have less time for ourselves. It is hard to control our thoughts. The mind is a tool for solving problems; your thoughts' quality equals your mind's quality. Therefore, I am. You exist even though your thoughts are crazy. A lot of the time, our thoughts don't make sense; we are divided as a species. Being able to tell the truth, what is accurate, and what is true. Listen to your feelings and try to understand where your thoughts are coming from. Life is not a liner. I let others do the thinking for me. Nothing is guaranteed in life. You have to work. Skills, the better you are at something, the easier it is to be successful at working for other people.

Things do not always go as we planned; that's why you create a backup plan. There are many ways to reach your goals. I feed my brain with interesting information but don't try to connect the dots. We eat the same things, make the same mistakes, walk the same paths, and complain that we are stuck. To achieve a breakthrough, you need a change.

It is easy to stay in your head for hours, preoccupied, but with what? Be aware of your thoughts, but don't blame yourself. Why are you having these thoughts? You aren't controlled by your thoughts. Inside your control, outside of control. Eliminate thoughts you cannot control; only think of things under your control and desire. Understand knowledge, and try to understand how you can use knowledge to improve your life. Don't keep any other knowledge in your mind. Think about how knowledge can improve your life.

Cognitive Bias.

Our perception is affected by our thoughts; our perception determines our actions. If you believe in something, you will prove that you are right by finding information.

Don't trust your first thoughts. Give it time and think. Your first reaction is outdated because it is based on Cognitive Bias. Why even want to come across as smart? No more quick decisions, travel/renovation plans, etc. That quick yes ages ago can be stuck in your mind. Just take an extra day to think.

Please give me a day or two to think about it. Read two hours a day, writing an article to share ideas I learned. Shut down, I wasn't feeling well; I felt stuck. But I put through, and got back at it, and after down again.

Training your brain happens in stages. When I think, I talk to myself; when I write, I also speak to myself. Drawing freezes your mind from constant talking. Think of visualizing an idea.

Be yourself instead of what you should be. Beat yourself instead of the world.

You might not have to think when something is unimportant, but you should prioritize it. We become too dependent when we give too much importance to things; an example of money is when you do a job you hate. I don't buy things I don't need. I like to train myself to resist the things I want. Money is a replaceable resource, but time is not. Don't spend your time thinking too much of money.

Be unconventional; conventional thinking gives you conventional results. Write down the pros and cons.

In life, it is not this or that. It can be this and that. Don't think binary; think more abundant.

If you are in the maze, you cannot see the goal from your standpoint, and you don't know which direction to move. You need to see the maze from above. So you know which direction to start moving.

[demigodofhoolemere]

@cosmik-homo Oh, FULL agree. I was just putting together the obvious things that kill the notion that they never did anything stone dead without further explanation but YES, many of my favorite moments for these characters are them being clever or kind or just interesting and human. I love that they all feel like genuine people, and very different people from each other. They all have so many attributes outside of Being Cool (which I don’t understand how that became the be all end all), and it’s amazing how much can be severely overlooked just because they weren’t being glaringly obvious about it. So many people act like the female companions didn’t even have personalities up until like, Sarah Jane or Ace, or even until Rose as if New Who invented having a full personality. It blows my mind, because I’ve always seen such individual and developed characters in these women, whether or not they ever do anything that is Cool (though they all do and people ignore it) and perhaps especially because there isn’t always some obvious cool thing about them; you have to rely on good characterization. Kicking butt is not a personality and doesn’t replace being an actual person. I love the classic ladies and all of their facets and strengths and weaknesses. I have much love for the modern companions as well but there’s something that feels so very realistic in particular about the classic ones because they all feel so… normal, and all in different and interesting ways of being normal. And it’s not that New Who doesn’t have that, but it’s… a different flavor? It relies less on making sure that the companions must look super brave and awesome, and because they’re not making a show of it, I think it just feels more natural and accessible to me, and you can see the strength and bravery in things that don’t look important. Susan isn’t yelling at the world with a gun in her hand but she is crossing a precarious bridge so she can fix it for the others from the other side. Polly isn’t making universe-altering decisions set to cinematic music but she is inventing a concoction, based on her knowledge of seemingly unimportant and ‘girly’ things like nail polish, that can disable the Cybermen and give them a chance. Jo isn’t becoming the Bad Wolf or splitting herself in pieces in the Doctor’s time stream but she is going around constantly brightening people’s lives with her sunshine and changing them just by being there and being an example of a wonderful person by always showing others kindness. On and on it goes. There is definitely so much more than the violence and guns. That’s just a bonus that’s fun to watch and helps when trying to get people to be quiet about them supposedly never taking action, but it’s not the main thing at all.

“The female companions in the classic series never did anything but scream and twist their ankles”

[windsails]

the funny thing is once you embrace the cringe of your own life you're free. and nobody can say anything about it because you already owned it. what else are they gonna do exactly?

so anyways. the thing i was embarrassed about is that actually i just want someone to tell me what to do. i like the idea of someone thinking for me and making all my decisions so i just get to eat and sleep and have fun and play and that's it. who wouldn't want that. i guess that's part of what i'm into now and then, and i was willing to do anyything someone wanted to experience that even for a second

but it's funny that how i overcompensated for that in my day to day life was by going on about revolution and anarchy blah blah. but what i eventually realized is that what i really wanted was just a better person to tell me what to do. a better master, a better teacher. so it's like. at least i have standards. and unfortunately if that's your interest you probably become a little bit good being in charge yourself.

like i could probably boss people around. i would be good at it because i rely on others for the knowledge and experience i base my decisions on. of course i don't really want anything except to make people happy. so there you go. that's what i really wanted, to try to give people what they want even though sometimes that's not what they need. sometimes they need to be told no. not all the time. not everybody. but definitely some people some of the time

is that wierd? i think it's pretty normal actually. i'm just being more honest about than people usually are. that's all

[bklynmusicnerd]

I love reading your perspective on gh, particularly Trina and Spencer. I love that you don’t stay on the surface level of what’s happening but think beyond that to the whys of it all. There’s a reason (when written well) Trina and Spencer move the way they do on the show and it’s important to take that into account when thinking about what they are doing, the decisions they are making. We all make decisions based off our knowledge and experiences. That’s going to inform a lot of decisions these characters make. We see that Spencer continues to be bothered by the break up of their friends group, first because of Esme and followed by the arrival of Dex, hence why he has smoke for days for these two among other reasons. They symbolize the fall of this friend group for Spencer so seeing them causes a visceral reaction and he wants to lash out. We have to remember Spencer has abandonment issues so change is hard for people like that. As we saw at the pool, making Trina happy eventually outweighed his anger towards the situation that at the end of the day he can’t do anything about and it’s just the new reality that’s he’s just gonna have to accept no matter how much it pains him to, as Trina said, “Let. It. Go.”

Thanks for the kind words, anon. Anything purely surface-level is boring to me so it's hard for to me to view any media in that way. I'm a big fan of looking at the "why" and exploring what makes characters tick. I like doing that with Trina and Spencer because I think, when they're written well, there's a lot more going on with them than the surface-level impressions of them as good, studious girl and wealthy bad boy. So that's fun for me to explore.

I also definitely agree with you on Spencer having animosity for Dex and Little Miss White Privilege because they exist as these damaging threats to their friend group. I really like this idea of Spencer seeing the friend group as like a second family for him. The quad of Nik, Lucky, Liz and Emily definitely functioned like a found family. And the friend group Spencer wants with Trina, Cam and Joss is probably never going to come to fruition like that. It's basically on life support after Little Miss White Privilege's antics and the Joss and Dex affair. Of course the reality is that if the friend group was really that strong, they would have survived Little Miss White Privilege and Dex easily.

So maybe Spencer is going through that phenomenon where it's easier to blame outside threats as opposed to looking at the internal weaknesses. It is good that Spencer finally had that moment of prioritizing maintaining peace for Trina when she needed it over picking a pointless fight. It was a solid contrast to his behavior at the beginning of the wedding. I did find it kind of interesting that Trina is basically telling Spencer to let it go and adapt to the new normal. Because she's also grappling with her own inability to let go.

She's lying to herself about Joss because she's afraid to face the new reality of what type of person her best friend is becoming. So, in a weird way, Spencer and Trina have similar hangups, Trina's passive approach to hers just comes across more functional than Spencer's combative approach.