#but 100k doesn't look like a real number

[smol-feralgremlin]

Finished my rough draft for Between Dragons and Nightstalkers and uh

Thats not a real fucking number

[rassicas]

today on splatoon mythbusters: is Agent 4 a country bumpkin?

no lol this is probably the funniest widespread misconception to come out in recent years A big part of it is because people misunderstood this map.

I came across this trivia point on the wiki page for agent 4 while making this post LOL agent 4 has better access to public transportation than 95% of you With all that green on the map and nothing marked in between, It seems that people have been assuming the population density of inkopolis looks something like the image on the left. While it's unclear exactly how big the population is of inkadia and the surrounding area is, going roughly off of how irl east Tokyo and neighboring Chiba prefecture look, i think its safe to guess were dealing with an urban area that looks more like whats on the right.

(side note about population count: i take the account of the Low Water Party with a grain of salt since that isnt even a real number they used. something that is more reliable is that graffiti artist Sally has over 240k followers on social media. while followers can be from anywhere in the world ofc, it sounds like her fanbase is largely in inkopolis. i think its safe to say inkopolis is a very big city!)

If we're to look more at the irl equivalent of the area, it seems the Inkopolis Coastal Connector is based on the Keiyo Line. Following that line roughly to where 4's house is lands us in a ward in Chiba city. It doesn't look like much, but about 100k people live in that area. Not a super crazy urban area like tokyo, but still urban.

(incidentally, a major landmark on the Keiyo line is Makuhari Messe, where 3 of the irl splatoon idol concerts have been held. maybe a coincidence but maybe gives more credence to the idea that that's what the coastal connector is based on?) Apparently on the Japanese side, there's a theory that 4 is from Yotsukaido, which is a little further north of the area i circled. why there? Yotsukaido means "4 town street"...4...haha

Ok enough guessing based on "vibes" and real maps that may or may not be accurate to how things are in the splatoon world. The Actual lore: On Splatoon base it's confirmed they grew up about 40 minutes away from Inkopolis by train, close to the city. That's like a nothing amount of distance.

Another developer interview from 2017 goes into more detail.

Inoue: Agent 3 had a very "I've finally made it to the city" feeling, with a strong desire to become fresh. 4 on the other hand, not so much. Rather than being someone from the countryside, they're more like someone who came from a commuter town within the greater metropolitan area. It's like a place where the limited express trains wouldn't stop at, but the semi-express trains would (laughs).

so agent 4 is very clearly, a city kid. agent 3 is the country bumpkin, from an area so far away its not even on the map. According to splatoon base...

Far enough away that they moved to inkopolis alone. meanwhile 4 lives close enough that they could just go home to their parents after battling.

Also this is something that I never see brought up. Amidst the dubiously canon early concept comics in the back of the artbook, there's a comic about agent 3 leaving their hometown, mentioning they live in a seaside town called [REDACTED] with a population of 5000.

Again, these comics are dubious since theyre so old. but there are ideas in these comics that have carried over to the final games in some form, and this is consistent with agent 3's final characterization that they come from a far away small town and had a longing for the city.

anyway tldr i think its funny how agent 4's fandom characterization/backstory got swapped with 3's all because of a misread map

[bottomlouisficfest]

This is the full list of fics from the Bottom Louis Fic Fest 2024. You can find more information about each fic and links to the fic posts in the bi-weekly masterposts, which will be linked in the week labels below.

Week One:

make sure you kiss your knuckles before you punch me in the face (25k)

More, More, More (9k)

.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- (I Love You) (27k)

Upon the Plot Where I Took My Eternal Residence (6k)

all you're dreaming of (61k)

Week Two:

Fly Me To Places I've Never Been (47k)

a dream awaits in aisle number two (6k)

Kiwi - It's your business! (23k)

Love is red and it looks so good on you (12k)

Blue Nights (55k)

Week Three:

The Royal Midwife (40k)

Do You Want to Know a Secret? (8k)

Your Handprints On My Hips (20k)

Roman Empire (11k)

Forget Me Not (100k)

Week Four:

Student of the Year (53k)

Anything at all (Worse than anyone) (9k)

One, two or three? (21k)

I’m a fire, and I’ll keep your brittle heart warm (12k)

Easier Than Lying (50k)

Week Five:

Help Me Make It Through The Night (23k)

cherries and honey (8k)

Me and my Husband (19k)

if i cannot bend heaven, i'll rise hell (109k)

Week Six:

God I Love the English (39k)

Lost In Psychic Dire Straits (11k)

You're Not Harry Styles (or are you?) (20k)

yours to reign (40k)

Sharp as Sugar, Sweet as Spice (60k)

Week Seven:

I am br(ok)en (53k)

Soft Hands Organics - Adore Sensitive Skin (8k)

don't make me feel special (27k)

I love it better if I repeat it many times; firefly, firefly, firefly ᡣ𐭩 (66k)

Week Eight:

No bananas in the library (36k)

we're leading each other out of the dark (16k)

I used to call you my best friend way back before you were my everything (7k)

as the summer fades away (66k)

Week Nine:

One Last Time (24k)

Wolves, I hear them calling for you (18k)

Total distraction (58k)

Eyes full of stars, heart full of sins (5k)

i know your love’s not real (68k)

Week Ten:

In The Spotlight, In His Arms (20k)

from underneath your glow (53k)

Always Yours (8k)

Midnight Doesn't Last Forever (64k)

Week Eleven:

My everything. (31k)

On a Night Like Tonight (9k)

limelight (20k)

a flicker of hope that i wanna keep (please don’t leave) (12k)

Week Twelve:

Show Me Your Soul (53k)

more at stake (17k)

Once Upon a Time (37k)

The Cobbled Streets of You and Me (5k)

The Crow Flies Straight. (80k)

Please help support this year’s fics by liking and reblogging the posts on Tumblr, liking and retweeting the posts on Twitter, giving kudos, and leaving a comment! 😊

[takaraphoenix]

Today I learned that AO3 stats actually show you your word count per year. I did not know that. Whenever I wanted to figure that out, I did the damn math by hand.

So I got curious.

And it's actually interesting. To me, anyway.

The earliest stat that makes sense to check is 2015, since in 2014 I transferred four years worth of fics onto the account as I started it.

And the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 were all rather similar at around a million words per year, give or take 100k (but in a manner that does even out to a million on average again).

2019 saw a dip into 775k, which surprises me because I genuinely don't remember anything significant happening that year to justify the drop.

The years 2020, 2021 and 2022 all clog in at around 660k each, give or take 10k, much lower but also steady. And this does make more sense, between the pandemic, me finishing my Bachelor and then being on the job hunt, I had regular time to write, but less.

And though I'd known that 2023 was my worst writer's block in over 15 years, seeing it proven in numbers was really startling.

245k. That's less than half of what I wrote on average for the prior three years, a third of the year before that, a fourth of the years before that. I had months where I didn't write a single word and it really reflects in the final word count.

Now comes the delightful part though! We are only in August of this year and I am already at 430k. I'm already close to having written twice as much as I did last year in total, and the year is only two-thirds over.

This really makes me happy. I know I got my grove back, I mean damn I wrote a 14k fic yesterday, start to finish, and my Writer's Month clocks in at 58k on day 12 out of 31, so yeah I know I'm writing like I'm running out of time, but seeing just how significant the improvement is to last year makes me incredibly, incredibly happy.

(I am right now at a total word count of 9.5 million. Which doesn't look like a real number tbh. A whole lot of fics got written in the past 14 years.)

[sophieinwonderland]

Now, why would you dare me to embarrass you and your pals like that?

I appreciate how you wanted my attention so bad you posted me to not one, but two subreddits.

Makes a girl feel special! 🤣

I have actually never seen Wikipedia cited as a source about endogenic plurality. Though I do see anti-endos all the time, when asked for sources, telling people to just Google things.

Anyway, here's @guardianssystem's document filled with academic papers about endogenic plurality:

I've compiled my own, but honestly, theirs is better organized than mine.

And in the interest of fairness, here are all the anti-endo papers debunking endogenic plurality:

Sorry, I forgot. Those don't exist. Oops. 🤷‍♀️

Echo chamber? LOL!

Weren't you the one spouting a bunch of lies on Tumblr, got totally debunked, posted the people who debunked you to r/systemscringe to have a hugbox where fakeclaimers could assure you how the people who contradicted you are all fakers, and then blocked everyone who disagreed with you?

Weren't you also the one who, when shown a quote from an expert in dissociative disorders who worked on the DSM-5 saying that a disorder isn't a disorder if it doesn't cause distress, argued that the people who defined what disorder are must be wrong about that definition?

You're a misinformation machine who can only find support when huddled in cringe subreddits. Don't try to talk about people in echo chambers.

Also, you know most of psychology is just... listening to people? That's how it's been as long as the field existed. DID (or MPD at the time) was a recognized disorder since long before the first brain scans were conducted on DID patients. It's saying something though when basically every single scientist who has ever researched endogenic plurality has said they believe it's a real thing, or that it could be. While absolutely zero academic papers have expressed that it's fake.

There is also an fMRI study into tulpa systems that's been in the works, but results have yet to be published.

Sure, if that's what you'd like me to call you, Crazy. 😊

Anyway, Crazy, you should know that just because you personally find something scary doesn't mean everyone will or that the thing is bad. Personal preferences are a thing.

In a study of tulpamancers though, most generally reported their lives becoming better after the practice.

78% reported improvements in their mental health, and 91% on overall life.

There are many out there who would jump at the chance to have someone there with them that knows them intimately, and to never have to be alone again.

If it's not for you, then so be it.

But it's certainly not something to be afraid of.

And maybe, for those who are willing to commit to the practice while America struggles with an epidemic of loneliness, it's something worth being open to.

This is actually pretty fair.

But that's now, and I'm looking at course of history and trends of plural acceptance.

300 years ago, any plural would be viewed as demon possessed and end up tortured or killed for their plurality.

70 years ago, all plurality was seen as a mental illness, and it was common to force plurals, as well as anyone else associated with mental illnesses, into asylums.

30 years ago, the first real plural communities were able to connect on the internet and form in small numbers.

8 years ago, the first studies into endogenic plurality started being conducted. 4 years ago, the ICD-11 acknowledged that you could have multiple distinct personality states without a disorder. 2023 marked the first, but certainly not the last, time a system used their system name as an author of an academic paper.

Recently, new plural resources have been designed and put into use. More servers than ever are using Pluralkit. And Simply Plural went from 100k users at the end of 2021 to 210k at the end of 2022.

Progress is happening far more rapidly than you realize. And you had best be ready for it.

BOO! 👻

Oh, hey, I just realized... this is literal pluralphobia!

Liberté!

Egalité!

Fraternité!

And yes, The Future is Plural! 😜

[karliahs]

For the fic writers ask game, 17 and 18!! :D

17. talk about your writing and editing process

ohh boy! my initial writing process is to clatter as many words onto the page as i can without overthinking it too much. which depending on how much stuff i have stored up in my head, often ends up meaning writing kind of in notes form - often just the dialogue itself with no or very little of the interstitial stuff.

hunted through my drafts and here is an example:

early drafts may also be full of square brackets of things that need to go there - [concluding dialogue] etc - or just empty square brackets to mark a place where i know some kind of descriptor will need to go between dialogue

i don't always write scenes in order, e.g. several of the scenes in unwanted that are chronologically last were written first, which definitely creates more work for myself in the long run trying to make sure things flow right and make sense but sometimes you've just gotta go for the part you're most excited about

then i go through and turn the notes into real prose, fill in all the stuff that needs to happen around the dialogue

and then i edit...obsessively. there are definitely exceptions where i've thrown things up after only a few readthroughs, but unwanted for example...i think i did editing passes on sections of that upwards of 20 times? when something is in progress i'll often get myself back into the flow by rereading & editing the parts that are already written, so whatever was written first might get an insane number of readthroughs before it all gets done

a big part of early editing is syntax and punctuation - we all joke about semicolon addictions but truly first draft me is always like. every sentence is connected to every other sentence. gotta have 4000 colons, semicolons, dashes. and i don't want to dedicate brain space to reining that in when i'm trying to get ideas out so it gets fixed (...mostly) later

i read through and look for places where sentences snag, where it doesn't quite flow right, and try to fix it. this often means waiting a day or so so i can actually notice that stuff again. i look for words that are being repeated too much (catch first draft me putting some variation of gentle/gently 4 times in the same paragraph)

i spend a lot of time looking at the stuff around dialogue. the actual words said by characters come to me pretty vividly and usually don't need that much work, but when i read through a scene i'm always looking at whether there needs to be more or less descriptors filled in around the dialogue, whether it needs to be sped up by taking some out or slowed down by putting more in.

i go through trimming off dialogue tags when they aren't needed (my old work has...infinitely too many dialogue tags imo), looking for cleverer/neater ways of indicating who is talking. thinking about whether i need to describe how a character says something or if the words said work fine on their own, and looking for repetition in how people are described talking (again first draft me is like. you've gotta indicate they are talking softly! everyone all the time is talking so so softly), and in the descriptions in general.

that kind of line-by-line editing is what i spend most of my time on. because my works are relatively short, i don't need to do as much big structure stuff - though for some fics i fuss with the order of scenes a lot, like unwanted again: i changed the order of the dream sequences and shiho scenes a lot.

then a certain amount of editing for thematic coherency/making sure things come to a conclusion that feels right to me. often i'll spend a lot of time fussing with the last scenes to try and make sure that the resolution feels decisive enough to be satisfying but not like everything is 100% fixed forever, because i'm usually writing people having big emotional things that can't be fixed without like 100k words and a bunch of therapy. it's a balance.

ahhh this got so long but man. editing. it's so so much work. it's the only reason anything i write is any good. it's really exciting when i can feel myself getting better at it. i could talk about it forever probably

18. if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

i'm trying to get better about keeping this stuff because it is really fun to look back on!

i had a doc full of offcuts from dead man's hand, because i pretty much let that conversation wander wherever it wanted to go while drafting and then wrestled it into some kind of coherency later, so here's a section of unused dialogue from there:

[brightgolden]

2022 Writing Self-Evaluation

I was tagged by these amazing writers @neondiamond @greenblueish @lunarheslwt @disgruntledkittenface @onlythebravest

1. Number of stories posted to AO3 this year: 4 (wow that's serious contrast compared to last year if this doesn't show how much i'm struggling idk what will)

2. Word count posted for the year: 161 377

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

4. Pairings: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson

5. Story with the most:

Kudos: Here's Your Perfect

Bookmarks: Here's Your Perfect

Comments: Here's Your Perfect

More under the cut!

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): 

Easily Enchanted. I loved how easy the whole plot came to me and how quickly I finished it. The whole process was like a breeze.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why):

Definitely I Do. I finished writing it in February 2021, and I believed I have grown as a writer since then. The whole fic was so so cringey

8. Share or describe a favourite review you received:

Probably when someone messaged to tell me how much they loved the fic. Looking at you @lululawrence and @thinlinez

And anyone who were diligent enough to click through multiple links to come to my blog and write a comment or ask about new fics

9. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Tbh the second half of my year just went on a nosedive that it left me absolutely knackered by November/December.

In comparison, I usually write 20k every month and in November, I only wrote 8k.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Probably Atticus in Here's Your Perfect. Never in my life did I have to spend more than 6 hours with a toddler, and yet I received a comment saying how realistic his character is.

11. A favourite excerpt of your writing:

The dialogue is something I came up with halfway through writing Endgame which is a rare occurrence.

Alma shakes her head, index finger raised in the air as she patiently explains, “There just isn’t any recent documentation about soulmates because people progress. They build boats and sail around the world. How do you expect to meet your soulmate if they don’t live in the same land as you? Hmm?”

Harry turns to Louis, wanting him to refute it too. But Louis looks like he is actually entertaining the idea, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed.

“And over time, without the relevancy, soulmates became folklore,” he mumbles. “Mum said that when I was young.”

12. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I'm not sure I do, but looking back at I Do, I'm probably selling myself short here.

Other than that, probably being brave enough to finally write my first 100k fic. Although, considering I didn't manage to finish it in time, I might regret putting so much of my time in that one.

13. How do you hope to grow next year:

Literally stop being so hard on myself as a writer.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

During my darkest days, I can always rely on @pocketsunshineharry and @thinlinez They are my best cheerleader and definitely the reason I'm still writing today.

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Not intentionally, but Harry's persistence in proving himself in Here's Your Perfect

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Write whenever you want, whatever you want, however you want. Don't let anything/anyone discourage you.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: 

My beloved Mob AU that at this point I have developed love-hate relationship with. So tired of writing and talking about this one.

A fic for @faithinthefutureficfest and a sugar baby fic that I'm really excited about

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

I feel like everyone has done this at this point because in my classic way, I waited for the last day of the year to make an evaluation.

Tagging @ohpleaselarry @harryslonecurl @dragmedown @cyantific if you haven't done this already!

[justinforprez]

stocks are up because of massive layoffs

possibly because of AI automation whether thats legit or sustainable

many skilled workers have retired early. Boeing has this problem. The average mechanic age has dropped from 51 to 41 but their total mechanic count hasn't really increased and people under 30 is only 1/3 of the workers

That means those people exited the employment market and do not contribute to unemployment

unemployment is ONLY the people on government unemployment insurance making claims

Milk is $10/gal for anything thats doesn't taste like chemicals

Stocks do not represent the real economy. This is something that all investors understand

Only 168 mil people work. The layoffs this year that have hit the news should have driven that number up, yet somehow didn't. We are looking at 100k plus layoffs that were in the news.

Techcrunch has 64,495 tech layoffs Jan-Apr

Heres some additional that they didn't list that Business Insider lists:

Blackrock: 600 (3%)

Citi: 20,000 (10%)

By the way this doesn't include 2023 layoffs like Google's 12,000 in Jan last year)

Nike: undisclosed but will be issuing severance packages

UPS: 12,000

Estee Lauder: 3100 (5%)

Paramount: 800

Expedia: 1500 (listed by TC but no number was announced yet so it wasn't in their count)

Stellantis: 400

Tesla: 14,000 (10%) hasn't happened yet

Walmart :"hundreds"

Under Armour: undisclosed $22 million in severance

So remember these things:

169 million workers out of 268 million potential workers including those not searching or retired (civilian noninstitutional population)

unemployment is based on people taking unemployment checks from the government and if you stop looking for a job for 4 weeks you are REMOVED from that statistic

Known 116,000 layoffs with public companies

60% of jobs are small businesses

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm

according to statistics there are ~20 mil people between 16 and 19 years old and yet 18 million between 16 and 20 have jobs

thats seems off. padded. wrong. LIES. when I found another stat that said only 55% between 16 and 24 were employed

and most people leave college at 22 though the average is much higher at 26 and 62% of people go to college

so how the fuck are there so many jobs in that low end?

55% believe the economy is shrinking, and 56% think the US is experiencing a recession, though the broadest measure of the economy, gross domestic product (GDP), has been growing. 49% believe the S&P 500 stock market index is down for the year, though the index went up about 24% in 2023 and is up more than 12% this year. 49% believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high, though the unemployment rate has been under 4%, a near 50-year low.

My new calling card/mantra: You cannot policy tweak your way around this

[stonewallsposts]

What (some) women want from life and relationships

This is taken from Courtney Ryan's video about Male Income. It will be kind of a longer, rambling post. I listened to this video while I was doing some brainless work, and was interested in the topic of the way these girls looked at life; their expectations; and the reactions to the statistics.  

She interviews a group of her friends about their thoughts on what they want from life, and what they want in partners. 

Questions:  1. Ideal age for guy you are looking to be with?  Mercia is 27- looking for a guy around 32  Maria is 27- looking for an age range between 28-35  Gab (30)- 30  Erica (24)- 28-36, not 40's  Tressa- 29-38  Stella (23)- 27  Avi (28)- 32-43 

2. what percent of the family income to you want to contribute? Do you want to be the breadwinner? 50/50? Stay-at-home wife/mom?  Avi- 40%, would be ok with 50% Gab- 50%  Mercia- no more than 70%  Maria- stay at home, so 0% Erica- 0% necessary. May work, but wants 100% capability to live on husband  Tressa- 50%  Stella- stay at home ideal.  

3. Ideal lifestyle: home-how many bedrooms? How much square footage?, how many kids?, car? Vacations?  Stella- "nothing crazy, but enough for individual space". 3-4 bed, 2 bath, at least 5 acres. 4-5k sq ft.   2-3 kids  Car- dream? Pagani BC (1.5m), more realistic- Ferrari f12 (300-500k) International travel, but not huge priority 

Maria- 3 kids,   bigger house- 3k sq ft. 4 bed.   Mazda car, no big deal  International travel, very important 

Mercia- minimum 2300 sq ft house  No kids, but could be 4  Nice car, that stays nice. SUV, like an Escalade,   International travel, tropical areas 

Gab- 3 kids  4 bedroom house  Jeep  Travel, but not specific 

Erica- doesn't care about sq ft. 4 bedrooms for kids, doesn't need to be luxury.  2 kids  Luxury car, but no need to struggle over car. No need for a lamborghini, but a bmw or mercedes  Travel important.   Wants husband to have self-sustaining business that doesn't require working. 

Tressa- 2100-2200 sq ft 5 bedrooms,   2 kids  Not ok with regular car. Wants luxury car. Mercedes or volkswagen  International travel extremely important.  

Avi- already has 1 kid, not looking for more, but open to 3 total if partner requires it.  5 bedrooms  Practical with cars. Day to day car, but secondary car would be luxury.   Travel is very important, for both her and daughter 

4. What income range should your husband have?  Maria- 300k  Gab- 70-100k  Mercia- 127k as long as they have longevity and 3-5% raises yearly  Erica- 500k  Tressa- 150-250k  Stella- 150-250k  Avi- 650k 

5. What do you think the median income is for age 31?  (real number is 41k for a 27 yo)  (real numbers at 32: Top 25%- 70k ;  top 10%- 111k ; top 1%- 252k ; over 70% of men never make 100k even once in their lives) 

Mercia- 50k  Stella- 80k  Gab-   Maria- 80k  Erica- 70k  Tressa- 85k  Avi- 250k 

6. After hearing the real median statistics for your chosen age group, do you think your expectations are realistic?  

Avi- doesn't know how to process 

7. What is causing women to want the 1%? 

Stella- social media hype and high expectations. That lifestyle IS attainable but you gotta work for it. It's not bad to want it but you need to surround yourself with those types of people. For a long time you're gonna be in the 25% but that's how you strive and get better. 

Mercia- The guys making that kind of money are in STEM, industry, or entertainment, and they're the lucky ones 

Tressa- when she finds out that only one age group (70's) makes 200k in the top 10%, she says she'd rather be single. 

Maria- says she has met plenty of guys in her desired age/income, but when pressed, only mentions 4 total. 

8. Would you marry a guy that makes less than you?  Gab- yes, for sure.  Maria- yes. At the end of the day, it isn't really about money. Being in the ideal financial scenario with the wrong person would be miserable.  Erica- IF she has enough passive income to support her dreams, then she would be ok with husband making less, but only if she was making 500k herself. But then she says no, she couldn't marry someone making less.  Avi- she would be willing to marry the right person for less money.  Stella- yes, as long as he doesn't have more debt than her. 

9. What do the men you desire want in a woman? If they make that much money, why would they pick you? 

Tressa- a wallflower. Wifes that make dinner and are draped in lingerie. They want an unrealistic wife. Someone who does the house stuff and doesn't complain, and I'm not that. 

Stella- hopefully honesty and loyalty, but probably a fake butt and big tits. They probably aren't realistic, but they'd say the same about us. But given that they're the 1%, they can also be more choosy. Clearly women have unrealistic expectations in the money category too. 

Avi- that’s the catch with someone who can provide the lifestyle I want. But they have access to so much more than the average person, that I might not be enough for them. If I was making significantly less than my partner, I'd feel insecure, as if I wasn't on the same level as them. These men would want someone with no opinion, but I'll never be that woman. I'll always argue. They would want a woman they could be dominant over. 

Erica- as of now, doesn't want to compromise on any of her goals. She thinks it's achievable. She would settle for 300k 

Gab- not too fixated on the salary. Wants to be comfortable and have some of the things. 

Mercia- was really surprised and shocked by actual statistics. Thinks back to high school and how everyone thought by 30 they'd have it made and be living the life. Courtney mentions that you have an idea of what you want, but don't really realize what you're asking for. 

Maria- surprised by actual statistics 

Stella- shocked by actual statistics. Courtney mentions that when you're a woman making a good amount, you don't ever imagine that men would be making less. Stella still insists it's about figuring out "what type of people to be around, invest and turn money into more money.... and things of that nature...", but she finds it sad to know that lots of people will work really hard and never "get there". 

Stella asks Courtney: do you think a lot of women demand these things? Courtney says yes, and it probably comes from social media painting an unrealistic picture of what they ought to be looking for in a partner.  

Tressa- I'm gonna have to accept a man that makes 60k. And it might be better because they won't come home and cheat on you.  

Avi- these questions concern what we really want, and our expectations.... or whether we're going to settle. Maybe, if I want to change things, I need to change what rooms I’m showing up in.  

Dave's Thoughts

So, this was an interesting video to me. My first impression was that these women were all pretty ignorant of reality. Clearly they all, except for maybe Mercia and Gab, have unrealistic expectations for lifestyle and potential husbands earnings. That was my first impression. 

I do know that Courtney, the host of the show, lives in Cleveland, OH, so my guess is all these girls are from the Cleveland area. While Cleveland isn't maybe as expensive as Manhattan or West LA, I would assume it's still relatively expensive, especially if they are living downtown.  

That would mean that sure, while the median salaries quoted are true, that includes rural areas, and smaller towns too. What are the median salaries in a larger city? Presumably a fair amount higher. Maybe not 500 or 650k.... but still higher than a median that includes rural areas. 

Another factor in the girls favor is that clearly a few were just ignorant of house square footage. Thinking of starting at 4-5 thousand sq ft.... and getting bigger if needed, is nuts. But then again, I live in LA where that size house is multi-millions. Maybe in Cleveland, it's not, but from what they said, I think they just don't understand square footage. 

To the girls credit, they each seemed relatively based in that they were willing to adjust their expectations given the realities the host quoted. None of them seem like the quintessential gold-digger, and one in particular, Gab, seemed perfectly reasonable.  

Also to their credit, each of these girls is young, and very pretty. I checked several of their Instagram pages and if I were to place them, I'd guess they are probably in the top 5% of beauty. They are each well-spoken and clearly intelligent. So, would each of these girls be able to land top-earning men? I would think so.  

To be further fair to them, they were asked about their "ideal" lifestyle, not their minimum. So while some of the dreams were probably unrealistic, hey, whose dreams are down-to-earth? 

Now for some other notes. 

Each of them seemed to think that so-called 1% men, just wanted pretty, but empty vessels. I'm clearly not a 1% guy, so I'm not speaking from personal experience here, but I don't know why that should be true. I would think a man that driven would want someone who could keep up with him. Good looking, sure, but not only good looking. 

I'm also relatively certain that men at the top of the earnings standings are most likely the most driven, most ambitious men out there. That kind of earning power comes with a trade-off: he is undoubtedly going to be the kind of person looking for the best in everything, which would tend to lend itself to being the kind of guy who will also trade up on women, especially since there is a never-ending stream of girls willing to try their luck with such a guy for the opportunity to live that 1% lifestyle. So will those girls be happy? Maybe if they’re only in it for the material. If they are looking for more, probably not, and it's their own perceived needs that will do that. 

Are these women just too materialistic?  

It's hard to say. They each seem to recognize the role social media plays in warping perspectives, and since the original question talked about 'ideal' lifestyle, maybe they could be forgiven for appearing to want so much, even while recognizing their own perspectives might be warped. 

But it's hard not to notice that each of these is young, and yet they have VERY high expectations for life..... right now. The way life has almost always worked is- you start off young and struggling, then slowly work your way up as you gain more experience, stability, and earning power. Listening to these girls and their expectations shows they want everything now. Some will be able to do it, most won't. I think I would have to classify them as materialistic. One, Gab in particular, seemed unconcerned with the material side of things. She did her best to answer the questions, but when pushed was unconcerned. Most were willing to compromise in important areas; one, Erica, wasn't willing to compromise, at least right now. She said if she got to 30 without finding the guy, she'd be ready to rethink things. 

Also, to my mind, most of the girls are way overestimating what it takes to be happy in life. If you need a guy who is making half a mil... per year... then you not only want everything, you want it all in the first year! 

I make way less than this and live a perfectly happy life. We travel, we eat out at nice places regularly, we have a comfortable home. We don't have Ferraris, or 5k sqft homes, but if that's what you need, then you're definitely materialistic, especially if you aren't willing to wait for some years to build that kind of life. But I can personally vouch for the fact that you can lead a perfectly satisfying life without needing all the things these girls seem to think are so necessary.  

To finish up though, in all my experience as a human being, I have known relatively few women like this. Maybe that's due to the demographic I run in. I'm sure there are plenty of materialistic men and women out there, but I'm also sure there are plenty more who aren't near the level these girls are. I would like to believe that most of the girls out there aren't looking for a list of qualifications to get married to, they are looking for a person.  

For myself, I had no such list. At all. I meet people and I like them or don't based on who they are, not what they can bring to the table. I get that men and women, on average, are different this way. Men are expected to earn their own way, so they don't tend to think in terms of earning potential of their mates. But sometimes I do wonder if some people are looking more for a list of qualifications than an actual person. You meet someone, you like them, you fall in love based on who they are... but maybe my view is less common than I think. 

Oh, this brings me to another point: several of the ladies trotted out the idea, "men are intimidated by a woman who earns a lot". 

I don't know that I buy that, but I'm just speaking from my own experience. I find men to be generally intimidated by one thing: beauty. Men will sometimes turn ga-ga in the presence of a beautiful woman. But that's about it. Just like men mistake their own good looks as being the prime thing women like, because that's what men like; women, it seems, can sometimes mistake their job as the thing that intimidates men. Women appreciate a strong man that earns a lot, so they seem to think that's what would impress men. It doesn't. Most men don't care about a woman's earning potential. They care about looks. That's not all... we also love a woman who can banter, who is intelligent and fun. The thing in any category though isn't the level of that thing in male and female, it's how the other person makes you feel. No one likes to feel small. It doesn't bother me that a woman is smarter or makes more than me. But if she starts to assert herself for dominance and make me feel small because of those things, then, like anyone else... I'm not going to appreciate that. 

I would guess this is the same for women.  

For sure, men like to feel like they are in charge. It makes us feel more masculine. So when a woman starts to assert herself over us, it is more off-putting than anything else. Men, in general, would rather not deal with the constant challenges. It's not so much intimidating, it's just not worth the trouble. Maybe. That's my sense of it, but I acknowledge, I'm only one guy, looking from my particular perspective.   I should also add that any woman I would bother to be with, would obviously be someone I respect. I would clearly value their opinion and judgment, and any decisions to be made would be with her opinions in mind. It does neither the man nor the woman any favors if one is running over the other's desires in a show of dominance. I would want to be respected, and I fully expect that my partner would want the same thing. I think love means respect as well, so if I'm with someone, I certainly am going to respect them. Again, maybe I'm a smaller minority than I think, but this seems reasonable to me. So I'm not intimidated by a woman being smarter or earning more than I do. As long as she doesn't throw it in my face, this is a non-issue. In fact, I think I've only ever been with women who are smarter than me, so that's clearly not an issue.

Overall, I don’t want to throw shade on these girls. 1) If anyone could do it, it's probably them. 2) I'm relatively convinced that they're not as materialistic as they come off. 3) I don't think that most women, or probably even these ladies themselves are really that bad.  

I was just kind of interested in the thinking, so I've written down some wandering, convoluted thoughts on it. Might even do some more on specific points, but this is enough for now.

[nemaliwrites]

Milwordy Month 4 + Camp Nano:

Goal met!

381276/1000000 - 38.13%

[hoedameron]

now i understand why people would wanna pack up and leave their old blog for a newer one

[infiniteglitterfall]

For real. $17k is poverty. The poverty line in the US is always lower than it should be, but...

HOLY SHIT, as of March 2024, the federal poverty level (FPL) in the United States is $15,060 per year for an individual and $20,440 per year for a married couple.

What the PENGUIN-SHARPENING PURPLE FUCK.

As I was about to say, it doesn't draw a line in the sand where "poor" ends and "rich" starts. Guess that's even more obvious now.

I live in one of the most expensive parts of the US. I can't even apply for jobs that pay $65k, because that's around $4000 a month after taxes, insurance, whatever.

My mortgage is hella low for where we live: I got an inheritance right at the rock bottom of the housing market, which was the only way I was ever going to be able to get approved and buy a house.

It would still take half my income to stay in my house. I don't know how I would pay back the $14k I currently owe on the mortgage, which is in foreclosure for the third or fourth time.

I have my kid full-time because my ex's disability stuff is too much right now for them to do weekends. And extra full-time because our kid's sensory stuff plus anxiety is too intense for him to tolerate school, which we're working on.

But it means that I can barely do any work. And it means I have to be able to afford food and clothes and stuff for him. Saving for college, retirement, or emergencies would be really difficult if I only had $500 a week left to spend. That pays, let's see... If I were paying all my bills, another $800 or so would be going to bills. Not to mention the debt on water, trash, and power.

Then we'd have uhhh $1200 left to pay for a month of groceries for two people, cat food, cat litter, any vet visits, any repairs around the house I can't do, gas, any car repairs, kid clothes, kid fun (birthday presents for him, for friends, games he sometimes wants, he needs pants, etc), and all the things we've just been doing without but really do need. Like hand towels.

Obviously nobody's retiring around here and he can just go to community college for the first two years, but also, shit is gonna happen and I won't be able to pay to deal with it. And I'm already doing that... Under the belief that it will get better.

If I was making $65k long-term, I would be almost as screwed.

I'd be losing the food stamps I now get, the ones I should be getting that have been going to my ex, and the cash aid for needy families that has also been going to my ex, who's now on disability.

I'd be replacing that money out of my salary, and not making enough more to cover all the predictable, recurring, but random expenses that come up all the time

And I wouldn't have time to look for better-paying work.

To me, people seem rich when they can save up for anything they might need, pay their bills, have extra income for whatever they want, and have extra savings for whatever they want.

I've done the math. Around here, and with a kid, I need to be making more than $100k to cross that line.

I'm lucky because -- omg, I just realized that millennials and Gen x have a shittier version of "baby boomers were lucky because."

We're lucky because you used to be able to rent a place with roommates and afford to live if you made like $15 an hour. (Idk what that number was anywhere else. But here it was about 1.5x-2x minimum wage; maybe it was similar or lower elsewhere.)

I've seen tiny, tiny apartments near me go for $1,600 a month. For one bedroom or a studio. In someone's backyard.)

Now, idk how anyone would afford to not live with their families during their 20s.

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[missbaphomet]

oh yea those individuals sure suck i wonder what they all have in common:) you can never know if a male is gonna be a creep or a danger like them so that's why we're scared of them all and our fear turns into hate. it's literally not that hard to understand?? yes, women can be dangerous too but no woman has ever been that disgusting to me. no woman has ever catcalled me or whistled at me or creeply followed me or any of my girl friends. no woman i know has ever seriously made "women should go to the kitchen" jokes or inappropriate sexual comments about other women and their bodies or made rape jokes (unlike literally all the men i know btw). my male classmates used to secretly take pictures of female classmates and teaches' asses whenever one of us bent over and posted them on this now deleted instagram account. no woman i know has ever objectified other women like that. anyway i know all the bodies there are from women killed by males because i read news that tell the whole story once they're found + the only men found dead there died because they couldn't swim or fell down. and im from italy btw where we hear about femicides happening everyday fr it's deeply heartbreaking idk how you can just pretend like it's not real. men get killed too, of course, mainly by other men and not for the same reason women are killed. and they kill themselves more often only because they use more effective ways to die than women.

What they have in common is that they were rude to a person on the street, hope this helps.

Maybe don't assume everyone is out to hurt you? The overwhelming majority probably won't realize you exist once you leave their peripheral vision. This is some severe victim complex shit, and you're justifying it with fucking Star Wars of all things. You do realize that the end of that quote states that hate leads to suffering, right? It's a fucking warning. Also, great job lowkey accidentally comparing radical feminism to fascism... but let's be real, radical feminism is fascism lite™

Just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it hasn't happened. My girl friends in high school used to make jokes about that kind of shit, and I'm sure plenty of others have as well. And if (big fuckin if) "literally all the men" you know make jokes that make you uncomfortable maybe you should just. Not know them? I have had a lot of guy friends and I can think of only one of them that was genuinely a dick.

I feel like this is a lie tbh. Seems awful convenient that there's not any evidence, and it's super easy to make false claims. If it happened, damn, that sucks bro, sounds like a couple students were shitty but it's not like anyone can verify.

Also now's probably a good time to mention that "femicide" doesn't mean "woman killed by a man for no reason." It means "a woman was killed because she was a woman." If her sex was not the motive, then it wasn't femicide. Even if 100% of those you mentioned did happen to be killed by men, unless explicitly stated that he killed her for being a woman, we really don't have any way to know. The distinction is important here, because that would be the difference between a hate crime and simple murder. Also that's a pretty bold claim that the men were only drownings and falls, especially when you immediately turn around and state that men get killed too. And once again, men are more likely to be killed than women per the UN's report of .57 per 100k for men v .37 per 100k for women, which works out to 570 v 370. I am genuinely surprised how close it is, but these are overall homicide rates and I can only look at the numbers. I don't live there. @femmebisexuelle maybe you have some insight here?

Suicide ≠ homicide. Congrats on the argument that men are better at killing themselves tho?

[spookymeowmeow]

sorry i saw your ask to lee and the pride thing is something i feel so strongly about because it's just so incredibly stupid. that was also the first time i ever heard about dream because some post about it was spread around tumblr and at the time i didn't look into it and just took it at face value because i just didn't care what some random gaming youtuber was up to. and then months later i become a fan and actually find out that nothing about it was real. like it was so bizarre

so many of dream's controversies are a matter of opinion but this one just isn't. like for example if you think dream's past racist jokes are reason enough to not want to support him fair enough. i personally disagree, but I'm not gonna tell other people how they should feel about stuff like that

but with the pride thing he promised something and then delivered exactly what he promised. he never said he was gonna stream every day or more than he usually would. he just said he would donate what he makes. how do people completely make up a scenario and then get angry it doesn't happen like that?

and it was so much money he donated! it would have still been so much money even without the stream at the end of the month! like he posted how much he made off twitch ever at the end of the year and excluding the 50k from the merch dono the june donation was like 20% of his entire twitch income. like yes he's a very rich man and all that, but how are you angry at someone donating 20% of his income (not to mention that we know that isn't the only time he donated)

sorry for this novel, feel free to just completely ignore it, but it's my number one most hated misinfo about dream and i always get so angry about it.

10000% agree!!! It's so frustrating how people can just make things up, and it just gets eaten up.

This is *nothing* against Ranboo for this. But the amount of praise he got for donating 100k vs the hate Dream got for donating 140k.... + iirc a few thousand of Ranboo's 100k was donated by Dream 😭 at that time Ranboo was making like 250k+ a month from twitch subs alone. Idk man the double standards just bug me

[literaticat]

I've recently seen printed ARCs that brag on the back about the planned marketing push, including "75,000 copy print run!" or "100,000 copy print run!" It made me curious: how many copies in a first print run is pretty standard for a big 5 imprint vs. something they'd make a big deal about?

OK, well, one thing to understand off the bat is, an ARC (or "Advance Reading Copy" sometimes known as an ARE "advance reading edition" -- or a "galley" -- those uncorrected proofs of books that look sort of like "real" books but are paperback and given out for free sometimes?) -- that thing? It is marketing material. You probably know that, but really, just to reiterate: ARCS. ARE MARKETING MATERIAL. They are cool and all, but they are also expensive to create, and they are given to booksellers, librarians, reviewers, "big mouths" etc so that those people will hopefully buy them into their store/library, or review them, or talk them up on social media, or whatever. Great, we are on the same page, we all know what an ARC is. (A piece of marketing material!)

As such, the ARC is generally created well in advance of the book being printed or coming out -- (ADVANCE - it's in the name!) -- and, in fact, since it is meant to show booksellers etc what they SHOULD be buying for their store -- it's created in advance of sales reps even visiting the stores.

Some publishers state the "announced print run" as a matter of course, for all books, just as part of their catalogue copy. Somebody just plugs in that number, so when you are looking at the catalogue or marketing material, there's a number on there, regardless of whether it is an absurdly high number or a more reasonable number.

Some publishers never mention it at all, that I can see, or perhaps on a case-by-case basis.

So, knowing all that, know this: The "announced print run" that publishers plug in there is optimistic. It might mean that they are *prepared* to print that many -- but it doesn't actually mean they are GOING to, so that figure doesn't actually mean much at all, and I wouldn't take it as gospel. It is them spitballing, basically. If they are saying that a book has an announced print run of "250k!" -- they are saying, "we are expecting that this is going to be a HUGE BOOK" -- But even if it IS a huge book -- are they seriously going to print two hundred fifty thousand of them at once? Mayyyyyybe.... but what if the sales reps go out to push it, and only 1000 stores agree to take copies? They aren't going to take 250 copies each, you know? And they would know that way before the book was even printed. So if that was really the case, I would suspect that the actual first print run would be more modest than their optimistic projection on the marketing material. (After all, they can always reprint more if the demand is gigantic!)

What's "normal"? I have no idea, but I'd guess it depends on the book and the publisher. For big publishers, picture books might have their "announced print run" be anywhere from 15k-40k as "normal" -- novels probably have 50k-75k as "normal" -- and numbers above that (75k for a PB, 100k+ for a novel) would signal that they are expecting a LOT of demand. But frankly, 30k, 40k, whatever? That is already way more than MOST books sell in their entire lifetime, let alone upon release. If the publishers ACTUALLY printed as many copies as they SAY they are going to print... we'd all be drowning in books and there would be no more trees.

[fernsnailz]

alright. finished the knuckles series. i cannot believe this show is real

general review: this is barely a sonic show - hell, i would hesitate to call this a show at all. however, i would be lying out of my ass if i said i wasn't enthralled with the sheer chaos and absurdity of this show almost the whole way through. this show is bad and i would not recommend it to anyone but holy shit i did kinda have some fun with it

a lot of the comedy is terrible and had me in physical pain. but a lot if it also had me laughing my ass off. i did not like any of the human characters even though they take up 85% of the show, but goddamn sometimes the line delivery and acting just caught me so off guard in a way that killed me. i wish this show was something different and actually about knuckles and the larger sonic cast, but i cannot say i hated this series. at the very least i think everyone should watch episode 4 completely out of context. dude trust me it'll be funny :)

unfortunately i took notes the whole way through. i'll include them under the cut for anyone who doesn't mind spoilers about this show that is, quite frankly, not very good

number of times i said “oh come on” (derogatory): ||||| || number of times i said “what the fuck????”: ||||| ||||| ||

EPISODE 1

DON’T YOU LOVE DORITOS?? YOUR FAVORITE SONIC CHARACTER DORITOS THE BRAND????

tails i love you. boy i sure hope you show up in this show more (he doesn't)

“MAYBE I WOULDN’T INSULT YOU IF YOU WEREN’T SUCH A FREAKING LOSER” and "we gonna ball or what" are some of my favorite lines from the show and also from a 10 year old girl scout

homoerotic bowling????

pachacamac ghost is certainly a choice. also they really did reduce pachacamac to "wise but clumsy elder character" and do not explore anything else about him. so that's that

Wade: there's another reason i love bowling... \ Me: (jokingly predicting the next line) i bet it's his dad \ Wade: my dad

DON'T YOU LOVE BRAND???? YOUR FAVORITE BRAND TJ MAXX???? WHERE YOU CAN ABANDON YOUR KIDS

i spent like half of that episode frantically searching for my packing tape so i missed the fight scene this episode lol

EPISODE 2

knuckles is. really violent. did not need to explain what ripping a guy's arms off would be like

wade’s very clear stunt double is my favorite character

maybe they should have used their licensed music budget to pay their animators more

CALL THAT COP A PIG!!!!!! CALL HIM A PIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i love watching wade get the shit kicked outta him.

METAL PIPE FALLING SOUND EFFECT

knuckles is really in a box this entire episode huh

HE BLEW KNUCKLES UP???

for every joke that actually makes me laugh there’s at least like four duds that make me go “shut up”

wade’s reaction to hearing there’s a manhunt for him is like a pogchamp face. why does he look like that. why do they zoom in on his face so long

i miss tails :(

oh no knuckles doesn't like being betrayed boy i sure hope there’s no third act betrayal in the final episodes

EPISODE 3

Wade’s mom: are we done? \ Me: THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN ASKING THE WHOLE TIME

i. cannot stand wade’s sister good lord. easily the worst character in the show. i know she's supposed to be unlikable but it genuinely feels unwatchable when she's on screen

GIVE KNUCKLES WINE

the delivery of wade going “hmhm okaaay weeird…….” LMAO

my favorite sonic character is Jim Gun Agent

wow knuckles really is just. there. while the whipple family drama unfolds

“what did i do to deserve this” me watching this show

the fork stabbing is wildly unprompted and incredibly violent even for the absurdity of this show.

wade should not be worth $100k.

hey why did they keep the cardboard cutout bit in there. what the fuck

i really love the shot of knuckles and wade’s mom fighting a bunch of guys in a long shot. that shit kinda rules and must have been a nightmare to coordinate. one of the best parts of the show

EPISODE 4

NINJA TURTLE JUMPSCARE

the fridge door falling off is actually really funny. i liked that

that motorcycle should have killed wade. he should have died. i wish he died.

the fucking bounty hunter cage they put him in is really funny. i wish they left him in htere

they namedrop every brand EXCEPT rainforest cafe. what did my girl rainforest cafe ever do to you

how does pachacmac know what florida is .

i would have loved to be in the writer’s room when they pitched episode 4

the musical sequence genuinely rules. i love this shit. this is the best episode which is hilarious because knuckles isn't even here. i want to show this episode to everyone i know. they would stop talking to me forever

the iblis lore drop is wild and i love the iblis puppet to bits. why is this a part of knuckles' backstory though

who the fuck are these bike kids???

EPISODE 5

HOW DOES KNUCKLES KNOW WHO KEVIN JAMES IS…….

if i had a nickel for every time knuckles was almost offered an alcoholic drink in this show i would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

the concept of knuckles guiding wade on how to confront his estranged father through a hidden radio is absolutely wild. whose idea was this. how is this real

they really just let the echidna alien wander around the casino

there are. too many bad guys to keep track of in this show. who are these people. i do not care about any of them

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HAD THE BIRD AND THE BEES TALK……..

WHERE IS KNUCKLES!!!!!!!!!

wade loves his goddamned licensed songs….

actually the fact that this show focuses on wade so much is hilarious. this show means that wade is a more developed and realized character than tom

oh noooo i cant believe my favorite sonic character Pistol Pete would betray me like this

the way wade was so willing to let his sister die. dude i would have done the same if my sister was wanda

oh no….. the third act betrayal…………….

EPISODE 6

ok nvm no third act betrayal

i cannot believe they’re shilling for tj maxx while talking about the child abandonment backstory

WHERE IS KNUCKLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

knuckles loves challah bread :] he just like me fr

oh shit they actually had challah bread at that bar lol

THE RESIN BOWLING BALL WITH THE TEACUP…

"YES I LOVE YOU PIN"

i can't beleive they put knuckles in the red power sucking trap they put giratina in in the hit pokemon movie Giratina and the Sky Warrior

THEY KNOCK KNUCKLES OUT FOR THE FINAL FIGHT SO WADE CAN BEAT THE BIG BAD WITH THE POWER OF BOWLING LMFAOOOOOO

i cannot believe this show is real. i wish it was something different so badly but i can truly say, without a doubt, i have never seen anything like this and will never see anything like it again. if you told me in 2020 they would make a knuckles show that is 80% about a bowling tournament i would have laughed at you

every time i see a new clip from the knuckles series the secondhand embarrassment almost brings me to tears