#but I don't think that is the source of why it is so bad as a game

[reachartwork]

i was annoyed by people annoying me on twitter and on here so i did the math myself. you can link to this freely. here's the original article i'm getting my numbers on, which cites its sources;

Is AI eating all the energy? Part 1/2 / GioCities

Training the biggest, meanest AI models like ChatGPT and LLAMA takes up 5 million kilowatt hours, or about the energy expenditure of 500 household-years. This is so much energy! Right? Well I guess, but it's about as much energy as manufacturing 290 cars (not 290 thousand or 290 million - 290).

The thing is that people have really bad intuition about large numbers.

For a different alternative measurement, the cost of training the biggest hugest nastiest ai models in the world is 0.015% the cost of Gaming in the USA. Just the USA!

please consider the things people are telling you and why they might be telling you that. ai is not the monster you have been lead to believe, and if you actually do the monster math (i've done this in various areas) - don't stab me - ai is *more energy efficient by far* than a human doing the same thing, by orders of magnitude. if someone spends thirty minutes in stable diffusion making a picture that would've taken a human artist six hours in photoshop, all things being equal, that's about 5.5 hours of energy use Not Used.

its not the bogeyman! it's not magically burning down the amazon rainforest! do some critical thinking about numbers! thanks

[mari-lair]

Thinking about the Sif is Out AU, and would Bonnie eventually be a boss fight for Siffrin where they try to prove how much stronger they've gotten so 'Stupidfrin' doesn't treat them like a kid anymore?

How long until Bonnie wins?

Bonnie wouldn't go out of their way to hurt Siffrin, they always resort to verbal attacks when they get angry not punches, (they had a GIANT crisis about siffrin losing an eye for them + the guilt of giving Sif pineapples in this au) even when they snap they only attack when you try to approach (like the memory of promise fail) but I do find your question very intriguing.

So let's assume the kid is on their equivalent of ACT 5, the family is too busy with their own issues to give them enough attention, and it all comes crashing down, they don't want to hear Siffrin's "everything alright bonnie?" again since Siffrin is stupid and will forget everything, they want to 'explode the world'! In that scenario, it wouldn't take long for Bonnie to beat Siffrin in battle.

Not because of how strong they got (since Bonnie never properly/officially entered a battle, only occasionally giving the team a support hit, they barely gain any experience, 10 levels for the party is one for them, and they are too young to craft. Though they are indeed noticeably stronger.) but because Siffrin will not fight back (in the very hard possibility Bonnie convince Siffrin to attack it would be fake attacks, very light, and non dangerous. Siffrin isn't trying to hurt them) Depending on what Bonnie screams at Siffrin, Siffrin wouldn't defend himself either, just... take any hit given because "they deserves it"

...Bonnie would hate that. Deep down they look up to Siffrin and don't want to hurt him but they are SO BLIND WITH ANGER, they don't understand why attacking Siffrin, one of their biggest sources of conflict in the loops isn't helping! They are just exploding and doubling down. They will eventually hurt siffrin, (not nearly as bad as the eye, but a visible ugly injury) and that's bad. When Bonnie eventually snaps out of it, they would carry that through the loops, feel guilty.

[wraithdance]

https://www.tumblr.com/wraithdance/765961917651140608/i-really-liked-your-explanation-of-the-whole?source=share

I am really bad at articulating my thoughts but I think about this a lot as someone who hopes to 1- major in neuroscience (i'm 18, going to uni next year) and 2- is trans. I know being trans is not the same thing at all as POC experiences with fic, very cognizant of that, but more to the point where I relate to the aspect of not being able to get over the like mental wall of seeing "neutral" readers as me? I don't know what my brain is doing when i read certain fics but sometimes i can't do it.

I feel like I should close read some of my favorite fic and least favorite fic to see if there are triggers I didn't notice on the first read. does that make sense or seem similar to what you experience? Again I know it's not the same thing, but like i am so curious as to what cis straight white people put in their fic that makes it so obvious that they're cis straight white.

I am sorry if this bothers you, really not my intentions, I am obviously a future brain nerd and i can't stop thinking about this

Congratulations fellow Nerd! You've activated my interest in Race theory and fandom writing from an academic perspective!

Writing reflects life and to answer this question properly, I have to talk about life shit to catch you up to speed, (this should help if you take a sociology or cultural anthropology class lmao) So, Welcome to:

Calvary yaps: Sociology & Intersectionality in fandom writing 101!

Disclaimer: I'm just a random bitch on the internet who loves English and the ridiculousness of social hierarchies, this will be referencing American social constructs and in groups only, with a focus on my experience as a Black American woman who reads a shit ton of books. Don't fight me if you hate my explanation, I will simply not respond.

Read my house rules before sending me an ask, I'm just being a dumb ass rn and word vomiting my interests, so pls i beg no follow up questions unless I say I'm open to em later.

Definitions to know:

Socialization: the act of preparing individuals to participate in society by learned social norms taught in ones family or social settings like school/friend groups. (one can be socialized in gender, race, cultural practices, etc.)

Social Hierarchies: systems of social organization in which some individuals enjoy a higher social status than others (in my opinion this is a lingering safety measure from lizard brain cavemen hunter/gatherer days)

Intersectionality: A term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw; The process of acknowledging the unique parallels a marginalized person experiences when they have more than one marginalization (ie: race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, size, etc.)

Matriarchal society: Social groups/family structures that center female figures as representatives of authority.

Implicit Bias: Unintentional bias a person may have towards a group or individual based on learned stereotypes, prejudices, perceptions based on another's background or state of being.

first, yes anon you are making sense! So the main question:

'What cis straight white people put in their fic that makes it so obvious that they're cis straight white?'

I've been mulling this question around in my head for a few days and tried to figure out how to articulate this without going into depth in Sociological theory, but I can't! So here we are lmao, this is long as fuck so TLDR here.

I've talked to a LOT of Black and PoC people over the last months because I thought I was the only one who felt strange or could tell immediately when a writer was white, despite doing the best job they could to be neutral.

Every person I spoke to agreed they could tell right away even if we don't share similar racial backgrounds.

The answer I've come up with to why that is, is because white people are socialized (taught by society/their parents how to behave) in a way many black and PoC people are not, so their reader characters will often act in a way PoC people have learned not to, so it flags for many of us.

I plan to answer another question about this at a later date so an example is with shit like:

An over deference to hyper masculine male characters (for PoC cultures like certain Black/Latine groups that are often matriarchal in nature and don’t ascribe to as many traditional gender roles, this is a flag), lack of interpersonal/familial connection, over meekness, no challenging of external factors so things just HAPPEN to the reader and lack of awareness of surroundings to name a few. 

A lot of the language of the irl world places white cis people from Western countries as the default and everyone else as others. In which, PoC people have learned to navigate the world very carefully with a hyper-focus on what will potentially bring them harm/scrutiny/ostracism especially in white dominant spaces.

That extends to when we have down time while reading or partaking in media smfh.

I'm sure you've had to learn the same as a trans person navigating cis spaces and it's the same with any marginalization! If you are disabled you have an awareness of able bodied people and their expectations, same with being fat amongst skinny people, etc.

The more marginalizations you have, the louder the rules of social hierarchies become. Which is why many marginalized ppl stick close to those who 'get it' in their social groups as an act of safety in numbers. (Many of us attempt to have strong family connection/harmony because of this)

So referring to your comment about being trans is not the same thing at all as POC experiences with fic, it is when you are a Black or PoC trans person! My angel face @/buttdumplin has spoken a lot about that as a Mexican transman reading fics by cis people!

(Please for the love of God no one come to me explaining how marginalized they are so they shouldn't be lumped in with the white ppl PoC are cognizant of, I will check myself into a psych ward)

So what does that gotta do with reading fics?

No matter what anyone thinks, it is damn near impossible to not frame your writing from the perspective of your lived experiences. It's why even when I try my hardest to make my characters not sound Black, they will always read that way because I have been Black all of my life!

And it doesn't just happen with race, go on tiktok and search male authors writing women. (or here's another article lmao)

Also ask a Southerner how they know someone has never been to the South and don't know shit about our accents when they write Graves. There are linguistic tells that flag off and why we flame actors who pick up southern accents for their roles.

(They chew on that terrible goddamn Appalachian or Louisiana Accent not realizing Southern accents come in many fonts.)

So when I read a fic about Kyle Garrick from a non black person, I can tell the writer is non black by linguistic implications, the things they emphasize about him and what they don't. It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy reading fics from non black people, I can just tell!

And sometimes that means I, and other PoC's associate the Reader as a white OC while reading fics.

For example, all black people are not monolithic because of our cultural and regional experiences, but many of us share common threads. That's usually family involvement, colloquialisms, that stupid fucking cookie tin our elders put sewing supplies in...

Other non Black PoC people might share similar cultural practices, so when I'm reading fics from say a latina, I will cock my head and go wait.... are you...? And surely enough, they are a person of color. 

But even while reading from a non black PoC, I have to tread carefully because anti black sentiment exists in many cultures, which is why you'll hear me say Black and PoC/Non black people interchangeably.

It’s how the conversation of Implicit bias comes up, because unknowingly non white characters can sometimes be written with a hyper focus that makes them seem inhumanly one characteristic or with little to no background while the other characters are fully fleshed out.

like the character of color is just a stand in to move the plot around white characters forward. 

So all that to say, without sometimes meaning to white writers will always sound off to me in a way that my brain can pick up on in the most minuscule ways because my awareness of my blackness/otherness has been drilled in from birth and reinforced by social norms.

I can even tell immediately if a white person has been around only white spaces their whole life with the jokes they tell lol.

In the grand scheme of things the race of the writer is most important to me when something jarring comes up that slaps me away from the experience, it explains so much of the disconnect.

Every marginalized person has a threshold for what they can ignore as a ‘trigger’ before they’re ejected from reader inserts, mine is usually the association with racial historical happenings, certain gender dynamics, etc.

It's why I mention crying like a little bitch when I read my friend Jess's (Kyletogaz) TF 141 Hair series, Dragon’s (Dragonnarative-writes) Transferrable Skills, and even Xavi's (Buttdumplin) Piercing fic.

Reading those fics felt like safety and familiarity. It was a moment where I realized I could drop the mental load I had no idea I was carrying, where I was trying to prepare myself for potential emotional damage and just READ.

It's also why as a Black person who fucks with kink and sex work it's been so touch and go when navigating dark fics/kink fics/fics about Sex workers.

Because there are different rules of engagement non white kinksters have to be aware of and that leads to a point on the collective vs. Individual experience as a PoC in kink, that I’ll eventually make a post about at some point or another. Maybe…

So yeah I’m tired of yapping. I hope this long shit was enough of an explanation!! Thanks to my friends Kiko, Jules, Xavi and Folded for yapping with me so I could articulate this better!!

[eff-plays]

Veilguard's lamppost problem

So I was doing a quest in DATV, as one does in video games, when I stumbled upon this here conundrum.

It baffled, amused, and enraged me in equal measure, which is to say: enough to write a snarky post about it.

Gaze upon this lamppost. It is one of many in this area. Really think about the essence of a lamppost.

Why do we have those? Why did people invent lampposts? Well, to be able to see outside when it's dark, correct? To provide light to the general populace, to illuminate spaces without relying on people having their own sources of light or real flesh guys standing around holding lanterns. But why are the lights ... on top of the posts? 🤔 why not just put them on ze ground? Well, pilgrim, because when the light is high up, it can spread farther and cover more of the area, so you can put fewer lights over a greater distance! It also protects the light from people or other things snuffing it out, by keeping it out of reach!

So in summary, a lamppost must fulfill the following criteria:

spread light in the dark

support the light source

protect the light

And with this in mind, you might now wonder -- why is this lamppost floating?

What is the point of this lamppost floating? Someone, presumably, enchanted it, yes? Somebody enchanted the post to which the lamp is affixed. Somebody affixed a lamp to a wooden post, lit the lamp, then enchanted the post to hover, so as to fulfill the requirement of a lamppost, which is to hold the lamp aloft, upon the post. The magic exerts no power over the position of the lamp, only over the post, which is enchanted. Are we in agreement? Good. Now please draw your attention to the end of the post:

We can see that this post has been designed with the floating enchantment in mind. Should the magic fail for whatever reason, this lamp post will be incapable of standing upright and fulfilling its intended purpose. Of holding the light up and out of reach.

Based on this design and function, we can assume the process of creating this post: elaborately carve a large piece of wood (upon closer inspection it might be stone, which is even worse) > elaborately design and create a piece of metal (and glass??) > affix upon this a lantern > light the lantern > enchant the light post to float > enchant the lamp post to float firmly in one location.

So now we come to the big question: Why? Why is this designed this way? Why would they do this? If you have the power to make the lamppost float, why not just get rid of it entirely? Why not just make the lantern float separately? Why go through the trouble of gesturing at mundanity by using a post at all? Why waste time, money, and resources?

I can think of a few theories as to why people might think this works as a design.

Let's say the lampposts float, and are thus able to be manipulated to move where they're needed. This is fair, but makes no sense, because then any passing mage (and there are many in Tevinter) would be able to move them around at will, which rather defeats the purpose of illuminating one specific area for public use. Remember, one of the purposes of a lamppost is to keep it out of reach of bad actors or accidents in general. Controllable lampposts would be just as unreliable as everyone having their own lanterns.

Okay, then let's say there's a specific mage that can move these because of some personalized ritual or binding, so that keeps the lights safe. In that case, what happens if that mage isn't available? Are these lampposts stuck in one place now? This would defeat the purpose of them being movable, if you need to go through one fucking guy to get them where you need them to be.

But alright, let's assume this is the intended use, their flexibility. This still doesn't explain why they need the lampposts to begin with, and don't just use floating lanterns. Why is there a lamppost when a lamp would suffice? Well, you might think, if the enchantment fails, you'd want the lamp to still be up high and lit, so it doesn't shatter, right? But once again, I draw your attention to the design of the post: if the enchantment fails, that post will not be a crutch, and it will not be there to catch and save the lamp. It will fall, because it is designed only to float.

(This is a subjective note, but the lamps did not float or animate or move when I looked at them in-game. They were entirely static. Just like regular-ass lampposts.)

Now, if they could be moved, in theory, why are there so many, and why are they placed so evenly throughout the area? It's almost as though their placement and distance from each other was meant to maximize the light from each lantern to cover bigger ground. Which would be pointless to do if they could be moved.

Okay okay, fine, let's say the lampposts snap back after a certain time! That would explain why they can be in a certain spot and need to be placed out evenly, but also why they can float. Cool. But what if there's something in the way. This is a harbor with bighuge cargo boxes and fuck-off stone statues. What if you need it for a longer period than you have before it snaps back? What if somebody needs it back in its origin point? It's far more reliable to just use your own light, which defeats the purpose of it floating, and it's too unreliable to light up a specific area, which defeats the purpose of a lamppost.

This screenshot up here also illustrated the only other "defense" of these posts that I can think of: Well, it's Tevinter!! Those guys will enchant anything just to flex on people!

First of all, who are they flexing on? Fereldans? Orlesians? "Hey, we also have stupid mundane lampposts, but ours float, so fuck you?" Sure, I guess, but look where these particular ones are. A drab, dirty, empty-ass dock, where there was only a handful of enemies and one minor friendly NPC. There was NOBODY ELSE there. No workers, no traders, nothing. But the lights were lit. For whom? Who is meant to be impressed by this? If you have enough magic to waste it on frivolous shit, why is this the only way you can express it?

Do you see my fucking issue?

And yeah, I know. It's just a fucking lamppost in a video game. But I want you guys to understand that this lamppost went through at least one concept artist, one art director/lead artist, one 3D modeller, and a level designer. None of those people went "hey this is fucking stupid," or if they did, they were incomprehensibly vetoed by somebody higher up the ladder.

This fucking lamppost encompasses so many issues with Veilguard. Like hey, this sounds pretty cool, right? And it's plausible in the world, right? So just do it. Don't think of the implications or impact of these things at all. Just do it! It's cool, right? Floating lampposts? Those are unique and cool and show off how magic-y Tevinter is! That's all you need! It's Tevinter, so they do normal stuff but with magic! Yes they use very mundane ways of illuminating an area but!! It floats!! So it's magic! Like in Tevinter? With the mages?

Environmental storytelling isn't just putting skeletons on toilets and leaving bloody notes next to a pile of gore. It's shit like this, too. And Veilguard just went "well this could totally happen and if it's cool then it should be in there!" and just didn't bother thinking a single step ahead of that.

Blech.

[sophieinwonderland]

Why are sysmeds still this bad at sources?

Before getting to their source, let me just say...

The Future Is Plural!

Deal with it!

If you can't read the pictures, that's fine. The actual text and what they say isn't super important. Because it's a bad source. What you need to know is the address.

I'm unable to find an About Us page on this website besides this little note at the bottom.

Which really doesn't tell me much About Them.

The Twitter is tagged with #abuse and #survivors though, but not anything about psychiatrists or psychiatry.

As far as I can tell, this website is NOT RAN BY ANY PROFESSIONALS.

You may as well have just cited a Tumblr blog or a Carrd. It's equally as credible.

And the sysmed justified it by claiming it's a valid source because they're the first two pages on Google!

"If you deny a random website I found by nonprofessionals, you're an idiot! It was at the top of Google so it must be true!"

Sorry, that doesn't magically mean it's a good source.

If you want to read the actual DSM, try instead Googling 'dsm-5-tr pdf'

That will give you a link to the most up-to-date version of the DSM in full.

STOP TRUSTING A SOURCE BECAUSE IT'S THE FIRST THING ON GOOGLE!

Also, why the weird pivot from "endogenic plurality doesn't exist" to "endogenic plurality exists but isn't a system" in the same post?

Oh, hey! It's been a while since I've seen the "casually calling all spiritual plurality 'closed' to insinuate endogenic systems are appropriating closed cultures by being plural for spiritual reasons" move.

It's every bit as absurd and laughable as the last times I've seen sysmeds trying to pull this!

Also, even if the screenshots were actually from a trustworthy source, they still wouldn't be from a relevant one. It only discusses DID and doesn't address the question of non-disordered plurality at all.

Yeah, that checks out.

To the OP, if you want to venture into syscourse, you have to learn how to find actual trustworthy sources!

And to anyone else, always check websites and the credentials of their publishers! Don't trust everything you hear on the internet! If someone links a source, be sure to check the link and see where it's from!

Always think critically about the information being presented to you!

[alltimefail]

I wrote a ridiculously long response that turned into basically a fic outline for this question from the Save The Dead Boys Twitter account, and I'm sharing it here so I can link the alt text for people who may want or need it (because Twitter's alt-text limits characters for some reason??? very annoying).

(Source)

Without further ado, The Dead Boy Detectives Zoo episode no one asked for is under the cut 😂

I think a day at the London Zoo would make an incredibly interesting backdrop for an episode!

Edwin has more than likely never been to the zoo, as the London Zoo itself did not open until 1928, years after he died. Charles and Crystal, however, have most certainly been to the London Zoo. Niko has been to a zoo before too, just not the one in London quite yet.

I imagine it happens like this: a ghost client who worked at the London Zoo and died due to being attacked by one of the animals comes in distraught. At first, no one understands the unfinished business or mystery of it; they just feel bad for the person because that's a horrifying way to die obviously, but they know HOW they died/where they died/when they died so it seems pretty cut and dry. That's when the ghost tells them that they'd worked there for years, specifically in the exhibit they died in, and the animals had never so much as bitten the workers in malice, nonetheless had bouts of uncontrollable rage. The only thing they remember before the attack is the animal spasming and acting in pain - that's why the worker intervened, to help - and then everything is muddy from there. The eyes of the animal, however, were the strange part... they had almost a sparkling sheen over them... and that's when the boys realize something is afoot.

They take the case and the client leaves, Charles goes pattering on about how it had been "Literally forever" since he went to a proper zoo, just waxing nostalgic and excited as he does, and the girls are bantering along with him because Niko says she's never been to London's zoo, and that's when Edwin pipes up, nonchalantly like, "Ah yes, I suppose I've never been either, now that you mention it." Charles is just... flabbergasted at this, he's like "MATE, you've never been to London Zoo?" and Edwin good-naturedly rolls his eyes and is like, "I have not been to any zoo, Charles, as the very concept was not even around when I was alive," and he'd probably say more but the look on Charles' face is kind of sad and sheepish because he should have known that, shouldn't of he? Edwin immediately goes to reassure him before Niko breaks the tension (observative as she is) and she's like, "OMG guys, this is perfect! We all get to experience it together, it'll be so perfect!" and Crystal is like, "Yeah, unlike you two who can just waltz right in, Niko and I will have to buy tickets. Might as well get our money's worth and stick around after."

The day starts all fun and nothing really seems amiss until another person is nearly attacked while they're there, and this time it's a child: like the animal is literally beating at the enclosure divider so hard they crack it trying to attack, and fortunately no one ends up hurt but Charles and Edwin do their little signature look at each other because they know SOMETHING is going on.

The case becomes time-sensitive then, and high stakes, so they regroup somewhere quiet where the girls won't get weird looks and that's when they're approached by a shapeshifter deity who has been skulking about the zoo for years (maybe they used to be a God or something before being reborn) and they give good intel, and it'd be funny because you KNOW Charles' hackles are up after Port Townsend and the whole Cat King and Monty debacle, and he's misinterpreting everything this animal shifter does as flirting to the point that eventually the deity calls Charles out for it in a "I don't want your man" kind of way. That's like the B-Plot going on and it would be hilarious, and even Edwin would find that part a little funny/gratifying because he's not dumb and he's SEEN Charles' change in behavior lmao.

Anyway this is now turning into an outline for a fic jfc the TLDR of the rest is that they realize some asshole kid came into possession of some dark magic materials and has been coming to the zoo and practicing the spells on the animals, just being a mischievous shit who thought animals would be easier to start with than humans and wanting to see what they would do. The gang has to fight the little shit, but they're eventually able to get the book away from him and Crystal, the godsend that she is, wipes his memory.

Afterward, they DO actually explore the zoo for fun, and Edwin is transfixed and telling everyone all the facts he knows about the animals. When he doesn't know anything off the top of his head, he reads the displays out loud and jots down the best bits. Charles is absolutely delighted and apologizes for not bringing Edwin sooner, but Edwin is having none of that and they have one of their sweet "Edwin and Charles" domestic moments. They're interrupted by Crystal clearing her throat and Niko giggling, one eyebrow raised because the girls KNOW, okay? But they don't say anything and Charles just steps back (when did they get so close??) and he wraps an arm around Edwin's shoulders and leads the way to the next exhibit. The girls share a lunch of various little junk foods one would only indulge in at a place like the zoo, and all of them leave with a little souvenir (Niko's idea) that they picked out for each other (it ends up working out that Niko picks Crystal's, Charles picks Niko's, Crystal picks Edwin's, and Edwin picks Charles').

From that day forward the group decides to take the time to do at least 1 "Fun" day a month that isn't inspired by casework!

[daisy-mooon]

"I want Annabeth to be blonde :(" then pick up a PJO book and read it you dumb fuck

[cisthoughtcrime]

.

[psychomusic]

so. I've been reading some posts on the jedi order tag AND i won't talk about my opinion on "are jedi good or bad discourse" BUT i wanna point out some lore to everyone who's complaining about the jedi taking kids into their order: (in the EU) it wasn't always like this.

if you take swtor era (more than 3000 years before the prequels) there were many jedi who joined at an older age. like, for example there was a guy who broke his engagement to become one. most jedi remember their families because they were old enough when they decided to go.

THEN in darth bane's book trilogy (circa 1000 yesrs before the prequels) there is a passage where two sith lords are talking about taking bane, already an adult, to study at korriban. one doubted him because he was too old, ans the other told him he sounded like a jedi, and that ONE DAY jedi will have to accept only kids into their ranks if they really want to find "pure" people that can learn their lessons quicker.

one day!! so it wasn't always like that!! the ongoing wars with the sith, who corrupted and killed many of them, had pressured them into taking always younger people into their ranks.

also, consider a thing that this video explains super well: training to become a jedi is not like exercising, because there is a transformative lesson at the end of the training that changes everything. you can't just do as much as you can, but not finish.

the transformative lesson, as the video explains, is that through the force, everything is the same - from rocks and ships to life and death. at the end of the training you have to understand this fundamental truth.

yoda says "you have to unlearn what you have learned". during times where they were constantly killed off or corrupted by the dark side (and if you haven't learned this lesson you are more susceptible to this corrupting), younger people were taken in to actually finish their training (a training that was ultimately about being a good person AND that you could leave at any point if you weren't sold on that, too)

(remember that for the sith failure = death. like. that was the alternative for force sensitive kids. it's not like sith had any moral problem with taking kids away without consent. sith don't have moral problems: they believe that them being stronger in the force means they can do whatever they want as long as their strong enough to go and do it. there are MANY passages in many different star wars stories, even in different mediums, that say this out loud)

AND (this is more of a critical thought than just stating the lore) the fact that they started doing it out of necessity doesn't mean it's 100% good BUT you know. the whole set up of the prequels is that we're starting off the story in a period of crisis and decadence all around. most of the systems of the times were about to fall. OF COURSE they had problems. if they didn't, we wouldn't have the story to begin with.

that doesn't automatically mean jedi = bad and sith are better, tho. you wouldn't take the last, chaotic and decadent period to jugde something, would you? it's like deciding that the athenian democracy sucked because people at the times of Demosthenes failed at recognizing the new schemes in which the world was evolving into, and still believed that their city would be important as it had been in the previous century. They just didn't fucking expect the Macedons would conquer half the world known and more, and have the subsequent political power. Still, their experiences in the 5th century with democracy were very good, even better than ours on many fronts, if you contextualize a little. the jedi had flaws, and most importantly, they didn't fucking know the future and everything that ever happened, ever, so they made mistakes. that doesn't automatically make the system ill, or bad, or not-working. systems can have setbacks when the world changes. (just like athenian democracy had one when they lost the empire that was funding the democracy. they even had a tyranny for a while and then fixed the problems. that doesn't diminish retrospectively their democracy)

[longagoitwastuesday]

Every day I am haunted by the fact JJK could be amazing but it will be just idk Bleach or something

[blizzardsuplex]

Roderick Strong & Adam Cole’s entrance from AEW Dynamite, 5/3/2023 Bonus:

[icewindandboringhorror]

I find it kind of silly that so many of those "time based life rule" sayings are like ~deep serious guidelines~ of some sort, but then there's that one other Well Known Rule that's just like "hrmm can I eat something off of the ground or not"

[novantinuum]

self care is unfollowing people who spread negativity on ur dash!! like Damn! yeah i theoretically Agree with your crit but i really Don't wanna see it either bc i want to Celebrate content instead of hyperfixating on the stuff i didn't like about it! yeet!!!

[randomnameless]

The impression I got from his Byleth support was that Claude was angry at Fodlan for not living up to his expectations. He came to Fodlan seeking to learn something he could use to change Almyra's mindset, believing Fodlan would be more accepting of "outsiders" and when he found Fodlan had a negative view of Almyra he got upset and blamed the Church. Part of his story in Wind is him realizing he jumped to conclusions and blamed the Church without getting to know what they really stood for, being confronted with his own prejudice.

Part of his story in Wind is him realizing he jumped to conclusions and blamed the Church without getting to know what they really stood for, being confronted with his own prejudice.

Imo, he still doesn't totally get over those conclusions and prejudice especially in the Billy S-support :

And I...I want a ruler who can lay down a new set of values for the people. Values that don't exclude anyone for being different.

But yes, in this support, he also mentions having to go to Almyra to change his homeland for the better.

I see which support you're talking about, iirc it's the A support, right?

He confesses he came to Fodlan wanting to prove Almyra that Fodlan people weren't cowards, but ultimately found out people in Fodlan were as biased and prejudiced as the Almyrans are.

So his plan is to bring a "new set of values" to Fodlan and expand them to the rest of the world - so first start to bring his "new set of values" in Fodlan, and then bring them to Almyra to... destroy prejudice existing in Almyra.

Sure, why not, but bar the inherent "sus-ness" of bringing new "set of values" to a place - never once in those supports Claude reveals that the equivalent of Almyran calling Fodlaneses "cowards" is Fodlanese people calling Almyrans "brutes/barbarians" - sure, when he was a kid younger in Almyra, he used his mom as an example of why everyone in Fodlan wasn't a coward - but obviously we don't have in VW any situation where he'd try to tell Hilda and whoever in the Alliance that Almyrans aren't "savages/brutes/barbarians" to fight against their own prejudiced views...

The only sort of situation I can see this happening is apparently, off-screen, when Judith reveals that Holst and Nader got drunk together and became BFFs.

All Almyrans aren't brutes and barbarians - and yet, when we see some acting like the racist stereotypes the Gonerils depict them as, Claude doesn't pop up to say a thing. The best we can have is, iirc, him saying something like "we can let past grudges influence our decisions now" when Lorenz and Hilda are kind of arguing with the intensity of a wet paper against the inclusion of Almyrans in the army - completely oblivious to the fact (or maybe it was an oversight from the devs?) that Hilda's paralogue could be unlocked/played 3 minutes earlier, so we're not talking about past events and a long history of raids that have stopped, but about very present events : those raids exist.

In a nutshell, I agree with anon about the WTF of Claude's plan and general arc in VW - even if he shows progress and lets go, as much as the game allows anyone to do so - his hatred of the CoS - he's basically asking Fodlan, the victim, to stop being so prejudiced against people raiding for funsies and open their borders to the same people raiding them for funsies, and only after this, he will ask the people raiding for funsies to stop raiding for funsies because the people the raiders call "cowards" don't fucking want to die in what is generally seen as a dick measuring context.

Even post VW, Claude is still prejudiced, not as much as he was in the pre TS and ultimately Nopes lol, against Fodlan, expecting to change and have a new set of values "first" before bringing the values of not excluding people because they are different to Almyra.

And IMO, this is even more bonkers when you realise this S-support happens after Rhea's infodump, aka after the infodump where she reveals that the people opposing the war mongering ones with nukes were genocided - you don't ask the randoms/victims to play nice with their abusers, and expect said abusers to play nice too because you ask them.

Maybe it's a bad faith reading, but the ending illustration has Claude try to mediate or sign a treaty between, on one side, people with spears, and on the other side, people with armors (who look resigned, but maybe it's just the artstyle) and no weapons that are heavily implied to be from Fodlan.

And fun fact, now that i'm looking at them - we see Billy - aka the Church - in AM and SS, but we don't see them in CF and VW... We only see Alliance Lords - but no King/Queen Billy of Fodlan in sight.

Did he really change his POV about the Church, or not?

[friendofthecrows]

I miss that brief golden era from like 2012 to 2016 when the online witchcraft community was actually good and full of open minded people looking to learn more and share what they know plus maybe the occasional vampire middle schooler instead of the situation now where it's been taken over by capitalist tiktok transphobes who like to come up with ways to shift to hogwarts via their inherent magical vagina powers and then sell coated quartz to cure cancer instead of seeing doctors.

[wellzofyouth]

That one post of my mine predictably aged like fine wine. Never let somebody on comic twitter in the writer's room😭😭😭 Like imagine a 1 to 1 adaptation of literally any event?? -1b at the box office. "Who are these people???"