#but i also think its important to remember that what people post is not necessarily everything about a work that they notice

[kaurwreck]

Dead Apple is immensely confusing until you're able to collect enough information about singularities for context (such as by reading Fifteen & Stormbringer, both released years after Dead Apple).

Dead Apple was Kafka Asagiri's first time writing a movie; it's okay for it to be a rough cut gem.

i love dead apple so much it's such a blatant showcase of how the skk brainfog grips so many in bsd nation by the throat. only ever talking about dead apple in context of that specific scene meanwhile the most insane atsushi lore drops happen in this fucking movie. there are FAR more interesting things than a blowjob in here

[gin-juice-tonic]

So, while it's certainly not my intention to talk about pages of the bill book basically every day, it seems every time I write one post I end up thinking about something else. Here's the next something else.

This time it's these two pages. There are several things that are odd to me here. Not necessarily on their own, but when compared with the journal.

First and foremost, I want to use something that struck me here for a quick bit of doyalist analysis. (I know, I know.) Several people have said to me they didn't believe Alex had gone back and read through journal 3 again, and this could be a reason why things are so different and contradictory. But the thing is, these pages hold lines that are strikingly similar.

That top image is small, so I'm going to zoom in on what I mean. These are lines from that first book of bill page:

Here is a line from the "hiding places" page of journal 3:

and here is another line, from the page after this one:

You could argue that the thing about the caves is a plot point, and something Alex might've remembered. But part of Ford's motivation to get going to the caves so soon being the snowfall? Well, I certainly didn't remember that anyway. It's pretty a minute detail. Could its inclusion mean nothing? Maybe. But maybe not.

And if you read past my carefully placed initial highlighting, you'll also notice that lines inclusion is slightly different in the two versions.

Like I said, in journal 3, the pushing factor in getting Ford to make his trip with haste is worrying about the soon to be inclement weather.

But in the Book of Bill he mentions "little time". Why? Because of what's been written down on the previous page:

Im not going to paste the whole thing in here, because it's very heavy. But Ford has been given an express time limit by Bill.

Why then, is the snow even worth bringing up in the first place? I'm having a hard time getting the words together. But I just find it all very odd.

But the similarities between these pages and the ending of the first act of journal 3 aren't all I want to talk about. There's more differences than just the specifics of the snow line.

So, Differences:

This first one is small, but notable to me at least. On the matter of Fiddleford, here's what the Book of Bill had to say:

And here's what Journal 3 had to say:

Fiddleford being "gone" is a lot different from Fiddleford "refusing to speak" to Stanford. The former implying Ford couldn't reach out even if he wanted, the later implying he's made attempts that have failed.

And it's important to remember that the narrative is the Book of Bill pages were ripped out. Ford has written Fiddleford is missing, rips out the page, and decides upon next re-write that Fiddleford just isn't talking to him?

.

The next thing is a really big difference, and requires the addition of two more original Journal 3 pages. It also requires a new question to be asked: "Where do the two Bill pages I've shown fit within the journal?"

Here are the new pages that will be submitted into evidence added into this post:

Though I want to mainly focus on this second one,

The page where Ford's plan all starts to come together. It's worth noting this page comes before the "Hiding places" page I've shown before.

The order of events as laid out by Journal 3 are:

Ford goes to and escapes the truck stop and notices the twin motel sign, realizing he can contact Stan -> Ford lays out where he's going to hide the journals and that he's going to make the trek up to Bill's cave -> Ford fully discloses his plan to hand journal 1 off to Stan.

The Bill Book pages I've been discussing are directly after the page of Bill tormenting Ford within his mind. (Again, not going to post that page due to the subject matter). But we see that the top of the first page says "I awoke from the hallucination" so chronologically it's safe to assume there were also no non-missing pages in between them.

which means the order of events as laid out by the Book of Bill are:

Bill torments Ford within his mind -> Ford futilely searches for clues to Fiddlefords whereabouts -> Ford announces he must make his trip to the caves -> Ford realizes he must contact Stan.

The Bill book is stating "Ford came up with his plan first, and realized he needed to add Stan second."

The journal is stating "Ford was able to come up with his plan upon realizing Stan can help him."

These are very different ideas. And while it's framed in a bit of a cheesy way, I think that Journal 3's idea is very important. Despite everything stacked up against him at this point, Ford was able to keep going and come up with his plan upon realizing that he's not all alone. And specifically, working together with Stan has been the key to defeating Bill since the beginning.

If we are to take the Book of Bill's idea as truth, what of the trip to the truck stop diner and the twin motel sign? When is this supposed to have happened? Is it trying to claim it didn't at all? It's a bit silly, but I don't find it to be fake personally. Nor do I think Ford would have any reason to waste time and pages concocting a fake narrative at this point in his story. In both narratives, Bill is tormenting him every time he loses consciousness, he is exhausted from both the abuse and his general lack of sleep. He does not have time to spare.

But that's not the end.

This book of Bill page:

And this Journal page:

Are sort of paired off again, aren't they?

Supposedly, the "Should I contact S?" Bill page takes place before this journal page with the perpetual motion machine, as this page says Ford has already "Sent word to him".

Ford includes his own mini pros and cons list here, with notably more pros

There are also less cons. The idea Bill might get to Stan, or the idea Stan might destroy the portal no longer seem to be concerns.

Do the pages contradict? Well, not really aside from the order of events I've laid out. But that's sorta the thing, right?

Ultimately the two pages I've been discussing stand out to me because they're re-writes of things already in J3. Very similar except for the big hole of cutting out Ford's motel story.

Ford's supposedly on a mad 72 hour time-limit dash to make all his final arrangements to best Bill. He is at the end of his rope from the nonstop torment he's been subjected to. Does he really have both the time and the energy to be re-writing journal pages just because he didn't like them, let alone adding in entire new false narratives? And even if he does, why would he change it so that remembering Stan becomes the catalyst for his plan to outwit Bill?

[elspethdekarios]

Gale as an archmage

I've been thinking about this for a while. If you select Gale as an origin character in the character creator and play his intro, he introduces himself as Gale of Waterdeep™ he immediately follows with "please - no need to be intimidated."

Now I think we initially brush this statement off as Gale being full of himself, but the first time you talk to him and ask him to tell you about himself, there's an option to say something like "Come on, you must have stories from your time as archmage."

And I've always wondered - how would tav know this? Gale hasn't mentioned it. Which leads me to my research question:

Is Gale famous?

Not Elminster-famous, of course, but is he THE archmage of Waterdeep, known throughout the Realms? Is Gale of Waterdeep a legitimate title, not just one he decided to use because it sounds important?

Maybe all of this is common knowledge in DnD lore, but it's a fairly new world to me. Here's what I found about archmages:

From the Forgotten Realms fandom wiki (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Archmage):

Archmages were among the most powerful arcane spellcasters found throughout all of Faerûn. These practitioners of the Art were experts at manipulating and altering their spells, often in strange ways. Many cities across Faerûn had a single archmage who dedicated themselves to serve that settlement and its people. Some notable cities included Lyrabar in Impiltur, and the great western metropolis of Waterdeep. The term "archmage" was often used to refer to spellcasters who took on leadership roles among similarly-inclined practitioners of The Art. In the drow city of Menzoberranzan, the head of the arcane academy known as Sorcere was granted the title, Archmage of Menzoberranzan.

So, to summarize, archmages are super powerful, big cities often have a singular, dedicated archmage, and they take on leadership roles in the city, sometimes (or at least once) being deemed THE archmage of the city.

I've already seen posts about the insane amount of power held by archmages, so I'm not really going to go into that. I'm just interested in how well-known Gale would be in the Realms. One issue I'm running into while researching is that many people seem to approach the archmage in terms of DnD stats (spell levels, player levels, etc) rather than from a storytelling perspective.

I can't find much else specifically on how widely known archmages would be. There is a list of archmages on the Forgotten Realms wiki, but Gale isn't included on it. I'm assuming maybe BG3 lore is considered an off-shoot of FR lore and therefore not necessarily canon? Let me know if I'm wrong about this.

So that leaves me with message board responses. Here are some notable ones:

An old candlekeep.com forum on the differences between the titles used by magic users. Several users seem to agree with this person.

From the same thread as above.

Interestingly, DnD beyond has archmage categorized as a monster. I'm not sure if this applies only to evil-aligned mages or not, so anyone with more familiarity, feel free to chime in. Anyway, here's what DnD beyond says:

"Archmages are powerful (and usually quite old) spellcasters dedicated to the study of the arcane arts. Benevolent ones counsel kings and queens, while evil ones rule as tyrants and pursue lichdom. Those who are neither good nor evil sequester themselves in remote towers to practice their magic without interruption. An archmage typically has one or more apprentice mages, and an archmage's abode has numerous magical wards and guardians to discourage interlopers."

Gale does mention having students/apprentices at some point (he says something about being impatient with them if I remember correctly, but I can't remember when he actually says it), and, if he's Professor Gale in the epilogue, you're told that an apprentice delivered the invite to the party.

I also find it interesting that archmages typically have wards around their home to keep out intruders, implying that they're well-known enough to have people regularly trying to break into their home?? Or at least has happened enough times to warrant protection.

I also appreciate this reddit comment on a thread asking about the rarity of archmages:

This lead me to a super interesting reddit post which I really suggest you check out if you're interested. The OP breaks down the percentages of each class and level and translates that to city populations. I'm bad at math so that may be a horrible explanation. Anyway, here's a chart that they made:

I have been trying my hardest to put the alt text on the images for accessibility but I have no idea how that would work with this chart. I did include the text at the bottom for screen readers just in case. I'm sorry!

Sooooo someone in the comments asked specifically about Waterdeep and here's what someone who is good at math figured out! (They are correcting a previous comment with incorrect math, hence the first part of the comment):

Since a wizard is considered an archmage at level 18, it's safe to say that Gale would definitely be one of only a few wizards in Waterdeep with such a title. And if the above commenter's assumption about the Blackstaff being one of the only archmages in the city, Gale being of a similar level is HUGE, right? The Blackstaff is a big deal. From the Forgotten Realms wiki:

Blackstaff was the title and name given to the master of the eponymous staff and Blackstaff Tower, including Blackstaff Academy, as well as the Archmage of Waterdeep.

So if the Blackstaff is THE Archmage of Waterdeep, Gale, obviously, is not. But!!! If we can trust the math of the reddit users above, and we assume Gale was at least a level 19 wizard pre-orb/tadpole/whatever ... he would be one of two archmages in Waterdeep, second only to the Blackstaff themself.

I personally think that's enough renown to be a somewhat familiar name throughout Faerûn. So yes, Gale is a bit arrogant and, in his own words, pompous about being Gale of Waterdeep™ but perhaps it's warranted.

This has been a deep dive fueled by procrastination about writing the research papers I should actually be writing right now. Thank you for your time

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

I'm sure that many people are going to disagree with me but personally I think that post-Chaos Theory season 2 events Kenji and Brooklynn shouldn't get back together (and it's probably been a long time coming event).

And I have an explanation.

Before any of you bring out your pitch forks - yes, I admit, I was never a big fan of brookenji BUT I understand how they could have developed feelings for each other. Spending so much time together, relying on each other every day, sharing semi-similar experiences prior-Isla Nublar, not to mention simple attraction - those are all valid reasons as to why they could have fallen in love. And, hear me out, I think that their relationship worked well for as long as they tangibly experienced the aftermaths of Isla Nublar/Mantah Corp Island on the Main Land.

What do I mean by that? When you are going through an experience with someone, especially a traumatic experience, you may still kind of feel rooted in that experience even once it ends. It doesn't necessarily mean stagnation - during that time you can develop as a person, and gather new experiences, but a part of you is still living as if it expects to go back to the old ways. That means that you still follow a similar routine, cultivate the same habits, or keep up the same mindset.

However, as time progresses, you naturally move on. Kenji and Brooklynn could still have experienced some side-effects of living on dino-infected island but their minds moved on and started "settling" on the Main Land. Now that on its own - is not a problem. The problem (well, part of it) is that their threads of development started to stray apart. And I want to emphasize here - it is no one's fault, it is a natural occurrence.

By the end of jwcc S5 and in the first season of jwct, we can clearly notice how it is important for Kenji to have something (and someone) to anchor in. That is not surprising at all - he was a mostly neglected child, who saw a hero in his father but who found a real family in his friends. Perhaps that was his first real experience of a family. Naturally, because of that, "family" suddenly (compared to pre-jwcc Kenji) has a whole different value for him, he starts to associate family with new things like safety, mental comfort, stability, and proximity. We see it not only in how he treats Darius in the finale of jwcc S5 but in how, despite it all, he stays in close proximity to Daniel Kon in jwct S1 - because yes, he (probably subconsciously) extended some of these new aspects of a newly discovered "family" even to Daniel. This explains even better his very emotional reaction to Daniel's death - losing a member of a family is almost like a taboo in Kenji's concept of "family". Staying alive was the top priority on Isla Nublar, being alive together was what made the Nublar 6 family real and safe.

I think, to some extent, a member of a family dying itself Kenji almost treats like an act of betrayal (remember that his mother also died when he was a child).

And now we have Brooklynn who not just dies but fakes dying. And Kenji hates deceit - especially after he was lied to by his own father - a member of his "original" family. And here we have Brooklynn - a member of the found family doing the same thing but even worse. She had her reasons, and her reasons are justified, but the justification of something isn't enough to rebuild a shattered core value / core belief for someone else. Listen, Brooklynn can be forgiven but it doesn't mean that Kenji will be able to restore what they had. Like physically and mentally it may actually be impossible for him.

Now it's time for Brooklynn's side.

Brooklynn is a very interesting character on her own because there's one thing that is unchangeable about her and it's the fact that she likes being independent. She was basically a solo internet superstar who was used to doing things on her own throughout her whole life. Now, it doesn't mean that she doesn't need friends or that she can accomplish everything on her own - no, and throughout jwcc (and I predict that jwct is going to make a point out of it too) she learns how to reach out for help and how to help others. She's a good friend - even her motivations in jwct are deeply rooted in the fact that she is just a really incredible friend. But! That is not the only catalyst for her motivations. She is also ambitious and, like I said earlier, very independent. Both of these are very strong, often dominant traits that heavily define her actions. And listen - those are also traits that for a very long time granted her success and, what's more important, self-satisfaction. To put it plainly: it makes her happy when she can solve mysteries, track suspicious leads, uncover secrets - it has always been her thing! And it obviously makes her happy to this day - maybe it's not as carefree happiness but I believe that it's just a more adult version of the same "emotional high". And not only does it make her happy - she's also incredibly good at it.

It doesn't mean that for Brooklynn the Sense of Adventure is more important than family and friends, it just means that stability is not the value she has as much space for as Kenji does. Because for Kenji, whose whole life centers around creating a solid concept of family and home, a sense of safety and stability is a key value, Brooklynn on the other side is always ready to be on the move, she anticipates dynamism from the world. And that's why Kenji, who's slower and more anxious (even if he doesn't voice it out openly!) to accept changes, doesn't quite keep up with her lifestyle.

Post leaving Isla Nublar, the campers (including Kenji and Brooklynn) started developing in new ways - they picked up new traits, gained new experiences, and started figuring out what works best for them. In my opinion, Kenji's life led him to the point where he had to quite physically sculpt his life on his own for the first time and this process takes years. It doesn't mean that he's boring or, god forbid, lazy - it means that as a person in so many ways shaped by a changing concept of family, he needs to build a house for himself - mostly metaphorically. Only recently he started rock-climbing, and found out that he loved it - that's amazing but he needed time and a proper state of mind to figure it out. We can only guess how the rest of his life unfolds but I tentatively predict that some kind of stability - being able to turn around and see the person you love always there and will always reassure you - will be a core value for him. Brooklynn, with a different personality type, clearly picked up some parts of her life that she had before Isla Nublar. She didn't have to build everything from scratch and, ergo, doesn't value the "building" itself as much as Kenji. None of them are wrong in their mindset, in what they value. But having a different mindset makes it much much harder to reach a common ground in a relationship.

And I'm temporarily putting aside that Brooklynn betrayed Kenji on so many levels and basically broke his heart - in a way, I would argue that (though I feel like she was too harsh when she was talking about it with Darius) Brooklynn could also feel as if Kenji hurt her by not giving her enough credit and space which probably was uncomfortable for her because she is, as we established, very independent. So both of them hurt each other in different aspects for sure (this post doesn't aim to put blame on any of them), but the thing is that I think they just grew up to be different people with different needs.

And that's okay.

(I'm sure some of you are going to be mad either way but I just wanted to share my point of view)

[weirdstrangeandawful]

What is whump?

I get asked this question a lot so I figured I'd just make a post about it! I doubt a lot of people will see this since I'm a small whump blog but at least a few people will have a quick reference.

The short answer is that whump is a fictional genre of media. Like any genre, it's difficult for one person to entirely characterise but I'll do my best.

Whump is a fictional genre focused on the experience of pain. This can be physical pain or emotional pain. The pain could be acute or chronic. The focus could be on the recovery from the pain or on the pain itself. It's a super versatile genre!

Some frequently asked questions:

Okay, but how is this different from hurt/comfort?

This is a complicated question (hard to entirely characterise an entire genre, eh?) and it really depends on the writer. For me, hurt/comfort is a subset of whump where the comfort is required whilst whump is the larger, overarching genre where comfort is not an absolute necessity, but many others have different opinions!

What is a whumpee?

You'll often hear writers (especially prompt writers) in the whump community refer to characters as 'whumpee', 'whumper', and 'caretaker'. These are placeholder names like your good old A, B, and C. 'Whumpee' refers to the character experiencing the pain (literally 'the one being whumped'); 'whumper' is the (optional) character causing or contributing to the pain; and 'caretaker' is the (also optional) character helping care for the whumpee and alleviating the pain.

Why would I support someone who thinks people should experience pain?

Pain and adversity are facts of life. In fact, many of us as whump writers and readers engage with the genre to cope with pain and adversity in our real lives. It's important to remember that whump is a fictional genre and someone's interest in the fictional themes portrayed really aren't a reflection of what goes on in their real life. The name 'whump' may be contemporary but this is definitely not a contemporary genre (Shakespearean tragedies anyone?) so there is no use criticising its existence. If you don't like it, that's okay! Scroll on by and block the #whump tag if you need to. Like many artists, we're an accepting community and won't judge. In fact, we probably understand better than most that there is too much pain in the world and not everyone wants to read about more of it.

What's the difference between whump and BSDM/kink?

This is a complicated and very individualised answer. The oversimplified answer is that BDSM and kink are explicitly sexual/sensual whilst whump is not necessarily related to sex. But that is extremely oversimplified and doesn't cover all or even most people's experiences with either whump or BDSM/kink. The most generalised answer I can give is that whump is an overarching genre whilst BDSM and kink are individualised cultural practices and activites. But even that needs nuance and context to understand and apply. For me personally, I don't like combining the two because I experience them in very different ways, but that's just my experience!

Edit: I realise that I was not clear in the above answer. BDSM and kink are absolutely not inherently sexual at all. In my personal experience, I've found there to be a lot more overlap between BDSM/kink and sexual experiences than with whump but this is not true for many and maybe most people. No one person is qualified to answer this question.

[dontforgetukraine]

#if a fucking propaganda movie is allowed in a film festival it just proves the west doesn't care

I wouldn't necessarily say that people in the West don't care. This is a failure occurring at multiple levels.

-First is the recognition that RT (and its current and former employees) is an arm of the Kremlin and is used for psyops. The Dept of Justice in America is finally showing some awareness about that, but this needs to happen at the government, business, and civilian level everywhere. -Second is how this film got sponsors and taxpayer money to be made in the first place. What oversight is currently there and how can it be made sure this doesn't happen again? -Third is what oversight is there at these cultural and art events? -Fourth is making sure people are educated and are able to recognize any form of propaganda.

Generally speaking, it's more likely people in the West, especially America, don't know how to recognize Russian propaganda.

I'll speak from an American perspective since that's where I am. We're uninformed due to it not being covered in our education system and media landscape. In addition, our leaders have been too slow to act on psyops. While Russian psyops flood the information space of news and social media, and some of us can recognize it, the propaganda about Ukraine we encounter is different from what's in "Russians at War" with some exceptions (ex. "Whataboutism"). A person that is only vaguely aware of the war and doesn't closely follow what's happening won't necessarily recognize the context and content. That's not an excuse. That's just reality. This is something I have to keep reminding myself, that the people around me don't know how to recognize it unless they are deliberately following the war and looking to educate themselves by listening to Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans.

There needs to be more education on forms of propaganda and media literacy, and how to build up cognitive resilience. Propaganda doesn't always look like propaganda. I'll refer to a quote I posted from Dietmar Pichler. We typically think of propaganda coming from social media and talk shows, although now in this age its a lot of podcasts and YouTube videos. These are easy to overlook, including film at a cultural and arts festival.

I'll also refer to this quote from Pekka Kallioniemi.

Transparency should be our key weapon against individuals on the fringes who promote Kremlin propaganda… Highlighting and discussing these issues openly can help. Raising awareness about individuals spreading Kremlin propaganda, especially those in positions of power, is vital… Most countries, even those strongly opposed to the Kremlin, will have one or two such pro-Kremlin voices. It’s important to acknowledge that in a democracy, everyone has a voice, even if it’s frustrating to hear Kremlin propaganda. This underscores the importance of education. If people are equipped with cognitive resilience against such misinformation, it loses its impact on society as a whole. Building cognitive resilience through education is crucial. It’s a long-term investment, but it’s an essential competence also for our children’s future, well-being, and security.

So, please, don't automatically assume the West doesn't care. There's a long road in this fight for the information space and to educate that needs to happen on multiple fronts. It's going to take all the resources and people we can get against an enemy that is very good at what it does and has been doing it for a long time. I know it's frustrating and it sucks, but there are those of us here that care and I want to reassure people about that. Remember, the enemy wants you to despair.

[semi-imaginary-place]

I was thinking about how the girls in Naruto might have progressed as ninja if they'd ever been given actual development.

Ino would make an excellent spy. She's mental ninjutsu oriented, and she's people oriented. She's the gossip queen, she knows everything about anyone. I can so easily see her as an espionage master going under deep cover to do what she does best, knowing other people's business. Super glam spy fits her vibes, she deserves it. The anime suggests an alternate path as she has a filler arc where she apprentices under Tsunade and that's as a mental health specialist. This doesn't fit her quite as well but I do like the idea of her and Sakura working together given how important their rivalry is to each other in the manga.

Sakura was introduced as having excellent potential in genjustsu, and then nothing was done with this. Sasuke became the genjutsu user and Sakura the taijutsu user and this could have been interesting since this is the opposite of their initial introduction but again nothing was done with this. Building off her taijutsu and being able to focus her chakra to a point for super powered attacks, I think Sakura deserves to wield a giant axe, she has one in several of Kishimoto's illustrations. Next would be her to develop her genjutsu potential, Sakura's strength's are her control and intelligence and I'd like to see her fully use those skills. Additionally the manga and characters themselves draw strong parallels between Sasuke and Kakashi as the geniuses of their teams. The parallel that is missed is that Sakura and Kakashi are both people without plot-breakingly powerful kekkai genkai with high intelligence, excellent chakra control, but mediocre chakra pools, and this really could have been explored more. One of the problems Naruto has is that healer is treated as a women's profession, with Sakura its rather hard to avoid however as the manga sets up a strong parallel between the sannin trio and Team 7. One option would be for Sakura not to use her medical knowledge for healing but instead like Kabuto for assassination and special operations. Of Team 7 Sakura is the most suited for ANBU, Naruto is just out of consideration completely and Sasuke has shown himself to be just as stupid and reckless as Naruto. Sakura in Anbu would also further drive the similarities between her and Kakashi.

When will someone remember that Tenten exists. I don't see her 700 epilogue retirement to run a weapon shop necessarily bad. Not everyone has to be a ninja, the problem is when it's always the women who retire from fighting. As a ninja though I think Tenten deserves more swords, like Killer B level or more swords. Tenten's strengths are in her physical abilities and weapon versatility, so she should be able to always pull out the weapon type that would work best against any opponent. I love to see her be a primarily physical fighter this would be my first pick for her, but another option would be to lean more into the sealing scroll side of thing so not just weapons but tools and traps, make Tenten a saboteur.

Hinata, oh Hinata, she deserves so much better. I can see more or less two paths for her. First would be to quit being a ninja, it could work for her. Hinata never really seemed to want to be a ninja, it was always for something else, her clan, Naruto, her friends, but not quite herself. I can very easily her leaving the shinobi life all together, leave ninjas, leave the Hyuuga clan; Hinata deserves it, to lead her own life on her own terms. Hinata had such potential to be an interesting character and its a shame the manga never got into it. She's the eldest of the Hyuuga clan leader but she's overshadowed by both her cousin and her younger sister and ends up passed over for succession, like that is juicy. True growth for the Hyuuga would have been Neji succeeding his uncle as clan head but that's another post. If she stays a ninja I would have like to see come to terms that her clan's kinda bullshit in a lot of ways and what they think of her doesn't matter, becoming a shinobi because she wants that for herself. In line with this personal growth she fighting style should deviate from Hyuuga techniques, maybe she develops her own taijutsu style. Or who knows maybe she becomes a physical therapist between the ability to see chakra and affect it, magic acupuncture. Kurenai is similarly ignored in the manga, but with her mentorship, Hinata has the potential to become essentially a magekiller, specializing in countering and taking down genjutsu users.

I bring up the option of some of the girls retiring because some of the boys should have retired. Hinata should have gotten Choji's character arc, and Choji who hates fighting should have been allowed to quit fighting and run a successful bakery cafe business. Sai deserves to put shinobi life behind him and become a full time artist. Shikamaru starts out like he's going to quit but I'm actually quite fond of his character arc. Yamato is also wasted potential as former human experiment and child soldier, like Sai he should learn how to live in peace, maybe he becomes an architect. We don't see team Taka in chapter 700 but Juugo is so gentle I want a nice civilian life for him.

(idk about Temari I mostly just want her to keep girlbossing and beating people up. Mmm I do think she's make a better Kazekage than Gaara. Gaara is another one I could see quiting being a soldier.)

[juni-ravenhall]

long post about ydris & circus worker / traveller / romani stereotypes (+ unrelated but related heterochromia)

(.... and sse's behaviour around one traveller-coded character and then of a masc-ish woman of colour while they dont do this with their plain white toast characters)

yasmin told me to write a post about this after i was telling her about it, so here it is.

first for canon: ydris is obvs pandorian, non-human, and his human form does not necessarily read as a specific ethnicity or cultural belonging (but i will get back to his looks later in the post!). he throws in french words but he is pandorian. why he speaks french (or uses it for flair?) is not clear from the lore afaik.

anyway. there are stereotypes about people who work in the travelling circus (or in any circus at all, depending). these stereotypes often go hand in hand with stereotypes about romani people and other travelling people. (im talking both about circus people of the past and present.)

here are some examples of harmful stereotypes about travelling people, circus people, and romani people (often these are founded in being an "outsider", people dont like to trust outsiders and consider them strange for not being exactly the same as themselves, aka xenophobia):

thief, criminal, dangerous

trickery, lying, cheating

seduction, enchanting (can come back to ^ trickery etc)

unreliable, untrustworthy

immoral, and/or follows other morals/laws than "the norm" in the places they travelled to [and this is seen in a negative way]

promiscuous, unfaithful

mysterious, intriguing

using magic / reading fortunes (these can be connected back to trickery, mystery, seduction...)

wild, untamed

"are they good or bad?"

speaks a foreign language or a secret language (and may use this to talk behind the backs of locals / to trick locals)

sexualised on behalf of above points (immoral, mysterious, seductive, enchanting, wild, untamed...)

objectified and/or dehumanised on behalf of above points (i think you get it by now.)

these stereotypes can affect people who are, for example, european or american white people who work in a travelling circus. however, romani people, on behalf of their ethnicity, can be affected by these stereotypes about nomadic people even if that romani person doesn't live a nomadic lifestyle, because these stereotypes about romani people persist as racist and cultural stereotypes even when you take the travelling out of the equation. (i think irish travellers also face the stereotypes regardless of if they live as settled or as nomads?)

now, i want to say some things about ydris looks before i move on with the topic of these stereotypes, but first its important to note that sso is a swedish game made by swedish people, and whats considered "white" or "white passing" in the US is not the same as what it is in scandinavia or northern europe (i cant speak for other parts of europe well enough so i wont). its also more like "what part of europe"-passing rather than just "white" passing.

in sweden, you're not going to meet hispanic americans or african americans, for example, but you will see romani people and kurdish people, for example, and ofc, polish people, estonian people, people from around the area.... the minority groups are different in europe vs the US (vs anywhere else ofc. i hope USamericans learn that nowhere else is the US and you need to stop projecting shit on other places). the idea of whats "swedish ethnicity" or "scandinavian ethnicity" or "european ethnicity" and so on are not equal to "white american ethnicity". remember that many white ppl here can trace back their history like a thousand years in the same country, while white ppl in america are generally like, "my great grandpa came from germany, my great grandma from poland, and my girlfriend's family came from ireland" and so on. theres a mash of different cultures and ethnicities, which isnt the average case for white people in europe. (please: obviously im not saying "everyone is this" just on average. plenty of ppl are mixed here, or have grandparents who moved here, etc.)

i am a swede with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes and i have experienced white ppl colorism (im still not sure if colorism is the right word, but i think so. however its mostly harmless idiocy, but frustrating to hear over and over). i dont mind it anymore, i just think its stupid, now, as an adult. and colorism(?) within white people is not at all as bad as racism that poc experience in the same country - just to be clear. the reason i bring it up isnt to say "boohoo me", but to try to explain what "white passing" or "swedish passing" is in sweden, from a person who literally is white but is not considered swedish enough due to having darker eyes and darker hair.

anyway! ydris has black hair. from a swedish developer and swedish audience perspective, black hair is enough to make a character read as "foreign". (thats why we had this whole tangent ^ above.) but, we also dont need to rely on a vague hint of foreignness, because he throws in french words, and he's from pandoria. and a lot of people will associate the travelling circus and ydris' wagon with romani culture to some degree, whether or not that's accurate (again, circus culture and romani culture and other nomadic cultures can become mixed up). the black hair ties well into the image of a travelling circus person.

ydris is a sort of "chaotic neutral" in the story so far. he has different intentions than the "heroes" and "villains" both, and he is largely self-centered (focusing on his own desires - tho he seems to care about pandoria as well - and he likely experiences different feelings than the average jorvegian does, and his sense of morals and social rules are different). now, im sure you can see how that ties back into some of the stereotypes ive listed: he's a foreign outsider who cant be trusted, he is mysterious, is he good or bad?, he tricks people, he behaves chaotically (wild)...... etc

he also comes across as flirty towards the player, which im sure you can see, ties back in to things from the stereotype list like seduction, enchantment, and being promiscuous. if it helps, consider Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame, as an example of the harmful stereotype of seductive romani. (i loved disney hunchback when i was a kid, and i also want to point out that that movie handles the topic of how esmeralda has to do things just to scrape by, and she is demonised in the eyes of a rich white religious man in power, who is evil, while she herself is a good person and being oppressed and dehumanised. just leaving that here as food for thought, not to really defend or cancel anything, but to encourage ppl to view things in a nuanced way. the stereotypes are harmful and disney is an evil company, but there are also parts in that story that are criticising the right things. then theres other parts that are just ??? )

also, there is a significant population of romani in france, but ofc there are romani across many countries. yasmin pointed out when we talked that french is also seen as a "sexy language" - so it kind of both ties into the "foreign traveller from further down in europe" and "seductive romani" by having him use a language considered "sexy".

ydris also has heterochromia (one light blue eye and one dark blue) which isnt related to the idea of the traveller, but it *is* considered "mysterious", "strange", and potentially "untrustworthy". this is ofc really weird - heterochromia is a real life condition that completely normal people have. having heterochromia shouldnt be portrayed as anything weird or special - there is nothing mysterious or strange about it, or something "untrustworthy" (playing into things like being two-faced).

if you go back up to the list of harmful stereotypes, keeping the things ive said in mind, and how ydris behaves in the game..... im sure you can understand what im saying about the bigger picture. the combination of living in a circus wagon, being mysterious and flirtatious and living by his own rules, being untrustworthy, having black hair, throwing in french words, theres a lot of things that maybe seem okay out of context, but when you put them together, to me, it makes it clear that ydris is like.... romani coded, or something close to romani coded, despite, yes, technically being pandorian, i get it, thank you, its not relevant, he is not real, the staff at sse are real and their biases are real.

theres nothing wrong in itself with being flirty or promiscuous or seductive and whatnot - or with fictional villains, or chaotic, untrustworthy characters - the problem is the stereotype of a group of real people. especially when you're passing these stereotypes on to an audience of impressionable children. why is ydris the character being handled this way? why is sabine the character to be handled this way? why dont they handle plain white toast characters this way?

an important point is that i dont think neither ydris or sabine are really sexualised within the game itself - the more blatant stuff happens on sse's official social media. ydris is sexualised to some degree in the way that he flirts: again, it alludes to the seductive romani person, even if its very mild flirting (the stereotype is still perpetuated). sabine is mostly not sexualised in the game, just hyped up in general, but the social media team keeps milking the fact that ppl are thirsty for sabine. the post is not really about sexualisation as the focus. its about general questionable or outright harmful design choices, that sometimes also has to do with sexualisation and objectification.

this, as usual, isnt about cancelling sso or sse. its about being analytical and critical about the media you consume, and about biases both from creators and from audiences. its about learning how to be more understanding and respectful towards other people. and about raising your voice and holding ppl accountable when they perpetuate harmful things (esp if its people in power, like companies, celebrities, and politicians).

personally, i dont think you arent allowed to think ydris or sabine are hot. its okay if they are your type or if you relate to them or whatever, because like, ultimately we're surrounded by all these characters and real people everywhere in media that are affected by biases. but i DO think you need to actually think about this shit if you are thirsting for sabine or thirsting for ydris. i dont think its great to just be like, omg, typical ydris, he tricked me again and then he seduced me, typical circus people. or to be like, wow, sabine is so hot and should step on me, beefy women of colour are scarier than beefy white women, thats so hot. do you get it? you can be attracted to these charas without being racist or xenophobic or misogynist or whatever, they just happen to be your type, and thats nice, but you do need to think about how you view them and why, and how you talk about them and why, bc a lot of people have biases they arent even aware to, and might not understand what kind of biases you perpetuate. example: how apparently most ppl didnt think about the romani / traveller stereotype implications of ydris so i had to write this post. stay woke and pay attention to potential harmful stereotypes in media, so i dont have to write this shit anymore

[noraiir-arts]

Does anyone else have very complicated ways of shipping?? like when i say "i ship them" i don't mean "oh they love each other so much they kiss each other and will be together forever" i ship characters but in a way that's unique to only them and/or only in certain scenarios

Like, for example Zelink- I think pre-calam zelink was one sided, i dislike post-calam zelink, but i sort of like totk zelink (yes i know they are the same two people) but only certain dynamics??? but i also think that its the type of love that goes unsaid, they just look out for and support each other, maybe its not entirely romantic but they are closer than friends. It's the type of closeness you can only get by knowing that no matter what lifetime you are in the other will always be there. I don't think its necessarily the type where they hide behind pillars to make out, or try to stay in a committed relationship, but more of a tired love, one that has been renewed throughout hundreds of lives, each time being something different.

But take skyward sword, i believe that it's easier to see romantic zelink here

or Miphlink - I don't really ship this, but it's a tragic one-sided love story that Mipha knew was doomed from the beginning. The other woman. Was never given enough time to tell Link how she felt, yet even if she had time he might not have returned her feelings. Now he barely remembers her. Maybe 100 years later she's a little embarrassed of herself, of what she wrote in her diary. Maybe it was a simple crush, mistaken for undying love and has dwindled over the past century. But now it's a sad love, the type where she grieves for what used to be, and what never will. But after being saved from Ruta she switches her sights towards the domain. She can see how much her brother has grown and is so proud of him. She knows Link will never remember her fully, but maybe it's for the best. No matter what, she will always be there to heal his wounds.

Tbh i was dragged into Revalink kicking and screaming, but now it's one of my favorites. - Their dynamics work so well, but oh no it's so sad. Started from a one-sided "rivalry" to some sort of friendship. Link never hated Revali, he didn't even dislike him. And Revali just wanted Link to be impressed, to understand why he was chosen for his role as pilot, and he wanted Link to prove himself to Revali (honestly i can go on a on about why revali was harsh to link in botw if anyone wants me to) But over time they both start to realize that they are more similar to each other than any of the other champions. They weren't born into noble families or blessed with magic. Revali learns about the vigorous training Link underwent after pulling the sword, and Link learns that Revali isn't the son of the elder or was an important figure in his village before becoming a champion, but a simple warrior just like Link. Their friendship grows and they become a great team, surprising mostly everyone. Maybe it grows into something more. Maybe neither of them know it. Maybe they just never admit it. Revali knows Link doesn't remember him. He doesn't want him to. He tells Link not to go asking about him to the princess. It's for the best, he will still be there to help Link after all. Maybe it's cruel to keep him from knowing. Well, Revali will be gone soon anyway. Maybe he hopes that Link will at least remember good things about him.

Honestly I love revalink aus, they are my fav!!

I think of Zelimpa (aoc) like a mix of how i described miphlink and revalink but im too tired to explain it rnnnnn

oh also urbosa/zelda's mom but i think that goes unsaid

but anyway these are just a few. Most of the time i can't use words to exactly explain something pictured in my head, (synesthesia is so silly) but i tried my best

[mabelskins]

How to: Accessibility [EN]

Part 01 - Visual design

It’s been a while since my last how to and felt like putting something together! First of all, HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! To everyone out there! Being in the queer community, i know the struggles we go through everyday and am wishing a very proud month to all of us <3

Moving on to the actual topic here: accessibility. It’s been shown here and there when discussing coding and skinning but WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN! 

Let’s go back a bit. For years people have been trying to achieve the impossible: an universal design. A design that is universal and usable for ALL people a one-size-fits-all design that will be usable and perfect for everyone. Now, there’s only one ‘little’ problem with this: people are different. I’ve always been overweight and whenever I’ve seen clothes that say ‘one size fit all’, I look at it very suspiciously. Bottom line is: every person is different, pain points and needs will also be different. 

So what do we do? One different design for every person who is using our product? 

Well, let’s make it equitable, let’s provide flexibility to cater for a broader audience, and let this audience choose what’s best for them. But! That’s doesn't take the responsibility from us, the designers (and coders) to make sure that we are making what we can to enable this flexibility. 

------------- I've started a list which I then realised would be way bigger than expected, so decided to make each item into its own post. We'll start with VISUAL DESIGN!

Part 01 - Visual design

Colour

I’ve mentioned before about the importance of contrast and contrast ratio briefly. If you want to go into more details, you may have a look at W3 Guidelines. In short: 

Don't rely on colour alone to convey meaning, information and actions;

Make sure there's enough contrast between foreground and background

Provide an option for light/dark mode

Light/Dark Modes

There’s a myth that dark mode is good for accessibility, because it improves text readability. (Personally, I’m a big fan of dark mode, as white/bright screens may trigger migraines). However, as everything in ux, the answer to ‘is it black or white’ is that it depends. As mentioned before, a good rule of thumb is not to generalise and provide flexibility. 

When using light and dark mode, make sure the colour contrast ratio passes on both modes. Here’s a few tips for designing for dark mode (according to atmos article attached at the end of this): 

Use tints (less saturated colours). Saturated colours can cause eye strain and will be hard to pass accessibility standards.

Image from Atmos website

Avoid pure black. Please. Pure black and pure white when used together might be the default instinct, but the contrast when used together is so strong it becomes hard to look at. Choose dark greys and off-whites/light grey when possible. 

Be patient with your colour palette, inverting colours won’t make it necessarily good. Take your time to build a palette that will be suitable for both.

Target Sizes

First, what is this? This refers to the dimensions of interactive elements such as links, buttons, icons or touch targets. Basically, anything you can interact/click.

WCAG 2.2 established a minimum for pointer inputs to be 24x24. This is the space that should be provided for a clickable area.

Image from W3 website

There's a number of exceptions and guidelines which I won't get into too much detail. It's important to think about the area which people are clicking into these elements. Also remember that this may be quite useful for users that are using the forum in their mobiles - so this is quite important (don't you hate when you can't click somewhere because you haven't clicked the EXACT area needed?)

In short:

Make sure target sizes are at least 24px

Make sure buttons look like buttons, anything that is clickable and interactive LOOKS like they are interactive

Make sure links are underlined (again, as an extra visual sign that they are clickable)

THAT'S IT!!

For part 01 at least. This is just the tip of the iceberg though. If you'd like to dive deeper into this, I highly recommend Stephanie Walter's content, as well as the Extra Bold book read. I'm attaching a few more articles and resources here too! If you've read all of this, you are a champ, I know this is longer than usual. Please like and share this content, let's get it out there!

Articles:

Designers Guide to Documenting Accessibility

Dark mode ui best practices

Dark mode best practices

Accessibility annotation examples

Colour accessibility tools

Inclusive components design

Accessible design in 60s

Target size minimum

Resources

Accessible colours

Accessible colour palette builder

[eluxcastar]

*Nudges you* May we have Papa Pierro doing Papa Pierro things part three? 🥺

Even more Papa Pierro doing even more Papa Pierro things

── ୨୧：pierro & reader

୨୧﹑synopsis :: baby is a little older now (and still sufficiently causing trouble) but tbh Pierro loves that gremlin

୨୧﹑content :: gn reader, child reader, possible mild child endangerment (it's natural)

୨୧﹑words :: 912

listen there's only so much I can do for child reader before I age them up and we're on part FOUR of Pierro papaing I have got to age baby up and I'm sorry but it must be done. not too much they're still not an adult but they're not quite so baby anymore think like thirteen or fourteen now

when I said I would post Tuesday this isn't the Tuesday I meant, but, well, there's a reason I chose family fluff. I'm also probably gonna make a masterpost for these cause I can't be bothered to link these all in every post, I'll update the link as soon as I make it

all papa pierro posts

A little older and a lot more independent, you tend to spend a little less time around your beloved Papa, now having several responsibilities of your own and an ever-busy Father doing his best to provide for you but having dedicated so much time to keeping you safe in your early childhood you have to cut him a little slack. That's not to say he doesn't keep you safe now; he regularly finds himself making mental checklists for you before you go out, all of which are some of the most outlandish things you've heard possibly going wrong.

Some things make sense, like remembering to wear your coat when you go out, but other things not so much.

He's still using his old scare tactics too, but thankfully you definitely don't doubt that Dottore would be more than glad to amputate your fingers and toes for you to do precisely as you're told the second that leaves his mouth. Don't go into his lab under any circumstances is also still quite common to hear.

Now that you've got a little more sense to you, Pierro allows you to wander as you please and see who you see fit, though he doesn't necessarily enjoy the things you get your hands on as a result of doing so. Each time you stick your nose somewhere you know you shouldn't be, obviously endangering yourself, you receive a harsh scolding for your antics the second he finds out, and he always finds out.

He won't be entertaining a single one of your thoughts about 'when' you join the Fatui, insisting that you will, in fact, not be doing so, for as loyal as he may be to the Tsaritsa, he was not bound by any deal to her to give up his firstborn child to her like a horror of mythic folklore and, as a result, will not be doing so. As his only child, you can forget about joining the Fatui as it's far too dangerous, and there are plenty of ways for you to be helpful without being directly involved if you truly wish.

That's such a horrifying thought that he didn't even half-heartedly encourage it when you were younger.

Pierro will pretend not to notice that you sneak out to persuade Tartaglia - who easily turns to mush at your request - to teach you something of the many weapons he has learned, just as long as you don't get hurt in the process. Thankfully, you picked a kinder teacher, as he wouldn't want you to think you should try to learn from Capitano or Arlecchino, whose ideas of teaching are far too hands-on for you to handle.

The most he intervenes is asking Columbina, of all people, to keep an eye on you in these times, as he knows that, inevitably, you'll find your way to her in pursuit of what you really want - something which even Childe cannot teach you - the skills required of a mage. Admittedly, it's not her most substantial hand either, but in the obvious absence of your own Father as an immediate candidate, she will at least provide you with the basics. He will only teach you what he wants you to know when you come to him.

Khaenri'ah had its own unique ways of magic, all of which you should know, being descended from the place. It's important to him that even if he won't allow you to do the one thing he's tried to get you to shut up about for years now and which Pierro absolutely has the power to stop you from doing, he at least imparts the very thing you would be using in that situation just in case you manage to get around him. Knowing how much of your life you've spent doing that, he has no doubt that at some point in your adulthood, you'll double-cross him and join the Fatui anyway. Pierro is simply lying to himself that you won't.

However, teaching you magic is a way of bonding with you. No one else in your life can, so he takes up upon himself to make sure that you learn from him, as he wants you to know as much about your homeland as possible. If not for the fact it had been destroyed, you would have grown up there, but in its absence, Pierro is raising you as something of a fish out of water. Many things left to the Gods were not commonplace in Khaenri'ah, so even though you seem to need to understand their importance, he teaches you much about creating life through alchemy. However, you can't do it yourself, nor does he particularly want you to.

It's too slow for your liking, but as far as you know, your only other option is to ask Dottore, who created his segments that way, or Scaramouche, who was created that way. One of those choices doesn't know or discuss the details of his creation with nosey little kids, and the other will get you in trouble with just about everyone involved.

You just have to accept that you must be patient - probably a part of your lesson - and wait for your Father to get to the exciting things you want.

You're still very set on joining the Fatui even with the bit of leniency he allows you and his most incredible efforts will not shut you up, even if you pretend they will.

[utilitycaster]

the thing is, the accounts on cr twitter who have these wild takes aren't even shippers

they're all about nuance about the gods, aeor, ludinus, ruby vanguard.....but then have these extreme views about orym, say he's got bloodlust and pretty much equate him to a cop/military soldier

Hey anon! So I will admit as I have in the past that I largely avoid CR Twitter because I hate Twitter as a platform and the community of CR Twitter specifically (more below) but I will say the tweets I have seen have largely been from people who are, if not the most rabid of shippers, shippers. I did in fact just go there and click on "Orym" as it was trending, and the tweets to this effect are largely from people with black and purple hearts in their names. I don't think they're necessarily conscious that this is the reason why they try so hard to discredit Liam's characters (and I think the desire for Laudna to be a Traumatized Innocent rather than a person who has done her own share of harm is an even larger factor) but I do think it is part of it.

I should note: a significant point of reference for me is that the person who famously said "do not uwuify this" re Orym post episode 63 is Wally Wests on Twitter. Look, I know I use the word "stupid" a lot, and I'm trying to reduce it not because I think it's a problem to use but because it reduces the impact and also heavily implying people are stupid without outright saying it tends to be more effective on every level but god this person is the dumbest motherfucker in the fandom and I'm not even kidding. Like, they're the "Australian white person who writes like Rupi Kaur but worse" I've referenced. Because of The Algorithm they are weirdly popular in that space and it baffles me because I honestly don't understand why every single thing they say isn't just filled with replies saying "are you fucking stupid." Like I physically cannot understand how you can have a brain and read a single word they say and go "this is a person I should listen to." They are also not a big shipper, but they do like the ship from what I understand. Specifically on Tumblr, the people echoing this nonsense are pretty much shippers.

With that said yeah, I do think it's worth addressing the soldier aspect. First off, if we're talking cops, why is Bryce, pleasant but forgettable minor NPC, inexplicably popular in this fandom despite them being an actual crownsguard of an actual authoritarian government. Like are all fictional cops bastards or no (fwiw my opinion is no, because the context of the world in which they exist is extremely important; I'm just pointing out the inconsistencies)? But also...I've run into this with Worlds Beyond Number too, and it actually came up on the Fireside chat, but there are words people hear (empire, religion, soldier) and automatically go "BAD BAD BAD" and don't spend any time thinking about how we've come to these conclusions. And for what it's worth I think Empire is always ultimately going to be bad because of its source in conquest; religion is neutral with the potential to harm or hurt; and soldier is deeply contextual and inherently gray; but all are very valid things to explore in fiction, where the war crimes and abuses aren't real. I remember seeing a take about Candela Obscura shitting on how half the party is former soldiers, and like...the messaging of this season of Candela is undeniably about the immense psychological damage of war, and the soldiers were defending their home against a colonizing force rather than doing any sort of invading, but some people are so high on a paper-thin unexamined concept of what I presume they tell themselves is leftism that they cannot see that. Orym's husband did not die trying to invade a nation for their oil. He died because people trying to unleash a horror ran an attack on their town as a practice run. Orym's experience as a soldier has always been one of defense, never conquest or destruction, and that is important to understand. It doesn't mean that in the future Zephrah couldn't become an oppressive power (and various worldbuilding in Exandria does explore the idea of small community watches or protective guards growing deeply corrupt or expansionist over time, but god knows the people saying this shit have the lore knowledge of a dead pigeon), but the aspects of being a soldier he is engaging with are those of personal sacrifice and protecting one's own, not killing for resources or ideology (which, let's be real, is usually an excuse to take the resources of those you disagree with).

[trans-axolotl]

Hope this isn’t too random, but what are your thoughts on transformative justice? Some of my favorite prison abolitionist writers also advocate for transformative justice, but I know it’s not a universal belief among them (Sorry if you’ve discuss it before, I’m a new follower!)

hi anon!

Transformative justice is definitely a topic I'm very drawn to (have discussed it a little bit in this post in a psych abolition context.) For any followers who don't know what TJ is, I'll post this quote from Mia Mingus:

"Transformative Justice (TJ) is a political framework and approach for responding to violence, harm and abuse. At its most basic, it seeks to respond to violence without creating more violence and/or engaging in harm reduction to lessen the violence. TJ can be thought of as a way of “making things right,” getting in “right relation,” or creating justice together. Transformative justice responses and interventions 1) do not rely on the state (e.g. police, prisons, the criminal legal system, I.C.E., foster care system (though some TJ responses do rely on or incorporate social services like counseling); 2) do not reinforce or perpetuate violence such as oppressive norms or vigilantism; and most importantly, 3) actively cultivate the things we know prevent violence such as healing, accountability, resilience, and safety for all involved...TJ was created by and for many of these communities (e.g. indigenous communities, black communities, immigrant communities of color, poor and low-income communities, communities of color, people with disabilities, sex workers, queer and trans communities). It is important to remember that many of these people and communities have been practicing TJ in big and small ways for generations–trying to create safety and reduce harm within the dangerous conditions they were and are forced to live in." -Transformative Justice: A brief Description

A great resource for learning more is Transform Harm, which was a whole section on transformative justice. I'd also really reccomend reading Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement edited by Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.

For me, when I'm thinking about psych and prison abolition, something I keep coming back to is that we can't replace these violent systems with a one-size-fits-all solution. Often when people are aren't as familiar with abolition ask us what our solutions are going to be to addressing harm without policing, prisons, and psych wards, they expect one answer in response--essentially creating another system to replace the current one. But it's not enough just to replace psych wards with peer respite, or prisons with community accountability processes. I think as abolitionists, we need to be able to embrace the fact that we will need many different approaches to address harm depending on the communities and contexts involved. In my mind, transformative justice should absolutely be one of the approaches.

And I like the way transformative justice focuses on building up existing efforts that communities are already doing, and transforming the conditions that are contributing to our communities experience of violence and harm. I also think that a lot of the most important transformative justice work is not necessarily labeled as transformative justice and that terminology is not always being used, because it's not terminology that the communities doing that work want to label it as, and i think it's important to expand any discussion of transformative justice beyond just what is labeled as TJ in organizing circles. Sometimes I think people categorize TJ as just community accountability processes and are unaware of how expansive TJ can be, and that can be really detrimental in terms of solidarity building and learning from all the work people are already just doing.

overall I think that transformative justice is a radical and important framework and is one of the approaches we should be engaging with as abolitionists, and that it's crucial for us to honor the work of those who have been engaging in TJ work for decades before it was named!

[campbells-content]

Here to drop some random ml hcs or scenarios on yall and then probably disappear for another month.

Before becoming ladybug, Marinette would always convince her friends to play in the rain or jump in puddles. Right after becoming ladybug the idea of asking Alya to don a raincoat and come outside seemed childish. After being Ladybug for a while, rain only reminds her that there are people out there that she can't help. People who have storms in their brains so strong that even Hawkmoth avoids them. Nino, the closest friend she's had since childhood notices for a second that she no longer looks at puddles with wonder. He brings Alya and Adrien to Marinette on a rainy day, telling them to wear raincoats and clogs. Neither know what clogs are. They get there, waiting outside as Nino went up. Marinette is kindof against it, saying its a waist of time or she was too busy but Nino drags her down anyway. Nino runs out to join Alya and Adrien who were already jumping in puddles but he turns back when he notices Marinette hesitate under the over hang. She's asking herself existential questions like how can she act like a child and play in the rain when someone might need her. Nino grabs her hand and pulls her arm into the downpour making them both laugh as it instantly soaked what little if her sleave was exposed. In that moment she remembered why she loved the rain so much and they all played in the rain like kids because they are kids and they are allowed to enjoy the little things. The rain eventually stopped but they didn't, jumping in puddles and dancing without a care in the world.

(If you can't tell i am releasing all of the creativity that has been trapped within me since my last post.)

After using the dragon miraculous a couple more times kagami starts to collect little trinkets and tells no one, not even her mother. They are her little secret and they belong to her alone.

(When yall think of dragon side effects, do yall see her as cold blooded or a literal heater? I like the heater because when everyone is in t-shits and pants, Kagami literally exhales steam.)

Every time Juleka mutters indecipherably, there was a curse word somewhere in her statement.

Nino and Marinette eat Funyuns but Nino prefers off brand. Adrian eats salt and vinegar chips. Alya eats cheetos. Chloe eats the vegetable chips. Lila eats the vegetable straw chips. Sabrina eats the cheddar pringles, not necessarily by choice. Juleka eats purple doritos. Luka and Zoe eat blue doritos. Rose eats spicy doritos. Kagami does not eat chips but she will take one from any of them if offered. Also, Mylene and Ivan eat basic potato chips together, Kim eats cheese doodles, Max eats different flavours of ruffles and Nathaniel and Alix sit away from everyone eating seaweed.

(If i missed someone I'm sorry, i got the important people. (A part of me feels like i might've mixed up Chloe and Lila on the vibe check but oh well.))

Marinette has bubbles in her desk because they remind her of Nino.

Alya trys to start controlled discourse when her friends drink different sodas but everyone is just glad they get a mini pickmeup of caffeine.

[sladewatkins]

matt mullenweg & the wordpress "drama"

hey listen,

i don't like wading into heated discussions. i usually try to say something before it blows up, or after. but considering i use wordpress and tumblr, both of which are currently under the control of matt mullenweg, i do feel like speaking on it is a big deal. however, it's also quite literally my job to be impartial. so, you're not going to get many opinions here. i apologize if that's not your thing -- but i have a really big point here that you might not necessarily expect, so please bear with me!

alright. obviously @photomatt has been pissing a lot of people off online. that's a fact. so, i want to focus on a couple key things i've been seeing online and try and bring this down to a simpler level.

yes, the WordPress Foundation granted Automattic a non-revocable license that covers the commercial side of its trademarks. Automattic explained this in a recent blog post. we'll see how folks respond to that, but the basic TLDR is this: Automattic holds commercial rights, Foundation holds the trademarks and non-commercial rights, so there's technically two owners. that might still be confusing--but that's what was said. don't shoot the messenger.

yes, it does appear that matt may have a conflict-of-interest by sitting on the board at the Foundation, being the CEO of Automattic (who was granted non-revocable commercial rights, which we talked about earlier), and fully owning WordPress.org personally. that last one is perhaps particularly egregious to many online, but could also be a legacy thing that just hasn't been dealt with.

what do i think he should do? i don't know. once again, i want to be crystal clear that i'm staying neutral on the issues at hand. we'll stick to facts here on this blog. i don't know anyone at Automattic otherwise i'd sit down with Matt myself and try and clear this up for the rest of the internet. for now, i'll settle for a Tumblr post:

until everything resolves, we frankly do not have all of the information to make an educated determination. thus, we cannot jump to conclusions. to do so is dangerous and leads to misinformation spreading like a wildfire across the internet. let's avoid that, hey?

and finally, to close: i don't want to be that guy but... PLEASE remember when it comes to something you're passionate about, constructive criticism is always the correct path. attack IDEAS, not people. mental health is a very important thing to remember when engaging with social media in general. i'm not asking you to drop your feelings, i'm asking you to consider other people's feelings when you go to write in that text box. let's be more considerate with how we use our words. i know what it's like to be on the receiving end of what seems like endless hate... NOBODY deserves that.

okay. i really need to sleep and then pack a bunch of boxes. (long story, might share it later.) if anything else happens with the WP stuff, send it my way so i don't miss it...or just drop me an email and say hi. doesn't matter, you can hit me at slade@sladewatkins.com as always.

hope this helped some of y'all. i tried to be as impartial as possible and not inject any feelings into this. good night, folks.

[notapplicableinformation]

In Defence of Super Paper Mario's Gameplay and Design

Super Paper Mario is commonly referred to as the "Black sheep" of the Paper Mario games, segmenting the original "good" Paper Mario games and the "bad" Paper Mario games. 

The first thing that I thought the first time I picked up Super, without any pretext of the game in advance, is.... that it looked bland, simple and boring.... Though...Upon playing the game...I was met with the most unexpected experience. The simple design of Super Paper Mario drastically juxtaposes the, by proportion to the previous Paper Mario titles, much larger story beneath it. 

The simple gameplay, the simple design, help keep a player in line with the belief that this is a "Mario" game in an original way to how the previous titles do. The previous titles get away with a non conventional Mario type of gameplay because it still attains attributes that you can identify with "Mario". More of the NPCs (At least a lot of them, not all of them obviously) are traditionally Mario, the engagement with the game, regardless of the unique locations, still feel like Mario. 

But with Super...It doesn't really have that. It really feels like one of the developers had a fever dream and was ademant to make it into a game, but then realised last moment that Mario had to be there- The platforming element is something more traditionally Mario, it's one of the few factors of the game able to keep the player able to connect this game with "Mario" and by giving the game its own identity. 

The game being entirely 2D instead of the 3D world with 2D characters also helps to distinguish the game with its own identity, and I feel the geometric digital aesthetic compliments this vastly simplified execution of gameplay. Had Super been an RPG game like its predessecor, while, yes, it would be more in line with the prior titles, I also believe Super would be seen as even more strayed away from what Mario IS as a whole because it doesn't have anything else "Mario" to fall back onto...Also Super wouldn't be its own thing, it would be naturally linked to the originals' identity instead of having a unique one of its own. 

I also see quite a few complaints regarding the geometric design of the characters, especially the NPCs and I would like to provide my opinion on the matter. Mario characters are typically not geometric. They're rounded. Shape theory dictates that this more rounded design leads to more approachable types of character design. Super is filled with practically entirely edged characters, especially the antagonists, these edges activley enhance the characteristics of the antagonists. I've done a more detailed analysis of this topic on an earlier post.

The NPCs being bland and mostly uncharacterised, along with the partners isn't something I particularly see as a problem either, this works in Super's favour. Super is a game about the destination, NOT about the characters you meet along the way. The story is concentrated on a constant focal point that gradually increases development over the course of the game. More attention is focused on keeping the narrative of the game focused on the villains and your heroes. Thousand year door is a game about the adventure, not necessarily about the destination directly (of course the destination is important, but people usually remember the amazing partners and journey MORE than the ending itself, at least I think, if not, I apologise). The main villains are relevant to the story, but Mario going on an adventure is more prioritised by the developers, so naturally a developing party cast and detailed NPCs are more important than an expanding overarching narriative (Not to say TTYD doesn't have a narriative, but just to say it's less prioritised, just like how Super doesn't prioritise NPCs and partners, even though they are still present)

If there is one key complaint of the gameplay that I DO agree with, it would be the bosses. The stakes are demolished when using the infamous Bowser and Carrie combination- It makes some of the serious moments, specifically the finale, far less impactful. If the final boss had a timer and an actual fail screen where you see the ruins of all worlds...Or something to that extent- if you happened to die in that final battle, I feel the stakes would be far higher- 

Another complaint I agree with would be the world design in some areas. It's a bit inconsistent, albeit charming. I'm not particularly a fan of Ch1's rushed transition between the grassland and the desert, nor of Ch5's bleak dryland aesthetic or Ch3's odd transition between the bitlands and Francis' castle. Having the areas be perhaps tied to the colour of the pureheart along with the areas themselves bing quite consistent (Like how Ch8 was all in Castle Bleck, Ch4 was all in Space , Ch2 in Merlee's mansion, as an example) probably would have bettered the design.

Overall, I think the game Super Paper Mario is a very well designed title, along with the rest of the series, though this one in particularly stands out to me. The series has a lot of diversity and appeals to an array of different types of people depending on what they personally value in a video game. I love all of the titles very much, despite how different they all are. Thank you for listening to my extensive discussion.