#but it always creates an argument

[toddlertimess]

I had to find a new therapist and psychiatrist since I got kicked off of Medicaid and the last place was a low-income non-profit organization. Me and the therapist are still feeling each other out. I’m like 3-4 sessions in. But I love my psychiatrist, she’s fucking awesome. Anyways, I just started on Cymbalta today. I’ve been on a ton of different anti-depressants and only one has ever worked in the past. So we’ll see. I never have high hopes for these kinds of things.

I am also paying 1500 dollars off for Cayden’s dental surgery because our Medicaid ended the day before his surgery. I fought with them tooth and nail to get it back since I was only working one job at the time but ultimately I gave up. He has health insurance now. A very nice, low deductible plan that I (and I alone) pay for monthly. I checked that his pediatrician was in network beforehand because that’s obvs important. He hasn’t had to use it until yesterday when he slammed his finger in the door and went to urgent care. Contusion, no fractures. Anyways I didn’t have his health insurance card on me at the time so I called them today to give them the information. They’re fucking out of network!! Like howwwww!?! This is a major health insurance plan! Anyways so that’s another fucking bill.

C has a dental appointment on 6/5 and I’m low key scared to face them in person. Are they gunna see a note in his chart and then act differently? It was a whole fiasco. They were supposed to automatically take the money out but they didn’t. They were going to send me to collections. I had to fight with the office manager. So ya. I was in the right in the end. I signed a bunch of paperwork obviously that they couldn’t locate at first. As I’m trying this up I’m like do I really care if they treat us any differently? We’ll just go somewhere else. Which is what I thought when this whole thing went down. But Cayden really loves it there so I’m giving this appointment a chance.

Ok that was a really long post about the most boring of things. But like who else am I going to tell about all of that?

[toskarin]

forewarning that this is mostly just an observational ramble

one thing I've gathered from looking around older western fantasy otaku sites is that, presumably in large part because of the order in which things entered mainstream consciousness, sauron is talked about pretty consistently as the final boss of the lord of the rings

technically, this is true of everywhere, but I want to emphasise that it is extremely common to see younger fantasy otaku a decade or two ago use ラスボス when explaining who he is, as a primary descriptor

[before going any further on this, it probably bears mentioning that the japanese translation of lord of the rings is a bit divisive. when it comes up, it's either in the context of how impressive the translation is (skews older) or in how unreadable it is (skews younger), because it's translated into antiquity prose. apparently exceptionally so, even for a fantasy novel, so it was very much extreme nerd shit]

a big part of this is, of course, just the idea of the final boss having more awareness than tolkien at the time the movies were coming out. I imagine almost the exact same thing would happen more or less anywhere that video games hit mainstream nerd awareness before tolkien did, but there's something else that I think might have something to do with it, because if you're looking at old enough threads, you notice that not only is sauron being explained as the final boss, but this is being mentioned in contrast to morgoth not being the final boss

which seems a bit random (morgoth doesn't exactly come up enough in lotr proper to cause this confusion), if you don't know that angband, where morgoth is the final boss and sauron is just the midboss, was pretty popular with western fantasy otaku. well, popular in the way that cult classics are, but you know how it goes

with that in mind, it makes sense that it was (at one point, before tolkien was more accessible through other channels) something people called each other fake fans over

so in a kind of interesting way, namedropping sauron in fantasy otaku spaces that skewed younger (for a time) was almost equivalent to namedropping morgoth in western fantasy nerd spaces. that all kind of stops being the case once you have the peter jackson movies immediately at hand, though

there's also the fact that, because it's a little harder to read lord of the rings in japanese, someone who's casually into the book is much more likely to also go ahead and read the silmarillion, which helped rings of power get incredibly popular with older audiences in japan when it came out. as a fun side effect of all this, there's a bit more morgoth x sauron shipping around

[chronicowboy]

manifesting a s7 bi buck confirmation where the 118 are on a call and the victim/their friend/Random Civilian is getting annoyed makes a comment aimed at buck & eddie about "straight white men" and they both look offended then eddie says "do I look white???" and buck's like "do I look straight???"

how the others react (if at all) is tbc at this stage

i'm a sucker for inappropriate whisper arguments in the Absolute Worst of Situations so now all i'm seeing is eddie whipping around to buck when he says it with the widest doe eyes any human being has ever achieved and oblivious little buck waving the vic/friend/civilian off like "it's fine, could happen to anyone, you know" and then eddie's like "uh, yeah, it did, you're not straight?" and then it's like for the GA oh no are they going to do a kind of internalised homophobia arc for eddie where he re-examines his entire friendship with buck after finding out he likes men and yes he is going to re-examine his entire friendship with buck after finding out he likes men but it'll be the opposite of internalised homophobia (externalised homoeroticism)

[stephofromcabin12]

I’ve spoken positively about National Novel Writing Month before and so I am sad to have to take it all back.

If you’re not aware, NaNoWriMo recently endorsed the use of generative AI in writing practices, and their statement even went as far as to say that anti-AI views are “classist” and and “ableist”.

There is no ethical use for generative AI, as we speak. Using AI, even for something as simple as rephrasing an email or generating a profile picture, means that you’re actively using thousands of stolen works, a lot of which are copyrighted and/or protected in some way. (That’s why most companies behind generative AI’s are currently facing multiple lawsuits from various artists and companies who’ve found their work was used to train the AI models without their consent and without promise of compensation)

I’m an artist. I’m a writer. I cannot in any way endorse generative AI as long as it’s built on stolen artwork by my fellow artists, and possibly even myself. There is no world in which using generative AI makes you an artist. Currently, it just makes you complacent in art theft at worst and lazy at best.

It’s not classist to say that, and it’s not ableist either. Lot’s of writers and artists have physical or mental disabilities and/or come from a middle-to-low-class background. Your financial standing, and whether or not you’re disabled, does not define your ability to create art, as so many incredible artists throughout history have proven by continuing to make art on their own terms. I used to say that there’s no wrong way to make art. I was wrong. Generative AI proved me wrong.

The statement specifically emphasized AI as a way to get proofreading and editing done without needing to pay for a professional editor. But beta-readers have always existed for this very reason; it’s just another human connection AI seeks to eliminate in the name of “efficiency”.

There are books on editing that can be found and read in libraries, if you don’t have money to buy them. There are articles and videos made by actual experts in their field that can be found for free. I trust them far more than whatever botched mosaic of words AI spits out, which might not even be remotely correct, as most AI models openly allow errors.

So, my point is: Don’t use NaNoWriMo.

There are other ways to track your progress. There are other places to find community and writing groups. There are far better ways of creating art that won’t compromise the ethics of being an artist and, most likely, the law.

It sucks that I have to say this. It sucks that NaNoWriMo apparently has had a nosedive in it’s quality and moral standings that was steep enough that nearly all their employees quit.

But that’s where we are now, apparently. And so that’s where I stand.

That’s all.

[mxtxfanatic]

Ngl, I’m actually pretty uncomfortable reading my old posts defending the goodness of the common people and their right to defend themselves—as persecuted groups or as individuals—from hierarchical tyranny, given how easily in this current irl moment a not-insignificant amount of people have fallen into supporting an active genocide, because I cannot separate this from how much pushback I got (and still sometimes get) for being consistent in my politics

[scarlettaagni]

running gag of Cyclonus refusing to believe in ghosts even post-Starscream's Ghost because he wasn't conscious for that. he's convinced that everyone trying to explain what happened is in on some dumb joke

he also never forgot that time Scourge made him look dumb by reminding him there's no wind in space. They snip at each other where when something gets knocked over by wind, Cyclonus asks Scourge if he thinks that was a ghost too. He flies around in the sky and asks Scourge if ghosts are lifting him up.

Cyclonus won't let the bit die, not even after Ghost in the Machine. Scourge asked if he believed then, and Cyclonus just went "ghosts don't tumble uncontrollably through space, so Starscream is not a ghost". it drives Scourge up the fucking wall.

[menlove]

like I think if u look at two of the most powerful and influencial religions in the world rn (christianity and islam) and come away with "one of these is the Good Moral Religion and one of these is the Oppressive Evil Religion" in either direction u have fundamentally failed to understand the world and also the ways in which religion can be used both as a weapon to beat other people with and also a tool of comfort & community

[gerbits]

why are people so hell bent on defending these modders like why do hobbies need to be monetized. can't you create for the joy of it damn

[lorephobic]

this is the funniest thing that sits and rots in my drafts because its been four months atp and i still have not thought of a single headcanon for these two

[scarecrowdrugs]

Honestly, given the fact that Vento happens during an extremely high-stakes/high-stress situation and therefore probably isn't how he'd normally act, I honestly wonder what Diavolo actually was like in his everyday life.

[charlestrask]

oh. hm. and god never rejected abel.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

billions also comedy gold presenting winston as a scapegoat for abuse culture fans when it's like but hey it can't be actual scapegoating if you Enjoy It or consider it Justified or experience Reassurance from Its Opportunity For A Group Cohesion Substitute For A Cohesion Based On An Inherent Equal Degree Of Belonging, The Absence Of Which Allows For, Encourages, Reinforces, & Rewards Scapegoating

it can't be Bullying if someone's Weird or you Just Don't Personally Like Them or Nobody's Actually Stopping You, Maybe At Least If They Don't See Too Much Of It, Maybe Others Are Supporting It

it can't be Abuse if you're just doing things Normally or are Following Rules or Aren't Feeling Malicious And Aren't Getting Divine Revelations Otherwise and probably it's just that a lot of abnormal people are being whiny &/or unfair &/or the Real malicious ones. kinda just like how that scapegoat is the real person ruining everything and really just forcing you to treat them like this

[dead-pidoves-dirt-takes]

I’m like… idk, confused (?) by that waituntilwinterr person’s take. Because my understanding of it is that they’re claiming, “harassment is wrong, but so is having positive feelings about bad things and then writing about those positive feelings. Therefore, the most moral and productive thing to do is to sit around seething and fuming that other people are enjoying fictionalized versions of things we all know are reprehensible in real life.”

Which just seems odd to me, in a way I can’t articulate. According to them, positive feelings about fictional versions of what would be bad irl is immoral, but that immorality… what? Just has to go unaddressed? It’s not like anyone can go into other’s minds and tinker around to replace the badwrong thoughts with good ones.

Like, why bother with the thoughtcrime nonsense if there’s no thought-law-enforcement or whatever? See, I just go towards “thoughtcrime isn’t real but that doesn’t mean all thoughts are conducive to healthy living” as opposed to “actually if you don’t feel the same way I do about this topic then there’s something broken in your moral compass”

I'm not really sure as to what they're possibly thinking, but the way I had interpreted it was "you're a filthy sex pervert, I don't respect you, but I also believe that you shouldn't be harassed" and that's why I chose not to engage any further than the question "are you okay with harassment" and the sly "the people you decided to engage with, don't disagree with you on the sentiment that children should not have to face being sexualized" (I could have went harder and said to not willfully misrepresent them. but eh)

From the way I see it, they want a valid reason to call other people who don't have the same squicks as them, hurtful names. (which is a bad look for them) But don't actually think the people doing things they disapprove of, is THAT harmful. And that's the thing I truly care about. Is whether or not they are trying to justify the action of harassment.

They can think whatever they like about me, I don't necessarily care about what a reactionary has to say about people who don't follow their ideologies. And I don't care enough right now to try and argue to change that opinion.

Context Link

[rhymaes]

life update! all my phd applications are in, i have a job (no more rent stress!! or like, 'im not gonna have a roof' stress at least), gone no-contact with insane copy-cat narcissistic girl & feeling. healed, saw bestie & am going up to see her soon, & there are still. v dark & stressful things but these are resolved for now which is very nice

[animeandcatholicism]

Radical Ideas

I always laugh when people say that someone is their "brother" or "sister" due to their ethnicity and for lack of a better term "race". It's so dumb because one, just because you share a language and a history does not make you somehow kindred and have inviolable bonds. I have more in common with people from the Midwest and the South than I do from my ancestral lands, the majority being Germany, Ireland and the British Isles in general.

The people who are of Slavic descent in These United States might share a common tongue with their distant relatives but not much else, maybe some religious and cultural practices but besides that. Even Hispanics and Latinos in the US who have family in their mother country, maybe one or two generations removed are different than how they would have been twenty, thirty years ago.

It's just weird that people become so insecure and fall into tribalism when it does not really benefit them or others to be like this. It really does not to try to be in one way in the home and one way in public, accept that you're going to both loose and gain traits from cultural exchange, it's a part of human culture that has been happening since ever. As long as humans have existed, cultural exchange and really change has existed. Trying to conserve something that simply doesn't exist or to propagate it, is extremely dumb.

For example, it's weird to have all African Americans embrace each other as one big "family" not only because they often and conveniently exclude groups like the North Africans like Egyptians and the Copts since they're "just Arabs" but, the collective history of all of these various cultures is so vast and complex that someone from Chad, another from Nigeria and finally someone from Ethiopia don't really have a baseline except, they're all from the African Continent. Their: culture, religion, languages and so much more are so distinct, that they're cousins in a general sense not siblings. Sure, geographic regions like how Europe has geographic regions (the Nords, Francs, Anglos, Slavs of all sorts) but, not this weird cope of a unified identity (I mean if the Island of England has England, Scotland, Wales and the Cornish, plus the fact that no one in England can really decide where the North starts and the South ends there's no way you have larger populations of larger land masses agreeing on a singular unified identity).

I believe this to be both a consequence of diaspora of various minorities and also a certain insecurity when attempting to affirm their own unique cultural identity. For example, I have a friend who's a Filipino and when he was living in Westminster, California (which is where a bunch of Asians of all stripes have settled initially as refugees) now have amalgamated into this weird monoidentity buuut, it's unique only to Westminster, it does not exist in the larger US or even the international community. When I lived in the Twin Cities, I worked at the postal service and again the Twin Cities are a big place for the relocation of refugees and asylum seekers. But, the Hmong stuck with the Hmong, the Ethiopians with the Ethiopians, Tibetans with Tibetans, ect. This was with the first and second generation and probably with the third generation things start to break down and they will integrate with the general population of the area, it's simple ethnographic trends. The only way you prevent this is with groups like the Amish where they simply refuse to integrate or they're just stuck in a relatively isolated area. In a rapidly connecting world people are going to adapt and you can't just set up these arbitrary barriers to make yourself feel special, then you'd be no better than those weird people wanting an ethnostate.

[journey-to-the-attic]

hmm not sure how to feel about obey me running the same pop quiz concurrently in both games

there's a weird disconnect - the new ui and sfx of nightbringer did a good job of giving that disjointed feeling of being somewhere unfamiliar, but given that the pop quiz seems to be taking place in the present that mc came from, the nightbringer ui just feels.... off in the wrong way

given that i've got more resources there i'll probably keep using the original game to play the pop quizzes, but since you can get devil points for s ranking a rhythm stage in nightbringer, seems like these events will be a good place to farm some!

(though in the first place i'd rather they finish the nightbringer story before adding supplementary content like this)