#but it just applies to a lot of things in general

[rafesangelita]

heyy everyone, i just wanted to come on here and say a few things regarding a lot of plagiarism that’s been going on, along with some other points that i feel inclined to speak out about. before i start this post, i just want to preface this by saying that i am in no way speaking about anyone in particular, this just applies to the general community, and i think it’s important to not be so divided, especially amongst each other. so many writers in this community are so incredibly talented that unfortunately, copying and stealing of work has become a regular occurrence. below are some topics that i believe needs to talked about and acknowledged in some way.

stealing of au’s and concepts + the claim on concepts and au’s that already exist:

there is a huge difference between creating an au and introducing something completely new that has never been done before in a fandom, or ever for that matter, vs. introducing a concept that has already been around and existed outside of a fandom and bringing popularity to it/making it more well known, thus, kind of lighting a fire and inspiring others to write for it as well. this goes for plot lines, !readers, different versions of !rafe (example: frat!rafe, dealer!rafe, etc..), prompts, and the list can go on. there’s so many original au’s and concepts out there, but there’s also a lot of stuff that’s already been done before that isn’t considered ‘original’, which means it would’t call for the need to be credited for in the first place.

the difference between being ‘inspired’ by someone else’s work vs. publishing a remake and often times NOT crediting the original writer:

no matter what the instance is; being inspired by someone’s work, or publishing your own version of the same original concept by someone else, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ASK THE ORIGINAL WRITER FOR PERMISSION FIRST. if they tell you yes, CREDIT them, if they tell you no, COME UP WITH SOMETHING ELSE. if you’re ‘inspired’ by someone, your work should not be similar to theirs in a way that the plot, !reader, !rafe, prompt, etc.. is being used in the exact same way as their original work. you could only be ‘inspired’ so much before you’re just paraphrasing a fic, it truly gets to a point.

DIRECT communication:

this would fix most, if not all, of the problems in this fandom. feel like someone is copying you? (using exact, word for word, lines from your writing pieces?) DIRECTLY confront them. feel uncomfortable with the similarities between your work, or works, and another writer’s? DIRECTLY express your concerns with your valid proof. feel as if your layout is being copied and you’re not being given credit? DIRECTLY, kindly, ask for someone to start doing so. politely messaging someone will never make you confrontational or problematic, INDIRECTLY making rant posts that are throwing disses at someone without messaging them about the situation first is what does that. INDIRECTLY speaking out about someone hoping they’ll see it and know they’re the one being talked about doesn’t make the matter any easier when it really all could be resolved with a single message. PLEASE JUST TALK!! we are all (mostly) adults..

note: i say this with only one exception in mind; if you see anything like this and you make the active decision not to make shady posts, acknowledge the situation, confront a person, or simply just put your energy into something like that, and instead you just block the person and move on with your day, that is 100% your choice, and you don’t owe anyone an explanation for anything.

debunking the whole ‘this fandom isn’t welcoming to newcomers’ accusation:

this is not true in the slightest. if you’re a new writer in this fandom, and you’re not starting off by coming up with your own fics and ideas, but instead piggy backing off of others, stealing and not crediting, copying, etc.. you truly can’t expect others to want to interact with you if you don’t have the common decency to not do certain things. this is not just for this fandom, but any fandom that you may write in. think about it like this; if people and other writers are supporting a writer that you’re ripping off of, why on earth would they interact with you if they are already reading similar, if not the same, content from someone else? it’s not possible to establish yourself anywhere if you build your blog off of copying, that’s just the truth!

[menofprogress]

Its important to remember that we dont actually see Viktor interacting with a lot of people he doesnt know outside of his zone of expertise. So that makes EVERYTHING from "viktor is shy and introverted" to "viktor is assertive and flirty".... a headcanon.

Like, you can draw conclusions from the infos we're given like: he was shy and quiet as a child, doesnt mean he has to be as an adult though. Hes assertive, confrontational and opinionated when it comes to his WORK (his and jayces first meeting, talking to mel, speaking in front of the council & to heimerdinger), doesnt necessarily mean hes like that in non-work related situations, when hes not in his ~comfort zone~. He's very animated and confident around jayce, but jayce is special. He's VERY assertive and physical post evolution, but can we really apply that to his whole personality? He keeps Sky at a distance, calling her Ms Young and ignoring her very obvious advances, but is that bc hes a pretty distant person in general or is he just gently trying to communicate his own disinterest to her? (Bc he does care about her, but he definitely isnt inviting or open to her) Hes obviously reluctant to have any sort of public attention on him, but is that bc he distrusts the ppl of piltover, is it shame due to perceived "weaknesses" or is it simple fear of public speaking?

What i want to say is that we have pretty limited canonical info about what Viktor is like socially. So some things simply rely on headcanons and yall gotta stop calling some of them ooc. "Viktor would never be shy or uncomfortable in a social situation, thats so ooc" "viktor never had any partners before jayce, he was probably a virgin" "viktor fucked his way through the academy" we literally dont know, so you just gotta roll with the hc you like best and the one that makes the most sense to YOU lmao

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello, I came to say that dragons are mythical creatures often depicted to be possessive in mythology and literature, sometimes known for their immense power, territorial instincts, and the symbolic association with hoarding wealth and treasures...

Twisted Wonderland in context, Malleus Draconia was confirmed to be a dragon fairy (essentially a dragon who can take a shape of a man), and I was curious if Malleus may have exhibited possessive traits in canon, whether through main story or vignette...?

The reason I ask that is because mischaracterizing characters or making them OOC is the last thing I want to do when it comes to writing or analyzing...

**Sorry if I was not able to word it in a way that you can understand what I'm trying to convey because sometimes I feel inferior that my wording may come off as blunt or insensitive. I just want to leave a brief note that I don't mean to come off as rude or dismissive. I appreciate your understanding!**

In my opinion, Malleus in canon is protective but not possessive. What do I mean by that? Glad you asked. Let's start by laying down some definitions.

In this situation, when I say “protective”, it implies good intentions. It means actively looking out for others' safety and wellbeing. To be possessive, on the other hand, implies a more controlling desire to own or to restrict another's actions. It’s commanding and demanding all of a person’s attention and love. It means having a disrespect for others' autonomy and instead trying to displace it with your will. (Yes, I know that you're probably automatically thinking of The Big Exception of book 7, but I will address that later in this post so hang on for a moment!)

This gets long, so buckle up! We’ve got a lot to talk about.

First thing's first, a lot of the "possessive Malleus" interpretations originate from fandom, especially when it comes to yandere, yume, or generally romantic fan works. (And to be clear: This is NOT to shame the folks who enjoy these kinds of works; I am only listing them here as examples.) Oftentimes this occurs due to individual fans bringing in ideas from media outside the bounds of Twisted Wonderland. This is totally expected and normal; there is no such thing as someone who has an interest in ONLY a singular thing. We will naturally apply our previous knowledge to help us understand and interpret new information.

For example, in irl mythology, fae are hurt by iron--and even in Disney's own films, such as Maleficent, iron is depicted as harming fae and sapping them of their power. This led to many Twst fans headcanoning that iron does the same thing to fae in Twisted Wonderland. However, we learn in book 7 that this is NOT true. Fae, particularly nobles, do find the smell of iron nauseating, but the metal does not appear to impede their powers or hinder them in any way. Lilia and his men are still able to dispatch several Silver Owls (who are dressed in iron arm and battle with iron tanks and other machinery) without issue.

Another example that’s pretty popular is fans believing that whole “if you tell a fairy your name, it grants them power over you” thing. Some have claimed this will come into play in book 7’s final battle. Others claim this is the deeper or secondary reason as to why Malleus doesn’t reveal his own name to Yuu until book 5, as giving his name would grant Yuu power over him. However, there’s nothing in-universe to suggest that names have cultural significance to fae or that any sort of power or status is granted by relinquishing one’s name. Yuu (or Malleus’s hundreds of other classmates) have also demonstrated no such control over him.

Remember: what is true outside of Twst, including in Disney's own works, is NOT necessarily true inside of Twst.

Going back to the initial question, I believe that "Malleus is possessive" is also a headcanon of a similar vein; fans are coming into Twst familiar with other mythos which state that dragons are possessive, territorial, and greedy on top of being powerful. Because Malleus is a dragon fae and is known to possess great power, it's very easy for fans to see the parallels between him and the dragons they already know of. This then leads to them filling in the gaps of his personality and projecting other stereotypical draconic traits onto him. In Malleus's case, this was extremely easy to do because it took a few years for him to see any significant spotlight in both event stories (Glorious Masquerade) and in the main story (book 7).

I think the easiest way for us to analyze whether Malleus is protective or possessive is to examine his closest relationships in the narrative of Twst. I will not be counting Sebek and Silver individually here, as they are both his bodyguards and Malleus maintains a mostly professional relationship with them. Instead, we shall look at Malleus's attitude by looking at his relationships with Lilia and Yuu, then proceed into discussing related behaviors.

I believe it's indisputable that Lilia is one of the most important people to Malleus. Lilia trained him, taught him, and trained him. He is basically Malleus's father figure. The fear of losing Lilia is what causes Malleus to emotionally spiral and take drastic measures in a desperate attempt to avoid that unhappy ending. His entire motivation for unleashing his UM is "not losing [Lilia]!" You would think that if Malleus was going to be possessive of anyone, it would be with Lilia. But the truth of the matter is... he's mostly just... not? Lilia is a very sociable person in the student body. He's frequently gaming with Idia, taking care of or lending wisdom to others (Silver, Sebek, etc.), hanging out with Cater and Kalim in their club, interacting with dorm leaders and freshmen when Malleus is absent for ceremonies, and more--yet Malleus doesn't seem to express any jealousy over sharing Lilia. I'd also like to add that although Malleus lacks parents, he doesn't really show envy over Lilia treating and calling Silver his own son instead of himself. Oh, Malleus certainly does express jealousy to some extent. Who would forget the time in his Dorm Uniform vignettes when he crushed Lilia's phone? The thing is though, the times when Malleus is upset are not fueled by not wanting to share Lilia or wanting to monopolize his time. In the previous example I cited, Malleus broke Lilia's phone because Lilia had received a picture Kalim and the other dorm leaders took after a meeting. Even the dialogue exchanged implies this; Malleus did not automatically get mad when he noticed that Lilia had a notification, he only got mad after realizing he was excluded from something the other dorm leaders were all involved in. Malleus was upset that he was not invited, not that Kalim was texting Lilia. Additionally, it is stated that the dorm leader must grant permission for others to use the lounge. If he wanted to, he could withhold the permission for Lilia, who wants the lounge for his farewell party (which everyone is invited to), or stipulate that he wants a more formal affair with just Diasomnia members present. Malleus doesn’t act in this possessive way though. He grants Lilia what he desires without issue.

Next up for scrutiny is Yuu! Now, there's some gray area here because part of Yuu's relationship with Malleus is defined by how much the player projects onto the self-insert/blank slate character. Please note that, when I discuss Yuu, I am leaving out individual interpretations and going STRICTLY by the information presenting in canon.

It can be said that Malleus slowly develops a fondness for Yuu's company over the course of the main story. At first, he is surprised and maybe even a little disappointed that someone has taken residence in Ramshackle--it used to be desolate, which makes it a perfect spot to visit on his nightly strolls. However, Malleus soon finds amusement in the fact that Yuu, not being of this world, has no clue who he is or what his status is. This grants him the freedom to speak at ease with this human and to "be himself" in a way that he cannot be with others, who typically cower at his name. You could also argue that Yuu telling Malleus they may have found a way home expedited the despair he felt in book 7, as he learned so quickly that two of his friends would be exiting his life soon. This, however, is not possessiveness. It's normal to have fear and anxiety about losing the people you love.

Malleus's voice lines also do not indicate possessiveness. Yes, there's the usual and expected fanservice-y lines where he invites Yuu to come and engage in various activities with him, but nothing in those suggests he would exclude others or become upset if they also wanted to join. (Are you telling me that Malleus wouldn't want to talk for hours on end about the glory of gargoyles to TWO people instead of just one?????) Additionally, all the characters get similar fanservice-y lines, so it's not something exclusive to Malleus. There was one line that gave me pause: "You always seem to attract a crowd... More so than I'd like, really." Buuut I think this could be read a number of ways, not solely in an ‘I want you all to myself’ way. Malleus actually goes like to be alone, hence his nightly strolls. The line can therefore also be read as Malleus enjoying solitude or one-on-one conversations as opposed to addressing a group. In that case, it's a personal preference and not necessarily a sign of possessiveness. He’s definitely not completely averse to group activities though; there are lines where Malleus invites Yuu to do things with him and other characters. For example, from his PE Uniform: “Sebek has been badgering me to help train him. I'll permit you to join us. ... You're coming, I trust?”

The guy generally doesn't get angry or annoyed if Yuu mentions having other friends or managing the 7 member VDC/SDC group. In fact, he sometimes encourages Yuu to interact with others. One of his birthday lines is, "You needn't linger and focus on me to the exclusion of others. I want everyone to enjoy the party, yourself included." Malleus doesn’t so much as flinch or react when a complete stranger kisses the back of Yuu’s hand either. If he was truly possessive, wouldn’t he have gotten angry or—at the very least—have frowned or tried to put some distance between Yuu and said stranger? Yet Malleus doesn’t really react or comment on it despite being present.

Malleus seems to understand that it's not very polite to demand all of someone's time or attention--and this makes perfect sense of his character. He is a royal, and that means he was taught proper manners. Malleus has even indicated before that his grandmother stressed the importance of observing etiquette, particularly around invitations. You don't just invite yourself to functions or insert yourself into others' lives if not extended said invites... and Malleus, for the most part, adheres to those rules. In various voice lines, he even frets over committing social faux pas, wondering if he has offended his peers with certain behaviors. For example, from his Masquerade Dress: "Flamme shoots me stern looks on occasion. Have I behaved improperly in some way...?"

Malleus is also not generally possessive when it comes to his items or territory. He wants to share cake with others; eating a whole one gave him heartburn and now whole cakes are his least favorite food. Additionally, he tends to welcome people to Diasomnia rather than chase them out or expel them. (After all, they so rarely get visitors in the first place.) Malleus will at least hear out the reasoning for seeking him out. As an example, Leona (someone who has had a rocky history with Malleus) goes to Diasomnia in his Ceremonial Robes vignettes to exchange robes after a laundry mix-up. This is a stark contrast to the highly territorial Leona, who attacks a magicless human in thd Botanical Garden and also allows his own students to wail on Yuu and co. for simply walking being in Savanaclaw. Leona joins in on this bullying too. I think it's pretty clear that Malleus handles guests with far more tact, grace, and patience than his fellow prince.

I want to point out that though Malleus is usually amicable with guests, there are exceptions. Ramshackle, as I mentioned earlier, is a place he enjoys a lot. He indicates in his Halloween Dress card that “If anyone dares to damage [this] dorm, I will be as a lóng and reduce them to cinders. I have become rather fond of that place, after all.” Indeed, he does act on this promise in Terror is Trending and comes close to striking down Magicam Monsters for disrespecting a place he holds so dear. Is this possessive though? Yes, it’s a place he loves—but it’s also a place where his friend Yuu lives.

There are many other examples of Malleus going to extreme lengths to protect the things he loves. He vows to destroy Rollo Flamme, who poses a threat to his people, the fae (who depend on magic as their way of life, and the sentient gargoyles, whom he has recently befriended. He unleashes his mighty magic to attack those who wound his pride. He stops time and kidnaps the entire student body all for the sake of including ghosts in a Halloween celebration. And, of course, he sends Sage’s Island to sleep in a desperate bid to stop losing everyone. The majority of these behaviors involve him lashing out at those who pose legitimate threats to things he cares about. It’s not as though be is acting for no discernible reason or because he is doesn’t want his loved ones being with people other than him. Does that make these actions right? No, absolutely not. But I would say they are definitely more protective than possessive.

Very rarely is Malleus actively preventing his peers from spending time away from him. Sure, he gets upset that he’s not invited to join them and sure, he wishes people would invite him too—but there’s a difference between longing and being mopey about this and acting so domineering he’s breathing down the necks of others to only be with him. He is not stopping people from being with their friends and family. He is not stopping people from using his things or entering his territory. Even when he makes everyone sleep, he grants them the space to craft their own dreams and doesn’t even make the dreams center around him and his own involvement on their lives. Oftentimes the dreams involve several other characters that are important to the individual dreamer and Malleus does not appear at all. (Again, this doesn’t mean using his UM was the best move to resolve his issues; I’m just saying his actions were not necessarily possessive.)

So, in conclusion, I stand by the thesis at I proposed at the start of this post: Malleus is largely protective, not possessive, despite what many fandom interpretations would have you believe.

[verdaneart]

THIS APPLIES STRONGLY TO MANY ANIMALS!!

I'm gonna go over cats and ASD specifically, since that's what I'm most familiar with, and it illustrates my point a bit better.

So, Cats are perhaps the most common animal associated with high functioning Autism (or level 1 if you keep up with trends), and there's a good pile of reasons why.

Generally high intelligence

Sensitivity issues

Lack of social understanding

There's a lot more, go read All Cats are on the Autism Spectrum for me. I'm too tired to write it all out.

So why does the connection between cats and ASD youth matter?

Because it's extremely well known that training a cat with negative reinforcement is virtually impossible.

Cats don't speak any Human languages. They have no concept of what's right and wrong to a human. They're just minding their own business, doing what they think they should be doing, and out of nowhere, this human is suddenly mean to them. What was wrong? They have no way of understanding, making them paranoid as to when it might happen next. Punishment shuts them down, because they don't want to risk being hurt again to find out.

But what if you reward them instead?

Minding their own business, and then congratulated, given a treat or some loving. What did they do to cause that? They're not sure, but because there was a good outcome, they'll keep trying to do whatever it was they might have been doing. There's no damage or fear of failing, so they actively try to figure out what it is that is wanted from them.

Yes, you shouldn't give a cat a bunch of treats as they try to figure it out. Thing is, studies have shown that many cats prefer the praise of their owners over a bit of food! On top of that, switching the rewards around can keep things fresh and encouraging, promoting the development of more positive behaviors.

Humans are animals too- children simply have yet to be broken out of the instincts so many species are built on.

Treat your kid like a cat. Offer only explanation and positive reinforcement, and things will go smoothly.

Were you ever spanked as a child AND do you think that spanking is ok?

[hamsterbellbelle]

Hello🐹Now that is near the end of the year, it’s time for the personal top-5 list of my builds and CCs that I’m most proud of😤also a little bit of self-promotion…_(:з」∠)_  

I've said I'd build the Mass Effect Normandy and hopefully finished the sim-shape hologram but it didn't happen _(:з」∠)_ (a new idea came up with the hologram thingy I will have to test it out before making anything...) hopefully a more productive year in 2025 (´･ω･`)

Anyway…to the list! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

5. Underground City - Kabuki (No CC)🎦|| Just realized although I've made only a few builds this year I actually like all of them...I really really really want to build an underground city, and honestly I'm quite surprised with what I could do with no CCs xD I really need to build one with CCs ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

4. Post-Apocalyptic Bridge Town (No CC)🎦 || I don't usually build builds that doesn't match its surroundings, but I really love this bridge-town ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ My favorite part is the functional beach lounge in the concrete tunnel xD

3. The Columbarium🎦 || I play my sims in generations, so I've always wanted a nice cemetery for my save. And now my sims could finally have a place to visit their loved ones :)

2. Kowloon Tong Lau (No CC)🎦 || I love all the signs and neon lights I placed on the outside ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ I actually lived in a Tong Lau before with my grandmother. I miss her 🧡🐹

1. Shady Ripperdoc Center🎦 || I love the build, I love the CCs I made for this build. I am proud of myself for this build😤 xD

To the CC List! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

5. This is Still a Door || This may appears to be a simple door, but to me this is the toilet door in my grandparents house, and it means a lot to me (´･ω･`)🧡 xD It might be broken and it has stains, but it doesn't mean it isn't functional and dirty (well maybe a bit...) xD

4. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas || This is actually kind of a last minute set, and I'm actually meaning to make a nicer digital wall fireplace thiny (^^)"

3. Simple Columbarium Niche || I thought making this would be easy, turns out no it wasn't ._. It originally had a function to store the urn, but when I finally tested it out on a community lot turns out storage is not possible...

2. Ripperdoc Set || I'm surprised at myself for actually making a set xD it was a lot of work but also a lot of fun, therefore it's worth it ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

1. Cyberpunk 2077 Sliding Doors and Frames || This has the best cover photo ever...look at all the colors!! (≧∇≦)ﾉ p.s. just to be clear if I ever label any sim-thing as "cyberpunk 2077" that means those objects/build designs are originally from the game Cyberpunk 2077. any other thing else are "inspired by" ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

Summery of 2024:

I didn't make much builds and CCs this year since I got that 2-months only hiatus _(:з」∠)_ It was a hot season with my computer heating up due to JUST playing the Sims 4 only - which really frustrated me, along with the sudden increase of Sims 4 glitches and bugs😡 I remember browsing through the EA Sims 4 Bug Report Forum and seeing all those reports really made me felt disappointed in the game (I know I'm kinda in the creator network thingy but that does not mean I have to praise the game blindly...) but thankfully somehow the crashes stopped and the switching to DX11 seems to have solved a lot of lagging issues🤔

Oh and yea this year I got into the Sims 4 Creator Program (EA Creator Network) (≧∇≦)/ xD I actually applied for it a very long time ago when it was called something else...I applied it for Mass Effect xD then I think I saw someone talking about the program recently and I was like "hmm...I think I had submitted my name to a program like that..." but I never got a reply...so I renewed my application and added Sims 4 and Dragon Age to it...and then it happened ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ the thing I'm most happy about is my creator code is "hamster" xD just - 🐹🐹🐹 xD

anyway hoping for a better year for 2025. hope everyone stay safe, stay cozy, be happy :)

[stelarain]

Aries Observations:

• One thing I noticed about Aries placements is that people around them oftentimes hold them back from a lot of things they're passionate to achieve. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac. Stereotypically saying that yes they are childish, impulsive, expressive, bold, fiery and passionate people. (Keyword: Expressive) Especially when it's placed on the sun (it applies to all Aries placements perhaps) I keep hearing that they are blessed because its the first sign and the first house rules the self-expression. Mars rules the sign, a malefic planet that a lot of people forget. Aries like Scorpio tends to attract jealousy. Due to this a lot of aries can lose their passion or feel burnt out. However, its ARIES ♈ they will always rise, the fire never loses its spark.

• Aries is CONFIDENT but every zodiac signs has a sister sign, a zodiac can't be complete without its other half so their is always an influence from the opposite sign which is Libra. Ruled by Venus, the planet of love, beauty, romance, creativity, children and art. Aries SUNS tend to be insecure or appearance conscious due to this. Sun is the way we outwardly express ourselves to the world, so most Aries Suns experience such insecurity from time to time.

• Bold celebrities, feminist celebrities has aries on their chart

• Actresses who played Disney Princesses in the live action version are born in late march to early april with Pisces and Virgo influence in their Chart. Most of the time Aries is within the big six

ex. Emma Watson(Belle), Elle Fanning(Aurora), Lily James(Cinderella), Halle Bailey (Ariel)

you can search their chart on google.

• Aries loves debating and are good debaters

• Aries rules the head, so I don't understand the generalizations that Aries Mercuries are just plain impulsive and only blurts nonsense. Aries are quick-witted, smart and fast learners. They're one of the smart people in class. Usually very competitive but very open minded and doesn't give an F because they know how shit works and aries always know how to be number one. If they want to why would they want to? Usually this has 3rd/Gemini influence but usually very smart without it.

• Aries people are very beautiful because of the venusian influence of its sister sign: Libra

• Aries doesn't like it when their freedom of speech is taken away from them or restricting them in verbal expressions in the topics they know that they're knowledgeable at. (Mercury/Moon)

• Aries people can be lazy

• Aries (when undeveloped) can be childish and immature when people confront them

• Aries loves adventures like Sagittarius

• Aries placements mostly experience headaches/migraines compared to other people

• Aries are poets. Stay with me. Aries MERCURIES are poets and loves poetry.

• Politicians who are real-talkers, savages, smart, and good leaders has aries influence.

ex: Kamala Harris

Notes:

Guess what I'm an aries lol, but I'm not glazing XD. I'm not a professional astrologer, this is just the things I noticed.

[emo-trash101]

since your rodrick request are open

some bf head cannons for him?? 🤗💗

OMG I WOULD LOVE TO DO THIS???? UHM YIPPEE

Rodrick Heffley x Reader

Pronouns: Second person, referenced boyfriend meme but it can be taken in any way

TW: Stinky bro, Greg, uh more stinky

- So first off, general headcannons is he def is like, bisexual. His eyeliner is too good for him to be straight/j

- Also his main love languages are definitely acts of service and touch

- But onto like, genuine relationship thingy

- As much as I love him, he is a stinky little guy dude

- He showers like, once a week maximum, and washes his clothes somehow less. It takes copious amounts of coaxing to get him to start legitimately showering

- He obviously listens to you better than his parents, so he starts showering a little more than he did before (his family thanks you)

- mind you he goes from like, 1 shower a week to 2.5 so I mean progress is progress

- Speaking of his family, Susan loves you regardless of your gender

- She's just glad that someone is getting him to be a functioning member of society instead of a dirty mole rat

- Greg is uh...freaky bro

- he writes about you in his journal (you get ur own goofy stick figure) and either low-key has a crush on you or actually despises you with his entire being

- It depends on if you're a lot like Rodrick or if you have that sweet charm turned on for him family

- Frank is actually terrified of y'all's relationship ending, because he was getting tired of yelling at Rodrick to turn his music down, or clean his room, and you actually get him to do that

- He has a heart attack every time Rodrick does some stupid shit or you both get into a spat

- Luckily apology kisses are an actual thing

- He also is chronically obsessed with PDA

- Whether it's the dining table, living room, school, random store, bro is in contact with you in some way

- He also considers taking you to random places as dates

- For y'all's first date he took you to a random forest and carved your initials into a tree

- And then you both got crappy gas station food and hung out at the park

- You also became manager of the band???

- You literally didn't apply for the position but you have it now

- It causes some... interesting arguments

- Rodrick is possessive, to like a goofy ah degree

- So if any of the band members are checking you out for like, any reason, he's calling them out

- or just loudly playing his drums to annoy the guy away from you

- he gives, I got that dog in me and the dog is a Chihuahua vibes

- but he's sweet with you

- He likes to just lay on your lap and let you play with his hair

- And he kisses kinda low-key bad at first, but he makes up for it with enthusiasm

- He's so happy you're with him, like incredibly happy

- This picture is actually him on a daily basis

- Every time you show up at his house for literally any reason he gets a huge dorky smile on his face and he's just like "Yeah Greg, my partner is here"

- Greg is not amused

- But you are :)

GUYS I PROMISE I LOVE HIM AND HIS STINK IM JUST MEAN 🙏🙏🙏

Anyways make sure you eat food and drink water 🫶

[colorisbyshe]

On art and effort:

Your argument is self defeating. You are saying that since art by disabled people is often seen as low effort or low skilled (and requires higher investment from disabled people to create art seen as "equal" to peers who are not disable) we should... accept that art naturally made by disabled people IS less valuable and instead we should just replace that art with computer generated content.

Instead of encouraging disabled people to craft what they can and finding beauty (and by beauty I just mean visual enjoyment, even when it's ugly or low effort or whatever the fuck you want to call it) in said art, we should replace that with disabled people just... stating the art they would like to make and having a computer do it for them.

This is... progress? Instead of saying we should value people no matter their perceived skill or effort or ability, instead of saying art made with any level of skill or ability or effort can still say something or have value (even if the value is in proving it has no value), we should move on from that and say "Actually, if you can't do it yourself, you should get a computer to steal it for you."

You are actually putting more value into the more "acceptable" computer generated art than in the art disabled people can say, thus actually... reinforcing the point of the "inspirational" people where the only valued art is the one PERCEIVED as higher effort, skill, and more aesthetically pleasing.

But computer generation isn't creating art. It is just ordering what are you want to have. So, I don't even think the rest of your argument applies. I haven't made a chicken sandwich if I customize my panera order and say no lettuce please.

On labor and theft:

You are correct about piracy. You are incorrect about the rest. Companies stealing art they have not paid for is, in fact, labor theft. The labor that went into that art has been stolen.

Artists have outright spoken about how they are being paid lower wages because AI has lowered the perceived value of their work. You are speaking in abstracts, I am speaking in concrete, observed consequences of AI. Artists have already confirmed companies are using AI to exploit artists and steal their labor.

The theft exists in the training. The theft exists in recreation. The theft exists in posing art as inherently and always disposable. The theft exists in depriving artists of work and commissions. I have outright seen people stating that they will no longer commission works because they can just order their computers to make it.

The theft is also in the Kenyans being tricked into slave wage contracts. And this is not a singular case with a lot of this "AI" projects, while the amazon "just walk out" stores were not using generative AI, they were still framed as AI... and still relied on exploited labor to function. All of these programs rely, heavily on stolen labor to function on every level.

Also, it's wholly different from making collages because collages retain the individual content (and thus can be traced back to an original creator) while with generative AI, the art is stolen, the identity is erased so you don't even fucking know what you're stealing from, because all art has been reduced to an amorphous slug that only exists to serve the company's server, and then you know what? It's stolen from the creator too. It belongs to the AI company. Anything you create the company can now use--to sell, to train, to do whatever they want with. You, the "creator" are being stolen from too.

Exploitation:

Your argument is just "the companies have already exploited the artists who have made this art, so it's okay to steal it even more."

As per usual.

This is ALWAYS the argument for generative AI. Things are already bad, why not have two bad things? Why not make things worse? I find these arguments to be despicable. Truly. I do. I find you saying "Stealing from the exploited is the same as stealing from corporations who exploit them" is just "vibes based" to be despicable as well. Lol.

Also, art is special. Sorry, like, yes it is. Art is the cornerstone of how humans learn to relate to each other. The fact that is being reduced to a product that is made by no one, made for no one, while companies profit off it is... bad. It's not the same as people no longer having to do risky jobs because a machine can do it instead. Like... the loss of political art in the service of corporate art has been observed and is complained about this website... regularly. I can probably find posts on your blog complaining about how hypercapitalism affects art and does a disservice to people.

Generative AI replacing human workers is... the most hypercapitalistic it gets for the creation of art.

Now the only people who can AFFORD to create art without getting paid for it are those already wealthy and in power.

(Not even getting into how AI subtitles are often so incorrect and baffling incorrect that it's illegal and ableist, lol.)

Like I do think your argument is all abstract and not about the actual material consequence of this.

Which brings us to "water and responsibility":

You can argue about how big generative ai's slice of the AI pie is but it's still theorized that AI will represent 17% of America's electricity consumption in the next five years.

AI is in its infancy now and still isn't utilized by people, in part BECAUSE of the stigma against it. As it gets more normalized by people like you, those numbers go up. The fact that image generation is so high cost compared to... actually useful things... is incomprehensible to be. You cannot disconnect your usage of generative AI from how it empowers and normalizes google's much more wasteful usage of their AI programs. They are a bulk package.

You actually cannot abstract your role as an individual because the corporations doing this shit rely on individuals normalizing it, buying it, being the product by signing up to have their individual works stolen too, and defending it.

You can't say it's ethical to shit directly into the town's water supply every single day instead of using the toilet and then go it's wrong from Big Corpo to throw a ton toxic waste into the same water supply. I don't care if Someone Did Something Worse.

Your entire argument is "I am entitled to do something that harms the world because it upsets me if I don't get to instantly have the art I want."

Not all people can create all things and htat's okay. We should... value people anyways. And value the stuff they can create, if they can create.

It's okay if we don't all have all the art we want the second we want it, for free. It's okay to not be able to order a computer to make that for us. I'd argue it's not progress that we can do that.

It's a lateral move. Deepfake porn, hallucinated "facts," misinformation campaigns aren't progress. New things aren't inherently progress. NFTs weren't progress--they were just a new way to exploit artists and consumers alike. Just like generative AI.

i dont think its necessarily ableist to hate AI art, but if you then qualify that by arguing that art derives its meaning from the effort and skill that went into it then you're being kinda ableist

[demonslayedher]

Not sure if what I'm saying here can fall under what you intend for your ask box but I'll go ahead anyways...As a starter, what's the difference between "oni" and "yokai"? I suppose you could have this near the beginning of your blog as there seems to be different kinds of monsters (and supernatural beings in general) present in Japanese mythology, and it would definitely be important to know what is and isn't an "oni" and hence would be something you will (or won't) explore more deeply on.

And just out of curiosity, what do you do professionally/for a living? Is there actually any overlap between your job and the extensive Taisho-era research you have provided here for us (even if it is first and foremost a hobby/fangirl thing)? (You don't have to answer this if you prefer to keep this private, I thought I would throw this in since you mentioned wanting to refer to your professional acquaintances to this new blog of yours)

Sorry for the long text dump, I'm getting in too deep into this whole KnY lore and I'm just very excited for what you're planning fandom-wise XD.

Indeed, defining what an oni is would be big on the to-do list for things to write! There is a lot of crossover and rather than make a quick definition here, I've rather dive into some research first. In general, in what's available to English speakers, I see general coverage of different types of quirky yokai (seeing as they are basically the Pokemon of Japanese folklore), but not as much deep exploration of oni as a general catch-all for powerful, evil(?) beings that society is always trying to ward off or attribute mass damages to. Even within "oni" you can define them as different sorts of beings depending on their origins. The question of how to translate "oni" is also something I want to address, since I've never liked straight up calling them "demons."

Professionally, I work in Japanese tourism because learning and sharing nerdy stuff about Japan has always been my hobby. Nowadays my work is behind the scenes instead of working directly with tourists (so please listen to me when I shake you by the shoulders and insist you get off the "golden route" overcrowded areas of Japan). A lot of my projects now are what I like to call the "scholarly adjacent" side of tourism, producing English texts for museums and temples and stuff (not translation, but producing it from scratch). I get to apply Taisho-period base knowledge sometimes and occassionally get to address folklore topics like explaining what a tengu is, but even though I pick up spare oni lore while studying for other topics, I'm at the whims of whatever I'm assigned (this year, that's been a lot of volcanoes! So not as many tidbits to apply to KnY). I love that I get to do work like this, but writing a personal blog would allow me more freedom of style and humor and opportunities to follow my own happy rabbit holes. Not sure yet if it would involve art.

And as part of the oni-lore research I really wanna write more here on how the Taisho period was the last time you could have a setting like KnY with an ungoverned no-man's-land out in the mysterious mountains where oni might thrive and children might be raised by boars, but alas! My Research is a meanie!

[walmart-the-official]

“But that was cheap and poorly done fan service!” Maybe it was. But I had fun and enjoyed myself. Die mad. Not everything has to be perfect to be enjoyable

[raichukfm]

It does require a certain amount of computer resources, I forget the minimum specs, but yeah Stable Diffusion is pretty easy to run. There's also a pretty large freemium space, I think; sites that let you do so many generations for free to try and squeeze microtransactions out of some users probably are what a lot of people looking for free art use, I'd guess? If someone reading this is paying for a generative image service you probably shouldn't be!

As for the small creators thing... Like, you can make a moral argument about that, if you want. But if it's just that you shouldn't steal from poor/small/indie/etc. creators because they need money too, on financial grounds; that only applies to people for whom spending that money on those people is in the cards? And the group of people being discussed here are pretty much the ones for whom the choices are get art without paying or not get art. So that comment is... misaimed? Again, there are other moral arguments that can be made, but if you cede those because poor people are allowed to steal, than the financial one just doesn't hold here.

AI art discourse turns everyone into a raging randian reactionary

[bacchuschucklefuck]

and! barbarian!fig! its her

[daisywords]

thinking about this post but also it's more than that. do you ever think about how stories starring men are allowed to be about humanity but stories starring women have to be about Womanhood

[classicslesbianopinions]

the thing about being a disabled grad student is that if you want even half a chance you constantly have to not only reveal but interrogate and explain your softest most vulnerable parts. while people around you act like this is just completely normal and actually that is not the softest most vulnerable part of you and actually you are exactly the same as all of them. so you feel like you are in disguise as exactlythesame while also completely exposed. and you just have to live like that. absolutely insane

[lynnbutlertron]

^^ might be getting a job at a cute little ice cream shop on the beach in my town GRAGGHHH. i have a trial shift tomorrow i hope i dont cock it up

[uncanny-tranny]

Honestly, going into your WIP pile to actually go through it and see what you actually want to finish can be really helpful, especially when you don't judge yourself and try to learn why that piece became a hibernater in your WIP pile

Some questions I ponder when I look at a WIP is:

Is this project turning out how I want? If not, what about it don't I like?

Do I or did I have fun when I was starting it?

Will I actually use it or enjoy it when I'm done?

Do I like the material now?

Do I see myself enjoying the product after it's done?

Were there, or are there, time restraints preventing me from finishing?

Is this out of my current skill set, and am I okay with that?

If I could change one thing about the WIP, what would it be?

I know plenty of people won't incorporate this into their own WIP and crafting journey, and that's okay. But I know so many people who hibernate their projects for many reasons and feel guilty about it. I hope this might give people ideas about why they hibernate projects to prevent that type of guilt from eating away at their conscious. This (creating) should be fun, and if you're spending a lot of time feeling guilty or ashamed, it can be hard to continue doing the things you like.