#but the fact that they are doesn't make it seem more real?

[asce-of-hearts]

husband toji yet again!?!?!?!?

"Go get changed."

Those words sting for some reason. Much more coming from him. They don't even feel real. Toji had always been... laid off in that sense. He didn't mind you doing your thing as long as you were faithful and respectful to him. So to hear him say that is... hurtful.

"What?" You practically hiss, making him raise his eyebrows just a bit. Still, he doesn't relent.

"Go get changed." He almost seems uneasy, looking around the house to avoid looking into your eyes. "Wha— Am I like... speaking martian or something?"

"Why?" You ask. The pair of pants you had chosen seemed sensitive enough.

"What do you mean why? It's hot as shit outside, ___. You'll be boilin' in that shit." Finally both of your expressions relax, understanding his attitude all of the sudden. "Put on a pair of shorts, or a skirt. Whatever. I don't want you complaining about having a sweaty ass while on a date."

"Toji!" You gasp, and he grins, shrugging at the comment.

"It's the truth..." He says, giving you a lazy grin as he leans over the sofa. "I'll wait. Go and get changed."

"I don't want to get cat-called on our date though. I'll be fine." You try and protest, but he grabs you by the shoulders; firm, stern, but not unkind. Looking at you in the eye.

"___, if anyone even thinks of whistling your way while we're outside, I'll cut off their balls, personally, and offer them to you as tribute." He promises, his green irises shining under the dim light that enters through the curtains. "Now go get changed, ma. We won't be leaving until I can see those pretty legs." His scar expands when he smiles. and once he does that, you can't resist.

EXTRA!!!!

A whistle comes your way once you walk down the stairs. Toji eyeing you up and down. And you can't help but fluster, pulling down the back of the shorts to attempt to cover a bit more of yourself.

"Lookin' good, princess." He pulls you closer by grabbing your waist, his hot breath fanning over your lips.

"You said no man would whistle at me while on your watch." You try and sound playful, mask the fact that he makes you really nervous even after a life time of marriage.

"Well, I'm no regular man. I'm the husband of the most beautiful woman alive." He presses a soft peck to the corner of your lips, allowing you to cling to his neck as he lifts you up just a little.

Safe to say. You lost the reservation for your little lunch date.

TAG LIST

TOJI M.LIST

TAGGING: @sunnymmoon @lilithlunas @eroscastle @goldenglow149 @lurexin @stranger00001 @kitzusune @mizzhellsingsstuff @lakxcpsta @coolnekochan9961 @notreallyablogger @lilyalone @oliviathatgirl @hannas16 @mimihaitani @raxshall @ayn-yurbestie @janeisnotonline @architectofsuffering @mrstraffy @thatoneweirdkidattheplayground @poopooindamouf @samstrav @yutterfly @staarflowerr @nanamiswife @majissunshine @privthemis @starberryzos @waywardfanwinner @darlingken @tenaciousavenueavenue @l-lailiy @bluemailhiot @kaylarilla @snowsilver2000 @blackbangs @nutz4nainaiiii @mallowryblog @whatsupbishs

[thydungeongal]

There seems to be a sentiment among D&D players that playing RPGs is somehow "more", "bigger", or anything like that in a philosophical sense, than playing any other game.

Why do you think that it? Where does that come from? Have you written about this before?

So, I personally agree with this sentiment to an extent in the sense that as a medium tabletop roleplaying games pretty much inherently involve an infinite possibility space as compared to other types of games, but that this doesn't make tabletop RPGs as a medium "better" than other types of games. There is a tendency for the unique strengths of tabletop RPGs to be taken as indicative of them being superior to other types of games, but they're just different.

In addition to this there is a separate sentiment within the hobby of tabletop RPGs wherein certain types of narratives are seen as pedestrian and lesser, and that "true" RPGs need to be better than that. Dungeon-crawling is often presented as one such example, and in general the playstyle of playing RPGs with a focus on challenge is seen as lesser. This idea is often echoed in D&D spaces despite the fact that D&D is, at its heart, a dungeon-crawling challenge game.

I'm going to elaborate on my first paragraph a bit first: when I say that TTRPGs inherently engage with an infinite possibility space it doesn't mean that everything is possible in a TTRPG: however, anything is still possible.

Anyway this is all like very abstract, but you know how there's two different types of infinities? TTRPGs don't have a possibility space that's infinite in the sense of "every single action is possible." They have an infinite possibility space in the sense of "there is a infinite number of possible actions, in spite of the fact that some actions are not possible." It's set theory, baby.

Anyway da point is that this is a pretty unique feature of non-digital forms of roleplaying. I think it also applies to freeform text-based roleplaying and live-action roleplaying, but don't quote me on that. That is a unique advantage that tabletop RPGs have over computer RPGs. It doesn't make tabletop RPGs better as a medium, because there are some absolutely masterful computer RPGs that are in part elevated by working so well within the limitations of their medium.

Dungeons & Dragons isn't a better game than Disco Elysium simply because the former allows for telling more different types of narratives than the latter, because the story of Disco Elysium kicks ass whereas Dungeons & Dragons's infinite possibility space also allows for the telling of pretty bad stories within it.

But some people look at the inherent qualities of the medium of tabletop roleplaying games ("it's like a board game, except the board is in your mind, and the pieces can move off the board") and draw the conclusion that this makes TTRPGs better. Which is silly. The medium has unique strengths, but it also sucks ass in unique ways that computer RPGs and JRPGs don't suffer from.

Anyway but besides all that nerd shit there's also the sentiment that a TTRPG needs to engage with "greater" narratives in order to be a "proper" RPG, and that is also sadly present in D&D circles. I think it's backwash from the nineties: in the dark ages at the end of the twentieth century some nerds convinced themselves that dungeon-crawling wasn't enough for the medium (this crowd probably had some overlap with the "this medium is better than any other" crowd) and that we should save ourselves from the dungeons by playing games about hot goth vampires stabbing each other with swords instead. Fast forward a few decades and we have D&D players who have bought into those memes (despite no direct contact with the genesis of those memes) and who think that for a TTRPG to count as a "real" TTRPG there absolutely has to be something that elevates it from a simple dungeon-crawler. Which is ultimately silly: a dungeon-crawling tabletop RPG is still engaging with the unique features and strengths of the medium even if you might not always see it.

Anyway, RPGs kind of are "more" than other types of games but they're not "better," there's simply more stuff that can happen in a TTRPG by the very nature of the fact that these are not preprogrammed games with a set number of ways of interacting with the world. This is true of even the most "board gamey" TTRPGs (an accusation I've seen fielded at both D&D 4e and Powered by the Apocalypse games, if you can believe it). TTRPGs are a unique type of game that is distinct from other types of games, but that doesn't inherently make the medium itself greater than all other games. Chrono Trigger is the game that is greater than all other games.

[fishhateme]

"but I don't THINK this is the life that he wants" I am reading your tags and nodding so fucking hard like he's our but a man who is doing mentally well would not be privating 200 Instagram posts while getting wine drunk on a Sunday afternoon. Literally that "could a mentally ill person do that" core etc. he is forcing himself to want the life he has

op you read my mind!! I'm going to take the opportunity to go on a long (looooong) rant, because I've been dying to talk about this

For context this was on the tags of that latest post of danny saying he's done (again) that's been going around, I said that I wish him nothing but peace and quiet but I don't THINK he wants peace and quiet, and here's the thing - I really don't. I've been trying to keep quiet about it because a part of me felt like it was disrespectful to comment on a real person's mental health, but also like, yk, he's absolutely never going to see this, so I might as well get it off my chest

These past few months of daniel hanging out in LA and doing kind of... nothing? don't seem very genuine to me. And obviously you might say none of us know what's truly genuine, but Daniel has been in the public eye for over a decade and a half, and throughout that time he's been very consistent with his personality and aspirations. Sure, the wdc dream is discarded, but he always spoke about racing with love, and he's made several remarks about liking to do things, needing to do things and keep himself busy

So for him to call it quits altogether immediately seemed odd to me? Especially when he chose to do kind of... nothing at all?

In the tags I raised another issue that I think is important - Daniel's spent 30 or so out of his 35 years doing some form of racing. To stop doing that cold turkey would imply some form of hatred towards the sport, and despite all the (rightful) anger that's been going around about rbr/horner/helmut 'stealing' or 'taking' his love of it, so to speak, I don't think that's entirely correct.

It's surely there, somewhere - practically everyone who leaves F1 still involved themselves on some other form of motorsports, even Seb goes to the track sometimes or does some event (of course, you might say seb ended things on his terms, but while I think that's important to note I also think the larger trend as a whole points to drivers loving racing even when they leave a certain category, which tracks with the whole, y'know, risking their lives for the love of it aspect)

now let's circle back to the whole instagram delete spree thing, because i have some thoughts on that, too: I'm not the first person to say this and I won't be the last, but there is not a single time in a person's life where they're more self obsessed than when they're depressed. I say this both from personal experience and just talking to people - when you're not well mentally, you start getting paranoid about how people perceive you and, above all, try to manicure your image because you feel perceived in a way that makes you uncomfortable (the discomfort can come from being perceived as weak or whiny or whatever, and it doesn't happen to everyone, but id say it stems from the feeling of failure that a prolonged emotional distress can sometimes cause).

Now, important disclaimer, I'm NOT saying daniel is depressed, because I don't know daniel and I don't have the info to get to those conclusions, it's simply outside of what I could realistically infer from his behavior! What I AM saying is that just from an onlooker's perspective, he doesn't seem very fulfilled, and the fact that he repeatedly goes back to old posts from years ago to trim and trim and trim some more seems obsessive. Once or twice at first, sure, but he started deleting posts half a year ago and he's sporadically been doing so ever since. This might just be me, but even if you're not happy about the way your past turned out, a happy person doesn't feel the need to change it for the world, y'know?

a few months in perth just catching up with his family after so many years living out of a suitcase seemed both logical and healthy to me, but like, months and months of staying in la where you seemingly don't hang out with anyone except your asshole comedian friends (who coincidentally are the exact type of macho dude to say shit like men don't get depressed or something equally as ignorant and harmful as that, bffr) doesn't seem fulfilling, stimulating or just plain fun, even after taking into account danny's -sometimes odd- preferences about how to spend his fuckload of money

To me, daniel has been coming across lately as kind of a lost man, for lack of a better word.

He was clearly more deeply hurt by Singapore than he'd rather admit, but in the middle of that he started turning down any and all offers - even ones that would've made him happy!

F1 hurt him, yes, but F1 is only a sliver of the motorsports world, even if it's the most publicized. In his rejection of anything motorsports related, he's isolated himself from his homebase, and he kind of left himself jobless (as a mere peasant I'll admit that I'd love to have the kind of money to travel around the world for months without worrying about money in the slightest, but I imagine it eventually gets old, especially when there's nothing very mentally stimulating for you to do - let's be so fr, Daniel isn't going to be picking up a book about medieval history or something like that to pass the time). op said something that I loved and that really seems to encapsulate what I've been trying to say - "he is forcing himself to want the life he has". it really seems that way, it's that simple - i think he cut off too much too early and in the midst of his pain and betrayal, and now he's either too scared of getting hurt/ridiculed or simply too proud (though that wouldn't be very much like him tbh) to go back, even if it's on a different category, so he's stuck living this retired lifestyle when, newsflash, the retired lifestyle barely fulfils regular 70yo retirees, much less people who are still so, so young (and yes, 35 is young in the grand scheme of things, look at h*lmut marko ffs)

And like, I KNOW I've given it way too much thought and this is starting to enter rpf territory but like... I don't know. I can't help but wonder. He tries so hard to look happy but I feel like his smile doesn't reach his eyes anymore. (Just for the record I was originally going to respond to this ask saying something light hearted and not nearly as unhinged, along the lines of 'daniel is on his publicly fine but privately crying in the shower after downing a bottle wine by himself era', which was a joke, obviously, but then I reread it and it didn't feel like a joke at all? So anyways, here's this parasocial feverish ramble instead, hope it was semi coherent if only for the sake of the lovely @dannielricciardo)

[lucabyte]

Same anon from before. I get what you're saying, but I think we just have a difference in how we view Siffrin's gender. I don't really think it's possible for him to have a traditional gendered upbringing. They're a unique character to analyze gender wise in that sense. The Siffrin we know essentially popped into existence nearly as blank of slate as a person could be. I think about thier gender from the pov of what it would like to be that blank slate, and the detachment that would bring to the concept of gender as a whole. There's nothing for him to hold on to because he can't remember what it means to be a guy in the first place.

So to me, the he is as constructed as every other part of his identity. <- Hoping this makes sense.

(contexts: essay & prev anon)

i see i see. thank u for elaborating

i think you've misunderstood my angle, which is fair enough since I ramble a lot. But now that I know where you're coming from I can say what I'm talking about is kind of from a different mode of like. analysis.

Basically, I'm not really arguing for siffrin being able to Remember how they were raised, outside of the very specific things they exhibit in game of being afraid to want for things, which is the wish craft thing. In-universe, what I'm arguing is that Siffrin has gone for the "default" for what they have. They're going for 'he' because it's what they went with at first, and are scared to make any moves in any direction because being assertive about their wants is the thing they struggle with. It could be constructed, sure, but whatever it is, its the one they started with/got given at some point and now they're scared to change it.

But, what I'm actually arguing for, which is the point you haven't quite gotten by the sounds of it, is that I'm arguing from a like, thematic "what was the author intending/drawing paralells with the real world" angle.

In this reading, siffrin's like, inability to remember their childhood upbringing doesn't really matter? because I'm kind of arguing past that line of reasoning. I'm more talking about my speculations on Adrienne's Intentions-- I'm trying to read the authorial intent, not the in-universe reasoning.

And to me, the big smoking gun here, is that the change religion is The Transgender Religion, and Siffrin is an Outsider to it. In terms of thematic writing here, it makes most sense, to me, for Siffrin's trepidation re: change to come from a character who has been written with the assumption that they've never taken a big leap and changed their whole identity, instead clinging to what they know.

This makes Siffrin's gender another potential avenue for the game to use as Theme. The fact that they are nonbinary already is something of note, but that they seem to be doing it out of apathy rather than joy (making them opposite to isabeau) would make the most sense, thematically. They're disconnected from themself (their culture, their body, their gender) and need to make decisions about it. They can stay nonbinary, they can stay masc aligned, they can lean harder in whatever direction they want-- But they should do it because it makes them *happy*, not because its the path of least resistence. (which highly resembles the theme of the game of having those difficult conversations about wanting things!)

Which, thematically, is a little more solid if they've never taken that control before. I'm talking way more about story structure and authorial intent than i am the character's *actual* gender identity and expression, yknow?

So like. not actually incompatible with your thoughts? You're just saying they constructed the he/they at least a little bit on purpose, and i'm saying it makes sense if they're just doing that by default-- but all i'm saying is that it makes more /thematic/ story sense, if this 'default/constructed' dichotomy *also* maps on to our IRL concepts of being transgender-- ie that default is based on your Junk. Which is something that Vaugarde (and Maybe the island) don't agree with, so yeah, maybe that doesn't matter to In-universe-siffrin. but i'm not arguing about in-universe-siffrin's choices as much as i'm arguing about Adrienne id5's choices when making siffrin.

BUT dont worry this is why i was so worriedly yapping about watsonian (in-universe explanations) vs doylist (author-based explanations) so much, beause I know most fandom discussion comes from in-universe theorising, but i'm doing is basically the opposite so i was kind of expecting people to get tripped up by it. So I hope this clears it up a bit?

To try and put it succinctly... umm..

Siffrin is a Fictional Character, and I'm speculating about the Design and Writing Decisions that went into making them, and then using that to inform my in-universe thoughts on Siffrin.

Basically trying to get into the author's headspace to get to know them better, rather than trying to get into the Character's headspace to get to know them better. It's just a different approach and as such it can lead to different answers. (esp since. siffrin is so cagey their headspace is uh. well. even they have issues with it. its hard to get in there)

[quirkwizard]

The Heroes Aren't All Wrong

So a while back, I made a post talking about the villains of the series. About how, in spite of the story framing of them as real people that were hurt by the world and had some points in their ideology, that did not make them in the right. I neglected to talk about the other half. The heroes. This is the other half of that coin. Just as there are fans who support the villains, there are people who decry the heroes, and the society which they protect, at every point available. This is something I disagree with. And for context, I'm trying to keep this succinct as possible. Because I almost when into a rant about how Quirks are seen and treated, but that's a whole other post.

Just to get it out of the way, yes, the society of MHA is flawed. The story makes it very clear at several points with many characters. That I can agree with. What I don't agree with is the other extreme. The problem comes from the fact that people overblow the flaws or only see the flaws presented. The world isn't this horrible dystopia that needs to be torn down to nothing. This simply comes down to a lot of bias. We are only getting to focus on the major characters. These characters need to show how the world is now and the problems with it. It's how the story generates conflict and explores the world made. These are indicative of the issues of society, but not the standard of society. Not every kid is going to be hurt by the system like the villains are. I seriously doubt that every kid who got counseling as a kid turned out as bad as Toga. She should still be helped and adjust to her situation, but it's not the standard.

Because when you look at the rest of the cast and the world as a whole, it doesn't seem anywhere near as bad as fans tend to paint it as. Could it be better? Yes, and the series tries to tackle the issues with the world at large. It's just that not everything is as terrible as fans seem to interpret. The greatest flaw of society was the lack of apathy towards each other and the overreliance on heroes. That, more than anything, is the issue pushed from the series. Because a lot of the problems with the villains come from that apathy and putting hero work on such a pedestal. Tomura, especially, is the biggest victim of that. It's why that is one of the biggest beats in the final war. People are now starting to be proactive and help each other in their own way. This isn't a matter of Hori forgetting issues with the world. It's a matter of people taking a single issue that a certain character may face and blowing it out of proportion.

And these kinds of misconceptions extend to the heroes as well. There are fans who tend to see nothing but wrong in what the heroes do, especially as they fight the villains. They're mostly shown to be standard heroes fighting criminals. They aren't the oppressive boot stamping any form of revolutionary. Because most villains aren't revolutionaries. Shoot, I'd argue that most of the main villains aren't even like that. The villains are people who hurt others to get what they want. It doesn't matter what motivates them to hurt others. It's still wrong. And the heroes are the ones who point their lives on the line to stop them. Heroes are shown many times to just be people who fight criminals to save others, trying to do the least amount of harm to the villains and the civilians surrounding them.

Do all of them have altruistic motivations? Of course not. There are even some heroes that are pretty bad people. Yet they aren't all scum like Endeavor or killers like Hawks. Those two are an exception, not the rule. There are far more heroes that are good people, if not downright altruistic. The heroes in concept weren't the problem. The greatest flaw that the heroes had was the lack of nuance and understanding of the people they were fighting. Because they were still people with issues, even if they needed to be stopped, there still should be some attempt to reach out and understand them. And the new generations are fighting to try and change that. Izuku is not trying to stop Tomura because he's trying to undermine the status quo. Izuku is trying to stop Tomura because he's trying to commit mass murder against random people that have nothing to do with his issues.

At the end of the day, I think this comes from a lot of misconceptions about the greater society. That being it's a lot more unfair or evil than the series actually intends you to see it. I think that comes from the fact that, by showing flaws with the world, that tells us that what we are seeing needs to be destroyed. That's not the case. It's why people insisting that heroes should stop existing altogether is so confusing to me. Because that doesn't solve the issue. Heroes aren't a problem with society. They do have problems that need to be fixed, but they aren't an inherent evil. They are ultimately just tools. It's all about how they are used to doing their jobs that determines how things go. There just needs to be a shift on both sides of the spectrum. Both in how the heroes operated as figures, and how society as a whole treated one another as real people with problems.

[robinvomit]

omg yay i shall await my essay (in my dms or wherever it will be)

͙͘͡★

I'm putting it in the open so people can fight me or share opinions lol [ I need everyone to remember my characterization comes from the og 1988 hellblazer. not the watered down pg13 socially acceptable bullshit they decided to make. ]

sooooooooooo.... john is basically haunted man in a too used trench coat and no matter how snarky or sharp his tongue or how loud his laugh, carries the weight of every single person he's failed. he's a working class magician with blood on his hands and he'd rather bluff his way out of a demon's claws than throw a spell. john isn't just cynical, he's weighed down by grief and rage, furious at god, the church, and the kind of people who look away ( who isnt, lets be real— ) but under all the bite, he's devastatingly and paingully human. he feels things too deeply. he'll drink himself sick over a friend's graves and curse the sky like it'll answer. he survives not because he's unshaken but because he doesn't have a choice ‐ somethings gotta work out eventually, right? he carries every mistake, every fuck up, every lost thing with him.

his magic isn't the kind with glowing runes and incantations, because why would it be- it's ugly, desperate, and wildly intimate. it's the kind of magic that costs something every time; a piece of your soul, a friend's last breath, the faith of someone who trusted you and thats what makes it real, right? his power lies in knowing people, knowing fear, knowing how to make others dance when he's already sold his own soul too many times to count. he's not out to save the world - hes not a hero, never has been and has never wanted to be.

he's trying to keep it from collapsing under the weight of its own sins long enough for someone better to pick up the slack. when he does try to save someone, it's always personal - which, in turn, always makes it much more than it needs to be. always messy. he wins by making it hurt and he never come out clean or unscathed.

what sets constantine apart isn't the magic, it's the fact he's a walking contradiction. he's callous and tender, selfish and sacrificial - he's a lot more vulnerable than anyone ever seems to give him credit for. he's a lot more than the surface - he wants to be needed and wanted but doesnt know how to hold or keep that because everyone dies, everyone leaves - not to mention, no one can handle the way he exists.

which, isnt to say hes healthy and someone needs to deal with it, no. but he'll curse out his oldest friends then fall to pieces when they're gone. he never forgives himself even though he pretends not to care. he drinks and smokes and fucks like he's got nothing to lose because he feels like he doesnt and admitting he does is a lot harder but you only live that way when you've already lost too much. he is so deeply english, istf--- politically bitter, class-

aware and always four seconds from telling the world to fuck off. he's also a man who wants to believe. in redemption, in love, in something better. he just knows better than to trust that wanting it is enough.

he doesn't believe he deserves anything good - doesn't believe he's worth it. he's not great at a lot of things and he tends to fuck up a pretty good bit. but the way he cares and the way he loves is often overlooked.

♤♡♡♡♤

okay so everyone can fight me for this but it won't change my mind. this is a shoooort little take from my own pysch knowledge, character analysis and idk having..... bpd.

fear of abandonment: john is fucking terrified of people leaving him but he causes the abandonment himself by pushing others away first, convincing himself he's poison - he's cursed, he's no good. the newcastle crew. kit. chas, sometimes, often. he gets cruel or cold right before he gets close because connection = risk = pain. he believes keeping people at arms length helps to not lose them but doesn't fully piece together that that also equals pushing away. he can't admit he doesnt want to lose them but breaks down, by himself, when it happens.

unstable relationships: his friendships are intense, laced with loyalty and betrayal. his romantic connections burn bright but collapse hard and burn out in the worst ways. he loves in extremes but never believes he's worthy of being loved back without consequence. another situation of arms length but also the smallest things are used in his favor to leave before he can get hurt. didnt answer the phone? didnt text back? well, obviously you hate him and he should disappear without a word.

chronic emptiness and identity issues: he walks between worlds, a thin line between wanting to live and wanting to not exist, not belonging to anything or anywhere. he's not a hero. not a proper occultist. not a family man. he talks big but his internal monologue is full of doubt and disgust and hatred. excuses to push people, lies towards himself that thats the right thing to do. his voice shifts depending on who he's with. always adapting, always slipping. he is a different person when he needs to be.

impulsivity and self destruction: the drinking, smoking, reckless sex, throwing himself into magical deals he knows will hurt him. he punishes himself constantly. he invites suffering to feel control over it. plus, if hes suffering, hes got no time for anything else, right?? he believes he deserves to be punished.

emotional intensity: his rage is harsh. his grief is feral. he explodes then goes silent. he sobs in graveyards and curled up on bathroom floors. he screams at the heavens. he doesn't process emotions, healthily or very well, he bleeds them. and he doesn't often trust others with them at all.

he's not a caricature. he's a deeply complex, emotionally repressed man who's been traumatized by fucking everything: systems, religion, class and magic alike. if you read him as having bpd, it only deepens that tragedy and it makes sense 😞 he isn't "just" a trickster. he's a man who's never felt safe in love or in his own skin, he feels small and pretends he doesnt, constantly pushing people away before they confirm the worst thing he already believes: that he ruins everything he touches.

[umbratheshadowfamiliar]

Hey I really appreciate being tagged in this. This isn't about Solztice in particular but about accusations of AI as a whole. The reason why my art 'looks like AI' is because my art is the thing being trained on. I have my art stolen by tech billionaires and the only one who seems to see the affect of that is me. It's classical baroque styling that is usually what is classically taught to people who are trained in school. I had been working on this far before the Kramor art competition started and just wanted to put in something fun.

The more that this happens to people who actually make art the less people will actually be willing to post the art they created on platforms lile tumblr and in communities like GBA's.

My art is not perfect. In fact it's not even good 99% of the time. Which is why I don't post pieces I'm not incredibly happy with. Being told that the art I worked on for almost 14 hours is soulless is incredibly disheartening especially because my style is so consistant from my older works and my drawings of weaponry. It's especially disheartening because my weapon posts do not get the same amount of hate.

Accusing people of using AI doesn't just happen in a vacuum. Other people see that real artists get accused of AI and think 'well if this real person is getting accused of AI clearly people don't know the difference so it's fine if I do it.'

Here is some proof of my original sketch and blocking. I have pinterest boards dedicated to art I like the look of and want to draw. The text is plopped on because my handwriting isn't very good so I edit some of my text pieces in canva.

This just makes me not want to draw anymore. I wish my art wasn't so 'souless'. And I wish my art style wasn't trained on by AI so much.

THIS IS SERIOUS

I don’t want to come across as rude or bring any negativity, but I feel the need to speak up about something important. After this piece was posted, many of my artist friends and I suspected it might be AI-generated. The brushstrokes looked unusual, and the artwork felt emotionless. We even looked it up to see if it was made using AI.

If this piece is being entered into an art competition and claimed as original artwork, I believe that’s unfair. It feels disrespectful to artists who put in real time, effort, and creativity into their work—people who express emotion and meaning through their art.

Please understand that this is not meant to put anyone down. It’s simply meant to raise awareness and support fairness for all artists. (Especially for a art competition THIS IS BAFFLING.)

Thank you for understanding.

[rat-rosemary]

No one's falling for edited screenshots. Everyone believes it because of Karl's mods. They tweeted out hearts and liked replies and not a single one has denied them, even the mods who are literally in the screenies.

If it's fake then Karl's entire mod team would have to be in on it.

I'll be honest, that doesn't make it seem less fake. That seems like the mods are fucking around and laughing because the thread is literally so absurd

And considering they're Karl "i will kill you entire family hehe" Jacobs mods Im not that surprised thats whag they're doing

[kookies2000]

Blue Sky Never Dies

Just found this in Nimona. Give me a moment.

[dilfza-discourse]

*walks away smiling after simping for that old man for 3 hours straight* man I love being a lesbian

[whumpitisthen]

Actually talking about dreams reminded me that i had a dream with Grim before he even had a name or was even a character of mine!! I can't believe i forgot about that the only reason i even know about it is bc i found some old text messages where i talked about it and it must have been such a defining moment i decided i must share it with someone at 03:40 am

Reporting from the future, according to past me: "the god of death visited me in my dream" and "he was very fun" and "he sang to me in latin". I also thought it was an omen but wasn't sure if it was a good or bad one. I also said "hes a trickster ofc hed love to visit you and scare you" (to friend i was messaging). Thats literally just Grim. Like all of this fits him except he looks a little different today; like his hair isn't pale blond its just white, and his eyes aren't dark but red, but i guess. They can be dark. At the same time. He visited me before he even existed and that's a little freaky tbh i hope he visits again soon

This does help answer a question thats been bothering me since the parley happened which is what language do him and his majesty speak? And auden for that matter. Bc ofc i write in English but other languages do exist still, and both grim and the lord speak most languages (so the interpreters weren't even rly needed with the humans) but that doesn't mean they just speak english bc i write in english bc that seems unfitting to me.. now ive decided they just speak latin in reality. Or some other form of lost language no one else speaks. That or if they are speaking to someone else, then they speak the language the person they are talking to speaks. Same with the Doctor actually, since it "talks" in people's thoughts, and whatever it says is interpreted in a way unique to each individual, so if its communicating with a Spanish speaking person for example then that person would hear its words in spanish bc thats what they understand and thats the filter their brain interprets things through. But it doesn't rly talk it just kinda beams its own thoughts into people, so it technically speaks all languages, but also doesn't speak any.

[queerpyracy]

"op i get what you're saying but--" blocked. nobody asked

[kahunoyo]

Hi, Cecil deSist here. This was my ask.

Beneprick Fuckyouno is, to be honest, my worst enemy (it's a pagan magic thing, but all you need to know is that I consider the KND universe to be a parallel yet very real one, and the same goes for the PMMM multiverse). In fact, the only reason I gave him the dignity of his actual name instead of "Beneprick Fuckyouno" in the ask is because I didn't want to confuse OP.

That being said, can we talk about the staircases for a minute? I've been dying to talk about the staircases all day.

Now, I must preface this with the fact that, yes, they are not actually staircases. They appear to be the rooftop of a corporate office building, which is fitting, but I interpreted them as staircases and ended up forming a whole analysis around that.

I can see three ways the whole staircase thing ties back to Beneprick.

There's the obvious, literal representation of a staircase: a mechanism by which to go up, representing the man's rise as the Kids Next Door's current most powerful enemy.

But what motivated that ascension to power? Or, rather, who?

The answer lies in the Operation Z.E.R.O. movie. Part of Beneprick's entire way of life, or perhaps all of it, is inspired by his own father, known only as "Grandfather."

Grandfather is the KND's previous worst enemy, and of course, he shares parallels to his son: the cycle of abuse and the unexplained powers and silhouette, first and foremost.

Beneprick never, ever receives love from his own father, while his brother, the one who defeated Grandfather and destroyed his powers and memories, is exonerated.

Even when Beneprick restores said powers and memories (and his brother and dad seem to be the only people he truly loves other than himself), Grandfather immediately leaves him in the dust to wallow.

Recall how Homura's labyrinth in The Rebellion Story features staircases that lead to nowhere, abruptly cut off. Both Homura and Beneprick have a goal that, no matter how hard they work for it, is ultimately unattainable (due to Madoka becoming a concept and Month breaking the recommissioning machine, respectively).

Next, I turned my gaze toward M.C. Escher's "Relativity."

Completely ordinary stairs, thrown into a jumble that makes no sense whatsoever. Remarkably similar to Beneprick's backstory. Think about it. He followed in his father's footsteps so diligently, and considering the horrible fate he subjected upon Sector Z, perhaps even innovated upon his father's regime, albeit on a small scale, taking away kids' free will without even the chance of them uprising, because they lost the ability to want to.

And yet, as I mentioned, it is Beneprick's brother, Monty, who their father adores. An abusive parent, a willing sycophant of a son, and another who brought their dad's reign of terror to an end, but the way these people treat each other just doesn't match up, just like how the ordinary stairs in "Relativity" interact in improbable and confusing ways.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up Magia Record's far more explicit use of staircases compared to The Rebellion Story's: the Rumor of Ending Friendships.

The Rumor of Ending Friendships states that if two friends declare that "they're done," they must never, ever make up, or whoever apologizes will be taken away and forced to clean a staircase forever.

Beneprick and Monty do care about each other, but they are like tangent lines, with Operation Z.E.R.O. allowing those lines to touch for a brief moment, when Beneprick lashes out against his father but can't be bothered seconds later, an extension of him wallowing in his own misery at being discarded. Monty is blatantly against Grandfather's treatment of kids, while Beneprick, despite being one of Grandfather's most personal victims, is all for it.

Monty and Beneprick care about each other, but they definitely can't be considered "friends" any longer, and rather than break the cycle of abuse that he's in, Beneprick doubles down on the idea that kids are merely tools and punching bags for adults. His arrogance overtakes the self-reflection that his own childhood would normally beget, and he is, metaphorically speaking, cleaning the endless staircase of parental approval forever.

Fun idea, witch form for my LEAST fave

Benedict freaking Uno from Codename: Kids Next Door. I think he should be forced to endure all the despair he inflicted on Sector Z. The man was like, “oh I crave my dad’s approval, time to kidnap and brainwash five kids and then treat them exactly the way my dad treated me!”

Florian : the paterfamilias witch

[wild-at-mind]

If you ever see me becoming one of those transmisandry people, please fucking call me out immediately.

[annalieberts]

"Also I tried to see what Bob is diagnosed with in the comics because I assume the movie would try to base itself off of that. But it seems like it's kind of inconsistent/not well defined based off the two minute search (correct me if I'm wrong Sentry fans). The most common answer though was schizophrenia. I don't personally know a lot about schizophrenia so I really can't comment on that. I don't know if the movie version or the comics for that matter really demonstrate schizophrenia or not. Don't ask me. Someone else can talk about that if they know more."

Well, I studied psychology at university and I'm in the schizo-spectrum and I didn't even feel a hint of schizophrenia in the movie. I haven't read the comics, but fans told me that in fact Bob has schizoprenia in there. It's canon. He has indeed schizophrenia.

About the rest, well, at this point we can interpret it as we like, we can say he has "x" and "x" and it's not going to be wrong because there's not an actual diagnosis for him. I suffer from both bipolar (symptoms* due to my schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, so I go through mania and depression and mixed episodes) and C-PTSD and I can associate his symptoms more to C-PTSD rather than bipolar ones. Bipolar Disorder is a more known mental illness than C-PTSD so I understand that people immediately associate mood swings to that mental illness, but yes, people can have both, there's a lot of comorbidity, having C-PTSD doesn't mean you can not have other mental illnesses, in fact, there's always a pack of disorders alongside C-PTSD! But my point is that C-PTSD (and PTSD) can be easily misdiagnosed as Bipolar Disorder, that's why I compared them. I have seen real people go through it, it's actually a very, very common misdiagnosis. Well, Bob is a tricky character! But the Sentry and Void as mania and depression does make sense. As I said, very tricky!

Anyway, I need to watch it again because I don't remember everything, I forgot what Valentina said, which was important, I was probably crying, I cried like half of the movie!

Is there any therapist that watched Thunderbolts that can tell me more about Bob? I found his character to be very intriguing and the acting blew me away. I'm just wondering for the sake of fic writing/meta writing. The way he described it it sounds like he might have bipolar disorder? He told Yelena he feels lots of highs and lows which to me sounded like bipolar. And I felt like the "void" as Bob called it was not so much an alter as in DID but more of a personification of depression and trauma, if that makes sense. It seemed more like a way for the movie to portray how damaging depression and trauma is and how untreated it can kind of take over. Which makes sense to me because the movie was about how you can't handle mental health problems on your own and that you need to seek support and the "void" disappeared when Bob realized he wasn't alone. So it seems like it's bipolar to me and that the "void" is just how they were best able to show it. But if anyone has any actual knowledge on psychology and mental health, please let me know your thoughts. Or if anyone has found a good YouTube video or post on here or something, reblog with the link. I just think that understanding this does impact how you interpret not just Bob but the entire theme of the movie, so I would really appreciate hearing from someone more qualified than myself.

[shadesofmauve]

I want to step away from the art-vs-artist side of the Gaiman issue for a bit, and talk about, well, the rest of it. Because those emotions you're feeling would be the same without the art; the art just adds another layer.

Source: I worked with a guy who turned out to be heavily involved in an international, multi-state sex-slavery/trafficking ring.

He was really nice.

Yeah.

It hits like a dumptruck of shit. You don't feel stable in your world anymore. How could someone you interacted with, liked, also be a truly horrible person? How could your judgement be that bad? How can real people, not stylized cartoon bogeymen, be actually doing this shit?

You have to sit with the fact that you couldn't, or probably couldn't, have known. You should have no guilt as part of this horror — but guilt is almost certainly part of that mess you're feeling, because our brains do this associative thing, and somehow "I liked [the version of] the guy [that I knew]", or his creations, becomes "I made a horrible mistake and should feel guilty."

You didn't, loves, you didn't.

We're human, and we can only go by the information we have. And the information we have is only the smallest glimpse into someone else's life.

I didn't work closely with the guy I knew at work, but we chatted. He wasn't just nice; he was one of the only people outside my tiny department who seemed genuinely nice in a workplace that was rapidly becoming incredibly toxic. He loaned me a bike trainer. Occasionally he'd see me at the bus stop and give me a lift home.

Yup. I was a young woman in my twenties and rode in this guy's car. More than once.

When I tell this story that part usually makes people gasp. "You must feel so scared about what could have happened to you!" "You're so lucky nothing happened!"

No, that's not how it worked. I was never in danger. This guy targeted Korean women with little-to-no English who were coerced and powerless. A white, fluent, US citizen coworker wasn't a potential victim. I got to be a person, not prey.

Y'know that little warning bell that goes off, when you're around someone who might be a danger to you? That animal sense that says "Something is off here, watch out"?

Yeah, that doesn't ping if the preferred prey isn't around.

That's what rattled me the most about this. I liked to think of myself as willing to stand up for people with less power than me. I worked with Japanese exchange students in college and put myself bodily between them and creeps, and I sure as hell got that little alarm when some asian-schoolgirl fetishist schmoozed on them. But we were all there.

I had to learn that the alarm won't go off when the hunter isn't hunting. That it's not the solid indicator I might've thought it was. That sometimes this is what the privilege of not being prey does; it completely masks your ability to detect the horrors that are going on.

A lot of people point out that 'people like that' have amazing charisma and ability to lie and manipulate, and that's true. Anyone who's gotten away with this shit for decades is going to be way smoother than the pathetic little hangers-on I dealt with in university. But it's not just that. I seriously, deeply believe that he saw me as a person, and he did not extend personhood to his victims. We didn't have a fake coworker relationship. We had a real one. And just like I don't know the ins-and-outs of most of my coworkers lives, I had no idea that what he did on his down time was perpetrate horrors.

I know this is getting off the topic, but it's so very important. Especially as a message to cis guys: please understand that you won't recognize a creep the way you might think you will. If you're not the preferred prey, the hind-brain alarm won't go off. You have to listen to victims, not your gut feeling that the person seems perfectly nice and normal. It doesn't mean there's never a false accusation, but face the fact that it's usually real, and you don't have enough information to say otherwise.

So, yeah. It fucking sucks. Writing about this twists my insides into tense knots, and it was almost a decade ago. I was never in danger. No one I knew was hurt!

Just countless, powerless women, horrifically abused by someone who was nice to me.

You don't trust your own judgement quite the same way, after. And as utterly shitty as it is, as twisted up and unstead-in-the-world as I felt the day I found out — I don't actually think that's a bad thing.

I think we all need to question our own judgement. It makes us better people.

I don't see villains around every corner just because I knew one, once. But I do own the fact that I can't know, really know, about anyone except those closest to me. They have their own full lives. They'll go from the pinnacles of kindness to the depths of depravity — and I won't know.

It's not a failing. It's just being human. Something to remember before you slap labels on people, before you condemn them or idolize them. Think about how much you can't know, and how flawed our judgement always is.

Grieve for victims, and the feeling of betrayal. But maybe let yourself off the hook, and be a bit slower to skewer others on it.