#haven't posted this documentary in a while

[cleopatragirlie]

Me when I have to clean:

[loregoddess]

So, I started thinking a bit too hard about this post here, wrote something up, let it sit in the drafts for a day bc I wrote most of it half-awake before work early in the morning while suffering IBS pain, and wanted to check it later, and decided I did in fact need to get this out of my system bc I've spent an unfathomable amount of time thinking about 3H and enjoy writing in-depth analyses for fun, and then I wrote the rest of it half-asleep late at night, still suffering from IBS pain, rip. (I did at least take time to edit at a later time though).

Anyhow the initial post that got me writing was talking about how insane the eastern/northern houses in the AM route were, since Houses Fraldarius and Gautier (and a few other minor houses of the eastern/northern Faerghus territories) were able to stave off the Empire's attempts to conquer them for a whole 5+ years resulting in a deadlock. Like, with all the resources Edelgard has at her disposal (both from the Empire, and from the Agarthans), she cannot squash the last resistance in Faerghus. And then I was like, "I get the joke here, but actually this reminds me of something from The Art of War, and might actually be good writing."

(full analysis continued below bc it's basically a short essay)

I actually think the writing for this specific part of the story is kind of ingenious since it takes historic military strategy into consideration for how the last of the Faerghus lords should have acted to best optimize their chances of survival. Sun Tzu explains how soldiers tend to act in dire situations in The Art of War, Chapter XI:

23. Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength. 24. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear. If there is no place of refuge, they will stand firm. If they are in hostile country, they will show a stubborn front. If there is no help for it, they will fight hard. [...] 58. Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety. 59. For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm's way that is capable of striking a blow for victory.

(quotes cited from here)

By this logic, we can assume it is because the last of the Faergus lords have everything to lose if they're defeated (their lands, their lives, their peoples' safety, their way of life and culture) and everything to gain if they manage to win, that they fight as if they're already dead, because in a sense they are.

Sylvain actually displays a different, but similar mindset in his monastery dialogue during Chapter 22 of Verdant Wind:

[image transcript: "Sylvain: I mean, I'll still fight like I want to die because that's worked so far, and why change at this late date, right?"]

(for context this is said in reaction to the prospect of fighting against the risen Nemesis's army, you can read the full conversation here)

So we know that the idea of the "my choices are to fight like hell or die, so I might as well fight" mindset is present at least in the Gautier house, and considering the military history of Faerghus it would make sense that all the major houses teach and utilize military strategies. The Art of War also has an entire chapter dedicated to the importance of spies, and it's implied or outright stated several times in both Houses and Hopes that House Gautier has one of the most expansive information networks in all of Fodlan, on par with House Vestra's, Judith's, and Yuri's spy networks.

Therefore it makes a lot of sense actually that even if it's just Houses Fraldarius and Gautier, and a few other minor lords, that they'd be able to hold out, since they were the military powerhouses in Faerghus and also the "best" equipped (decent home resources as compared to Galatea's territory, best spy network of Faerghus, long military history, more military experience, a strong reason to fight to the death, etc.) of the remaining Faerghus noble houses to put up a last-ditch resistance and actually manage to hold out.

Actually I want to expand on my "more military experience" note there. Insofar as I can tell, the Empire actually has the least amount of recent military experience, while Faerghus probably has the most. I say this because it's made very clear that Faerghus, specifically House Gautier, has been fighting off invasions from Sreng for decades, if not several generations of Gautiers (according to the account of Laetitia Gautier fighting off the first invasion from Sreng, from Hopes). Furthermore, the attacks from Sreng are frequent and recurring, enough so that Lambert led a campaign against Sreng. So all the eastern/northern houses of Faerghus have had constant military praxis for decades.

The only other major family to have similar and recent military experiences would be House Goneril, which often repels attacks from Almyra. It was an invasion from Almyra which prompted the formation of the Officers Academy, and yet no such response was ever made to Sreng. In fact, Sreng and Faerghus's struggles with them seem to be entirely unknown to the rest of Fodlan, or at least ignored. Which means that while Holst Goneril gains fame for his might on the battlefield, no one in Fodlan really knows about the strength of the eastern/northern houses of Faerghus.

The only major military conflict the Empire had to deal with in recent events leading up to the start of the game's story was the Dagda and Brigid war, which was resolved within a year's time and resulted in the complete destruction of House Nuvelle, which is far from a clean victory. The only notable person associated with that war is Count Bergliez, making him the foremost expert on military strategy in Edelgard's army. Edelgard herself started a multi-front war in her late teens with literally no actual military experience. (Not to say the training at the Officers Academy was useless, but military education and a handful of field battles are not the same as prolonged warfare).

Sure, Edelgard has the Agarthans, but even if we assume that the same major Agarthans have been cybernetically transferring their souls from one host body into new host bodies when needed, they don't technically have "war" experience since their MO is to act in the shadows, sowing chaos and discord. They don't know how to manage an army (and even if some of the Agarthans, like Thalas, had survived from the initial war with Sothis, and would technically have knowledge of warfare, that war ended with the near-annihilation of the world, so it seems foolish to assume they have any practical knowledge of military strategy).

So, Edelgard starts this multi-front war, and has to divide her resources between the Faerghus front and the Leicester front, and since everyone in Fodlan knows of Holst's battlefield prowess, she decides to have Count Bergliez hold down the Leicester front, leaving Faerghus to be dealt with by the Agarthans through Cornelia. And sure, Cornelia succeeds in winning the western lords to her side and toppling the capital, executing Rufus and attempting to kill Dimitri, but neither she nor the western houses have the same sort of experience with war the way the eastern/northern houses do because of Sreng. And everyone consistently underestimates the strength of the eastern/northern houses, possibly especially Cornelia bc she's an Agarthan and thinks herself above humans to begin with.

So between the fact that Cornelia (and technically Edelgard) didn't start off by taking the eastern/northern houses seriously, and the fact that Houses Fraldarius and Gautier and the surrounding territories were backed into a corner with everything to lose and everything to fight to the death for, it really does make sense that a deadlock would result on that specific battlefront, and not just solely because of the military culture of Faerghus.

(To be entirely fair, Edelgard is more or less doomed to lose the war she started in every timeline except CF, where the key variables are significantly different, because of her lack of military experience, mismanagement of resources and assets, and a general lack of understanding and knowledge of the rest of Fodlan, paired with the fact that her and the Agarthans are at odds from the start, so there's a ton of internal rifts and clashing objectives within her forces. Like, she really wasn't going to win from a strategic perspective. Why the Agarthans never use their orbital missiles to deal with Fraldarius and Gautier is beyond me, and why Edelgard didn't sieze Garreg Mach and use it as a strategic stronghold is also beyond me--on a Watsonian level at least. The writing for the Agarthans is consistently lackluster, so with the writing for eastern/northern Faerghus's military might being logically solid, I'll take my wins where I can).

[jlf23tumble]

Probably bc I’m deferring all work (in my head at least) to January - i find myself totally fascinated by this TR/harry ‘relationship on the rocks’ article retraction. According to publicists, that’s a pretty rare occurrence based on key fact(s) being wrong or omitted to prevent defamation suits. I find it odd out of all the articles written over 10+ years, this one Harry’s team wanted pulled (thinking about the “air hostess” or Dan W’s 2022 Harry is hetero and playing gay articles)- even if it is false and he and Taylor R are in love bc many secure couples have these tabloid nonsense published and ignore it. So I suppose it could have been her team. In any case a simple rebuttal to such an article could just be them seen together? Any thoughts or do I need to actually to focus on my job lol

I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of your job being something intense like brain surgeon, and this ask being like should I operate on this guy orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr start pondering Harry/Taylor 2.0?? I'm here for it!! But also, whut? I haven't seen any news or retractions, is there a link (or a blog I should lurk) for it? My hunch is that someone's timing was off or a gun got jumped, and it very well COULD be her team, she's not an idiot or someone who's not famous in her own right, but help me out with some context! And then get back to that brain surgery as soon as you send it!!

[kenwio]

Joker's kid! reader: kids of villains: meeting Cass and Stephanie

Route: recovered dove

Warnings: bad writing, bad English, attempt at fluff?

Authors note: I know Im late. Its far past midnight where I am, and only now i found time to post. I am currently not able to post regulary, but I will post when i can. I will answer on all coments I haven`t yet after some sleep

They say, when you see something one time you cannot unseen it. In your case it was, when you heard something, you cannot stop hearing it. Well, since you become a real member of batfamily, free to hang out with everyone and almost everywhere in a manor, you were fee to converse and to hear the conversations of others. And while doing it, you started notice how everyone were bringing up two names. Cassandra and Stephanie.

One time it was when you came down to the batcave to bring Tim yet another cup of coffee. Dodging consequences of Damian's and Dick's training, you carefully completed your task and started watching the two of them

- Hey, Dams, is that a new move? - Dick commented, dodging the blow in his dramatically graceful manner

-  Cassandra have showed it to me

- Cass? Wait, why she has name privileges and I don't?

.... Cass?

Or another day, or rather night, where you were woken up by the sudden thunder, and decided to watch few documentaries in the living room to distract yourself. On your way Chlory, who was on your shoulder pulled you, so you've look in the library and low and behold, Tim was doing something on the laptop sitting near the couch on the floor while Jason was on the couch reading. You walked over, sitting next to Jason, Chlory creaked happily to greet both of them.

- How was patrol? - you asked them

- good - Jay answered calmly, giving you a head pat

- yeah, aside from Jason acting not according to the plan - Tim grumbled

- hey, I couldn't possibly ignore the tip Steph gave me, could I?

.... Steph?

It led you to conclusion: they existed, well obviously, and they were part of batfamily, meaning your family. You had two more siblings, and you didn't know about them. You didn't really know why. Maybe Bruce have told you, because now thinking about that, you remember him mentioning you haven't met all of your family, but he didn't really talk in long about them with you. Maybe that was caused by the fact that he was busy, maybe by the fact that your adjusting to the family took longer than he thought.  You couldn't know the real reason, that's why you were left theorizing. All you could say for sure, is that you wanted to meet them.  You wanted to know Cass and Steph

Maybe, this wish was heard by stars or wind, like in fairytales you read to Chlory in order to practice your read and speech, but really soon after you met them, and, well, it all happened in true batfamily fashion

You Firstly met Steph. It happened one particularly noisy afternoon, when it seemed everyone who was in manor, that left you with Jason and Damian ... and some other voice. You've considering to stay in your room, but your hunger decided for you. So, you made your way to the kitchen.... and saw her, as your latter found out. She was emptying the fridge from every food option possible, with intention to make it her meal. As you stared at her, trying to analyze her opinion on you, she started back, slightly startled and surprised

- wow, this is awkward.... - she said, soon after, her eyes traveled between you and her food collection- wanna sandwich?

You nodded.

Soon you found out, Stephanie was a ... rather talkative person, a yapper as she called herself. And maybe it was overwhelming at times, because she talked even more than your biological father, you liked the way Steph talked. She talked with you as if your past didn't exist, as if she didn't care about your blood relations, and soon you found out she indeed did not

- Pfft, my father was a bad guy too. Am I a villain to ya? - she said one time you brought it up.

In Steph's eyes you were adorable! A little cutie, who looked a bit too lost, sure, but aside from that, you were cute as hell. So, she wanted to hang out with you. She told you funny stories about her school life and her patrols. Sometimes she joined you and Tim in your game nights. And she also helped you to color your hair.

As for Cass, you met her later. It wasn't something awkward, at least on her part. You just noticed that dancing room (yes you were surprised that it was in manor) which was usually empty and that's why closed, was open. You couldn't help but get curious and take a look. What you saw was really beautiful. You saw dancing only on TV, when Jason showed you ballet adaptation of Romeo and Juliette. But the moment was short lived, Cass noticed you right away, turning to look at you, and after few moments she softly smiled at you, giving you a little greeting wave.

Cas knew body language like no one else, she was professional in reading it, and she saw your hesitance, she noticed presence of small fear, but that was to be expected, judging by the what Bruce have talked about you. And she, for sure never noticed anything malicious in you. You were a kid, who was traumatized beyond measure. She could relate. She, just like you, weren’t given a choice, but now in the Wayne manor everything is better. You safe now. You have control of what you do and who you are.

Cass took you after her wing in some sense. She showed you that with her you were safe. She also did not pressure you it any point in expression yourself though words, she could understand you without them. You both formed almost telepathic bound, understanding each other without words. And it was nice. Sometimes you both just hang out with each other, while being busy with your own activities: she could dance and you could draw, and sometimes (oftentimes) during those sessions you draw her. You both also started practicing reading and speaking together. Sure, it surprised her that you already had a deep knowledge about since language (thanks to Tim), but it made her proud of you. She was proud to be your older sister

And sometimes the three of you hang out together. Steph called three of you (and sometimes she forced squad Damian to join in) the villain's kids, and we'll name was suiting. Steph was talking about how three of you are trauma bounding while you and Cass were sitting down, chewing on snacks or choosing movies to watch, because those hang outs usually happened after patrols, and it was more reasonable to relax. That was just good. Yes, Steph and Cass sometimes fall asleep to your favorite documentaries (Though, Damian who usually was around when you chose the film watched it with you) but it was so domestic and comforting.

All in all, you love your family even more

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Thank you for reading! Feel free to let me know what you think about my work! Hope you have a good day

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if i forgot someone or anyone want to be added please let me know

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[isenkus]

SECOND DATE UPDATE!

izuku midoriya got ghosted by you after the first date! so, he turns to mic's radio show segment in an act of desperation to know what happened... fem reader (pronoun only used once), y/n had mic as a homeroom teacher before. post war.

midoriya is incredibly nervous as he stands by on the other line as mic's cheery voice blasts through his ear and through the radios of thousands, mic's words sounding incoherent as his mind races on the possible outcomes. though, he's sure there's only one.

he's going to be absolutely humiliated.

"so midoriya here had a nice at home date with a person named y/n, and according to him, everything was super fun! when he asked for a second date, he's been hit with nothing but excuses! so he’s waiting here in the other line while we ring up his date…"

riiiing.

it's an unknown number. you shrug, choosing to answer the call.

"hello?"

"hey hey hey! is this y/n?"

you recognize the voice coming from your speaker, your lips curling into a smile. "is this mr. yamada? oh my, yes this is she! it's been a while."

you can hear him chuckle, "how're ya doing, kiddo? i've seen you pop up on my newsfeed the other day—but we're here on official biz. i'm calling from put your hands up radio because there's this listener of ours that you went on a date with..."

"oh shoot" you say, "um, who is it?"

"do you remember going out with midoriya?"

oh god no, you think. your mind suddenly becomes flooded with images and memories of the past week, where you spent a few hours over at midoriya’s apartment. what was the purpose of all this—did he spill the beans to your homeroom teacher?

you sigh as you shake your head, "yes, i do remember him."

"that sigh tells me it wasn't a good date, now, was it?" mic asks, his curiosity is evident. "wanna tell me what he did wrong?"

you awkwardly chuckle, "midoriya's a really good guy, i swear!"

"but you've been blowin him off ever since your date! i've seen you on the papers, but are you reaaally busy or is that just a load of cap?" mic pressures, and you can only imagine his eyebrow raised in confusion.

"i did? my bad, i've been real busy with the agency i haven't had the time to reply to anyone.."

there's a few seconds of silence, before mic speaks up. "producer here told me you posted on your socials a few hours ago, so unless you have a team who posts selfies of you buying tea, you've been on your phone, my dear y/n" he laughs, "now spill. what happened with midoriya?"

"well, we had a nice dinner at his house, and we played some board games and watched three all might documentaries."

mic scoffs and laughs, “that does sound like a midoriya, alright. but hey—that seems like a nice date—what happened?”

you were unsure of whether or not you wanted to speak up, but decided to do so. “he just wouldn’t stop talking about all might! and, i know he’s his father figure or something but come on! even during dinner he kept mentioning how all might liked cedar from yakushima so he got a cedar scented candle because of that. we played all might themed board games. geez—even when i went to the bathroom he had an all might towel and soap dispenser. i damn nearly fell asleep during the second documentary and he shook me awake because i was missing the best part of it.”

by now, mic is exploding in laughter, the faint sound of his fist banging the table being heard. there’s a couple giggles heard in the background too, from his producer and other guests present.

“oh my god i didn’t know.”

your eyes widen in shock as you realize who the voice belonged to. mic clears his throat, “so, midoriya’s on the other line because he wanted to speak to you and know what he did wrong, and also to ask for a second date! surprise!”

you nearly choke on your spit as you hear his voice through your phone’s speaker. “i really didn’t know you didn’t like all might, but i mean you should’ve said something! we watched the top three documentaries!”

“did you ask me if i wanted to watch three documentaries about all might, midoriya?”

“you’re right—i’m so sorry” midoriya apologizes, and it seems genuine. you know he’s the type of guy to be oblivious at times, so you give him the benefit of the doubt.

“is there any way i can make it up to you? a dinner at a restaurant, a trip, we can even watch documentaries of your favorite hero in return! i really like you, y/n, and i would like another chance.”

you can’t stop your heart from beating quicker when those words left his mouth. he’s a lover boy through and through, and he’s truly devoted to what he likes.

“edgeshot. i want an edgeshot interview compilation marathon.”

you can practically hear midoriya smile, “okay, great! i actually know a lot about him, did you know that during the war he—“

“oookay! looks like it’s all settled” mic chuckles, “i think it’s the first time we’ve had a second date update success!”

[petermorwood]

Recently I got roped (ha) into an Age of Sail roleplay, and decided I wanted to play the ship's cook. I then realized I don't know too much about provisioning a ship in the Age of Sail! I figured you'd be the sort of fellow to know where I could find resources on that kind of information though?

Well, for a start I recommend sending a similar Ask to @ltwilliammowett (Beat To Quarters) who knows far more about The Age of Sail / Wooden Ships & Iron Men subject than I do.

*****

In the meanwhile here are a couple of books, both of which you may well be able to get through your library, or buy pretty cheaply for your research library. They're also an entertaining read.

The first was recommended to me by Terry Pratchett - "'If you haven't read it, you should!" - when we were at a con together and he was researching "Nation".

It's "Feeding Nelson's Navy" by Janet MacDonald, available here as an ebook and from Amazon as a Kindle Unlimited free read.

The second is "Lobscouse & Spotted Dog" by Anne Chotzinoff Grossman & Lisa Grossman Thomas.

Funny how both books use the same period image - "Shipmates Carousing Below Decks" by William Pyne - as cover art.

"Lobscouse" deals with the same period as "Navy", while also being the author-approved official cookbook of Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey / Maturin" novels.

Here's a Reddit about making dishes from it, and here's a blog page about making Spotted Dog and why Suet Makes a Difference.

I've already posted about the role correct cooking fats play in making traditional dishes "taste right", and since Atora brand makes both carnivore and vegetarian suets, it's worth tracking down.

Here's a blog page which summarises the Age of Sail diet - think of it as an exam crib to tide you over until you get the books and learn more.

*****

Here's Max Miller of "Tasting History" making lobscouse:

And here are Dylan Hollis and Max making that ubiquitous on-board delicacy and culinary ingredient, ship's biscuit (hardtack / hard-tack / hard tack).

Something very similar was still issued as a ration item at the beginning of the 20th century and into World War One. J.R.R. Tolkien would certainly have encountered Biscuits, Ration, H&P, Army No.4...

...and may well have used them as a basis for the waybread "cram" as mentioned in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". This description has the ring (hah!) of familiarity about it.

"If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don’t know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise." "The Hobbit" ch.13, "Not at Home"

No.4 biscuits were so hard that soldiers could use them as substitutes for wood...

...and Nelson's sailors probably did the same with theirs.

*****

Terry Pratchett took this wooden quality and - with the dial turned up to eleven - transformed it into the rocky quality of Dwarf bread.

Here's a health nut's real-life version of a healthy nut loaf...

...while this is an example of sedimentary conglomerate rock.

With a bit of judicious cropping, the captions could be swapped and a casual glance would never notice.

Of course this post wouldn't be complete without a certain GIF.

So...

*****

To finish, a few links to more video.

One (12 years ago).

Two - 1 year, including some of the ship's biscuit made in that first one (!)

Three - also 1 year, featuring other dishes - pease pudding ("dog's body"), lobscouse and plum duff. Oh, and ship's biscuit ...

Those are from Townsends, another great source for 18th century food and cooking.

This last example is by Dan Snow, in an extract from a longer History Hits documentary, and is a short general overview of period Navy rations - and of course, ship's biscuit... :->

HTH !

[beastlybardou]

Confirming Post

Well, I think I've reached a conclusion - I am a wolverine. It's been two weeks since I started active public questioning, and it had been mulling in the back of my mind for many more before that. I've watched documentaries, studied pictures and research papers, read through folklore, and done several rituals. It's all pointing towards wolverines.

With that said, werewolves are still deeply entrenched in my identity, in a way that I haven't decided to put a label on yet. It may not be the core of who I am right now, but it's still my history and my personal lore, and I will always hold space for it to come back to what it once was.

As I've mentioned a few times, I am strongly pagan, and a few rituals have helped me through this decision and processing the change. Firstly, a few days ago, I did a spirit journeying ritual with an experienced practitioner with lots of experience in shape-shifting and nonhuman identity. This ritual had the intention of finding what animal is at the core of who I am at the moment. I don't want to share too much because this is a ritual that someone else developed, and I don't know how much they are comfortable having shared. Ultimately, the visions involved led me to wolverine. I tend not to leave my identity up to meditations and spirituality, but I am accepting this as strong evidence in favor because of the fact that I was already leaning in that direction, and I didn't feel any disappointment or misdirection when the vision settled on a wolverine.

Secondly, last night I held a ritual with a good friend of mine in the forest underneath the full blood moon. My intention was to thank the wolf for all its years as my primary identity and for everything it brought me, dedicate an item to keep on my altar to it, and then to welcome the wolverine and experience a deep shift to sort of settle that identity into my mind. I would say it was a solid success. To represent my history as a werewolf, I chose the double necklace I made for myself when I first joined the community, made of a moonstone pendant given to me as a small child, and a vial of black wolf fur. I separated the two, keeping the moonstone on myself to represent transformation and history since I have used it since I was seven, and moving the wolf fur to the altar to represent letting that part of myself go but keeping it close at hand. At that point I induced as much of a shift as I could, and donned the pieces of wolverine fur ritual wear that I have in a mirroring of the legends of shape-shifters putting on their animal skins to transform. Bittersweet, but comforting, would be a way to sum up my feelings about this ceremony.

Anyways, say hello to the new me guys!

I will be going through and updating stuff on my account soon. Though you should still expect to see plenty of werewolf stuff around, and I very much still consider myself a werebeast. I actually am really feeling connected to the term "turnskin" ever since I found it while making my server.

[ollyissleepy]

𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

pairings: jason todd x ftm!reader summary: where jason finds out something his partner burrowed deep inside. tags: coming out, mentions bad dating experience, transphobia, lowkey sappy but who cares, jason loves his partner no matter what cw: implied transphobia, body dysphoria, (name)'s previous relationship were shitty a/n: 'i'll post it on saturday!' my ass anyway I used (deadname) on purpose in this one, hoping to highlight that reader hasn't came out yet and that's it's the name Jason uses in his thoughts

It's a quiet night in Gotham, making it rather boring for the infamous Red Hood. He rests on top of a roof of one of the buildings, scanning the area below for any crimes. There's nobody on the streets, not even a thug causing trouble. Red Hood should be thankful for the much-needed break from fighting, the lingering sting of his healing wounds still present. However, he finds himself wishing for a fight, something that would allow him to take his mind off the current state of his relationship.

Lately things have been off between him and (deadname). There's some sort of coldness coming from his partner. He can't really think of a reason as to why she would be acting that way. Jason hasn't done anything that could've upset her, or at least he can't think of anything.

As he stares down onto the empty street, Red Hood can't help but think about his partner's recent reaction. The way she almost flinches away when he refers to her as his 'pretty girl'. Or how she stopped wearing most of her feminine clothing. And he couldn't forget the way she seemed repulsed by the idea of having sex with him. Has she lost interest in him? Is there someone else who caught (deadname)'s interest?

Jason decides that Gotham could survive one night without him and starts heading towards his partner's flat. He needed to get to the bottom of the problem before he started spiralling. The man uses the fire escape to get back down to ground level, jogging up to his motorcycle.

His partner's apartment isn't far, and, thanks to cutting some red lights, Jason manages to get there in record-worthy time. Hopping off his bike, he makes his way up the fire escape, a part of him hoping that his partner is asleep. Red Hood has no trouble finding the right window, as he regularly climbs through it after patrols.

Jason finds (deadname) in the living area of the flat, watching what looks like some sort of documentary. He sneaks behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. (Deadname) tenses up, caught off guard. She looks down at the arms around her, recognising the jacket surrounding them.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" (deadname) turns her head around. "I thought you were patrolling late tonight."

"Yeah, I was, but there's nothing going on." Jason lets go of her arms and joins her on the couch. "I'm sure Gotham can survive one night without me, pretty girl."

(Deadname) scowls slightly at the nickname, which doesn't go unnoticed by Jason. Neither does the way (deadname) moved away, avoiding eye contact with the man. Red Hood sighs, deciding to not beat around the bush and find out what is wrong with their relationship.

"Listen, (deadname)." Jason doesn't know how to approach the subject without looking like a total arsehole. "Is there… something you want to talk about?"

"There's nothing wrong," (deadname) said, avoiding eye contact. Jason knew she was lying from the way she hadn't met his eyes and the way she played with the hem of her shirt.

"(Deadname), I know that something is wrong." Jason reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. "Just tell me what it is. I'm sure we can work through this."

"There's… something I haven't told you about," (deadname) confesses, her eyes looking everywhere but at her boyfriend.

Jason doesn't say anything, not wanting to pressure her. He moves his body slightly, his hand cupping hers. The man is trying to reassure (deadname), make her feel safe. His partner stays quiet for a while, still deciding if confessing that is worth it.

"I'm trans. Transgender, I mean." Jason's partner lets out a shaky breath, refusing to look at him, not wanting to see the look on his face. "I knew for a while too; sorry."

Jason doesn't say anything right away, trying to process what his partner just said. His mind already accepted that they might no longer love him, so learning that it wasn't the case required him time to allow it to sink in.

"It's ok if you no longer want to be with me—" his partner started speaking, but Jason stopped them from finishing.

"Quit with the bullshit." His voice came out sharper than he intended; he couldn't believe they thought of him that way. "You really think I'll break up with you because of that?"

"Well… that's how all of my previous relationships ended…" His partner finally looks up at him, their hand playing with his.

"Not my fault your type are arseholes," Jason snorts, hoping to lighten up the tension. "I mean, look at me."

His partner nods as they continue to play with his hand. It wasn't the outcome they were expecting. In the past there was no acceptance; there were no soft eyes when their exes were looking at them. And, most importantly, none of them tried to make them feel better. Jason leans in, cupping one of their cheeks, caressing it softly.

"My feeling towards you won't change," Jason confesses, bringing his lips close to theirs, inches away from touching. "I don't care if you're a girl or a boy. As long as I get to call you mine by the end of the day? It's more than enough for me."

[astrobiscuits]

Astro observations part 6

🪻Individuals with Sun in Taurus degrees (2,14,26) are always thinking about money - how they can earn more money, what to spend it on. If it's in Scorpio or conjuncts Pluto, they'll often lie about how much money they actually have just to profit off of you. You'll often hear them say "I don't have any money" but secretly have stash of money hidden in their house

🪻Not only do Aquarius Suns have a lot of friends, they also befriend the shy/awkward/forgotten kid (me). I haven't noticed this with other Sun signs

🪻People with Venus in Leo/Leo degrees (5,17,29) often get complimented on their thick hair

🪻Asteroid Fraga (1105) conjuncting any of your planets/angles/nodes indicates your love for strawberries lol

🪻 Check your Moon in Webb (3041) Persona chart. It gives you more insight on the type of content you like to consume on the internet. You can also take into consideration the degree of your Moon

Aries 🌙 - *watches sports matches live*; *laughs at stupid, childish memes *

Taurus 🌙 - the one who always searches for tutorials; "how to bake lava cake", "how to remove a stripped screw"; hmm, maybe i should move *searches houses for sale*;

Gemini 🌙 - *watches memes*, doesn't care what kind of meme it is as long as it's a meme; *scrolls endlessly on r/todayilearned*

Cancer 🌙 - *watches baby videos*; the type that reads family drama posted on reddit, but also regularly checks what their own relatives post on social media

Leo 🌙 - the newest tea on their fav celebrities; they're the first to know what Zendaya ate this morning, where Tom Hanks went on vacation yesterday and if Kylie Jenner is pregnant again; awww a kitty *ends up in an endless loophole of cat videos*

Virgo 🌙 - "declutter with me" videos, "clean with me" videos; *checks their fav blog every day*; *watches workout videos while working out*; *checks e-mails 20 times a day*; ugh, i need to take a break *watches pet videos*

Libra 🌙 - "get ready with me for..." videos, "OOTD" videos, make-up tutorials; their pinterest is full of outfit inspo and aesthetic house decor; "red/green flags in a guy/girl" videos, "first date do's and don'ts" videos

Scorpio 🌙 - *watches every true crime documentary out there*; "Michael Jackson spirit box session"; time to do the deed *watches p8rn*

Sagittarius 🌙 - *saves bible verses all the time*; searches "how to manifest everything you want", obsessed with Neville Goddard content (i'm so sorry, i'm guilty of this); *decides to go on a spontaneous trip, so they end up watching travel videos*

Capricorn 🌙 - the type that doesn't use the internet for entertainment much; actually, you'd be surprised by how little they use their phone compared to the average person; probably has a daily time limit set on their phones, *reads memoirs and biographies*,

Aquarius 🌙 - twitch is their life basically; if they're not watching someone play a video game, then they're playing a video game; *follows LGBTQ+ content during pride month*

Pisces 🌙 - they're listening to music 24/7, has a playlist for every mood they're going through, *watches tangled for the 7th time in a row*; actually, they're always watching a tv series if not for a disney movie

🪻I noticed that most film directors (Hitchcock, Kubrick, Tarantino) have got Neptune in Gemini or Neptune in Gemini degrees (3,15,27). Besides Hitchcock, they also don’t have any aspect between Neptune and Mercury

[lume-ish]

another little lore drop thing but this time about Hotel OJ's first 2 tennants. Test tube and Fan!

Test tube and Fan met during College, and have been inseparable ever since.

Test Tube's has a dual major in Biochemistry and engineering, post-college she got hired at her dream work place but for reasons unknown to Fan, she suddenly quit one day; then the 2 moved into Hotel OJ.

Fan's asked a couple times about what happened but each time Test Tube has skipped around the subject. For now Fan's chosen to leave it be and hope that when she's ready she'll tell him.

Currently, Test tube is working at a nearby Gas Station, she rides her bike there and back.

Fan has a major in Film with a minor in Programming. He struggled to find a job a job in the film industry after graduating and instead started freelance programming while occasionally posting on his blog/vlog about aliens and the extra terrestrial. He's kind of a conspiracy blogger/vlogger.

That means he stays at the Apartment a lot so he sort of gets to know Paper and OJ, not a whole lot considering he spends most of his time at his laptop, coffee in hand. But he's talked to Paper about birds on the one occasion they ran into eachother.

After a couple months of living at the Hotel. The 2 realize, theres something quite strange about the place. Strange power outages, even stranger dreams, weird lights, waking up to a loud wailing noise only to find nothing. Fan decides to begin his little investigation, and after realizing he's bit out of his field, he includes Test tube and the 2 have funny little shenangans. and OJ and paper are there sometimes too. They have their own story/arc but it would intertwine.

In this au I imagine the 2 started dating in college and have been dating since. Thats bout it.

ok but in college Lightbulb was roommates with Testtube and Fan was roommates with Cheesy(Cheesys a door to door salesman now). They keep in touch with the occasional call, but otherwise haven't really seen each other since graduation.

Also during college I imagine Testtube and Fan when they had time would go "Alien hunting" "like ghost hunting, except not fake" -Testube, cause neither of them believe in ghosts but they do both believe in aliens. They were also really into unsolved murder/crime documentary stuff and would binge those while studying. But then school got busy and they kind of forgot about it.

[brummelliana]

I just played through CBML and... oh.. my god. I've been trying my best to not laugh out loud since it is almost 2 AM. I LOVED IT!!! I can't wait for the next game!

I've been scrolling through your Tumblr and you seem to know a lot about The Beatles. I've just recently started to get into the fandom. I'd just like to ask you for any book or film recommendations of the fab four? Like The Anthology book and the series or something like that. I would love to know more about them! They seem so interesting, yet so disturbing to an innocent eye..

God I don't know, my knowledge has been cultivated by so much stuff over the past 7 years. To be honest, I now just look up info I need rather than read or watch Beatles stuff for fun (besides what I mention later).

Tune In the extended edition is super super thoroguh, but it only goes up to 1962. That's right, 1000 pages (?) of just the beatles childhood and beginning of the band.

I haven't even read all my books, you know why? I spend all my time drawing bitch. I used to be such a reader. It does make it difficult when I know if I crack open a book it will be full of horrible events by these terrible naughty lads.

Just read any Biography that interests you, but keep in mind some biographers have their biases, or are less credible than others. I tend to enjoy ones that focus on a certain topic (like Beatles in Hamburg, or Beatles 1963) cause you'll have more specific information or anecdotes. The broader ones that are just about the Beatles, or about one Beatle tend to be of a similar length, and can't go into detail on everything, so tend to cover the same stuff.

I will say, don't rely on video essays or short form content (like tik toks!) for information, or at least don't take them as fact. There is a fair bit of fake info about these guys online, so be a critical thinker!

The most fun way to get a sense of the Beatle boys is to watch interviews and performances of the era. I've come to prefer straight up experiencing them from the source.

Watch the movies! A Hard Day's Night (especially considering my next game), Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, even Yellow Submarine and the Beatles Cartoon (peak).

Be careful though because post 60s Paul loves to be a fat lying slut and tells the same fucking stories over and over for literal decades. I used to have a cute little list of them.

The problem with documentaries is that they just turn into a really felatiatory circle jerk of people who really want to ride their dicks, which I find annoying.

The BeatlesVideos01 on youtube is a great source, they upload so many, there are a lot of gems of interviews and performances that aren't the most popular ones. KistuBeatles has a lot of great remastered videos.

Or right, Get Back. Watch get back, there's the beatles straight up existing for 6 hours. (even if its a very specific period for the group).

To be frank, I don't think I've watched Anthology all the way through, but I think I already heard the stuff they talk about in it, and it gets parroted in biographies cause it came out a while ago.

If you would rather look up info online (that isn't gen z slop), here are some websites I have bookmarked:

(this one has so many pictures, It was the biggest help dating all my photos)

Here's my personal as comprehensive as I can get archive of photos and videos and more!

Happy Beatling.

[mediocrelanguagelearner]

Time spent on languages in 2024

It's time for my classic summary of the previous year.

2024 was my first full year free of uni, just working, doing household chores and my hobbies. Which you can see in my stats, I spent a lot of time on languages and I'm very happy with how much time I dedicated to them this year. Of course, time doesn't mean I've learned much or advanced in them, most of it is just me watching something or reading. But tracking the time motivates me.

In 2024 I spent (around):

181 hours on Swedish

54 hours on Spanish

126 hours on German

361 hours in total, more than in the last two years.

This graph shows how much hours I spent on each language during the year. The spike in German in July-September is me watching Maxton Hall, getting obsessed with it and reading the trilogy. The spikes in Spanish, I suppose, are me watching the series Ni una más and re-watching Gran hotel. And the Swedish spikes are, again, reading books.

My most productive months were August and December (both with around 46 hours) and the least productive was October (with around 10 hours). October was the month I broke my ankle and spent 3 weeks on sick leave. I thought I would spend loads of time on languages, but I was just too exhausted and in pain to do anything that required energy.

Watching series was always an important part of my language learning. I watched Julkalender, as always, the series Sjukt oklar and I guess some Swedish documentaries. But my absolute favourite thing I saw this year was a documentary series called Född 2010. Except for Maxton Hall, for German I watched the second season of Die Keiserin and Gestern waren wir noch Kinder.

Just like last year, I managed to read 5 Swedish and 3 German books, both of which I'm proud of.

I've continued listening to Easy German Podcast couple of times a week on my way to/from work, it's been my most listened podcast. Aside from that, I've also listened to Zehn Minuten Alltags-Wissen and a couple of episodes of Intermediate Spanish Podcast.

In spring I started the habit of going for a walk during my lunch break, talking to myself in my languages and recording myself. I think I did it mostly in Swedish because I thought nobody would understand me that way. I also had one Swedish iTalki lesson (because I was scared of speaking in Sweden), a call in German with a @tolstayas and talked to my German friend once. I also started exchanging voice messages with a fellow German learner once in a while.

Concerning writing, my only form of writing somewhat longer texts is my posts here on tumblr, but I write them mostly in Swedish. I don't think I've written something in Spanish in years. This year I found someone to practice Swedish and German with and message them once in a while, which has been nice so far.

This is time spent on individual languages compared to other years. I'm pretty satisfied. I'm glad I managed to keep my German and Swedish up, but it's my third year in a row neglecting Spanish. I want to change that, beginning with setting a goal of reading at least one Spanish book in 2025 (I haven't read a book in Spanish in years).

How do you feel about your language learning in 2024? Is there something you're proud of? Something new you found and liked? Something you wish you'd done differently or something you wish for 2025?

Time spent on languages in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

[curio-queries]

I saw Jungkook's documentary this weekend and have just a few thoughts. If you're avoiding spoilers, don't click the cut!

The Hybe Documentary Format

So...as a reminder to you all, I do not have professional expertise in the film industry. I'm just a very discerning consumer. I also haven't seen Hobi's documentary and I watched Road to D-Day while I was quite ill last year so I only vaguely remember some bits. (I'll definitely be getting back to those sooner rather than later though as research for a series of posts I'm developing.) That being said, I think we have enough data points to state that Hybe has absolutely no interest in filmmaking techniques outside of music videos.

I did mostly enjoy my experience seeing this film yesterday and I'm always grateful for any amount of footage the members are willing to share with us but this 'documentary ' was worse than Jimin's Production Diary. Any of you that managed to make it through my rambling review will know how dissatisfied I was with that.

I Am Still is not a documentary, it's a mixture of showcase footage and behind-the-scenes clips, most of which has already been divulged in the various episodes and shooting sketches on YouTube. Honestly, if you're not able to see the film, just go rewatch all of the bangtantv content for JKs solo period and the showcase and you'll be up to speed with 85% of what was in the documentary.

There are definitely some expansions to the storylines featured in the bangtantv content; mostly being anything that wasn't overtly optimistic. For example, we learn a little bit more about just how sick JK was during the Seven/3D promotions. That content likely was pulled from the bangtantv edit because it would have put a damper on the promotions and given certain 'fans' a focus to fixate their vitriol. But overall, it feels more like an extended version of existing content rather than a new work. At least JPD didn't continually feed us footage we'd seen before.

I'm someone who gets completely bothered by previews spoiling content so I didn't watch any of the promos until after I saw it and I am so glad I skipped them because most of the 'original' scenes of the film were featured in least one of them. Alas, that's a separate issue of which I'm definitely in the minority.

Was There No Structure?

Kinda. Like JPD, there is a semblance of a structure: Attempting to follow the chronology of release activities for JKs GOLDEN album through the lens of JKs staement trying to prove that he is still worthy of everything he was being hailed as during the BTS group activities but I don't feel this was successfully executed. It jumps round enough and isn't very successful in explaining the events if you didn't already know about them. The film starts with the SEVEN performance at GMA and footage that we've already seen of JK recording SEVEN, not mentioning anything about the music video or really how JK got involved with the song in the first place. The rest of the story beats have similar missing points.

They have a vague narrative with the 'I Am Still' points but that's mostly carried by subs and a couple of moments that JK mentions himself. I'm not saying it's not true or wasn't top-of-mind for JK during this process but it's not the main point of many of the moment/messages he shared with us during this time period so it feels a little disingenuous since everything else jn this film really only makes sense if you've already seen quite a lot of behind-the-scenes content.

Honestly, it makes me question the intended audience. Obviously, they know that ARMY will shell out whatever we need to when there's new content from our members but most of us will have already seen all of the bangtantv content so we are already familiar with the most of the footage in this film. I genuinely don't think this was produced in such a way to be palatable for audiences not familiar with BTS so who does that leave? Our friends and family that are peripherally aware of the content but haven't learned the basics of JKs album? ARMY with short term memories only?

But again, it seems this film was compiled by an editing team and not lead by a director with experience in crafting a documentary. The only new footage that Ican guarantee was captured with the express purpose of being included in this film was the few clips of JK talking in the practice room with the albums displayed by him. But we all know that's where all of the promo clips were gathered as well. I have issues with that approach as well but I'll leave this point alone for now unless anyone is interested.

Suffice it to say, all of these suppositions over the past year about how JKs documentary was getting special treatment or even questioning about investment in a project up front are dead. This was a product assembled with bits of what they already had completely in-house which was sold for distribution.

So, Did We Learn NOTHING?

No, there are a few Golden nuggets (see what I did there?). I can't recall everything having only seen it once (and having a rather disruptive audience - I swear there were only dozen or so ppl in my theater but I forget how obnoxious teenagers can be. I'm glad they're enjoying and supporting but we really didn't need light sticks flashing during a film and how many times does one person need to get up to answer their phone during this runtime? Three according to the row in front of mine.)

Anyway, something I thought was interesting to learn was that Standing Next To You was initially recorded the day after JK heard it for the first time. And hearing a little more about how JK yearned to perform that song definitelygot me thinking a little more about it. We can't reach any conclusions just with this little nugget but it does open the door to some theories. Like perhaps they were initially planning to have JK record two separate albums? SEVEN and 3D would be the singles of the first and JK would perform them as we saw but perhaps STNY was originally planned to be the single of the 2nd album that would release while he was in the military and thus be unable to perform it? Maybe JK loved STNY so much that everything was grouped into one album and Never Let Go was the only track held back for ms? Definitely some theorizing space to be had now.

Final thoughts?

Similar to my thoughts on the GCF: Budapest (which I feel would have had a much better reception if it had been labeled as a bangtan episode rather than a GCF), I AM Still should not have purported to be a documentary. It was much more similar to the annual Memories compilations. But the general public would not have shelled out the $25 to go to a theater to watch a Memories DVD so alas, we have our content packaged as a ~documentary~...

Did my view on the music change at all? Not because of the documentary. We're coming up on the year anniversary of GOLDEN and it's still definitely not my favorite. I completely understand why some people like it but it's just not to my taste. The overall impact falls a little flat for me. Too much breadth and not enough depth. I came into my musical soul during the 00s emo phase and will always be a sucker for music that absolutely drips in an emotional way rather than catchy songs vaguely referencing heartache and love. Again, just a matter of viewpoint.

I do think most of these songs stand much better being shuffled amongst other artists in a Playlist and several of them are significantly better when JK sang them live but I still won't be listening to them regularly. I wholeheartedly believe JK completed his task of proving himself as an extremely dedicated and versatile singer and performer. He's definitely got some solid points added to his resume after this project.

[psychstudydream]

∘₊✧───ₛₜᵤdybₗᵣ ᵢₙₜᵣₒdᵤcₜᵢₒₙ───✧₊∘

hello! I'm @psychstudydream :)

i've been around on studyblr for about 7/8 years but I decided to start afresh on a new blog since it's been a while.

∘₊✧───ₐbₒᵤₜ ₘₑ───✧₊∘

I'm a final year criminology & sociology student in the uk. I'm doing my dissertation on perceptions of public opinions of sentencing!

after graduating, I'll be taking a year out to save up and get some volunteering/work experience before applying for a masters in psychology (conversion)!

I'd like to be a clinical psychologist :)

∘₊✧───ₘy ᵢₙₜₑᵣₑₛₜₛ───✧₊∘

I like: gracie abrams, lana del rey, taylor swift, ghost, chappell roan, twilight, gilmore girls, to all the boys I've loved before, reading, writing, nature, journalling, exploring, studying, looking after my plants, politics, cute things, shopping, cooking, baking, watching documentaries, & spending time with my family :)

∘₊✧───ₜₕᵢₛ ₐccₒᵤₙₜ───✧₊∘

I have just under five weeks until my dissertation and other assignment is due, so for now this account will mostly be focused on content related to that! I'll be posting studyspo, motivation, updates, timelapses, deskspo, etc etc !! :) after I graduate, this account will shift to be focused on my journey towards becoming a clinical psychologist.

∘₊✧───ₘy ᵢₙₛₚᵢᵣₐₜᵢₒₙₛ───✧₊∘

I haven't been on studyblr for a long time, so unfortunately I don't have any studyblr inspirations... (if u think I'd like ur account plsss comment so I can follow u, I need more studyblrs to follow, even if ur not criminology, sociology, or psychology based!!!!!!!!)

my non studyblr inspirations / sources of motivation are the psych diaries and sharon b psych!

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

thx for reading! pls interact with this post so we can be studyblr moots !!! :):)

-psychstudydream

[wiltking]

your post about chronic illness really resonated with me, especially about the link between sex and pain. it made me think of one of my favourite performance artists, bob flanagan- his sadomasochism work in the 80s-90s scene was a way for him to explore living with cystic fibrosis. if youre interested in looking him up the documentary “SICK” is a good place to start! sorry if is this overall too parasocial or personal, but i think that theres a narrative that disabled or chronically ill people are devoid of sexual feelings, and we deserve to explore those too. im glad you found release through mtmtm, and it was incidentally a really good read <3 looking forward to any future works

hi you sent this weeks ago and i haven't had a chance to look up the docu YET, but i do think there's something to it. i've always had bouts of chronic pain but never genuinely cared for eroguro or medkink/malpractice kink until more recently when my condition took a serious nosedive. and its like, okay, so there's this pain that is always present, now what can i do with it? what is the fantasy that can let me escape? well, taking my guts out would be a good place to start. or immersing myself in a fantasy where pain can be a source of pleasure for myself or others. don't even get me started on the part of wanting to be found sexually arousing when you are a sick, disabled thing whose condition cannot be decoupled from sex. when feeling good sexually is one of the only things that can overwrite the pain, even if only for a while.

much to be said about it. i guess i'm just glad i stumbled into this avenue of self expression, and that i'm not the only one navigating these waters.

[reasonsforhope]

"Major technology companies signed a pact on Friday to voluntarily adopt "reasonable precautions" to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) tools from being used to disrupt democratic elections around the world.

Executives from Adobe, Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and TikTok gathered at the Munich Security Conference to announce a new framework for how they respond to AI-generated deepfakes that deliberately trick voters. 

Twelve other companies - including Elon Musk's X - are also signing on to the accord...

The accord is largely symbolic, but targets increasingly realistic AI-generated images, audio, and video "that deceptively fake or alter the appearance, voice, or actions of political candidates, election officials, and other key stakeholders in a democratic election, or that provide false information to voters about when, where, and how they can lawfully vote".

The companies aren't committing to ban or remove deepfakes. Instead, the accord outlines methods they will use to try to detect and label deceptive AI content when it is created or distributed on their platforms. 

It notes the companies will share best practices and provide "swift and proportionate responses" when that content starts to spread.

Lack of binding requirements

The vagueness of the commitments and lack of any binding requirements likely helped win over a diverse swath of companies, but disappointed advocates were looking for stronger assurances.

"The language isn't quite as strong as one might have expected," said Rachel Orey, senior associate director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. 

"I think we should give credit where credit is due, and acknowledge that the companies do have a vested interest in their tools not being used to undermine free and fair elections. That said, it is voluntary, and we'll be keeping an eye on whether they follow through." ...

Several political leaders from Europe and the US also joined Friday’s announcement. European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said while such an agreement can’t be comprehensive, "it contains very impactful and positive elements".  ...

[The Accord and Where We're At]

The accord calls on platforms to "pay attention to context and in particular to safeguarding educational, documentary, artistic, satirical, and political expression".

It said the companies will focus on transparency to users about their policies and work to educate the public about how they can avoid falling for AI fakes.

Most companies have previously said they’re putting safeguards on their own generative AI tools that can manipulate images and sound, while also working to identify and label AI-generated content so that social media users know if what they’re seeing is real. But most of those proposed solutions haven't yet rolled out and the companies have faced pressure to do more.

That pressure is heightened in the US, where Congress has yet to pass laws regulating AI in politics, leaving companies to largely govern themselves.

The Federal Communications Commission recently confirmed AI-generated audio clips in robocalls are against the law [in the US], but that doesn't cover audio deepfakes when they circulate on social media or in campaign advertisements.

Many social media companies already have policies in place to deter deceptive posts about electoral processes - AI-generated or not... 

[Signatories Include]

In addition to the companies that helped broker Friday's agreement, other signatories include chatbot developers Anthropic and Inflection AI; voice-clone startup ElevenLabs; chip designer Arm Holdings; security companies McAfee and TrendMicro; and Stability AI, known for making the image-generator Stable Diffusion.

Notably absent is another popular AI image-generator, Midjourney. The San Francisco-based startup didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The inclusion of X - not mentioned in an earlier announcement about the pending accord - was one of the surprises of Friday's agreement."

-via EuroNews, February 17, 2024

--

Note: No idea whether this will actually do much of anything (would love to hear from people with experience in this area on significant this is), but I'll definitely take it. Some of these companies may even mean it! (X/Twitter almost definitely doesn't, though).

Still, like I said, I'll take it. Any significant move toward tech companies self-regulating AI is a good sign, as far as I'm concerned, especially a large-scale and international effort. Even if it's a "mostly symbolic" accord, the scale and prominence of this accord is encouraging, and it sets a precedent for further regulation to build on.