#i was doing a lot of rapid copying & pasting

[do-you-know-this-adhd-character]

Do you know this (noncanon) ADHD character?

Evidence under the cut!

Wildly out-of-the-box thinker with no patience for anything boring, hyperactive, invented a game where the only rule is that the rules are whatever you say they are in the moment (talking about this is what made me say "I should probably submit Calvin JUST in case no one else has yet). While looking up whether he was ever canonically confirmed ADHD (afai can tell, no, but there's LOTS of speculation), I found this article from ADDitude Magazine itself that has a lovely description of Calvin (under the "Hyperactivity" subsection) that could also serve as propaganda

From Mudkip: Decided I'd copy and paste the relevant section for you, but the article is linked if you want to peruse the whole thing!

Think about Calvin, in Calvin and Hobbes, who has an overactive body and imagination. Take him to the doctor, and he slides off the table, turns upside down, with his head on the floor and his feet in the air. Ask him a question and he starts chattering away. He has no clue about what he’s saying, but he’s eager to share all the things he’s been thinking about while the adults were talking. He spews rapid-fire thoughts about school, an adventure with Hobbes, and what he wants for dinner. When the adults start talking to each other again, he slides along the floor like a lizard pursuing a mosquito on the windowsill.

[olderthannetfic]

/olderthannetfic/728135929307496448/people-really-dont-wanna-be-using-danielle-steel

Anon here again. I feel like I ought to say that I don't mean that there's something wrong with people who enjoy these works for their familiarity (my hundreds of copy and paste historical romance novels would certainly betray me on that front) but that as a lone amateur/hobbyist/aspiring writer you shouldn't be holding yourself to that standard of productivity because it's simply not sustainable for a single person. I also want to thank the commenter who pointed out that a lot of these "authors" are fronts for unsung labor which is yet another reason why it's unrealistic.

--

Yeah.

I do think there are rare people who in mid career honestly do just write all day every day, and there are certainly people who produce way more words per hour than others.

But trying to imitate someone who is either a stack of ghost writers in a trench coat or unusually gifted at massive and rapid output—not to mention experienced and at the top of their form—is a good way to burn out and produce nothing.

There are lots of other factors going on here too, from overall physical health to whether you're responsible for taking care of family members.

[alasse-earfalas]

Updated Fierce Deity Links Playlist!

I swapped a couple tracks and added a couple Links with their own songs to the list, so I figured it was high time for me to make an update to the original playlist post. This time around I'm going to go into a little more detail as to why I chose each song for each FD Link, rather than just copy/pasting some lyrics like I did last time.

As a reminder: this is following the theory / headcanon that the OG Fierce Deity Mask is a mask of ascended Sky. Thus, this is not a collection of songs describing what each Link would be like under the influence of the OG FD mask; rather, these are songs for what each Link's ascended, FD forms would be like. (Not that it matters all that much, really.)

Track list under the cut. :)

First: Holy Ghost (feat. Andrea Storm Kaden) by Fabvl (Clean Version) This song was written about Adam from the anime Record of Ragnarok (which I still need to watch). Right off the bat there's the obvious correlation between the First Hero & the First Human, but there's also the desperate fight between a mere mortal and a god. The erratic nature of the music and lyrics, and the screaming, lends itself to the desperation First must've felt during that fight. Considering how he died, I thought that his desperate determination would carry over to his FD form after death.

Time: In The Air Tonight by State of Mine Time just wants to rest in piece. I love the observation in LU that he is done with combat. It would take a lot to convince him to go into battle after training Twilight as the Hero's Shade. However, as a Link, he is still very much a force to be reckoned with. Underestimating him would be a death sentence, and heaven help the poor soul of anyone who stupidly incurs his wrath. With all that in mind, I wanted to go with a song that was a little more subdued than the others, but still intimidating and intense. After listening through the previous playlist a few times, I kept feeling like Time's original song just wasn't quite on par with the others. I swapped it with this one both for the up in intensity, and because it really sells the, "I don't want to be here... but you done screwed up, so now I have no choice but to put an end to your miserable life" vibe.

Twilight: POWER by Divide Music The lyrics of this one fit Twilight like a freaking glove. However, I think I may have shied away from using it originally because the type of music doesn't quite fit the edgy goth cowboy we all know and love. But after listening to it again a few times, it occurred to me that FD Twilight would be ascended Twilight; postmortem Twilight; BotW Wolf Link amiibo Twilight. And that annoying little fleabag (affectionate) is a lot more bold and "Have at thee, pathetic monster!" than he was in Twilight Princess—which is exactly the vibe of this song.

Warriors: The Resistance by Skillet Come on. "I am a nation"? "I am a soldier"? Tell me that's not Wars. The lyrics are just too perfect. Even "Love is the answer" makes me think of how he views his Zelda versus how Cia started a whole war over her obsession with him (additionally, "Used to be a slave, but now you are a conquer" makes me think of my personal headcanon of how the Temple of Souls would have realistically gone if Hyrule Warriors wasn't made for kids). Even the guitar solo at the end is reminiscent of the HW soundtrack!

Four: The War Inside (Spotlight Remix) by Switchfoot Mainly it's just the lyrics for this one. This is only remix I could find that was intense enough, and even then, I'd prefer something with a little more oomph to it.

Wind: Ruthlessness from EPIC: The Musical Do I even need to comment on this? It's freaking ticked off Poseidon. Heck, this was actually the song that inspired the whole playlist!

Wild: The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy Oh man. Where to start? The rapid strings, the chaotic yet poetic lyrics, the relentless pace... Yeah, this is FD Wild. I can just see him, lurking in the shadows, going full guerrilla warfare, setting fire to everything while manipulating Sheikah and Zonai tech like frikkin' Emmet from the Lego Movie. If anything, like Four's song, I'd love to see a remix or cover with a touch more oomph to it. But this will do.

Age (AoC Link): You're Going Down (Radio Edit) by Sick Puppies Age strikes me as the kind of guy who never backs down from a fight or a challenge, no matter how petty (see: eating gravel on a dare). He is heck-a confident in his abilities, masterfully using super reckless tactics (health-burning claymore mechanic, anyone?) and unwieldy prototype weapons to great effect. So, yeah. This is absolutely FD Age.

Legend: Legendary by Skillet It's in. The freaking. Name. Grandiose, confident bordering on cocky, a taunt and an anthem rolled into one. Some of the best-fitting lyrics on this dang list. Overall, just, epic.

Hyrule: Feel Invincible by Skillet This has "I've survived the freaking post-apocalypse, witch" vibes to it, plus some somber contemplative moments that I think would fit older Hyrule very well. I can see Hyrule being another Link who, like Time, just wants to be done when he dies. He'll still fight when he's called upon, and he'll be frighteningly effective in combat, but don't expect him to be enthused about it—just impatient to get back to his well-earned afterlife.

Sky: Say My Name by Divide Music This is the OG Fierce Deity. This is Sky ready to roll some heads. He forged the LoZ equivalent of Excalibur so he could kill a god at seventeen/eighteen, he married the powerful protector goddess who's revered and worshiped by his people, and he is done with your crap. This is the jacked-as-fetch protective dad towering over the schoolyard bully. Your only hope of survival is to not be the bully.

[shallow-wordsalad]

reading recent stories of Magic: The Gathering's lore has reminded me of the importance of avoiding the Idiot Ball when writing. the latest two chapters of Phyrexia: All Will Be One's story have been a sequential and rapid passing of the Idiot Ball from Kaya to Kaito to Elspeth and it lead very quickly to the villain getting what they wanted through no action of their own. we did a whole thing about going to the past, getting in contact with the person who originally beat Phyrexia, getting an extra copy of the ultra-bomb he used to destroy them, and bringing it all the way to New Phyrexia's portal-opening magic god-tree before Kaya went "hey what if this explosion hurts someone innocent". somehow that one freaking sentence was enough for Kaito to go "hey yeah wait this is a bad idea we shouldn't do this", and Jace - poor friggin' Jace - was just flabberghasted and left holding the bag going "buh - w, wait, hold on, we're already here, we HAVE the bomb, we're good to go!" but, nah, Kaya and Kaito made their moral decision in a split second and by god they're going to defend it come hell or glistening oil. and then, as if that's not bad enough, Elspeth catches up with them after Jace manages to finally activate the Sylex - doing the thing they were trying to do at the start of this entire extremely-lethal excursion - and SOMEHOW knew there was some kind of moral debate happening and that she disagreed with Jace. so he gets freaking stabbed, and she disappears with the bomb to blow it up somewhere else - somewhere where a lot more innocents are likely to get caught in the crossfire. or, since she took it to the Blind Eternities, possibly WAY WORSE - the entire argument was about not knowing if the Sylex's blast-radius could cross the Blind Eternities, so I guess we're gonna fuck around and find out? nice work fellas, we blew up innocent people and didn't even graze the robo-zombies we wanted to blow up in the first place. the same robo-zombies who are about to spread all over the Multiverse and kill everyone anyway.

I don't mind the villain winning, but the state of things in MtG's lore is such that Elesh Norn conquering the Multiverse is really more a testament to the absolute idiocy of the heroes than the ruthless efficacy of Phyrexia. it reads less like a masterstroke of villainous planning, or even just one crucial mistake at the worst moment, more like a D&D party who just couldn't get their shit together for so long that the DM just called it off with Rocks Fall Everyone Dies. this was a series of colossal fuckups and leaps of unfollowable logic, and somehow in pre-written story, someone managed to metagame information they shouldn't have had.

seriously, this? "Somehow, in that moment, she understood everything—what Jace had resolved to do, what was about to happen not just to Mirrodin but to the Multiverse itself. Elspeth saw, with perfect clarity, what needed to be done." this is garbage. yeah, SOMEHOW, Elspeth knew all this very specific stuff that everyone else only had just guessed at two seconds ago, and only decided upon one second ago. what do we need Jace for anyway, Elspeth is clearly some kind of mind-reading precognitive psychic on the level of someone reading a script a page ahead.

jesus christ. if you're going to have doubt and infighting among your protagonists, at least have it make sense. these idiots had an entire plot arc to think about the consequences of the Sylex's use, and only decided to question it at the very-literal last second with the worst conclusions possible. it not only cost the heroes a victory, but it cost the integrity of the story as a whole. this sucks.

[hjellacott]

Why I decided to publish fanfiction "on demand"

A lot of noise going on in AO3 among my readers about my decision not to keep uploading content into AO3 unless there are readers asking for it, effectively publishing "on demand". Basically I keep writing (try to stop me) and I have for years, consistently, daily, but I no longer upload fanfics online, unless they're very requested, with very few exceptions. And I have also removed some fanfics from the online world. Even if some readers get pretty nasty about it all.

It's all for the same reasons:

Environmental impact:

1. Data centres, which host much of the online content, account for approximately 1-2% of global electricity usage, consuming an estimated 200-250 TWh of electricity per year. 2. According to the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the carbon footprint of the internet is estimated to be around 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

3. The production of electronic devices used in the digital infrastructure, such as servers, routers, and smartphones, generates about 50 million tons of e-waste annually, with only 20% being recycled properly. 4. The lifespan of some data centre equipment can be as short as 3-5 years, leading to a rapid turnover and accumulation of e-waste.

5. Data centres are estimated to consume approximately 200 million cubic meters of water per year globally, equivalent to the water usage of a small city. Some studies suggest that the water footprint of the internet could be as high as 15 litres per gigabyte of data transferred.

2. Time wasting: For me, writing is something I love doing. I absolutely love it, and I do it relentlessly, day after day, full stories. It took time to upload each story into the website, as you have to select the right chapter, copy, paste, add all warnings, add all necessary notes, fix any formatting issues, and so on, one chapter at a time. It's sometimes taken me over an hour to upload all of my stories, sometimes longer. But it was worth it when I saw the glee in the readers. But in the last few years, it isn't so pleasant. I am now a grown up adult with a whole life of my own, which makes it harder to find the hour/s to upload content.

3. Lack of response/engagement: And I go through all that just for what? nasty comments, or complete silence. It feels like nobody's reading, and so logically, I think, well if nobody's reading that's fine, time's change, I'm not hurt nor offended, but if nobody reads then uploading fanfics into the internet is an effective waste of my time that perhaps I could afford in the 2010s, but not any more. I've got far too many things to do. And since I'm still going to write the story and love that, I don't feel any need to post it, because I don't get any compensation from posting it.

Sometimes I even get grief for whatever I post, so what's the point?

[antivanruffles]

I read the first chapter of a very popular novel. I am incredulous over what I have read, and I shall explain why.

I would like to preface this by saying:

I know what I know because I am also a writer

I have written about these things myself (bows and hunters)

I have access to google.

I am also a little soused right now, which just means I'm even more reactionary than usual.

Let's GO!

____________

(Everything I share in quotes are all a direct copy paste from the digital copy I am reading)

"I’d been monitoring the parameters of the thicket for an hour, and my vantage point in the crook of a tree branch had turned useless."

The PERIMETER? Or are you doing some math equations in that tree there?

"Here there were no telltale trees stripped of bark to mark the deer’s passing—they hadn’t yet moved on. They would remain until the bark ran out, then travel north past the wolves’ territory"

I see no signs of deer. So surely the deer are HERE. Please teach me your ways, oh mighty hunter.

"I unstrung my bow before easing off the tree."

Genuinely impressed you unstrung your entire bow while perched in a tree. Although since you're going to still be hunting, it might be more prudent to leave the string intact so you can knock and draw the bow later

"And too many families had already started begging for me to hope for handouts from the wealthier townsfolk. I’d witnessed firsthand exactly how far their charity went."

I'm either way more soused than I thought, or I'm having a stroke. Undetermined at this time.

"I realized my life boiled down to one question: Was the wolf alone?"

OH MIGHTY HUNTER, HOW COULD WE POSSIBLE KNOW IF WOLVES HUNT ALONE OR IN GROUPS? IF ONLY THERE WERE WAYS TO DETERMINE SUCH THINGS, LIKE WHETHER THEY'RE PACK ANIMALS OR NOT.

"A rapid examination of the doe told me I could carry only one animal—and even that would be a struggle. But it was a shame to leave the wolf.

Though it wasted precious minutes—minutes during which any predator could smell the fresh blood—I skinned him and cleaned my arrows as best I could."

Why use our time to dress the deer, when we can skin this previously described "enormous--the size of a small pony" wolf that would take a lot of strength and effort. Most excellent prioritizing, O MIGHTIEST OF HUNTERS! Who needs to remove the innards of the deer to lessen the blood flow and chance of bacteria plus leave a nice tasty treat for any animals looking for a snack when we can do this instead.

"I wrapped the bloody side of his pelt around the doe’s death-wound before I hoisted her across my shoulders. It was several miles back to our cottage, and I didn’t need a trail of blood leading every animal with fangs and claws straight to me."

THE BLOODy SIDE AGAInsT THE OPEN WOUND ON THE DEER

THE DEER THAT WAS BITTEN AND KILLED BY THIS LONE WOLF WE HAVE NO IDEA WAS HEALTHY OR NOT

Just gonna wrap that undressed deer up in a bloody wolf pelt like some sepsis sandwich so it can marinate in its and the wolf's bacteria for hours while you haul it several miles back to your cottage.

Excellent idea. Truly, you are the mightiest of all hunters. A marvel to your kind. Please, tell me more.

That was chapter one. I can't. I don't.

[felinemotif]

3, 12, 23, 27 from the book ask game pls? <33

3. what’s a book you were pleasantly surprised by?

nightbitch by rachel yoder! themes of female rage and capitalism and motherhood. a middle-class woman convinced she's turning into a dog. about 200 pages, witty.

i really wasn't sure what to expect from it; it was a purchased on a whim because i liked the title. surprisingly pleasant. 3.5 stars. end wasn’t as strong**

12. have you read books in more than one language?

yes, spanish and english! just depends on which the original language was between those two because meaning can be lost in translation and if i can, i like to read in the language the author wrote it. but there are some books that i have loved so much, i'll read it in both.

do swedish language textbooks count?

23. what’s your favorite book that’s been assigned for class?

i love frankenstein. i actually got a special edition paperback of it in the mail maybe a year ago? it's very pretty.

after reading it, i did a deep dive on the author's life. mary shelley was a very fascinating woman.

27. any “unpopular” book opinions?

...i judge books by their covers. if it doesn't have an interesting cover, it doesn't grab my attention the same way and i'm less likely to want a physical copy on my shelf.

if the book sounds interesting, i'll still read it; just on library loan or as an ebook.

also, i don't think everything needs a sequel or a series. some things are better as a standalone.

hmm... i don't think authors or their team should publicly respond to book reviews. i bought piper cj's debut novel the night and the moon before it was available in stores -- i was following her journey as an up and coming self-published author pretty closely because i found her 'rapid series release' to be an interesting approach (the night and the moon was written in, if i remember correctly, less than a week), and was happy to support her novel before it hit the shelves.

piper also talked a lot about how meaningful the book was to her, as she in a way came out to her family through them, which caused her pain (she was estranged from her family).

plus, it was said to be a sapphic fantasy that touches on childhood trauma-- all things i'm interested in.

this was a little while ago; i still haven't read it because the author and a woman later revealed to be her editor responded to a very politely worded 2 star review in a manner i felt was inappropriate. the editor attacked the reviewer and piper, the author, responded by mocking the books the reviewer gave five stars in the past.

totally insane behavior esp bc one of the books was about the columbine shooting.

piper did apologize on youtube after, and said she reached out to the reviewer but her and her editor's actions was the pushing point of so much harassment towards the reviewer that they had to deactivate their social account(s).

piper's marketing of the book was that she didn't send it out to publishers (she self-published and then later re-published) because she couldn't take rejection towards a story that was so personal to her, and one that caused her to lose her family.

it bums me out tbh; i was truly looking forward to supporting her series despite knowing that it would come with many errors and that it wouldn't be the most well-written thing i could read; i just wanted to support the author herself.

but her actions, though she hasn't repeated them since, really convinced me that authors and their publishing team should never respond to reviews, good or bad.

reviews are for the readers; authors can read them, but i don't think they should publicly discuss them.

sorry for the rant jaja bookish drama is something i enjoy digging into with some snacks and wine and in this case, i was there while it all went down.

talk books with me

[pr1ncessavar0se]

What about Lady Soot with everyone? I already asked about her with Vivia a lot but what about the other detectives and Kurumi?

OH OH THIS IS GONNA BE SO FUN!!!! I do have a liiiittle bit written in a separate Google doc so I’ll just copy paste it here LOL

Yuma Kokohead: Lady and Yuma would get along rather well, I think! He might get overwhelmed from time to time because of how hyperactive she is naturally, but it’s nothing he can’t deal with (he deals with Shinigami, who’s rather similar to her in that regard.) He has a hard time understanding her sugary metaphors and her rapid speech patterns, along with everyone else. Regardless, Lady’s always super sweet to him and acts like a big sister figure to him.

Thoughts?

Yuma: She’s weird, but she doesn’t seem bad! She’s just a bit…crazy.

Lady: Little Lavender Macaron! He’s such a sweetie. Seems to get into a lot of trouble with the Peacekeepers, and I thought I was bad with that!

Shinigami: Putting these two in a room is an awful idea, an awful idea that I fully support. When these two meet in the Mystery Labyrinth, I think Shinigami would kinda rip on her, as she does with everyone. But Lady kinda wouldn’t care and she’d still be super nice to Shinigami, even offering to make her favorite dessert for her. Eventually, they both kinda realize that they have similar energies to each other and use that to lovingly bully Yuma.

Thoughts?

Shinigami: Jeez, I can’t believe that sugar coated minx and I get along so well! Hell, she kinda does my job for me! Kyahahaha!

Lady: Really pretty! Her hair reminds me of strawberry and vanilla yogurt! Man, now I want yogurt, or maybe even a parfait!

Yakou Furio: They probably see each other as father and daughter, if only the daughter was a bit of a little shit that lovingly bullies the shit out of the dad. Directly jumping onto the sleeping chief to make sure he wakes up on time or sneaking in the Nocturnal Detective Agency at 4 in the morning to make him breakfast, Lady truly cares about the chief. Even when she shows how much she cares, she’s still gonna be a hardass on him, and it only confuses the poor chief.

Thoughts?

Yakou: It’s hard to understand what goes on in that head of hers. As her boss, I can definitely attest to that. But despite it, she has a real heart of gold, always making sweet treats for the other detectives.

Lady: The chief needs to get up on time more. He’s lucky he’s got such a cutesy wootsy little gal helping out on cases and whatnot, making everything as smooth as meringue!

Halara Nightmare: Halara definitely hates Lady’s sugary antics, probably finding her rather annoying. But, they’re willing to give credit where it’s due, commending Lady for being able to investigate thoroughly whilst making it snappy and also refusing to use her Forte, especially in front of others. Despite it though, they can’t help but find Lady to be a bit insane for refusing to use her Forte in the first place.

Thoughts?

Halara: Lady Soot is the definition of insanity. To blatantly refuse to use her Forte and make baseless guesses in its place, it’s an awful way of working. But, I can’t help but notice her hypotheses are always made with her observations in mind, which makes her work rather commendable.

Lady: Halara’s a lot like sour gummy candy! They’ve got a sour exterior that’s almost hard to even stand. But once you get to know them, you realize how sweet they can be! They and I both know full well the only way I can pay them back is with sugary treats that are homemade!

Desuhiko Thunderbolt: Desuhiko and Lady would definitely tease each other as if they really were siblings. They joke around and goof off like they’re siblings too! The only time Lady really gets fed up with Desuhiko is whenever he tries hitting on a girl, and she just gives him a swift smack on the back of his head in typical sibling fashion.

Thoughts?

Desuhiko: Pinkie? Oh, she’s awesome! I like to think she’s our personal sugar dealer! Just wish she’d back off sometimes so I can pick up some cuties~

Lady: He’s so cute, I wanna throw him at the wall and watch him go “splat!” Ahahaha! Just wish that little banana split would ease up on the women though, he’s making ‘em feel sour!

Fubuki Clockford: Gal pals, 100%. Fubuki and Lady would have such a cute friendship, like Fubuki offers to help Lady bake and after so many times of refusing it (because Lady’s even more stubborn than a damn mule), she eventually gives in, and that leads to both Fubuki and Lady having the time of their lives! Once Fubuki found out that Lady was homeless before she became a detective, she goes up to her and wants to learn everything there is to know about fending for yourself and survival. After all, Fubuki wants to be the best adventurer-detective she wants to be, and Lady would definitely help out with that!

Thoughts?

Fubuki: Lady is a very sweet friend, and an amazing adventurer-detective! It would be an honor to learn how to be a better adventurer-detective from her!

Lady: Such a sweetheart! We’ve gotta have her bake with me more, she did great!

Vivia Twilight: If these two aren’t the definition of opposites attract, I don’t know what is. Despite them being completely different in so many ways, they do have a couple things in common, and they use them to get along. Not to mention that Lady’s the only one who understands what he’s even saying to begin with. But in turn, no one else understands her because she too speaks in weird ways, mainly metaphors revolving around sugar!

Thoughts?

Vivia: Ah, Lady… The Yin to my Yang… It’s beautiful how flowers can bloom even in the darkest of times.

Lady: Aww, I love Vivia! Heck, what’s a twist without both chocolate and vanilla, y’know? Ahahaha!

Kurumi Wendy: When Yuma first introduced the two, I think Kurumi might’ve gotten a little bit jealous of Lady for teaming up with Yuma? But Lady was quick to shut any ideas down, and that probably made Kurumi feel a bit better about her. After that though, Lady’s definitely treating her as if she were a detective, even though Kurumi’s just an informant. She considers that being just as important, and that alone is enough for Lady to show her the same amount of respect as the other detectives!

Thoughts?

Kurumi: Lady’s really nice, always offering me sweets when I stop by with Yuma! Part of me feels guilty for not accepting, but she seems to not be hurt by it.

Lady: I’m rooting for her! Really waiting for the day she becomes a detective. I can see how passionate she is about it, and that’s just what we need at the WDO!

[semper-legens]

96. Leif and Thorn volume 5, by Erin Ptah

Owned: Yes Page count: 185 My summary: In the not-too-distant past, Sønheim is in the grip of the novel Brumavirus, forcing the poor beleaguered vampires to go without most of their servants for an indefinite period. Oh, and also the servants are falling ill, but who cares about them? They can just be replaced with convicts from Pottersfield...including one very familiar face. Meanwhile, in the present day, Leif learns an unpleasant truth, and Thorn considers doing some crimes. My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

I don't think I need to rave about how much I love Leif and Thorn these days. I mean, my last writeups of the collections have covered that ground well enough. But in case you missed it - Leif and Thorn is a fantasy webcomic, set in a world of magic and gem-tech, where two men fall in love across two very different nations. You can read it here! This volume mostly covers the Quarantine with the Vampire flashbacks, including all of the other arcs that happened over that time. This is another one that I was reading live as it went out, so it's kind of weird not only to see in dead-tree format, but also to read it all in one rather than spaced out over weeks and months! It's also really cool, I'm so glad Ptah has managed to carry on with publishing the comic in these paperbacks. I love having webcomics on my shelf! And a paper copy of the Patreon bonus stories - I'm already a Patreon supporter, but it's neat that they're finally collected in the books so that those who aren't can read them.

The main story, Quarantine with the Vampire, is a flashback to about a decade ago in-canon, when a Covid-inspired pandemic called the Brumavirus was ravaging the country. Which doesn't affect the vampires, but for the fact that their servants are going down with it. So they borrow some people from a local prison. And one of them is Valrún, Leif's mother. Up to this point, the only thing we knew about Leif's parents is that they did A Bad Thing that caused Leif to be in such an astronomical amount of debt. Valrún gives conflicting accounts of why she is in prison, and expresses that she just wants to keep her son safe from servitude. That he is already in servitude is unknown to Valrún until someone points it out. And so, she takes the most drastic action she can. She dies...and is reincarnated as a child, years later. Even here in the Future Times, there's still so much mystery surrounding Valrún and exactly what her game is. She's incredibly dedicated to Leif; if Leif had another parent, which I think he did, they aren't mentioned. She's presented at first as being kind of innocent, but she's cleverer than she initially seems. She manages to trick the vampires and the authorities into killing her to further her goals, and plans to hide her status as a long-runner after she reincarnates. She's most definitely playing the long game...which makes it double heartbreaking when Leif finds out she's dead.

Speaking of Leif, my favourite little substory is in this collection too - the story with Leif at Rocky Rapids, his first placement, where he discovered his knack for decorating and gardening. Poor boy. He really didn't have a lot to look forward to, being prepared for a life of servitude at a really young age and knowing he's in this for the rest of his life. Seeing his optimism, and the beginnings of his internal conditioning to be as subversive as he can get away with, really grounds his character. And contrasts well with one of the later stories, where Leif is held in isolation at the Embassy for 'running away' (he was over the limit of how far away from Thorn he can be, a limit neither of them knew about) and has to submit to his terrible manager. We get to see how far Leif has come, the ways he can get around his programming without technically breaking a rule - and the guards at the Embassy, particularly ex-servant Lulen, are growing to sympathise with him seeing the poor treatment. I'm really excited to see where this one goes.

One of the side-plots centres around prince of my heart, my dear damaged Kale sheltering after the whole getting-stabbed-in-the-side thing. Since men in pain is my favourite character archetype, I'm into it. Poor guy needs another ton of therapy to get his head right about what just happened to him - but he's working on it, and Thorn is in his corner. Also highlighted here is Dex, aka the other Agent D, aka the stabber in this equation. Dex interests me - Ptah walks the balance here between 'cool motive, still (attempted) murder' and 'actually Dex kind of has a point' exceptionally well. Dex wants revenge on Kale for the whole murder thing, as well as blinding and brain damaging their beautiful and sensitive husband Hermosa. Who, incidentally, does not want Kale dead...nor does he want Dex to get caught by the authorities. He starts off in a medical facility, then goes into a fugue state where he believes he's been kidnapped by the abusive company Kale used to work for, and escapes. After he's found, Dex's sister Pascentia manages to persuade the authorities to let poor Hermosa stay home.

It's a really well-handled storyline - nobody's by necessity in the wrong here, everyone is sympathetic but realistically human. Hermosa isn't a victim, he has agency and makes his own choices. Dex isn't a villain, they have good motives but their choice of actions are questionable at best; and yet, it's mostly Kale that's their blind spot. And Kale himself is neither villain nor victim. He knows what he did was bad, but it also wasn't entirely his fault. Yay, complex morality! The delicate struggles going on are so engaging to read, and so interesting to follow. I love this comic, I can't praise it enough, and if you like the things I've been talking about here, you should definitely check it out.

Next up, a brief trip to a deserted island.

[kitkatopinions]

2, 6, 13, 17, 26 for RWBY

Alrighty, let's go!

Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?*

Whiterose, Emercury, something that rhymes with stumblebee... Oh, and Roman/Neo. With Weiss and Ruby, I think that it's likely that Ruby had a bit of a crush on Weiss when they first met, but it faded pretty quickly and they're just close good friends and also I write Weiss to be in love with her sister. I understand why people ship it, but for me, the two of them are better off as friends. And then, I've been writing Emerald and Mercury as sibling like partners to the point where people refer to them as 'sister' and 'brother' for years at this point, and the same goes for Neo and Torchwick who have this whole backstory I invented where she was ten when she met him and he was fifteen and they've been like siblings ever since, and then eventually in my fics Roman takes on a dad-like role with Emerald and Mercury and Neo is like their aunt/much older sibling who also acts in a parental role - but that's not important. Basically, I've been seeing these guys as siblings so long that even though I understand why people ship them, I just don't really. With Blake and Yang, I've been pretty soured towards their relationship both by the show itself and by the wasps who try to punish people for not thinking it's God's gift to queer people. Though there's a lot of good to be found in this pairing, I much prefer to write them as 'Yang probably had feelings for Blake when they were first partners, but then all the division happened and they had a lot of problems to work through and meanwhile they both had feelings for other people and now they're close friends again but that's all they'll ever be.'

Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*

You know... I don't think so. Not in the RWBY fandom anyway. I've been in other fandoms where fanfiction and fanart has completely changed my mind on some pairings, but for RWBY, most of the time I either start to like a pairing I didn't really think about before, or the reason I change my mind on a ship is because of what I've seen in the show itself (like, I'm starting to come around on Monochrome but it's only because of an interaction I saw in the new ep.)

Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

Weiss is a severely mishandled character and it's turned her into the worst member of Team RWBY. I love what Weiss could be when I say this, but almost every significant choice made for her character whether that's in her arc, her summoning semblance, or even her wardrobe is actively detrimental to her and makes her hard to enjoy - of course with the standout really hard to get over faunus racism she never apologized for and was never shown unlearning being the really hard hurtle to get over. I can never take it seriously when people refer to her as 'best girl' or freak out about her character arc.

Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

Ohhh boy, I have so many of these. XD

Instead of focusing on Jaune's troubles with being a leader early on, I'd give Ruby and Weiss's problems more time and focus on developing their dynamic.

Instead of having Ironwood unnecessarily get shot into a rapid decline into a villain in order to get Ruby and Co to be on their own against Salem, I'd have Ruby come up with the plan for Ironwood and the others to take Atlas to Vacuo for extra protection and resources and then use the staff to make portals to evacuate the remaining people of Mantle that they'd volunteer to stay behind and fight.

Instead of Yang going to the Vytal dance by herself and standing around doing almost nothing all night, I'd have her go to the dance with Velvet but then express feelings for Blake to Ruby.

Instead of having all four members of Team RWBY fall into the void and wind up in Wonderland copy-paste so that dealing with the crisis in Vacuo is entirely put on hold so Ruby can be sad without seeing the consequences of anything, I'd have had Yang and Weiss fall along with Nora. And while they're trying to find a way back out of a more Narnia based world or Peter Pan based world or... Realm of Darkness from Kingdom Hearts based world, Ruby and Blake and the others would be dealing directly with what's going on in Remnant while they prepare for Salem's inevitable attack and deal with a mass-homelessness crisis and struggle to know if they should trust Theo and deal with civilians hating them for destroying their home and so on and so forth.

Most shippable character?

You know what, I'm gonna give this one to Ruby. I don't ship Ruby with a lot of characters, but there's a ship for her that fits pretty much anything you could want. You want a fluffy cute kids-have-crushes on each other ship where the characters have a lot of similarities? Ruby and Penny. You want something that's still cute but is a little more angsty and has a bit more drama where the characters have a lot of differences? Ruby and Whitley. You want some of the vibes of Ruby and Whitley but you want it to be a bit more high stakes and personal and based on a deeper connection? Ruby and Weiss. You want a slowburn of mixed feelings and mutual pining where two characters share similar beliefs but couldn't be more different in terms of personality and experiences? Ruby and Blake. You want a story where one person who is a leader trying their best is involved with a confident sly person who is able to challenge her and make her better? Ruby and May. You want two good friends who are really strong and secure in their relationship as friends but also you want them to be something more and explore a starts-out-awkward but ultimately healthy romance? Ruby and Jaune. You want enemies to friends to lovers who have a history of distrust and hurt but now they could end up leaning on each other? Ruby and Emerald. You want a wild ride that seems like it's a lot of fun but also there's underlying serious themes of finding joy in dark places and protecting each other both emotionally and physically? Ruby and Nora. You want a wild ride that seems like a lot of fun and doesn't have emotional hang-ups? Ruby and Neon. You want a bittersweet angst driven what-we-could-have-had romance based on mutual feelings that leaves someone emotionally devastated after a death? Ruby and Pyrrha. You want a quirky sweet ship between two cinnamon roles but for some reason Ruby and Penny just doesn't do it for ya? Ruby and Velvet. You want that enemies to friends to lovers thing but Ruby and Emerald is just too boring for you? Ruby and Neo. You want the close friends who have a secure relationship and are friends but you actually hate Jaune? Ruby and Oscar!

I could go on, but I'm probably already being really boring. The point is, Ruby is very very shippable with a lot of people. XD

Anyway, thanks for these asks, it was a lot of fun!

[jemsboner]

I read chain of thorns btw, it was fine but I have a lot of a lot of little complaints that just add up lol

- i miss the earlier books that centered around just the heroine and were almost exclusively from her pov. Now the povs feel like they change every two seconds because the main casts are just way too huge and all always needed something to do.

- in a similar vein, i don’t care about side couples and I never have. I end up skipping like 50 or so pages a book because every. single. character. has to be in love and I have to hear about every single trial and tribulation and make out for some reason. I understand romance is a big aspect of these and don’t get me wrong, i LOVE romance, but these books are so bloated with every teenager having to have one on one moments constantly that I feel like the group dynamics take a hit and even big plot moments feel rushed to make more room for side stuff. Your 800 page book should not feel rushed.

-the family tree being not correct has been a mysterious detail since cp2 and the answer being some lady just did it wrong cause she felt like it is so stupid 😭

-James and Cordelia being in a fight based on a miscommunication for half the book just for drama is infuriating. The reason James does not tell Cordelia about Grace barely makes sense and is only there JUST so he won’t tell her and make the drama last longer.

-the reasons for the adults to be out of the picture just so the kids can be main characters are getting so unbelievable. I was actually interested in Tessa’s trial but too bad we didn’t get to see any of it, and then they all just go to Alicante for a quick trip as if the world isn’t literally ending 😭

-similarly, the lengths tlh goes through to make sure that the tid cast does not steal any spotlight really hurts it I think. Obviously I’m biased and I just want to see Tessa but I don’t think that’s a crazy ask? Like the plot revolves around the fact that her father is a powerful demon and how that affects her kids, but we don’t even get to hear from her after a whole mob accuses her of consorting with Belial. In tmi the adults were not the main focus, but they were *there* and they did things outside of giving vague life advice and then being offscreen for 95% of the books. It’s just feels weird, not even in a stan way, but in these kids’ parents are NEVER around way lmao. Will got to be the designated spokesperson for all of the tid characters and everyone else gets to say nothing ever.

- I’m tired of the demon realms. I never wanna go to a demon realm again.

-Christopher was my favorite of the side characters and I don’t feel like that much weight was given to his death to the point where I was actually surprised when he stayed dead lmao.

Wow I sound like such a hater but i promise im not trying to be 😭 i found it fun enough to still read it within a day, like it’s fine. I just don’t feel a lot of love in the books anymore, they’re very copy and paste and follow a very specific formula but I guess thats what happens when you write at such a rapid pace in the same universe for over a decade. I say all of this but I’m still gonna read the next one lol. Until next time 🫡✌️

[hijitae]

Hi so i’ve read your fanfic a Comet sounds like a frog in space (I couldn’t comment since I didn’t have an account) and I remember Togoro mentioning having a sister. What is her name ,and what is she like.

Hi there! Thank you for the question. I forgot that I had anon comments disabled for some of my fics, and I must’ve overlooked that fic when I got rid of that setting. I used to do that because of stalkers, but now AO3 users and guests can comment. Sorry about that!

Also, my apologies to the other anon; I am gathering some head canon things together for that question! I’ll get back to you soon, although I guess this can be included in with my future response, as this post features some head canons for HijiTae’s children.

For those who haven't read that fic of mine yet, here is a direct link to it.

Anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed the fic. :) And I thank you for your curiosity into what a daughter of Tae and Hijikata would be like. I’ll put the rest of my answer under a cut:

So, I always imagined Hijikata and Tae having a daughter, too – not just to give Togoro a sibling (since they both had siblings), but also because they’d want another child.

I’ve never been able to stick to a name during the few times I’ve written her into (unpublished) fanfic. I once used “Takako” in order to keep all their names beginning with a ‘T’ and fashioned it after Tae’s name the way fathers would conventionally pass on the first part of their name to sons (Toshiro, Togoro, etc.). However, Takako didn’t seem to fit the image I had in mind. I’m not well-versed in kanji, so I can’t pick names through that process; I have to rely on the kinds of meanings various blogs provide for any name I might choose. I thought of Asumi. I considered Masami or Yukino to pay homage to Tae’s live action actress and voice actress.

At this point, I still haven’t settled on a name, and until she makes a proper appearance in my fanfic, I’ll leave it to readers’ imaginations. Mostly I’m trying to finish HijiTae fanfic that focuses more on them before/if I get into family life. But for the sake of this ask, I’ll refer to her as Asumi.

I see her being born 5-6 years after Togoro. What she’s like? Well, right now, I base it on how I created Togoro’s appearance and personality. He looks a lot like Hijikata, except he has Tae’s eyes and smile. He was raised to be responsible and well-mannered. Also, being the firstborn, there is a little more pressure on Togoro to live up to expectations and so forth. Not to say Tae and Hijikata would be super strict parents – maybe Hijikata a bit in some aspects because of his years spent as the Shinsengumi’s vice-chief – but it’s common for firstborns. First-time parents are going through a lot in trying to make sure everything starts off well. Some parents tend to be more relaxed by the time the second child comes along now that they have the experience.

I see it like that for HijiTae, especially with the age gap between Togoro and his yet-unnamed little sister. He’s still a child, but eager by then to help take care of his sibling as she grows. As a result, Asumi will be a little more spoiled by her parents and brother. She will also be born during a time with more peace and stability – I mean, as peaceful as the rapid changes within the Meiji era can be in the Gintama universe after an immortal tried to destroy the entire world and all, lol, complete with advanced technology and galactic travel being mainstream now. Anyway, with a more stable society in place and Hijikata finally letting go of his past, I envision Asumi being sort of symbolic of that inner peace he’s achieved – and, of course, Tae being delighted to have a girl to raise now after a son.

I don’t want to make HijiTae’s kids carbon copies of their parents in appearance (or personality), but since Sorachi made it quite clear that Hijikata’s genes run strong in Togoro, then I imagine it to be similar with Asumi. She’ll have her dad’s eyes and a hair colour shade between dad and mom. She’ll grow her hair long, but might cut it to shoulder-length when she’s older – a reversal of Tae’s childhood and adulthood hairstyles.

Personality-wise, I haven’t given that too much thought yet. Asumi won’t be that short-tempered, but when she is, she is more like Hijikata in that way. She's less patient than Togoro, who is generally calmer; it takes more to anger him, especially since he did his best to be very patient with a little sister, so that influenced him as he grew older. I see Asumi being quite assertive and straightforward like her parents – which might make her seem less courteous than her brother when she speaks her mind. She has a lot of pride in her family background, so she’s determined to succeed and live up to her fullest potential. She also looks up to Togoro, idolizes him like a younger sibling tends to do. She wants to make her parents just as proud of her as they are of Togoro (though, of course, they already are). She's more expressive, less prone to bottling things up, and more relaxed than her brother.

Togoro will most likely follow Hijikata into law enforcement, but Asumi will be more interested in helping to keep the Koudoukan Dojo afloat in the new era. Like her brother, Asumi will receive the same training, but with an emphasis on the naginata from Tae’s instruction in order to uphold the tradition of women and the naginata. I think the history behind the naginata is fascinating, so I imagine Tae to proudly pass on that knowledge to her daughter, teaching her about women’s past roles in society but also encouraging her to pursue any path she dreams of taking – especially since public education really took off in the Meiji era with the first Ministry of Education established in 1871, so there are many more possibilities open to Hijikata and Tae’s children, paths that they did not have in the Edo era, growing up in a more turbulent time (not to mention Utsuro).

Okay, I’ve talked a LOT on the subject of Gintama OCs here, lol, so I’ll stop now. Nonetheless, I hope it was entertaining and interesting, and that I was able to answer your question to your satisfaction. I think Tae and Hijikata will be great parents, who will raise their children in a way that seems best for the family and for society. Positive and negative traits may be passed onto the children because, whether we like it or not, we all end up reflecting our parents in some way when we're older.

Thank you once again!

P.S. Hijikata will be quite devastated when Asumi doesn't take to mayonnaise that strongly. She ended up liking sukonbu a lot instead because Kagura was a frequent visitor and babysitter on occasion. Don't worry, Toushi -- Togoro will carry on the great mayonnaise tradition. 😄

[wynjournal]

Being Human Spoilers.

I started re-watching BHUK now, and I'm almost all the way through series 2 (I believe). I'd forgotten about a lot of stuff- mostly little things- that the US version directly copied from the UK version, but other than that, my opinion has kind of been validated.

I don't understand how some people can look at the US version and the UK one side by side and still come to conclusions like "The US one doesn't focus on character connections" because it does... It doesn't do anything in an objectively worse way then the original either. Things are allowed to be different.

I still like Aidan Waite more than I like John Mitchell, and in fact rewatching the UK version has kind of solidified my reasoning on that. Mitchell comes off like an immature and selfish 20-something at times, and this makes his "recovery" if you will, seem a little less genuine. That's not necessarily a criticism of the CHARACTER. Mitchell is still a great character. but as a "person", were I living life along side these people, I'd be more quick to trust/rely on Aidan. Mitchell's kind of flakey, imo.

Now one criticism I CAN make of the US version with regard to this, is that Aidan is also supposed to be 25 or 26, but Sam Witwer didn't exactly pass for that young either in appearance or in behavior. He acts more grown up than he "should be" for the story they're trying to tell. I think the US writers could have fixed this issue by making Aidan a 30-something.

But then again, I also think BHUK might have been made for a younger target audience or something becuase the whoe thing just feels a little more...cute. That's not a dis. It just is what it is. What IS a dis (kind of) is that BHUK feels a little bit more slapped-together, like a more seriousweb-series. Which, I mean, aesthetically, I get it. But I didn't remember it being so...fast-carbs...if that makes any sense.

I also regret that BHUS didn't get a Daisy and Ivan. I love Ivan. And I also don't agree with Sam Witwer's characterization of Herrick and Bishop being all that different. Herrick is maybe a little more wacky than Bishop but they're both... ya know... I think that Bishop is more ideological and calculated. I don't necessarily believe that he would have just stood by and LET a warewolf kill him simply because he's knew there MIGHT be another vampire overlord to take his place. IN that sense, maybe he is a littel different. I also think that maybe, just maybe, Bishop had more actual love (albiet toxic af) for Aidan than Herrick had for Mitchell.

I'm not sure how much farther I will continue with my rewathc journey of BHUK because I'm past that the box tunnle incident, and I don't like dealing with the story after that, especially knowing what happens to Mitchell later on. I'm also genuinely not enjoying this journey as much as I did BHUS, and I kind of wish that wasn't the case. I don't think I'll be able to rapid-fire binge-sessions with this version the way I did with the US one last year.

There's also a lot of stuff in BHUK that I don't think writers would attempt to do today. Such as the random remarks about people being gay as a negative. I mean BHUS had SOME language that hasn't aged super fantastically. But the BHUK stuff feels especially awkward knowing that one of the lead actors IS actually gay irl. Also as a side note, now that time and distance have weakened my crush on Aidan Turner, I'm able to see how good Russell Tovey's performance as George was.

I still like both series and honestly, I consider them a package-deal at this point. I wouldn't recommend anyone just watch ONE of the versions.

[nickgerlich]

Just Charge It

One of the longest-running consumer behavior topics I have had through the years is the discussion centering on EVs. I’ve been tossing this one around for more than a decade, and I bet I’ll be tossing it around for many more years to come.

But to cut to the chase, some are now saying that we have passed critical mass and EVs are about to see a huge surge in adoption. It’s only a matter of time until ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles die a slow, painful death. [If the link to the WaPo article puts you up against a paywall because you have already reached your monthly limit, simply copy the URL and paste into a different browser. You’re welcome.]

Now if you are scratching your head wondering how this could be true, consider this: Last year EV sales accounted for 5% of all cars sold in 4Q, and earlier this year in 1Q, hit 7%. I’ll let that sink in for a moment.

Critics of EVs will still scoff, post laughing-face emojis in a fit of smartassery, and ask where the crowd is. And never mind the red herrings they love to serve, bringing up distractions such as child labor at lithium mines, how much energy or whatever it takes to make an EV, and the expected life of an EV battery. No one ever said they are perfect, just better. And that meme of someone having to pay $30,000 for a new battery is only partially true, because they were trying to do so for a model that is no longer made and replacements are scarce.

To hear the analysts is to assume there must be a mad rush, though. I just haven’t seen the teeming masses lining up to buy a Tesla, Rivian, Leaf, Bolt, or otherwise. Yet.

Ah, but that’s where I and the others may be wrong, because the analysts think we have just passed the tipping point, that magical moment popularized by author Malcolm Gladwell in 2000. Essentially, there is an inflection point in consumer activity that ushers in a period of rapid growth, and once that sets in, it’s Katy bar the door.

Those same analysts point to EV adoption in Norway. Now before you scream, “But that’s like comparing an apple to a zucchini,” I realize that the two nations are very different, from population to geographical size and population densities.

Alas, a decade ago, EVs accounted for 5% of sales in Norway, and today are at 80%. That’s a pretty steep adoption curve. In fact, it is this “S-“curve that analysts expect to see play out in the US.

To be fair, though, a recent study indicates that 46% of Americans still prefer an ICE vehicle. But here are the fragmented stats that, when seen in their entirety, suggest the shift is on. Nineteen-percent want an EV, while 22% want a traditional hybrid, and 13% prefer a plug-in hybrid. That means 54% want some or all-electric in their cars.

While the tide is changing, we must still deal with the biggest real and perceived problems of EVs: cost, range, and charging. But these are evolving as well, with Elon Musk initiating some steep discounts of late on Teslas. President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, perhaps one of the worst-named initiatives ever, actually has generous investment credits for wind and solar installations. The UAW strike also works to Musk’s favor, because if the demanded 40% wage increase over four years is accepted, Musk will have a huge advantage. Musk’s factories are non-union, and he recruits and retains employees with stock options, not high wages.

If you have noticed a surge in construction of wind and solar farms the last year or so, now you know why. And these help address the matter of infrastructure, another thing that critics like to point out. Otherwise, charging stations are popping up everywhere. Oh, and a general agreement to have one charging standard across EV makes and models sounds a lot like what Apple just signed onto with its latest phone.

As for me, I love the idea of driving an EV. It’s just that right now, I cannot get what I want, and that is to be able to drive 800 miles a day without significant layovers. I want 400-mile range, and charging in 15 minutes or less. My driving style often includes 12-hour days as it is, and I sure don’t want to waste a couple hours or more each day twiddling my thumbs at a charging station.

But once they remedy these issues, I’m good with this.

As for those buying EVs today as well as in recent years, perhaps their blood flows green, or they see them as stylish options. In some cases, they may actually lead to cost savings compared to $4 gas, but the up-front expense of the EV can still be daunting. I see that all changing in the years ahead, though, as production really ramps up, and charging becomes as little a concern as is finding gasoline today.

Remember—or learn for the first time now—that when autos started trickling into the public realm a little more than a century ago, gas stations were also few and far between. Folks had to lash gas-filled “Jerry” cans to their vehicles, effectively making a rolling bomb with all that fuel unprotected. But the market took care of that, and gas stations became commonplace. The same will happen for charging.

I am excited about this, although I do have some hesitations about how fast the steep part of the curve will come. I know it will come, though, but maybe not quite as fast as some would think. Still, it is fun to be living during yet another revolution. There’s never a dull moment anymore. It’s electrifying.

Dr “Waiting But Willing” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[mthuasect]

My College Life Memoir: A Journey Through Computer Science

 From 2019 to 2023, I’m finally going to graduate from the Dickinson Computer Science Bachelor's course, which took 4 years. This essay may be somewhat lengthy, but I describe the process of the past four years in the hope that it will be helpful to those who are struggling with similar concerns in similar situations to my past. 

First, I will introduce the general review of the department, and then I will introduce the review of each course. 

Today, as computer science has become one of the most popular departments, 'pseudo computer science' or IT convergence departments that attach computer science are appearing in rapid succession. However, to me, the computer science department fitted more than these places. There are many experiences that I have been held back by learning only the coding necessary for the field without learning the operating system or network. I didn't know anything about Linux or http, but I first learned about it through classes, and it was very helpful. Of course, these contents will come out if you search Google, but the depth is different between copying and pasting the code and learning the general computing and its meaning. 

What I realized while being here is that the Department of Computer Science is not a department to learn coding, nor a department to create S/W. In terms of practice, the goal would eventually be to produce programmers, but given the nature of college as research institutes, the Department of Computer Science is an approach to the nature of computers themselves. “How can we use automatable machines to calculate calculation problems that people struggle to solve?” Taking courses such as Computing abstraction or programming language structure will made me think about computers before programming was available. 

I saw on Facebook the other day a computer science student asking why he need to learn calculus, but in fact, if you understand the nature of CS, you'll see that it's the opposite. Computers were invented to solve calculus that humans could not solve, and computers were made to be automated by reconstructing them into digital electronic circuits. Then, the role of the computer scientist that follows is how to make this computer calculate calculus. That's why programming languages and software came out. During my time at Dickinson, I took fewer computer-related subjects and more math. It's very unfortunate that I couldn't listen to other cs electives because I couldn't afford it because of my double major and my interest toward philosophy. 

If you are reading this article and are thinking about whether or not to go to the Department of Computer Science, you should know the direction of this department. I've heard from one of my seniors who took a COMP130 Python class, that there was nothing left for one do with Python programming. But I learned a lot from COMP130 python course. At least to me, I thought I could find and learn coding in internet, but having no background knowledge for application was a problem. Among Dickinsonian friends, the reviews of those who regret or drop the computer science department are cases in which they wanted to learn coding and build some career in the field, but the direction or expectations of the computer science department did not match. In my case, I was more interested in mathematics or philosophy, so there is a bit of a difference in perspective.

 There are many friends who say that graduating is difficult in CS, but to be honest, graduating is not a difficult on this department. Compared to natural science departments, the burden of assignments is much less. Colleges usually have a lot of requirements for graduation, and the tests and assignments are thorough, but maybe the only reason why it is difficult to graduate from the Department of Computer Science compared to other departments is that you have to take a senior seminar for a year, so you can't take two other classes. It's just that. Since it is one of the most crowded departments, it seems that there are many reviews saying that graduation is difficult. It's not that it's difficult to graduate from the Department of Computer Science, it's just that it's difficult to graduate. HAHA

  Now, I will introduce the process, changes, and personal impressions/reviews of each course over the past four years. As I said before, this is a very subjective opinion. And as I once had a very clear goal of going to graduate school in mathematics, so my likes and dislikes can only be based on that standard. 

First of all, I decided to take data structure/algorithm, and placed the subjects I needed out of the rest. I thought the network was essential because I didn't have too much basic knowledge, and I placed subjects with a high proportion of math as first. 

In the case of statistics, I did not learn to go to economics/management/social statistics or biological/bio statistics, but I liked probability and combinatorics a lot so I thought it would be fun. 

< Linear Algebra > People who hate math but come to school just to code (my friends who say why do I need math?) are very freaked out. To be honest, Dickinson linear algebra is lacking in quantity. However, I was personally very satisfied with the quality. Professor Dick Forrester, who is mainly in charge of mathematics subjects, was the one who I felt was really good at teaching among all the professors I had seen in numerous lectures so far. 

< Probability and statistics 1 & 2 > When you do statistics, you basically learn computational tools for statistical calculation, and Dickinson teaches R, a statistical programming language, as a base. So, practically speaking, it is a subject that needs to be taken. Because of R programming, I think it is a class that both computer majors and other majors can take. My favorite part was probability theory. This course deals with probability theory, which is the most basic background mathematics that dominates statistics. Generally, concepts and theorems related to probability are introduced in the first half, and conditional probability and Bayesian probability are also briefly mentioned. And the middle section introduces representative PDF (Probability Distribution/Mass Function) models. These are the content that comes out of subjects like , so if you only want to know the concepts and not details such as proofs and theorems, you may want to go over it. However, If you learn statistics without understanding probability, you end up memorizing most formulas and substituting them. The second half of the lecture introduces ANOVA and Time series analysis, which are helpful if you know them. Because it's Professor Jeff Forrester's lecture, there are times when it fits in your ears. 

< Discrete Mathematics > My highly recommended lecture by Professor David Richeson. It was much better than I thought. You will learn several number theory-based theories that are usually the basis of digital theory. It was more extensive than I thought. But tests and assignments were very light. 

< Algorithm > It is one of the compulsory computer science courses and is a paired course with. One of the indicators that can often be used to evaluate whether one have received education in one’s major is how well you have learned algorithms and how well you implement them in code. Since algorithms are dependent on data structures when implemented, data structures are always included as prerequisites, and it is common to learn some of the algorithms in data structures in advance. Most of the coding tests, which are the biggest gateway to getting a job these days, are conducted in a way that immediately implements the contents learned in data structures and algorithms. The lecture itself does not directly involve coding practice, but it is a subject that must be studied hard because all the concerns that are essential before coding are learned here. Professor Dick Forrester is in charge, and his teaching skills are superb. This class cover a fairly large range, while other subjects in Dickinson often have a reduced range. 

< Computing abstractions > It is also a compulsory subject in computer science. As the only subject in charge of hardware, learning commands and CPU structures and principles occupied a significant amount, and a lot of time was allocated to learning the structures and principles of the rest of the peripheral devices. This subject can be seen as the least directly related to programming skills, but it is good to understand the structure of CPU. And if you're not sure where the things you learned in Digital Logic Circuits can be useful for, this is where they will shine. And if you do embedded or assembly programming, there is no corresponding subject in Dickinson, but you must know the computer command structure in that field. The lecture is taught by Professor Grant Braught. This was the first time I've heard of his lecture, the lecture itself was not bad, and it was important to listen to the lecture in addition to the textbook because there are many things to see. However, following  in the previous semester, he gave an insane amount of assignments. 

< Computation and Complexity + Programming Language Structure > The extremely difficult automata theory, where the hell is this going to be used? It is used for language structure. When a person enters a command code into a computer, an electronic device composed of electronic circuits, programming is to analyze it and perform electronic calculations. Then, how does the computer interpret the command code and convert it into a signal that controls electronic parts? In a way, it can be said that these courses as a set is the exact opposite of  above. The principle of compilation, which is the process of converting a programming language, which is the core of software, into a hardware control signal after a computer interprets it, is covered. It is the lowest level of software. The process of interpreting a string entered by a person as a programming language, understanding the flow of an algorithm, and converting it into machine language is a formal language and automata, a unique mathematical system that I have never been encountered before. It was difficult because I wasn't used to this kind of expression. If you want to create a new programming language yourself, then you need to develop a compiler for that language in another language, and it will be useful in that case. The  course consists of lexical analysis, syntax analysis, and semantic analysis of C, C++, Prolog, and Scheme. Professor John MacCormick lectures, and his unique, tidy but kind and detailed lecture skills are a subject that shines. Personally, it was the most difficult subject among computer science subjects, but it would have been more difficult if someone else had taught it. It is highly dependent on understanding through pictures, so it is better to see the professor commenting through PPT rather than just reading the book. 

< Python Comp130 > Professor Lev Fructcher is in charge of the crazy enthusiasm (Professor Lev is kind and passionate enough to give feedback even on holidays), and we try the syntax of the Python language and simple exercises. It is the most obscure subject. It is a very good subject to learn the language called Python. Not only programming, but also simple data analysis methods, data structures, and optimization were implicitly included in the language learning process. In the class, the professor does not explain the code description of the PPT, but opens the program and explains it while coding on the spot. (What I really liked about this is that all compilation errors come out and you can see the process of taking action. Students will also go through this process.) Probably most people who take this course are the first to code, and I know that there have been many revisions and reorganizations since I took it. 

[cakesexuality]

I have a lot of stories of bad medical professionals, but a therapist once asked me to start writing down the good ones and to put them in the front of my medical binder(s) so good memories are what I think of every time I go to access medical stuff... I still am yet to print off these stories to have any physical copies of but here's some that are meant to be in there

I sometimes call the crisis line at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and there's one social worker who I always enjoy getting. Everyone who works crisis is also in another program, so I was in Brief Services with her for a couple weeks in spring of 2023 when I was struggling with my anorexia and was going to be home alone while my mom was out of the country. I got frequent check-ins while in Brief Services to make sure I was eating enough, taking my medications (which I have a problem with during relapses), and just generally taking care of myself, and I got to have it clearly explained to me what would happen if I agreed to be hospitalized.

One of my medications is an inhaled steroid and steroids can throw off the microbiome in your mouth and throat, so I ended up getting oral thrush (yeast infection of the mouth and throat) while I happened to be struggling with my anorexia last year. I talked to a nurse practitioner about it. The treatment for oral thrush? A sticky, sweet syrup that you keep in your mouth for 5 minutes then swallow and you can't eat or drink anything for 30 minutes after in order to give it more contact time, 4 times a day for 7 days. I ended up getting a pep talk from a CMHA nurse who validated my concerns and saw how it could be triggering to me, as the sensory experience of the medication was an ick for my anorexia and then the not eating or drinking part gave me thoughts of "What if I keep it up past 30 minutes?" I was already past the halfway point of the course of antifungal medicine, so he told me if I can make it one half of a week, then I can make it two halves of a week. He also pointed out that if I gave up on nystatin before finishing it, the infection could come back with a vengeance and require more intense treatment. It felt good to be heard but also to be talked through my issue.

The one time I had to report someone from CMHA was when a nurse made some inappropriate comments that I won't linger on. The manager I talked to seemed more confused than I was and did not stand for it. A good clinic/hospital/service is always glad when you come forward about a bad experience so that they can correct it in the future and I felt that with this manager.

Self-injury mentions below the cut

I spent most of 2022 having a psychotic episode, one of my symptoms is rapid mood swings, and my medical trauma (I had 2 back-to-back traumas in 2021 that I think I'm just now getting over) was fuel to the fire, so I ended up hurting myself fairly often when these mood swings happened. At one point, a self-injury site got infected and my primary care clinic and a TeleHealth nurse encouraged me to have it seen at the hospital. I felt awkward having to explain to TeleHealth and to the clinic that I had done it myself, but when the triage nurse heard it was cuts -- plural -- she picked up what I was putting down and politely asked if I needed a mental health assessment while I was there. I said no, but she said if I ever change my mind then there is someone at the hospital 24/7 who can do those. She gave me a big thumbs-up when I said I had the numbers for some crisis lines and she kinda complained alongside me about the wait for a psychiatrist. The nurse who took me back to my room asked where the infection was and rushed to shut the door when she saw me lifting my shirt. We were at the end of a hallway in a single-patient room, so it was highly unlikely someone would walk by, and I didn't really care about someone else seeing anyway, but I appreciate that her first priority was my privacy. The doctor who came in to look at my infection brought the same attitude as the doctor who saw me a year prior for full-body hives, like it was no big deal and like it was just another skin problem, so I didn't feel judged at all. She prescribed me antibiotic ointment and I was on my way.

The skin on my belly ended up getting raw from taping bandages to it all the time, so I happened to be seeing a nurse practitioner about some gynecological issues and asked her about my skin while I was there. She gave me the all-clear to stop bandaging myself and to stop using the ointment, but also asked in a non-judgmental tone if I needed to go to the hospital for my mental health. I didn't need to be admitted, but... I've had medical professionals who didn't have that level of concern, let's say.

There’s nothing wrong with complaining about mistreatment from psychiatric medical professionals. I think that’s a good thing actually, mentally ill people deserve to voice our concerns of mistreatment and call out bad behavior in the psychiatric field.

But I also really like hearing about people’s good experiences with psych staff. It gives me hope that there are good, wise, and empathetic people working in that field. If more medical staff were like them, maybe people wouldn’t have so many horror stories about mistreatment at psych hospitals or emergency rooms.

So to any mentally ill folks out there, what are some good experiences you’ve had with psychiatric medical staff? What do you think they did right, and what can others learn from them? Feel free to respond in the notes or in an ask.