#it's not even an art but lets call it that for the sake of non-existent tagging system on my blog

[kotofeden]

I was reading excellent narumitsu fic (not safe for Tumblr, mind you) where Wright calls Edgeworth "buddy" after se×. My friend said something like "well, good thing that he didn't call him pal"

And I said " and then Gumshoe jumps out of the vent and says "HEY HEY, SAYING 'PAL' IS *MY* ENDEARING CHARACTER TRAIT" - he just spawns in their bedroom after being like "O, Mr Edgeworth, sir, didn't notice you here, are you two wrestling or smth?" "Who's winning "

aND THEN, THIS MONSTROSITY COMES TO LIFE

Tbh, he would

[thewebcomicsreview]

Homestuck 2 updated early this month, and we're Yiffy now. It's a Valentine's Day miracle!

Yiffy was one of the most interesting characters in HS2, because literally everyone treated her like shit constantly. Jade's giving her daughter a smooch but also Jade sent her off to a boarding school explicitly because she was embarrassing to acknowledge and also Jade named her child Yiffy Longstocking on a joke and never bothered to change it. In the epilogues, Rose acknowledged that nothing in Candy was "real" and she was joining the rebellion basically for the luls, and one some level Jade and Rose don't think Yiffy is a real three-quarters-human person, and I think they think of her more like an OC in a game they like.

Well, that was my read of HS2, lets see how HSBC handles her.

Oh, this visual is great. Kanaya is so pissed off she's turning into the Ancestor art style in real time. She also kind of looks like Batman, here.

No doubt if your POSSE OF PUBESCENT PUNKS back at school could see you now they'd throw up laughing.

I am suddenly way more interested in Yiffy's gang than I am in half the HS1 cast. What kids join a gang led by a dog girl named Yiffy Longstocking?

Engineering that reprieve might be just about the only real solid your no-show non-mom has ever actually bothered to do for you.

Oh thank christ, there was a part of me worried that Yiffy wouldn't resent her parents for being the second-worst parents in HS2. This is the most interesting thing in the sequels, I think.

TAVVY: ,,, And also, everyone knows you exist now,,, instead of just me,,, TAVVY: And our moms

TAVVY: Wow,,,! YIFFY: TAVVY: You know, i was almost kidnapped,,, once,,, TAVVY: My mom removed the window, after that, TAVVY: Which, um, sucked, TAVVY: Though, i guess you'd know, uh, about that,,,

Oh, interesting. Tavvy knew about Yiffy this whole time? Actually, this and Yiffy's description of him via narration earlier imply they grew up together. I guess that makes sense, since he's Jane's kid and Jade inexplicably put Jane in charge of Yiffy, but he never told Vrissy about her secret sister? That's a bit fucked up, dude. Yiffy's not saying anything (and I hope she doesn't for a long time, until she has something meaningful to say), but her text color is Dave's red, even though she's not related to Dave. Or she is and HSBC is going to retcon HS2's most hated plot point somehow.

Pepis

Look at this ARRANT BEAVIS double fisting those cans of pop

"ARRANT BEAVIS" is a great Homestuckism

The Sylph has been slow boiling, you can tell.

Interesting that Yiffy refers to Kanaya as "The Sylph". I don't know what else she'd call her, I suppose, but Yiffy of all people being the one to mention Classpect is odd.

You've only been around this earth for 15 years, but it's a self-evident fact that there are no useful authorities. Gifted with unimaginable power, their concern only stretches so far as to manhandle those dependent on them, and tangles into ineffectual deadlock the instant it meets a challenge worth addressing. Potential killed for the sake of comfort. True kindness is real, but only for those that bare teeth and break skin. Why should these disingenuous, bystanding, spineless, SELFISH adults get anything they want?

Fuck yes, Yiffy hates all the HS1 characters. I've been hoping for this, she has more beef with them all than even Tavros, and it's a bit of Vriska energy this comic has needed that neither actually Vriska really provides.

Yiffy being the best thing about HS2 was maybe a hot take before, but hopefully it isn't now. She's great.

JADE: and of course you arent obligated to ever forgive me but... i dont want to lose you too! JADE: i love you kanaya JADE: youre my family KANAYA: You Fucked My Wife

This is the best update in the entire comic.

KANAYA: And Though That Travesty Of A Name Is Undoubtedly An Incomprehensibly Offensive Piece Of This Particular Puzzle KANAYA: What I See Is Not An Explanation KANAYA: But A Glossing Over Of The Worst Detail ROSE: Jane.

Yeah, HS2 kind of glossed over Rose/Jade putting TrumpHitler in charge of their literal child. I could copy/paste this whole conversation but basically Kanaya is pointing out that there's like fifty plot holes in Yiffy's backstory and it makes no fucking sense at all and are they going to retcon her to being Jade/Dave's ecto-kid?

ROSE: You've managed to exhume the solemn cadaver of my mother's memory and make her the star of another argument. KANAYA: As If You Ever Bothered To Bury Her ROSE: What does this have to do with anything!? KANAYA: What I Am Doing Is Demonstrating That I Have No Intention To Mediate This Situation KANAYA: Or Pacify It KANAYA: Or Even Be A Little Bit Nice Right Now KANAYA: So Perhaps Youll Actually Take Me Seriously For Once

This is the well-earned sass we've been waiting for since Yiffy's reveal.

ROSE: But more than anything else, I took her up on it because it felt oddly ROSE: inevitable. ROSE: Anyways, ROSE: Deep down, I knew it didn’t matter. ROSE: However we handled it. ROSE: Whatever hurt we caused. ROSE: It was never that serious.

Man, I'm glad that I'm live-blogging and put my read of the situation up as I went because I fucking called it. Yes! I am capable of retaining information when I read instead of staring at the screen slack-jawed.

ROSE: I knew you would forgive me. KANAYA: Rose KANAYA: When Did You Stop Trying JADE: yeah rose!!!!! JADE: what the fuck!!!!

Oh shit, Candy Rose is evil?

JADE: b-but i just dont want things to get even worse!!!!!! KANAYA: Then stop pretending that my feelings are top priority KANAYA: AND TRY BEING HONEST FOR ONCE JADE: WHAT DOES IT EVEN MATTER!!!!!!! KANAYA: Excuse Me? JADE: you heard me! JADE: you were wronged kanaya! JADE: the truth cant change that JADE: saying it just fucking hurts more JADE: what does that accomplish? JADE: its so embarrassing, would you even get it if i had?

JADE: you have no idea what its like out there JADE: how traumatizing dating regular citizens was JADE: imagine trying to love someone who already knows every available detail about you JADE: who has *opinions* on what happened to you as a child JADE: who assumes youre indestructible JADE: newsflash it fucking sucks!!!!!!! because no matter how nice they were JADE: they didnt want to know me JADE: they wanted to date the god of space

I have no notes, this is great and I'm thrilled everyone is mad now.

JADE: so everyone could lecture me again on how "bad" my "boundaries" are? ROSE: (I did that one time.) JADE: you want bad boundaries JADE: do you know how many people would be waiting outside public bathrooms to talk to me about their problems? JADE: this one guy randomly started apologizing because they cooked their hamster in the microwave! JADE: and they looked so sad... i had to hug them and say it was ok JADE: but it was not ok! JADE: they murdered their hamster! Rose: Ugh... JADE: and their other hamster killed itself KANAYA: JADE JADE: out of loneliness!!!!!

What the fuck, this is amazing.

The art here is great, by the way.

JADE: millions of people told me they loved me JADE: but i was never a real person to them JADE: i couldn't let that happen to yiffy too KANAYA: What JADE: i had to save her kanaya! JADE: give her the chance to grow up as a normal kid with a normal life

Jade she's half-dog and she's named Yiffy Fucking Longstocking, that ship has sailed. How are people not going to know she's your child?

Oh, okay. She wears a hat. Sure.

This art is so good!

KANAYA: Even If I Didnt Want Her KANAYA: She Was Already Here

*Makes a note in my "ominous foreshadowing lines journal*

What. Why does Jade have a Frankenstein in her inventory? What's that about?

And that was the update. Honestly? Banger, easily the best HSBC update yet. I could, and if I didn't have DnD in five minutes perhaps would (and perhaps still will!) write a whole essay on this. Phenomenal. A+

[pleasantspark]

My partner literally defends this show a lot and in VC he tries to "dispute it" so here's the full list of issues wrong with this show, you ALL have the fucking excuse as "no creative control", "endgame and slowburn", "You watch spliced up clips.", "It's Hell!"

No Creative Control: ViziePops characters would have IMMEDIATELY been changed COMPLETELY if that were the case.

Endgame and Slowburn: A ship being fucking depicted as going through a crisis every fucking minute and taking over an episode that was meant for two other characters? While also ruining a Parent Child bond? "Endgame" my ass, also lets not forget a character sexually harassed another character and was not depicted as calling that character out, "Couple Goals" my ass too. Slowburn is non-existent in this world.

You watched spliced up clips: HONEY the only clips I watch are those that ACTUALLY are relevant to my fucking point, Are we even watching the same damn thing? Also edits are beyond that.

It's Hell: Ah yes, so it's hell, no it's fucking downtown Los Angelos thats DISGUISED as Hell, Hell would be more "chaotic" and more "consequencal" most of the demons there are LIVING IT UP, and continiuing their lives much as they were alive. There's nothing different from when they are alive. It seems like Hell is LITERALLY Heaven. The only consequence is that demons seemed to get harassed or at the minimal killed, so next time I stab someone in Jail, I can go and say "IT'S JAIL!"

I feel as though people who compare ViziePops Harassment to Rebecca Sugar's harassment is completely stupid af.

Rebecca was harassed because someone decided to make a 1 hour long video trashing her show and indirectly called her a neo-nazi which caused other people to parrot the accusations as well, Rebecca was harassed by her fans just for standing up for a fan who was getting sent death threats over a FUCKING art style.

Afaik, Viv's harassments is just criticism of how she handled the pilot actors (And apparently Cherri Bomb's pilot VA had lost her Husband due to a medical ailment and she was trying to raise money to help fund the expenses that were left behind and fucking Viv said, Nuh uh, and shut that shit down. KNOWING PEOPLE PAID FOR THAT SHIT, I mean can Viv LEGALLY take down VA who impersonate her characters? Sure it's her IP but it doesn't mean that the VA for the original CB is her.), how she drew something I am not about to get into because quite frankly it's not my business (And I mean MOST of the creators, Rebecca included, had drawn some fucked up shit in the past.). She also apparently mistreats her workers. And afaik Sugar never did any of that.

You can scream "Oh but Viv has a LOT of struggles and [Rebecca Sugar] is just like her!!" all you want, but THERE'S nothing similar to her and Rebecca and the only thing similar is they make tv shows with diversity and are both females.

Don't get me wrong, I love HelluvaHazbin but people needlessly finding excuses for poorly written shows and bad pacing/decisions while also holding Viv on a pedestal infuriates me, and the worse part is, allegedly she never received criticism in her college years.

I ain't gonna sugar coat it, the LGBTQ+ Rep in this show is completely for the fujoshi and as a Trans Male whose Gay, I am HIGHLY disturbed about how most of the Gay characters are depicted as "Uwu Soft boys who could do no wrong"

Like for FUCKS sake, we're NORMAL PEOPLE, we don't get treated any differently by a standard hetrosexual, the only time we get treated differently is by angry Facebook Prudes and edgy fuckers who think being scared of homes is the new norm.

I am surprised most of the fandom (On tumblr) don't call out the problematic shit, when THE LGBTQ+ is prominent here! The more you continue to agree and like these "rep ships" the more you're giving these people the okay to continue to drive the show WHICH WAS BASED OFF OF "Assassinations" now turned into "Arguements between a same sex couple that has one victim and one gaslighter"

A little tidbit for those who stand with Stolas.

An Abuse Victim can be a Abuser.

It's not that difficult. Jfc. Anyways, this is my reason why I made Biblically Inaccurate to begin with.

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

I need to know what the hell is up with Ephy’s family and their societies so bad, it’s killing me

I’m gonna ramble on a whim because I need copium [SPOILERS BELOW]

A main family and a branch family implies that Eph had at least 2 children, who of course went on to have their own children, and so on and so forth. Which of his descendants created their own societies? His kids? His grandkids? Further down the line? All of them? And why?

The quote “societies that sprawl and branch like veins”, these screenshots, and Remus’ dialogue in the beta confirm that there are several societies: The major ones (we don’t know how many, my guess is 7), presumably a bunch of sub-societies under those major ones, and possibly some more that exist outside of the major ones. The npc dialogue above even implies that there are levels of prestige (and pay), maybe even an established hierarchy present amongst the societies.

From what’s been shown in the beta, the societies have been fully integrated into Scala’s culture, with normal citizens (non-Keyblade wielders most likely) being aware of them, and relying on their prowess to basically run the town. Remus says that the societies are run by Operation Masters, who may or may not all be Eph’s descendants. But for simplicity’s sake, I assume they are.

Like.…geez, this is a lot to take in already, isn’t it? Would Ephemera have even wanted this? For his descendants to all have a set path in running this world as a dynasty. It makes me wonder if it was his idea, or an idea that was formed somewhere down the line

There are a lot of big questions to be asked here. I’ve mostly just been parsing through the stuff we know so far, but something I can give a lil guessy on with the limited info we have are the names of the other societies

Since the society we join is called the Baroque society, and I’m assuming that it’s one of the major societies I’m thinking maybe the other major societies are also named after other periods/movements in art history, like Gothic, Rococo…if that’s the case, it’s possible that there might be some kind of correlation between what each movement represents, the heads of the societies (Eph’s descendants), and the members/characters that are in those societies (like Remus and whoever else we meet later). I wouldn’t put it past the kh team to come up with something clever like that

It’s incredibly hard to make any real claims without too much concrete information…..I need to know more. LET ME IN! LET ME IINNNNN!!!

[e-s-willswriting]

So, You've Seen a Bad Play: An Essay

Yesterday I went to see a show.

It was a student production my friend was involved in. I’ve seen student productions in the past and overall, I have been very impressed with them. They’re a showcase for budding talent and intriguing ideas, even if aspects need to be refined. I can’t say any of the shows I’ve seen are bad (all that comes to mind was a production of Measure for Measure, but it was simply that I hadn’t studied the text itself. The production was great and had intriguing fight choreography).

Part of me felt I would do an actual review of the thing, but for the sake of privacy for those involved, I felt I’d rather not. But I still wanted to discuss it, nonetheless.

It was a small-scale production by someone who was not from an Arts and Humanities background, but a medical sciences background. I really respect when artists incorporate their studies and careers, even those unrelated to creative fields, into their work. In my student workshops I’d read one text about a pilot written by someone who was a trainee pilot, and another time I’d read a book that, even if I didn’t like the text, I loved the details that came from the writer being an archivist and imbuing that into the text. It adds a real richness to those aspects that can only be gained from hands on experience, and I love that. I feared that the work I was going to see might be too technical, that aspects may go over my head, but I hoped to go in and appreciate it even if I didn’t fully get it.

I didn’t get it.

But not for those reasons.

Let me set the scene. I’m sat in the back row on pretty standard fold-up chairs with limited visibility due to those in the front two rows, sipping a complimentary cider that came with the ticket I paid for (much needed). Tiny studio room. The writer gets up, only gives an epilepsy warning and promptly sits back down. I make a mental note of how unceremonious of a welcome that is, if you could call it one, but pass it off. Play begins.

In short, the next hour was an incredibly poorly written production. Character arcs were non-existent, things would be introduced then promptly dropped, they wanted to deal with too many environmental and political messages for an hour runtime and all of them fell flat, scenes were poorly established, and the messaging felt non-existent.

But it’s not like I can’t praise aspects of the show. The actors hard carried the production despite the abysmal script they had to work with. If I saw them in another production, I’m sure they could absolutely kill it. And there were interesting things that could have worked if fully incorporated. There was a musical accompaniment for one (1) scene that was very well done and pleasant to listen to and then she just sat in the corner quietly for the rest of the show not to be used again (like multiple aspects of the script, established and ditched). There was a cool little red beep under one of the characters’ tops to act as their heart. They really tried to do things with what little they had.

As a creative, it feels weird to be a critic. Especially one to a student production. I'm always having to clarify that I understand that making stuff is hard because I do it too. Perhaps I'm only harsh because I'm affirming to myself what I want to see out of my own works. I see a thing, I think ‘this could have been better’. and I think about how I'd apply those lessons to my works. It only comes from a deep love for the medium that my critiques are harsh. I’ll always look for good, even in things I don’t like (even if it’s just ‘I think the concept is cool’) because there’s very few things that are wholly bad. Hell, some terrible things can at least be entertaining, which I don’t deny this production was (if not for the reasons it intended). I am a firm believer that one of the worst things a story can be is boring.

I’m particularly harsh on this production because I sincerely believe it was AI-generated.

What doesn’t help is the show all but confirmed it, with an almost 5 minute long in-universe advert for a hospital. Multiple AI voices (man 1 to woman 2) saying effectively the same thing. All it served was to establish setting.

Here’s roughly how I would have done it, in about 30 seconds:

A man walks out in a white coat. He puts on blue gloves and a face mask, and hurriedly walks off stage as CHARACTER A walks on, nervously pacing the hall of the hospital.

There. Done.

Could my friend have told me it was AI-generated?  Sure. Thing is, they didn’t know for certain, only that they were paid to work in it (thank God) but thus under contractual obligation to finish the production for pay (they’re a uni student, any money’s good!) And by the time they’d told us to get tickets, they’d come to realize just how bad it would be, and it was too late at that point (student productions can be under tight time constraints).

Thing is, I believe one of the core issues of AI is consent, or lack thereof. I believe that as a consumer, I should have had the right to know what content was involved in this production, and it was up to the production itself to disclose that. Just as people deserve to know any potential content warnings and epilepsy warnings for a show and to make the educated choice to engage with that material as a consumer, I think they also deserve to know if a production uses (or is entirely made with) AI.

Sure it's not going to harm them if they're seeing it, but don't they deserve to know? Because what if next door, there's a small self-produced play written by humans that could change their lives and speak to their souls? Don't they deserve to know that it was made by a person, honestly produced by them?

Little on the webpage communicated that it was AI generated, and the text only appears as such now after I’ve seen the play. If I had known the play used AI, and seemingly was entirely written in it, I would have not paid to see this show. Simple as. I want to support shows written by people.

But now I must grapple with the fact that I paid money to see something made with a tool I have extreme ethical complaints against as an artist and consumer. I have seen one 15-minute play (Caryl Churchill’s What If If Only, a quarter of the runtime) and a free production by Mamoru Iriguchi (What You See/What You Don’t See) and I would much rather have paid the ticket price for those shows which I absolutely loved, than to have seen this seemingly AI production once.

And I think that’s why I wanted to write this blogpost. To remind people that as consumers, we deserve to know if a production uses AI machine learning software. We deserve informed choices. AI probably won't leave anytime soon and might significantly help certain sectors, but right now it’s a wild west and often not used for these purposes to sincerely help people and provide accurate information. And there are those that assume that it democratizes the writing process. On the surface, yes. My mum could put in a prompt and get a script. But the love of labour? No. Not now, not ever. AI devalues artistic processes, and it's insulting to a medium that's withstood all of human history to effectively be told that a robot can recreate it.

But no, it can't replicate heart. It can't replicate real human experience.

In a strange way, seeing this production is somewhat affirming. I struggle with writing. Sometimes it’s just the act of getting up to write after a long day or a late night. Other days it’s harder stages (editing for example). At some points it’s having the ideas and having little way to communicate them. At times it’s just the isolation of it all and the compulsion to just scroll through my phone- I’ve written best when I’m working with others at times, even if those people aren’t writers!

Writing for me has been a struggle, and it’s a struggle I’m still overcoming. I’m still discovering who I am as a writer, what works for me, what stuff I want to produce. And there’s those times when I manage a good session, or an idea burns in me like fuel, or I make people’s eyes light up with the stuff I’m producing. That’s when I know the reasons I struggle. It’s because I can’t suppress the urge to make stuff, and I don’t want to live a life I’d regret in not at least trying to make cool things.

I’ll probably make bad things. First drafts and such that aren’t good. I’ve made bad things in the past, absolutely!

But I chose that struggle.

And if this play can exist and be produced, then the only thing really holding me back is myself. Seeing things like this galvanizes me to push on and make the things I care about.

And I will them with my own hands.

[satsuha]

8, 12, 14, 25 for yuta!! (sorry if ur bored of his name being mentioned again omg 😭😭😭)

character ask game

i would never tire of him dw <3

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

just one thing? HSFJSHDJHA

i feel like the main thing is simply ignoring the fact that he exists because i just see sooo many group pics or merch sets or whatever including everything up to aa5 (even including aai and tgaa) but not 6..... it just sucks and i can only forgive it if it's old art drawn before aa6 was released. honestly from what i've seen the east asian artists are a lot better with including him and also just seem to have a better opinion of aa6 in general so i'm just getting my fill from there instead (and mourning the fact that i can't be at those cons)

i also just um don't like his most popular ship at all i think it sucks that a lot of conversation about him revolves around it and coupled with thinly veiled aa6 disdain it just reads to me like some people only care about him in the context of that ship. which is always a pet peeve of mine

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

another "just one?" moment 😭 anyway one thing i've been thinking about but haven't mentioned anywhere is that i like the idea of nahyuta growing his hair out from the moment apollo left and refusing to cut it until they met again... i like to think it's one of those things that he started when he was younger and barely remembers why he's still doing it but continues just for the sake of it (kinda like what i said about apollo keeping his hairstyle the same so dhurke can always recognize him, feels like it'd eventually just become habit/subconscious decision) since cutting hair is often a way to show a character being reborn or letting the past go i think it's also a nice way to show that despite his catchphrase nahyuta never actually let go of his past at all... this also means i keep wanting to draw nahyuta with shorter hair post-aa6 because hair cutting symbolism but everyone hates it when i cut off long-haired male characters' hair . i'm going to do it anyway

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

fashion... my enemy....

i honestly don't really know what this question is asking + i only know a couple of so-called fashion aesthetics none of which i think suit nahyuta so. i will just say i think western style suits actually suit him better than i thought they would and i wish we'd get non-chibi artwork of him in a more conventional suit sometime

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

so the fun thing about streaming games to my friends is that i have written evidence of my unfiltered thoughts at the time. anyway apparently this is what i said before starting the game

i also found that i said i preferred nahyuta over the other 2 AJ trilogy prosecutors as early as 6-2 which is. SO funny to me but what can i say.......... the other 2 are just really not my type 😭

anyway current impression.... i think almost all of my aa posts include nahyuta in some form doesn't that say enough.... i really didn't expect to like him this much but he just ticks a lot of boxes for me hdhjka i like characters who take too much responsibility for things that weren't their faults i like characters with complicated family issues but also care so deeply about them. and i like characters who just act like an asshole but in a very specific way that nahyuta falls under...

thanks for the ask!

[fembot-y2k]

I took the time to read youe cod article (also fucking love sterling). The complacency about all this horrible predatory shit is so prevalent and I am no expection. It drives me insane sometime, like I enjoy slop as much as the next girl but surely you cant think all of this is good right? Like people defend the cash shop in ffxiv for fucks sake, a game with a subscription model and paid for expansions! Apparently hating the AAA market is contrarian now, I feel the vocal minority of the gaming landscape lends itself to contradictions. open world games have a problem with being big and empty but dw elden ring and botw is fine right?

sorry for the rant just I feel like im crazy about this whole thing (I like your article voice btw!) I play osrs and it feels unreal how it has yet to lend itself to overt predatory marketing (bonds, rs3 nonwithstanding, im also aware it runs on a subscription model)

The culture that's been fostered is maddening, genuinely. It drives me up the nearest wall to see the steady sea of 8/10 reviews and constant news of layoffs and people STILL want to talk about how "the next zelda game is gonna be so cool" when its gonna be 70$ on a machine that costs $500 to run it properly because the switch 1 runs on 2012 hardware. Its nuts! The whole "let people have fun" argument kinda falls apart when you start asking people if theyre even having fun! It's not about being guilty for things like playing popular games. I myself have 1200+ hours in FFXIV, none of which I've ever paid for more than the service and expansions, but sometimes good video games and video games as art are inseparable from a price tag. The real rotting meat of the problem lies in the fact that mainstream console culture still exists like it did in the 7th generation where people are sold the idea that the new thing is the best thing because look at how good it looks! That's not even to mention the over-dominance of action games in the mainstream landscape spheres. But just look at all the "major" franchises! Look at sports games! Look at racing games! Either nonexistent or almost entirely non-functioning! But they're sold like they're the only thing you'll ever be able to play and people believe that! It really is a matter of people needing to THINK more about what they play. I don't want to just sit here and call people stupid. I don't think your average person is, far from it. But I DO think that your average "gamer" is just too uncritical of the things going on. The amount of decay in the industry has skyrocketed to unbelievably unsustainable levels and its only getting worse. WHEW, sorry for that. Thank you so much for reading my article <3 I'm so so glad you liked it, and Inshallah we see a market crash soon so the beasts can be slain.

[ancientbygone]

intro post

Copper, 19 years old, it/its pronouns (he/him acceptable; no they/them). made this side blog as a contained space for my own Sleep Token art and ramblings and such first and foremost, as well as others' Sleep Token posts i like.

if you want to support me, consider donating or purchasing from the store: https://ko-fi.com/copper_sands prints are available at https://ko-fi.com/s/622c53b51c

DNI:

the basics (racist/queerphobic/etc), including zionists

unmasking the band members

if you romanticize/glorify incest, zoophilia, sexual depictions of children, etc. (fictional or not, either way it's block on sight)

if you use, support, or in any way condone any use of generative AI (images, music, text, anything at all)

strictly/mostly NSFW blogs (if it's just occasional NSFW content that's chill)

taglist & more info under the cut:

notes:

DO NOT REPOST MY ART. if you wanna use it for non-commercial means, ask for permission & if allowed, credit me when used. if you wanna use it for commercial means, fuck right off.

my native language isn't english. if i fuck it up i fuck it up.

i do not ship the band members themselves or their stage personas and i find it uncomfortable in general (for myself). i know i listed RPF in my dni but i feel the need to elaborate that for the sake of personal taste, it applies to their stage presence, too.

adding onto the previous point, whenever i talk about the vessels in terms of lore/adjacent, i am talking about them as characters. always. this blog is not for speculating on their private lives, and if you do so, you will be blocked.

i'd prefer not to discuss any of the sexual connotations in the lyrics for my own comfort. i know they exist, i just prefer not to think about them for my own interpretations.

i would appreciate people not leaving NSFW comments on my art, especially the more emotionally heavy stuff, thank you very much! if you really Have to say something, please do it in a separate post or just in a place where i'm unlikely to see it.

even if i might tag my writing as "theories", they aren't necessarily intended as such. if anything, i'm telling a story of my own based on the lyrics. if you try to claim there is one correct interpretation and it's yours, you're getting blocked.

adding onto the previous point (x2), a lot of the time i interpret the lyrics in tandem with my personal life experiences. it will absolutely get a little too real here. if the subject matter is too heavy, it will be tagged with #[subject] and #[subject] tw.

let me know if you want/need me to tag anything specific! either in an ask or in my DMs. don't hesitate to reach out about that :]

in addition to everything, i will be posting about my Sleep Token D&D AU, which is as simple as it sounds and also not at all. it's also very removed from my "main canon" or most of the band IRL, so it's really just me (& @mapleborealis !) fucking around. also, unlike the "main canon", they are a polycule and all kiss with tongue /hj

blog tags (WIP):

organization:

#bygone art - my own art

#bygone talks - my ramblings & the more disconnected bits of writing/theorizing

#bygone writes - the more coherent writing/theorizing

#bygone lore - everything related to my version of the lore of Sleep Token, be it art, writing, or anything else

#bygone silly - my memes

#bygone shows - any post of mine related to a personal Sleep Token ritual experience (pics, rambling, etc)

#bygone footage - images/videos/etc of the band, mine or not (credited as much as possible)

#bygone beloved - posts i particularly like and want to archive, mine or otherwise

#bygone off topic - things vaguely related to sleep token or not related at all

#others' [___] - a post of any variety listed above, just made by someone else

d&d au:

#sleep token dnd and #dnd au - general au tags

#dnd au vessel/ii/iii/iv/etc. - character-specific d&d au posts

little clarifying moments:

#espera - tag for vesselettes (hopefully no maskless posts; won't call them vesselettes either)

#sleep token him - separate tag for whatever Vessel and Sleep were pre-Sundowning. you can glimpse more on that in my posts about it.

#sparrowverse (thank you @fivewholeminutes for the name) - everything related to the lore of a timeline alternate to my main lore in which each vessel of Sleep has to kill the one before them to assume their place. outlined in my fanfic "kill the sparrow". there isn't much to it right now but there might be more trust

[nudiscoturkey]

My personal project: Nullite Chronicles

Alright. Where do I start with this. Those who have known me for a while - long before I made a tumblr account - know that I've been working on a novel series on and off for several years. However, it's better to think of it as just a story that's primarily told in novel format for the sake of convenience.

For those not in the know, however, here's some essential information on the state of the project:

The general concept has been a thing since 2013, and while much of it has changed since then, there are still some core aspects that have remained.

The reason why the ideas changed drastically over time is because I have been, and still am, guilty of letting ideas stew in my head and never really write them down in tangible form. Even now, I procrastinate on writing a ton and so there's plenty of things at risk of growing beyond their intended purpose.

Regardless, the first entry of the series took me about 2.5 years to complete (on and off, as usual). Long ago, I wrote nearly 3/4 of an entire novel that had a vastly different story before abandoning it. Long before that, I tried making a graphic novel of that same story before realizing how time-consuming the process would be.

As expected for a story written in first-person and has existed (to me) for over 10 years, it has a lot of personal meaning to me, though I will admit that there are some aspects that are undoubtedly personal yet I don't fully understand how. Perhaps the process of continuing the story will help me find out.

Now on to the concrete details. What is this story actually about and where can one even read about it?

As you have read, the series is called Nullite Chronicles. Still a working title, but it's what I've got for now. A sci-fi/fantasy series that, in very short summary, is about a goddess that decides to fuck around and give a few modern day humans reality-bending powers to see what happens, just because. The story follows these humans and the things that happen because of them.

The first entry was titled Crisis Inheriting. It should be important to note that this story begins from the perspective of some (relatively) ordinary humans and builds off from there. The story begins when a mad scientist passes away, allowing his inventions and research to be stolen. His son organizes a team to reclaim the stolen items.

The second entry, currently in progress, is titled Chaos Two Fold, following two of the aforementioned empowered humans right after the events of Crisis Inheriting.

To see archived art I've made related to the series, check out the deviantart gallery here. I may or may not update it in the future, it's there for the sake of archiving older art.

To read Crisis Inheriting, well... it's just a pdf on Google Drive. I really don't know of a better place to host non-fanfic writing right now, so it will do.

Chaos Two Fold can be found here, I simply update the file each time I release a chapter. I'll also try to announce new content here so you'll see this link again

Honestly, the real reason I made this post was because I've recently finished some art related to the story but I'd much rather give context to everyone before I start launching my art into the void. It's been many months since I last worked on the actual writing, so only time will tell if I'll pick it back up again. Besides, I'm sure many artists know the pain of drawing their beloved OCs so much yet not having enough motivation to expand on their lore :) you know it's serious when i actually write with proper capitalization and punctuation lol

[lazy-dog24601]

It doesn't fucking work, the VN plug-in for Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon doesn't work at all. All the little icons are still greyed out despite them being things that have been released. For the record. This is on chrome. The date is 9/15/2024. I've done what it's said at the bottom and it still doesn't work.

Here's hoping page 667 is a wet t-shirt contest. If this "Beyond Canon" team really is the shaft and sack they describe themselves to be then they'll start adding a bunch of on-screen graphic sexual content. It's literally the only way they could make up for this VN blunder.

Look, we're all adults here. This ain't a story about teenagers anymore, these are grown-ass adults that fuck, piss on each other, hold wet t-shirt contests, and get divorced.

Forget about Davekat or Teriska or June Egbert- where the FUCK is the Jade Harley golden shower? Freaking cowards. THIS is what it means to exist for the sake of existing. The horror of being a sequel? Of begin in a story that doesn't need to exist? Of being the sad continuation of a happily ever after? Of being non-canon? Of being a story that exists because your fans kept bugging you to write more of the story you ended?

It's all piss, baby. Calliope, the ugly green flesh skeleton lesboy, said that. Yeah, they call people baby. They know what the fuck is up. They've given Roxy a golden shower. You wanna know why? Well, first off, it's because they're two consenting legal adults. But the second and more important answer is that. Because that's how reality works, bitch. Yeah, I just called you a bitch. The person reading this.

That's what this all is. Homestuck 2. Beyond Canon. The Epilogues. This is the heavy shit of reality breaking through the constipated asshole that is Homestuck, the first. Hussie was one-upping God itself by taking the laxatives know as truth and shitting out the reality bomb known as "everything after homestuck." It was so fucking real and truthful that Hussie completely abandoned Homestuck^2, along with the first team of writers and artists and script writers and story boarders and producers and story consultants and assistant writers. What a bunch of pogchamps, my next shit is dedicated to you legends for creating such a massive piece of shit.

But, you might be wondering, what about Hussie's clown VN- Psycholonials? That came after Homestuck. And my answer is. I don't know, bitch. Oh yeah, that's still a thing. You being a bitch. It wasn't a thing that stopped being a thing. You're still a bitch.

Psycholonials is something I haven't read. And will probably never read. Because clowns are lame. Clowns are for people too scared and too horny to use blackface, although everyone knows Hussie doesn't have a sexual bone in her body, because why else did Hussie not draw John Egbert's soaking wet vagina during any point of her active involvement in the Homestuck franchise.

Hussie saw Joker, that conservative movie that made fun of disabled people, the one that was made by a billion-dollar company, and was like, oh shit I wanna do that. I don't even care if that doesn't line up properly on the timeline. Clowns are lame and I refuse to read her VN. It's not about truth or reality or piss, I just don't want to read Hussie's clown VN because I genuinely never want to give them the light of day. They've had their dream- I'll let them wake up and enjoy what they have left.

I don't care for Hussie. If that comes off as disrespectful, or immoral, or something along the lines of "that's not how you treat people, that's not how you treat people that write stories you don't like, you're being really mean" then fuck you I don't like Andrew Hussie. I also don't like Kinoko Nasu, so keep that in mind. I refuse to read F/GO or the Tsukihime remake because the art is really fucking bad in both and I hate the whole "secret organization" crap that's in F/GO that leaks in Tsukihime remake.

I hate secret government organizations. Stupid fucking blood libel anti-semitic New World Order Illuminati bullshit, the entire concept. Like, fuck you Kinoko Nasu for writing a story about a giant underground organization that fights aliens and magic monsters and keeps it hidden from the rest of the world, you're literally writing nazi fanfic. Fuck you Nasu, you anti-semitic piece of shit.

I also don't like that fucker who made the Nier games. Yoko Taro. I hate all the Nier games. I refuse to play his shitty, "insightful" and "deconstructive" games. They're all edgy garbage. Not my flavor at all.

I'm also not a big fan of that Uro-butcher guy. Gen Urobuchi. Fate/zero is alright but Madoka Magica is pure fucking garbage, based solely on what all the Madoka Magica fans say about the show. The only reason I don't despise him like the rest is that he worked on Thunderbolt Fantasy, which is peak from what I've heard. Genuine peak, unlike Madoka Magica or Nier.

TL:DR- Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon Vriska VN isn't working.

[astr0wl]

#𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝟎𝐰𝐥  indie / highly selective / private / crossover friendly / 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐒 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐀 of v*vziepop’s ( unaffiliated ) helluva boss. as understood, written, and immensely loved by 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄 ( they/them, she/her, 30+, gmt+1 ).

blog graphics by: hyruleshop

*blog is still partially under construction

PLEASE read guidelines BEFORE interacting with this blog! This blog is 21+ and NOT minor friendly; dark themes will be present on occasion, so if you are under the age of 21 and/or are uncomfortable with dark content, do not view and/or interact with this blog AT ALL.

PERSONALS WILL BE BLOCKED ON SIGHT.

activity; This blog is set to medium to low activity due to real life responsibilities. I will get to things I owe ( threads, asks, DM replies, etc. ) when I have the time and motivation to do so.

GENERAL ETIQUETTE. Understand that the mun is not the muse and vice versa, don’t godmod, no meta play, don’t steal my content ( headcanons, descriptions, edits/art, etc. - this includes taking inspiration of any kind from my blog without my permission ), don’t nag on me for replies, don’t force ships on me, don't use my blog SOLELY as a resource blog for musings/aesthetics/etc. without showing any interest in interacting with me, understand that fiction does not necessarily always reflect reality, and don’t bring any kind of drama onto my dash.

FOLLOWING. This blog is highly selective. That means I'm mutuals only, and I will only follow blogs that I see myself interacting with that also follows me back. It's very unlikely that I will follow muses from fandoms I'm unfamiliar with. I ask that personals refrain from interacting with my blog unless you wish to send me or my muse anons ( this feature is a privilege, don’t misuse it ). When it comes to OCs, I will be incredibly picky, and I tend to take a distance from those that claim to be related to my muse in any way, self-inserts, and those that are basically copies of an already existing canon character within my muse's universe. I'm 100% duplicate friendly, annnnnd for the sake of my own comfort since I'm 30+, I won't be following any muns that are under the age of 21.

WRITING. English isn’t my first language, so grammatical mistakes are bound to happen now and then. Open starters, starter calls, prompts, etc. are limited to mutuals only. I highly encourage the continuation of answered prompts! If you wish to continue from an ask, please tag me in a new post. I write various types of formats such as one-liners, novella, crack, and shorter paras. I let my muse take the wheel, so sometimes I will only respond to asks and threads that my muse allows me to respond to, and there's little I can do about it.

I have an incredibly difficult time figuring out plots on the spot, so if you wish to plot with me I would appreciate if you would have something in mind before approaching me. All I ask is that you have at least a small idea of a concept of something you want to do without being too vague ( i.e "I want to write something dark" ), propose it to me, and we can take it from there.

I reserve the right to not respond to any asks, starters, threads - or publish starters from my own starter calls if inspiration doesn’t come to me.

UNFOLLOWING/BLOCKING. I will unfollow blogs for various reasons. Most of which are related to blogs going inactive without any notice, blogs that haven’t shown any interest/initiated interactions, and blogs that engage in drama of any kind far too much.

I will also soft-block non-mutuals that follows me that I don't see myself interacting with. This is nothing personal against you at all - it's just that I prefer to only have my mutuals follow me. Besides, even if I happen to feel like I can't see myself interacting with the specific blog you followed me from, it still doesn't mean that I won't follow you back if you follow me from another blog of yours that I do see myself interacting with.

As for blocking, I don't use the block button lightly as I prefer to blacklist the urls of blogs I don't wish to see. However, there may still come times when I have the need to use it. When this happens, the reasons may include ( but is not limited to): you're a personal blog interacting with mine in any way, you're continuously using 'passive' methods to 'remind me' about our thread such as liking and re-liking it over and over, over excessive vague-posting, and blogs that continues to re-follow me to get my attention ( especially if I've already softblocked you more than two times ). If something else comes up, I may still use the block button however I see fit.

SHIPPING. My main rule of thumb when it comes to shipping is that I require chemistry between our muses, both canons and OCs. Not only that, but I also don't randomly jump into casual ships with just about anybody either. While chemistry between muses is very important, the chemistry between myself and the other mun is even more so. I'm the most comfortable when I ship with friends, and new people I've come to click with via muse interactions.

I usually put my entire heart and soul into my ships and expect them to last for the long-term. What I mean by this is basically that I don't ship for the sake of shipping, and I don't really enjoy writing ships with people that have the habit of dropping ships as soon as something new and shiny comes around. I understand that muse, motivation and inspiration will come and go, and sometimes you just simply know when a certain ship has finally sailed, but all I ask for really is dedication and communication.

As a last note on shipping: If you feel like our muses have chemistry and would like to explore a potential ship, then by all means feel free to ask me! But keep in mind that I still reserve the right to decline your offer on ( specifically romantic ) shipping if I for one reason or another don't see our muses going down that road.

TRIGGERS. This blog is 21+ and NOT minor friendly; dark themes will be present on occasion, so if you are under the age of 20 and/or are uncomfortable with dark content, do not view and/or interact with this blog AT ALL. I trigger tag the most common stuff ( tagged as ‘tw // tag’ ), and if there is anything else I need to tag feel free to reach out to me respectfully and I will tag it for you.

Personally, I don’t have anything that triggers me except any images that may trigger my trypophobia ( an aversion to the sight of ANY irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps ) ━ PLEASE tag this, I’m begging you.

NSFW. The muse and the mun are both of legal age, and I’m comfortable with writing plot-related erotica with anyone that is over the age of 21 as long as it’s ( romantically ) ship-related. However, ALL smut-related threads must take place in a private chat ( I prefer discord for this since I hate the tumblr dms ). I’m not comfortable with spreading that stuff out on the dash for everybody to see.

However, themes alluring to anything of a sexual nature but not full-on smut ( such as suggestive themes ) may be published/reblogged on this blog in the form of prompt replies, headcanons and the like.

NSFW/Sexual themes are tagged 'tw // suggestive'

CLOSING NOTES.

I’m diagnosed with Depression, ADD and Autism, and these may effect how I write, how often I write and how much I can bring myself to socialize and speak to other people ( - both off, and ) online, so there will be times when I go very quiet for a while. I’m here to write, make friends, but most importantly, I’m just here to have fun whenever I can. Discord is available for mutuals upon request, but please keep in mind that I can sometimes be quiet over there as well, so I will get back to you when I'm ready to do so. In addition, I tend to have a really hard time picking up on social cues; I won't always be able to know whether or not you are joking with me, or if you are trying to give me hints of some kind. I please ask that when you want to ask me something, you are being as direct as you possibly can. Communication is very important to me, as misunderstandings are the bane of my existence, and I want to avoid it as much as possible. On that note, please know that if I ever leave you on read, it's never with malicious intent; whether it's about RP or not. Sometimes I just need extra time ( anything from a few hours to a couple of days ) to figure out how to properly formulate my words, and I cannot do that if I feel rushed to reply.

[marqaroll]

A-fucking-I images - BBTxx entry #1

Y'all are gonna hate me for this but it's been pissing me off to the point I can't think straight. Puh, more than usual, anyway.

*Inhales*...

...I get it. AI images, or "art" as some people call them, are a menace. They're not good at all, not for artists overall. Not even the environment, if what I've read is true. Which, wow, that's got nothing to do with me; I didn't fucking make the damn things, not my fault if I use social media.

But for little selfish creatives, ones like me who just fucking need a little fucking bone, AI-generated images are a priceless tool.

Look at this...

This is the evolution of my cover for my first completed novel, Inhuman, from 2017 to 2024.

...As you can see, it's...not good. Not good at all. Before this, I had never made a cover before. I'd done titles and logos for a good decade before but the theme and feel for the HUSHS series and Inhuman was just...so hard to figure out even for a logo.

For the longest time, the second to last cover was the "final" cover for this story. I had completely given up trying to find something or make something using free graphics or even some non-free graphics and stock pictures and vectors, you name it.

Then in 2020, I finally succumbed to using AI, first through Artbreeder before settling nicely with Bing AI.

Seeing my characters for the first time, seeing them given faces...I could have cried. I first made a cover for Inhuman, as it is my most recognizable webnovel, and...I'm speechless. This fucking cover is exactly what I'd wanted for it. With that final image for the cover came the brand fucking-new amazing title that I made for it. It's so different from everything else. I love it. It came together so...naturally. Because I had been given a tool to unlock whatever bit of genuine creativity exists in my fucking noggin.

But.

Do you fucking think I can afford to get the artists I want to make a highly detailed cover that of course wouldn't look like that, but what the fuck man? You think I can afford anything past $50 let alone for 30+ goddamn stories?!

I want and refuse to get anything other than high-quality images for my work, even if it's just a fucking stupid webnovel no one reads. Covers are no different. If I had money, I'd pay these amazing, envy-worthy artists a hundred times over just to see my characters and worlds in their goddamn amazing art styles.

Alas.

I'm poor. Really fucking poor. I'm mentally fucked up to the point that I can't make money through writing commissions as people have legitimately asked me to do in the past. I have a very real inability to do fuck shit.

If you are a good artist...I'm not saying people aren't assholes and try to wring you for nothin'. But I cannot imagine having a creative skill with which I can actually make money. Something honed with blood and sweat and tears that you can use to not only make something amazing with, something people always choose over writing when trying to get an audience, but also something you can make money with.

Can't imagine that...that luxury.

I made an update all over some of my socials informing that I have to start selling my body to make ends meet now. That's where I am.

Goddammit...I digress.

Bing AI and Artbreeder are free. I'll bet there are other AI programs that are free, but Bing AI is just...*chef's kiss* for me. I don't need anything else. I'm satisfied.

Fuck, I am so disheartened and mad right now.

I'm not saying people aren't misusing AI images, for fuck's sake. I don't even need to elaborate on that tomfoolery.

But people like me?

Why can't we use it, even if just for now—not forever?

I cannot begin to explain how much...better...I did (in the past) after I started using AI to visualize my characters, locations, and more.

'Course, I'm a fucking bobblehead now. Can't even think straight, I have such debilitating mental fuckshit going on...

Whatever.

You get it.

No, I won't stop being pro-AI images in certain circumstances. Not now. Not if it helps even a goddamn little for my already botched, pathetic attempts at creativity. It isn't the end-all-be-all forever thing.

I don't fucking WANT to use AI images.

So, guess what? Are you happy now, antis? I put all of the four years worth of AI images I had into a neat little folder on my PC and said "sayonara", 'cause I won't use Bing AI for anything public anymore.

S'not like y'all give a fuck about what I write for me to even attempt giving the stories good covers anyway.

But, hey.

What do I know.

I'm just...a sad, fucked up transman.

Whatever.

Thanks for coming to my sad, fucked up TED Talk.

Now go on, do that thing you want to do so badly and block my fatass for defending AI. We're all fuckers here.

-----

Original entry: The Blackboxx Texts.

[defiantscribe]

Trouble with Getting in a Routine

Well, I find myself needing some kind of outlet as I just don't know how to honestly express myself in any other format other than rambling to a notepad via keyboard.

So here goes.

I've been struggling with my job lately. Nothing in particular is wrong with it, I just hate it. I don't like having to be at someone's beck and call and deal with dumb shit in order to live. I've always been a whiner about my need to have a job. I've never liked having a job, I would really rather not have a job. If I could have a large sum of money that I was in charge of just trying to organize/maintain a comfortable existence, that would be the best course for me. I just do not like having to fit into this mold of being a worker.

Never have, never will. I feel almost like an artist with no art. That when I want to create or contribute, I will, otherwise, let me brood until that time comes.

Granted, a lot of how I operate, function and perform in life would need to drastically change for that kind of thing to improve or even happen, but it's ideally what I want. I just hate having to be somewhere at a particular time to do things just to have the comfort of living well. It's a balls mentality. Not that it's not necessary, mind you, I just don't like the idea of it.

Worst part about it is that I'm good at what I do, but I just don't like doing it. I don't wanna deal with people all day long. I would much rather have a job where I'm in charge of doing stuff off hours, non-customer related that I could just plug in my headphones and knock the fuck out and move onto the next thing at my own pace. I don't like being on phones, I don't like talking with people, I don't like any of it.

I am just so tired of feeling like I'm having to take on someone else's problems.

I've done that for a long time, I'm tired of doing it.

Whine over, back to work.

Still working, but felt like typing more since I was going somewhere with this, but didn't. I believe I've fallen into a bad pattern of internet usage and viewing. I enjoy the things I watch and the content I consume, but I honestly feel that it's started to take control of my brain and I need to stop the pattern of misuse/abuse to get my brain back in order.

I find myself watching twitch streamers most of the day, consuming the lives of young people with massive amounts of "brain rot" and finding myself unable to turn away. I'm currently watching a collaboration between users right now as I type this. I had to turn the audio off so I could concentrate long enough to type this out because it's like being in an elevator with drunk sorority girls chattering their asses off the entire ride to the top of the Empire State building.

And then at night I find myself caught in an infinity scroll of doom in Youtube shorts. It's quick little hits of dopamine like this that cause me to not fall asleep at a decent time. I find myself taking naps at weird times, sleeping through alarms and having a general sense of discord towards the things that should matter in my own life for the sake of consuming content from others.

And this is problematic.

I don't feel good while consuming it, I find myself chainsmoking while just scrolling and trying to think of ways I could be in this workspace and how to break into shit like this.

Honestly…. I want to sorta be in this space, but the other side is I would REALLY rather not. I just need to get my own personal health in check. I'm not taking meds or doing treatments like I should be and the only person to blame is myself, yet I'm not changing what I'm doing to make this work. I need to get my diabetes in check, I need to stop smoking, I need to fix my fucking body, but I keep finding ways of avoiding it and then complaining about how much I hurt or how frustrated or defeated I am by it. I'm my own worst enemy and I need to stop.

So, I plan on just start cutting my "leisure internet" consumption back severely in an attempt of finding other ways of occupying my time and focusing on making better choices or getting those things I've constantly been putting off taken care of.

Here's hoping cause if this doesn't work, I really don't know what I'm going to do moving forward, if I can even move forward.

[tchaikovskym]

I think there has been a shift in the last couple of years that makes all non-professional degrees seem useless. You know how it was a running joke that going to uni for art is useless (no offense artists)? Well, now it has spread; you could study biology or history, but at the end of the day you would be asked: what are you going to do with your degree? Why are you wasting time for your education that has no profession at the end waiting for you?

And I find it horribly concerning.

You are considered lucky to join a project that will make a selling product with the help of your knowledge. If you want to keep up you have to jump on latest research trends, rephrase your research in latest buzzword terminology in order to be relevant.

And on one hand, I get it - why should someone waste money on something that is not promised to pay back. Why should there be investments made for a guy who, let's say, wants to study the grasshopper wing width changes in a secluded area in the span of 10 years, if there is a guy who wants to make High Tech Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence "Being In a Room" Simulator? Truly, the grasshopper guy seems like an idiot for even choosing that topic when compared to the tech guy (even though the tech guy is literally creating the experience to be in a room).

But it shouldn't be like that! Have we really reached a point where new knowledge is useless, and we should just use the existing one to create endless products?

Except the new products I'm talking about are not really new - they are hybrids of sorts, a mesh of things for the sake to call it "innovation". It has to do something unseen yet to get into the market! It has to had the value of something new! (It's usually horrible "improvement"!)

We all now the bitter truth - it is more important to sell something, than to make it convenient for people to use.

And this brings me back to my original point.

Knowledge by itself is extremely useful. No matter what kind, the chances are, that even grasshopper wings can tell us a lot about the overall trends in climate and help us make predictions for the future. I don't think that there exists something that could not be useful in the long run, that could not be connected to another loose thread and gotten to a wonderful conclusion, that could improve our lives. And people with academic education are there to provide this knowledge.

But it doesn't sell.

And it has left me wondering what will happen next. Will there (is there already) less interest in academic subjects by young people than it has been before? Will we see a horrible stagnation of actual new inventions (ironically, due to the mandatory innovation tag required to succeed)? Will this diminish the role of education in our society, leading to more "anti-intellectual" stances? Will that in turn divide our society even more, with the gap being education this time? Will there be a crash in the innovation over-saturated market, and is it the only thing that could stop this?

Maybe I'm wrong.

[taleforquill]

As promised, here's my very belated April 2023 wrap-up. I originally posted this to my Instagram in early May, but I forgot I could post it to Tumblr too 😅.

I read 13 books in April. Quite a lot, but many of them were audiobooks and manga volumes (which I always get through faster).

In April I finally started my Hunger Games reread and I really, really enjoyed it. 13 year old me thought the first book was okay, and the rest sucked. But 13 year old me was also completely incapable of media literacy. 22 year old me thinks the books are mindblowingly good.

During April I also continued the Shatter Me series (which I still do not enjoy), and I decided to read some books I'd been hyping up in my mind. Mainly: The Turn of the Screw and Red, White and Royal Blue.

I'll start with Red, White and Royal Blue.

God... What a disappointment. I was a bit hesitant about it to begin with because it's a mlm story written by a non-man (as far as I'm aware). And while I do think that people can write about whatever they want, I prefer to read own-voices when it comes to queer books.

This book is disgustingly millenial. It centres 2 Gen Z kids who prefer to calls themselves millenials "because the press likes them better that way." Which is such bullshit (avocado toast, anyone?) that my brain can't even comprehend it.

It is also filled to the brim with H*rry P*tter references. This book came out in 2019! R*wling's TERF behaviour was well-known, even then. Millenials really need to let that series go. Get a fucking grip.

The author is projecting their own Millenial thoughts on Gen Z kids and it just doesn't work. It feels wrong. I'm reading about people in their early 20s, who think and act like they're in their mid-thirties.

No fucking self-respecting Gen Z would say "wow, you're definitely a Hufflepuff". Not even ironically. Yet it happens in this book. Multiple times.

They call a dog a Slytherin for fucks sake.

The way Alex interacted with his siblings also gave me the ick. Besides, he had no reason to hate Henry. And the press acted quite unrealistically and was only a problem for the characters when the plot demanded it. I'm also a bit too cynical to believe in a world where a divorced female US president with an interracial family could exist.

So yeah, rant over. But the Turn of the Screw was kind of disappointing too.

I expected to get the Haunting of Bly Manor in book form. And I kind of did? Even the lesbian tension was there. It just wasn't as good as the show. And I still highly prefer the show over this book.

I also finished the Attack On Titan manga, which I've been reading on and off for 10 years. I haven't liked it much since the Marley arc started and I still have very mixed feelings about it. I'll never forget how mindblowing the anime was when I was 13. And how much I enjoyed the first ±90 chapters.

But then it turned kind of meh and everything started dragging on for way too long. And the blatant imperialism and possible fascism and antisemitism came up. And just no.

So yeah, now that I've finished it, I'll let it go. Maybe I'll think about it once or twice but I definitely won't post about it (not in a positive context anyway).

ART: A Thorn amidst Roses by James Sant (1887)

Edit by me.

[wisdomrays]

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Are Muslims Guilty of Imperialism?

This charge continues to be leveled against the Muslim world. I would like to counter it by asking the following questions:

Given the existing circumstances of 1,400 years ago, how would any one living in Makka or Madina go about exploiting his own clan and tribe? If the supposedly exploited lands and people were those of the Hijaz, which were poor, unfruitful, and barren, who would have wished to invade or exploit them? It is ludicrous to level the charge of imperialist colonialism against the most noble-minded Muslims, who risked their lives to spread the message of Islam; who spent the greater part of their lives far from their children, families, homes, and native lands fighting armies ten or twenty times their size; and who felt deeply grieved when they did not die on the battlefield and join the earlier martyrs for Islam. We ask ourselves what worldly gain they obtained in return for such struggle, deprivation, and sacrifice!

Those who invaded, occupied, and exploited others with the worst intentions (and results) of imperialism are power-hungry individuals or nations. To mention a few: Alexander the "Great" and Napoleon, the Roman empire and Nazi Germany, the Mongol armies unleashed by Genghis Khan and the colonizing armies unleashed by western Europe, Russian dictatorship (whether czarist or communist) and the American empire (whether "manifest destiny" or "making the world safe for democracy"). Wherever such conquests came and went, they corrupted the morality of the conquerors and the conquered, causing chaos, conflict, tears, bloodshed, and devastation. Today their heirs, like bold thieves who bluff property owners to conceal their theft of that very property, turn to besmirching Islam, its Prophet, and his Companions.

True Muslims have never sought to exploit others. Nor have they let others do so where Muslim government had jurisdiction. At a time when Muslim armies were running from triumph to triumph, Caliph 'Umar said: "What befits me is to live at the level of the poorest Muslims," and he really did so. As he took only a few olives a day for his own sustenance, who was he exploiting?

After one battle, when a Muslim was asked to take the belongings of an enemy soldier whom he had fought and killed, he said: "I did not participate in the battle to take spoils." Pointing to his throat, he continued: "What I seek is an arrow here and to fall as a martyr." (His wish was granted.) While burning with the desire for martyrdom, who was he exploiting?

In another battle, a Muslim soldier fought and killed a leading enemy who had killed many Muslims. The Muslim commander saw him pass by his dead enemy. The commander went to the head of the dead soldier and asked who had killed him. The Muslim did not want to reply, but the commander called him back in the name of God. The Muslim felt himself obliged to do so, but concealed his face with a piece of cloth. The following conversation took place:

-Did you kill him for the sake of God?

-Yes.

-All right. But take this 1,000 dinar piece.

-But I did it for the sake of God!

-What is your name?

-What is my name to you? Perhaps you will tell this to everyone and cause me to lose the reward for this in the afterlife.

How could such people exploit others and establish colonies all over the world? To speak frankly, those who hate Islam and Muslims are blind to the historical truth of how Islam spread.

Let's look at what exploitation and imperialism are. Imperialism or colonization is a system of rule by which a rich and a powerful country controls other countries, their trade and policies, to enrich itself and gain more power at the other's expense. There are many kinds of exploitation. In today's world, they may take the following forms:

• Absolute sovereignty by dispossessing indigenous people in order to establish the invader's direct rule and sovereignty. Examples are western Europe's conquest of North and South America, as well as Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Zionists' conquest of Palestine.

• Military occupation so that the invaders can control the conquered nation's land and resources. One example is British colonial rule in India.

• Open or secret interference and intervention in a country's internal and foreign affairs, economy, and defense. Examples are those Third World countries who are manipulated and controlled by various developed countries.

• The transfer of intellectuals, which is currently the most common and dangerous type of imperialism. Young, intelligent, and gifted people of the countries to be exploited are chosen, given stipends, and educated abroad. There they are introduced to and made members of different groups. When they return to their country, they are given influential administrative and other posts so that they can influence their country's destiny. When native or foreign people linked to exploiters abroad are placed in crucial positions in the state mechanism, the country is conquered from inside. This immensely successful technique has enabled Western imperialists to achieve many of their goals smoothly and without overtly rousing the enmity of the people they wish to subjugate. Today, the Muslim world is caught in this trap and thus continues to suffer exploitation and abuse.

Whatever kind of imperialism they are subjected to, countries suffer a number of consequences:

• Various methods of assimilation alienate people from their own values, culture, and history. As a result, they suffer crises of identity and purpose, do not know their own past, and cannot freely imagine their own future.

• Any enthusiasm, effort, and zeal to support and develop their country is quenched. Industry is rendered dependent upon the (former) imperial masters, science and knowledge are not allowed to become productive and primary, and imitation is established firmly so that freedom of study and new research will gain no foothold.

• People remain in limbo, totally dependent upon foreigners. They are silenced and deluded by such empty phrases as progress, Westernization, civilization, and the like.

• All state institutions are penetrated by foreign aid, which is in reality no more than massive financial and cultural debt. Imports, exports, and development are wholly controlled by or conducted according to the exploiter's interests.

• While no effort is spared to keep the masses in poverty, the ruling classes become used to extravagant spending and luxury. The resulting communal dissatisfaction causes people to fight with each other, making them even more vulnerable to outside influence and intervention.

• Mental and spiritual activity is stifled, and so educational institutions tend to imitate foreign ways, ideas, and subjects. Industry is reduced to assembling prefabricated parts. The army tends to become a dumping ground for imperialist countries, for its purchases of expensive hardware ensure the continued well-being of the latter's industries.

We wonder if it is really rational to liken the Islamic conquest to imperialism, which brought disastrous consequences wherever it went.

The victory of Muslim armies never caused a great exodus of people from their homes and countries, nor has it prevented people from working by putting chains on their hands and feet. Muslims left the indigenous people free to follow their own way and beliefs, and protected them in exactly the same way it protected Muslims. Muslim governors and rulers were loved and respected for their justice and integrity. Equality, peace, and security were established between different communities.

If it had been otherwise, would the Christians of Damascus have gathered in their church and prayed for a Muslim victory against Christian Byzantium, which was seeking to regain control of the city? If Muslims had not been so respectful of non-Muslims' rights, could they have maintained security for centuries in a state so vast that it took more than 6 months to travel from one end to another?

One cannot help but admire those Muslim rulers and the dynamic energy that made them so, when we compare them to present-day rulers. Despite every modern means of transportation, telecommunications, and military back-up, they cannot maintain peace and security in even a small area of land.

Today, many scholars and intellectuals who realize the value of Islam's dynamics, which brought about Islam's global sovereignty and which will form the basis of our eternal existence in the Hereafter, expressly tell us that Muslims should reconsider and regain them. While conquering lands, the Muslims also were conquering their inhabitants' hearts. They were received with love, respect, and obedience. No people who accepted Islam ever complained that they were culturally prevented or ruined by the arrival of Muslims. The contrast with the reality of Christian Europe's conquests is stark and obvious.

Early Muslims evaluated the potential of knowledge and art in the conquered lands. They prepared and provided every opportunity for local scholars and scientists to pursue their work. Regardless of their religion, Muslims held the people in high regard and honored them in the community. They never did what the descendants of the British colonialists in America did to the American Indians or in Australia to the Aborigines, the French to the Algerians, or the Dutch to the Indonesians. On the contrary, they treated the conquered people as if they were from their own people and religion, as if they were brothers and sisters.

Caliph 'Umar once told a Coptic Egyptian who had been beaten by a Makkan noble to beat him just as he had been beaten. When 'Umar heard that 'Amr ibn al-'As had hurt the feelings of a native Egyptian, he rebuked him: "Human beings were born free. Why do you enslave them?" As he went to receive the keys to Masjid al-Aqsa, 'Umar visited and talked to priests in different churches in Palestine. Once he was in a church when it was time to pray. The priest repeatedly asked him to pray inside the church, but 'Umar refused, saying: "You may be harassed by other Christians later on because you let me pray in the church." He left the church's premises and prayed outside on the ground.

These are but a few examples to indicate how Muslims were sensitive, tolerant, just, and humane toward other people. Such an attitude of genuine tolerance has not been reached by any other people or society.