#like how can you just cheapen the value of things like this to make a few quid or to go to a free concert

[crookedfivefingers]

3.13 | ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʟᴏʀᴅꜱ

link to the post I accidentally wound up prattling endlessly about in the tags 💀

[esta-elavaris]

Had a moment today that exemplifies how my family thinks but like, in a way that’s just very sad and makes me glad I don’t think that way.

Showed a relative the amazing painting that friend did for me, and her first response was “you’d be able to sell that for some good money!!!”

Like. No????

For months I’ve discussed this creative trade with this friend, we’ve talked about what the other wants, we’ve gotten excited about it and traded progress pics as we work on it for each other, gotten stoked over making plans to get to the post office and seeing the other finally get it, and it’s just been a very wholesome and very fun project. It took six weeks for us to complete these projects, and now I have something on display in my room that makes me very happy, that’s objectively beautiful, and that I know a friend put a lot of effort into making for me and was THRILLED when I adored it.

And my family’s immediate line of thinking is “make a few quid from it lol”.

I can’t imagine the headspace it must take to go through life like that.

[sugarcubetikki]

Okay. I am annoyed by the everything so I’m gonna go ahead and debunk all the arguments against the Francesca X Michaela storyline.

In case you weren’t aware of all the complaints going around, here they are:

they’ve completely changed the storyline from the books! francesca’s infertility storyline was sooo important and now it won’t happen!

eloise would’ve made more sense as the queer bridgerton, her and cressida or some other female character would’ve been great over francesca.

by immediately making francesca attracted to michaela they downplayed john and her’s relationship that was built up this season, they cheapened the book storyline into a cliche love triangle!

michael was the best book hero ever! I can’t believe they’ve changed him to michaela.

I am taking all these criticisms/complaints at face value and ignoring any lesbophobia undertones (for now) just to prove how flawed they still are on their own.

Firstly, saying that Francesca’s infertility storyline has been ruined is far from the truth. Instead it can be done in a different way. Think about Francesca in a queer relationship and wanting kids in the kind of society she lives in. It basically mirrors the infertility storyline from the books except her struggles would become representative of the struggles that queer people who want kids face. If they went for this storyline in her season, I think it would be really really nice, we’ve seen a straight infertility storyline play out so many times, this would be great.

Secondly, I am so tired of hearing that it should’ve been Eloise over Francesca. I don’t think Eloise would’ve made more or less sense as a queer women. I think any and every character has the potential to be written as queer or straight. Being an outspoken women with little interest on marriage shouldn’t make Eloise more queer. I also really liked the idea of a potential Eloise X Cressida romance but that does not mean Francesca cannot be queer. In fact, I’m excited to see this introverted autistic queer girl rep! Francesca, go prove we exist.

Thirdly, Francesca’s season hasn’t even happened yet! Getting mad over one scene of Michaela, saying that John and Francesca’s relationship has been downplayed and that we’re in for a cheapened love triangle story is so unreasonable. It was a single scene and people are choosing to get mad over something that hasn’t even happened yet? Besides, if this storyline plays out, it wouldn’t mean that Francesca shouldn’t have been made queer but simply that the writers didn’t write the storyline to your liking. The fact that there’s this much outrage over this is so ridiculous to me. Wait till her season. We have no idea how they’re going to play out the storyline just yet so stop hating already (there may be some lesbophobia implications to this claim which I have spoken about below).

Fourthly, I know it’s not a nice feeling to not get the chance to see a beloved book character onscreen due to this gender swap. It may feel unfair but I mean but…give Michaela a chance? We haven’t seen her personality yet and we don’t know how Masali will bring her character to life. If your qualms are that the love interest is no longer a guy you can fetishise and fawn over, then well…log out of the internet, rant to a friend and stick to the books. Let the sapphics have their wlw romance that we rarely get these days because we keep getting cancelled since streaming services hate gay women. And no that is not an exaggeration but our plain reality. So let us have this.

Finally, to end things off, let us address the lesbophobia aspect to this separately because it is 100% worth mentioning.

The treatment towards queer women onscreen is hardly the same as the hype around queer men.

We can see it in the way streaming services and the internet hype up gay romances whilst sapphic romances are largely ignored and cast to the side (just to make it clear I have nothing against people enjoying mlm romance I enjoy mlm romance all I’m saying that it’s a real shame that wlw romance doesn’t get the same amount of appreciation).

The response to Francesca X Michaela has been largely negative and it’s frustrating. Outside of the cosy gay rabbit hole that tumblr is, there’s just outrage over this storyline/pairing for a number of different reasons that well…all feel ridiculous.

Bridgerton has gone off the books many times yet there’s more outrage than before when it comes to Francesca X Michaela?

Fans are getting a lot more defensive of John and Francesca’s relationship despite knowing he was never going to be endgame all because of Michaela? I’m sorry but I’m sure that if Michaela was Michael and we got the exact same scene with Francesca, do you think there would be as much outrage over John and Francesca’s relationship being downplayed? No. Let’s be honest. People wouldn’t be as mad because there’d be an attractive man involved.

I think the sapphics deserve so much more and better treatment from fellow non-sapphics. Instead of a show of appreciation, we keep getting unreasonable amounts of fire onto this storyline that hasn’t even happened.

What’s worse is that I know that Francesca X Michaela’s romance could follow the story beats of previous seasons that were eaten up by fans and still be bad to people because sapphic romances are just judged more harshly as straight audiences refuse to connect with them. If their romance isn’t phenomenal and just good, then it won’t be enough which is just frustrating.

So yeah, the hate towards Francesca and Michaela is unwarranted and unjust. People need to calm down and realise that their claims are contributing to lesbophobia whether they realise it or not.

[maximumqueer]

One Piece and Media Literacy

So this entire post was born out of me trying to understand why there are certain readings and interpretations of one piece that get under my skin so much. I like to think that I am normally pretty open to different readings of a text. I’m an English major, literally 90% of my degree is discussing different interpretations of fictional media, and that often involves encountering people with different readings than my own. That is good, and I think that as long as a reading can be backed up with good faith textual evidence it’s a valid reading. And that was the sticking point for me,  that the takes that I kept seeing had logic behind them. I could see how and why the person sharing them came to the conclusion they did. But, what I realized is that even though these conclusions did make sense, it also relied on an incredibly literal, surface level take on the scene that also oftentimes ignored the context of how and why the moment was taking place. In other words, a lack of media literacy. 

I’m going to use two scenes that I personally view as getting misconstrued as a result of this as examples. The first one is Shanks' conversation with Whitebeard, particularly this sentence Shanks says in response to Whitebeard questioning Shanks on the loss of his arm. 

I have seen this moment be interpreted as Shanks intentionally losing his arm to teach Luffy a lesson in leadership, that what makes a good captain is one who is willing to put themselves and their life on the line for the people they care about. I do think that is a lesson Luffy took away from this moment, but I don’t think that this scene is framing it as intentional. The meeting between  these two characters is grandiose, and the dialogue they use exemplifies that. Just before this, Whitebeard asked Shanks “What enemy did you give that left arm to?” (One Piece, Ch. 434, pg. 11).  Whitebeard isn’t asking Shanks if he literally gave his arm to an enemy, but rather asking who he lost his arm to, but in a verbose way. As such, Shanks doesn’t mean that he intentionally gave up his arm. And while he could have said that a sea monster took it, he instead switched focus from the thing that took it to the person who he lost it for. It shows Shanks' mindset towards losing his arm, and how he does not actually view it as a loss, as it was lost saving a kid Shanks saw potential in, a kid who would be a part of the new era. 

I will also say that the implication of Shanks intentionally losing his arm makes him a worse person, and cheapens his and Luffy’s relationship. The implication being that the emotional distress we saw him in when Luffy was kidnapped and in peril was at least to a point faked. A person in distress is not worrying about what lesson they can impart onto the person they’re saving, and as such saying that Shanks could have in that moment decided to intentionally give up his arm paints him as a much colder, more calculating character, which I would argue would be to the detriment of his character.

And I know that this reading is in part trying to explain why Shanks, a very powerful character, would lose his arm to a sea monster in the East Blue. But this was Shanks from 12 years ago, I don’t think it takes a massive leap in logic to assume that he simply wasn’t as strong of a character back then. Add to that his attention mainly being focused on making sure he got to Luffy in time, and I think him losing his arm in that moment makes perfect sense. 

The second scene is when Rob Lucci suggests that Luffy’s use of gear 2 is causing him to shave years off his life. 

What Lucci says here is often taken at face value, and then applied to every other gear we have seen Luffy use. This is also information that is stated as fact, more often than not. That every time Luffy uses gear 2 or 3 (pre - ts) or gear 4 or 5 (post - ts) that he is taking a couple years off his life. And as this all stems from Rob Lucci, we have to ask 1: Is Rob Lucci knowledgeable enough to actually make this claim? And 2: Is he a trustworthy source of information? 

The first question is up for debate. Lucci could very well make an educated guess about the strain Luffy is putting on his body. But at the end of the day he is only going off of very limited knowledge about both Luffy and his devil fruit. The second question, I would argue, is a resounding no. Lucci is a member of CP9 (now CP0) an intelligence agency that focuses on infiltration. Part of Lucci’s job is to lie and coerce people. This is also the man that killed his fellow soldiers that had been taken as POWs to prevent the county they were fighting from having the upper hand. That is not the kind of person whose word you can take at face value.

It is also worth noting that the broader scene that this line of dialogue belongs to involves Lucci trying to psyche Luffy out by telling him that there is no hope of him or his friends winning, using the claim that he is shortening his life, as well as information that his crew is in a tunnel that will soon flood, killing them. And while some of this info is true, that is not the reasoning behind Lucci telling him it. He wants Luffy to be discouraged and to feel like there is no possible way for him to win. The information he tells to Luffy does not have to be true for this tactic to work. 

What I’m trying to get at here is that analysis that does not take in the broader context of the story, or the established characterization of the people in the specific scene being analyzed leads to a reading based in ignorance, as not all of the information is being considered. It can also lead to misunderstandings within the fandom, like how I’ve seen it stated that Luffy using gear 5 shortens his life span. There is no canon backing for this, other than the literal interpretation of what a villain said about an entirely different gear nearly 20 years ago in real time. Or it can unintentionally paint a character that has previously been characterized as deeply caring for the protagonist as being cold and distant instead, more focused on making the next generation is strong - both physically and as leaders - than about saving the protagonist's (who at the time was a child) life.

[gigidragonbbxxx]

a personal struggle + an education

this is all just gigi's opinions + thoughts

Reader, I'm struggling with empathy right now.

Don't worry, I'm not suffering from a personality pathology, I promise I am quite sympathetic and empathetic. It's just battling the feeling of wanting to be kind but also seeing a major problem and knowing I need to get it off my chest.

Let me give it to yall straight (with tweaked/paraphrased details to protect privacy and not to out anyone):

I saw a favorite loass coach/twt account/subliminal creator make fun of an "old timey" English sentence either from Neville Goddard or Edward Art. They proceeded to say that they "hate" it and "why can't they just say it simpler". and then someone else commented "they're talking bullshit fr".

The convo thread on twt devolved into an echo chamber that essentially boiled down to the old fool's adage "If I don't understand it, it must be stupid and not worth it."

This really triggered me because

The phrase quoted was not that hard to understand.

It was clear these women were not educated

Why am I judging or mad at people for their ignorance? (this is why I kept quiet on twt and went here to vent. I acknowledge that two things can be true, I can be kind and still be honest.)

I was and currently am still wrestling with these things within me.

On one hand I don't want to judge. I want to be inclusive and welcoming and supportive.

On the other hand - yall don't look educated, yall wind up looking dumb.

I'll say a harsh truth yall and you can go argue with a damn wall but I know I'm right: stupidity is not cute.

My Hot Take (not so hot when you think about it)

The Law of Assumption rewards those who feed their mind with knowledge

Before you argue with me, think about it. Seriously.

I don't want to seem ableist if someone suffers from dyslexia or if someone struggles in school. It's totally okay to have different paths to learning. The importance is still obtaining the information. You can read or listen to the audiobook, etc. The paths to knowledge are varied but in the end the result is the same - THE KNOWING.

The "old timey" sentence that the creator complained about COULD BE READ BY NINTH GRADERS BECAUSE OF SHAKESPEARE EXPOSURE.

That's why I was exasperated. They were complaining about English (the only language in which they are fluent) that is regularly taught to 14 year olds.

Guys. Stand up. Please stand the fuck up.

Who in this world is gonna take you seriously without BASIC COMPETENCY in literature or math?

Lemme roast some of yall if you want to disagree:

Yall wanna be master manifesters and claim to understand the double slit experiment but can't even name the fundamental laws of science or explain them.

Yall wanna be successful in your businesses and don't know how to calculate your profits.

Yall wanna be seen as intellectuals who "understand" more than the majority of the population and yall can't even fucking read Descartes or Shakespeare.

Yall wanna be content creators and don't know how to proofread.

One time I bought an affirmation tape that came with a pdf with all the affirmations listed. The tape itself was excellent but the pdf was riddled with errors! It makes me sad because something that can help change your life, like a sleep tape to saturate, "cheapens" in its authenticity at the price of minor errors. Sigh.

Let me tell you that 100% you can be successful in this world just by going to the end and claiming it.

BUT YOU LOSE A LOT OF TREASURE BY NOT GIVING YOURSELF THE TOOLS TO DIG FOR IT.

THERE IS SO MUCH FOUNDATIONAL INFORMATION WITHIN THESE "OLD TIMEY" TEXTS.

and if you don't like any of it and just wanna watch sammy ingram and manifest like that THEN GO AHEAD BUT DONT CLAIM TO NOT UNDERSTAND A SENTENCE AND THEN CALL IT BULLSHIT.

just be honest and own it!

be honest that you don't wanna read, that you don't wanna be academic and that's 100% okay and you're still beautiful and worth everything but

do not put down the value of what is being said just because you don't understand it

That's why I am frustrated, reader.

I am educated enough to recognize when someone's ignorance is just that - ignorance.

But I am human enough to be annoyed.

So please give yourselves some grace and take the time to appreciate knowledge. Without the knowledge of the law of assumption, we wouldn't all be here interacting with one another.

xx, gigi

p.s. for those of you who are more familiar with reading the Bible via the law of assumption lens - I beg you to think of Solomon. He was asked by God what he would like and Solomon chose wisdom over material things. Why is that? Because through wisdom comes the ability to know how to obtain all one's desires. Food for thought.

[bringthekaos]

Gunna take a break from Arcane for a moment to talk about Our Flag Means Death, because I am extremely disappointed and I have to put these thoughts somewhere. Putting it under a cut, because I myself forgot to filter the OFMD tag while I was working and got it spoiled for me. So ye be warned, OFMD SPOILERS AHEAD.

That ending was genuinely one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time. The only other time I can recall being this sickened and angry about a show’s ending was Game of Thrones. And it’s not because I’m sad or mad or confused by Izzy’s death, yes that’s partly it, but because a character who was experiencing massive change and character growth was ONCE AGAIN rewarded with death. I am so goddamn sick of rooting for people to do better, to be better, and then FINALLY get that catharsis only to have it thrown away for shock value.

What did this add to the story? Narratively, I mean. If this is indeed the end of OFMD, and it doesn’t get renewed, what the absolute FUCK kind of message does that send? Izzy was postured as some kind of obstacle between Ed and Stede in Season 1, but in S2, he was allowed to grow outside of that weird and fucked up love triangle (term used incredibly loosely, because his love was pretty much one-sided, and most of the time it was selfish and toxic). In S2, he went on an incredible journey of coming to terms with the fact that Ed would never be his again, not in the way he wanted. Even if it was never romantic or sexual (I do not see it), he wanted Ed to himself, and he had to accept that it would never happen. And he fucking DID, that’s the pisser. He learned to see the value in Ed’s transformation, the good that Stede was for him. And he learned to appreciate it and even start playing with it and teasing the two of them. And the worst/best part was that he embraced the crew, put them into that hole in his heart that Ed left. His speech to the Prince about them being family, and that you give up your wants and dreams for them, because being a pirate is bigger than any one person alone. GOD, his fucking character growth was incredible and heart-wrenching all at once.

And then to just throw all of that away, for what? To remove him as an obstacle between Ed and Stede? He already did that himself. To make the title of the show mean something (that the flag truly means Death?). That is just so fucking cheap and backhanded. Oh, Our Flag Means Death, but no one has died yet, better kill somebody; quick shoot Izzy Hands. How about you just make the word ‘death’ a symbol for change? The death of who you once were, the death of old biases, the death of toxicity and selfishness.

Because what would have been the problem with making Izzy the new captain of the Revenge, and letting Ed and Stede go off and do their thing? In the grand scheme of the narrative, why did two characters’ happy ending have to come at the cost of another’s?! It cheapens that happy ending, puts an asterisk on it. Especially when Izzy had JUST come to the realization that that crew, those people (no matter how ridiculous and soft they were) were his motherfucking family and he would do anything to protect them. He should have gotten to, and I just… I cannot forgive that. I’m not saying you can’t kill off characters, we shouldn’t expect anyone to have plot armor. But for god’s sake, at least make it make sense, give it a reason beyond shock value.

If OFMD gets a third season, I may or may not watch. It’s more than likely I won’t. And not because I don’t love the Stede/Ed story, or any of the other beautiful ones on that ship, I do. But because I’ve lost faith in the story.

[fyeahnix]

I keep forgetting to make my comments here but here's my initial thoughts on the MHWilds demo so far:

Out of the weapons I've tried so far—SnS, IG, SwAx, CB, LS, and HH—they all feel REALLY good so far. Got some good stuff from Iceborne and Sunbreak in there. It's a bit weird trying to relearn weapon button mappings again with the new moves and combos but that's not horrible.

Focus mode. I saw a lot of people complaining about it on Twitter and it doesn't make sense to me tbh. It feels like Dark Souls discourse all over again. I'm still very new to the Monster Hunter series compared to a lot of other players but I'm also not bad at the game and have just over 1400 hours between World and Rise. I know what monster hit zones are, I know what weapon motion values are, and between those I know where would be the most effective places to wail on a monster for the most damage. I know how to manage my positioning, I know how to roll through and guard/counter roars. I know what guard points are. Basically, I know what I'm doing.

HOWEVER, people are acting like Focus mode is the absolute worst thing they've added to the game because it "cheapens" the experience and idk I just don't agree there? I'm seeing it as a way for people who have previously not jived with the game to have a way to help them correct their positioning mistakes on the fly and improve.

I think there's something to be said about the way people love to make themselves feel more self important because they're good at a video game and any attempt to make it more approachable to fans who may otherwise not even try it is...idk embarrassing? I used to have this mindset but when I approached it from the angle of accessibility, I saw the point. Monster Hunter is definitely not an easy game to get into and you absolutely might get filtered out when you hit that first wall monster. To me, focus mode feels like something that players will eventually grow out of relying on once they get better at the game and for the rest of us (or at least how I'm using it), it's a nice way to see wounds on the monster and use move that destroys them. But it's not required!! Like at all! You can destroy wounds by repeatedly attacking them. So for people to get upset about it being included is just weird to me..but that's just my opinion. The devs seem to be including this for the purposes of being more approachable but that doesn't mean the game's difficulty has changed at all.

Anyway moving on. My biggest complaint in the game was the Seikret movement. I LOVE the Seikret a lot, from a design and implementation perspective, but one thing that annoys the FUCK outta me was how hard the game pushes you to be in auto movement mode. I prefer having full control over the thing so I found it annoying. I even tried changing some settings and have realized that exiting out of auto mode into manual actually might be bugged. In any case I decided to give auto mode a fair shot and I'm starting to see why they included it. When chasing the monster, I do want to do things such as sharpen on the run, heal, and grab supplies on the way, and with the changes made to the slinger, that is NOW POSSIBLE. I can multitask on giving chase and I do think that's valuable so my mind might be changed there.

Last thing. My current complaint is that the weapon attacks don't feel super impactful. I feel like I'm slicing through butter. There's no real oomph the hits and I wish there was. Maybe it gets better in the full release idk.

Also the game is a beta but the optimization has to be better on launch. I'm hoping it will be.

[shdwtouch]

While I absolutely agree with the sentiment and think oc positivity is sorely needed, comparing writing canon muses to fast fashion sounds a bit icky to me. I know you don't mean it in a bad way, but it does kinda sound like you're implying that people writing canon characters are putting less love, effort and creativity into their portrayals. Just because there are multiple people writing the same character doesn't cheapen their value, so I'd personally look for some other metaphor.

firstly, just want to say: I have so much anxiety about this message. like I know you're coming from a good place but its confrontation and alarm bells in my head so let me see if I can articulate. ; ; also, I'm posting this from mobile so I apologize for any weird formatting etc owo;

I'm going to stand by my statement (tho I deleted the tags [edit: I did take a screenshot for context sake]) honestly because I definitely was not implying that canon portrayals have less value, in fact I specifically stated that both canon and original characters have value, just like fast fashion and couture have their own values.

let me explain my thought process.

you walk into, say, Walmart and pick up a pair of Levi's. why ? because you've probably worn them before and like them, or heard of them from others and want to try them out. or because you're simply browsing and like the style and color and they're in the right size so why not ? canon muses have that ease of access, whether it be knowing the fandom or simply having a range of content and reviews to go off of as a "consumer".

original characters don't have that luxury; I don't know about other people, but for me sometimes engaging with original characters - and this is coming from someone who writes predominantly fandomless original characters and agonizes over how accessible their lore is - is, well, bottlenecked by my own energy and willingness to engage with the information and content the creator had provided. it's much easier for me, energy wise, to play a video game and then gravitate to muses from it because I'm already familiar with them, so I already have a foot in the door so to speak.

I fucking love reading original lore tho ! I also FUCKING LOVE canon divergence and headcanons ! but it isn't always easy to engage with or incorporate, and I think that's something that impacts a lot of people in how they view ocs compared to canons. original characters just often take more effort to engage with and understand, and that's not a bad thing ! but in a busy life it's understandable that folks want to go to what is comfortable and what they know, so they pick up a pair of Levi's instead of going to get a tailored pair of pants.

next, I should clarify that the characters are clothes, and we, as writers, are the ones who wear those clothes. which is to say, our own personal style and actions play into the overall appearance and feel of our portrayals. two people can take the same shirt and make completely different outfits with it ! maybe one of them decides to crop it, or bleach it, or cut it up and sew it into something new. and all of these things are valid ! and they all have value. you may be wearing the same shirt as someone else, but you still style it the way you want to. you still look different, still unique, still beautiful. there is nothing bad about liking fast fashion or canon characters. fast fashion is convenient, so are canon characters. some canon characters are poorly written and need to be dressed up or fixed to be worn, while others are quality and wonderfully made ! just like clothes ! and honestly, the same applies to original characters too !

the pants I'm wearing right now ? my favorite pair of pants. I've had them for like... four years. and they're still going strong. fast fashion isn't necessarily cheap, just like couture isn't necessarily haute. but again, it's about how you wear it. and everyone in the BG3 rpc wears their clothes, whether they be canon or original, in their own unique, beautiful way ! we all have our own style, and that style provides value to what we're trying to portray. neither canon nor original characters are better than the other, they BOTH have pros and cons. just like fast fashion and couture. they both have value, and their mode or means doesn't detract or add to the value of the final product.

I apologize if it seemed I was implying canon writers aren't as valuable as original writers, or somehow cheaper due to volume, in my tags. I definitely see where you are coming from and that's a valid perspective. However, that was not my intention and I hope I've managed to clarify my stance and explain myself a bit better. thank you for your message, I hope you're well ! sending lots of good vibes ♡

also, in case anyone was curious, my pants:

they are incredibly soft and flowy, very nice. I sleep in them and wear them out. I know they're winter themed but I think they're subtle enough to be worn outside the season, plus they have polar bears on them and I love polar bears !

also, if it's of any value, I have written my fair share of canon characters. I wrote extensively for assassins creed and marvel, in fact that's where I got my start in the rpc ! if I had to carry the metaphor, my "fast fashion" would be my (canon divergent) cli.nt bar.ton. I may have gotten him from marvel but I have since sliced him up and incorporated the pieces of my portrayal into my original projects ♡

[arcticdementor]

Anti-tariff Libertarians are regime cucks or traitors. Assuming we don't get Anarcho-capitalism, there are 3 places you can tax an economy to fund your (ideally small) government. 1. Income taxes 2. Sales taxes 3. Tariffs

…

The tariffs, taxing it when it goes through a port of entry, is the only one that imposes basically zero compliance cost and violates privacy not at all. If the port was entirely privately owned and unregulated, pure anarcho-capitalism, you'd still have to declare you goods and pay a fee... It’s just with tariffs the official is a government employee and the fee is larger. By contrast FORCING EVERY ADULT IN THE COUNTRY to fill out and return elaborate paperwork and surrender all personal information regarding every dime that's ever entered one of their wallet or accounts... That's not only a violation of the 4th and 5th amendment, that's totalitarian. Likewise forcing ever business to tax every single sale they make and report it makes small business formation, right down to lemonade stands prohibitive bureaucratic exercises... in 1850 90% of Americans were self-employed or small business owners, now it's 10%.... And a MASSIVE part of that is the fact you now require anyone who wants to do productive work to also become a part time government bureaucrat and surrender all information about their business, how they're surviving, or submit to being a wagie subordinate of someone who does. This is also totalitarian.

…

"Georgism GEORGISM! What about Georgism!? Land value taxes for everything!!!!!" Land value taxes create perverse lifestyle distortions where people squeeze themselves into the smallest environment they can, and then refuse to breed because housing costs so much… so you create misery and crash your population and race within a generation, and make everyone die childless and miserably in the most depressing circumstance by distorting the most important market after food, and making everyone feel miserable and poor.

…

Honestly I do not know the type of person who’d want Georgism except for the kind of spiteful person who doesn’t like to see other people have nice things and gets a perverse thrill out of the idea of no one ever feeling that they own anything free and clear, no one ever being able to live off grid, be self-sufficient, or return to folkish subsistence lifestyles (because you always need more government paper to pay to mere continue occupying the home you built). And who LIKES the idea of disincentivizing people to have children, eventually poisoning the economy with demographic aging, and forcing increasingly immiserated people to lead lifestyles of artificially cheapened city bug-life. It disgusts me.

[putschki1969]

Hello Puts, how are you?

Thanks always for your hard work.

Here's my question: what do you think of Hikaru's current solo career?

Hello there!

I am okay, a little busy but nothing I can't handle.

Phew, that's a loaded question. I have quite a few thoughts about Hikaru's current situation but most of them are rather negative so I am a little hesitant to share them. But oh well, here goes nothing...

Fair warning though, this is probably gonna sound like a rant, there's just a lot of pent-up frustration within me🙈

Right off the bat I wanna start with something positive before we get to the nasty stuff. I am a big fan of Hikaru's collabs with members of C.C.C. So glad Takeshi Kato (= SPICE guy) brought her onboard. As far as I am concerned, her stage play appearances are some of the best work she has done in recent times. You can tell that she is having fun and everyone seems to have welcomed her with open arms. When she is interacting with her cast-mates, it's like she transforms into a totally different person, she is happy and carefree, no sign of her reserved and quiet self. I also appreciate that HaKA (Kenichiro Hakariya = head of C.C.C.) continues to write solid tracks for Hikaru, so far he has done all of her freelance solo work, I am guessing her newest song "Flow" (debuted during her birthday broadcast) is also by him. Hopefully they will invite Hikaru to join another play in the future, one with a lot of music just like "Ambient Border".

In a similar vein, I very am happy to see that Keiko is taking Hikaru under her wing a little, I think that helps her get some much needed exposure.

Now that that's out of the way, let's address the elephant in the room: Music Champ. There are really no words that can convey how much I hate the fact that Hikaru has chosen a nondescript app as her main platform for almost all private and work-related interactions. I use the word hate very sparingly when it comes to anything Kalafina-related but in this case, nothing else seems fitting. In my opinion, relying solely on this stupid "Music Champ" app really cheapens her status as a serious artist. She might as well be using OnlyF@ns at this point¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The whole purpose of this streaming app is to level up a handful of wannabe idols by throwing "items" at them (which is achieved by viewers purchasing coins in the app). I can't believe that a large portion of each broadcast is wasted on those silly level-up campaigns or "item-times" which have literally no added value. Just a bunch of people sending items and Hikaru reacting to it. Not exactly my idea of fun. And really, you pretty much just finance a shady app, I bet only a fraction of the revenue goes to Hikaru herself. Everyone here knows that I am the biggest advocate of supporting your favourite artists but even I have to draw the line somewhere. I honestly don't trust weird apps that no one uses and on principle, I refuse to feed into this kind of activity ¬_¬

Another thing that really bothers me about the app is more of a me-problem but I'd still like to point it out. It's the fact that I cannot record any of the live streams. Yeah, I know, as a fan I am by no means entitled to a recording, this is complaining on a high level but it bugs me. I am aware of course that this feature might very well be one of the main reasons why Hikaru favours this platform over others but for some reason, that makes it even more annoying. Especially since the timing of her regular broadcasts is not exactly foreigner-friendly (at least not for my time-zone) so I can almost never watch her stuff live. I don't think I've been able to watch any of her more recent Wednesday lives and that sucks.

On a side note, is it just me or does this app consume a ton of RAM and drain the battery way too quickly ? Whenever I watch the broadcasts, I am having some major issues with my smartphone even though I have a relatively new iPhone. Within a few minutes, my phone will overheat and sometimes the app will even crash. Does anyone else experience similar problems or is it really just an issue with my phone?

All right, rant over. There is really not much else to say. Hopefully this didn't turn out too bad, it wasn't my intention to bash Hikaru or anything. I am just sad that she has chosen a path that I am not willing to follow. A lot of her loyal fans seem to be happy to support her on the app though so I am glad she has that backup at least.

[chemnections]

(09/26/23)

when you have been around for a long time you start to notice patterns in the greater world. in the art world there is a pattern of crisis’s of movements and methods that would “destroy or cheapen” art. in the punk/diy scene, there is a pattern of gate keeping and policing what punk is which can limit the growth of the genre and ironically outcast people who don’t conform. the pattern is a frenzy, then every time everything is okay. 

the members of ls dunes have experienced this as individuals throughout their careers. starting in diy scenes and transitioning into being band with a label entering mainstream spaces they have had to deal with flack in the moment for things that people in the present love. example, mcr got flack from their peers for i’m not okay because it was dubbed as a pop song. ‘selling out’ is the career. you have to charge industry rates for concerts. you have to sell merch. you will advertise yourself, in interviews and now on social media. and on the other hand, the creative side of things is you will experiment with new technology and methodologies. create new art. i doubt they see ai as much different. 

the argument for ai points out that it can increase accessibility and there is a point to be made about fair use of style and imagery. and we live in a time where reproduction can add value instead of subtract. 

and before someone comes for my jugular, my personal stance is i am against ai. i just like fair discussion and calling out bullshit behaviour.

with ai recreating human voices, i think an example can be put forward that say if anthony’s voice is recreated and his physical image can be created in a visual projected performance and labels technically no longer ‘need’ him - people would still want the original artist and the fact that he is a person will always put him in priority to ai. and in that sense new artists will always be sought after for the reason - to have something real and new. i believe they don’t think that ai can ever replace artists. it is a fair argument even if you don’t personally agree. like they said, you can have your opinion. 

ai is a bit like pandora’s box, it’s already been open and can’t be taken back. we need to look towards the future of how we approach this technology. for example, the writer’s guild is not demanding the erasure of ai, they are demanding regulation. we are in an uncertain time where we as a population are both experimenting with it while coming up with solutions to address how it can be abuse. ls dunes releasing this video won’t make or break anything. it’s in this interesting grey zone of ‘let’s give it a try to see and learn from it and if we don’t like it we don’t have to use it again’. looking back on it could be fascinating. 

but harassing the band will not regulate ai technology. it’s one thing to disagree and to comment about that disagreement and not engaged with the art, it’s another thing to harass, mock and threaten. if you really care about the regulation of ai you can support the writers guild, start local campaign groups and write to government representatives. what is really pissing me off about the response to the old wounds is it is not even arm chair activism, it’s armchair bullying presented as activism. 

i see people constantly complaining of the lack of online interaction (include mcr in this) - but then persecute for every mistake. no wonder why. quick to judge, quick to condemn, quick to attack. this is another reminder to the dunes that fans can never be trusted.  and so many false equivalencies and bad takes.

it is a slap in the face to say they don’t care about small creators when they have been sharing/promoting small artists on their instagram for weeks with linked accounts. the variety of artists they hire for album art/merch/music videos etc. supporting others in the scene. they aren’t as big of band as many fans seem to forget, they are not making their sole living off of dunes alone. it is a passion project. they have their other acts and other non music jobs to keep them afloat. 

this backlash ironically feels relevant to ls dune’s discography, and many interviews/meet and greet questions. 

i’m not all of my mistakes no matter what they say about it. 

i would be shocked if they back down and i’m happy to see they keep a united front, even when things get difficult. they mean what they say.

everyone in the industry frowns upon this behaviour, btw. mob mentalities are not good vehicles for justice, there is a reason we hold trials and why prohibiting the death penalty protects the innocent and members of opposition. 

[icharchivist]

do you think cygames ever intended to kill belial off during the original run of wmtsb and then changed their mind when they realized how much money this slut was going to make them?

I genuinely can't say, honestly.

He was the result of a writer block and we know he wasn't planned to be this important to start with, and they knew he was the riskiest character they've ever made at this time, so it's actually very likely they would just chicken out and keep it as a one-off villain just to get the plot going.

But at the same time it feels like they probably understood that they had something special with Belial. Because the way he took the direction of the wmtsb franchise by his first appearance infused wmtsb with themes that wouldn't have been this much on the foreground otherwise.

Like, Cygames does dwell in popularity yes.... but, credit where credit is due, Cygames especially dwell in good writing. As much as i'd love to see Belial or Lucifer back again for instance it's also obvious they don't actually want to cheapen how strong wmtsb was by bringing them back because they value writing coherence over popularity, and it's something to really command about it.

The moment Belial was introduced as an antagonist i do think some of the thematic elements of the wmtsb shifted.

With wmtsb starting with Sandalphon's journey and setting Lucilius and Beelzebub as the main antagonists, i think the angle of free will and determinism when you're being created for a goal, a purpose that is out of your reach, was probably the biggest core of the story. It's one that is still there, obviously, but considering the extreme Lucilius and Beelzebub push it on their God Complex, i think it was supposed really do be the core of it all. What makes the sky blue, what determine what you are, can you even change if it's not what the skies had planned for you?

But Sandalphon, Beelzebub and Lucilius all have a similar answer to that: if the universe wants them to bow down, then they'll snap the kneecaps of the universe and have it bow down in front of them instead. They're not going to let this determinism take away their free will.

And honestly i think this is probably why there even was a writer block to start with. Because how to you properly introduce two antagonists that, in essence, do have the same morals as the new protagonist of your saga? Like of course you can make it work, but you need to find a way to write to this conflict to see that it's the nuance in the way they approach free will that matters. And to get there, you need some more useful prompting.

Enters Belial and the unique thing he brings to the table by being something who believes he doesn't have any free will, or at least, who convinces himself he doesn't, despite also living for the chaos of it all.

In a story ultimately about rebelling against your creator, about what you've been set on his earth to do, Belial is all about devoting himself to a whole other level to the point of destroying himself.

And with Belial, suddenly the thematic of devotion ends up becoming more important as well, putting even more focus on Sandalphon and Lucifer's relationship than there would be otherwise. Because Belial serves as a foil to Sandalphon, as the comparaison to show us what were Sandalphon's insecurities about his relationship with Lucifer VS the reality of how loved he was. With Belial, Sandalphon's thematic core ends up stronger by contrast, while also genuinely giving more room to explore the issues that can be raised by the initial conflict.

And it added to the determinism plotline. Lucifer and Belial were created equal, but the pressure of how their creators saw them heavily influenced the way they both approached Free Will, and Belial especially has an unique approach to it all.

And Belial's unique approach to all of those themes is not just something they wrote on the side to try to distract themselves until the story was moving forward: it became the thread linking the thematic together.

Because since the thematics of the others players are all so interwined, it becomes difficult to give them space to breath so they can stand out on their own and tell their own story.

Belial didn't just unblock the story by being fun and quirky enough to unblock a writer block, he unblocked the story by giving the theme that was needed for the rest of the themes to fall into places in the story wmtsb wanted to tell.

and as someone who likes literally analysis, i cannot imagine that this is something they just intended to throw out if it hadn't been for popularity's sake. Granblue is smarter than that in the way it tells its stories imo. I do think they gave Belial MORE focus in 000 BECAUSE of the popularity, but even without the popularity Belial would have had something important to bring to the story.

so yeah personally i can't imagine them thinking about killing Belial off by wmtsb p2 if it hadn't been for popularity. I think the moment they commited with this character they realized they couldn't move forward with just the thread he was giving to the plot to start with.

but maybe i'm being too optimistic on the reasons why a gacha keeps a popular character around lol

[anonimea1y]

(whole post is /nm)

i think it's a tragedy that espresso and madeleine's already sparse characterization get diluted so much by fans' projection of classic bl tropes onto them.

it's an undeniably universal truth that characters often get boiled down to their most notable components by fans in order to be easier to digest in casual, non-analytical scenerios. which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be when said character starts getting mischaracterized. which is the case for madeleine and espresso's fanon interpretations.

the most egregious example of this is the nigh-complete omission of madeleine's narcissism and vanity, which is his defining characteristic in canon. very rarely do you ever see madeleine portrayed as anything other than an oblivious himbo who is either a macho, manly man or a loud theater kid. the fandom completely ignores how utterly selfish he acts in almost every single canon storyline he's appeared in. and i do mean almost every.

in his bond with knight cookie, he deliberately cuts in front of him in line for the blacksmith because he thinks he's too important to be waiting behind some peasant boy. in his bond with angel cookie, he's baffled by the fact there isn't an entire procession dedicated to his mere arrival. in the guild storyline, he constantly brags about the dragon being no match for him and demanding a fair fight from a mindless cake monster of all things. in the promo art, he thinks signed autographs are an appropriate gift for someone.

the only times he's seen not acting selfish is when he's with espresso cookie, which is supposed to be the very thing that makes their relationship special. espresso is the only one he's shown to value as an equal; in their bond story, he calls espresso a comrade, he's excited at the prospect of doing great deeds with one another, he's disappointed when espresso doesn't share his same enthusiasm. and that's not all, he tries to help espresso up on his sugar horse, he asks him what's on his mind when he seems lost in his thoughts, he presses him to stop overworking himself and get a good night's rest for once. he cares for espresso. he never does anything like this for any other characters, not even his aunts—he simply sits back as they pepper him with love and affection that he so shamelessly indulges in, which they allow. if anything, they're enabling his narcissistic tendencies—which, and i repeat, is supposed to be what makes their relationship so special. keyword being "supposed."

most reduce their dynamic to a simple opposites attract narrative, where one is a grumpy, intelligent loner and the other is an energetic, oblivious extrovert. which does bare some truth, espresso is very intelligent and he prefers working alone most of the time; madeleine is very cheerful and can be very unaware of how he affects people. but the fans make it so those two traits eclipse his actual characterization.

they erase his very noteworthy flaws so he can fit into a dynamic. which, ironically, cheapens the espresseleine ship significantly. it just makes me so sad.

[erithel]

Ah, no, it's not like I think you have a hit list of Commentors Who Piss Me Off The Most or anything. For one, who has time for that? For two, especially on tumblr, writing out those usernames would probably make me laugh too hard to be mad anymore. I mean, ymmv and all that, but it's a bit overkill ;)

Precise apologies are a bit of a me thing, and online I tend to assume I'm the one that was in the wrong. My humour is *very* sarcastic and relies heavily on tone and body language, so it's very easy to misconstrue online. Even with people I'm quite good friends with in real life that switch can be jarring and confusing for them, and I usually apologize when that happens. That's why I'm a stickler for the difference between things like "I'm sorry you're dealing with that", "I'm sorry to hear you're upset", "I'm sorry I accidentally contributed to this", and "I'm sorry, I did this on purpose but didn't expect this result". It helps me clear up the issue, it makes the other person feel heard, and it still only holds me accountable for things I actually did. (Pro tip: this works really well with customers/clients as well, and since I deal with them in high-stress situations by default it's even more helpful). On a personal level as well, I feel like it cheapens my apology to give them for things I don't think need an apology or that I didn't do. So I just don't.

I also know I get caught up in the rising tension as a story approaches it's climax (wink wink nudge nudge) and can't easily promise I wasn't in the chorus chanting KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS. Not because I want them to at this point or think they will, but just because the story is affecting me the way it's supposed to and I'm excited.

I feel you on the repetitive replies to comments. I'm not much of an active writer anymore, but I remember it. It's not that every single one isn't appreciated and cherished, it's just that replying to them gats really dull at a certain point.

So this is both an interesting and important thing to talk about.

Because obviously tone can't often be conveyed through the internet, and it is very easy for something to come off in a different manner than its original intent.

I am a firm believer in giving people the opportunity to understand how their words made someone else feel without resorting to a blatant, personal, and public call out.

People make mistakes, and it's important that they be given the opportunity to change without immediately resorting to shaming them for something they may just not have known.

It's important for people to learn and grow, and become aware of better ways to convey their thoughts and feelings.

What you've mentioned here with apologies is a great example. Because it gives you an opportunity to learn from your mistakes without feeling shamed for them, and it also gives the other party the opportunity to express their feelings and discomforts without feeling shamed, as well.

Wording is important when tone is taken at face value in an online setting.

There is a huge difference between reading a comment that says:

"I NEED THEM TO KISS ALREADY! STOP DRAGGING THIS OUT!"

and one that says:

"I know this conversation is needed, but I am also just really excited for them to kiss."

The essence of it is that most people don't do well with demands, or things that made them feel invalid.

[hanzajesthanza]

by the way, i wanted to thank everybody for so many kind, encouraging, and thoughtful responses to my first video. (slight vent post :>)

it did indeed take a lot of work and a lot out of me, a lot of research, multiple stupid all-nighters… but as unhealthy as it was, it was actually really good for me, i think. it was a real experiment, i honestly haven’t worked so hard on something since my thesis to graduate last year.

i felt cathartic, that i had it in me to make something like this, that i’m not useless…

i mean, i know i’m not, but ever since graduation i’ve felt so, so burned out and as a result of that, just, stupid and inexperienced compared to everyone else in my field, socially isolated, agoraphobic, even, in some cases.

(i’m one of those people that worked really hard in high school and college, and now that i’ve graduated it’s like, who am i? what is my purpose? what is my value? add burnout to that, and you have a year of feeling guilty that i’m not killing myself constantly with projects.)

so to be able to actually fucking make something that not only took a lot of work, but had me constantly pushing my comfort zone, reorganizing my space (physically and digitally) and just trying my hardest to get it done… on top of it, being really, really be passionate about what i was working on… it feels like…

it feels like, if a close friend of yours died a year ago… and you went numb with mourning… but then you just got news that they’re alive…

but the thing is, that friend is you.

it’s funny how dramatic i’m being, because i actually decided today that i don’t like the video much, and that it’s not very well-produced. (it only took me two-to-four days to start hating my artwork, of course. well, i had a good time being proud of myself while it lasted).

it’s something along the lines of calanthe’s “i hope my outburst didn’t offend you. the form, not the content.” i hope this video didn’t offend you—the form, not the content. i’m secure in the content, the research. but the form… again, like calanthe’s, very ‘in the moment.’

i woke up this morning really mad at myself for making some creative decisions that i feel cheapen the whole thing. (i don’t know what posessed me to use my accent color for a background color, it makes the whole thing look gaudy and unprofessional. i guess i just didn’t want a boring white background, but ugh… that is going to be on my list of regrets for a while).

but i placated myself knowing that the video does its job as a biography and a source of information. and the fact that youtubers sometimes remake their first videos later in their careers. (well, at least my first video is a topic that will never go out of style, it’s an essential, expository, evergreen topic of interest). and that i will make more videos, improving one thing at a time. one thing at a time. slow steps to progress.

i want to make engaging videos, but it’s really difficult because i don’t think i have a very engaging personality… it’s very “book report”-ish at the moment, lmao, i’d like to be myself. if i know who that person is.

i had a ton of anxiety about how i would be judged or what if i got it entirely wrong… (i rerecorded some parts due to this and i think that may have been a bad decision, because the cuts sound terrible, but anyways). but everyone was so encouraging and just had such a warmhearted reception to it, i don’t think i expected that. i expected mean comments for some reason, idk lol. i also expected way more pushback and cringe because i was talking about sapkowski (who, as we all know, is not very popular, for some reasons more valid than others). so i honestly have no idea where the positivity came from, except your own good souls and goodwill towards me, which is astounding, so thank you.

i want to make more videos and improve. and grow the channel, so it can serve people who are interested in the books. the books deserve something of their own, their own space. i know they’ve had their own space for as long as they’ve existed, but this would be my space for them. if that makes sense. i’m carving out an intentional space for the witcher books, slowly but surely, it will get there with time.

at the same time, i have to balance this with real life. ugh, real life. i might have serious committments this week, but i have no idea... the exact details yet. essentially, committments that may eat up all my time to the point where i’ll have no time for this large crazy video experiment after all.

my name, nimue, is… an emanation of myself. like krzysztof’s katarzyna. a poet’s name.

my person that exists within book pages, the mind, and the web. but not in real life. or rather, not yet in real life. i think they’re stuck somewhere between the screen and the floor.

i’d like to bring them to life, soon. but it will take time, work. i have no idea if i’ll have that kind of time soon. i have no idea what adulthood brings me in terms of commitments. it hurts me to abandon nimue like this. for once, i was able to bargain something for them, release myself, give into the creative flow. i spent a week being them, i think that’s the longest nimue has ever existed in the real world. and now… i have to jump back into my ‘real’ self again. “no fun allowed.” damn it. and i had just tasted that freedom, that creation.

all i know is that i can’t let them die. though i think they’re immortal inside me, after all. and perhaps one day we’ll become the same person. it could happen!

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

What is your opinion on resurrection as a trope? People include fake-out deaths and idk almost deaths and whatever and I guess they fit but anyway. (I remember some time ago you reblogged that you liked the trope in which the characters come back wrong when they get brought back to life so I was curious about your opinion on the trope of characters getting back to life unscathed.) Obviously this can be done lazily or whatever but personally I disagree with how booktube for example discusses this trope as if it's always bad

So I have different opinions on fake-out/almost deaths and on true resurrection. Regarding fake-out/almost deaths, I actually love it when characters come back unscathed if the point is to bring the hope which only a miracle can bring. Like everything seems hopeless but boom! the person you thought was dead isn't actually!!! and the situation hasn't really changed but still!! it means that good can perhaps happen it means there's hope!!! I love it so much! Every time! If it's done too much within a story then the deaths start to lose value and weight I would say so writers need to be careful with it, but I think miracles should be allowed to happen within a story if that kind of courage and hope is needed at that moment. Also it makes me cry.

Actual resurrection depends for me? I think in that case the fact that the person was actually dead and is probably traumatised from, y'know, dying should be addressed, I understand why sometimes people feel off when characters are raised from the dead and they're like yeah I remember literally dying but I'm 100% fine now! I feel like that's gonna mess you up bad, especially if within the universe there's some form of afterlife, and if it's that kind of story I prefer it when people address that. However, in one of my favourite tv shows right at the end a character is brought back to life, it is Never Explained. It is a glaring plot hole. The character recovers mentally from actually dying so quickly. But it works! Because the end of the show is all about how saving everyone is actually possible! How you can change things for the better! how not everything has to be about grief! so it works none of us care how or why it happened we're just so happy that it did. So I think it depends on the kind of story that's being told, if it's a heavier one or a lighter one, if your focus is joy or healing or grief or endurance of whatever you want, I think you have to bend how you deal with the resurrection depending on your themes for sure. But imo as long as the resurrection doesn't cheapen the death of the character, as long as both the death and the resurrection are both still taken seriously, I don't see a problem with it and I think it can be quite wonderful.