#most of what I think about is related to them

[northwest-cryptid]

I want to firstly say I'm by no means an "ai bro" nor am I even pro-GenAI. However I think education on topics like this is important because I believe being uneducated about it means you can't properly fight it. I'm not trying to directly state that OP is uneducated, but I will say that this take feels uneducated.

While yes, most corporate AI models like OpenAI do charge users for prompts and such. Many AI users run local software on their own hardware. They're using open source, or otherwise free models on their own computers; and it's important to understand this for two reasons.

Firstly, it means that no matter what happens with OpenAI they're not going to be effected. While these large companies are the bulk of the problem with AI since they're the ones buying data from companies and generally stealing art/writing/voices/etc. It's very difficult to actually fight these companies as an individual given the sheer amount of funding they have for legal battles. That being said companies are trying to fight these AI giants and while some are failing, others are succeeding. I don't like any companies but if my enemies are fighting I hope they both die. More often than not, the fights being won in court are against individual end users and not companies as a larger whole. However a win is a win, and it's a step in the right direction. While I don't unfortunately see prompting getting that expensive any time soon, such a rise in prices could drive traffic off these sites and it's likely that while most users will simply not seek other options. I know for a fact that many individuals out there are already taking strides to make Locally Run AI more accessible to the masses, even without extremely beefy PC setups.

This brings me to my second point. Anyone running a local LLM (Large Language Model) or GenAI Model like Stable Diffusion can easily generate text, images, or videos from their own hardware. However, to do this you need a few things. One of the biggest things they require is a "Checkpoint" essentially this is the brain of the AI, it's what is actually trained to create the images or text. For example if you took thousands of screenshots from a Ghibli movie you could use them to train an AI "Checkpoint" for stable diffusion, then when you load that checkpoint into the AI it will know what you want when you use specific prompt terminology. Why does this matter? Because many of these checkpoints are passed around online, and many of them target specific internet artists, or specific styles. If you could prove that a checkpoint was being trained on your art or writing without your written allowance you could take legal action via copyright claims. While this wouldn't necessarily retroactively remove the checkpoint from users who already downloaded it, you might be able to get it removed from websites that are hosting the download in the first place. Doing so means that if users attempt to abandon OpenAI and related websites in search of running local models, they won't be able to find a wellspring of checkpoints readily available. Which means they'll either be forced back to generation sites that in this example have become too expensive or they'll be forced to drop AI.

Now I've covered GenAI for images, but LLMs are a little trickier and yet are taking care of themselves, because most of the big ones are available for download like Ollama (Meta/Facebook's LLM from what I understand.) The thing about this is that you don't need to worry so much about this one since even the newer versions of Ollama running locally can't hold a candle to what ChatGPT is capable of, and this kind of goes back to "if my enemies are fighting, I hope they both die." If Ollama can't compete, and ChatGPT is overpriced; people will be forced to fork over the money which isn't sustainable; or simply stop using GenAI LLMs. As profits drop so will the interest in AI funding in general. Without the profits/funding they'll have less money to handle the court cases they're dealing with and thus we'll see a collapse in GenAI like ChatGPT.

What I'm saying with all of this is that if you're an artist who posts your art online I IMPLORE you to do some research on where AI Checkpoints (also sometimes called Models) are being hosted, check the sites you find. Search for various artists you may be in contact with, search for styles you draw; and if you find anything that you can prove was trained without proper copyright agreements, get in contact with the hosting site about copyright claims and see if you can't get those checkpoints/models pulled from the site.

I understand that the fight against AI is something where a lot of people want to take a nuclear option, I've seen my fair share of "we should firebomb the walmart" type posts, and yet when I try to tell people how to do their part or at least a way they might be able to help, I am often accused of being an AI Bro or being Pro-AI. I am not, but I've taken the time to educate myself and I continue to learn because AI is improving by the day and we need to keep up. I understand that GenAI will do far more harm than it will ever do good; and while I feel we've already reached the point of it being harmful enough that we shouldn't have let it get this far, I don't simply want to sit back and wait for it to die when I could have a hand in helping it not get worse and hopefully die faster.

i can’t wait for when chatGPT and ai image generation also crashes and each prompt cost $50 an attempt. oh you can’t get your stolen big tiddy anime ghibli art for free anymore? you want to buy real big boy art from real artists now? beg for it. beg for it like a dog.

[darkmatilda]

𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 | 𝐬. 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: in which one spencer just wants to have his quiet moment with a book and coffee in the morning, but the universe (or more specifically a certain someone) demands his heroics instead.

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬/𝐭𝐰: spencer reid x diva!chemist reader, ARACHNOPHOBIA! (talk about spiders but no real spiders lol)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 1.9k

𝐚/𝐧: request marathon masterlist

Spencer’s day started off very well.

He woke up feeling well-rested, so the coffee he grabbed on the way was more for the taste than for the guarantee he’d survive the next few hours. Even his step was somewhat lighter when he arrived at work among the first, only running into Derek and Rossi, who were engrossed in a discussion about cigars.

"JJ told me she might be a little late," he informed them, taking a seat nearby and placing a large white mug on the table.

His friend had indeed called him about fifteen minutes earlier, asking him to pass the message along. Henry had suddenly fallen ill, and she had to find someone to watch him at the last minute. The two he addressed didn’t even react, too deeply immersed in the universe of cigars to concern themselves with the outside world.

Rossi was just raising one hand and leaning forward slightly, as if about to deliver a piece of life wisdom recorded somewhere on ancient scrolls. Morgan, listening intently, barely blinked, as if he feared missing some secret hidden in Rossi’s every move.

Reid rolled his eyes.

If he tackled a crossword puzzle with that much dedication, he’d be greeted with a cheerful morning, nerd.

He decided to take advantage of having arrived early and bury his nose in a book for a while, but before he could pull it out of his bag, his phone rang.

He reached for it, briefly thinking it might be JJ again, calling to say she’d be even later. But the number flashing on the screen wasn’t hers — it wasn’t even saved in his contacts — yet he recognized it.In fact, very few numbers in his phone were saved, and when they were, it was formally, with full names. Most of them, though, he simply remembered.

Just like this one.

He looked at the phone and sighed.

There was a good chance that, right at that very moment, his good morning was coming to an end…

“Come here,” ranged out a sharp order, just as he pressed the phone to his ear.

“What?”

Had they agreed to meet and he’d forgotten? Maybe she’d told him she would pass him some results that day. Still, if it was work-related, there was no way he would have forgotten. Which left him more than confused.

“To my lab,” the woman said, her words coming out through clenched teeth. She let out a breath through her nose and, still with a strange tension in her voice, added, “You need to come here.”

He stayed silent for a moment, pushing his lips out in thought.The coffee and the book sitting in front of him were practically looking at him with puppy eyes, and who was he to abandon them for someone who was probably about to use him for something weird?

Maybe she actually needed a test subject.

Either way, he didn’t really feel like going anywhere just because she said so.

“S-sorry, can’t hear you, bad–conne-ction,” he muttered into the phone, cupping his hand slightly over his mouth to create that robotic, crackling effect. “S-ome interference…”

“You fucking asshole,” she hissed so sharply he felt a shiver run down his spine. “I want you here in five minutes. If I’m still alive by then. It’s an emergency, Reid.”

After those words, she simply hung up, leaving him staring at his phone. Emergency, she’d said. And she had sounded like something serious had actually happened.Spencer cast one last, longing look at his book and coffee, then rose from his seat.

Rossi and Morgan didn’t even notice.

On the way to her lab, he wondered what could have possibly happened so early in the morning. A few potential theories crossed his mind, but none of them seemed very likely.

Besides, if it had been something really dangerous, she probably wouldn’t have been able to reach for her phone. And even if she could, he would have been the last person she’d call. She’d rather be rescued by Strauss riding a white horse than by him.

He assumed she was lying to get him there. For some reason.

He pushed the door open with a sigh and...stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted him. His eyebrows raised. The woman shot him an angry look, suggesting she had expected him earlier. He might have been scared, if not for the fact that she was standing on the counter, both feet planted firmly, looking down at it as if it were her boat in a vast sea.

"Kill it,” she said.

Spencer, still confused, looked around. The lab was empty, and perfectly safe.

"IIs there a serial killer hiding here or something?”

“Worse,” she replied, shaking her head seriously. He continued to stare at her, more than skeptical, at which point she sighed in irritation. “Don’t look at me like I’ve lost my mind. I didn’t just jump on this damn table for sport.”

“Well, there are different kinds of hobbies. Not everyone has to hit the gym...”

"There’s a spider,” she interrupted, pointing at a spot on the floor. She took a breath as if preparing to recount a traumatic story. “I dropped something, I bent down to pick it up, and it ran across my hand.”

Watching her shudder, Spencer nodded in understanding, giving her exactly six seconds of silence for her dramatic performance.

He then snorted.

“And this is the emergency you called me for?” he asked with pity.

She crossed her arms over her chest, which, in its own way, looked impressive but mostly funny, considering she was still standing on the counter. Her posture remained perfectly straight and proud; he had to give her credit for that.

“Yes, this is the emergency because this…pest is preventing me from doing my job. And my job is connected to your job. You know, for your own benefit, just kill it.”

They stared at each other in prolonged silence. She, clearly frustrated by his lack of response. Reid… unexpectedly finding a source of amusement in the whole situation. After all, it was rare for him to be the one on the mocking side of their interactions. What a wonderful feeling.

So he decided to have a little more fun, standing in a relaxed, unhurried posture.

"How big was it?” he asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

She rolled her eyes upward, at the ceiling not that far from her head.

“It’s important that it was there. Not important how big.” After these words, her thoughts wandered for a moment, blinking. “Probably the only time anyone has said that seriously, actually meaning it.”

Spencer couldn't understand why anyone would have never said something like that about spiders before. He shrugged, continuing.

"What color was it?”

"For heaven's sake…”

"Black, brown, gray…”

“Black!”

“Was its abdomen more round or elongated?”

“WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING—”

“I’m trying to identify what species it is,” he spread his arms. “I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

She took in a deep breath, frustrated.

“Why are you acting like catching a spider is harder than catching an unsub?”

“Unsubs are usually a little bigger,” he pointed out, using two fingers to indicate the size of a typical spider that sometimes makes its way into a house. “It’s easier to, you know, notice them…”

“Oh, why did I have to call you?” she asked, burying her hands in her hair in regret over that decision, her voice dripping with exhaustion from the situation.

Unable to stop a satisfied grin, Spencer shrugged.

“I’ve been wondering that myself,” he admitted.

She stood there for a moment, hands furiously on her hips, her eyes gleaming with the question of whether he was ever actually going to do anything. He held her fiery gaze for a second, before sighing in surrender. His coffee and book were still waiting for him, and since he'd decided to take on this side quest, he might as well deal with it quickly.

Feeling her watchful eyes on him, he moved toward the spot she had pointed to as the monster's lair. He leaned over, trying to spot it in the shadow cast by one of the cabinets. After a moment of analysis… he scoffed.

He picked up the black, hairy thing and turned toward her.

At the sight, she instinctively took a step back, nearly falling off the counter. She spread her arms out to the sides to keep her balance.

"How can you touch that…”

“It’s not a spider,” he interrupted, holding out his open hand. His eyebrows were raised with a mix of genuine amusement and sarcastic mockery. “It’s an eyelash.”

He took a step toward the counter where she stood so she could take a look. With an unreadable expression, but her jaw slightly clenched, she leaned in to get a closer look, still not coming down from the counter. She did it slowly and carefully, as if suspecting he might be joking and actually holding a spider.

Her jaw tightened further as she realized.

“It’s an eyelash,” she confirmed with a barely noticeable nod. “A fake eyelash. It must have fallen out of one of my team members.”

She avoided his gaze, which Spencer deeply regretted. After a minute of silence, without a word, he extended his hand toward her, offering to finally help her down to the ground. Only then did she catch his eye — and he deliberately hid his smirk for a moment. Slowly, she accepted his offer, placing her hand in his, and grabbed onto his elbow as her other foot touched down, still seeking her full balance.

Before she could say anything, Spencer tilted his head slightly to the side.

"So the fake eyelash ran across your hand?” he asked.

She yanked her hand out of his grip.

“Oh, fuck you.”

“What an irrefutable argument.”

"That was the last time I ever asked you for help with anything. The real spider probably escaped while you were interrogating me about what it had for dinner!”

He actually gaped at her, impressed she still managed to turn this whole situation against him. At that, the corners of her mouth curled up smugly.

He shook his head.

“Fine. And that was the last time I saved you from a spider.”

"Fine!”

"Fine!”

"Your fine was completely unnecessary.”

“I’m not giving you the last word.”

“Oh, babe, how could you give back something you never had?”

Her scoff sounded louder in his ears than it should have, and combined with the mischievous glint in her eyes—and the fact that her face wasn't exactly far from his—it made swallowing feel like a real task by the time he finally turned to leave.

"You’re even later than I am,” JJ noted when he finally returned, eyeing him with surprise.

It pulled him out of his thoughts. He hadn’t caught all of what she said, but he figured she was commenting on the fact that he’d been the lastto show up — the rest of the team was already there.

He scratched at his forehead, fighting off a small, traitorous smile that had decided to creep onto his mouth without asking for permission. Or consent. He cleared his throat.

“Yeah, I had a…minor emergency.”

He grabbed his abandoned coffee cup. His smile disappeared as fast as it had come. The coffee was stone cold.

[ahappydnp]

dan and phil seem to understand phandom quite well but do you think there are things that they don’t get (yet?) at the moment?

oh my fucking god where do i start

i think sometimes they revert back to the assumption that we only care about their romantic relationship/we want more than they're comfortable showing and we're only around for them to ~perform~ the ship for us? especially when they are a bit more vulnerable and gentle with each other, obviously we react and get very excited because they're just. a stunning example of what could be and a beacon of joy for queer people but i get that for them the reactions can still feel like people screaming PHAN IS REAL when they made eye contact. but like...it's just not and it never was that for so many people? i do think they fundamentally understand the difference and have said they appreciate the support, but sometimes you can just feel the walls going back up just a bit (which is fair, easily startled feral cats vibes) but like!!! i don't want you to fuck on youtube actually!!!

them going from (incorrectly) assuming the entire fanbase was 14 to now incorrectly assuming the entire fanbase is 22 when they've literally talked about half their demographic stats being their age or older!!! blah blah blah it was the loudest demographic and most vocal and the whole 'dan and phil are my dads' thing but it's also a self fulfilling prophecy when they don't speak to their own age demographic and constantly pull focus to younger crowds this isn't necessarily a bad thing but i know it used to bother dan in particular when it was kind of his own doing like girl why were you making school exam videos in 2016 asdafsdgjk i think also hanging out in pjs streams where he vibes with his own demographic more is so chill and nice and i think dnp would also really enjoy that? like the peers instead of parental vibes

"OMG THEY TOUCHED" IS AN INSIDE JOKE WE ARE ALSO IN ON BTW

semi related to that but i think they sometimes forget we're just as sarcastic as them? like dnp make a joke and then we joke back and then they're like "ugh you guys didn't get it we were joking obviously :/" (lovingly)

[horrorshow]

asking in good faith, but to me it seemed like dean was obsessed with hypermasculinity not bc of his clothing/music choices, but bc of how he treated women in particular & his sort of, trying to play it cool attitude towards his own feelings & even jensons decision to play dean with a deeper voice. also him teasing sam did play a role for me in that interpretation bc he teases him for doing "girly" things specifically. could you explain a little bit more your perspective on this? im genuinely curious

it's selective reading. for every one of these examples you could also find an example that contradicts it: he's a caretaker, he cooks, he reads mommy blogs, he likes watching soap operas, he wears jewelry, even with one night stands he likes holding hands and the woman in charge, he didn’t chicken out of trying on woman’s underwear. if a guy is truly obsessed with looking as masculine as possible he wouldnt do these things.

the way i see it: dean, like most people, displays both stereotypically masculine and feminine behavior, making him a standard regular guy. and discussion about this is only interesting if you look at the full scope and context without cherry picking.

what we do know is that dean is usually bad at hiding his emotions, he feels very intensely. given the life he had, it makes sense he tried to look a bit older and tougher than he actually was to protect himself. that has more to do with being smart and adapting to his (masculine-rewarding) surroundings, rather than an obsession with masculinity itself. you gotta look through that facade.

and sorry but… how he treats women?? it's true he doesn’t always talk about women with the utmost respect but i do NOT see a pattern of mistreated women. his one night stands seem happy and well treated the morning after. and he gets along fine with other women as well. i know a lot of people mention his comment on underage girls but whenever you see him interact with any of those girls you dont see that kind of behavior at all, there are even examples where he seems to relate to the vulnerable position they're in, so it seems to be nothing more than a misplaced joke.

a lot of people forget that this show started 20 years ago, and was written by a bunch of mostly white men. jokes about women and men being girly and gay were very common back then. you got called gay and girly when you drank milk in your coffee, so to speak. my dad got called gay for getting an earring (he thought it was rock 'n' roll) lots of people talked like that, and it didn’t necessarily mean those people were misogynistic homophobes in all areas of their lives. most of the time they were just an average dude who got used to using this kind of language bc it was used everywhere and never really stopped to question it and think about it.

which is also the blind spot spn has, and critique of that is valuable. the writers seem to have put that in because they saw it as funny relatable guy talk and brotherly banter. but nothing shows me it was their intention to make dean look like someone who looks down on women or gay people, and other scenes confirm that. dean is teasing sam in jest, he isn’t trying to seriously demean or hurt him.

i mean, i'm all for finding flaws in a story and twisting them into something that makes sense, but there’s a reason dean feels like he needs to act like more of a careless tough guy: its because he's not. and it leaves him vulnerable. dean is much softer and emotionally open than you give him credit for.

and if that makes you think he’s obsessed with masculinity, you haven't paid enough attention to him. jensen doesnt play dean as a very masculine guy, even with the lower voice. it's a lot more nuanced than that.

[help-itrappedmyself]

Liminal Jason part 6

This part feels like a lot of exposition. My bad, but the Batfam does not know how Danny and his life works.

You can find the earlier parts on my masterpost

“And in this scenario, you three count as dead?” Red asked, hoping to get some clarity on this, quite frankly, annoyingly impossible scenario playing out in front of him. Because as much as he can see that they clearly have a way to communicate that is beyond him and knows that they have all died, his brain does not seem to want to compute this information into other conclusions. A glance from Tim to Bruce shows that while he may not be struggling as much with the logistics of this situation, he is still struggling.

That may be because of all the children in front of him that- regardless of current status- all did die at some point. 

“Sort of,” Danny shrugs. “What you have to understand is there are a lot of different kinds of beings from what you would consider the land of the dead, which I call the Ghost Zone, and is more formally known as the Infinite Realms. There is a lot of diversity, and It would be a real sit-down kind of lesson to try and explain them all to you guys. The important bit for right now is that the three of us,” Danny gestures to Red Hood, then himself, then to Robin,”are three different beings, as related to the Infinite Realms, and I am the only one that technically counts as dead.”

Danny is very good at ignoring the side glances being thrown around. “But Ghost Speak can be spoken by any denizen of the Infinite Realms, who falls under any of it’s categories or rulers.” 

“Rulers?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny does another hand waving motion. “You know, Hades and Pluto, Lucifer and the Devil, the Ghost King, and other various religions and beliefs rulers. It's all very monarchist. The Infinite Realms are all technically under the control of the Ghost King, but the Infinite Realms are infinite and that’s a lot for one person to control. So various religious leaders all  make up what is essentially Dukes and Lords and Barons and other random titles, and they all control their little Realms and make up what could be considered a council or a parliament or Congress or what-have-you that is technically under the rule of the Ghost King. But the Ghost King really only takes care of the really big stuff most of the time. Unless there’s a tyrant on the throne, like with Pariah Dark. He was a terrible ruler, very controlling.”

Danny was rambling. He was aware of this, but the others seemed too shell-shocked to be able to stop him, and he has never really been able to talk about this with anyone so now that he is he doesn’t think he can stop himself either. 

“He’s not on the throne anymore, luckily. Technically the right to the throne is transferred through single-combat, very old-fashioned. No one could beat Pariah Dark so they locked him in the Coffin of Forever Sleep for a really long time instead. I don’t think the Infinite Realms really need a King all that much, they got by just fine for millenia without one. But now we’re getting into politics. Unimportant. Death Speak, language of the Infinite Realms, totally natural, not at all bad.”

Danny forces himself to take a very long, slow breath. By the time he is done, the others seem at least semi-recovered. 

“If it’s all the same to you, I think I would like that sit-down lesson at some point.” Red mutters, fingers twitching as he pulls out his tablet to start writing down this information. Bruce grunts in agreement.

“If it's all the same to you,” Hood snaps, “I would like to get out of this cell now.” 

“If we let you out, will you stay until we have the results from all of the tests?” Bruce asked. “They’re currently running so it won’t take long.” 

“Why the hell do we need to stay for that? You-”

“Did you take my blood?” Danny interrupted, seeming very concerned.

“It was a precaution, we had to test it. We took some of Hood’s too.” Red tried to explain. It didn’t seem to be helping, Danny’s breathing was getting kind of fast. “The tests are running now, just to look for influences of mind control or magic. And to test for dimensional distortions and integrity, if you were telling the truth about being from a different dimension. And to see if you have an alternate in this dimension that we need to be concerned about you running into.”

“I don’t really care -well, yes I do, breach of privacy, and consent, and-” Danny took a deep breath. “That is not my main concern at the moment. You were safe when handling my blood, right? You used gloves and it didn’t get on you or anything? I don’t know where we are and what you people are like, but just tell me you were safe around my blood.”

The real concern and fear in Danny was starting to get everyone else.

“Don’t worry, we are very safe here. We all have training and we know and use lab and medical safety procedures.” Damian spoke softly, aiming to calm.

“What is wrong with your blood, Danny?” Hood’s concern for him came out in underling Ghost Speak, and between him and Damian, Danny was able to calm some.

“It may be… not radioactive. Not contagious either.” Danny’s voice trailed to muttering for a moment as he figured out how to word what he said next. “My blood has a contaminant in it. Just don’t let it touch you, and definitely don’t let it get inside you somehow. It can also be dangerous if you have prolonged exposure, so make sure to get rid of any samples as soon as possible after the test and keep it away from other samples. And for the love of everything that is holy, try to keep it away from anything that will ever be ingested. Keep it away from food!”

“It can contaminate other samples?” 

“It can contaminate anything given enough time, technology included. But it spreads way more easily when it’s cold for some reason, so really anything put in a fridge with it should be tossed immediately.”

“You said it’s not contagious?” There was concern in even Red’s voice now.

“You’re not ill are you?” Damian eyes Danny warily.

“I’m fine, It’s part of me being what I am. Just,” Danny sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before cupping the back of his neck with both hands and looking towards the ceiling. “Think of it like a transforming agent. I’ve already been exposed, my DNA is altered, the harm is already done. My body actually needs that substance to survive now. Hood and… I’m sorry I don’t know what to call you.” Danny swung his hands back down to his sides as he glanced at Robin. 

“Robin.” Damian stated bluntly. 

Danny nodded and continued. “Hood and Robin have already been exposed so they’re fine for low to medium amounts of exposure. You two,” Danny pointed a finger at Red and then Batman, “Have not been exposed and therefore should avoid it as much as possible. Even a little bit can cause lifelong effects.”

[wemlygust]

Even just having a description of a lunch alone can say a lot. Especially if the world has otherwise forgotten what crops we grew, what food we ate, how we cooked the food, when we ate food, how we thought about food, who was trading with who (deducible from who has what food) or even who was in contact with who at all. But also yeah it's also worth it just to feel a whole truckload of relatability with ancient people who have a tendency otherwise to not feel real a lot of the time even though they were. I do really wonder how much of modern media will survive the next, say, 2 or 3 thousand years. Kinda impossible to say, I think. A lot of the most valuable historical finds are from trash heaps, because when nations fell the libraries were lit on fire, but nobody cared about erasing the trash. But the trash had things in it like trade manifests, legal papers, receipts, which might seem boring at first but actually can tell historians a lot. Also I remember reading about what the figures painted on some ancient Greek pots that, despite being ancient Greek pots, were ancient Greek knockoffs of other ancient Greek pots. But the originals are lost or destroyed, so the knockoffs is how we get to still have those painted figures, and historians can look at them and try to piece together what people believed abou t the gods or what their society was like (with those paintings + a bazillion others that nonetheless amount to only a sliver of what must have once existed).

I was reading one of my childhood diaries the other day and there was a whole paragraph saying how hopeful I was that my writing will help the archeologists in the far future. Then it proceeded to describe my lunch that day and how my dog was probably secretly able to talk. 

[lizardsfromspace]

So one fact from my investigation of the Matrix plagiarism case that drove me absolutely insane but I'm not sure I ever made a post about was her explanation for why the press didn't cover her "victory"

So for people who weren't around for that, look up "Sophia Stewart" on my blog, but long story short: there's a viral story claiming that the premise for The Matrix & The Terminator were stolen from a writer named Sophia Stewart, and that she won a billion dollars in a lawsuit. She actually lost her case, but a mistaken article from a Utah community college magazine spread online, and she still regularly does media appearances based on the idea she won. That's what fascinates me about the case: unfounded plagiarism accusations are a dime a dozen, but the bizarre fluke of a community college sophomore's journalism project making a mistake & that mistaken article going viral has elevated this one to being the most famous one

A major element of this is a narrative relating to race and gender, but that's a narrative she denies in that very Utah community college article. In her view, Hollywood isn't oppressing her for being black. They're oppressing her for being Christian.

Because I got my hands on a copy of her treatment (no, she never wrote an actual script) & I discovered that even most people who've debunked the story never read her pitch because it has nothing in common with The Matrix or The Terminator besides vague plot beats (a chosen one, robots used to rule over a society but not ruling the society themselves). It is, in fact, a new age-y evangelical Christian planet-hopping space opera filled with rants about the powers of the pyramids and the like. The treatment spends like seven pages raving about banks and the media before it introduces the hero, who is a literal, not figurative, Space Jesus. It ends with a mass sacrifice of his cultists followers to grant him power, an epic and stirring Jonestown moment, at which point the final battle happens over the course of a couple lines bc when writing a pitch for a movie five gazillion pages of lore is more important than detailing the climax of the film. There's a lot more to it than that (and tons of wild parts I never posted) but that's the gist

But every now and then in an interview, someone asks, "hey, why can't we find a story saying you won besides this dubious one?" And here is her explanation:

'The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner... this GIANT owns 95 percent of the media... let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business... New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, DreamWorks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow and many, many more! They are not going to report on themselves. They have been suppressing my case for years.'"

So: Warner Bros owns the media. 95% of it. This explanation is wrong. But also it's...really funny.

The AOL-Time Warner merger had happened a few years before this, and it was already regarded as the worst merger in corporate history. Like. Historically bad. Far from ruling the world with corporate synergy up the wazoo, AOL-Time Warner was horribly disorganized, with most companies operating independently from one another and all of them at odds. There's a concentrated plan to destroy her from the dogshit company that couldn't do anything!

But it was never the case that they owned 95 percent of the media. They don't even own a lot of this list. Let's go one by one

New York Times: owned by the same family since forever

Los Angeles Times: owned at the time by Tribune Media, who owned several TV stations affiliated with The WB. Owning The WB affiliates never counted as "controlling the media" at any point, I think, but you know the old adage: "whoever controls the airing of One Tree Hill in the Los Angeles metro market controls the power........"

People Magazine: owned by Time, she's got this one

CNN: owned by Warner, she's got this one. Why MSNBC (owned by Microsoft and NBC at the time, though Microsoft was an absentee father already trying to sell it off) or Fox News (a network that spent like 25% of its time attacking Hollywood, often with claims that they target Christians!) never covered her story is left curiously unexplained. I don't know how far back Fox News' archives go, but I did search since I thought they'd be the most likely to cover this, and: no results

Extra: a celebrity gossip show owned by Warner Bros, she's got this one

Entertainment Tonight: owned by Paramount, a rival studio with every reason to report bad legal news for Warner Bros, and yet near as I can tell, they never covered this case. I'm starting to think it may not be true

Celebrity Justice: what the fuck is Celebrity Justice? It was...a short-lived & obscure celebrity gossip show that indirectly lead to TMZ?

HBO: owned by Warner Bros, she's got this one

New Line Cinema: so she's saying this one bc it had just produced Lord of the Rings. But while they're known for that now, we really should put it into context how much of an anomaly LotR was. New Line Cinema spent most of its history producing low-budget horror & comedy films, made Lord of the Rings, never produced another film with a similar scale, and were shut down a few years later. Actually, there's a whole story about how another film they released the same year as Fellowship of the Ring flopped so hard it effectively cancelled out its success & got the head of the company fired, but that's for another time. They were not so much Hollywood power players as a studio that accidentally lucked into the biggest film trilogy of all time in between Friday the 13th sequels, but they were owned by Warners, so

Dreamworks: never owned by Warner Bros at any point, it was straight up an independent studio at the time whose distribution deal was with Universal. It looks like they co-produced some films with Warner Bros, but they were never owned by them.

Newsweek: at the time owned by the Washington Post

Village Roadshow: they had a co-production and distribution deal with Warner Bros, but were an independent Australian company that made movies and theme parks. Again, a company collaborating with Warner Bros doesn't mean it owns them

"and many, many more!" She claimed the company owns 95% OF ALL MEDIA and she just gave up listing who they own after a dozen. And she was wrong about half of them! She had to resort to listing "Celebrity Justice" as a platform on par with the New York Times and just kind of shrugged at all the others. Clearly, you can't trust any press, besides Utah community college magazines

[nebrasska-alasska]

I know you’ve mentioned a few future fics you’d like to write eventually. so I’m really curious, how many fics do you currently planned out? Also, which project has been your favorite to work on or that you’re most excited about?

Oh gosh, it's a lot! Here is a list of the projects I have planned in order of when I'm going to probably start posting them:

Sonic POV Dentist AU (whenever I sign my job contract)

Shadow POV 'Silly Hats and Party Favors' Spiritual Successor (releasing when I finish 'Tethered at the Wrist)

Mystery POV submission for Sonadow Exchange 2025 (releasing mid-june, I don't think I'm allowed to talk about this one at all other than the fact that I'm signed up lolololol)

Shadow POV (about a special interest of mine that is super loosely related to hiking, but actually isn't about hiking and you'll see what I mean when the story is released)

Shadow POV Secret Identity fic

Yeah so this list is kinda all over the place... but I don't want to reveal too much about any of these stories ;))) And I have many more stories planned in the grand scheme of things, but this is what you're going to be seeing from me in the foreseeable future. I'm super excited for all of them, but the spiritual successor for 'Silly Hats and Party Favors' is the one I'm currently most excited to work on because the original is the fic I had the most fun writing so far, though the secret identity one should slap too haha. But yeah, hope that was informative, thank you for asking!! :D

[ihavenoideawhatiamdoingjustgay2]

Unraveling you at the Seems

Genre : Haters to Lovers

Summary : Your new Marriage with the Knave isn't going well, untill a certain invite that will put your world upside down reaches you.

Notes : Figthing, injury, I'm so tired, so, so tired, sorry for another cliffhanger istg it won't happen again, I don't wanna spend that much time on this baby bc of my book, also I'm lazy, hope you enjoy

Wordcount : 1,718

Chapter : 1 / 2 / ?

My Masterlist

Link to AO3

Your dagger hit only air and you stepped forward, nearly falling into the fire yourself.

What.

A sudden voice sounded meters from behind you. "I expected better."

You span around, looking at the woman, her glowing scythe and cross shaped burns that littered the ground.

"You knew.", you mumbled, but there was no suprise in it. Yet, you couldn't help yourself from staring in disbelief. Disbelief at how your family had sent you to die, for the most part.

"I raise assasins.", she spat, taking a few steps forward, spinning her scythe. "Do you think I wouldn't recognize my own techniques?"

You straightened up. "I've been taugth dirtier tricks."

Her eyebrows knitted together. "You're lying." she declared, then chuckled.

You had enough of the circling. You were at her side in a few seconds, but Arlecchino blocked your attack with ease.

She huffed while looking at your weapon.

"Is this really your weapon of choice?"

You groaned, letting go of the block and resorting to doging her, your arms were slowly getting tired. "It's not like you are easy to kill!", she swung the scythe towards you, but you dodged just in time, being able to graze her side, having blood trickle down, she ligthly hissed, turning in an instant, slashing, you blocked again and again. You had only been taugth to defend yourself and how to stab someone, damn it! "I have been, trying and trying the last few months-"

"You let the perfect moments slip rigth through your fingers!" Arlecchino criticized, using your weak spots and the openings you created, slashing little cuts in your clothing and skin, but the adrenaline made you void of the feelings towards them. She could kill you, yet she was holding back. She was never holding back...unless when- you were unhanded within a second and your face met the ground. Your own knife was held up against your throath. This was a lesson. Or an offer. "And now you left the perfect opening. Amateur."

You didn't try to thrash around, neither did you make a move to go and grab the knife, unhand her like you've been taugth. "I know.", you sighed, looking at the ground. "I thougth I'd finally manage to kill you if the stakes were raised..." you explained "something like an explosion...but my lack of patience and time came to ligth, I suppose.", you liften your head, sligthly deciding to look at her face, trying to read any change. But her mask didn't move an inch.

"I will give you credit where credit is due.", she said. "I did not suspect you until about three moths ago, though your relation to the Jester did tick me off." "You became so skittish, secretive, the children told me about your odd way to handle a knife...and the whole of last week,", she huffed. ",did you think that I wouldn't notice? You sat at the desk for hours and I knew something was up when the maid told me that you said there were renovations at the palace. I was there last week."

You shivered. "When!?"

"Does that really matter to you rigth now?", she continued holding the knife against your throath.

No, it didn't. You set your head back down into the grass. "Thank you for figthing me. It was an honor.", you closed your eyes, but never felt a slash. You opened your left eye. "What is it?"

She sighed. "When I was younger, I owned a pet spider."

"Bambi...", you mumbled and she nodded, holding the knife closer to your throat. You should let her talk out.

"Now, at first I did not know how to handle such a frail creature, so, as to protect herself, she bit me one day when I accidentally slipped. It hurt and I was in the infirmary for two days, a friend took care of her meanwhile. In time, I took her back and handled her properly, she never bit me again."

"What do you wish to say?"

"I take care of what is mine...even if it tries to kill me.", the knife glinted in the ligth. "It migth also have to do with your heritage," her hand pushed your hair away from your neck. An oddly intimate gesture. ", you can really thank the Archons that he's your uncle.", you imagined blood trickling from your neck.

"So, I'll either be your wife and lose my pride, or" you left it for her to finish.

"Die with it.", she said, hard.

You saw the fire casting its glow over you, imaged its warmth on your back. It would be hard to dispose of your body. Esspecially with your uncle so near. Maybe she would kill you later. She'd definitely kill you later and make it look like an accident. And maybe she'd slowly let you bleed to death, you became acutely aware of the pain in your side. She'd cover it up. You looked up at her. But, if you agreed, you wouldn't have to fear for your life anymore. You'd have a deal. And Arlecchino was an honorable person that was keeping to her vows.

"Ok.", you mumble. "I'll quit my mission and be your wife, if you won't kill me."

"Good girl." Arlecchino mocked to then remove the dagger from your throath. You huffed, getting on your knees as she heaved herself up.

You stayed down there for a while.

"Do you need-"

you held your hand up, your shoulders rising and falling irregularly as you breathed. She continued standing there, her hands in the pockets of her pants

"Well, I already did know that you have no stamina..." she mumbled and you blushed.

You glared up at her, but her expression was the same, before it turned alarming as she looked at your side. "Seems I did more damage than anticipated...", her hand grazed the wound and you hissed, clawing at the next best thing, which was, well, her. "Much more...", she almost seemed...worried.

"Don't lie. You wanted me to bleed out in case I wouldn't agree. It's far less suspicious...you could've blamed it on one of the stones or, what do I know, I'm dying over here!"

She lifted you to your feet and you leaned onto her side. "You talk a lot whenever your nervous..."

"Like hell! My family- oh archons my family.", horror flashed across your face and you stopped in your tracks. Your family. "Can you still kill me?"

"A deal is a deal, I'm afraid.", she said, hocking one arm under your legs and the under around your shoulders, you nearly chocked on your breath, feeling your side sting, clinging onto her jacket. She allowed it.

"Because they will murder me. I will bet my yarn on that! Where- where did you put my knife by the way? Can I get it back?"

Arlecchino huffed. "Not yet. When we are home. And I wish to know the location of you're other ones."

"What other ones?"

"I can also just look for them myself."

It had been worth a shot. "Under my closet, under my cushion and one in the drawers."

"What drawer?"

You shrugged. And she shook her head. "Oh, you are a horrible assasin."

You 'hmph', before being reminded of the open and growing wound on your side. "For fucks sake I really liked this dress."

She looked down, at the spreading blood, even her suit wasn't spared. Her eyebrows knitted together in worry, before a familiar figure stepped out of the building.

Uncle Pierro. Shit. You turned away from him, his most likely scrutinizing gaze, to lean against her chest instead and...your eyes felt so heavy. "Stay awake." Arlecchino shook you.

"Are you ok?", he stepped closer.

"She was hit by one of the stones, her waist is damaged and she is in dire need of care."

Why was it burning so badly? You've had wounds before but hell...this burned.

"Fuck.", you clinged onto her as the last of your adrenaline dissipated.

"There's urgency. She needs to be treated. Now." Well, she did know how to demand a room, or her supervisor for this matter.

She passed him and for the flicker of a second you saw worry in his eyes, with a glint of dissapointment, you squeezed your own shut.

"We can't get you back home in time...you have cryo powers, don't you?"

You nod, grabing for your vision, it appeared back in your hand, though your grip wasn't strong.

"Good."

She seemed to jump over rubble and avoid broken walls, by your judgment of the ligth atleast untill she sat you down. You fell half into the thing, your eyes darted from a stall to the white wall...

"Are we in the bathroom?", you croaked.

She didn't answer, soaking something in water. "Freeze the wound, ligthly."

"Are you ins-"

"Just do it."

You stared at her hazey figure. "I could die."

"Well you will certainly die when you don't freeze it, now, go.", she took your hand by force and guided it to your side.

"I take care of what is mine" you remembered her words and obscenities left your mouth as little shards of ice left your fingertips, entering the wound. She shook your wrist and you stopped. "Good...", she mumbled, her hand pressed the water soaked something around it. You swore more and your eyes screwed shut. And you couldn't force yourself to open them back up again. Like sleep.

You felt as she shook you on the shoulders. "Hey, don't fall asleep now."

"God damn you-" you hissed, clenching your fists. How long was this going to take?

"Can you wrap it up already?"

You heard something rip, before she came back up, a piece of fabric in her hand. Black. From your dress.

"On it...", she mumbled and you felt as she wrapped the piece around your mid, so aggressively that it could count as a corset.

"Do you want to kill me?"

"Not anymore.", she picked you back up again and you yelped. "Now let's get you to a proper doctor-" You heard the door open again. A familiar muffled voice.

Several ones, a shift in ligth, Arlecchino calling your name, before everything eventually turned to black.

[sprachspieler]

Good morning and thank you for the picture of the bee! I didn't know anything about carpenter bees, but they are quite interesting.

Structuring the posts is probably a good idea. So I'll start with some minor comments, then there's the main section about money creation, and lastly a brief note about money-as-power.

Minor comments

You see both check and cheque in NZ. For that sort of word, I think generally older people use the British spelling and older people the American spelling. Though it's sort of a moot point, since they've pretty much entirely disappeared in the last few years.

A note about small transactions: I can definitely see that it'd be difficult to get the police to go after someone for stealing a small amount. My disagreement is that I don't think this makes sense as a cause of inflation. I doubt any firm (or whoever sets the prices) has thought, "Oh, there's a lot of money around nowadays. The government won't be able to enforce the value of all of it. I'd better raise prices." Possibly it works as an abstract interpretation of what inflation represents, like a sort of metaphor. But then we get into very philosophical questions about how theories relate to the world.

Money creation

I'm not really sure if you don't understand how commercial banks create (non-physical) money or if you do understand the process but just view it differently, so I'll try to cover both possibilities.

Say Alice, Bob, and Carol all have an (at the moment) empty bank account with the same bank. The government prints $100 and gives it to Alice (I suppose she works for the government). She deposits the $100 in the bank, so the bank records $100 in Alice's account. The bank might then loan Bob $50, which it does by just recording in its ledgers that Bob has $50 in his account and owes the bank $50 at a later point in time. Alice and Bob then buy goods from Carol, which costs them all their money. The bank records that Carol has $150 and Alice and Bob have $0 each.

The crucial step for commercial bank money creation is the loan to Bob. When a bank lends, it just declares that the borrower has however much money in their account. They need to have enough currency in their possession to allow for withdrawals, but beyond that the sum of demand deposits is not limited by currency. That's how money is created.

I think you probably view the extra $50 as fake? I argue that a definition of money where that's the case is suboptimal* because (1) people can actually spend it to buy goods and services (favours if you want to be an engineer about it), (2) they can do this simultaneously (without the extra $50 being backed by an extra $50 of currency), and (3) it comprises the majority of money in our economies and is the way in which most transactions take place** (and the definition of money ought to recognise how transactions actually occur).

*I think definitions can't really be false, but they can be worse in various ways.

**It might differ in the US, but I don't even remember the last time that I used cash.

There is a sense in which the money is in a superposition of states that might collapse (or something; I don't know physics), but that is specifically if Alice and Bob want to convert their money into currency. As long as they're happy to keep it in a demand deposit, it's all fine. (And I wouldn't characterise money in a bank account as being unobserved, since it can still be spent, as above.)

Summarising, my contention is that:

Banks create more demand deposits than the amount of currency that exists.

Even when multiple people's money 'comes from' the same currency, they can still spend all of that money.

Because this money can be spent, it is 'real' money.

So not all 'real' money is created by the government.

Last bit

I think also I might've been conflating your theories about power/money and those about where money comes from. I don't have much of a specific disagreement with the former, but I have a technical disagreement (or maybe it's just semantics) with the latter. There is some connection between the two, but I don't think they're the same. You can still understand money as power without asserting it is all created by the government.

It's so weird to me when people are like 'but that will cost the government money!' So what? They're the government, they're supposed to be spending money. What, you want them to take your tax dollars and then do nothing with it? Lock it all up in a big government vault and just look at it? Why are you so scared of giving a third grader lunch or a homeless person a house.

[dark-lord-of-awesomeness]

Hey, I don't know if this is already on that ever growing list of cat shorts, or if you feel up to adding to it, but mabye a version of the chapter 54 multi- ford, but with Bill wins Stan and Ford instead?

I was interested in this one for a while because i was interested in how the fords would react to each other, but thought it would probably be similar to the original so didn't ask. But for some reason it kept bugging me.

The reason hit me suddenly earlier today. Sure, how the other ford's reacting to bill wins Ford compared to cat Ford might be interesting, that's not the most interesting part.

It's how Bill wins Ford would react to the situation that's much more interesting and probably different.

I mean, for one, I'm not sure Bill would even try to contact this world in 2012. Ford stabbed him, so many times. If I were Bill I'd pass on that one unless it's revenge related. But he might.

Either way, this is a Ford that probably still walks with a Lazer gun, has unicorn hair sewn into both his and Stan's and probably the kid's clothes now too.

No matter that he has no translator, and that it's probably obvious with just a bit of observation he hasent been through the portal. Even though there are feral and battle scarred fords in the same room.

You can't tell me he wouldn't see something even remotely related to Bill, much less a Bill warlock, and that he wouldn't be the only Ford there to immediately lose all cool and go for the throat.

I can add it on! He'd definitely an interesting Ford.

Although I think the best version of multi Ford with Bill wins ford would not have Stan there at all. If Stan's there he can keep Ford mostly level and stable, as he's his designated emotional support cat. Ford might get snappy and hovery, but mostly just very twitchy and suspicious with everyone. Any Ford who's first reaction to Bill is violence can be explained away as normal if more severe Ford Bill truama.

Bill wins ford who gets shoved into the multiverse with no Stan there to either keep him calm or at least explain the situation would immediate go off the deep end again. He's full on tackling people here, desperately screaming for Stan and looking for awnsers how he got into the multiverse and how to get back to his home dimension. The moment he's left to his own devices he's stripping the walls for parts and restarting his weapons manufacturing, as he keeps emergency unicorn hair on him at all times.

The bill cultists opens the door to give him a translator and Ford is already going for the jugular. Doesn't care about freeing the other Fords he's on a one man quest to kill everything Bill related and find his Stan. Because obviously his Stan must be around here somewhere! Otherwise he's back at home alone and away from ford where Ford can't protect him!

Which is exactly where Stan is.

Cue maniacal laughter as Ford loses it. Again. Only comes back for the other Fords because theyre him and they must know how to get back right? Right? And if they don't then what even is the point of them?

So look forward to Ford loses it part 2: the multiverse.

[study-diaries]

How To Study Anything At 10x Speed

This is not a bs guide, these are some tips that have actually worked for me and they can work for you too. The thing is, it's fairly really easy. I have sometimes managed to prepare for a test before 15 mins by just reading through it. It's fascinating if you break it down.

Mindset Change

A mind set change is everything. If you think it is easy. The topic will be more bearable. If you think it's tough, it's going to be more tough. So, first thing is first. Be open. You are not dumb, you can easily understand everything if you just remove the concept of "It is too hard or boring"

I once heard that the subject isn't boring, you are bored. So, change your thought process. Start with, "I can handle this"

Break It Down

Not your chapter. I mean the topic itself. Line by line if you have to. I did this exact thing for accounts whenever i had to do ratios. It was a pain. An unwanted pain. I couldn't understand anything. But i sat down one day and read every single line of the textbook for that topic. I made what i call "Line Visuals". This is simple.

You read a paragraph => You don't understand anything.

Read every line => Draw it

Understand the key terms used there

And then draw a single visual representation for that entire topic.

I'll guarantee you, you will understand it. Review it once a day for a week and then once a week.

Story Method

People remember stories more than normal facts or random pieces of data. Stories allow you to link different facts together and make it easier for you to process.

The easiest way to do this is using "FTF" (First, Then, Finally).

First, the main character (you or anyone else you imagine) will start on a journey. That's scene one. You will need to associate some points to this scene. This will mostly include the overall concept. Basic understanding.

Then, the main character will face a problem. This will include all the major questions revolving around the topic.

Finally, the main character will find the answers. Let's break it down more.

What i love about this is that it can be used for sudden test/ pop quizzes because all you need to do is just remember the story.

If you want to read more about it, check out: How To Study Using The "Story Method"

Use Mnemonics

Learn with this. It helps you to remember easily. Make catchy phrases to remember points/facts. These are like the building blocks of studying anything. Stick small notes to your books writing the phrases beside the topic so the next time you want to revise it, it's easy.

Connect Similar Topic

Connect all your related subjects. Everything in school is somehow connected. I usually used to connect economics and business studies concepts. Sometimes even computers so... Connect them.

Active Recall

Active recall is like the number one tip i'd recommend. It's easy and most of you probably do it already. You just have to keep revising and testing yourself at the materials periodically. It's easy and effective.

Teach What You Learn

You learn the most when you teach. I had taken my friends for this. Study and teach it to them. This helps because you have to have a clear understanding of the material first rather to teach them and you may end up with some important feedback. Your friends might ask a specific question you didn't know the answer to and now all of you are trying to perfect yourself with the material.

___________________

Additional Tips:

Tips for understanding complex topics

How To Self Study

Tips To Study Concept-Oriented Subjects

How To Study For Longer Hours

How To Study Multiple Subjects

___________________

I hope it helps! :)

By the way, all of these tips are from my previous posts. But honestly this is what i do to actually study faster. It actually works for me and i hope it works for you too :)

__________________

[gold-rhine]

so i finally watched the nod krai livestream, and it has some talk about nod krai, inspirations, factions, etc, the usual stuff, but the interesting part to me was about narrative reasons behind adding nod krai at all and also strategic change in storytelling direction

so, they said that basically they realized that they have shitton of unexplored lore and a lot of plotlines and character arcs that were planted in all the regions, but not advanced bc hoyo were rushing things. so they decided to take time and dedicate the nod krai timeline to "tying up loose threads". which is huge win , they should have been doing it long ago, but better later than never i guess. this also means mond quest is not a fluke, but a part of this direction and i think lantern rite that explored hu tao's backstory also fits

also, they said that they are reevaluating their methods of presenting lore, that long descriptions hidden in books are inaccessible to most players, and and they want to instead give players lore through gameplay experiences, and also they want to clarify their lore bc they see a lot of batshit theories. HUGE WIN, I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR AGES THEY NEED TO DO THIS. the dark souls method of storytelling doesn't even work for dark souls, the youtube DS\elden ring lore videos industrial complex is clear indication - like 95% players are not engaged in game, they either ignore it altogether or watch youtube videos with conspiracy theories. the puzzling together lore and plot from hidden descriptions is valid storytelling method, but not for all games. i love sunless sea, cultist simulator, book of hours where main gameplay is doing conspiracy board from cryptic texts and metaphors, and even more narrative oriented games like disco elysium and planescape torment can pull it off bc text is already the main gameplay medium in these games, but genshin is just completely different genre and they are not using the medium to its advantage with long text lore dumps in random shit.

also, they said they want to move away from sequestering stories into world quests and character quests, and have overarching interconnected main narrative. which is a tentative W depending on execution. isolating lore in story quests and so this lore not being able to to be used in main quests is a long time problem. in fontaine its excellent world quests would simply be fun to be included, but natlan id say suffers enormously from locking all saurian and dragon related lore in world quests. both archon quests and world quests end up feeling shallow. what the fuck was that abyss pyro dragon fight out of nowhere. but if they turn it into long ass boring blah blah sessions like hsr's amphoreues then no thank you. really will depend on execution.

they also said they want to explore things that only genshin can do, like having characters be present in the world and tell stories through interactions with them. previously they couldn't do that bc devices couldn't handle it, but now its possible. the traveler tales event was their first experiment with that. if you've been there, you know i LOVED that event, the way they weaved several interconnected narratives from casual quick encounters, explored characters' relationships, including the ones i never knew i needed to see, like cloud retainer and razor. or gave depth to previously only hinted things, like i always assumed qiqi and yao yao were hanging together bc they are two liyue kid characters, but their plotline really opened it up and the finale was so bittersweet and touching, and all that for characters i frankly never gave a fuck about.

but that type of storytelling will depend hugely on execution, you need to have a very firm handle of the narrative direction, pacing, sense of what is enough set up and when pay it off. if they do it right, this will be a BANGER, but with bad execution it might end up worse than traditional boring quests. idk we'll see

[words-and-covers]

@clay-lives btw even if you had checked her pronouns you’re still wrong about the clothes thing. Just want to put that out there.

How?

Short answer: this is basic modern fashion history. Look at the silhouette of mens clothes 100 years ago vs womens clothes 100 years ago. Then go to 75 years ago, then 50.

Long answer: so we know that basically all modern clothes we commonly see are based on western clothes, that’s thanks to mainly the Brit’s and the Americans and imperialism. So to understand this you’ve got to understand some basic things about hundreds of years of fashion history in Europe, mainly how fashions were developed.

So for like 500 years mens and womens fashion was developed in completely different ways. For men it was designed by pattern blocking which is when you draw out pieces on paper, cut those out, then use the paper to cut fabric then sew the fabric together. The result is very straight clothing. Women’s clothes were designed by draping, this is when you get fabric, hold it up to a figure and use that to figure out out where to cut, then sewed that together. The results were more fitted clothes and depending on the era, more draping accents. Btw the mens designs were made by men and the womens designs were made mostly by women.

‘So?’ You might be thinking ‘what’s this got to do with now?’

Well, if you notice, in modern day you’ll see draping in women’s clothes but not in mens (you can find a few examples but that’s all they are, examples. You won’t just find a mens clothes in target or JCP that features drape)

An example of drape in modern clothes btw

So now I’ve established this: rules of fashion from hundreds of years ago are still affecting us today. Hold onto this, I’m getting back to it. We’re getting to under garments bc that’s important for the history of the T-shirt.

So for at least a thousand years by now and I’m assuming longer (we’re going before time periods I’m familiar with with this one. I can’t tell you when we first started wearing underclothes. All I know is we were most definitely wearing them in Europe 1000 years ago) we’ve worn layers of clothes under our clothes to soak up our dirty human gunk so the nice layer on the outside doesn’t do that and don’t get subjected to more rigorous cleaning and instead gets spot cleaned. This is true for both adult men and women. So the T-shirt was (still is) used as an undergarment for men and you can find things that the T-shirt is related to well before the 20th century. Here’s a random example I found by typing 1850’s men’s button up. This straight cut was important to achieve a ‘masculine silhouette’

Since T-shirts were made to go under the already straight cut button down they were also designed to be straight. I believe the T-shirt was first getting worn as a single layer in every day fashion by the beatniks in the 60’s and if not them and if it wasn’t them it was probably either the hipsters or the hippies (who came after). This, the ‘unisex’ T-shirt was mens clothes even if it was an undergarment that was being sometimes worn as a fashion statement.

I don’t know when women began wearing the T-shirt but there’s always patterns in when women start working mens clothes, it typically comes during feminist waves. That’s because (and this is important) in times when women are trying to be taken more seriously they dress more like men (WOW! THATS A LOT TO UNPACK AND IMPLIES A LOT!) So if I’m making an educated guess, I’d say they started wearing men’s T-shirts around the grunge period. Now, assuming that that’s true, then the grunge girls in the 80’s were just now wearing an item of clothing that’d been around since at least the 40’s and had been wearable as a fashion statement for 20 years already. Crazy.

Anyways, clothes that hug the curves of the form are seen as feminine since this sort of clothing design was something women pioneered in and it stayed associated with them and clothes that seem to be more based off of straightness are related to a long history of men’s fashion in Europe.

What would a more neutral look for a simple, mass manufactured item look like?

I don’t think me coming up with that would actually solve anything here. There’s a lot of root issues that are pointed out in this but for the sake of me pointing out that it is possible here’s a design that if a guy wore it he wouldn’t be called gay slurs that I came up with in at most two minutes

The brown is the original lines, the black is the current one. Since a T-shirt is supposed to be easy to mass produce I didn’t add too much new fabric. When worn the bottom would appear more ruffled (like how a men’s T-shirt looks when someone with big boobs wears it). But again I don’t really care. It’s not about making this more gender neutral.

No matter what’s done here the weight of mens fashion won’t leave women’s fashion unaffected. The next time there’s a women’s rights umph in pop culture the clothes worn will again be influenced by mens clothes. Cuz Thats just what women have to do to be taken seriously in a patriarchy.

It’s bigger than the T-shirt and trying to solve the T-shirt won’t single handledly solve the issue you trotted over

It affects all the clothes you’ve ever worn. Misogyny is just that deep.

it’s kind of crazy how here on the so-called feminism website you literally can’t say something as simple as “dude is an inherently gendered term” without literally dozens upon dozens of people who consider themselves feminists showing up to say “idk i use it in a gender neutral way”. like idk how to tell you this but the fact that masculine words are considered default/neutral and feminine words are not is, in fact a reflection, of a patriarchal society.

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

For the Backstories prompt! I wrote a lot so uh oops.

Etho is a living glitch as well as the oldest thing in existence, although he’s not the first Player, that goes to Steve. Etho went about for a while, refusing being patched and annoying the Devs, but eventually he started seeing more Players running around, and decided that he wanted to try the whole Player thing out.

After he became a Player he started working on his own world, gaining a little audience in the process. Whenever he’s in his let’s play world he’s watched by ten beings that he calls the Script Writers, although they’re pretty harmless and don’t actually have control over him. They like to leave him suggestions for what he should do and watching him is their favorite activity. Etho knows about them, but they don’t interact with him outside of leaving him ‘scripts’, so he mostly ignores them.

There had been an incident where the book they left him had gotten most of its pages torn out, and any words left were corrupted beyond repair. Etho eventually found the stolen pages in the side of a mountain, as well as the thieves. He’s not sure where the 404 clones came from, or how those twisting halls and rooms even got there, but he hasn’t seen either of them again in a long time.

Pearl’s past is a bit less chaotic (though she definitely still had crazy things happen). She’s from a small village and lived a pretty normal Lunar childhood. She was born during a clear night underneath that world’s beautiful Milky Way, gifting her magic related to the wide and colorful expanses of space alongside the usual moon related magic.

She was trained in the arcane and observatory, and considers herself very close to the Sky Mother. She met Grian when they were both pretty young, and after many more years she joined Hermitcraft — just in time for the moon to come crashing down. Pearl eventually found out that Tango had been claimed by the Sky Mother thanks to her amusement at his attempt to destroy the moon, and has offered him help with figuring out his new Lunar magics.

Speaking of Tango, the first several years of his life were very eventful. He wasn’t born, instead having been a patch of fire that gained sentience and a bit of magic. He wandered around on his own for a while, building himself an organic body based off of features from various beings and mobs he came across. He was chased away by quite a few Players and away from quite a few villages before meeting Skizz, who quickly ‘friendnapped’ him and took him home (much to Impulse’s disappointment and confusion).

Tango didn’t talk to Imp & Skizz for a couple months, but eventually he got used to them. Besides, living with them was a lot more comfortable than wandering aimlessly, and it was nice to finally talk to people who didn’t try attacking him. Impulse was pleasantly surprised that Tango didn’t immediately book it as soon as he managed to get outside again, and Tango’s been friends with Imp & Skizz ever since.

It's been hard for Tango to get used to this new form of magic- it's nothing like the fire abilities he's had his whole life. But Pearl is helpful, and he's already thinking of ways to use it in minigames.

-Mod Mleem

[waheelawhisperer]

Taking a break from my Regularly Scheduled Lappland Posting (TM) to talk about Vina Victoria's voice lines and operator files because they make me laugh every time I read them

She arrives at Rhodes Island and immediately dumps all her work on the Doctor

She regularly goes back on board Rhodes Island under the guise of "Diplomacy" in order to see her friends and get away from work. At which point she makes the Doctor do it for her.

She's the one person alive who willingly eats Hibiscus's cooking (because it's better than wartime emergency rations). She does this regularly.

She gets into street fights in full Speaker of the Parliament regalia

She bonks Doctor on the head. She's playing!

She takes an unholy amount of joy in the fact that Doctor has more work than she does

She tries to take time off from her job as Speaker of the Parliament so she can hit people recreationally

She gets assigned to work in a facility and immediately tries to find a place to nap because fuck that

Corollary: the Doctor tries to assign the highest political official of one of the most powerful nations on Terra to sort gold bars in the trading post.

She's really, really happy to be deployed in combat because it means she can stick Doctor with the "thinking work" and just hit people in the face. This is her way of destressing.

Doctor steps on her cape, possibly by accident, possibly as revenge for making them do all her paperwork. She's a little bit grumpy about this.

HR thought the Glasgow Gang gave them incorrect information about her as a prank, but dutifully recorded it in her files nonetheless

HR tried to remove what they thought was false information made up to fuck with them and Indra tried to fight the entire HR department over it

According to Morgan and Vina's clarifications, there's actually some truth to what they told HR, it's just exaggerated or misinterpreted.

Despite initial accusations of being "sluggish" and "low energy", she apparently does just about anything around Rhodes Island, ranging from "postpartum care for burdenbeasts" to "test-driving Engineering's new tractor".

According to Morgan, she apparently likes sour lollipops because "the intense [flavor] makes her feel more alive".

On a related note, Morgan regularly eats sauce explicitly noted to be both awful and nearly expired for the same reason. She's normal.

She used to hate potatoes so much that she challenged Indra to a boxing match to make her eat her potatoes for her. And won.

Let me reiterate: instead of just not cooking or ordering potatoes, tossing them when they came with her meal, or trading them to someone else like a normal person, she beat Indra up until Indra agreed to eat them for her.

She's actually fine with potatoes now, but she still makes Indra eat hers because it's funny.

Indra must also really hate potatoes - her files indicate that she's boisterous and a big eater and also intensely loyal to Vina, so I can't imagine any other reason why she wouldn't just trade Vina something else for her potatoes if asked. Apparently even someone who embodies the spirit of knighthood better than the official knights of Kazimierz has limits to what she will do for her liege.

The reason Vina sleeps a lot is because she's exhausted from having to fill so many roles at once, which, like, I get it.

She fell asleep while riding a tram once and then fucking fell off

The rightful heir to Victoria's throne fell asleep and fell off a tram. Landed on her ass.

She used to make Kal'tsit watch movies with her.

She used to make Kal'tsit watch movies with her.

When Kal'tsit revealed that she knew her true identity, she hit Mon3tr so hard it started buzzing.

This shit is straight out of a Looney Toons short

She decided to use a holy symbol of the Victorian Parliament as a voting bell

This was both a calculated political move to dismantle the symbols of the old Victorian order where the royals and nobles reigned supreme and because she thought it was funny

She's freaking the Dukes the hell out with her approach and they don't know how to handle it

Harmonie is apparently intercepting Ducal communication and forwarding it to Rhodes Island. Give pets to Green Catto.

She's explicitly getting better at restraining her temper and her disdain for nobles and has managed to get some of them to engage in at least temporary self-reflection, to the point where at least some of them are enacting material improvements to the lives of the people under their rule

She really, really likes and trusts both Kal'tsit and the Doctor, to the point where she's not actually mad at them for manipulating her into returning to Londinium and claiming power

She views Doctor and Kal'tsit as filling the role that Caster tried to during the Londinium arc - as both benefactors and champions who protect and aid her against the other factions.

She continually expresses her desire to keep learning from the Doctor throughout her talk lines. She's following in her mentor's footsteps by learning to eat food not normally fit for human consumption (Originium slugs, Hibiscus's healthy lunches, etc).

She's like the fourth or fifth funniest woman on Terra I love her