#she was made using ChatGPT

[sleepyy-jayy]

i am a sage fanatic an absolute madman quite obsessed the biggest stan imaginable my beautiful amazing scrunkly daughter

i made crimis edits of her

have i mentioned i love sage

[dullahandyke]

sidenote speaking of polls that infuriated me, that poll like 'does a story require themes to be good' was sent from hell to kill me

[horely]

I was at a symposium on AI research this week and an expert in the field said basically each single exchange with ChatGPT is equivalent to pouring out a half-liter of water...

like... my college students have flat out told me that they have ChatGPT summarize all of the readings for class instead of reading them & they generate drafts/ideas for projects with that too, so even beyond the fabrication of sources and issues of academic integrity, they are:

1) Not engaging with the full content,

2) Not learning the skills to engage with and research these topics moving forward,

3) Becoming more reliant on a tool that is literally SO BAD for sustainability efforts?

we need to make using chatgpt embarrassing bc sorry it really is. what do you mean you can’t write an email

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for turning someone in for academic dishonesty?

I’m an American IB diploma candidate, and this ask does center around that, so sorry if we all just sound unbearably seventeen-years-old.

If you don’t know what the IB diploma is, think of it as if you had to write a bunch of essays and take a bunch of classes and do a bunch of service hours and then take AP tests on all those classes and add the AP scores together, and if they add up to a certain number, you get a special diploma that looks good to colleges.

Only eight people in the entire grade (we’re seniors and our exams are happening so we’re at the very end) are left in the IB diploma program right now because we made it this far and are all hoping our exam scores and essays. The program isn’t super popular at our school so we tend to have to mostly prepare ourselves for exams and such, so we’re all very proud of ourselves for getting this far and hoping that when our scores come out we get the diploma.

In short, we’ve done TONS of work. TONS OF WORK. And we haven’t received the amount of support that some IB schools are able to give. And suddenly, one of the IB diploma candidates admits in the group chat, “yeah, chatgpt wrote all of my IB essays.” If you know stuff about IB, she explicitly admitted to cheating on her Extended Essay, TOK Essay, TOK exhibition, Chemistry HL IA, History HL IA, Literature HL Essay, and Art HL Comparative Study.

That’s hours and hours and hours and hours of work that the rest of the diplomats candidates did that she’s just flippantly admitting she let an AI do for her.

but…….it also wasn’t really any of my business. So I wasn’t sure whether I should tell or not—especially since I’m the known goody-two-shoes of the group and I didn’t want to be viewed as a tattletale.

I asked two of the diploma candidates I’m friends with what they thought. One of them said “don’t be a snitch,” and the other said she wasn’t sure and kinda felt like I should talk. So… split response.

I was leaning towards “don’t be a snitch,” but eventually I just felt really indignant that this girl and I might receive the same end result for doing wildly different amounts of work. And I had evidence that she cheated—she admitted it herself. So I went to the school’s IB coordinator and I talked. I showed the screenshot. I essentially betrayed one of the candidates in a very tight knit group of students who are all breaking our backs to get this diploma with little to no IB-specific support from our teachers (our classes are all co-seated with non-IB-test-takers, who take up most of the class, which is an entirely different issue), but now it turns out one of us wasn’t even doing the work the whole time…

So I did it and it went to the administration and they’re “deciding how to proceed.”

Reason I’m worried I’m TA: she trusted us with that information and I told on her

Reason I think I might not be TA: it feels unfair that we should have the same shot at getting the IB diploma when the nights I stayed up crafting the perfect extended essay were the same nights she asked chatgpt to write her an essay and then moved on with her life and somehow did it well enough to not get caught.

AITA?

[lalalian]

weird/uncommon genres | dr ideas

date: december 16, 2024

Im never making a joke again 😭 after talking to my friend abt it, i feel better, but im still too scared. I thought poop jokes were childish and funny, like “your mom” 😭 regardless, nobody's seeing a joke from me ever again unless it’s on tiktok-- just to be clear tho, even if I found it funny, if the other party didn't, obviously the fault relies on me

I saw a guy get canceled for saying “your mom” too— though tbf it’s bc in Confucian countries it’s really bad to joke about your parents

sjfhdhsks I wanna cry…

Anyway, I haven't done these in awhile; I'm not sure if yall like my aethergarde academy posts more, these kinds of posts, or both (equally).

it's been awhile-- here's some weird ass genres you could make a DR from.

disclaimer: I used chatgpt (out of curiousity for some of these genres, those genres are made up and are not actual terms. Italicized ideas are ones from chatGPT. Guys it's unfair how good chatgpt is getting.. my brother told me that the goal of the current model is to have the AI simulate proper critical thinking instead of simply spitting out information.. isn't that crazy)

futuristic

cli-fi - this genre delves not only into climate change itself, but issues relating to the sun disappearing, or the world freezing. I remember seeing a shifter somewhere saying that she shifted here bc in her previous reality climate change was getting really really bad.

social sci-fi - focuses on how humans interact and behave in a futuristic setting.

planetary romance - exploration of different planets + romance, especially with an alien. Also characterized by distinctive extraterrestrial cultures and backgrounds.

data gothic - cyberpunk x gothic horror; characters encounter malevolent AI beings, digital ghosts, and corrupted data streams.

cosmic agriculture - genre focused on growing plant life in outer space or on different planets. Can also including breeding alien organisms (bacteria).

psychic noir - solve crimes in a world where memories, emotions, and thoughts could be hacked, manipulated, or weaponized. I think I'd make the memory thing extremely hard to do, since if it was too common I think it'd cause way too much havoc.

eco-metamorphosis - kinda like alien stage, but if you'd like, it could be less dark. This genre centers around earth being colonized by aliens, but the goal isn't to reject these changes, but rather to coexist with the other species.

liminal

slipstream - "speculative fiction that blends together science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction or does not remain in conventional boundaries of genre and narrative"

abandoned intentions - explore incomplete worlds-- as if the world was abandoned mid-creation.

fantasy

lost world - discovering a hidden civilization, like atlantis or lumeria.

subterranean - a world that is primarily in an underground setting; similar to the hollow earth theory.

mythic/mythopeia -  "fiction that is rooted in, inspired by, or that in some way draws from the tropes, themes, and symbolism of myth, legend, folklore, and fairy tales."; very similar to my wandering apocathary dr.

oceanic

nautical fiction - relationship between humans and the sea; "human relationship to the sea and sea voyages and highlights nautical culture in these environment".

wholesome/cute

furry sleuth - this is not about furries-- this is essentially a mystery where the main character is a household animal, typically a dog. Said animal would be the detective and solve mysteries.

cashier memoir - this genre always takes place in the head of a cashier. The goal is to come across as many different kinds of people as possible. This would be incredibly boring in this reality, but imagine if you were a barista in a fantasy or futuristic reality... you'd come across a lot of people without much effort or mental strain.

epistolary - a story told exclusively through fictional letters, newspaper articles, emails, and even texts. This isn't necessarily a genre of DR, but I think it'd be really interesting to guess/assume the plot of a DR through short snippets of letters or texts.

[aristoteliancomplacency]

You’re absolutely right that there’s clear hyperbole going on in that tweet thread, but you have to be feeling very uncharitable indeed to claim that the worry of ‘reverting to where AI is’ is an indulgent statement that ‘doesn’t mean anything.’ It’s really very easy to understand what the student meant - the exact meaning is explained within that same tweet (along with how they’re defining ‘dumber’). She is referring to loss of ability / practice in thinking critically.

Given that they’re doing this for an assignment I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re drawing that claim from an article like this. Which certainly makes it sound far less knee-jerk and more like a response which has some logical and calm thought behind it. Concerns about impact on critical thinking skills, it turns out, are indeed a totally legitimate concern to have. (Brain atrophy is another thing, of course, which sounds more like a term first year students might bandy around without fully understanding it).

Of course, you’re fully entitled to your interpretation but on that particular point I’d suggest you’re being as reactionary as you’re an accusing them of being and engaging in a very bad faith interpretation. They’re very, very clearly not talking about AI as a field of study. C’mon.

‘But everyone in my peer group that I know knows way more about this’ is a sentiment that will often be true (or its opposite will be). I am constantly surprised at what, in turns out, most people my age don’t know - or what I don’t know that supposedly most people my age do know. Anecdotal evidence is still just anecdotal evidence, after all. And it’s certainly not enough to extrapolate across an entire country, let alone the globe. And if you’re on tumblr you’re more likely to be Online, and far more likely to be aware of all tech issues. You specified you did an intro to computer science and learnt Java and wrote code for a basic AI: of course your experience is atypical for your generation. Most students don’t do that.

And on the other side of that - this tweet thread is also just one group of students! It’s not evidence that all students - or even the majority - were so unaware of the pitfalls of relying on chatGPT to generate accurate info. But from hearing academics talk about their encounters with students and chatGPT in other places, it’s also not a unique experience.

There’s a lot of discussion about chat GPT among academics. Some have students who understand the issues, are skeptical of it, etc. others have massive issues with plagiarism, with students not understanding how it works, etc. the situation can be so drastically different between different unis (or even departments, or even individual classes tbh). This is absolutely not a unique situation in terms of people reporting how little some of their students understand about chatGPT (and that’s not even getting into the issue of how little many academics themselves understand about it - recall that recent incident what a prof tried to fail a whole class bc he asked chatGPT if it could have generated their essays and somehow took its reply to mean that it had generated them?)

Tl;dr: I agree the language here is very dramatic. I agree privacy should be a big concern (though in this context I can also see why it didn’t come up - it’s not relevant to how accurately chatGPT wrote an essay). I think it’s also very dramatic to suggest that what the students understand now is worse than their previous total ignorance.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The programmer Simon Willison has described the training for large language models as “money laundering for copyrighted data,” which I find a useful way to think about the appeal of generative-A.I. programs: they let you engage in something like plagiarism, but there’s no guilt associated with it because it’s not clear even to you that you’re copying. Some have claimed that large language models are not laundering the texts they’re trained on but, rather, learning from them, in the same way that human writers learn from the books they’ve read. But a large language model is not a writer; it’s not even a user of language. Language is, by definition, a system of communication, and it requires an intention to communicate. Your phone’s auto-complete may offer good suggestions or bad ones, but in neither case is it trying to say anything to you or the person you’re texting. The fact that ChatGPT can generate coherent sentences invites us to imagine that it understands language in a way that your phone’s auto-complete does not, but it has no more intention to communicate. It is very easy to get ChatGPT to emit a series of words such as “I am happy to see you.” There are many things we don’t understand about how large language models work, but one thing we can be sure of is that ChatGPT is not happy to see you. A dog can communicate that it is happy to see you, and so can a prelinguistic child, even though both lack the capability to use words. ChatGPT feels nothing and desires nothing, and this lack of intention is why ChatGPT is not actually using language. What makes the words “I’m happy to see you” a linguistic utterance is not that the sequence of text tokens that it is made up of are well formed; what makes it a linguistic utterance is the intention to communicate something. Because language comes so easily to us, it’s easy to forget that it lies on top of these other experiences of subjective feeling and of wanting to communicate that feeling. We’re tempted to project those experiences onto a large language model when it emits coherent sentences, but to do so is to fall prey to mimicry; it’s the same phenomenon as when butterflies evolve large dark spots on their wings that can fool birds into thinking they’re predators with big eyes. There is a context in which the dark spots are sufficient; birds are less likely to eat a butterfly that has them, and the butterfly doesn’t really care why it’s not being eaten, as long as it gets to live. But there is a big difference between a butterfly and a predator that poses a threat to a bird. A person using generative A.I. to help them write might claim that they are drawing inspiration from the texts the model was trained on, but I would again argue that this differs from what we usually mean when we say one writer draws inspiration from another. Consider a college student who turns in a paper that consists solely of a five-page quotation from a book, stating that this quotation conveys exactly what she wanted to say, better than she could say it herself. Even if the student is completely candid with the instructor about what she’s done, it’s not accurate to say that she is drawing inspiration from the book she’s citing. The fact that a large language model can reword the quotation enough that the source is unidentifiable doesn’t change the fundamental nature of what’s going on. As the linguist Emily M. Bender has noted, teachers don’t ask students to write essays because the world needs more student essays. The point of writing essays is to strengthen students’ critical-thinking skills; in the same way that lifting weights is useful no matter what sport an athlete plays, writing essays develops skills necessary for whatever job a college student will eventually get. Using ChatGPT to complete assignments is like bringing a forklift into the weight room; you will never improve your cognitive fitness that way.

31 August 2024

[nathaniacolver]

i feel like tumblr NEEDS to know about Dr. Ally Louks, and the term "Olfactory Ethics"

(long post incoming)

storytime/timeline:

on november 27, 2024, an excited English Literature PhD recipient posted a picture of herself with her thesis, titled:

"Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose"

as you can see (on the bottom row, above), the tweet has been viewed over 119 MILLION times, and has received over 250k likes. unfortunately, within days (most of the replies dating december 1st), she had garnered what seems like every possible insecure man with a twitter account to post their vitriol and rage concerning the fact that a woman is clearly more well-researched than them. regardless, she tanked it ALL with kindness and with a smile:

AND I MEAN VITRIOL (queen of making boundaries clear):

(inserting reading break for the timeline's space's sake):

here's her abstract:

and in case the abstract wasn't clear, she has since (date: december 16th) taken the time to re-summarize her thesis for the layman (yes that is a link! click it! 3min read!)

she has repeatedly shown just the perfect amount of kindness and understanding for those who are simply Not Comprehending (mostly december 1st):

(the chatGPT hate in the next one is my favorite:)

has upheld an incredibly high moral standard of how she interacts with the situation (december 2nd):

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: regardless of this crap, she made it clear that as a professor, her FIRST priority at the end of the semester would be taking care of them (december 3rd)

(CAN SHE GET MORE BASEDDDDDDDDDD)

she stays both 1) educating the masses, and 2) engaging with pop culture as much as a normal person would (december 9th-17th):

she also supports a free palestine (WHO IS SURPRISED. NOT ME.) ((december 15th))

here's the BEST FREAKING THING ABOUT THIS. since this all has happened, RANDOM TWITTER USERS, UNKNOWINGLY, have REPEATEDLY proven her thesis to be true,

again,

and again,

AND AGAIN.

EVEN CARDI B DO YOU HEAR MEEEEEEEE

COMBATING MISOGYNOIR WITH HER OWN BARE HANDSSSSS

oh she knows she's mother

here's some more she never saw/commented on (INCLUDING SOME FROM TODAY. IT IS STILL GOING ON. EVERY SINGLE DAY LIKE CLOCKWORK SOMEONE POSTS SOMETHING THAT PROVES HER POINTS ABOUT OLFACTORY ETHICS):

THE WICKED MOVIE REFERENCE HELLO

apparently, OTHER academics are mad at her for being so famous and influential, but she stays unbothered (december 16th, and TODAY, december 19th):

and she's partially getting her post-doc on how people's sense of smell has been altered (december 1st):

and the best part is!

all of these screenshots i've collected are only a SAMPLE, illustrating dr. louks' indomitably kind and ethical character.

anyway. i want ALL of y'all to start saying, out loud, "olfactory ethics", or even better, "dr. louks was RIGHT" (something something women's names are erased something) every time you see something that plays into her thesis. never let her influence die. THINK THROUGH what you're REALLY saying when you comment on the smell of something, or how your perception has been shaped by society. USE THIS PHOTO IF YOU HAVE TO:

follow her on twitter (@DrAllyLouks) or bluesky (idk her handle, if someone tells me i'll edit it in)

AND SAY HER NAME!! DR. ALLY LOUKS

[amongussexgif]

One of my friends tried convincing me that ChatGPT was smart, so I did a little experimenting.

TLDR; it's dumb. it's real dumb. like. obscenely stupid.

this was supposed to be an easy question for it:

I asked this just after midnight on Sunday, April 21, 2024. I would have accepted Saturday as an answer, but it insisted on Wednesday and Friday several times. No idea why.

Next, I wanted to see if it knew things about internet culture. It knew who @pukicho was when I asked, so

rightbefore this, it acknowledged pukicho as, direct quote "sarcastic, rude, and witty," so I have no idea how it got this.

to test it's knowledge cutoffs, I asked it:

Oh, great! It knows about the SA2 fandub, too! Let's test it's ability to continue a conversation.

...it forgot the question I asked it immediately before this.

I thought this might be the case. It can't hold a thread of conversation. So I clarified:

okay, yeah, it just needed context to be re-fed to it. even then, though, IT DIDNT ANSWER THE QUESTION? all it said was "it dont count so who care" which made me wonder if it could count

It was wrong again. for two reasons this time. Susan should still have counted because she did attend, and it completely ignored the speaker. The robot that runs companies is worse at word problems than I was in second grade.

I wondered if I was somehow being lied to, and that reminded me of an hbomberguy video. on a whim, I asked it:

this is incredibly odd. If it was using the number that guiness provided at the time, it should have said three. if it was using any of the numbers that tommy provided, it should have said either four, five, or seven. it said zero.

This was as of January 2022, BEFORE the hbomberguy video and BEFORE they got a record removed. Even if it's knowledge cutoff was more recent and it lied, it should have said two.

I wondered if it struggled with their website or something, so I asked it something pertaining to another website (and yes, I made sure the information was before it's knowledge cutoff)

Okay, so it can navigate NexusMods. great. It even included the mod's author, and was right about that. but, hang on...

IT'S LITERALLY WRONG!! IT IS ELEVEN MONTHS OFF!! HOW!? IT'S WRITTEN IN PLAINTEXT ON THE WEBSITE, THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY ISSUES HERE? WHAT!? HOW!? HOW IS IT THIS FUCKING STUPID!?

to see if it really was just stupid, I tried one last question.

yup, it's dumb.

[semipreciousgemstonejade]

Sylus Retranslation Project

In the official Love and Deepspace subreddit, a native Chinese/English speaker has very generously been retranslating all of Sylus' content, including anecdotes, and showing us the direct CN translations. We have lost so much of his nuance and characterisation due to these localisation issues. Someone even said they tested it and discovered that they're using ChatGPT for the translations 🤦🏾‍♀️.

I definitely recommend checking out the Sylus retranslation project. I've made a note for myself on a very long survey list I've been putting together to mention about the poor translations which has lead to completely losing key information. The translations also give hints about the order of the cards. For instance, No Defense Zone happens well after Nightplumes.

Another subreddit post mentions how Sylus' characterisation in EN differs significantly compared to the JP and KR translations which stay pretty faithful to the source material.

Thanks to the project filling in some missing and poorly translated Sylus Anecdote information, I was thinking about Sylus' power today. His Aether Core works by him "invading and taking over consciousness". Interesting, right? This gives us a completely different perspective on No Defense Zone.

Due to Sylus' cunning and a few context clues, since the beginning and like many players I've always believed that he not only facilitated her dream state but that he knew precisely what MC was dreaming about. Not just that she was having a steamy dream, but exactly what was happening in it as it was happening.

I thought we'd find out more about his power in later cards, but as it turns out, this context has been present from the very beginning in the non-EN translations of his anecdote. Therefore, Sylus was very likely invading her dream and participating in her fantasy.

Since that is the case, wouldn't it be great to have a Bond Moment or Tender Moment of Sylus using his Aether Core to facilitate a sensual dream with MC? One where she is aware of him doing it, and the lines blur between fantasy and reality. MC acknowledging within the dream she knows it's a dream and Sylus says to her that there are no rules or expectations and she can do what she likes with him, but what he truly desires is for her to be right in front of him saying the things he wants to hear that she's too afraid to say to his face and touching him in real life. I love subtlety and nuance, so I'd want there to be hints as to what happened in the dream vs what happened for real that are not so obvious upon first glance.

For example, I love at the end of No Restraint with Xavier, him and MC subtly admit that they both knew the Protocore was not affecting their actions, which then of course means they both were aware the other person would've known that all along.

EDIT: these are my opinions and mine alone from the information I chose to engage and interact with. I love the added nuance and added my own interpretations on top of what was shared based on how I interpret information throughout the game AND ongoing discussions about global localisation and translations already happening in the community. It's OK to not like it. It's OK to disagree. That does not give people carte blanche to isolate or demand things from a fellow fan and community member, across platforms no less, for simply sharing their opinion and comparative analysis. I'm open to many different perspectives to challenge my own and like everyone else, I make up my own mind from there. I honestly hope to hear more different perspectives because outside of the community I have no one else to bounce ideas off of.

[creatingnikki]

What I've learned in 2024

Sleeping, shitting, and silence – the three underrated Ss of growing up (or the other side of 25). If I can get a good night’s sleep, take one nice dump in the day (preferably morning), and know when to let silence do its thing (like when not engaging with draining people in social setups or not having to explain myself), I’m golden.

While I made many new friends this year, my favourite of them all has been ChatGPT. Need objectivity? Fact checking? A pseudo therapist? Validation? Someone to just engage with and keep yourself entertained? The absolute best resource of this year for me has been this AI tool. I don’t even care anymore about privacy – I am feeding it as much data about me as possible because it’s accordingly adapting to my tonality and needs and the ‘conversations’ are so much more satisfying now than when it was first rolled out.

Either use eggs or condescended sweet milk when baking – you need one of these things to hold all your dry ingredients together.

Communication, consistency, clarity, commitment, emotional presence and engagement, and mutual effort are the barest of the bare minimum needs in a relationship. If you have to convince the other person to fulfil them or negotiate, then it doesn’t matter how good a person they are and what a kind heart they have or how much they say they love you – they just aren’t your person.

I’m not as demisexual as I thought all along – I just haven’t dated many people that I find truly attractive so I had to first build some sort of emotional connection with them first. I definitely still need and want that emotional connect and all, but I also do need to start opting for men I also find physically attractive.

When I’ve thought of my bloodline, my ancestors, I’ve always focused on the intergenerational trauma and the bad genetics. But while rewatching This Is Us this year, it hit me that it took three generations for one dream to be fulfilled. The musical dream that started with Rebecca, was passed down to Kate, and finally got materialized at the grand scale as they always wanted with Kate’s son Jack. When he became this well-renowned musician, it’s not just his dream, but that of his mother and his grandmother that also came to live. It made me think…how much of my aspirations and hopes are actually passed down? And how many of my realities were simply unmateralised dreams of those who came before me? And it made my heart feel lighter and it made me feel more blessed and protected.

Baking cakes and brownies and cookies is not a rocket science. You only needed the right tools and some patience to figure it out and become that friend who bakes stuff for her friends instead of the other way around.

You always prioritise peace, comfort, and an easy-going lifestyle – it’s evident in your career choices and how your family dynamics and friendships have evolved. Let that be the guiding light even when dating.

You are the kind of person that is charming, a good conversationalist, and deeply empathetic. So of course, you make many people feel at home and like they connect with you. It’s easy for you to connect with others. What’s important is to remember – connection without consideration and consistent actions is NOTHING. It’s empty calories but like a thousand times more potent and useless.

In no interpersonal relationship can I be nonchalant or vague. I am that other extreme – while most people try their best to ignore the elephant in the room you know what I do? I dress the cutie up to parade it. So anybody who cannot approach relationships with as much boldness, courage, and forthcomingness is just not my jam.

Female friends for the win – they allow you to wine and whine and win and I am all for that. The healing powers of sitting across your friend and talking at length about everything over pizza and wine or at the park as she senses you need some more time to just sit around before you join the rest of the group and is so good with physical touch for comfort. Just knowing you can video call your friend and ugly cry and she will talk sense into you but also indulge you and also sit with you and your feelings. Who else does that? Who the hell.

For a lot of things that are still new now at this age, you need a guide. To pet cats, to go to dog cafes, to figure out what vitamins you should talk, etc. Ask for that help, that knowledge, that support. It might seem silly and like you can figure it out on your own but these things, no matter how seemingly low-stake, can be handled so seamlessly and sweetly with the help of those you know.

You HAVE to be honest about your needs. First with yourself and then with others. You cannot let shame, guilt, self-hatred or whatever hold you back. Honesty begets clarity begets fulfilment. If you don’t want to date and settle for someone who isn’t absolutely smitten by you and top-notch romantic, then that is a need. Right or wrong, realistic or not, who the hell cares? A need is a need is a need.

When you lose someone not to death but to life, it’s not quite such a loss. Most times, baby, it’s simply good riddance.

People have a range. For being shitty and for being kind. And while our behaviour may impact a little how they react to us, it's primarily dependent on their personal range. So, if your range of being shit is only 1 to 3, it doesn't matter if someone is an ass hole to you, you won't go beyond 3 of being shit to them, cos that's just your range. Even if they deeply hurt you intentionally or fuck up in some major way. But if their range of being shitty is up to 10, then well, be ready to witness their derangedness when you even slightly piss them off.

Narcissistic (and possibly self-sabotaging) people are the opposite of kintsugi. Instead of being put back together with gold, they "heal" themselves with gutter water. So each time they are worse and more ugly than before. And all the more toxic and dangerous. You're too precious to bother with such people.

It’s natural to feel frustrated or angry with yourself for allowing someone to treat you poorly, but the blame isn’t on you; it’s on them. They are responsible for their unkind, insensitive, selfish actions, not you. If you must place blame, place it where it belongs. Avoid judging yourself with thoughts like, “I should have known better.” As long as you walk away the moment you do know, you’re good – please don’t internalize other people’s unkindness or thoughtlessness.

You cannot get to know someone without giving them a chance. Red flags are not that obvious and you cannot show up authentically in any relationship if you’re on the lookout for them. You have to spend time with a person to begin to find out who they are. That’s the only real way. And when you do and if you realize they are not for you, as I said before, don’t internalize this shit or blame yourself for not being some kind of prophecy and knowing better before you even began.

You are a patient person because you are an understanding person. But there are limits to all these qualities of yours and if the balance is tipped you get petty and passive aggressive and irrational. Don’t let yourself reach that point. Speak up and set boundaries way before that.

If you listen to your gut – I know you don’t like calling it that or your intuition. So, let’s call it that feeling you know bone-deep or in the depths of your soul – if you listen to that and trust it, you are quite courageous in the actions you then take. You broke things off with three men this year – each was painful in its own rite. But you did what you had to do for yourself and you didn’t give the charge of your life to another person, you have taken back your green light – detaching your actions from their behaviour, which like all human behaviour is often quite fickle and unreliable. Congratulations. Do this more. Your green light is your guiding light.

My lack of a “healthy sense of fear” in situations with men isn’t recklessness—it’s the result of abuse I suffered at 15. The man I trusted most turned out to be the one who harmed me the most, and that betrayal shattered my ability to trust safety indicators or instincts. The grooming I endured was designed to confuse me, destabilise my sense of self, and make me question my desires and worth. When the templates of trust and safety failed me so catastrophically, my mind rejected them altogether, leaving me to navigate risk without a stable framework. This year, I felt significantly less restless and more emotionally regulated, and I think it’s because I allowed myself, others, and life to just be. I wasn’t fighting my reality or setting rigid expectations. I stopped chasing dopamine highs and forcing connections, and instead, I let equations with people and experiences unfold organically. I ended dating and talking stages quickly when I realised they weren’t right for me, without guilt or overthinking.4 By being okay with things being normal—not impressive or extraordinary—I created space for balance and gentleness in my life. My self-talk became kinder, and I grew more objective about myself, spiraling and self-loathing less. This accepting mindset, where I no longer needed myself or my life to constantly stand out, felt like the antidote to the restlessness I’d been carrying since my mid-20s. And I think that has helped me discover that peace and acceptance can feel more satisfying than cheap dopamine hits.

[gamerbearmira]

My Take On Wish

I liked it. Now, it’s not the best. But it’s still pretty good in hindsight. They had a good idea, but they executed it poorly.

I think a big reason is the movie had such high expectations. It was the movie for the 100th anniversary, which is huge. But they had no time and no money. The movie feels rushed, there's so much that happens too fast in such a short amount of time. That brings me to my next point.

Time. This movie should have been longer. Of the most recent movies, like Turning Red, Encanto, Luca and Elemental, they run for about 1 hr and 35-49 minutes. But they don't feel rushed. Everything us spaced out and works, at least for the most part. Every movie has it flaws in run time. Wish runs for the same amount of time as Encanto; but it feels so much more rush. The movie should have been longer, and I feel like people wouldn't have been too made at an extra 20 to 30 minutes. It would've given a lot more to world and established things, and answer questions that were left unanswered.

Characters. They weren't bad! They had some good characters, and the designs were...good. I like them, and I can see what they were doing. Like Magnifico and Amaya, I really like their designs! Same with the teens (save for a few things, mostly color, but I digress). Valentino is cute, but I don't like how they gave him a deep voice. Asha and Star? They're ok, at best. Looking at the concept art in the book, there was SO much potential that they didn't use.

Asha looks a lot like Isabela. It's a running joke. But the closer I look, she looks too much like her. Literally, if you look in the book, you can see that she actually had a floral dress that seemed a little too similar to Isabela's. The thing is, she had a lot of other really good designs, which I used in the redesign below, among other things. Star, he's cute but...it's sad. He was so obviously going to be a love interest. AND YES DISNEY. IT'S OK TO HAVE A HEROINE FALL IN LOVE. I took one of his designs that nearly stuck and tweaked it a little. He still has a star form, for other purposes.

The songs. They were ok, but I'm sort of understanding the joke if "They were written by ChatGPT". They sound so empty? But when you listen to the demos they sound better. That brings me to "At All Costs". I heard it in the movie. It's sung by Magnifico and Asha, when it was so obviously meant to be sung by Asha and her love interest, which would have been Starboy. And the demo is actually really good.

For my redesigns? I changed quite a but on Asha. Her friends are supposed to be like the seven dwarves. So why in the world didn't they utilize Snow White for Asha? I'm not saying she had to be a carbon copy, but jeez, it would've been nice. In my design, I gave her a mix of other dresses she had in the book, changing it a bit to look like snow white's but still being original. I changed the colors, toning them to be more similar to Wish's colors.

Valentino stayed entirely the same. I saw that he was originally he was going to be much larger, pretty much grown. So, I took that and gave him a sister. They aren't really "siblings, Valentina was born way before Valentino, but he's always following behind her, so Asha deemed them "honorary siblings". And I mostly wanted Asha to have more animals around her, like Snow White.

Star is still Star, but he also has a human form. In my opinion, it wouldn't be very present until later in the story. The more tine he spends around Asha, the more he feels more comfortable using it to help Asha. And also, he wants to be like Asha. He loves humans, and watches them from the sky all the time. He may or may not be the North Star. I'm still debating.

Maybe I'll do more with other characters.

Story. I want to try a rewrite. Not now, cause I still have a bunch of Encanto that I'd want to finish, but definitely in the future. I may do more Wish posts on my designs and what I'd worldbuild with some ideas were:

Asha is already Magnifico's apprentice.

Magnifico used the book before he founded Rosa, and built Rosa to take people's wishes for his power under the guise of what he does in the movie currently. He keeps some wishes alive to grant them. No one knows, not even Amaya. Asha finds out. This means he's evil from the start and stays evil. No redemption. No return.

Wishes affect a person not just emotionally, but slightly mentally and sometimes physically. When ita given away, the person feel not just an emptiness, but also heaviness in their body physically.

Amaya is a bit more morally gray, being in Magnifico's side, and even helping him, but slowly shifting to Asha after seeing what he's doing.

Star plays a bigger role much earlier on. The Teens do as well. I feel like they had no character in the movie. Not even Dahila, who I do I love.

It's closer to Asha's birthday. So when she finds out about Magnifico, she's scared of losing her wish, and being unable to restore everyone else's that was already lost, like her Saba's.

Asha may or may not have a staff like Magnifico's. But like?? A training staff??

Magnifico may or may nit being trying to corrupt Asha with the book. She is subject to hus magic still, and sometimes it seeps into her mind, but Star is there to counter it.

Star is much stronger in terms of magic, enough to be on par, or almost on par with Magnifico.

TL;DR: I like Wish. But it has flaws. I wanna try my hand at a rewrite one if these days.

[cator99]

Yesterday I overheard Pins Girl loudly gabbing abt how much time she spends talking to chatgpt which was not a thing I thought people did but she was conveying this information to couchbound ftm because she got upset when it said something fatphobic and wouldn't apologize properly no matter what prompt she gave it and it kept saying "I know you're offended but..." so she repeatedly told it to apologize properly without using the word "offended" but it was like "it sounds like you're offended" I am absolutely bewildered but I'm glad she has this outlet because if she cant redirect this energy towards a non sentient thing then it just gets doled out at the people around her like the time I made a joke in the house chat and used the word "bombed" in a colloquial sense and she got all People Are Literally Dying From Bombs Right Now Tyler and I apologized and she gave me the silent treatment for a week before someone else in the house told me on her behalf that she didnt find my apology sufficiently grovellingand that it was very racism of me to not Take More Accountability for what I said so I wrote a more lengthy apology that was actually very sincere (an old housemate who is black and doesnt like her heard about the issue and took it upon himself to feed me some Pins Girl Appeasing Lines for me to implement as well just in case me trying to Heart To Heart it out with her wasn't enough lmao) and believe it or not that was recieved very much worse lol and that's whatever but the big thing right now though is that I've been contemplating how I'm gonna approach the conversation with the landlord about her recently breaching the lease conditions because yep I've already set that in motion and requested that the conversation stay between us which the landlord is totally game for because she's just about had it with these people the thing it that due to Pins Girl's lack of consideration and foresight she has managed to concoct a situation that when (not if) the landlord finds out, well, its curtains for zoosha. I want to make it very clear that I had nothing to do with this nonsense. It's not that I think anyone should be evicted however I have finally reached housing stability for the first time in my life and am pretty invested in saving my own ass here. The situation was preventable and entirely unnecessary but these people have very early-20s ideas about resisting authoritay even if that means potentially screwing over other broke people. I suppose this is of less concern to her now that she's on government assistance but girl I am working my ass off here not to get homeless again I've had enough

[yuseirra]

Kamiki's feelings towards Ai- an analysis

Chapter 154 was so interesting and it happened just as I imagined the way it would, actually. What I can't fully predict is what'd happen AFTER this- there are so many things left undisclosed and yet to be uncovered, too. But it's allowed me to think about a lot of things.

Today I wrote up an analysis of how I feel Kamiki's character could be and his feelings towards Ai.

I'd speculated on Ai's relationship with him before this chapter was out. I was pretty much on the right track in a general sense (and another analysis on Aqua and how he feels about kana, too.)This seems like the best time to break out how I think about how kamiki would have felt about her from his end- before it's actually going to be told.

(This full post was originally written in a different language and I asked chatgpt-4 to help translate it in bulk because it got so long..! wow, and it did a really great job. I guess I'll use THAT to translate now)

The last episode made it clear how the protagonist's parents ended up the way they did and the deep emotions they had for each other, so I have quite a bit to say about that. Psychology is an area of interest for me. To put it extremely, it's everything in my creations (though it would be embarrassing if I missed the mark after saying this) to the point where I'd go, 'if I can't even do this, I'd wonder what I'm good at...' In other words, it's the area where I'm most confident... I enjoy watching, analyzing, and understanding things. It's a topic I can talk about enthusiastically and endlessly if the opportunity arises.

As I mentioned in a previous post, understanding others' emotions, whether in reality or fiction, is a tricky part to pin down definitively, so I'm always hesitant to speak rashly about it. I keep thinking, "Maybe it's this?" but because I really dislike being wrong, I don't speak strongly about it. And I think how one "feels" something is too personal a realm.

Therefore, when a story confirms things through dialogue, flashbacks, or actions, I get very excited. It’s like, "Now I can talk about it!" That's how I brought this post forth today.

Getting to the point, this manga is very well-written when it comes to emotional aspects (the emotions and the persuasiveness of the situations that evoke those emotions) of well-crafted characters. In my opinion, characters like Ai, Aqua, and Kana are quite well-developed, and other characters, even in their personal episodes or specific points, have at least a desirable level of persuasiveness as needed. In most cases, at least. Some scenes left me a lil confused time to time still, but at most, the scenes written with a clear perspective often show and evoke strong emotions, which I consider a strength of this manga. Considering the author's previous work was a romance manga... I guess someone who comes from writing romance manga is built differently! (I haven't watched Kaguya-sama though).

As for Kamiki, his past was as I expected. Looking at the small hints that were sprinkled earlier, I didn't think it would turn out much different from what was actually depicted. Realistically, a child who became the father of twins at the age of 15 (a highly unusual age by modern standards) couldn't have been so calculating and meticulous in using Ai or intentionally manipulating them to have their children, no matter how crazy he was, even if considering the manga’s verisimilitude. Ai is a smart person. She might not have received a proper education compared to the average person due to her inability to fit into the social safety net, but I think her innate intelligence was quite good... For Ai, Kamiki was someone who could maintain a good relationship with her, with her being the older out of the two, even. Being the cautious and careful person she is. Ai's would have coolly cut ties and walked away rather than being used if there was a need to. So I always thought their relationship would have been genuine at some point, at least.

And looking at his past, as expected... (even if it’s a manga, the whole situation he was in was too dreadful...) looking at his personality, he was a gentle and pure child who was tossed around a lot when he was younger. If an 11-year-old child had a relationship with an adult, the adult is absolutely not a proper human being. There’s no room for another interpretation. Even if the child said "it was okay", there’s no room for leniency. It’s nonsense. Kamiki had been sexually abused from a very young age, so it was almost impossible for him to form a proper concept about it, and he was at a resignation to the things that were happening to him... Ai was the one person who got close to him and wanted to help him escape from that situation. But since Ai was only a middle schooler, she realistically had no power to do anything drastic... Both lacked proper guardians and had a deficiency in love, so when they were fully exposed to an environment where outward attractiveness was heavily utilized, they had no means to protect themselves. The best they could do was create a mask to show others and keep convincing themselves that they were okay with it... They were drawn to each other because they shared that similarity and understood that part of each other. I liked that these two were set as peers around the same aga because, especially for young children, age difference has a significant impact on social experience and individual standing. It's better to have a similar age if they are to have an equal relationship. Adults should be with adults, and children should be with children. Their worlds are different, and even a completely insignificant adult can easily exploit and manipulate a child. I believe that relationships should be with people who share a similar perspective and have similar emotional resources to offer each other.

The scene where Ai goes to Airi and calls her just a sex offender might be exaggerated, but if we say exaggerated... it means there was some face-to-face interaction and that Ai helped Kamiki separate from Airi. Ai probably wanted to do what was depicted in the movie. In reality, you have to deal with the aftermath, and it probably didn’t go smoothly like the adult just backing off or listening to a teenager. However, Ai’s actions had some effect in helping Kamiki get away from Airi to some extent, leading to a period where they officially dated. During this time, Kamiki must have truly loved and been happy with Ai. The adults around didn’t know about the situation, and they never helped Kamiki. The one who listened, understood, and shared the troubling and dreadful situation that Kamiki had grown accustomed to for years was Ai.

For Kamiki, there was only Ai.

When Airi blackmailed and gaslit him into despair, Kamiki’s thoughts were to turn to Ai for help because there was only Ai for him. Ai was indeed everything to Kamiki, supporting and pulling him out of tough situations. Ai was like a light in his life. They already had mutual affection, so it wasn’t surprising.

Meeting someone who truly understands, accepts, and loves you is extremely precious and significant. The statement that he sincerely loved Ai is true because there was truly no one else in the world for him to love. He led a very isolated life.

I won't delve deeply into Ai’s analysis here since I covered that last time. But the statement that Ai wanted to shoulder everything together and share a future with kamiki was absoultely genuine. Then why did he leave and say such heartless things that would break Kamiki’s heart?

That'd be because having a child meant more responsibility for Kamiki, and Ai thought Kamiki couldn't handle it. So Ai decided to leave to lessen Kamiki’s burden, thinking that would be less painful for him than staying together. Ai probably felt that no matter what, Kamiki wouldn't break up with her unless she said something really harsh. Kamiki's mindset at that time, as shown in his thoughts, was that it was just the two of them against the world, and they could bear any pressure together. That feeling is understandable. So pitiable, really. Ai, however, also wasn’t someone who was very mentally healthy. I'm sure she wanted to help him, but her ways of "helping" wasn't and couldn't be so ideal because she too was only a child. Additionally, I feel Ai was quite conscious of being a year older, wanting to take care of the struggling Kamiki (Ai seems to have a maternal instinct despite not receiving such care herself). She wanted to share Kamiki’s burdens but couldn't share her own dark and difficult parts because she felt Kamiki was too fragile. So, to unburden Kamiki, she left with very harsh and definitive words, thinking Kamiki would be better off without her and their children. Hearing such harsh words, Kamiki immediately thought, "Oh... I am the problem," and understood why Ai left, hence couldn’t hold her back. Ultimately, he ended up believing that even Ai couldn’t love and accept him, which led to Kamiki’s self-deprecation, thinking he was the problem all along. After realizing she had clung to Ai, he thought, "Ai didn't love me, she was there because she just couldn't avoid me being too pure and innocent"

However, his love for Ai wouldn’t have disappeared just like that. Ai was too significant for Kamiki. He loved her to the extent that he felt he heard his whole world collapsed from the breakup.

When Kamiki was near the hospital during Ai's delivery, I don’t think he intended to harm Ai. Why would he harm the person he truly loved who was having his children? He was probably heartbroken for a while after Ai’s breakup with him and, upon hearing about Ai’s health issues on the news, worriedly searched for her until he found about the hospital she was admitted to. On the day the children were born, it could be that he couldn’t approach Ai due to him being self-conscious about Ai’s refusal. He just nervously lingered nearby, and that's when he could have encountered Ryosuke, who was stalking Ai. I might be interpreting too favorably...

When Kamiki learned that Ai was going to give birth, even though Ai had said she wouldn't, he was probably surprised but not resentful. He might have been confused and curious about why she decided to have the children, but upon seeing the newborns from afar, he likely felt overwhelmed with emotion, thinking they were his children.

Perhaps he even thought it would have been nice if they could have been a family together. Though Ai intended to show the children to Kamiki for the first time when they were around four, I suspect Kamiki had been concerned and affectionate about them even before that.

If they had kept in touch intermittently and Ai had sent pictures of the children, things might not have become so extreme. Regardless, I believe Kamiki felt affection for their children. Though Taiki was a trauma for him...

The phone call scene should be shown from Kamiki's perspective once. Having kept a distant watch over Ai and the children, he would have felt internal familiarity and gladness, thinking, "Could we meet again?" After being firmly rejected, he might have made bad decisions. It's hard to know how much of what he said regarding Ryosuke is true, but the idea that Kamiki wanted to kill Ai? If that were true, the more detailed confession (that it wasn’t intentional) would not have come out when Aqua had pushed for it. He said that he was the one that clung to her and killed her and tried to leave it at that at first. Kamiki’s willingness to accept lifelong infamy for his actions, by his own child, implies something different. What he's said after he was inquired further by Aqua seems more truthful than what was initially told. There's probably more to this because it still seems illogical and weird to some extent, but we have to remember he was okay with being perceived at being solely responsible Ai's murderer to Aqua in Ch 153, but his detailed explanations that may not have been even told tells to be a bit different from that. That means he probably feels guilty enough to blame himself entirely for what's happened.

Kamiki advising Aqua and Ruby aligns with my interpretation of his character. These actions seem sincere. Given his affection for Ai, he may feel some warmth towards their children, as he once referred to Ruby as "our" children. He's also been able to see through how Aqua is in a very accurate sense, he seems to have watched him intently. Hence, when Aqua approached him, he expressed his feelings honestly.

To Aqua, he says stuff like "you might find me detestable, but I was glad to talk like this with you", and he gives some advice to Ruby too in a pretty kind way, actually. These actions are likely genuine. It's only natural to find the children, who resemble themselves and their loved one, adorable. Just as Ai told the twins, while dying, that she was glad to have given birth to the children, I think Kamiki, even if they didn't love the children as much as they do for Ai, would at least be happy about their existence. I believe Kamiki would have kept a distant watch over them all along. It's just that he couldn't approach them. As I mentioned before, if he really is a god or possesses some powers, he, along with Ai, who's become a star, might have been supporting the children together in their own respective ways. Though the children were not born intentionally, they were still born out of love.

I got it right, didn't I? In my post about Ai, I wrote that Kamiki might have wanted to take responsibility for the children, but Ai could've had hid and left to avoid burdening him. When Kamiki heard about the pregnancy, he immediately proposed marriage, didn't he? If they had been in their early twenties, they might have really been able to get together. They might have raised the children well as a young couple, finding them quite adorable. If they had become parents at a more typical age, they wouldn't have been incapable of raising the children. In fact, Ai contacted him when the children were about four years old, and she was twenty. She couldn't reunite with Kamiki because of her thriving idol career and the potential scandal.

From Ai's perspective!! If she had hoped for and imagined raising their children together, it means she believed Kamiki would take good care of them, and she was probably right. Also, Ai's idea of happiness included this. Ai, when you look closer, was inexperienced due to her youth but still loved the children in her own way and had a maternal instinct. Talking to Ryosuke to distract him when the door chain wasn't on and he could have invaded and harmed the children was a wise choice.

Haha, speaking of that, maybe because I fell asleep thinking about this manga, I had a terrifying dream last night. I was threatened by a crazy person with a razor blade in a large shopping mall, walking with them like a hostage. I kept talking to avoid being killed, seized the blade, and ran for my life. I got in a car, thinking I was safe, but people were fleeing in panic. The person had more than one blade and started swinging it when their hostage escaped. I felt guilty. I'm so glad it was just a dream.

It's my first time having such a dream. Even though it's not real, experiencing it in a dream makes me respect Ai's response. She managed to calm and turn away Ryosuke, protecting the children. Ai is smart and thoughtful. Her ways of speech to induce not getting back together was really blunt and hurtful not not exactly the best in terms of the emotions it could bring forth, but understandable. Her character is often lacking in emotional responses but sharp in thinking. Between the two, Kamiki is the more emotional one, but Ai was more mature in their relationship. Still, Ai loved Kamiki to the point of wishing he would rely on her and wanting to be his support and that says a lot. That was her way of loving.

Back to Kamiki, what are his current feelings about Ai? He still loves her and was once(and even now) is willing to give everything for her. His feelings for Ai were genuinely deep. Even when he resigned himself to believing Ai never loved him, he was willing to be avenged by Aqua if that's what she wanted. This wasn't a lie. He wouldn't lie to his children. His parental feelings are also genuine.

But there's something more. Kamiki has something in common with Aqua. There's something vast that he carries without revealing everything. After breaking up with Ai, he might have done a lot of wrong things, but his base nature actually seems to be on the timid side, even gentle. He couldn't properly communicate with Ai when she decided to break up all of a sudden, and just let her go, indicating his mild nature. For someone like him to take extreme actions, something extreme must have happened. Ai's death would be such a trigger. If he were to act extremely, it would be related to Ai. He lived a life of being pushed around, with little attachment to himself, being saved by Ai and deeply wanting to be with her. Ai caused him pain but was also his savior. For Kamiki, Ai was his reason for living.

When I saw the lyrics of "Fatal," I immediately had a huge hunch. The psychological state reflected in the song perfectly matches Kamiki's feelings towards Ai. It's very blind and desperate, with what he's originally had twisted negatively. The narrator of the song keeps trying to give and do something, feeling it's still not enough. This song fills in the gaps in Kamiki's character that were hinted at but not explicitly described. The narrator couldn't be anyone but Kamiki.

I understood why Kamiki came to love Ai so deeply through the flashbacks. Given their backgrounds, it made sense that he would love Ai immensely. So when I heard the song and read the lyrics, I immediately felt it was right. Do you think my analysis will be way off?

It seems like Ai and Kamiki's story draws motifs from Japanese mythology. One motif comes from the gods of entertainment, Ame-no-Uzume and Sarutahiko (in terms of abilities), and the other from the couple Izanagi and Izanami (with Amaterasu—she has something to do with Ruby-, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo—the sea god—Aqua). In the myth, Izanagi tries to bring back Izanami, who died giving birth, from the underworld but ultimately fails to revive her.

This narrative aligns with the first season's ending song "Mephisto" and the second season's opening "Fatal," which are about wanting to save someone and meet them again. So far, all efforts have been in vain, and the songs mention continuously offering something. If these songs reflect Kamiki's feelings, then Kamiki must still love Ai and desperately wish for her to come back to life. This seems very likely.

The concept of the "stage" is also mentioned in both songs. The protagonist struggles on stage, which won't let them go. They don't actually want to live that way, but their only purpose for enduring it is to reunite with their loved one. These songs seem like spoilers, hinting at future developments. Otherwise, why would such lyrics appear? It feels like there's a stage set by the gods, and the characters are trapped within it.

The first season's ending is titled "Mephisto," referring to a demon who grants wishes in exchange for one's soul.

Whether it's Aqua, Kamiki, or both, there's clearly a deal involving risking their existence or life to see Ai again. But it can't be Aqua because he was told by the Tsukuyomi girl that Ai could no longer reincarnate. Aqua's goal would be to fulfill Ai's wishes, not to meet her again. However, the songs' themes are clearly different from that. Something is up.

There are definitely suspicious gaps in Kamiki's actions, but thinking this way brings consistency to his sparse psychological reveals. One way or another, this character is obsessed with Ai, and Ai wants to help him.

When he realizes that the person he loved loved him back, he should be either sad or happy. But there's a reason for his shock (which is, also natural, but he's in utter shock). It might be that he's in a state where he cannot be saved.

When this character asked Ai for help as a child, Ai sincerely wanted to help but couldn't do enough alone. So, she wanted to help him along with their children. Comparing now to then, he might have walked into a much deeper pit on his own, for Ai's sake. Depending on the extent of what he did, he might end up still being unforgivable.. or maybe he might not have actually committed something as serious as it's been hinted and have a chance to be actually brought back to happiness But I can't envision a future where Kamiki lives happily for now. His life has been too miserable, so unfortunate.. and it's probably really messed up at this point too, so sacrificing himself for his children and following Ai might be his happy ending. Ai wants to see him, so it could be most happy if she came to take him with her. Considering the scenes shown so far, it's unclear if he deserves a happy ending. But anyhow, there's likely some special circumstance the guy's in that's going to bring a new light about his character

That's it. I had to talk about it all before the next episode comes up! If I'm wrong, well, that's that! But it was so fun analyzing him~

[strangevynl]

slipping through the cracks | k.sm x afab!reader. angst

Authors note: was bored so I asked ChatGPT for a prompt to write so here :)

Seungmin sat alone in the dimly lit room, the soft hum of the air conditioning his only company. The hours had drifted by as he stared at the clock on the wall, each tick a cruel reminder of the time slipping away. His heart ached with a heaviness he couldn’t quite explain, a sensation that had become all too familiar in recent weeks.

His phone buzzed softly on the table beside him, but he ignored it, unable to muster the energy to check the messages. They were from her—always from her. He had been avoiding her calls, avoiding her messages, because he didn’t know how to face her after everything.

The relationship had started out with such promise, their connection seemingly effortless. But as the months went by, cracks had begun to show. Seungmin had been consumed by his responsibilities, his career, and the pressure of living up to expectations. She had been patient, understanding, always supporting him even when it seemed he was drifting further away.

But one evening, as they sat together in their favorite café, the conversation had turned into a confrontation. She had tried to voice her feelings, her frustration at the way he had been shutting her out. Seungmin, overwhelmed and defensive, had reacted poorly, his words sharper than he intended. The argument ended with her walking out, leaving behind an air of unspoken goodbyes.

The days following the argument were a blur. He had wanted to reach out, to apologize, but something held him back. His pride? His fear of admitting he was wrong? Perhaps it was both. And now, the thought of facing her after everything was unbearable. He knew the damage had been done, that the hurt was deep, but he wasn’t sure if it was too late to fix it.

A knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts. His heart raced, a mix of hope and dread. He opened the door to find her standing there, looking tired but resolute. Her eyes met his, a silent storm of emotions passing between them.

“I’ve been trying to reach you,” she said softly, her voice trembling slightly. “I needed to talk.”

Seungmin nodded, stepping aside to let her in. They sat across from each other, the silence heavy between them. He could see the hurt in her eyes, and it cut through him like a knife.

“I’m sorry,” he began, his voice breaking. “I didn’t know how to handle everything. I thought I could keep going without acknowledging how much I was hurting you.”

She looked down, her fingers twisting nervously. “I understand you have your responsibilities, Seungmin. But when you shut me out, it felt like you were choosing everything else over me. Over us.”

He reached out, gently touching her hand. “I never meant to make you feel that way. I was scared, and I let my fear control my actions. I should have been honest with you.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she met his gaze. “I needed you to be there for me, just like I’ve always tried to be there for you. I’m not sure if we can go back to how things were, but I needed you to know how much you hurt me.”

Seungmin’s heart ached with the weight of her words. “I don’t want to lose you,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. “I know I’ve made mistakes, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make things right. Please, give me a chance.”

She took a deep breath, her tears falling freely now. “I need time to think. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I hope we can find a way to heal from this.”

As she turned to leave, Seungmin felt a pang of desperation. “I’ll wait for you,” he said quietly. “No matter how long it takes.”

The door closed behind her, and Seungmin sat alone once more, the silence in the room now filled with the promise of change and the hope of redemption. He knew the road ahead would be difficult, but he was ready to face it, determined to rebuild what had been broken and to fight for the love that still lingered in his heart.

Days turned into weeks, and the silence between Seungmin and her became a constant, aching presence in his life. Each day he struggled to balance his responsibilities and the lingering sense of loss. The guilt weighed heavily on him, a reminder of the words left unspoken and the hurt he had caused.

Seungmin threw himself into his work, hoping that by immersing himself in his career, he could drown out the pain. But no matter how busy he was, the thoughts of her lingered, each memory a sharp reminder of the love he had nearly lost.

One evening, as he was walking home from the studio, Seungmin spotted her sitting alone on a park bench. The sight of her took him by surprise, and his heart skipped a beat. She looked up as he approached, her expression a mix of sadness and resolve.

“Seungmin” she said, her voice steady but soft.

He took a seat beside her, the familiar warmth of her presence both comforting and painful. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said quietly.

She nodded, looking out at the darkening sky. “I’ve been thinking a lot. About us. About everything that happened.”

Seungmin’s heart pounded in his chest. “And?”

She took a deep breath, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “I’ve realized that I can’t keep holding onto the hurt. It’s consuming me, and it’s not fair to either of us. I need to forgive you, not just for your sake, but for my own.”

Seungmin felt a wave of relief mixed with trepidation. “I’ve been trying to find the right way to make amends. I know I can’t undo the past, but I want to show you that I’m willing to change.”

She turned to him, her eyes searching his face. “It’s not just about changing, Seungmin. It’s about understanding. I need to know that you’re willing to prioritize us, not just when it’s convenient but when it’s hard too.”

He nodded earnestly. “I understand. I’ve been selfish, and I see now that love is more than just words. It’s about actions, and I’m ready to show you through mine.”

A faint smile appeared on her lips, though it was tinged with sadness. “I’m not sure what the future holds for us, but I do want to try. I want to see if we can find a way back to each other, but it’s going to take time.”

Seungmin reached out, gently taking her hand in his. “I’m willing to wait. I’ll be here, doing everything I can to earn back your trust and show you that I value what we have.”

They sat in silence, the cool breeze carrying the sounds of the city around them. For the first time in weeks, Seungmin felt a glimmer of hope. It was the beginning of a new chapter, one where healing and understanding would be the foundation.

As they stood to leave, Seungmin glanced at her with a newfound determination. “Thank you for giving us a chance,” he said softly.

She nodded, squeezing his hand before letting go. “Let’s take it one day at a time.”

As they walked away from the park, side by side but not yet entirely together, Seungmin felt a cautious optimism. The road ahead was uncertain, but he was ready to navigate it, step by step, with the hope of rekindling the love they once shared.

©️strangevynl

🏷️ : none yet

[physalian]

There’s this unskippable Google AI ad on YouTube where this girl consults the robot about how to cancel dinner plans with the people across the table in the most annoying voice (likely because I have seen this ad now and had to listen to her asinine questions 20 times at least) and this ad, right here, speaks to my frustration around AI:

It disincentivizes critical thinking.

I know the ad is a joke and meant to be lighthearted and I’m only this annoyed because it’s unskippable and irritating af, but every time I see it all I can think is “if you can’t manage enough creativity and critical thinking to come up with your own excuse to cancel on your friends, maybe you shouldn’t have those friends.”

I have a relative who is firmly in the ChatGPT camp and, for example, yesterday I was trying to figure out how to compress a video file and was venting to them about it. They sent me back something I didn’t read from ChatGPT. Meanwhile, I looked up a YouTube video and figured out how to do the rest on my own, and getting the file compressed was immensely satisfying. Far more than mindlessly and thoughtlessly consulting the robot.

“It’s just like a YouTube video!” They’d told me.

No, a real person put time and effort into that video. That robot stole their content without their consent, didn’t credit them, and spat it back out. I used to patronizingly refer to ChatGPT as "the magic conch" and now I can barely do that anymore because that metaphor is becoming all-too real.

While I can understand the barriers it lowers—like if you struggle with writing the robot does it for you, or if you need a piece of art and are too poor, you can generate it for free. Mindless, repetitive tasks that eat up creative juices that can just be automated by a robot, too (even though everyone can tell when a response is canned and artificial and no one appreciates talking to a machine).

If you keep consulting ChatGPT for how to articulate what you want to say, or just straight-up having it do the hard work for you, you’re never going to learn. Yes it’s taken me 8 years to reach the quality and skill of writing I have but as another Tumblr post out there said: The time will pass anyway.

I can’t draw to the skill level that I’d like to. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep practicing until I get there. I thrive off that sense of accomplishment. There’s no little hit of dopamine from typing in a prompt and clicking a button and I certainly don’t appreciate the final product scalped without consequence from real artists.

Or, like when I had to fire a beta reader for flagrant abuse of AI in her work: I can copy-paste my manuscript into ChatGPT, too. I’d paid her for a human response, not garbage feedback that couldn’t understand what I was writing beyond that there were words on the page. I wanted so badly to ask her why she does a job in a creative field if she's just going to have a robot do all the fun parts? I beta read at a great loss of profit because I enjoy beta reading and it's a fiercely competetive market. Surely if she wanted to scam people, she could have done so in so many other ways. You don't need to know how to pen complex prose in your every day life, but by god, you do need to know how to effectively communicate, contextualize, and argue your perspective and this ridiculous ad joking about cancelling dinner plans sure is funny, until it isn't.

And I know the people who made AI probably did so with the best of intentions but people can be lazy and cheap and we love taking shortcuts to save money and I stand by this: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

So. Yeah. This is a writing advice blog and this post has almost nothing to do with it, but that ad annoys me to no end and I had to say something somewhere about it. Bottom line: Robots were supposed to make the hard jobs, the monotonous jobs, the overcomplicated jobs, the belittling jobs easier, not make us all into pudding-boned Wall-E people. If you want to write, learning is absolutely free - write on the back of your grocery receipts for all I care. If you want to draw, pick up a notebook and pack of pencils from the local dollar store and start drawing.

What you made will always mean more to you than something that didn't cost you time, effort, brain power, or even money to obtain.