#there are tons of others but I spent less time on those blogs I think lmao

[sssssaarn]

Characters through Stories

Why I don't call myself 'plural' -- despite 'fitting' the experiences.

A sort of reflection on when I thought I was a system/plural.

All the way back in (around) 2022 to 2023, I referred to myself as a system. I had been questioning for a long time before that, but eventually came to that conclusion after talking to numerous other systems about their experiences.

Nowadays though, I do not call myself a system, or even plural at all. Why is that? The short answer is this: it simply doesn't fit.

The long answer is this: my experiences with being 'plural' mostly came down to characters and, specifically, their stories. When I get particularly attached to a character, and especially for a long time (think, 1-2 years at minimum) I would then feel like I could 'know' those characters thoughts. I labeled these experiences as 'alters' in 2022 -- because that was the closest thing I could use to describe them.

But, this was forgetting another key aspect of myself: I love writing, and I especially love writing characters. I could only 'know' these characters' thoughts after extensively writing about them. I could not just think, and they would be there. There had to be some element of narrative or story to them. Otherwise, they wouldn't come across as strongly. This might be a normal experience for some systems, as there have been weirder ways that systems had to get alters to front. But I still feel like I diverge heavily from the typical 'fronting' examples. The characters never took over my body or mind, I would only act as a sort of 'vessel' for them.

Take, for example, two characters I thought had been 'alters' of mine: the SCPs 049 and 035. These 'alters' had come up after I had read a ton of tales focused around Alagadda (which serves as a sort of backstory for both of them) as well as after I had already spent years writing fan-fiction about them (around two years straight, of fan-fiction focused solely on them). After that point where they 'cropped up' (labeled myself as a system, labeled them as alters), I could only 'front' as them when I was writing as them. I could not act in real life, if I had not been writing as them (think of it as roleplaying, or maybe even more accurately: larping).

This is where experiences of most typical plurals and my 'plural' experience diverged heavily. I did not realize that I could only 'front'/'access' these 'alters' through writing/'roleplaying', because I was trying to force a system that just did not work with me and my brain. (Not to say that the plural framework was or is useless, it just doesn't work for me.) These characters were me; or maybe it would be more accurate to say they were extensions of me. They were extensions of my writing and stories, two things that have become a central point in my life.

Writing and stories have always been there for me, and it's also the best method I have to connect with 'myself'. I started this blog specifically because writing about my experiences, thoughts, and feelings was a great way for me to understand myself more! In short: I have a way of making myself feel less lonely, of understanding myself better, but I labeled this way incorrectly, and repressed for a long time after I realized it was wrong (because no one else understood, or thought it had been labeled correctly the first time).

Recently, I've begun having this same experience with two different characters. This time however, I'm not going to force myself to act plural or like a system, or to make these two characters 'front' like alters in a system. Because they aren't, and that simply won't work for me.

I'm writing this specifically because I don't see experiences like this written about a lot. Some beings aren't and will never be plural, but will have experiences and stories like this (that they still will not want to label as plural), and so I think it's something important to talk about!

The mind is an interesting and varied thing, and I think trying to lump any and every experience under a specific label (no matter how broad its definition) will inevitably drive beings away from that community; not towards it. This is a problem I've come across repeatedly; a lot of folks are just jumping at the gun to label every person they come across as 'plural' or 'nonhuman' -- which I can understand, after all, I would love to know more plural and nonhuman beings as well! But trying to force someone to identify as something, or use a system that simply… Doesn't work for that person? It's a pitfall I think (unfortunately) a lot of alterhuman beings fall into.

There's also the fact that someone can use a label or term for a very long time -- but then after a while, discover that it just doesn't work anymore. And that's perfectly fine as well! Change is a normal part of being, and it should be normalized more in alterhuman and adjacent communities!

If I had to give a label to my experiences now, I'd probably use something more like non-plural soulbonding, or perhaps it's something connected to my daemon. But again: minds are confusing and varied, and I'm not even sure if I'll ever have a clear label or answer on 'what' I am in this regard. And you know what? That's just fine with me.

[vonpharma]

w[h]ip wednesday: blocked by sicktember edition

welcome to whip wednesday! did you know the sicktember mods blocked me despite me being an avid fan of theirs for years, contributing 60 works and over 190k words, and hyping up their event in my social circles the whole time? i still do not know why this happened! i am pretty sure it's because i posted some very lukewarm critique about how the event was being run, on my personal blog where they had to go digging to find it.

i'm obviously heartbroken and pretty stressed about that but i've got a whole spreadsheet of planning done and a shit ton of fills ready to go so whatever. highly recommend not supporting the event this year or for the foreseeable future (there's talks of a new mod. if you're reading this, wanna unblock me?) because i'm starting to think the event runners might just be mean!

do, however, lavish me with praise. i will be writing sickfic until the end of the fucking universe, and when the new sickfic event makes their grand debut i will be kissing their feet.

here's some franmaya from my day 4!

With a confirmation of their reservation—curious, Franziska’s twisting expression seems to say, why would one need a reservation for a botanical garden?—the single employee standing stationary heaves the lock off the gates. They part as if heralding the arrival of something far grander than two young prodigies celebrating an anniversary—not even a proper one, something far more juvenile. Still, Maya feels nothing short of royal as she’s entering the sprawling, lush grounds—and the wonder sewn into every square of Franziska’s face tells her she’s not alone.

“Maya,” Franziska says, wandering toward the boundless stretch of camellia bushes, “what did you… the whole place is…”

“Empty?” Maya grins. “Yeah, happy anniversary, babe. Go wild.”

And Franziska looks at her like she’s hung the stars. How long Maya has waited for that look.

Because Franziska is rich. Loaded, even. There was so little you could buy for the woman who could buy herself anything, especially on Maya’s comparatively meager income. Her only saving grace was in the fact that Franziska was a workaholic to a fault who rarely thought of leisure, or pleasure, or earthly desires—so much so that the religious acolyte from the mountain commune was somehow less detached from those pleasures than she. Maya couldn’t often pay, but she could conceptualize.

This time, though. A year’s worth of saving, and planning, and praying… and finally, with all her ducks in a line, Maya was able to find a gift befitting of the wonderful creature who’d allowed her a space in their shared life. A few hours in the moonlight, wandering around the emerald sprawl of the biggest botanical garden in all of SoCal, with no one to bother them but the bugs chirping in the thicket.

A Franziskan paradise. A perfect night. Or it would be, if not for…

Another muffled sneeze escapes into the collar of her winter jacket, and it takes all of Maya’s willpower not to groan in sore irritation on the tail end of it. They’re starting to hurt, now, barreling through her with little regard for the shredded state of her throat or the date with the pretty girl she is currently trying to go on. It’s been relentless ever since last night, and Maya had hoped and prayed to Mystic Ami herself that she not be sick on her two-year anniversary that she’d spent ages arranging. As fate would have it, though, even Mystic Ami could not cure the common cold.

(Despite what the dusty tomes buried in the archives back home said….)

Luckily, even overdoting Franziska seems far too distracted right about now to notice that’s what’s happening. If this were any other situation, Maya’s sure Franziska’s searing blues would lock onto her like a vulture that’s just spotted a bloating corpse. Thankfully, the flowers are very distracting.

“It’s all…” Franziska is powerwalking from bush to bush in an erratic, excitable zigzag. “Maya Fey, is this whole garden nothing but camellias?”

“I dunno babe,” Maya sniffles once, twice, “you’re the expert. You tell me.”

Coming to a slow halt, Franziska allows herself to look out across the expanse—flowers as far as the eye can see, still in full bloom despite the bite of winter. In all colours, in all sizes, lit only by the far-off insomnia of the city, the moonlight peeking through the cloudy skies.

“I just—” Franziska turns back to Maya, glowing brightest of all, “—can’t believe the variety here, look at all this…”

Maya wanders closer to her side, feeling sunlit despite the chills that are quickly growing harder to ignore. Franziska kneels down to graze a gloved thumb across a velvety red petal, and Maya squats far less elegantly beside her, tilting her head awkwardly back in an attempt to keep her nose from running. 

“I can’t believe it,” Franziska marvels, “Maya, this is quite literally a historical specimen. You’ve brought me to the home of the oldest camellia in all of Southern California.”

“Yo, for real?” Maya stares at the flower, completely unremarkable to her own untrained eye. “Did this bitch know the dinosaurs?”

“No, nothing like that…” Franziska chuckles, continuing to cradle the flower in her hands as though it is the most precious thing in the world. “They’re Asian in origin. This one in particular is one of a kind, having traveled here from Japan in the 1800s.”

“Woah. Just like me for real.”

As she says it, Maya presses her cheek against Franziska’s own, that brand of endearing obnoxiousness that the two of them loved so much. Their hair bunches and tangles in between them, but Franziska leans into her beloved rather than away.

“I didn’t know winter flowers were a thing,” Maya lies, prompting her girlfriend to spring back to her feet, gesticulating vastly and passionately with her arms. 

“Oh, they’re some of the loveliest flowers in existence!” God, she’s so cute when she’s infodumping. “Camellias are some of my favourite of all, in fact I’d even heard of the breadth of this collection of them before coming to the states! It’s comprehensive reputation is largely the work of a single German botanist who traveled here in 1878, so naturally I was already in the know…”

Ever the savant, she carries on. Maya thinks she could listen to a phonebook being read, so long as it was drenched in Franziska’s wonderful, captivating, rounded accent.

[thebluestbluewords]

Jane’s Recipe Blog: Summer Birthday Cake

(irl recipe is modified from weekend at the cottage Harvey Wallbanger Cake)

Magic Mix Orange Liqueur Cake

posted by user: Sugar

to: sugarandspikes.auradon.blog 

date: 27 of June, Summer 

Summertime, and the living is busy! I don't know about you, but between my school and my family, I've spent 72 of the last 78 hours running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

the girls are enjoying the summer weather at least! My roommate's boyfriend brought home another crate of chicks for the flock last week. We're being overrun with eggs. Expect more eggy recipes very soon!!

If you're anything like me, summer is the busiest time of year. School programs for me and Spikes are both picking up the pace with our summer service hours, and I've got my roommate and her boyfriend home all the time while they're on break. It's great having the extra hands around the house, but it also means that we've been visiting and hosting family and friends basically non-stop since the summer started. 

I love baking. I love my family. I love watching my family enjoy my baking. But do you know what I don't love? 

Missing out on those special summer moments because I'm spending every moment I'm home in the kitchen. 

That's why this is the absolute easiest-ever summer cake. It's moist, soft, and packed full of the most delicious orange flavor. The orange glaze is easy to whip up in a few minutes, and it's a great excuse to buy a new whisk!

Check out my lemon bars recipe post for the story of how my last whisk died 😱

The non-stick coating on my new whisk makes it great for whipping up glazes, syrups, honeys, and other sticky sauces. Once things calm down, I'm thinking of making a lavender-infused honey glaze to put on my lemon poppy seed muffins for that little extra touch of sweetness. 

And speaking of nonstick, the coating on the whisk makes it non-magnetic! Which is GREAT if you're like me and hosting any fairy friends this summer. Magnetic fields play havoc with flower fairy equilibrium. It's cool to be kind to our neighbors and avoid cooking with magnets when you're making treats for non-humanoids. 

That being said, this cake doesn't involve any time boiling hot syrups, which makes it perfect for hot days like we've been having in Auradon lately. It also goes perfectly with a cold glass of lemonade, or a cup of iced ginger tea. The orange in the cake will meld great with lemon or ginger flavors, or provide a beautiful contrast to some black coffee, if you're just trying to get through the day 🙃

Sugar Says: 

Watch your oven temp on this one - it's easy to underbake and end up with a cake that's still soggy in the middle. 

If you like a more flavorful glaze, add an extra splash of vanilla to your mix. If you're serving this to kids, omit the vodka and swap for equal parts water or orange juice. (coconut water is also a delicious swap!) 

Make sure to double check the size of your boxed cake mix BEFORE you add it to the bowl! A double size box mix may look good to your eyes, but it'll look a lot less good when it overflows your bowl and takes over your entire kitchen. 

Spikes Says: 

Why are there like four cups of booze in the cake??

I don't think it's fair to tell the kids they can't have this 

We need to make a chocolate version of this STAT.

Sugar Says:

Magic Mix Chocolate Cherry Rum cake is going on the test kitchen list for the holidays!

THE RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

1 box deluxe yellow cake mix

1 package vanilla flavoured cooked pudding and pie filling

1 cup canola oil

3/4 cup orange juice, fresh or from concentrate 

1/4 cup vodka

1/4 cup Galliano liqueur

4 eggs 

Softened butter (for pan) 

For the glaze:

1 1/2 cup icing sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice 

1 tablespoon Galliano liqueur

1 teaspoon vodka

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Grease a Bundt pan. Or a regular cake pan. I’m not your mom. A cupcake tin will also work, but know that this case doesn’t rise a ton, so you may need to fill your cupcakes higher than usual to compensate. 

Add the cake mix and pudding mix into a medium-sized bowl. 

Add oil, orange juice, vodka, Galliano, and eggs. A stand mixer will make this step easier, or you can conscript your boyfriend into mixing it at a low steady speed for 2 minutes 🙂

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan. Tap the pan on the counter to pop any bubbles in the batter.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. 

Let the cake cool. This step is essential. Fend off any partners who want to eat the cake hot out of the pan. Let cool about 20 minutes, or one really vicious round of Uno.

Once cake is partially cool, gently loosen the edges. Invert onto a plate. 

Let the cake cool completely at room temperature (about 3-4 hours) before frosting. Do not try and hide the cake in the freezer. It will not work. They will eat it anyway and you’ll have to start over. 

To glaze: 

Mix the icing sugar, orange juice, Galliano liqueur and vodka until the mixture is smooth. Add more orange juice just a few drops at a time to achieve a thinner consistency. 

Drizzle the glaze over the cake. Allow time for glaze to set before eating. 

[sendmyresignation]

hey! months later I am still benefiting from your mcr metal primer, and I’ve been listening to more metal to figure out what genres I enjoy (spent a lot of time with black metal and metalcore this winter).

I wondered if you had recommendations for newsletters, podcasts, zines, or any other things you use to discover new (either recent releases or just new to you) metal bands/music?

hi!! thank you so much, i'm glad your getting some mileage out of the metal primer, that's what i'd always hoped it'd do so its really nice to hear :)

but yes, staying informed. there's a lot of resources out there- with metal you are really lucky considering a ton of stuff is archived (anytime i think about the metal archives i just feel sooo incredibly grateful after having to track down punk diy shit for months) and people are really invested in providing exhaustive lists and things! personally, i use shreddit almost exclusively (r/metal subreddit). they have a discord server that's a little less. well, reddit. than the page itself, as well as a release tracker, so it's pretty easy for me to know what's been released. i'll also check heavy blog is heavy, no clean singing, angrymetalguy (if they give an album a bad review, i'll probably love it haha!), and sometimes sarah from Smoulder does bangertv videos like cassette cult that i always check out.

as far as new to me, there's a ton of stuff out there. i use rym a lot, if you find a particularly good user they've often got a handful of lists i can dig through forever. stuff like this (crazy extensive baltic extreme metal primer) can give me a ton of mileage. shreddit also has primers to dig through. i love ride into glory i've found some of my favorite bands there.

i also stay in the loop through my metal friends- a couple guys who went to college with me started a record label after they graduated (liminal dread productions!) and just plugging into the shit they're up to helps me discover smaller artists. i did a few reviews for one of their zines and got into Vicious Blade through that, which was really great!

these are really the main things i use- i know black metal has its own self-sustaining universe that i'm unfamiliar with and metalcore tends to overlap much more with punk (like i feel like i get a lot of that stuff from brooklyn vegan and the like these days) so i'm a bit unhelpful for those specifics unfortunately. hopefully this gave you a good starting point though!!

[beautifulpersonpeach]

https://mobile.twitter.com/Jm_lover101395/status/1629878651956367360

And are they lying ? No. I can understand their feelings. After months of inactiveness of JM, finally they are getting his Contents and the same month members who already released shit ton of Contents is releasing stuffs and going on tours. Now otee7s have an excuse ' we recently spent for hobi, now we want to save for the tour'. Ofcourse everything happens in March, when it was supposed to be his month only with Fandom n company focusing on FACE.

***

Your link.

I don't know how you insecure muthafuckers find me man...

Did you see my blog in the Jimin tag? Is that how y'all know I exist to send me this crap? I remember getting similar asks from Seokjin (and Namjoon) solo stans about The Astronaut released a couple weeks before Indigo, and before that, Sexy Nukim released a couple-ish weeks after Rush Hour, and before that... like come on, don't y'all get tired or I don't know, have any awareness, at all, of who you stan?

Do you have any idea of what release schedules look like for other groups and companies to know how this compares, and much less for groups with members actively enlisting within 12 months?

To be a solo stan, some things are a given in how you think:

You're sensitive to competition among the members themselves;

You're prone to seeing things with a zero-sum game, winner-take-all mentality, again among members in the same band who you think secretly hate your favourite member;

You think your favourite member is perpetually and maliciously handicapped by his company, his bandmates, and his fans;

You think his priorities for his music career are identical to yours;

You spend nearly all your time engaging with people who think like you, but for other members, whether they call themselves ARMY or solo stans. And so most of this is basically anxiety around how your favourite member will potentially be mocked by those people for not achieving the sort of performance targets you discuss with other solo stans and diet solos within ARMY.

It's why nearly the same minute I received your ask, I received a similar ask but from, wait for it, Hobi akgaes (!), complaining that those "OT7 armies (sic)" will not buy Hobi's single because they'll be saving for Jimin's solo album. And I know I'll see the same bullshit from potentially taekook solo stans if Jimin puts out a single just before he enlists and it's close to debut dates for those members.

And the boring truth is, I genuinely do not care. Far as I'm concerned, all you aggrieved parties should just hold hands, form a kumbaya circle and cuss out evil HYBE with cystic acne on their children and children's children. A pox on all their descendants and all that.

I do not care if a single soul in the fandom does not buy FACE, because guess what, I know what I intend to do, I know what Jimin is capable of with the music he makes, and I know I'm not the only person with my ears working and disposable income. I don't have the patience for asks like this so tell your friends to tell their friends to skip my blog. I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell people I can't possibly take seriously: you'll cope, and both Jimin and Hobi will be fine.

[umichenginabroad]

Madrid Week 6: The Honeymoon Phase

Hola a todxs ‼️‼️ Niko here again, and welcome back to week 6’s blog of my study abroad experience in Madrid. This post is a little more text/personal reflection heavy. We'll get to some more fun stuff next week :).

This past week was filled mainly with schoolwork and cooking — not too much exploration of the city — and I stuck mainly to my established routes between home and university. However, looking forward, I think that this routine will be significant in my international experience, too.

For the first few weeks living here, I got out as much as possible and tried my best to take advantage of everything Madrid had to offer. Trying all the cute cafes, seeing all the tourist attractions, exploring new neighborhoods, going out to all the clubs. But now that I’ve been here for a month and a half, it feels a bit like I’m actually ‘living’ here, and less like some kind of extended vacation. 

I actually have schoolwork to do now — projects, papers, presentations — and that leaves me much less time to simply exist. I think I can take that as both a blessing and a curse. For one, it’s a curse, because in reality, I would love to just skip around Madrid all week without any responsibilities, who wouldn’t? 

But now, I think I’m living more like how a student would who’s here year round. Let’s be honest — are Michigan students constantly going around Ann Arbor, discovering all the little nooks and crannies, experiencing all the most hyped up spots and exploring all the paths less traveled? Not really. Maybe I’ll hit the Kerrytown farmers market or the Blind Pig on a weekend, but honestly that’s few and far in between. Majority of my weekends at Michigan are spent around campus and at home.

I don’t want to say we’ve “become complacent” with Ann Arbor, because that inherently has a negative connotation. But we’ve certainly gotten used to living in this city, and simultaneously have tons of other things on our plate that we’ve got to attend to. Things aren’t as shiny and exciting as they were the first month of freshman year, and we simply have less time. It feels like something similar is happening here in Spain, for both reasons (although maybe to a lesser extent — I still have more free time than I do in Michigan, and Madrid is still, well, Madrid, Spain. Not quite like Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA). 

Now, my perspective of Madrid has shifted slightly, and with it my experience. Maybe one could say my “honeymoon phase” is over, but to be honest, I haven’t really started to find a lot of things I really dislike about the city. Things are just a little more like real life, which I think I'll end up being happy for.

As some of you may know, I studied abroad over the summer after my freshman year in Buenos Aires. That program lasted 6 weeks, and I stayed an extra with my parents after the program ended. School wasn’t as demanding, and I had ample free time all week. Those six weeks were incredible. It was my first time living outside of the United States for an extended period of time, my first time ever living in a big city, my first time immersed in another language and culture completely different from my own. 

Upon reflection, I think my ‘honeymoon phase’ lasted all 7 weeks of my experience in Buenos Aires. And now, I’m reaching week 7 here in Madrid. I’ll be here for a total of 15.

My experiences in Buenos Aires and Madrid have been similar in a lot of ways. The architecture of the cities, the language, the general warmth of the people and culture. Simultaneously, they’ve been different in more ways than I can count, and I think a big one I'm slowly transitioning into will be due to the amount of time that I have here.

Now, I’m left with an awareness of the challenge that comes with living in a foreign city, in a culture completely different from my own. In a class that I’m currently taking, 'Social groups and their cultural imaginaries', we had a lesson on Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. One of the main themes of the book: Our interpretation of a city or landscape is based on how we are feeling, or what we want at that particular moment.

How will my experience of this city change with my perception and feelings towards it? What will I desire then, and what do I desire now? How will I interact with Madrid in week 15? How will that be different from week 1?

How will I continue to adapt to Spanish culture? What pieces of US culture will I still be holding on to, and what pieces of my identity will change?

Will I continue to find excitement and novelty in this place in week 15, or will I have to make an active effort to do so? Will living in Madrid at week 15 feel like living in Ann Arbor, or Arlington VA? Or are the places and cultures so different that the experience will never be comparable?

Will this lifestyle be something that I want to continue, or will I find that I’m most comfortable in the culture and community I grew up with?

I’ve asked a lot of questions here, most of which I have no semblance of an answer to. Some of them are small, some of them are pretty big. I’ll plan on coming back to this blog, maybe in week 15, maybe in a post-reflection — and I’ll try to answer as many of them as I can. Just writing them here increases my awareness, which enables more active reflection and growth in my day-to-day life.

One action item I’ve realized after writing this blog: I need to start taking a more active effort during the week to continue appreciating Madrid for all it has to offer me. At first, it came really naturally, but now, it’s harder. Moreover, as I’ll be traveling around Europe for the next few weekends, I’ll have less chances to experience Madrid without the pressure of everyday life squeezing around me.

Taking an active effort means giving myself more opportunities to be mindful, present, and appreciative of the environment I’m in. That includes waking up earlier and trying to establish more of a schedule with schoolwork, which will give me time to do things like going out on walks to take photos in the morning, or finding a new bar to enjoy a drink at during the evenings. Also, I hope to start meditating again — which has been something that has served as a point of stability for me throughout college.

Transition periods are never easy, and I've found myself in one yet again. The best advice I can give myself for now is to remain appreciative and accepting of all of the everything lives throws me, knowing that each one is an opportunity for growth — and I'll come out the other side more experienced, wise, and grateful that it happened.

In other news, this week I saw Dune 2 (highly recommend, ESPECIALLY in IMAX), kept cooking, and did a good amount of studying. Also, this past weekend I went to Italy (for the first time ever) and spent the weekend with an old friend. I’m headed to Sevilla this weekend, and I’ll detailing both a little more in next week's blog. Wishing everyone a happy hump day and a strong finish to the week.

Hasta pronto,

Niko Economos

Aerospace Engineering

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

[broke-on-books]

Hi Swishy!!! 👋😊 If you’re still accepting these:

☕️ + Gang origin stories (what you like/dislike/prefer in canon or fan-made origins for Mystery Inc)

Oh my gosh Cally you picked like the best question on the face of the earth for this ask wth okay

SCOOBY: This one's easy, and I'm sure you can guess it if you've been around my blog for more than five minutes. GRILLO'S PETS ORIGIN STORY!!!!!!! Love love love the Grillo's Pet Shop origin! If you're somehow unaware, this is the origin shown in flashback in Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood (1979) aka my favorite movie ever. Basically the gang (as teens already) go to a pet store wanting to buy a dog. While there, a baby Scooby tries to shows off for them and makes a whole mess (as usual <3) but is so endearing they take him home anyways. This is by far my favorite origin for Scooby as here he's more than just "Shaggy's dog" but the gangs' as a unit. This origin has really great gang interactions in and about Scooby with Shaggy showing reluctance to get him in the first place! (As opposed the the besties since birth origin that's common in other adaptations, such as APNSD) I really love that detail as we get to see other gang members (especially Velma!!!! The Grillo's pets origin has some amazingggg Scooby+Velma interactions and screencaps) argue for Scooby becoming a part of their lives, and it also paints Shaggy in the family-member-who-didn't-want-a-pet-but-now-they're-best-friends role that often exists in real life (and which is just HILARIOUS for Shaggy and Scooby!)

SCRAPPY: Of the Scrappy origins I'm familiar with (those being the one from the SD&SD theme song, and the other the episode surrounding his birth [the one all the baby bonnet scrappy screencaps are from]) I definitely prefer the original theme song version much better. Some of that strong preference is likely because I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I would go about reintroducing (or redeeming [in the public opinion] as my blog title says) Scrappy Doo, and that's by doing an extended exploration of the box-in-the-mail origin story. I'm also just obsessed with what that origin means for Scooby's family life and his relationship with Ruby that she would send her son (who Scooby has never met!!!!) to stay with him for an indeterminate length of time without notice (by MAILING SCRAPPY IN A BOX NO LESS) while also having Scrappy arrive at Scooby with a full hero-worship situation going on. Like do you know how much potential that idea has?!?!?!?!? I could talk about the Doo sibling semi-estrangement (as it exists in my mind and nowhere else) for HOURS and what it means for Scooby, Ruby, and Scrappy like !!!!!!!!!!. Warner Brothers needs to hire me to rewrite this introduction ASAP

Shaggy: I'm not informed enough on the Rogers family lore to say too much about it, although I don't see Shaggy having too large of a nuclear family. He's someone I see with a lot of cousins though and aunts and uncles (and differing relationships with each, as seen in the 'I'm a man? Another first! Take that Uncle Dave!' or however it goes clip from bcsd) I can't evision what his parents would be like at all, although I'm sure they're very interesting people for naming their child NORVILLE of all things. After some quick googling, I've learned he canonically does have a younger sister, Sugie, which I could definitely fit into my image of him with a big enough age gap bet the two. Shaggy is someone I see as growing up pretty alone (without Scooby in the Grillo's origin though, which... ouch) but could definitely fulfill the youngest/er child niche within a large extended family.

VELMA: I like Velma as an older sister and I like Madelyn Dinkley. I don't have a ton ton to say about her origin other that I like the parts we've generally seen (especially the fear of clowns lol). Velma to me has always been a lifelong reader and I think that's something that's likely true for her parents as well. Not a huge fan of her SDMI parents, but I don't like any of the SDMI parents so that's not exactly a surprise here.

Daphne: For Daphne, lots of Scopby properties like to portray her family as pretty wealthy, and I think I'd agree on that assessment for her. However if I was going to pick between Daphne origins/family situations I'd definitely go with the BCSD one for sure. I like her as an only child much more than having a gaggle of sisters like in SDMI, and I think that tying into her quirks and how her family is rich gives a good explanation for many of her more esoteric skills. Basically what I'm trying to say is that she had lessons in almost everything under the sun growing up, no matter how weird or useless.

FRED: This is definitely the hardest one. Believe it or not I haven't gotten to the BCSD episodes with Professor Huh? yet so I know pretty much nothing but idk. LOVE how Fred has tragic backstories with villain!parents leaking out his ears that's sooo funny actually (THREE TIMES FRED. AT LEAST.) However. Idk. I'm a fan of Skip and Peggy. Like Fred's embarrassing overbearing normal parents is also so entertaining as well. So idk I'm pretty flexible with Fred. This man has no siblings though. When he was bored at home he talked to his nets or something

THE GANG: I don't have preferences really on how the gang as a unit came together, besides the edition of Scooby and Scrappy. It's just not an event that interests me a ton, mostly because I see it happening in very similar ways each time. Like either they're all friends and a mystery pops up and they solve it together and BOOM! Mystery Incorporated or they're mystery enthusiasts and a mystery pops up and BOOM! close friendship (and also mystery incorporated)

But anyways thank you so so much for asking this question actually this was a very good pick Cally (esp in regards to the dogs, I have Opinions about those two)

[transmasc-wizard]

I saw your tags on the "most played video game hours" post about just starting to be a Gamer this year, and now I'm curious. What are your favorite games? I know you mentioned Hollow Knight, but what else? Are you a platformer person, or is Hollow Knight an exception to a pattern?

I'm just curious bc most of my friends or acquaintances are very big RPG people, like Dragon Age or BG3 (which tracks since most of my friends are also dnd/ttrpg people), and/or life sim (stardew valley, the sims, fields of mistria, etc.) people. There are a couple outliers though, like the DM of my Curse of Strahd game who's really into Hollow Knight, and two of the players in our Sat/Sun group who are huge horror game fans (Dead By Daylight, the new Silent Hill 2 remake, Resident Evil, that sort of thing).

And since I know your tastes kinda span all three of those things (you mentioned Hollow Knight, you play dnd, and you're a horror fan), where your gaming niche is. If it's one of the things I've brought up or if it's something totally different. (Mine is super specifically turn-based combat RPGs, either story-based, or roguelikes/lites. BG3, P:WotR, Slay the Spire, Wildermyth, etc.) It's okay if you don't think you have a niche yet, or even you never think you'll develop one, I'm just curious. I don't know that many writeblr people who do much gaming.

OH, and I wanted to mention the game I just bought on Wednesday, because it seems like something that might interest you/just has a cool concept in general. It's called Elsinore, and it's sort of like a mix of a visual novel and also a Sims game, but it's based on Hamlet, and you play as Ophelia, and it's a timeloop that you slowly learn more about after dying over and over (you are doomed by the narrative after all) until you eventually reach an "ending". I have yet to play it, but I've heard very good things, and I'm super excited to get into it when I'm in the mood for a game that requires a little more thinking than my combat-heavy RPGs. The art style is gorgeous, and Ophelia's design is a Black woman, and she looks stunning.

Okay, that's enough of a mega-ramble from me, hahaha. It's after midnight and I'm just getting over being sick, so I'm making even less sense than usual. I'm just nosy.

As per usual, ignore the main url, this is Morri @six-improbable-things / @memento-morri-writes (oh how I regret making these two sideblogs, since I really like keeping my blogs and social circles separate, but alas, it's been years, and I'm too entrenched and stubborn to make a new account and move over all my stuff.)

(this might take the cake for the longest, most rambling ask I've ever sent in my life, which is saying something. I'm so very sorry.)

hello I spent all day watching vox machina for the first time with my girlfriend so i am only now getting to this

so Hollow Knight is currently my favourite game, as my hours indicate, and i do like the platform elements. currently the only other platformer I've played is celeste, which I'm like... 4 levels into out of 9? and I like it. and then not a platformer but one of my favourite games is Omori as well, which... probably tracks with who I am as a person.

but primarily I actually like playing survival horror co-ops with my friends :) we play lethal company a TON together, modded and unmodded, and we just yesterday spent almost 5 hours playing Nuclear Nightmare. I'd say that's the gaming experience I look forward to most. I like the combination of horror built worlds and incredibly silly times with friends. (I also play, like, roblox. with them. but that's not for the *game* it's just for the *friends* while survival horror games are For The Game.)

that visual novel sounds rlly interesting !! the only visual novels I've played are doki doki literature club, good lord everyone at my high school reunion is a trans man and they're all hot, and life after magic (wildly different vibes lol). so I don't have much of a VN like niche or anything yet, but elsinore sounds interesting and I am adding it to my video game wishlist :)

[swanye-fediverse]

IRC Channel?

So I was working on a (entirely open-source and copyleft, of course) sort of chat thing – similar in UI to Discord – that could serve as a real-time community space, for any interested, etc.

I've never enjoyed those spaces as much as more static platforms like micro/blogging platforms (like Tumblr or Mastodon; I think the quickness of the space always weirded me out, as a generally shy and introverted person) but I've seen a lot of other people apparently prefer them (maybe it feels less daunting that talking directly to one person, like you'd have to do if you message me).

I've been hanging out a ton in the Guix IRC channel and, probably, spent way more time than I should have getting my IRC client to look really nice (in my opinion) and figured, in the interim, why not provide some space, for those who want it.

I can't work on any of my projects until I have a job, again, but I worry about inactivity making it feel like this project's dead (I try continuing to reblog things here (and so, also, – hopefully – the account doesn't feel too foreign or standoffish, either) but, like, people did follow (presumably) because they're interested in a Tumblr alternative for the Fediverse so I don't want that to get lost, as well).

So, until then, there's a Swanye IRC channel! It's hosted on Libera Chat; join with your favorite IRC client or through the web via https://web.libera.chat/#swanye.

[blackbird-brewster]

It's done.

Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) - Part 3, is done.

I could ramble for hours about how I feel right now and as much as I'd love to lie and say I'll try to be a bit succinct to spare you all a long, emotional essay -- that's not happening. My blog, my feels.

I think it's important for me to start by saying, 'Fooled Around' was a miracle project, it brought me out of years of writers' block. Up until July 2022, I had been writing-retired for seven years. There were a few times during that hiatus where I tried to write, but the words always felt forced and disingenuous. I honestly believed I'd never write fanfic again -- then one night, out of nowhere, I got a comment on an old fic and it reignited my passion.

I spent that whole night re-reading my old works, delving into my personal archives, reading the outlines of WIPs that were never finished and that's when I came across my original outline from 2015 for a Jemily fanfic based on 'Imagine Me and You'.

I even had a couple of chapters already written from back then, it wasn't very good, it was admittedly just a scene-for-scene remake.

And for whatever reason, after seven years, I saw this WIP and went "Huh, I think I'd like to finish that."

With that, Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) was born. I wrote the entirety of Part 1 in ten days and the thing was, it wasn't even labelled 'Part 1' because I had no intention of making this into a series when I was writing it.

But by the time I had it fully posted, I already realised how much I wanted to keep writing these characters. When I began Part 2 in September 2022, there were only TWO other fics on AO3 in the JJ/Tara tag (there are now 26!). I loved writing their story and creating my polyam OT3 which I lovingly call, Je T'Emily.

Part 2 took less than three weeks to write and when it was complete, it was my longest fic to date (87k) and this time, I really did feel contented with where the story ended.

Afterwards, I worked on other projects, wrote tons and tons of new fics, including my 101k Jemily saga: i can't be wrong (to be craving you).

All the while, my Fooled Around characters started popping up in the back of my mind again, little plot bunnies rattling around, keeping me up at night, until finally, I sat down in May and said 'What could Part 3 be about?'

What I never expected was for this fic to take SEVEN months to write. Previously, the longest I had ever spent on a single project was four months and those were babies compared to Part 3.

Part 3 not only eclipsed my previous 101k WC record for longest fic, it more than DOUBLED that. In the end, this fic turned out to be 220,000 words long (equivalent to a 960 page novel).

I wish I was the type of person who could be proud of their own achievements, but I'm not. Even as I write this, there's part of me saying just delete and never post it, because no one cares about any of this -- but I'm fighting that little voice, because I truly do want to document how it feels to complete such a massive fic.

I poured hundreds of hours into this story, I did SO much editing, so much re-writing, re-working. I had a total of four main characters, their individual plots, plus SIX other characters, and their subsequent side-plots. To weave threads and continuity through a project spanning seven months of work was no easy feat.

I learned so much about myself in the process. Both regarding my writing styles, my stamina, and the dire need for me to find balance with writing and my own well-being. I pushed myself into burnout and the last few months have been really difficult on me, but I was determined to finish what I started.

And now, I have.

Six months of weekly updates and it all ends this Friday and I couldn't be happier.

To any of my readers who have made it this far, thank you. Your weekly comments and support really were the motivation that kept me going through the worst of it. Please know your usernames are all known well amongst me and my partner, because I share all of your comments with them and rave about how amazing you all are for coming on this journey with me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We may not know each other outside of AO3 comments or tumblr, but please know, I consider each and every one of you to be my friends and I cannot express my gratitude enough.

Pleased to tell you all, Fooled Around (and Fell in Love) will be back next year. Not as anything as massive as Part 3, but I'm planning to write a series of individual character epilogues to wrap up the series.

Until then, X.

[drlamccrae]

Commitment

It has been quite awhile since I have sat down to write. Just write. 

Growing up, I imagined being a writer. I would take copious notes. Read. Write. Think about book titles. Make little books and presentations. At that young age, I was not aware that there was no money in writing. Writing and books seemed (and still do) like the most precious items to me. 

For the last two decades, I have been trying to find my way. My way to the page. My way to writing. My way to fully expressing. 

Early on, AOL had blog sites and personal sites. I tried my very best to write publicly but did not realize being a queer, curious, Black kid was not safe. Anywhere. Especially not safe on the internet. 

Once in college, I found myself to MySpace. If I could go back and archive all of those writings, I would have enough to fill a thousand books. At the time, MySpace was safe, or so I believed. I had a protected profile. I could write and share as freely as I wanted too. Like many youngsters, I spent tons of time customizing my MySpace page, adding features, and connecting with others. 

Over the years, I used Blogger, Blogspot, Wordpress, Penzu... you name it, I’ve likely used it. But nothing seemed to stick. Nothing felt like “home.”

Frustrated. I would return to pen (or mechanical pencil) and paper. I filled journal after journal with my thoughts and ruminations. 

Each time I attempted to write something, anything, it failed to rise to my expectations. It was difficult for me to focus in my writing. Often, there were several themes and stories contained in one piece. I tried to fit my non-binary way of being and thinking into the expectations of a society that consistently rejected me. Then, writing became painful.

A few years ago, a former partner purchased a replica of James Baldwin’s typewriter. That inspired me! Countless hours were spent writing, typing, thinking, and flowing. However, this became increasingly annoying to my partner. The click-click of the keys was too much. Too damn much. So, I packed up the typewriter and swore I would return once I felt home. 

That time still has yet to arrive. 

Tonight, I just sat down to write and know it is the first step to getting back into shape. Into the shape and form of concentrated writing. When I was ex-patting in Prague, I belonged to a writer’s group. Once the pandemic hit, I stayed as involved as I could through Zoom, Discord, and Facebook. Now that I no longer have social media, I feel both more spacious and disconnected. For some of my contacts and people, the only way we stayed connected was through Facebook. But Facebook drained my soul. And again, I stopped writing. 

Writers have to write. 

And that takes commitment. 

It is not that I am not committed to the vision and dream of writing. It is that I feel as if I can’t find the time. Or, that I think my writing won’t be good enough by standards of people I’ve never met and honestly could care less about. All of these obstacles are emotional baggage that have become an albatross around my neck keeping me from my dreams. 

No longer. 

No more. 

Often, I have found inspiration in the writing of adrienne maree brown. She pours herself into the craft. She writers, unapologetically. I deeply admire her commitment, her passion, and her art. And she writes, everyday. Without a care for who approves, who reads, or who judges. She knows she has the right to take up space. Online. On paper. Everywhere.

And so do I.

So, I am committing. Re-committing. To writing. Not just every day. But every time I have an opportunity to share, curate stories, and reflect. 

Thank you for letting me share.

-D

[ot3]

biggest art inspos?

@lycheestew sorry it took me three and a half months to answer this you sent it to me right around the time i finished my composition writeup and i was like 'good god i can not spend another two seconds thinking about art right now ill answer this later' and then well i just kept not doing it

but anyway. heres uhhh some stuff that was formative/that i am presently into.

Ever since I was in middle school I have been OBSESSED with tracy j. butler's work, she does the webcomic lackadaisy cats and everything she draws is just masterful. Her fully polished paintings are beautiful but I'm choosing to show some of her pencil sketches here because... well... just look at them. like holy shit. I think you could probably trace my love of drawing more stylized proportions with a disproportionate amount of detail on the clothing to her stuff. she also just does magnificent character work and i have a print of her expression tutorial that i kept hanging right by my bed to look at for years.

i was also, as you all know, incredibly incredibly deep into homestuck fandom for the majority of my Learning to Draw years so there were a few artists who were big during peak homestuck posting era that were very formative for me.

in particular i was really into @xamag-homestuck's stuff because i just found the way she stylized characters super pleasing. i spent a bunch of time trying to emulate that.

there was also someone who went by putoshop, i don't know what their current socials are if any but the old blog's gone, and i can specifically site their art as being the thing that got me to start trying lineless stuff

i also have loved loved loved everything @ggdgart has ever done and in particular their use of color in cucumber quest imprinted on me a ton and is something i have drawn a lot of inspiration from over the years. on top of that they have a wonderful sense of fashion and their character designs are just great. cucumber quest rules.

i also was a kid who was really into western cartoons and didn't start watching anime with any regularity until i was in college so a lot of those meant a lot to me. a lot of my early drawing was done trying to copy/trace avatar the last airbender screenshots and while i think it definitely got me started i honestly feel like it had less of a long-lasting impact on the way my art looks than other stuff that i didn't even watch a ton of. i was never super deep into either show as media but i always absolutely loved the aesthetics happening in samurai jack and my life as a teenage robot. they both had that excellent geometric midcentury vibe. more recently in comparison to those two, i also feel in love with the background style in gravity falls and would say that was pretty influential.

right now as for present inspiration i'm absolutely obsessed with everything that deb jj lee does because, well. once again i find really the only adequate thing to say is 'holy shit'

their stuff rules soooooooo hard

i'm also extremely in love with angela sung's art.

the textures! the colors! the shapes! no misses here

im sure theres more stuff i could bring up but this is what's coming to me at the time so ill leave it here

[melodyofthevoid]

Writing Wrap Up 2022

So... this year I want to take a bit of a different approach. The last 2 years I’ve wrapped up my writing by posting one from each month and thanking y’all for reading, which I thought about but then... it hit me. 

I haven’t really posted anywhere near half of what I’ve written this year. 

It’s a little insane to me, I’ve posted a shit ton these last 2 years, racked up an impressive word count for sure, but this year was. Different. For a few reasons. 

So this is just going to be me contemplating and examining how my writing has changed this year, if you’ll indulge me. 

Talking with a friend, the year itself stuck out to me. 2022. 3 years since I started writing at all. To keep the story brief, I wrote my first work on winter break back in 2019 at the behest of my bestie @/freshfruitforrottingvegetables (I’ve @’d them enough times crediting them for this) and posted it on ao3. I’ve pretty much been writing non-stop since. Invader Zim got me into writing, and the community I found there boosted me and gave me an absolutely incredible support system. 

But, other than the occasional reblog, this isn’t really a Zim blog anymore. I certainly don’t write about it as much, if ever. Now there’s a few reasons for that, not the least of which being almost 3 years is the longest I’ve had a fixation in a while. I’m amazed it held on as long as it did. Second was... I finished the royalty au. It’s almost hard to remember the beginning of this year but back in March, I posted the last chapter of “Isn’t it A Trial”, wrapping up the project I’d spent nearly two years trying to complete. My first big project. 

And it was done. 

There were a few other behind the scenes things that led to distancing from IZ from a writing standpoint but those aren’t really the point of this. 

For the first time since starting this journey, I was... on my own, so to speak. It was weird, scary at times even. Hell, I’m still very much adjusting to doing entirely OC work. The circle of people I’m posting to isn’t a huge thriving fandom, it’s just my mutuals, and those who’ve come to love the Ocean Idiots crew. I throw in some of my (and @/shmunter’s) ocs in as well, but that’s what I’ve been writing from y’all’s perspective. 

As I said, that’s not even a fraction of the stuff I’ve written in my own time that I don't post. Before, I was writing for an audience on some level. They were always stories I wanted to tell, but there was also the excitement of putting them in a pool of collaboration and community. That there were others. Now, these are my stories almost (really key word of almost, I’m not claiming sole ownership of anything) entirely. 

So I’ve had to adjust. I’m still adjusting. I’ve had a lot of days where writing had been a real uphill battle for me and I questioned the quality of my work. What does it mean now that I’m writing for a more narrow group? Is there a point to it? Am I less inspired now? How can I tell I’m growing or not? Can I tackle the scope of project I want to tackle next? Each time I think about it, it gets more and more daunting, overwhelming even. 

That one post about “Aww did you scare yourself out of doing a project” plays often in my mind. Very often. 

It’s going to be a weird year, even few years going forward. Graduation is on the horizon, with the prospect of maybe moving out and making it on my own from here on. I might move away, I might stay home. There’s a lot of unknowns and within that is what I’m going to do with my writing as well. It’s a part of me now without question, but what form will it take? Will I take? 

Much to consider.

So for this moment, I’m choosing to focus on celebrating the changes that have happened, the work I’ve done this year. The ways I’ve improved, the small leaps into different original ideas that I’ve had. I’ve had a ton of fun with making aus for just myself and like- one other person. I had a blast writing for my old DND characters too! There’s a lot to be proud of, and that’s what matters. 

I want to see what I can do, and I think sticking to some short stories while I shore up and figure out what to do with my bigger concepts might be where I go. Maybe not. Who knows. But at the end of the day, we’ll find out when we get there. Thank you, all of you, for your support, your comments, and your encouragement this year. It’s been a good one, for all its ups and downs. 

[ny-3aets]

Alright, so I might lose some followers for this, but I don’t care. This is the blog where I get to be honest about my views, so I’m going to be honest about this, too:

“Fatphobia” isn’t fucking real.

Yeah, some people treat others like shit human beings because they jump to conclusions about their circumstances. I’m not denying that. It sucks. However, it doesn’t reach into the territory of some kind of epidemic of oppression because not only is being fat something objective, it’s also not something people are born with and it’s absolutely something that you can change.

”Diet culture“ is only as harmful as you allow it to be if you take everything given to you at face value and don’t do any of your own research or contact someone like a nutritionist or a personal trainer to figure out what specifications work for you. The reason there are hundreds of different diets is because there are hundreds of different people that wrote each of them, and for each of them that specific method works, and it may not work for you.

With that in mind, nothing’s gonna fucking work if you do not commit to it for months or even years. A diet isn’t something you do for a month or two like you’re an actor prepping for a movie and then you get to go back to whatever you were doing before. Maybe if you’re already at a moderate shape and it corresponds to the needs of a new sport you‘re pursuing, it might, but for overall change at a casual pace, this isn’t how it works. You pursue a diet as in, that is your diet now. That is what you eat, period.

Your unhealthy codependency on unhealthy foods because they’ve trained your brain into assuming that they are vital in bringing you comfort and joy is exactly that — unhealthy, codependent behavior. No diet is extreme for asking you to give up desserts or extremely calorie-rich foods — being able to do this means maturing enough to understand that food is just that — food. It’s an energy source, nothing more, nothing less. Whether or not you choose to still eat unhealthy food “every once in a while” is entirely your choice because it’s your body and you can choose what you do with it, but in potentially compromising a diet you‘ve selected, you have absolutely no place to say that a diet does or doesn’t work.

When you start pursuing any diet specifically in order to lose weight however, you need to be at a calorie deficit. This, once again, takes some independent research as well as arithmetic to understand how much of a calorie deficit is right for you, depending on how active your lifestyle is. This isn’t me taking the high ground and pretending to be something I’m not. This is just a fact.

Not all forms of exercise work for everyone. Either go into the gym and obsessively (although safely) try everything for a two-week period at a time, or do intense research, and, if you can afford it (and I’m positive that there are online ones that will offer their services for free or discounted prices from an in-person gym) hire a personal trainer. Hiring a trainer doesn’t negate your research, however — question everything she says, look it up at home, see if there are opinions of other trainers online (YouTube has an entire hub of these guys).

Yes, there are cases in which people have genetic disorders which make it nearly impossible for them to lose weight. Those are A) rare and B) vary in degree of hinderance, meaning in certain circumstances there will absolutely be tons of research right at your fingertips to find a way to maneuver around it.

Yes, the BMI rating is a joke, specifically for people with extreme amounts of muscle mass (as muscle is heavier than fat), but I think you know if you look like Dwayne Johnson or you can achieve some of the same shit as a Sumo wrestler or a Siberian grandma. Either way it’s a mostly arbitrary number, although it can be a rough guide of where you “should” be.

Yes, there are people out there that are fat by societal standards but are more than capable of achieving extreme physical feats. Most of the people competing in throwing events at the Olympics or Strongman events look very different from the hypertrophied Greek statues of bikini competitions. I don’t have to tell you that this requires an extreme amount of training and dedication (and perhaps a winning ticket of the genetic lottery), but if it’s something you achieve, more power to you; I don‘t care.

I am not calling fat people lazy. Anyone can be lazy.

I am not calling fat people selfish. Anyone can be selfish.

I am not calling fat people terrible or disgusting or worthless or whatever the fuck else you want to extract from this because I decided to look you in the eye and tell you that your excuses suck.

Whether or not you’re fat doesn’t determine your worth as a human being, however, being fat, 9/10 times is something you can control and something you can work with. Finding a way to lose weight safely and effectively is something that takes years and years of trial and error and the negative psychological effects of what you see online are no one’s problem except your own — take everything with a grain of salt and do your own research instead of pretending that the world is out to get you. If you feel that people’s posts promoting something that works for them just fine is somehow a personal attack on you, I think it’s time to evaluate your relationship with the online media sphere at large, methinks.

I’m not a personal trainer, I’m not a nutritionist, I’m not going to tell you what to do, I’m not gonna look up and evaluate every single diet plan and workout regimen known to man — I already did it for myself, I spent the sweat and tears on it for the last five years of my life, and I know what works for me. I cannot tell you what is going to work for you and I cannot tell you that losing weight is something you must do but I can tell you that there is something that will work for you, if you want to lose weight. You just aren’t looking hard enough.

While at the end of the day, I don’t care what people do because it’s not my place to control their actions or their words, but I do care when people fucking lie. When they regurgitate the same “diets don’t work!” over every insinuation that maybe there needs to be some kind of change in their food intake, when they so boldly say that they can’t lose weight, that they’ve tried everything, that diet culture is “toxic” because they can’t take the time to impersonally and carefully evaluate whatever is being peddled to them, or when I want a friend or a significant other to support me on a lifestyle that I’m pursuing and they throw me the: “Oh, but you’re so beautiful regardless!” because that shit doesn’t fuck help me, that shit doesn’t make me feel any better and is a worthless statement when I want to approach something objectively and it’s clear that there are set goals with visible obstacles to overcome.

Yes, yes you can lose weight and the people telling you that you can do not wish any kind of harm upon you.

Yeah, we‘re all gonna die in the end anyway, but I don’t want to get there absolutely winded after every staircase I’ve climbed.

[robenwand]

@keister-meister​ Please join me here. I really enjoy talking about this with someone, as it helps me explore my own thoughts and feelings about art and the value of artists. 

I’ll start by saying that I think you will need to add AI generated to your assumed art mediums. Not a ton of people are using it in the mainstream yet, but programs like Midjourney are, imo, going to change that quickly. This means you, and many people who feel the same way as you do about AI generated art, are going to have stop and consider everytime you see something you think was pretty - was this in fact made using AI? Some people won’t even tag it that way, because how they created it doesn’t matter to them as much as what they made. People are already using it to make bookcovers, album covers, anything they want. If you see an AI generated piece on a book cover, you aren’t going to see anything crediting the AI, only the AI user. 

Secondly, to address the effort I as a creator put into my AI generated image - let me ask, have you used Midjourney or any other AI based image generator? I did not just think up three parameters, feed it to the computer, and slap the first thing it gave me onto my blog. The computer did not, in fact, do “all the work.” (personally I think the computer should a whole lot less credit than the human code writers). Here is my process with the AI: I have a concept. I envision it in my mind. I come up with a long, detailed string of words to communicate that concept to the AI, and input it. I hate what it gives me. I spin the prompt again, again, and again. I tweak the prompt. (all of this, btw, happening on a Discord server full of other creators where it is very very hard to keep track of your own project as the queue keeps updating.) Spin it a few more times. Tweak it again. Spin it a few more times. At this point I’ve rejected 24 image returns. I finally see something I think has potential. I tell the AI to upgrade that image. Then upgrade it again. Then respin. Pick one of the two new images it generates and upgrade it. Go through this process a few more times. Finally upgrade my chosen image to max. Now I have an image I’m happy with it. At this point I download it and slap it on my blog. 

I’m not saying this took me the same amount of time and effort that I would have spent if I’d painted the piece traditionally. Absolutely not. For the image you originally commented on, I probably spent a total of 45-60 minutes. I have other images in my folder that took longer to fiddle into shape - some 5-6 hours - still no comparison to the dozens of hours it would have taken me to paint something similar.

But I do object to the statement that an AI user does not make the AI generated image. The AI would not make the image on it’s own. It has no desire, no artistic drive. It doesn’t squeal with fangirlish glee over this character, doesn’t admire the work of Guztave Klimt whose style I asked it to imitate. I had the concept. I made the artistic choices. I worked the program until I got what I wanted. And I chose to display it. The computer did none of these things. The computer only did what it was programed to do - find things that matched my parameters. (now if you want to go off praising the AI code writers, those guys are frickin’ geniuses.) 

I think what you object to - the fact that it took me (in comparison to some other mediums) very little time and effort to create a beautiful image - is the thing I value most about this new tool. It makes art more accessible. People who have talent but are too busy to unleash it can use it to create something beautiful in what scant free time they have. People who don’t have the skill or talent to create what they see in their own heads can use it to compensate for that, and still produce a beautiful thing, plucking it out of the darkness of their own brains and into the light where others can see it. People who just like to play, who don’t even care about making art at all, can generate beautiful imagery that someone else will look at and be inspired by.

In my opinion, as someone who has labored long over traditional pieces and been both tortured and delighted by the artistic process in turns, AI generated art does not devalue the art of those who spent much more time and effort working in other mediums. It’s just another tool that we as artists, and art consumers, need to adapt to.