#using that as an example but there are many breeds this applies to. as well as small dogs

[dragpinkman]

seeing a dog breed most people do not have the capacity to handle and properly care for marketed as an easy adopt

[cavegirlpoems]

So many TTRPG people, like yourself, seem to exist in a world where players don't actually enjoy the campaigns they're in, and don't actually like playing with the people they play with, and your whole approach to game mechanics seems like it's about trying to bribe these people to continue playing at a given table.

i have no idea where you get this idea from, I play a bunch of different games - including freeform text rp, fest larps, parlour larps, regular tabletop campaigns, longform play-by-post games and narrative wargames - and I have a lot of fun doing it. I wouldn't be a game designer if I didn't actually enjoy games. The thing is, if you study game design and ttrpg theory seriously, you think about the intent behind design decisions. Game design doesn't just happen by accident, the designer put a given rule in for a reason. So, you ask yourself why the designer made the game the way it did, and what they were trying to achieve.

A significant tool for game design is considering the feedback the game provides; what behaviours that ruleset rewards and what it discourages. (You can apply this analysis to other games, too, like video games). When I'm talking about a bribe, it's in that context; how does the game reward you for doing things, and what things does it reward. (For example, 'scrabble' rewards you for playing words with weird letters in them by making those letters worth more points.)

The thing is, ultimately, every game relies on a simple proposition; that if you volunterily use its rules, you will have fun. You don't need to follow the rules, and you can have fun without them, but the idea is that using the rules will let you have more fun, or a different type of fun, than if you didn't. (For example, throwing a ball around is a bit fun, but if everybody agrees to follow the rules of basketball, you get a different experience that a lot of people prefer). So, the only bribe you're making on the interpersonal, out-out-of-game level (unless something weird is going on) is "if we play this game it will be fun". When I talk about bribes and incentives, it's *inside* the game, after we've all agreed to the game's proposition of "if you use the rules, you will have fun".

Now, what counts as an incentive varies by game. Some, like Warhammer 40k, are challenge-based, and have ways to keep score of success and victory; here, things that signify overcoming the challenge are your incentives; how you get a high score, how you win, etc. Others, like most ttrpgs, are creative-based. What constitutes an incentive within the game's structure is less precisely defined. By and large, though, these incentives tend to be things like increased agency within the game fiction, space for creative expression, and experiencing and learning about more of the game fiction. (In this structure, 'being more mechanically powerful' can be thought of as a way of granting a player more agency, because their actions are more likely to succeed and result in the outcomes that they want. If the mechanical growth is lateral as well as vertical, then how to get more powerful is - itself - a venue for creative expression in what to prioritise, which is also a reward).

In the same way that you have the adage that 'restrictions breed creativity', the same goes for Fun. Limiting your scope from anything-goes freeform by voluntarily agreeing to use a set of game rules can produce similar results. Voluntarily limiting your agency in the fiction according to a set of game rules produces a friction that players of roleplaying games find enjoyable to push against. In this context, a reward structure within a game serves the useful purpose of signposting which direction you should push to get the fun kind of friction. A game which limits your options, and then gives you more options when you engage with certain behaviours, is telling you that those are the intended behaviours. Likewise, a game that limits your options even further when you do something is encouraging you not to do that. This is because game designs are not neutral and universal, they exist to create specific experiences. A game that rewards you by giving you more space for creative expression when you get in a fight - and gives you less space for creative expression when you avoid violence - is one that wants you to engage in violence, because it's designed to be a game where you have fun by fighting. This isn't bribing the players to sit down at the table and play the game; that has already happened outside the context of the game. They have already agreed to the game's offer of 'if you use these rules, you will have fun'. Rather, this bribing is within the game-space, the games mechanics encouraging the players to engage with it as intended, in the way that will be most fun. IE: these incentive structures are a tool the game uses to achieve the promise it makes; they guide the players towards the fun that they volunteered to have. Hope that makes sense. * * * Now, your initial ask is a weird take that's entirely unrelated to anything I've posted, and - particularly from an anon account- oddly antagonistic. I don't know if you're genuinely confused about game design, or arguing in bad faith. Either way, this probably doesn't merit the small essay I've produced, but have one anyway, it's always fun to clarify my ideas in written form.

[wickmitz]

any thoughts/opinions on vikdecai?

i don’t believe i have any complex thoughts that haven’t already been said by the community at large! mostly my opinions just correlate to a very fond i like them, since mordecai kneecapping viktor in order to save himself from having to hurt him later is really one of the first things that humanizes his character. makes you realize he’s not nearly as cold or practical as he tries leading you to believe -- a front that unravels further given his atlas obsession. and i like that! my favorite thing about mordecai is his subtle longing for the lackadaisy crew, how much he doesn’t wish to hurt them, and how venomously he loathes his current life … what he’s doing now isn’t what he wants to currently be doing, but merely what must be done for his goal, one which is already layered in lackadaisy sentiment. so his bond with viktor is important to me, given how much it highlights this inner struggle and earnest truth within his character. but then again, this can also be applied to mordecai’s relationship with mitzi, atlas, and ivy, so let me discuss them in a more romantic sense. which i’m sure is what this question is trying to get at!

romantically, i view mordecai and viktor’s dynamic as … favorable? it’s entirely plausible there were feelings there, an intimacy only they shared as men inside atlas’ arsenal, people who were entirely knowledgeable of the lackadaisy’s nasty underbelly. it’s their slaughter of people deserving and of many, many innocents that help their boss’s speakeasy run, and this violence ( this constant watching one another’s back ) would only breed closeness in spite of the horror it’s built on. and, of course, they have core things in common outside of their job and efficiency for bloodsport! like their love for family, their devotion towards those who matter most, and how out of place they equally feel on this soil - - in this world and era, where everything feels like it’s out to get them in some way or another. their ability to connect beyond their surface level traits and quirks ( mordecai and viktor are very much opposites on their surface, and they have a habit of bickering about these differences, albeit lightheartedly ) demonstrates the profoundness of what they have and what they’d do to protect it. they care for one another in little gestures, insignificant to most but in a way that truly matters to them … as they can see the genuineness in it, since they’re putting themselves into the careful actions and aren’t just doing things for politeness sake. for example, mordecai tries adorning them in matching cloth so they’re two equal halves, symmetrical, and then we have viktor who pocketed mordecai’s glasses to give him later when they were done with their mission. i like to imagine there are more things like this in their relationship! stuff that isn’t as severe as life or death, like saving your friend’s skin by a mere inch or dragging each other to a finish line every day. any of atlas’ men can offer that. it’s the extra things, done out of agency and personal desire, that bring them closer than any other regular joe on atlas’ payroll. it’s rather clear that they were close canonically, and that viktor was perhaps mordecai’s closest friend in a way that atlas could never be due to the pedestal he was constantly put upon. and while we have less insight on viktor’s feelings, i’d imagine the betrayal has never, and will never, fully heal. it is not a wound he can easily patch up, and it isn’t something one could just forget either. how can you dismiss someone who used to be your hands and eyes and ears? when you two functioned as another man’s extra body in your entirety? you may as well have shared a mind when out on the field, and that’s a closeness and a trust which is hard to lose. viktor hardly lets anyone in as is, just as anti social as his spectacles wearing companion, so to lose that in such a violent was is an unspeakable pain he bears, i’m sure. mordecai took whatever remained of his life from him with that shot. he’s permanently robbed viktor the ability to defend the last few hairs he cares to protect. his purpose is now up in the air. and all this anguish from someone he completely and utterly believed in … there is a lot of hurt, is what i’m saying. a hurt that’s too deep and life altering for it not to be supremely personal too. it’s deep and festering and viktor ignores it, and mordecai ignores it, mostly, but sometimes his paw strays near his wound and he itches at it, and it reopens the ache all over again. there is metaphor to be found there! an abandonment and a departure that leaves you bloodied from maiming or being maimed. it is very easily a multi-layered sentiment!

however, i could still take this or leave it romantically, hence my earlier statement of favorabe rather than unabashed gushing and swooning. this is a ship i like, but i don’t read mordecai as crushing on viktor per se? i’ve always viewed his extreme relationship with atlas as puppy love that’s half bred from devotion, something not entirely genuine but also still genuine enough, which makes for a nice parallel between that and rocky’s bond with mitzi. his rivalry with atlas’ wife and his oddities such as wearing his boss’s shirts read as girlish crush behavior, typical things one does when believing themselves enamored, you know? naturally his views and feelings for atlas aren’t quite that simple nor easy to parse, and i’m not trying to simplify them in any way! i just believe he had a torch for atlas, and thus didn’t carry another for anyone else, at least not as intensely. whatever feelings he might have for someone would always be second to atlas, who was his very reason for living and breathing every day, who was his answer and justification and eventually? his obsession. in many ways i think mordecai was too wrapped up in atlas to properly develop feelings for viktor, even if there were inklings of something inside of him. ironically, the term something is what i love using when thinking about him with viktor or mitzi. mordecai is something with those two, he feels something, an unlabeled sort of thing he can’t really reach -- perhaps he doesn’t even want to, scared of what it might mean, what it could say. and it is different somethings! they are not the same feeling, what he feels towards those two, but it’s not fully known to him in the way that his feelings towards atlas was. it is not as clear! especially now, with things as awful as they are and with mordecai so full of turmoil he’s forcing himself to not share. he also has an intense aversion to emotions, obviously, which doesn’t help matters lol. this man could find some of the closure he’s so desperately seeking if he took more than a glance inside of himself, but then he wouldn’t be apart of this tragic tale, now would he?

still, in a better world where the lackadaisy’s gaggle of traumatized characters are allowed healing without any casualties or major losses, then i’d enjoy seeing a viktor and mordecai slowburn. where they decide to remain steadfast by each other’s side like once upon a time before, and they deal with life as a unit. maybe when given the space for it, mordecai’s affection can finally cement into real love for viktor -- the romantic kind, something sappy and disarming and maddening all at once. maybe viktor will allow such indulgences, finally able to touch upon his heart again and use it in a way that he hasn’t gotten to in a couple ages. or maybe he won’t share the specific feelings that mordecai possesses for him, but he’ll enjoy creating an entirely new thing that’s only for them : he can compromise and he can bend if mordecai is willing to bend just the same. they certainly wouldn’t be your typical couple, their emotions too stunted for regular dates or typical pda, but there’s something more special and intimate to them carving out their own space, and thus having their own secret world. a mix of platonic and romantic affections, a healthy dose of selfishness and desire they couldn’t ever have before but now can hoard so entirely, in small bearable doses. and there will always be some things they both won’t ever be able to shake ( mordecai disabling viktor, atlas, viktor’s daughter, etc ), although they could manage these aches and guilt better together, which is the exact sort of happy ending i’d want for them. if i may be so indulgent myself haha ( <- person who knows lackadaisy’s ending will be mostly dark and tragic but likes playing around with hopeful scenarios and what-if’s regardless! )

[pawborough]

Howdy everyone!

Happy Valentine's day folks! We have the long awaited contest results in this update, as well as some small updates to fauna, and a new system for accessories.

Contest Winner

We previously held a sweepstakes to win a Design An Accessory Tier (1st place) and Monarch Tier (2nd place) and we can now announce the winners!

(We want to apologize for the low quality of the video; we wanted to crop out the advertisements on the website we used)

Over 580 people entered! 

Congratulations to our winners Emma and Erika!

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Fauna Updates

As previously seen with the Featherbeau, Kintsune, and Javasqueak, we have been updating all the fauna art to match the new style overhaul.

Here is a comparison to the old artwork.

Toshi has very minimal changes. There are some minor color and shadow touch-ups, but as this was our most in-style original fauna, very little change was necessary.

Here is the new and old art.

Like the Featherbeau and Kintsune, the Phantowl has a full overhaul. With a more dynamic pose and better detail, we hope to invoke spookiness in the new design.

The new and old designs are below.

Accessories + Dye system 

Speaking of designing accessories, we've finally begun production on our accessories! Here is a preview of what we are working on, showing illustrations of the original Gilded Helm and Iridescent Trail!

Our focus is on adapting challenging items. For example, the Helm, and similar helmet items, provide unique challenges when on fluffy breeds. 

Here are a few previews of our solutions so far:

And here is a preview of our first backer-sponsored design!

Lastly, we’re very excited to announce a system we've been workshopping. 

Accessory dyes! 

PawBorough is built by the players, and it is in our interest as players to have as much quality customizability as possible. We want expansive options! All the recolors!

Accessory dyes will allow users to craft any accessory on the site into a different color. 

The system we are designing incorporates “standard” and “special” dyes. 

Standard dyes are a set number of colors which will be compatible with all accessories, meaning all accessory items get a blanket number of recolors. 

“Special” dyes will only be compatible with certain items, and will include alternative colorings such as rainbow, pastel colors, gradients, patterns, etc! 

The benefit of such a system means all items will get a set number of varieties, and it lets us expand upon certain pieces to include alternative or unique colorings. But it doesn’t commit us to an undoable recolor demand. 

We’re still working out the kinks and pain points, such as easy to see information on what takes a special dye and what doesn’t, but we hope this will prevent item bloat, give users more creative control, and overall improve the gameplay! 

Site Themes 

We’ve started workshopping the Borough themes with our completed assets. Take a look at these previews! 

Zenith 

Luna

Pawprints

Next let’s look at a cute feature we have on the backburner. 

Ever imagine your cat has polydactyly? While we can’t break lineart, we do have a fun new feature for rare cat collectors. Every cat will have their very own paw print on their profile, with a very very small chance of having a sixth toe!

There are 55 unique pawprints!

Have fun trying for cats with silly paws ~

Stonehide texture

We’ve upgraded our asset technology! The rainbow sheen seen here on the scales of the Stonehide was a breakthrough in our coloring limitations. This texture will be applied to mystic breeds in the future and bring further quality to our assets!

Great stuff! 

On the backend, we've not done many notable new things this month, but we're continuing through as we prepare for a dedicated alpha. Longhairs were stuck with file processing complications, but we're working them out and working in tandem!

Speaking of alpha, we're looking at opening free applications for alpha and transitioning from solely an internal to a semi-external volunteer test. More information on this as we grow closer. 

To Summarize: We showed updated Beta, Toshi, Phantowl and accessory assets, the dying system, two new site themes, a cute pawprint feature, and a new texture for mystic breeds.

What to expect next month: Further accessory assets, potential alpha update, and asset and software updates.

Note for Tumblr users: Something went wrong on our end, and while this update got posted to Kickstarter, it somehow did not got posted to Tumblr. We have re-uploaded it now for proper record keeping. Our sincerest apologies.

[healingheartdogs]

Stuff you see on certain kinds of dog training business websites that might appeal to uninformed clients who don't know any better and want their "money's worth" - especially at $4800-$6500 for only a three week board and train, ouch - but would send any good science aware trainer, dog sports person, or educated dog owner who knows their shit running away clutching their dogs and their wallets close to their hearts.

Do not trust any company or trainer that promises going from untrained to a dog that is fully off leash obedience trained and off leash safe for recall in all kinds of public spaces with distractions in just three weeks, for the health and safety of your dog (because they likely use harsh stressful training methods to try to passably achieve that sort of ridiculous goal, and also because your dog will most likely not actually be fluently off leash recall safe which could put them in danger if you let them off leash believing they are) as well as because that's just a scam. Fluent, reliable off leash recall takes longer than just three weeks to achieve for most dogs and most breeds, even with a remote collar.

Dogs also are not mentally capable of spending 40+ hours a week focused on working, learning, and retaining new information. Humans aren't even really capable of working that much a week without it having negative impacts on our physical and mental health - yes, my fellow Americans, our standard full time work week is unhealthy and abusive, this is backed by science, sorry if you didn't know that already but I'm sure most of you did because of your own personal experience suffering from it.

Dog training is most effective when done in short sessions limited to a total of just a couple hours a day max (possibly longer on a good day with a more experienced already well trained dog, or when doing review or practice of simpler things a dog already knows really well, but certainly not with teaching new behaviors to mostly or completely untrained dogs) with rest breaks that are ideally at least 15-30 minutes long in between sessions and include naps. Breaks to decompress and nap for a bit are important to provide dogs time to return to their baseline stress and excitement level (which would ideally be 0) so they can recover some mental and physical energy and be able to process the new information they've just been given and properly store it away for later use before being given any more new information to process.

This may not be the best example, but it's how it was explained to me; think of dogs' brains (brains in general, really, of all animals including humans) like computers. Computers have limits to how much information and how many commands they can process at once. When they're at that limit continuing to add more stuff to process will result in them starting to overheat, stressing and/or damaging the processor which may cause corruption of processed data and incomplete processing to happen going forward, and will eventually result in the processor failing if not corrected. The same applies to teaching and working your dog and their brain processing new information and behaviors that you are trying to get them to learn, or already learned behaviors that you are asking them to recall and perform.

Longer training without sufficient breaks will negatively impact a dog's mental state by quickly exhausting them and leading to a higher stress level for the rest of the session after they start to become exhausted, which will likely continuously worsen the longer the session goes on past their natural point of exhaustion. It will also make them perform worse during training because of that exhaustion and stress impacting their processing and recall abilities, resulting in more corrections needing to be used by their trainer during the session (assuming they're using any of the most common training methods, which typically use correction of mistakes to try to teach dogs what not to do), which will cause even more stress that could easily have been completely avoided by providing breaks and keeping sessions shorter.

The increased amount of mistakes and corrections alongside the exhaustion and stress will also make the dog less able to correctly retain anything they learned for the future and probably also make them more stressed about training that specific behavior, similar behaviors, or training in similar contexts going forward, as well as likely make the current training session and whatever you're trying to teach them during it more confusing for them and possibly even poison whatever you are trying to teach them (because the more a dog makes mistakes and is corrected and the more stressful a training session is the more potential there is for corrections to be misunderstood by the dog or for the dog to begin to become avoidant of any behaviors they have offered during the session for fear of more correction, especially if you/the trainer aren't delivering those corrections with ideal timing or in a way that is "fair" and balanced with rewards enough for the dog to be able to reliably recover from and move past being corrected to continue training, which is more likely to become the case when you/the trainer are doing long and probably very frustrating sessions where you/the trainer are also likely becoming stressed and exhausted).

I doubt they are actually doing 40+ hours (which is part of the scam of the advertising of that board and train package) but if they are that is actually cruel, ESPECIALLY given that this particular business uses harsh remote collar/e-collar/"shock" collar training with minimal rewards (I know this because I went through their interview process for a job with them a few years ago that I was offered but ended up turning down because their training methods conflict with both animal behavior science and my personal ethics).

They're the kind of training business to claim that you can make remote stimulation (the "shock" from the collar) a totally neutral thing by making the stim into the A (antecedent) in ABC (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence) instead of the C (consequence) by pairing the stim with the command when it is given as a "little tap on the shoulder" to "remind the dog to keep their attention on the trainer" instead of doing the stim after a dog fails to offer the desired behavior as a form of correction which IS JUST NOT HOW THAT WORKS AT ALL. THAT'S NOT HOW ANIMALS LEARN, THAT'S NOT BASED IN ANY SCIENCE, THAT'S NOT HOW ABC WORKS! YOU CAN'T IN ANY WAY GUARANTEE AND SHOULD NOT ASSUME THAT AN ANIMAL WILL LEARN TO INTERPRET SOMETHING THAT IS GENERALLY AVERSIVE AS A NEUTRAL ANTECEDENT INSTEAD OF JUST RANDOM AND CONFUSING APPLICATION OF AN AVERSIVE SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU WANT THEM TO INTERPRET IT THAT WAY. It also shows a serious lack of understanding from someone claiming to be a professional that you can trust with your dog of what an aversive is and who in a training interaction decides what is or is not aversive - the dog, not the trainer. So yeah, you can probably see why that's bad and stressful for the dogs if you have even a basic understanding of the science behind how dogs learn, especially if they're actually being subjected to that nonsense training method for 40+ hours a week.

TLDR, any training business making promises of totally completed training of a bunch of different skills like this in a short amount of time - some of which are complex skills and for a lot of dogs would generally require months of regular consistent training to achieve reliably (loose leash walking and off leash recall, in particular)(your retriever who came pre-installed with these behaviors from birth is an exception okay lol) - and claims to work your dogs a full time job amount of hours a week or more in order to achieve those claimed rapid results (while also more than likely having other dogs at the same time that they are also claiming to be working the same amount which is simply not possible for a human being who requires sleep and food breaks at minimum to function) probably uses training methods that many people would (rightfully) consider to be anti-science and abusive in order to get your dog to act the way they want quickly enough and consistently enough to make you believe they've properly done their job for just long enough to keep you from going after them after they take your money (because this kind of lazy training will more likely than not fall apart down the road, but by then you'll probably just blame yourself for not knowing how to upkeep it well enough or not putting enough hours in like they claimed they did or w/e). I know this because I have seen it myself and I have helped fix the training on more than one dog who has been through "training" programs like this. Just save your money and avoid it. It's a scam.

[aikoiya]

LoZ - Gerudo Misandry Is Not Funny Or Okay

I find it really damn odd that so few people talk about misandry when they bring up the Gerudo or the societal norms of other Amazon-esque races.

And even when they do, it seems to always be done with a tone of levity behind it.

As if it isn't every bit as terrible as misogyny.

As if their biological situations don't make men absolutely vital to the continued existence of their people & culture.

So, treating men as less than is as terrible as men treating women the same.

And, honestly? I can't help but see this disregard by fans (especially the feminist fans) as very spiteful.

Like, how do these people not see how this isn't okay?

I mean, no wonder Ganondorf always ends up such a sack of shit!

Seriously girls, imagine what it would be like growing up the only female in a society of all guys.

No maternal figures, no female role models, no female friends, or even acquaintances. And you're unlikely to ever even see another woman until you reach 18-20.

Separated from the most important woman in your life at 3-6, if not birth. To be raised by a pair of warlocks who despise their neighboring kingdom & are intent on turning you into a vile, tyrannical witch.

And every guy around you knows nothing about actual women, just misogynistic stereotypes, so all you can do is apply those same stereotypes to yourself & there's just this general consensus that women are basically unnecessary beyond producing children.

They don't have a single clue about what it means to be a woman. They don't know anything about women's health. No one to explain things to you when you need them most. So, in the end, you're mostly left to figure it all out on your own.

And the only real examples of women you have are people that your adoptive fathers say are oppressing you & your people. So, all you can do is quietly just assume that all women = bad. And that includes you too.

So, all you can do is frantically do everything you can to make yourself useful to these people who, knowingly or unknowingly, look down upon others of your sex.

And therefore, unconsciously, you as well.

And you're expected to rule these people. To lead them into a golden age.

I can't even imagine how damn isolating it must be. I can't imagine the pressure. These are your people, yet even so, you are still alien to them. Still other. Still "not one of them."

And in many ways, a commodity.

Based entirely upon something that you have zero control of.

And upon reaching 18, you're likely used as a breeding mare.

And the only people who could ever truly understand your situation & the pressure that comes with it... are all dead...

Now, switch the sexes & you basically have every Gerudo Voe's reality.

It's no damn wonder that Ganondorf always becomes evil.

There's also the ridiculous superstition that "men bring about disaster."

And then we get into the detrimental affects this shit has on the Vai!

Look at how these women react to just seeing a dude!

And this chick can't even look a man in the eye!

Because, apparently, she's never even seen a real man in person before! So, Link has to freaking wear a full-face mask in order to get her to manage to speak to him!

And let's not even get into what the little Vai wear! The sirwal are fine, it's the tops that need to be changed.

Kids aren't supposed to show that much skin!

LoZ Cultural Masterlist 2

[twofacedtrickery]

List of Tropes for Delta-?? "Tutelary"

This is non-exhaustive and is only stuff that applies in-universe.

All a Part of the Job - a pretty extreme example 

All-Loving Hero - they want to be this, sort of

All of the Other Reindeer - it believed this to be true when it was at the Foundation, and now it actually is

The Anti-Nihilist - Knight in Sour Armor type, mainly

Be All My Sins Remembered

Became Their Own Antithesis - partially subverted

Beleaguered Bureaucrat - this is part of what helped push it to defect, though now it wants that workload back as it knows no other life anymore

Blank Slate - threatened with this

Broken Bird

Bullying a Dragon - the hatercult are doing this, they're just lucky that it's unlikely to retaliate

Byronic Hero

The Call Knows Where You Live - to be fair, it did unintentionally telegraph that, averted now

The Chains of Commanding - a lot of how they wound up swayed

The Chosen One - well, in the minds of Professor's followers, he treats it as this, so they resent it

Chronic Hero Syndrome

Cigarette of Anxiety

Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere - this is why it's so hard for it 

Compliment Backfire - because it hates praise

Conditioned to Accept Horror - this was the case, and to a large extent, it still is, it has found some way to regain some reactions

Conditioned to Be Weak - by the followers, despite Professor trying to avert this

Convicted By Public Opinion - even if its partner made a compelled and unassailable argument to defend it, it would still be guilty according to the hatercult 

Death of a Thousand Cuts - ultimately, this mixed with just enough mind poison is what broke its resolve 

Defiant to the End - zig zagged

Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life

Determinator - played with, while it might genuinely give up at times, it is able to rally itself

Didn't Think This Through - because it didn't think far enough ahead, its attempt to spare lives by surrendering didn't really have the result it had hoped for

The Ditherer - empathic, insecure, and too many trees type

Do Not Call Me "Paul" - subverted, it doesn't speak up very much when it doesn't like a name being used

Don't Look at Me!

Don't You Dare Pity Me!

Draw Aggro - a major way it tries to protect others

Drunk with Power - inverted, both in the sense that it was handed its position unexpectedly, breeding resentment and suspicion that only grew, and in that it wanted to use this as a second chance to be a nicer leader

Dull Surprise - to the point that it does not feel surprise proper, at all

Emissary from the Divine - in another world, perhaps, it could be seen this way, but it's too new

Emotional Language Shift - defied, they used to, but they fear it would harm Professor 

Entertainingly Wrong - a more dramatic take

Extreme Doormat

"Fawlty Towers" Plot - averted

Flat Joy

Friendless Background - and it's an Ineffectual Loner, too

Go Mad From The Isolation - they didn't used to

Greater Need Than Mine - exaggerated 

Great Escape - though it didn't exactly want to be rescued at that cost, this does border on an Unwanted Rescue, but it refuses to outright start Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like

Grew a Spine - SPOILERS

Grumpy Old Man - it's trying to unlearn this

Guilt-Induced Nightmare - the primary source of its nightmares

Hauled Before a Senate Subcommittee

Heel–Face Door-Slam

Heroic Safe Mode

History Repeats - subverted, but it fears this

Honor Before Reason - downplayed

Hope Is Scary - one of the things it struggles with more than it wants to admit, though Professor helps with that

I Am What I Am

I Didn't Tell You Because You'd Be Unhappy

I Gave My Word

I Hate Past Me - and how

I'm Having Soul Pains - invoked

Incredibly Lame Fun - most if its hobbies class as this, and it's a bit anxious around more novel experiences

Insult Backfire - inevitable due to how it functions, often in the form of Insult Accuracy Acceptance, but also due to wanting to be detested

Intergenerational Friendship - Nina

I Should Have Been Better

I Take Offense to That Last One - due to its Berserk Buttons being what they are, it does not mind character attacks, but it does hate when people say it means or did something it did not do

A Lesson Learned Too Well - tends toward this often

Madden Into Misanthropy - defied, it hates being around others, but refuses to give up on saving them all

Manchild - downplayed, but its understanding of relationships is pretty stunted and its interpersonal interactions can see it behaving pretty immaturely

Meaningful Rename - many times over, the names Professor chose were meant to be meaningful, as best he could, and the name it has tried for itself is incredibly meaningful while it has shed its former name, for now 

Misblamed - by the cult

Mood Swinger - Hair-Trigger Temper, especially, it can't understand why

Mutually Unequal Relation - downplayed, it doesn't know how Dogma views it truly, Dogma doesn't know how unreasonably charitable it is to them

Nailed To The Wagon

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

No Place for Me There - formerly, Professor did convince it otherwise

No Social Skills - it's always been this way, and it hates this

Not Afraid to Die - it was not raised with a cultural fear of death, add to that its life experience requiring it accept this fate is eventual, it Faces Death with Dignity 

Oblivious to Hatred - it knows it isn't liked, but underestimates the degree

Obviously Not Fine - trying to be a Stepford Smiler, though not doing it well, Major Injury Underreaction as well

Odd Friendship - with Nina

Once Done, Never Forgotten - the followers subject it to this, and it struggles with doing this as well

Only Friend - Nina

O.O.C. Is Serious Business - it can be incredibly dramatic, but it will not allow itself any of that if it's down to the wire, emotions will be off

Open Mouth, Insert Foot - all day every day

Paranoia Fuel - oh so many ways

The Perfectionist - it tried to defy this, it failed

Perfectly Cromulent Word- justified, these words were common earlier in his life

Personal Horror - trying to convince itself that "I Did What I Had to Do," and even force itself to Gain the Will to Kill about it, to prove That Man Is Dead, but It Never Gets Any Easier, also Batman Grabs a Gun, Why Did It Have To Be Snakes?

Prayer Is a Last Resort - played with, it hates asking for help 

Prison Changes People - of course, the hatercult refuses to get this and thinks it is a

Manchurian Agent now, or that it was just some karma for its perceived insolence, it also tries to deny this, it also struggles with some things related to that it is Not Used to Freedom

Room 101

The Secret-Keeper - perhaps more so than it should, often unbidden and at its own expense

Set Right What Once Went Wrong - defied, while it has remorse, no regrets, and it knows better

Single-Issue Psychology - subverted, it thinks it works this way, but is getting frustrated to learn otherwise

Sinister Surveillance - while detained, but also how it got caught, it is Properly Paranoid of this now

The Snark Knight - situationally subverted or played straight

Spock Speak - tends to do this out of fear of being misunderstood, but this does not help

Stranger in a Familiar Land

Survival Mantra - that only goes so far

Survivor Guilt

Suspiciously Specific Denial - the main reason it tends to be a Bad Liar

Tautological Templar - the hatercult contingent view it as the inverse of this

Technical Pacifist

Then Let Me Be Evil - defied as well as played straight, it believes in Turning The Other Cheek for those it lives with, but to those outside it will be every bit as terrible as it is told it is

Think Nothing Of It

This Is Gonna Suck - Dialed Up To 11, in some ways 

Took a Level in Kindness - played with, while it used to be so much harder to deal with as an individual on the whole, and it uses superhuman reserves of patience and compassion on the hatercult, as a result of that, it has very little left for anyone else

A Tragedy of Impulsiveness - downplayed

Trauma Conga Line - it denies this reality, because it doesn't understand, but it has had traumatic experiences happen even since Emery was a child

Traumatic Haircut

We Have Reserves - downplayed and subverted, it cares deeply and understands that sacrifice is necessary, but it's having a harder time coping with that these days, perhaps it needs a cry

Well-Intentioned Extremist - by necessity of its position, though it is one of the more restrained examples

We Used to Be Friends - Four

Workaholic - they were already one but this is liable to become an Addiction Displacement for them soon

Wound That Will Not Heal - their eye

Yank the Dog's Chain

You Keep Using That Word - while it knows the distinctions that matter to it don't always matter to others, its attempts to seek clarity can come off as this, particularly due to its propensity to be More Insulting Than Intended and Innocently Insensitive, as the case may be

Your Days Are Numbered - while untrue, due largely to its partner's protection, it still lives as if this were the case

Zero-Approval Gambit - to everyone outside of the Insurgency

[amenvs3000f24]

Week 6 Blog Post

Hyams’ quote highlights the importance of natural history on a comprehensive level. He emphasizes the value of unifying every aspect of history and acknowledging it through our actions today. Without processing the past, we cannot truly understand the impact of our actions in the present. I’m sure we can all think of an example where our pasts have made us think deeply about our actions. Perhaps a hurtful joke delivered by a friend still lingers in the back of your mind, even after an apology. Maybe a stranger holding the door for you yesterday made you stop and do the same for someone today. I think Hyams’ quote is impactful because although he references ancient history, I don’t think it must be applied only in that context. I think for many, nuance is a skill that is learnt. I imagine it is innately human to stick to what we know, even in a learning environment. This is why ensuring students are comfortable shifting perspectives and keeping an open mind is vital. The same should be applied to nature interpretation, and this involves ensuring audiences can be communicated with effectively, as well as conveying information in a way that invokes relation and understanding.

In order to ensure audiences are being effectively communicated with, it is important to understand how they receive your information. In the context of interpreting natural history, the value of the information being offered can fluctuate depending on its delivery. Written communication may be dismissed as disengaging or exhaustive, but it’s value shines through when we consider its permanence. There are certain emotions that cannot be evoked through the use of oral communication. When we see a weathered plaque, we feel connected to it’s history; the who, what, why, and where. Sometimes, the plaque may answer all of these questions, or maybe it won’t. Either way, we have connected with a piece of history and it has invoked a thought process that may span centuries.

Pictured is the Obadjiwan-Fort-Témiscamingue National Historic Site. Visuals are a great way to grab interest and encourage the audience to want to delve deeper into the material. (Source: Parks Canada, 2023)

It is understood that effective communication breeds effective interpretation. Following Hyams’ approach means communicating all parts of history; the good and the bad. In most of my education I have been taught history through the lens of Canada as a European colony. Indigenous perspectives were rarely taken into consideration in my early education, usually only mentioned as a stepping stone in the ‘victory’ that was Canada’s colonization. This perspective could be considered as one narrative that I was taught, but I didn’t learn until a bit later into my education that there were so many more stories that went unheard. Biases are present in natural history as well, and their presence can affect how we interpret nature today. I don’t think history can be so easily minimized to a puzzle, with events all being small pieces of a larger picture. There are many different perspectives to be made with the pieces of history depending on the perspective we have.

Source: Parks Canada Agency, Government of Canada. “Review of Existing National Historic Designations - HSMBC.” National Historic Designations, 23 July 2024, parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/revue-review. Accessed 18 Oct. 2024.

[andrewplimmer]

The True Essence of Freedom

We all crave freedom and believe it's our right, but true freedom requires effort, ownership, and accountability. Freedom spans across various aspects of life—your body, beliefs, thoughts, values, relationships, and finances.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to feel trapped in any of these areas—like you’ve lost control or external forces are against you. To truly value freedom, you need to stay in the driver’s seat of your life.

Freedom is not free.

To feel free in your body, you must make daily sacrifices. Master the art of delayed gratification—invest in your health now to reap the rewards later. It might sound militant, but it’s the truth. Those who feel free in their health have earned it through consistency and confidence. On the other hand, those who neglect their health pay a greater price later, both physically and mentally.

Living in a free country doesn’t mean you are truly free.

You aren’t free unless you practice freedom. If you don’t pursue it physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually, you’ll end up constrained or imprisoned in some area of your life.

This is the freedom paradigm. When we take freedom for granted, it eventually constrains us.

For example, many people feel financially trapped due to inflation—not because of their actions but because they were passive. They didn’t protect their purchasing power or educate themselves about the changing environment. Now they’re financially trapped, losing hope for the future as their savings dwindle.

Financial freedom is an illusion unless you actively create it.

The same applies to physical health and wellbeing. It’s your birthright, but it’s not free. To feel free in your body, you must continually invest in your health and wellness—it comes at a cost. If you don’t pay that cost, you’ll eventually feel confined in your own body.

Emotional freedom isn’t free either. You need to create an atmosphere that fosters emotional happiness. Society and mainstream media often create an environment that breeds fear and anxiety.

Emotional freedom requires surrounding yourself with positive influences, uplifting messages, and tools that build self-confidence and inspire greatness. This is the opposite of emotional confinement, which leaves you feeling depleted and helpless.

Spiritual freedom is equally important. Cultivating faith and connecting to a higher power opens the door to grace and divine intervention, enhancing our sense of freedom.

Spiritual and emotional well-being significantly impact our ability to cultivate freedom in our lives.

But again, freedom is not free. To be truly free, take control of your life. Build a stronger version of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially.

It takes courage, belief, and pursuit—but it’s worth it.

I want you to BE free and FEEL free.

Whatever constraints are holding you back, take action today to tear down those walls. Do it for yourself, your loved ones, and for the good of humanity. Live, love, and value FREEDOM.

helping people build a freedom based business. Retire Thrive Explore, live free. http://freedom.andrewplimmer.com

[flimsy-roost]

I'd like to talk about the latest Pokemon Center plush line!

I tend to avoid official nintendo merch, because I give that company enough of my money already. But White was the first Pokemon game I ever played (after saving my allowance for months for it and a used DS lite), so I have a very special place in my heart for gen5/Unova pokemon. When I heard they were releasing a line of Unova "Sitting Cutie" plushes, I wanted to at least check it out.

And I did! And I mildly disappointed my wallet! There are some bangers in here! But there are a lot of... decidedly un-bangers. Tippy-tappers at best. So I wanted to take the time to walk you through some of the ways this line fell short of its central claims: namely, Sits and Cuteness.

"Sitting"

I'd first like to address the distinguishing claim of the line; that each of these plush can sit up unsupported (or, more generously, could be propped up stably).

It would be easy to only give examples of pokemon that shouldn't have been considered for this line at all, of which there are many:

fig. 1) in what universe, praytell

But there were many more that were so, so close to plausibility in the face of physics, that really only needed a modified design direction.

Let's compare Eelektrik (left) to Serperior (right). Eelektrik is extremely top-heavy and prone to tipping, problems which could perhaps have been mitigated by a coiled design (like Serperior), or even as a flat. It could be argued that the current form stays true to the original art, which should always take precedent. I see you, and I hear you, and I disagree

A skosh below the "no way in hell" category of sittability, lay a group of lesser design sins broadly defined as "questionable in the face of a stiff breeze." For many plush in this category, the product designers could learn a thing or two from Toxel:

fig. 2) a well-balanced bean

Put another way, the popular rule-of-thumb "four on the floor," most commonly begged for in the context of starter evolution lines, may be applied to great effect:

Top-heavy Golurk? Four on the floor!

Tall, spindly, misguidedly "source-accurate" Genesect? Four on the floor!

Think of his poor Tepiggy spine! FOUR ON THE FREAKING FLOOR

Purrloin, look! Your big sibling has it down! Get at that generational knowledge, girl!

"Cuties"

I'm not aware of a single official merch line in existence that lacks at least one cursed artifact. Plush are particularly susceptible, and this line is no different.

While I have to give the designers props for a perfectly lovely Mienshao, they canonized my bestie as having a cringe childhood:

All this Mienfoo wants are uppies. How's she gonna kick ass when her feet go straight into her torso? Her glowup will never come if she can't even land a pound.

Entire evolution lines fell prey to design decisions here. Please compare gen5 Elgyem and Beheeyem to their inbred and deformed purebred domesticates:

fig. 3) has IV breeding gone too far?

Let us also more closely examine the full Sandile evolution line compared to wild type examples, as I consider these among the least forgivable offences:

Why is the plush Sandile so sad? Perhaps he knows what is to come.

Where sass? Why snoot so droop????

NO MY CREATCHURE?????? NO NONONO NOT THE SNOOT!!!!!!!

figs. 4-6) look how they slaughtered my boy

Finally, I would like to highlight a subset of the line that has Witnessed The Horrors. These are more subjective in their cuteness. You know the saying; one man's uncanny gremlin is another man's terrified blorbo.

Meet Drilbur, who has recently Seen Some Shit!

fig. 7) the boy who inspired this post, with WT reference

The bug-eyed-ness is what tips this into horror movie prop for me personally. I should not be able to see both his eyes from a diagonal. I could understand how some people could find him endearingly goofy, but my litmus tends to be: would I be amused to open my eyes to see him in the dark at 3am, or would I shit my pants? Drilbur here leans towards the latter.

Here is an example of a shell-shocked friend I find cute:

Crustle, normally hiding safely under their rocky shell, is leaned back to fulfill the barely-followed criteria of "sits," and so turns their eyes to god to ask why he has forsaken them. I love it.

BONUS CONTENT: KERMIT DEINO!!!!

:D

[ranger-rai]

I apologize in advance, this is a bit of a long one...

How good would a dragonite be as a service pokemon for depression, anxiety, and mobility / physical issues? Is it true they can sense distress? I've heard about dragonites looking off into the distance before a rescue attempt as if they could sense something out there.

I've had Sunshine, named because he brightens my day, for a few years. Total sweetheart. Nearly drowned from an incident involving not being able to swim and losing my footing, and he refused to leave my side pretty much ever since and has only gotten more so. Been thinking of getting him officially certified with his own vest because of it, but wondering if there might be any issues or particular benefits to doing so that I'm not aware of.

I know dragonites are quite intelligent, and they have a natural inclination to help those in need, but I've heard some agencies refuse to certify sufficiently strong or dangerous pokemon . . . And I've heard about dragonites capable of denting and even ripping metal bunker doors off their hinges, though both examples of that were combat-trained battle pokemon that had readily dominated their respective tournaments.

So an expert's advice would be helpful.

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you. Trauma and accidents can really affect us, and having a partner that can help is incredibly crucial.

It is true that some people are more difficult to have certified as a Service Pokemon, usually the more "aggressive" ones due to misconceptions and due to many people who have tried getting them certified for selfish reasons.

Many Pseudo Legendary pokemon get this treatment because of their powerful status and their frequency in championships, leading to a higher direction of breeding and training for battle instead of for service, something we try to handle from various busts and shutdowns of unofficial breeders.

Out of all of the pseudo legendaries, Dragonite is one with the most utility and service abilities.

Dragonite are known for their speed which has resulted in them being use for package delivery, however Dratini are very compassionate and it's said that they evolve into Dragonite to gain arms so they can protect even further.

As a result, Dragonite are protective. However, they have a harder time being trained in full service because they haven't had arms or this much power before.

Before a Dragonite can be certified, you'll need to have any official battle records, and if they are notorious for battling it might result in a disqualification, however minimal competitive battles would look pretty good on a record.

You'll also want to enroll in some basic service courses asap before the evaluation process. It will look better to have completed them before applying.

As for the range of service, Dragonite is not only mobile, but they do indeed have the ability to sense strong emotions, which will prompt a good-natured one to seek them out and help.

Your Dragonite should be trained to be in tune to your emotions primarily, which will be a specialized training later down the road.

Because of their need to help, you'll want to train them how to react appropriately to your various emotions, like anxiety or depression which will need different reactions, but thankfully there are plenty of trainers and specialists.

I'd recommend looking into someone from a Dragon Clan to assist.

I think the Dragonite Clan is primarily in Kanto, but I've heard that they might have migrated to Hoenn.

Some dragon clans are stationary, like Druddigon or Garchomp, while others are more free and migratory like Altaria or Dragonite.

I've been learning a lot about dragon clans lately thanks to my partner, and she's really helped me understand dragon types a lot better now.

Btw, the Garchomp clan is indeed here in Sinnoh.

I've used my own research to help care for a family of Garchomp, and despite her age, Delilah has been holding up well.

Either way, I hope this helps, and please feel free to reach out if you have any more questions!

[chibi-lucca]

Dragons: the nine realms rant

THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS UP TO THE END OF SEASON 4.

“Do you really hate it, or are you just upset it's not Hiccup and the gang?”

me:

So a quick rant about this show. 

I am a huge fan of HTTYD, ROB, DOB, RTTE. I have consumed so much information on the HTTYD universe I could write the book of dragons. - and I’m sure others out there can too! (honestly guys, let's do it.)

Going into this new show, I was skeptical, in fact I was going into this expecting to hate it. 

I didn’t. Here’s why:

In the end of the third movie we say goodbye to the dragons, a choice that many despise. The movies and shows illustrate that people are greedy and cruel and only a few are friends to dragons. As for the real world - anyone remember the Tasmanian tiger? Or how about the number of rhinos and elephants? Wolves going extinct in Yellowstone, having to be reintroduced to the area? Humans can’t even protect the species we have on earth now, what do you think would happen if we had magical fire breathing dragons? This nine realms show give us these answers and much more.

In the beginning of this show we see very familiar drawings and characters, which means the writers are well aware who is watching. They know that this new show will draw in the generation that grew up watching Hiccup and the gang. With that, the show continues to add little easter eggs to tell us who our main character is. They also state that a real dragon is a dead dragon. Meaning the real world situations of humans being cruel to animals applies in this universe. 

To me, this shows Hiccup did the right thing. He made the correct choice. The dragons stayed safe. They were not hunted to extinction, they were protected. As someone who grew up with the OG dragon riders, it does hurt to know they are gone, but this show helped me cope with that. 

The nine realms reveals their legacy! It shows what happened after the movies and that one special. If they were leaving stuff behind, they had to be down there a lot, if not moved down! They weren’t separated forever. Not only that, we know who left behind everything. The Gronckle iron shield?! That was placed in a way to reflect light? It was made to be a beacon. But high enough up that walking wouldn’t work, and in a realm so hot you’d need dragon scale suits to get through. It was placed so only a dragon rider would see it. 

The time capsule!? My gods we all know who made that. The fact that the key is a family heirloom?! Hiccup thought so far ahead you think he could see the future. And then the cave painting!? It also had Toothless! Hiccup was down there with the dragons for so long he left a leg for fuck sake. 

Beside the easter eggs, I saw this new show as a very fun archaeological discovery of our favorite characters, our friends. To figure out what their story was by solving the puzzle like Hiccup would. Instead of being told, we're finding it alongside a descendant of the Vikings we know and love.  

This is a great new story for the next generation who didn’t grow up with Hiccup and the gang; now they have Tom and the team. It's not the same because it's not supposed to be. This is Tom’s story, with added elements of the past so no one forgets the roots. Don’t hate it just because it’s not the same characters you grew up with. It's a new story in the same world. It's Berk's legacy and the start of Tom’s story. 

Honestly I think people’s reactions to this is a good example as to why we don't deserve dragons. Learn to say goodbye. Yes, it hurts, but that's okay. It means you care. 

I am here for DTNR, along with all the new dragons. Before I end this I’ll touch on some topics I've seen floating around.

Toothless descendants are inbred?! 

Uh, I believe that's a no. For one they shoot lightning now, not balls of plasma. Which means they had to breed with another type of dragon. On top of that, who's to say there weren't furies below in the world before? They’d just never gone to the surface. There are nine caverns for the gods’ sakes, there had to be a handful of cave dwelling furies. And yeah they are all nightlights, but again, we’ve only known Toothless’s story, the nine realms are their own story. On top of that, idk if you know this, but after about 800 years, genetics don’t mean shit. So between having a handful of other furies, other dragons, and unclear lifespan, we can assume either one of two things: the genetic line is so muddled it's nonexistent, or dragons live longer than we think and we are still getting through the handful of cave furies. - also meaning Thunder is closer to Toothless’s genetic line (assuming he’s even part of it) than Tom is to Hiccup.  

 Hiccup abandoned their efforts and beliefs in showing people the truth about dragons?!

D-did we watch the same shows and movies? Is that what you got from those movies? If anything the new show just validates the third movie even more. (is that why ya’ll hate it?) They tried guys! They really did, but you saw how out of hand it got in the third movie. On top of that, the amount of people already trying to use dragons in various parts of the archipelago was just the beginning, the third movie showed leaders from all over the world. If Hiccup didn’t make that choice, dragons really would be just a myth. - they would have been hunted to extinction.

Canon cast is dead!?

I mean… death is a part of life. It's in the future. Like go through the stages of grief if you must, but this new show keeps them alive. Their legacy was keeping the dragons safe. They did, and still are, thanks to Tom and his friends. They live through Tom, and possibly Toothless through Thunder. (cue he lives in you from lion king 2) I find it nice learning about the old days while growing fond of the new.

The animation is shit?!

Well compared to the movies of fucking course it is. Now compare it to Miraculous Ladybug. -w- yeah, not so bad now huh?

If the animators had the correct time to work on it, I'm sure it would be better. It's a TV show that still has pretty good quality in animation for what it's worth, yeah it's not the BEST, but it's also not the worst.

Also look back at the ROB. That animation?! Bruh. Episode 1 had me crying.

Overall, if you hate still hate it well: 

If you like it - tell me why and let's be friends.

[beardedmrbean]

How do fake stories created with artificial intelligence (AI) work? What narratives do they present? And how dangerous are they?

DW fact checkers answer the most critical questions about the role of AI in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

1) How do AI-generated image fakes work?

AI is everywhere these days — even in wars. Artificial intelligence applications have greatly improved this year, and almost anyone can now use standard AI generators to create images that look real, at least at first glance.

Users must "feed" tools such as Midjourney or Dall-E with prompts, including specifications and information, to do this. The tools then convert the written prompts into images. 

Some create more artistic illustrations, while others create photorealistic images. The generation process is based on what is known as machine learning. 

For example, if generators are asked to show a 70-year-old man riding a bicycle, they search their database to pair the terms with images. 

Based on the information available, the AI generators create the image of the older cyclist. Thanks to more and more input and technical updates, the tools have improved vastly and are constantly learning.

All this applies to images related to the Middle East conflict. 

Here, too, people use such tools to create more or less realistic scenes that, according to our observations, are often intended to capture emotional moments to spread certain narratives. But more on that later.

In a conflict where "emotions are very, very high," says AI expert Hany Farid, disinformation, including its spread through AI images, works exceptionally well. 

Hardened fronts are the perfect breeding ground for creating and disseminating fake content and intensifying emotions, Farid, a professor of digital forensics at the University of California at Berkeley, tells DW.

2) How many AI images of the Israel-Hamas war are in circulation? 

Images and videos created with the help of artificial intelligence have already added to disinformation related to the war in Ukraine — and continue to do so. 

As AI tools have developed rapidly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many observers expected it to play an even greater role in the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to experts, the great flood of AI images has failed to materialize thus far.

"In the conflict between Israel and Hamas and related disinformation, we are not seeing a massive use of AI-generated images," says Tomasso Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory. 

"There are some examples, but it's not much if we compare it to the amount of disinformation that is actually old images and old videos that are now reshared in a misleading way," he adds.

However, this does not mean the technology isn't a factor. Farid explains that he does not consider the number of AI fakes to be the relevant factor.

"You can have two images that go super viral, and hundreds of millions of people see it. It can have a huge impact," he says. 

"So it doesn't have to be a volume game, but I think the real issue we are seeing is just the pollution of the information ecosystem."

3) What narratives do the AI fakes serve in the Israel-Hamas war?

The AI images circulating on social media networks can usually trigger strong emotions. 

Canetta identifies two main categories. One refers to images that focus on the suffering of the civilian population and arouse sympathy for the people shown. The other is AI fakes that exaggerate support for either Israel, Hamas or the Palestinians and appeal to patriotic feelings.

2) How many AI images of the Israel-Hamas war are in circulation? 

Images and videos created with the help of artificial intelligence have already added to disinformation related to the war in Ukraine — and continue to do so. 

As AI tools have developed rapidly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many observers expected it to play an even greater role in the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to experts, the great flood of AI images has failed to materialize thus far.

"In the conflict between Israel and Hamas and related disinformation, we are not seeing a massive use of AI-generated images," says Tomasso Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory. 

"There are some examples, but it's not much if we compare it to the amount of disinformation that is actually old images and old videos that are now reshared in a misleading way," he adds.

However, this does not mean the technology isn't a factor. Farid explains that he does not consider the number of AI fakes to be the relevant factor.

"You can have two images that go super viral, and hundreds of millions of people see it. It can have a huge impact," he says. 

"So it doesn't have to be a volume game, but I think the real issue we are seeing is just the pollution of the information ecosystem."

3) What narratives do the AI fakes serve in the Israel-Hamas war?

The AI images circulating on social media networks can usually trigger strong emotions. 

Canetta identifies two main categories. One refers to images that focus on the suffering of the civilian population and arouse sympathy for the people shown. The other is AI fakes that exaggerate support for either Israel, Hamas or the Palestinians and appeal to patriotic feelings.

2) How many AI images of the Israel-Hamas war are in circulation? 

Images and videos created with the help of artificial intelligence have already added to disinformation related to the war in Ukraine — and continue to do so. 

As AI tools have developed rapidly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many observers expected it to play an even greater role in the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to experts, the great flood of AI images has failed to materialize thus far.

"In the conflict between Israel and Hamas and related disinformation, we are not seeing a massive use of AI-generated images," says Tomasso Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory. 

"There are some examples, but it's not much if we compare it to the amount of disinformation that is actually old images and old videos that are now reshared in a misleading way," he adds.

However, this does not mean the technology isn't a factor. Farid explains that he does not consider the number of AI fakes to be the relevant factor.

"You can have two images that go super viral, and hundreds of millions of people see it. It can have a huge impact," he says. 

"So it doesn't have to be a volume game, but I think the real issue we are seeing is just the pollution of the information ecosystem."

3) What narratives do the AI fakes serve in the Israel-Hamas war?

The AI images circulating on social media networks can usually trigger strong emotions. 

Canetta identifies two main categories. One refers to images that focus on the suffering of the civilian population and arouse sympathy for the people shown. The other is AI fakes that exaggerate support for either Israel, Hamas or the Palestinians and appeal to patriotic feelings.

The first category includes, for example, the picture above of a father with his five children in front of a pile of rubble. It was shared many times on X

(formerly Twitter) and Instagram and seen hundreds of thousands of times in connection with Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip. 

In the meantime, the image has been marked with a community notice, at least on X, that it is fake. It can be recognized as such by various errors and inconsistencies that are typical for AI images.

The man's right shoulder, for instance, is disproportionately high. The two limbs emerging from underneath are also strange — as if they were growing from his sweater. 

Also striking is how the hands of the two boys who have wrapped their arms around their father's neck merge. And there are too many or too few fingers and toes in several of the hands and feet in the picture.

Similar anomalies can also be seen in the following AI fake that went viral on X, which purportedly shows a Palestinian family eating together in the rubble, evoking sympathy for Palestinian civilians.

The picture below, which shows soldiers waving Israeli flags as they walk through a settlement full of bombed-out houses, falls into the second category, which is designed to spark feelings of patriotism.

The accounts that share the image on Instagram and X appear to be primarily pro-Israeli and welcome the events depicted. DW also found the picture as an article image in a Bulgarian online newspaper, which did not recognize or label it as AI-generated.

What looks fake here is the way the Israeli flags are waving. The street in the middle also appears too clean, while the rubble looks very uniform. The destroyed buildings also look like twins, standing at pretty regular intervals. 

All in all, the visual impression is too "clean" to appear realistic. This kind of flawlessness, which makes images look like they have been painted, is also typical for AI.

4) Where do such AI images come from?

Private accounts on social media distribute most images created with the help of artificial intelligence. They are posted by both authentic and obviously fake profiles. 

However, AI-generated images can also be used in journalistic products. Whether and in which cases this can be useful or sensible is currently being discussed at many media companies.

The software company Adobe caused a stir when it added AI-generated images to its range of stock photos at the end of 2022. These are labeled accordingly in the database.

Adobe now also offers AI images of the Middle East war for sale

— for example of explosions, people protesting or clouds of smoke behind the Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

Critics find this highly questionable, and some online sites and media have continued to use the images without labeling them as AI-generated. The image above, for example, appears on the site "Newsbreak" without any indication that it was computer-generated. DW found this out with the help of a reverse image search.Even the European Parliamentary Research Service, the European Parliament's scientific service, illustrated an online text on the Middle East conflict with one of the fakes from the Adobe database

 — again without labeling it as an AI-generated image.

Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory is appealing to journalists and media professionals to be very careful when using AI images, advising against their use, especially when it comes to real events such as the war in Gaza.

The situation is different when the goal is to illustrate abstract topics such as future technologies.

5) How much damage do AI images cause?

The knowledge that AI content is circulating makes users feel insecure about everything they encounter online. 

UC Berkeley researcher Farid explains: "If we enter this world where it is possible to manipulate images, audio and video, everything is in question. So you're seeing real things being claimed as fake."

That is precisely what happened in the following case: an image allegedly showing the charred corpse of an Israeli baby was shared on X by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the conservative US commentator Ben Shapiro, among others. 

The controversial anti-Israeli influencer Jackson Hinkle then claimed that the image had been created using artificial intelligence. 

As alleged proof, Hinkle attached a screenshot of the AI detector "AI or not" to his post, which classified the image as AI-generated. 

Hinkle's claim on X was viewed more than 20 million times and led to heated discussions on the platform. 

In the end, many stated that the image was, in all likelihood, genuine and that Hinkle was, therefore, wrong. Farid also told DW that he could not find any discrepancies in the picture that would indicate an AI fake.

How can that be, you might ask? AI detectors, which can be used to check whether an image or text is possibly AI-generated, are still very error-prone. Depending on the image checked, they get it right or wrong and often only make decisions as likely probabilities — not with 100% certainty.

Therefore, they are at the most suitable as an additional tool for checking AI fakes, but definitely not as the only tool.

DW's fact-checking team could also not detect any clear signs of AI-based manipulation in the image, presumably showing a baby's corpse. 

Curiously, "AI or not" did not classify the image as AI-generated when we tried it out ourselves — and pointed out that the image quality was poor.

Another AI detector (Hive moderation) also concluded that the image was genuine.

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplaying Races 14: Trox

(art by Nicholas “Rookzer0” on Artstation)

And here we have another example of an ancestry originally created as an example in ARG’s race builder, this one demonstrating how strange and powerful you could make a playable race. The result was powerful and bulky beetle-folk with a chip on their shoulder.

While there doesn’t seem to be any one specific inspiration for this ancestry, fantasy has always been full of big, monstrous peoples who may or may not actually be surprisingly gentle despite their bulk and fearsomeness.

Interestingly, trox got a major update to their lore in Starfinder, which we’ll talk about momentarily.

As we learn in Starfinder, the trox as a people were created by the goddess Hylax as her envoys and sentinels, and are in fact native to the Liavaran moon of Nchak. However, while the majority of their people lived in relative peace, that group is not who we are talking about today.

You see, many trox were sealed inside protective asteroids by their goddess and launched to various other worlds to serve as envoys for her diplomatic ways, and one such stone fell to Golarion in the ancient past. However, the Golarion clan had the misfortune of being discovered by the duergar , who saw their physical might and similarity to the giant beetles they already used as beasts of burden and enslaved them, subjecting them to eugenic breeding programs and alchemical enhancement to turn them into powerful brutes.

Many trox have since rebelled and broken free, escaping to the surface, only to discover that the evils of slavery were present there as well. As such, while they retain some aspects of their heritage, the trox of Golarion are distrustful of other species due to the suffering their people have gone through.

Sporting heavy chitin elytra, mandibles, and armor, trox resemble humanoid beetles, but they are not fully arthropod-like in anatomy, sporting an internal skeleton as well and soft fleshy parts as well. Additionally, they also sport an array of smaller appendages on their chests in addition to their bipedal arms and legs. While not strong and articulate enough to wield objects, they can come in handy.

While the trox of Golarion have become brutish and somewhat violent, they share with their ancestors a strong sense of community that overrides personal desires, they also prove inquisitive, eager to learn about the ways of others, and fiercely loyal to those the call friends. Sadly, the vast majority of them still live in slavery, either to the duergar or to surface slavers of various peoples.

Trox are immensely strong, but centuries of conditioning have dulled their minds in all regards.

Despite their bulk, they prove surprisingly agile when they need to be.

Their night-eyes also suit them well for a life underground.

This in turn is fueled by their powerful digging claws, making them swift under the ground.

The conditioning that they were subjected to and the subsequent fury this engenders also makes them surprisingly violent when replying to the attacks of foes that have harmed them.

Additionally, their grabbing appendages are quite useful for latching onto a grappled foe, freeing up their arms to fight other foes.

There is one alternate option for the trox, representing those trox that have trained themselves to abandon their rage and focus, tapping into an atrophied vibration sense, all the better to notice when invisible foes like their duergar slavers are coming.

With their extremely high strength bonus, trox are very suited for melee builds, particularly grapple builds thanks to their extra appendages, making any combat class a good pick for them. The penalty to all three mental stats is something of a deterrent for any caster or skill-based class, but not an insurmountable one. In fact, the fact that their penalty applies to all three means that it’s almost like the board is even between the three, just expect to have to make a little effort to bring them in line with other casters and characters. Any class that can blend casting with more traditional combat will probably work best for them, such as druid, magus, paladin, and warpriest.

That does it for today, but we’ve got one more entry to do before we’re done. Look forward to it tomorrow!

[border-collie]

I‘m not a writer but I would love to learn more about the different types of border collie!

Ok so, BIG PICTURE there are three types: Show line, Working Line, and "all other purposes" (usually called sports line but *I* personally take issue with this as a sports dog owner.)

Show line are pretty easy to identify and separate out, for the most part, these dogs have been completely separated from the rest of the big border collie gene pools since the mid twentieth century. These dogs are bred to the breed standard and type and are what compete in the colloquial dog shows typically. They are pretty dogs, with lots of hair, and anyone can look at them and say "now THAT is a border collie." They also, for the most part, are never expected to work sheep except to show that they have some level of herding instinct.

This becomes a big issue considering the primary registry of the border collies (International Sheep Dog Society or ISDS) says a border collie is any dog that herds sheep in a creep stance and uses their gaze to intimidate stock to move. (FUN FACT! Any dog of ANY breed history can become a fully registered border collie if they can prove they work like this!) ISDS dogs (or if you are in America, which lots of border collies are, American Border Collie Association or ABCA and a few other herding dog registries out there that I won't list them all) are, by and large, are considered Working Line. But working line is a BIG category! Here in the US there are lots of border collies used to work cattle which is rarely done elsewhere I the world, there are dogs bred to do everyday work on farms and ranches, and then there are the dogs bred to be good at herding competitions specifically. All of these dogs do their jobs just a bit differently and at different levels depending on the terrain, the fine details of the job, the dogs breeding and more. But for the most part they herd and are bred to herd with very little thought put into what they look like. Because they are bred first to work and not look like border collies, a lot of them actually DON'T look like most laypeople would describe a border collie. Many have a lot more white or a lot less white than the typical imagined border collie. They come in more colors than just black and white (so do all other varieties, but show lines specifically is dominated by black and white dogs) They also come in more coat lengths. Short haired border collies are VERY common in working lines for example.

Now what happens when these dogs are bred for something else? That's kind of the All Other Purposes Category, which is usually called Sports Lines but I'll explain why I don't agree with that name. Some of these reasons are to be able to perform well at a specific sport, these are what I would consider true Sports Lines. Sports lines are selected specifically for level temperament, physical soundness to prevent injury and high biddability to their handlers. They are often very heavy on working line backgrounds but some have some show lines mixed in especially to improve on structure. They can be any color, but black and white is still very common. All coat types are also common. While they are bred for structure, they often aren't bred for anything else and will stray from that perfect Show Line look. The next category is Color Bred. Border collies come in A LOT of colors, but working, show, and sport breeders don't really care what colors they are producing they all have other major qualities in mind before color. Color breeders primarily care about color first and foremost which means that they often have not great structure, temperament, or working ability. Lots of breeders who claim to be producing Sports Lines (and a few claiming to be working lines) are actually breeding color bred dogs either because they are selecting for color, or they got their dogs from someone who is. The bad structure and temperament in color bred dogs is unfortunately often applied by outsiders of this dichotomy to Sports Lines as well giving sports lines a bad reputation alongside color breeders. But, again, I feel like it's a misnomer situation. The final category is pet lines. These often heavily overlap with color bred lines. These dogs are selected to be "good pets" now the problem with this is, for the most part, border collies really aren't good pets. They require a lot of work and are very sensitive dogs. Often these dogs get rehomed when people realize they got in too deep and can't handle this dog which isn't a Labrador which is not usually a good situation for the dogs.

This is a high level breakdown, but is the gist of the breed as a snapshot. I can go more in depth if anyone has more questions!

[shenzaibird-art]

Here's some general lore that applies to all of my settings because I was randomly inspired to actually write up lore for once haha I've been calling these collectively "the forces of magic ability". All of them are things that everybody has, but you need to learn to use them and practice to actually make any magic. It ended up being a lot of text so I guess I'll put it under a readmore thingy:

[Now, I kinda just came up with the new words yesterday so I might still decide I don't like them and change them (and/or those symbols) but so far I'm liking this so I decided to post. These concepts aren't new, I just had never talked about them because I didn't have names for them (other than magis, I think I've already talked about that a lot but I'll say it again anyway)]

MAGIS is the magical energy that powers every spell and any magic craft. It flows inside your body, swirling around tiny organs called "magis nodes," located in the head, heart, hands, feet, and tail. Magis is used up when casting spells or channeling it into workyns ("spell blueprints"), but it regenerates. However, if you use all of your magis more quickly than you can regenerate, you will pass out. You can't die from lack of magis, but it's not nice and your magis nodes might become a bit sore for a while as you recover.

VOLIS is the ability to control the magis. It comes from "volition", as it's the power of one's will, so to speak. It's similar to thoughts, you "think" of the spell you want to cast, and so you cast it. But it's a separate kind of thinking, more akin to moving your body. It's not a fully conscious thinking exactly, so you won't cast the wrong spell just because you thought of something else for a second. Volis not only controls the magis at the moment of casting a spell, but also any further actions that a spell can have, such as the movement of a conjured creature. How many spells a person can keep up at once will depend on how well trained they are at using and managing their volis.

PERCIS is the ability to perceive magis and magic crafts. Spells are crafted as small tokens, but they don't really need to be labeled because percis allows you to tell them apart by just having them nearby. A magician with several spells in their pockets knows exactly what each of them is without having to check on them. But of course, you can only identify a spell if you have knowledge of what it's like. Percis is a sense, much like seeing or hearing -- if you know what a dog is, you'll know it when you see one, and a similar principle applies to sensing a spell through your percis. Even if you never encountered a particular spell, you might know how to partially identify it if you know its type. For example, you will know a dog is a dog even if you can't tell what breed it is. But percis can be used for more than just telling spells apart. By having keen enough percis, one can learn to recognize someone by their unique magis and notice their presence before even seeing or hearing them (although this is a very rare skill because most people don't give too much importance to fine tuning their percis for anything beyond telling spells apart really). There's a limit of how many spells you can have on yourself without overloading your senses however, which is why most people carry only a few essential spells around. These explanations turned out far longer than I expected.