#why is this our selling point i dont. understand

[sol1loqu1st]

im gonna be so fucking real right now rfk jr's medicine conspiracy bullshit has gone straight past fear of what theyre going to do and right into my very specific childhood trauma. like this isn't a hot take but I literally don't even disagree with a couple (A COUPLE) things he's saying but it's all presented in that very specific Holistic Wellness language thats like. UH OH

[silkythewriter]

Vox and wukong with a cat demon reader!

Warnings: might be a bit OOC! Haven’t written for Hazbin hotel in a while I apologize!

Fandom: Hazbin hotel and LMK

Author note:IM SO SORRY I DONT KNOW WHY TUMBLER GLITCHED OUT ON ME AND DELETED THE WHOLE THING(｡•́︿•̀｡) BUT TYSM FOR YOUR PATIENTS AND THANK YOU FOR THE HAZBIN HOTEL ASK!!!

Summary: Wukong and Vox with a cat demon reader! :D

❤️Written by silkythewriter Do not steal or repost on any other platform please! <3.❤️

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Vox

In all honesty...he finds it adorable, now will he admit that is another question with a different answer..

I'm sure he's seen many upon many of cat demons in his years damned to hell, but you are different in a way he can't pin point. Maybe it's the way your tail flicks when you see him, or how your pupils grow big just at the sight of him. It's honestly a knock out for him

He finds himself curious on how your ears and tail feel. But he would never touch it unless you offer him first which he exeitedly bun-gurglingly agrees.

He's a man that's excellent at words and selling something to you. But when it comes time to actually show Affection it's...a bit rough to say the least.

He buys you special types of conditioner and shampoo for your fur, one of the finest brand might i add, which he hands to you. Simply stating "well if your gonna be seen around me of course you gotta look your best" not that he actually cares for you and wants you happy of course! He's an overlord he has a status to up hold!

Now when it comes to you actually doing cat like things he finds it very interesting and honestly adorable-

I mean look how can he not melt when your purring out words after landing on the soft couch in his office.

One time he petted the top of your head and you let out purr, when I tell you this man’s knees were weak I MEAN IT

he just has a special soft spot for you and the things you do. Like when you were over at his place about to crash on his bed but you just started kneading the soft blanket.

Look he’s a hater on the outside but a lover on the inside he has to keep a rough attitude in a place like hell. But when you guys are alone he’s doting on you more then an actual person with a cat. He just can’t help it

He loves cuddling with you at night, like the warmth you provide him is enough to make him short circuit . Hell is hot enough but your warmth is different kind of warmth, not just the overheating and overwhelming temperature of hell, but the homey feeling you get form a nice hug.

He especially loves when you wrap your tail around him or his like leg i don’t know something about it makes him lose his mind!

Although he dose have to admit finding you asleep in unexpected areas is something he doesn’t hate but doesn’t exactly like either. He quite literally has the best bed and sheets of hell just for you and you still decide to spreed out and take a nap on counter. Now that is something he will never understand

Overall though he loves you to the lower levels of he’ll and back <3

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Wukong

Oh boy… time for our favorite monkey boy phew alright…

First of all get ready for his lil cheeky self to go around and start scaring you

You know that old trend where cat owners would throw cucumbers at their cat? Yea that’s what he dose, not only that but 60% of the time it lands smack dab on your head like it seems intentional from how many times he’s smacked you by accident.

He honestly understands how sensitive ears and tails could be so he would never yank or pull on it as a joke. Trust me he gets and understands your pain very much.

His love language is grooming, so he’s happily sit for a good while just looking through your fur and picking out small particles or maybe small dirt specs. And he loves when you do the same! Honestly a very cute bonding moment he finds it relaxing!

I feel like cat demons are a bit rare to come by, (my guess don’t quote me on this) so he finds your quite cool to look at! Especially if you have some sort of pattern or rare fur color!. He asks you all sorts of questions please don’t mind him he’s honestly curious.

He purrs too so this man dos won’t discriminate when you do it, he honestly finds it adorable just like Vox!, but unlike Vox he doesn’t mind voicing it. Although he dose it too he loves teasing you for it, jokingly of course!

Please send this man your fur care cause lord knows he probably doesn’t own the right things to take care of his fur. He appreciates if you take a day off just to show him, also massaging some of the conditioner/shampoo in his scalp will make him purr and is greatly appreciated.

Honestly I feel like he’d get jealous of those who you also let touch your fur and other stuff. He won’t cop you on it! But he loves when it feels like something only he can do and you trust him with.

As kneading this man has A TONNN of blankets collected through the years of stealing or getting gifted it. So he has tons of blankets on his bed and if he sees you kneading them he’d probably let out a loud “Awe” before tackling you. He finds it adorable! What can he say?

He has good pulse control now then when he did in his younger years but still can you really expect him not to smoother you with affection from how absolutely adorable your being?!?? (≧◡≦) ♡

Please please PLEASE let this man intertwine tails with you or make like a heart shape out of your tail’s. He just finds it so comforting and adorable!

Overall have a cat demon S/O has to be the best for him, he just loves you! And he is very affectionate, it takes him a bit to show it but after a while he’s all over you! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

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AHHHH TYSM FOR THE REQUEST IT WAS SO FUN PLEASE REQUEST AGAIN❤️❤️❤️❤️💘💘💘💘

[osarina]

As much as I love the idea of Piratezai and Mermaid!reader, I feel like Merzai would work way better.

Imagine our pirates (aka Port Mafia cast) one day accidentally catch Dazai and keep him with the intention of selling on the black market. He obviously isn’t happy about this arrangement and is hellish to whatever poor sap has to care for him/stop from killing himself at the time.

After a few too many escape attempts, they get reader to watch over him knowing she’s going to be one of the few with the patience to deal with his tantrums (Chuuya’s already tried to kill him multiple times at this point so he isn’t an option). They both instantly dislike each other for very obvious reasons of course. But the passage of time changes all, and they learn to tolerate each other more and more. There’s even this weird beating in Dazai’s chest? Is it heart failure? Is he finally dying?!

He eventually manages to escape of course, “because he’s a slippery mackerel” as Chuuya so eloquently put it after getting a slimy tail to the face. So with their prize having quite literally slipped through their fingers, the pirates concede defeat and that’s the last of it. Or is it? Because why does reader keep finding dead fish, kelp, and other underwater trinkets in her room? And what’s with the trail of slimy water leading to the window? And why is half her stuff missing?! You can only replace a comb so many times!

I have been hoarding this since you first mentioned a mer AU, and finally managed to finish it.

GET OUT OF HEREEEEEE I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS UR JOKING guys you need to understand ive been obsessed with merzai for like . TWO MONTHS i know i havent posted much about it but . i will be now that i have some time you must believe

BUT . I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS because you know reader wanted nothing to do with this mermaid. like she told mori that she doesn't want to be anywhere near him, but he just ends up pissing off everyone else to the point that mori doesn't trust them not to kill him, so he ends up bribing her to watch over him with promises of extra gold, and she knows the man is talking out of his ass, but she gives it a shot anyway.

and the MOMENT she walks into the room dazai is being kept in, she's splashed with a ton of water. INCESSANTLY. this boy just keeps kicking his tail around getting her drenched out of spite, and she immediately storms out of the room. mori has to beg her to go back in because every time he's left alone, he tries to escape. she goes back in there and dazai has like no more water to splash around in, so he's sulking in shallow water, side-eyeing her as soon as she walks back in the room. that whole first babysitting job is just spent with them glaring at each other and dazai suffering because he hates not having enough water to sink his head in. he warms up to her like MINISCULELY because when she leaves to sleep, she sends someone to fill the pool he's in back up so he has a comfortable amount of water again. the next time she shows up, he decides to not splash her to death with water

i think the next few meetings would still be pretty tense. they dont talk much, but eventually, OMGGGGG MAYBE MAYBEEEEEEEE the ship runs into another pirate ship in the sea and they get into a battle. their ship gets invaded by the pirates of the other ship, and they start fighting and she realizes that one of the attackers got past them and went deeper into the ship, and she realizes they're going in the direction of dazai's room. she ends up getting injured going after him to make sure he doesn't get hurt cuz he's pretty much defenseless. this is when he finally realizes he doesn't hate her presence and its the first time his chest gets fluttery when he realizes she saved him. maybe we can have the mermaids have some sort of water magic in this, and he ends up using it to heal her.

then maybe after this, they start opening up to each other a little. she tells him about her past w mori and what life as a pirate is like. maybe some of their adventures on the sea. he tells her a bit about what mermaid society is like ......... omg what if we make dazai a mermaid prince guys . and he ends up inadvertedly telling it to her and she doesn't tell mori even tho she know it would mean he would go for exponentially more on the black market. he starts falling in love with her but he also doesn't really understand the concept of love, so he's confused, and when he eventually escapes, he ends up finding himself .... missing her?

he goes back down to sea society (ada???) and maybe confesses to someone that he thinks he cares for a human. maybe yosano, i like having her wingman. and yosano tells him to ??? court her then ??? she has no idea the person she is encouraging him to court is a pirate and his ex-captor, but dazai goes for it, and that's when reader starts finding all of these odd things in her room and shes like wtf. eventually one day she catches him trying to sneak out of her room and shes like what are you DOING

ORRRRR IAHDFAUISHDFSUH LOLLLLL she obviously realizes its him even if she doesn't catch him in the act of it. and maybe instead of her stuff disappearing, she leaves something on the window for him to take too, not realizing that per merculture that means shes essentially accepting his advances & courting him back.

[fuck-customers]

today, mar 25 2024, a woman came into my red hardware store and dumped her bag of returns on my counter. she said "i have a fucking return. it's all coming the fuck back. i don't need any of this fucking stuff" and i was instantly on edge because she's being loud and every other word was another f-bomb. and i GET IT i get swearing, i get being angry, but why the hell are you upset with me lol i looked at the pile of stuff and was like "oh did you buy this yesterday?" because i recognized the pile of items as things that i had personally rung up at some point. it's a bunch of electrical stuff like outlet covers and some solenoids or wtv. but god i shouldn't've said anything. because she snaps "No what the fuck. i bought this fucking weeks ago. and i dont fucking need it. so i'm returning it"

and i'm like.. damn ok, fine. she's digging for receipts. and has a huge stack of Orange Hardware store receipts. and i'm watching her flip through them and she snaps "go ahead and grab yours if you recognize it!" and i'm like 'uh.. ok i'm pretty sure that my store's receipt is this one' and i pointed at one (idk if its just the font but i recognized my store's receipt and yoinked it out.

so i start processing her return. she's like "ugh i need to go get my card from the car!" and i'm like ok, that's fine. she doesn't really need it for the return but 1) i want her to get away from me because i'm gonna call a manager she's being such an asshole. 2) her friend was looking for other stuff to buy.

she comes back in with her card. i'm like scanning and returning the items. 3 items i KNOW are NOT ours are on the pile. im like.. i don't want to deal with her trying to insist that they belong to our store. but i scan one. it beeps 'item not found' i go 'oh well these items aren't from our store, sorry i can't return them"

and she's like "i dont see how that's fucking possible! everything in that bag is from this fucking store!" and she's just absolutely shrieking. and i don't understand why she's mad, like i don't get it. the manager came up and was like 'we don't sell this product. sorry we can't do a return on it.'

she screams some more but accepts that they must be Orange Hardware and not Red Hardware. She goes out to "make a call while her friend shops"

and i swear to god that she was screaming at someone on the phone for next fourteen minutes and everyone inside the store could hear her from the parking lot. every other word out of this woman's mouth was "fuck" and it was setting my nerves on edge.

her friend finally came up to buy his shit. and it totals $77. she's standing at the door handing him her visa and she is PISSED that the total is $77. she says she doesn't understand how it could add up to that much. and im like uhmmmm.. they're plumping parts.. and the stupid toys you're buying for your grandkids pushed the total to $77 after tax.. either buy it or leave. i don't care

she ended up buying it but you could still hear her swearing up and down the parking lot as she was screaming on the phone with her mother (apparently) saying that she was going to need to be reimbursed for the shit she was buying

and i'm just like... goddamn, i dont care how awful your day is. don't take it out on employees or customers you asshat.

the only funny part about this is the fact that her name was actually Karen. which just made me laugh. but all the other staff had come up to the front to make sure i was okay while she was yelling. and she did get intimidated by some of the men and slink out while her friend paid for the stuff. but still.. a big yikes.

Posted by admin Rodney.

[mrs-monaghan]

Hello Shaz

I would love to hear your opinion on 3D and all the talk around it

My thoughts on the talk around it is; "wow, well this is a load of garbage" (no offence to any friends I may have who don't like the song I just disagree that its a terrible song)

Alright. 3D. Let's talk. My thoughts. First, what's with the fucking homeless trousers??

I hate rich people 😭😭😭😭 if I wear this people will wonder why I didn't go back home to change after I fell in mud 😪

Anyhu, before i even say a thing. We should probably all try to remember that JK said this

(Thanks @chicknbunny13)

Yeah sure, even if he doesn't write a song, he may resonate with it. But not everything he does is a reflection of his actual life. This one, is for the Jikook antis btw. This is why my anons are still off. People, I dont have the energy for antis rn. JK sang 'girl' so what? This topic is super old and tired and consider it officially retired from this blog. I'm sooooo over it 🥱🥱🥱🥱

Now that we have that out of the way let's tackle the fact that our JK is a grown, grown adult. I don't need to bring back the live where he told people he's an adult and he is almost 30 and he will do what he wants to do. And if he wants to sing about this, that's exactly what he will sing about.

Oh my,

Even Jimin knows all about it

Tweet

BAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!

Let is be known i am choosing to take that sentence literally. I think JK just means him, the girl, with champagne and confetti. I really don't think it means anything else here. But, seeing as this is another sex song, I won't put it past him.

Anyone else notice a recurring theme here?

Okay then. 😳

Also shout out to this random kid with the horse

I can't be the only one who has no clue what his point was 😂😂😂

While we are on the champagne topic,

I mean....

Make no mistake, SEVEN and 3D are singing about the same thing. If SEVEN was in your face, 3D is subtle. But they are both just talking about sex here. Which is why it doesn't make sense to me why people are so upset??? As a person who likes Harlow and has heard his songs before, this did not shock me one bit. There is nothing wrong with this song. It is meaningless and shallow but guess what, thats the type of music the GP is listening to rn. I understand why Asians have an issue with this line

And I can respect that. I don't have to understand it, but if Asians say its offensive, then its offensive. In which case I think that's just ignorance on Harlow's part. The people behind the song and JK himself are not going to okay something degrading. So it is of my opinion that people are reading too much, way too much into something that aint even meant to be deep.

It's a song, about sex. The only thing deep about it, is the holes that will be getting penetrated.

This song doesn't require to be analysed. Okay, maybe when trying to decipher the analogies being used but that's it. JK has one agenda and one agenda only; release music that the general public will devour, get his name out there and be a huge pop star. And it is working.

Cue Boracity's new video about each member and who their target audience are for each solo project

JK did not write these songs. If he did I'm sure they would have more meaning. But that's not what he's aiming for rn. Right now the man just wants to put out something that he knows will sell. Wants to put out something that will be a hit. And 3D is exactly that. Just like SEVEN. Mans was asked for the meaning of the song and by his answer, I'm not sure even he knows.

What??

Did anyone understand that???? If you did, break it down for me coz I did NOT understand that 😂😂

This song has no meaning. Its shallow, catchy, easy to remember and move to. Enough with trying to complicate shit! It ain't that deep. Period.

JK cared more about the choreo.

While Jack is calling himself a whore for wanting 4 women, JK is busy dancing throughout. So I will listen to JK and enjoy the song and choreo. Because there is nothing in the lyrics and there was never intended to be.

Idk why y'all mad when we stan a consent king:

Personally I dont have time to be angry because 1) i see no reason to be, and 2) i am too busy admiring JK's body proportions 🤤🤤

Damn, Jimin's man is hot!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[thelunaticghost]

xvn fic recs !!

i have been meaning to do this for a while : mostly because fic recs are fun to compile and also thee seems to be a BIG shortage of any fic rec posts!! so here are some fics i have enjoyed over the years!! ofc this list is non exhaustive please note the ratings of each fic and heed the tags before reading! sorry, that i am putting in the shorter summary

anyway!! feel free to put in more fic recs too!! :D

End OTW Racism | over the edge of all our knowings by merthurlin [ G, 10,146 words , 1/1 ]

Years down the line, after the whole business with Lumine and her brother has been concluded, Venti decides to go on a world tour. He sends Xiao letters.

merthurlin got me into xiaoven so ofc my list starts with her fic! this is just so so sweet and even if its not necessarily fluffy there is a warmth to the writing it is a comfort read for me! i recommend every work by her (regardless of fandom). though in xvn End OTW racism | never dreamed of nobody like you is another excellent fic!

nocturne by yanrans [ T, 34,540 words, 4/4 ]

In which Venti sells magical music boxes, Xiao is his unwitting customer, and there is absolutely, definitely nothing more to it at all.

modern au where venti is - a scammer? - i mean a music box seller and xiao is just a regular guy and and. its funny and delightful and absolutely breath taking. i wouldnt elaborate more so as not to spoil anything further but the fic has many unexpected surprises in it! yanrans is another writer i definitely recommend to check out more! their writing style is very flamboyant and poetic.

what hides in neon shadow by morii_tea [ T, 7,547 words, 1/1 ]

In which Xiao is a cyborg, Venti is a thief, and the glittering city of Teyvat hides more secrets than they’re prepared to find out.

its so rare to see morally grey venti is potrayed (even though he isnt v morally grey but still. xiao having to remembering that venti isnt as honourable as he appears is yesssss wohoo). this fic has some thrilling action and a v fun cyberpunk world!! i wish it was longer but it is v exciting nevertheless

every morning in the dark by magicites [ M, 77,124 words, 34/34 ]

Stuck in a time loop where he succumbs to his karmic debt, Xiao struggles to see the point in moving forward. Venti struggles to save him.

READ THE TAGS!!! character death and suicidal thoughts are two major warnings. but DAMN this fic it's just so. SO FULL of everything WRONG with xiao!! and venti too but such a GREAT angst fic!! it gets everything so Right. magicites also happened to have written one of my most favourite genshin fic too :] and if you havent read her other works!! you are missing out!!

the half-life of the yaksha is absolute by GStK [ G, 1,000 words, 1/1 ]

Venti digs his thumbs in to keep open the wound but it is too late His gaze snaps over to the teal essence dancing over Xiao’s fingers. Now all those words will belong to him And Venti will belong to him, only.

READ THE TAGS!! now that i have went into the time loop fic ofc i have to mention the beautiful corrupt xiao prose. the imagery is flowery and grotesque!

foreigner's god by smallghosts [ T, 3,818 words, 1/1 ]

Lord Barbatos falls asleep for a few hundred years. Xiao copes with his absence in strange ways.

a pre-canon fic where xiao becomes - in a way - a worshipper? it's SO GOOD. its about the yearning!!!!!!!!! SCREAMS i dont think i have to explain further

love me like you do by Limerancy [ T, 3,000 words, 1/1 ]

They aren’t the kind of friends that touch.

TOUCH STARVED AND TOUCH AVERSE XIAO!!!!!! this fic makes me a lil bit feral. a little unhinged. i absolutely enjoy reading about the yearning , the desire JUST!!!! AAAA. this writer also writes v fluffy modern au one shots!!! so be sure to check them out too :)

The Kissing Tree by Princeliest [ G, 7,581 words, 2/2 ]

Venti kisses Xiao, and Xiao does not understand why.

VENTI COMMITMENT ISSUES!!!!! as much as i adore reading xiao angst, venti angst is still something i love seeking out and its a tragedy that its not explored enough in this ship :c but anyway!!! such amazing characterization and exploration!! princeliest is one of fav genshin writers and this fic delivers!

wishing on dandelions all of the time by OedipusOctopus [ T, 8,270 words, 1/1 ]

When Venti first catches sight of the swords artfully hung on the wall of his new roommate's bedroom, he regrets putting up the sublease on Craigslist. Firmly believing this guy is a total weirdo, Venti is more surprised than anyone when he realizes the total weirdo is actually adorable. It's not against some invisible Roommate Code to dream about kissing your roommate, right?

ofc there is a classic roommate au fic!! this was one of my most favourite fic from last years xvn week: its hilarious and silly and just a perfect relaxing read!! the characterization and their banter is so entertaining i admit i have read this multiple times!

Where Words Fail by kavvueh [ T, 27,926 words, 11/12 ]

"You're Barbatos," Xiao repeats breathlessly. The young man in front of him nods. "Yep." "But..." Xiao cuts himself off and tries again. "You're the God of songs and poetry." The Anemo Archon nods his head sagely. "More or less." Xiao fixes Lord Barbatos with the most incredulous look he can manage. "... You're failing Music Theory."

this fic is such a delight!! it has some light background lore, some silly shenanigans, miscommunications, pinning - a truly fun mixture! the fic is v light hearted but written with a lot of tenderness. i am v excited to see its conclusion!

what queer sins stain thy soul by Anonymous [ M, 3,232 words, 1/1 ]

In which Xiao, long-established asexual, learns that identity is not as stable as he’d like to believe.

there is some explicit things in it (in non explicit way) i believe religious guilt is one of the best flavouring to xvn. it is an under-explored area in this ship imo and this fic not only has that but also!!! asexuality !!!!!! this fic so so personal and its exploration of desire that gets to me a lot

unholy virtues by morphasia [ E, 17,065 words, 6/6 ]

In exchange for his body in more ways than one, Venti summons a demon to reclaim something that has been stolen from him. It's a just contract. That's all it's supposed to be. That's all it was ever supposed to be.

READ THE TAGS!!! this fic truly went creature/creature. this au is just so fascinating and funny in a twisted way (but not bad). this fic isnt for everyone though but it is definitely worth the shot.

[terraliensvent]

Staff doesn't care about Terras anymore and I think they should hand over total ownership (Admins, mods and all) to people who actually care. I love Terras and don't want to see them die off, but it feels inevitable now.

Terras is over party ig!!!

honestly im tired of them playing hot potato with this project, it fails under any ownership its given and any passion that was once put in (arguably an incredibly small amount since its obvious this was a cashgrab from day 1) is completely wiped away

there are much better species and worlds to put your time and money into. what does terras offer?

a lazy staff team that is so focused on entirely separate projects that they cant even shit out a halloween event, and that gave so little of a fuck that they waited a full month after the birthday event was over to even raffle the designs, and that was seemingly held together by one staff member so much so that when that member left the team, the server had rule violations sitting for days at a time

a site that, despite having almost nothing added in the way of extensions, runs like shit because staff doesnt want to abide by recommended image sizes and overloaded the whole thing with enormously heavy images, to the point that now even after the images have been compressed oh so slightly, the site still runs like shit

a site that will never have any interesting changes or additions made (even the most simple) because staff is so incompetent with their own tools they fundamentally do not understand how lorekeeper works. this wouldnt be so much of an issue if they would hire someone experienced in lk (their site coder has said they have no idea how lk works and theyve never used it), or take on volunteers to add the most basic functionality, but they wont do that because they are again, so incompetent that they think a volunteer could just delete the whole site which is fundamentally impossible unless you give them your fucking admin login

no lore MINIMAL lore about, of all things, a stupid new subtype that nobody wanted. no publicly available lore about terra planet, society, anatomy, physiology, or even why these stupid things have fishbowls on their heads. if you want even a scrap of information, you have to scrounge through months upon months of messages in staff-answer, or play a stupid ass ARG

an abysmal design approval process. you will have your design denied for trait restrictions that are listed nowhere, and that staff let pass with their friends 2 days ago. if you ever try to bring up any terra on the ml as an example that they have approved the same design aspect before, you will ALWAYS be knocked dowm with “that design was approved before we updated the guides/it slipped through the cracks” even when the design isnt even a week old

no MYO slot sales, no fun opportunities for community interaction, fucking hell not even any events anymore because staff dont give enough of a fuck to slap something together for the month of october.

lazy adopts thrown together for a quick buck to the point they will have scribbly lineart, color spilling out, and unclear design aspects that they will shit out and sell to you for $90+.

a server that is so overloaded with toxic positivity that you will get dogpiled even for saying you dont like a certain video game.

just give up on terras at this point. its been a year and a half of this shit and it has never been at even a BASELINE standard of how a species should operate.

newly released species these days all think its acceptable to drop with just a concept and an empty lorekeeper and call it a day. i think everyone who participates in closed species needs to collectively come together and raise the standards that were set by the mother of all cashgrabs: chams. we need to stop enabling the species owners who give NOTHING to the project, the ones who release with no lore, shops, or trait sheets. i think we all should take our money to more fulfilling creators (in my experience, smaller species projects are typically so much more fleshed out than popular new ones hitting the market, but they often lack the publicity to flourish) and stop sinking money and so much time into people who dont put in any effort, and who dont WANT to put in any effort because they have no passion for the project outside of a paycheck.

[jheselbraum]

The Yiga Clan read to me as a group of people who, at one point, had legitimate grievances against Hyrule, but over the century of them... Basically winning? Like age of calamity be damned they didn't actually canonically have much of a role in the Calamity, but. The guy they were rooting for won, so that's something. And in the century that passed since their guy won, they came under the control of an underqualified nepo baby and became the banana loving fools we know and love today.

Like everyone always talks about "addressing the problems with Hyrule" in botwtotk and I understand why some folks would prefer a dark and edgy completely serious Yiga Clan that addresses those things, but you know what character actually fucking does something about Hyrules government sucking ass? Zelda. Zelda and Link are our focal characters for addressing Hyrule's bullshit and for some reason that doesn't seem to... Count. Which is weird, because where else is this criticism supposed to come from? She's one of the only people left who fucking remembers it, the central government of Hyrule hasn't existed for a century, not even the Hylians really give a shit about it in game! The Sheikah are chilling in their village, the only other race that regularly interacts with Hylians at all are the Gerudo, and the Gerudo are very much in charge of that interaction since they still have their government. The Zora and the Gorons interact with Hylians so infrequently they often forget basic human anatomy and while the Rito are a bit better in that regard, Revali is our focal point for Rito opinions on Hylians so that's covered.

Like the Yiga Clan dont have a Hylian government to oppose in botw! Why would they stop and talk about how shitty it is? It's gone! It doesn't exist! It hasn't existed for a hundred years! They fucking won! They have their status quo in botw and are fighting to keep that status quo. And in totk they're... Building robots that Ganondorf doesn't want BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY they're specifically on a revenge quest to get Links ass and they're trying to get back into the swing of things with the whole "oh wait our guy might... Lose" thing and now that they're getting serious they're much more formidable opponents! But even then, whe one could argue that they have more of a Hylian government to oppose in totk, a) you'd have to argue that what Zelda is doing is establishing a central government at all and not just managing shipping logistics and supervising archaeological digs between sidequests, b) totk practically drills it into our heads that everyone loves Zelda to the point where Ganondorf has to disguise himself as her to get anything done because Zelda's whole thing is not subjecting anyone else to the bullshit she went through. Like six of the seven major people groups in Hyrule actively support Zelda's "y'all do whatever" style of monarchy, if it can even be called monarchy because let's face it, Zelda is only the princess because her pronouns are "the princess," Dr who style. And finally c) botw and totk both establish that Zelda is fucking chill with tech so aside from the "killing her" part the original fucking issue that caused the Yiga Clan to split off from the Sheikah is solved with Zelda in charge anyway.

I dunno, I think that, while fun and therefore the correct choice, Kohga's inclusion in Age of Calamity cheapened the Yiga in a lot of people's minds because they can't recognize a story choice to ignore basic logic that was made in service of including a fan favorite character in a game where the selling point is you get to play as your favorite characters. Like, like no we see people who were alive during the Calamity and barring Purah's laser induced lolita bullshit they're all old as fuck, I'm sorry but Kohga was not in charge of the Yiga Clan pre-calamity, the ruthless Yiga Clan assassins who almost took out Zelda in that one cutscene are not the same Yiga Clan that we encounter in the actual botw gameplay they are a century removed from the source of their sociopolitical motivations

The Yiga Clan aren't vessels through which to critique the Hylian government, Zelda does that just fine, and I think while it's fun to explore what that would've looked like it distracts from what they actually are.

The Yiga Clan are a death cult that got what they wanted, and I think that's way more interesting.

[smileymoth]

Let me preface that I'm not well spoken on political topics. But what I do find odd is people struggling to boycott food products. Obviously, it isn't as easy as "oh lets boycott all of these" because there are Way Too Many companies that fund Russia/Israel because "ouhch but our business partner 🥺." Your business partner has blood on their hands. Anyway. Not the point rn.

However when it comes to organized boycotts or being aware of brands that support genocide. I fail to understand why it's so difficult for people to just not buy those goods.

From what I'm aware, Milka, Oreo, Ben&Jerrys, Coca Cola group, Macdonalds, Starbucks all support oppressors. My hand does not reach for them at the store. I absolutely love Milka btw but knowing that they fund Russia makes me feel ill. Obvs with big name brands like Nestle and Coca Cola its really difficult because they own like half the products on the market. I bought Fanta the other day forgetting that CC owns it lol. But you get my point, right.

We don't have Starbucks so I can't speak on that but it can't be the only coffee shop nearby if you really need that overprized big drink. Theres 5 million other burger joints you could go to. Milka isn't the only chocolate brand. Coca Cola isn't the only soda brand. Ben&Jerrys is overpriced, get some cheaper ice cream.

What's a bit more tricky imo is big internet/tech companies. Boycotting Google??? Virtually impossible as every goddamn thing is owned by that thing. Youtube, Drive, the search engine (do not tell me about duckduckgo it sucks), everything. Obviously there are alternatives but it's so much more difficult to escape Google than it is to avoid McDonalds.

Adobe??? I'm forced to sell my soul for them because of school and while it is easy to pirate, with fonts it's a big gamble of legalities and in work spaces creative cloud is shared along. It is easy to boycott it but if you have to work in the industry you are. Kind of doomed.

Apple, Samsung, HP. Again, I dont know the details for HP but with Samsung and Apple i think they condemed Russia but continue to sell there. I don't know if other tech companies like Lenovo or... i dont know more... it's just difficult with those. Which is why organized boycotting exists.

But for goods like food and drinks I don't see a reason why it would be so difficult to just... not consume them

My thoughts on boycotting that plaque me daily 👍

[oswednesday]

that library posts reminded me of a while back, idk if you saw it but there was a popular post making rounds where someone was lamenting the fact that shopping malls, as public spaces, are dying in favor if ubiquitous online shopping and there was this reactionary commentary about how malls are just capitalistic crap there to sell you stuff they arent any better than amazon why don't you visit the library instead, and it's like I get the sentiment of like yeah it's a place to sell you stuff but once again I can tell you don't Go Places because malls are in fact, "free" public spaces in the sense that you DON'T actually NEED to spend money to enter, use the restrooms, congregate and socialize, especially ones with food courts, one of the few places teenagers can kinda freely hang out too and not get booted out for "loitering" (ymmv depending on the mall ofc, shrug), people also go there like deliberately to do around for exercise and stuff, and like comparing malls to libraries is apples to oranges like these aren't the same thing serving the same purpose, just because something is there to sell things doesn't make the entire entity a waste of space, idk?

i wish people got more into like understanding the monetary drive of a lot of libraries in our present day too and like how libraries treat loitering tm and stuff like that, like libraries can be a life line for unhoused people but anyone who is or was in that position can tell how it was a life line like wrangled out of the hands of the staff there, and like yeah its not like malls were/are any better for that but its like these two separate problems like exactly no one can just occupy their space and chill anywhere thats the point!!! like libraries where you cant bring food (you can do this but you know theyre like Rules and stuff to ignore), be loud, have to have forms of id and often money to use services? like, its just isnt a proper third space, its a civil academic space with rules and targeted services

i know its kind of the quintessential idealized third space in discussion but it isnt the 1980s anymore (the height of malls where this comparison exists in flesh and blood like go to the mall why not try a third space) but like what you've said malls are mostly husks now except for like world famous ones where people go to jog or rent out spaces to have a dentist office or film an urbex building, theyre over policed like everywhere, even more so than ever tbh of course, back to your point its a weird kind of like urban pastoral thing people do, like in the present day these things are different than they were and things arnt like, as clear cut tv perfect, theres a reason theres like queer libraries and anarchist libraries and its okay not to have any deeper understanding than libraries are dope but like asdfghj

like hey? a lot of libraries have you grovel to the librarian for keys for the bathroom but you can piss anywhere in the carcass of a mall i think people from big touristy places dont really understand hfhgf

[wittynameme]

how do I put this

I want to preface this with

NOt every Jewish person is a Zionist. You can be antizionist and hate antisemitism

A lot of horrible people have always used free Palestine as a dogwistle. They never liked either Jews or Palestinians

I do not like the violence, of course I don't

I dont know why I'm sitting here on my bed texting on Tumblr what MY opinion is on this war. Like I know anything or have any authority on the matter.

I am a 21 year old American. I live all the way across the sea on another continent where a country full of colonist war-profiteers pump out tons of pro-isreal propaganda.

Case in point the famous"we would need to make an Israel" speech.

I can only impart what I know from my experiences.

I've been in BLM protests and seen with my own eyes how horrible the police treat the protesters and how the news twists it in their favor, depicting them of being bloodthirsty violent rioters and when they can't in any way rationalize that they at least say there was "wrong on both sides".

I've researched propaganda, particularly blood lible in order to understand how people condemned Jewish people and perpetuated theofacist nationalism.

I've seen the ridiculous double standard we have for violence. Why do we only cry "violence isn't the answer" when someone who doesn't benefit the profit of the state does it but in any other case they were acting alone or defending themselves or "the cycle of violence is complicated and theirs nothing we can do about it"?

When Russia invaded Ukraine , claiming it was there territory actually and that they were freeing it from terrorism, we were record breaking levels of fast to call Putin out on his bullshit. In an unpresidented display of across the table unanimity we agreed to fight Russia. We also still viewed the Russians as victims and not as a monolith.

We associated it with the other times we've faught in Europe. WW1 and WW2 , times we have glorified to high hell and back as the war the USA taught valiantly in single handedly and definitely did nothing wrong. It was the last time we faught a unanimously "good" war. The Nazis were evil and we killed them...we definitely didn't join the war late. Inspire gas chambers and sell them tanks...and uh...what we did to Asia....well uh...we had too, war is messy and we picked the greater good. Now shut up before I send you to the principal and finish up that 5 page report on WHY we did the right thing when we dropped that bomb... And that other bomb.

When Israel invaded Palestine , claiming it was their territory actually and they were freeing it from terrorism ...we sided with them and stood by for 75 years as they became that theofacist ethnonation . They committed a genocide, they nearly erraticated the Palestinians. How many babies do you think died in their holy war?

Then word gets out that some of them killed babies in retaliation. I'm yet to see any evidence of this but it instantly got the whole UA up in arms . They viewed the entire rebellion as the same. All of our anti propaganda training just whent out the window in a second. Where's the "they were acting alone" or the "liberation is messy" or the "wrong on both sides "?

No. I don't condone war. There is no such thing as good war. It's always fucked.

But I find it insanely hypocritical, entitled and audacious to even use the word "condone".

This is an excellent example of people getting angry only when people fight back.

It would be remice of me to tell these people "yes I know they started it, but don't you dare try to end it, just sit there and take it because violence is wrong even when other people do it".

Who the hell am I to say anything?

At least I'm philosopically consistent. Are you? How do you neutralize the contradictions the government makes about violence?

[itsjustalark]

@seeingteacupsindragons

" I hope you don't mind me breaking that ask up into smaller chunks to respond to instead of actually answering the ask in my inbox. Sometimes people send me really long things, and then I know having it on my blog and then having to read my probably accordingly long answer is not going to happen, and I just. Feel bad about it."

Mind? Hell no. I'm honoured that you've decided to give me the time of the day at all. It is completely fine with me and thank you for letting me konw. Next time ill make sure to post on my blog and just tag you.

"Tiadane's not actually a boy; this is made clear relatively early on, and he's not picky about pronouns because his home doesn't have a good concept of things like "gender" and "lots of gendered pronouns." I tend to alternate what I use for him when not in the book, and even in the book he shrugs off a couple "she's." And there's actually not any romance in that one; Tiadane and my deuteragonist's relationship is platonically weird in that one. I don't always like writing romance, but I usually have a deuteragonist running around because I just like paired character dynamics a lot."

I'm really sorry for just asssuming Tiadane to be a guy. On the other hand I love when fantasy worlds explore cultures that dont have the same understanding of gender as us. I feel it isnt done enough and where it is atempted its never done with the enough care.

Also when I said 'relationships' I didn't mean them as explicit romantic ones. I'm a big fan of interesting dynamics and I dont believe they always have to be romantic to get me interested. There are so many ways humans interact with one another. That is whats most facinating to me.

"I'm actually not super great at worldbuilding, either. I tend to do it as little as possible and only when I need to; a lot of my current revisions are fleshing the worldbuilding out. And now that I'm focusing on, a lot of the results are good, but it's often just sort of not really the most fun focus for me. "

I'm also not an intricate world builder and cant even imagine going to the flora and fauna level of detail. My points of interest in world building is societities. How they function different from our and how they effect the people living in it accordingly. I build my worlds around my characters becaude i also feel that a fleshed out world only gives more depth to the characters.

Glad to know your world building is going well. I cant even imagine the revisions i have to make one i finish first draft as ive completely given up ingraining the magic system as part of the characters perspective and how it effects their thing cause it was gettjng to complicated. So i will now have to add all of that stuff later on.

"What I shared was actually the query; queries and synopses are different in the publishing word. Basically, my query is supposed to sell people on making it sound interesting, so I'm glad it's working for those functions for now. It still needs to be edited some more later. "

Oh I didnt know that. Still new to all the publishing jargon but always happy to learn more.

"Tiadane's book originally came from playing too much Smash Bros and staring at Pit for too many hours in a row. And then I just typed some random shit to get some words out when I was stuck revising something and not having fun, and started writing this introduction to his world."

I love how we writers get ideas from the most rediculous of senarios.

"I am a very character-focused writer and have had recurring problems with getting a plot to attach correctly over the years. I think Tiadane's book is the first time I didn't have (too) many issues with one by the time I sent to to a CP, and I'm still ripping a lot out to replace it with something better. "

I also write character focused works. Characters are why i read books. I dont reallyenjoy plot heavy books. Every aspect of plot, fleshing out the world or magic i enjoy because it makes tge characters feel more real and elps highlights the themes if the book.

"Each of my fantasy worlds (I also write sci-fi sometimes, and some stuff just...set in our world) has its own magic system. I don't know how writers just have The One for tons of stories. Large universes to play in can be fun, but so is making up new stuff every time."

Also, would you mind telling me about your magic systems? I love that stumm. It facinates me how maging systems ingrain themselves into a story. When i was first materializing my story it was set in a normal world but my mund was like: no no no this story need a magic system and an exploration of the chosen one narrative even though back then it didnt have anything to do with the main plot. But thats me cause i love over complicating thing for myself.

[buffa-z]

ep 7

keiwas last video diary i think

ACE WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE GET DOWN OFF THAT SCAFFOLDING RIGHT NOW!!!!

ok but this is top 5 outfits of his

OH his first flash back and his adopted catchphrase! yay!

awww the letter from keiwas childhood

ninja foreshadowing lol

NEON IS STILL STREAMING??? but this is her first techwear outfit its so cute the outfit is so cute but STOP STREAMING YOUR LOCATION virtual background technology exists and you have to use it

oh good cant forget our man in a dress jokes. great. needed that. uh huh. awesome

neon running into the dgp with the song still playing from her phone lol

aw tsumuri was on lunch break

oooh keiwa getting good with the crossbow! stealth kills!

remember the knight jamato when it was insane

ITS EATING PEOPLE

"it has one of the highest body counts in the dgp but it also has a glaring weakspot: this monster energy can"

it did a fortnite dance on them??? owned??? epic gamer???

michinaga bandaging himself up bc he would never let anyone else touch him are you kidding? but that means he gets the first aid kit last. a little bit of symbolism for the table?

ACE HISTORY FACT COUNTER: 5! there was a DGP that ended with all the riders wiped out by the knight jamato

girori backs this up and does not seem surprised that ace knows this. im guessing in a previous game the story was told but that was before the other three showed up, so they think ace just magically knows that.

ace: well it happened before i was a player

keiwa: you seem to know a lot about the dgp ace. how long have you been playing?

ace: since the dawn of the common era

keiwa: i was being serious

ace: if you wont believe me then dont ask

^ i know this is supposed to be Major Old Clues, like really big obvious ones, but cmon man of course nobody believes you. dont get defensive about that. you literally lie constantly why would they believe you. even if it was true which it isnt

michinaga: wait a second wtf are you even wishing for? you already won every game you entered? what the fuck else could you want?

ace: well its not any of your guys wishes

(michinaga getting mad and then remembering he did tell geats about his wish)

girori is suspicious of ace and let me theorize: he knows upper management wants eyes on ace at all times, but wont say why. ace has won at least four games in a row already, which is bad for selling a game like the dgp. he also knows ace's wish this game is the family thing, which is really weird and not understandable. this is where girori decides to try to kill ace

michinaga picking a fight w keiwa over the boost buckle. which is mean but not wrong, buffa could probably get a full win with boost zombie. esp bc if keiwa gave him the boost buckle she wouldnt have gotten hurt and ace wouldnt get the ninja buckle.

aww ace and neon going to lunch together at the soba shop

ace trying his best to help neon navigate the world but his true nature is so deadpan he seems like an asshole, except that neons autism counters his exactly and she doesnt care that hes not emoting

neon taking the ethical approach of like. is it ok to care about my wish when people are going to die? (note that she appears to be raised christian)

ace, who has been rewarded every round: its our compensation for fighting

neon, who has never won: ok....

ace, remembering shes not an enemy: but fighting no matter what is awesome too

neon: [ohhh so hes crazy but he likes me]

ace continuing to eat while sara fawns over him and neon lol

ace: [seething with jealousy] you guys are close

sara: yeah well our parents died when we were kids so

ace: [why did i fucking have to say something] mustve been rough [shoving food in his mouth to avoid talking]

neon/sara actually does make a lot of sense at this point and it is cute. but im staying a neosae warrior. but more than that its awesome for a woman to have more than one potential female love interest. first feminist ship wars?

neon vocalizing being jealous of having a good sibling relationship and it immediately cuts to ace hovering back from the group watching them like hes not allowed to touch

ace suddenly to keiwa: i understand wanting world peace now

literally he eats dinner with friends one time and remembers the meaning of being alive

oh keiwa dont ask about his family

"i forgot" YOU FORGOT?!??!!?

immediately changes subject

sara calling it their last supper jeez

knight is now 30 meters tall

i love how they all spawn in on top of the park ride pieces

everyone being like keiwa you can do it cant you? you can fight the big bad and win?

she does do really good with the bike tho

FUCK what a hit. shes still up and running tho like she Is a kamen rider

geats is gonna save her bc he wants that buckle but in the end jts for her so yknow. alls well that will end well maybe

THE FOX HAND FUCK YOU MAN

"do you really enjoy the game that much? even when the world is in danger?"

yeah. he does. bc its always gone well for him.

neon looking conflicted bc she wants to like ace but he keeps doing this shit

ninja debut!

foreshadowing the multitude of geats

geats is mad as fuck that it caught the can

michinaga: how did you know there was a ninja buckle?

geats: [hiding his chat correspondence with ziin] i played this game far longer than any of you (we call this the joe biden defense where im from)

ace is genuinely not grasping why the other two are upset bc he knows that as long as they survive they get to come back. but crucially THEY DONT KNOW THAT

lets all look at each other while some saloon piano plays yayyy

[aemiron-main]

also ok this is specifically directed at American Media not the American People and is also directed at europe as a general sentiment but the specific example i have in mind is from the states- but it really does frustrate me sometimes to see news sources (especially/specifically left-leaning ones) in the states/from outside of canada treat canada & canadian politics as if it’s one big theme park & one big joke & as if there’s not actual people living here.

Like, the issue isn’t them making jokes about canadian politics- that’s not an issue at all! The issue is that because they either a.) don’t understand the very basics of canadian politics or b.) don’t take it seriously in any capacity, they end up making the “wrong” sort of jokes in the sense that it’s the type of jokes they wouldn’t make about their own american politicians.

For example, a left-leaning american news source *will* make jokes about trump- as they should.

But what they tend not to do is make jokes about trump that end up being very blatantly pro-trump & reinforcing his narrative & reinforcing exactly what he wants his supporters to believe about him.

Which is what The Daily Show did with Pierre Poilievre.

They made jokes involving him that don’t make him the butt of the joke, and instead, that reinforce exactly what he wants his supporters to believe- that he’s some sort of strong protector of Canada & that Trudeau resigned because he didn’t want to face Poilievre in the next federal election.

Which that ^ is indistinguishable from straight-up rightwing propaganda at this point. It’s the equivalent of saying that Trump is a strong protector of America & that he’s just trying to make America great again etc etc.

Like, if I am being extremely generous they maybe very mildly vaguely alluded to making him the butt of the joke by hinting at the idea that he’s unhinged/crazy (and i still dont think they meant to do it in a negative way, and if they did, rhey failed)- but they don’t understand that that’s part of what he wants people to believe, that he’s just some super passionate and vaguely crazy guy who’s out to do what’s best for Canada instead of the reality of him being smart enough to fuck over our country in insane ways, much like how people trying to talk about how “crazy,” Trump is just ended up with his supporters supporting him even more & Trump leaning into that & it making him seem even more “real/down to earth” to his voters.

Like idk it’s a small thing but it’s just frustrating to see it happen, especially when it’s like. I’d expect it from outright right-wing american news sources, but not from democrat-leaning ones like The Daily Show (not that i have a particularly high opinion of or interest in the daily show- just that I’m used to this sort of bullshit from someone like fox news/the bar is in hell) , and especially when so many Canadians and Canadian news sources are working their asses off to show the world that Pierre is going to do the opposite of “defend,” Canada and instead that he’s a worthless, racist, bigoted sell-out who, if elected, is going to be a nightmarish combination of Harper and Trump.

Again, it’s literally like the equivalent of a left-leaning news source being like “China thinks they can take the USA? Well, Donald Trump has something to say about that! Trump’s a pretty intimidating guy! What a power move from Trump! (the ‘power move’ being dodging important questions) That’s why Biden dropped out of the race- he was too scared to face Trump!”

And also talking about how Trump is “dominating,” people. All of which is said in a way that’s pro-Trump/very obviously not sarcastic.

It’s just like. Begging them to understand even the most basic of basic aspects of Canadian politicians before opening their mouths about it & influencing our elections & acting like Canada is this fake theme park of a country & like there’s going to be zero consequences for propping up someone like Pierre.

Like, they don’t seem to understand that when left-leaning Canadians & left-leaning Canadian media outlets make fun of Trudeau, they’re doing so in the context of having made fun of Poilievre 100 times more and 100 times worse- instead of making fun of Trudeau and then propping up Poilievre.

Like, for every This Hour Has 22 Minutes sketch about Trudeau, there’s a longer and 10x more mocking one about Poilievre. And when a Canadian source like This Hour Has 22 Minutes makes fun of Trump, it’s always done in a way that reinforces that Trump is an egotistical moron, instead of reinforcing Trump’s beliefs/his supporter’s beliefs about him.

It’s like the difference between making fun of Biden vs making fun of Biden and then also going “FUCK YEAH TRUMP DOMINATED BIDEN what a power move from trump, China will never get america from trump” unironically.

And one might even begin to believe that some American news sources are doing this intentionally because a Pierre win would be better for the states (even though it would be devastating for Canada) because Pierre is prepared to sell out Canada & all of its resources to Trump.

[homonculos]

posting this here bc my bf follows me on goodreads and i dont want to hurt his feelings bc he liked this book.

The book is Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá.

tldr: this book is fun to read, but I think it weirdly ignores a lot of ways that sexual habits are a product of a culture & dont exist in a vacuum. also spends way too much time talking about bonobos and not other human species, like H. erectus, H. neandertalensis, etc.

Reading this book in 2024, when polyamory has become more prevalent in pop culture, adds some scientific backing to conversations about non-monogamous lifestyles that is a refreshing break from the way I often hear people talk about the practice.

I liked it, insofar as I found the writing entertaining and the subject matter interesting (sex sells), but I agree with a lot of other reviewers that are critical of the authors' cavalier, at times conspiratorial tone and flimsy analysis of established titans of evolutionary biology.

To start, I think there's some major structural editing oversights in this book that would have drastically improved its arguments. For example, the first third or so is dedicated to bridging a mental connection between evolutionary concepts that really could be condensed into one or two chapters. As other reviewers have pointed out, many evolutionary theories cited in this book are presented with a critical read at the outset, which clouds their meaning; it follows that the authors' response is cloudy too, though that's a disservice to the "enlightening" use of constant innuendo. I found myself progressing through chapters without a clear understanding what the authors had argued, despite feeling like I read the same sentence re-worded over and over again.

Also, sex culture in modern foraging societies is almost always presented completely without context about where and how the foragers live, why this custom came to be, and how it fits into their society's wider belief system, which feels rather tokenizing. A harsher read could argue that the authors are using certain situations from these societies for shock value. I recalled that the authors asked readers to forgo our cultural hang-ups at the beginning of the book, so I did try to look beyond my initial reactions to some examples, but it eventually became clear that they were not really interested in talking about these societies outside of the ways they demonstrated non-monogamy. Maybe I'm looking for a different book with this, but I honestly think that a chapter or two talking about how foraging societies are characterized, how and why cultures transition to agriculture or stay nomadic, and why non-monogamy thrives in these cultures would strengthen the authors' points. Humans are incredibly diverse, and blanket statements don't really make good science — but well-defined, specific evidence does, and this book seems to actively avoid that.

I'm not mad I read it; I think it's clear that the authors really only had one thing to say — monogamy is boring because we evolved to have a lot of sex with different people — and they did a good job of making a big splash with it. They had a lot of fun with this concept and it's a really digestible way of presenting a counter-cultural idea. I did love how near the end, the authors just straight up said "We don't really have any advice." Just here to stir the pot — obsessed with that LOL!

Some topics I found glaringly absent from this book were how consent comes into play in sexually egalitarian societies, dynamics in same-sex relationships, what is considered "sex" and how that definition changes by culture, and how sex and patriarchy become linked to power in modern monogamous Western culture. Not that the book takes a particular bent toward sexism, but it is sort of hard to ignore that there's a subtle but constant refrain of "women used to put out more! we used to not care about paternity and accountability to our sexual partners — it's natural! that's what men we all need — more sex! to cure their our social ills!"

Not factually wrong, but it just feels kind of disingenuous to gloss over hundreds of years of entrenched sexual oppression and violence against women at the hands of men and expect readers to react to EXCLUSIVELY this historical scenario. Again, I know these authors are not "offering solutions," but you can't just say "well we all USED to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, you know!" and claim you're just making an innocent observation.

[toxictac]

Got some of that "ai translator vs localisor" drama on my twitter feed, here is my unsolited two cents

On one hand i think is the undenyable that there are bad localisacions be that small or big, some localisacions directly or undirectly can change the tone and information a scene displays in many ways While it can be to the benefit of making it easier for an outside audience of another country to understand or simply add on some fun extra characterisation, it more than not it can and sometimes does affect how that dialogue is percive This can mischaracterise or maybe create a seudo narrative the original work did not have

This is the biggest draw back and what i feel most people are upset about localisations, because localisations by nature modified in small or big ways how the text is conbaveyed it can alter the original intent of the game/story This is potencially even more so when things like politics or lingo enter to the mix (as someone who lives in latino america and watched cartoons, i can atest the last point) I am not saying that "those damn localisors made the games political", but it is undenyable for me there are too many examples to not say there isnt at the very least a passing intent, whenever you belive its good or bad goes more out to the person

That being said the ai translation is dumb, just for starter i am not a suporter of making people lossing jobs (shocking i know), nor people getting payed less because of ai (double shocking) A lot of the time ai supporters, gravitated to the idea of translators being "lazy" or "buyest" to an idology they spray on everything they touch, while i feel there is a point to it, the idea that a direct translation is better is kinda bafeling to me I mean for starters direct translations arent always possible, sometimes somthing either doesnt have an equivelent or it does but it has multiple ways to be said or added meaning (or both) There is a sence of the belive of "sanctity" to the idea of the "original intent" to this people, which leads to an almost elist way to look at the work, kinda ironicly regardless of the original intent or the autors intent Not to even say even tho they sell themselfs as almost apolitical they are (more likely than not) people with extreme politcal views that will be angry if an ip does something they dont like

Then looking at both groups it is quite clear why that both groups are both right and wrong in some aspects, and there is a deeper discousion about the works as is, the way that lenguage changes its meaning, to what extend we can change what was another autors works to fit more in what is consider "correct" and many more that are always promply shove aside for the sake of our daily dosis of politcal drama Personaly, i am a very beliver of enjoying the autors works as is, meaning that i always prefer a more closer to the original translator, however i am able to conside with changes for the sake of reading compreantion, some changes can be fun and make the reading expirience better, some feel out of place and detrimental Overall my biggest problem always come with online discousion and to consilidate what a story does, because you need to make it compreinsible but to add stuff that isnt on the text carelessly or even more to add contridictory stuff to "fix it" is bad in many cases However ai translation is bad because it takes away jobs, give you a mediocer version of a translation, does not have nuence about things like intent or context and is just kinda a shitty thing to propose In my humble opinion, translation has to be done carefully and with the direct intent to not change the overall idea of the translated story, in my view if this is not meet, you should be told you did a bad job, however to amke it so all trasnlations are bad because a select few are bad is dumb