#yes i know that i'm missing like two phrases yes i know the quality is wildly variable

[epaulando]

from @wisteriagoesvroom's amazing post.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Hold it, hold it- HOLD ON.

So SaiScribbles is bringing to light the fact that, on top of everything else alleged about her, Lily's most popular video has a lot of pieces ripped from two articles written by Jaimie Kingston (WuhWack, need link) and Riley H (Medium) complaining about SU's racial problems.

Other than being a bit on that 2016-2019"your fav thing is bad and you should feel bad"-spectrum of criticism that would later fuel our dumb anti v proship discourse we have today, I think the arguments made by Jaimie and Riley against SU are solid. Sai and her commenters are kind of otherwise treating the criticisms themselves like they're the problem and that they ought to be 'debunked'.

As I've stated a few times now, I'm a fan of Steven Universe and even I don't think they handled all the discussions of race and conflicts well. I like the Diamonds as villains and liked them being 'redeemed' -yes, SU truthers, I too have read Rebecca's explanation and how Steven doesn't really forgive the Diamonds. I know that's the intent, mine and other people's counter is that wasn't very well communicated or done particularly well, and yeah no matter how you spin it or put it in the context of fiction; the Diamonds were interspace war and overlords and the series and Steven himself made peace with them- Also, I thought the Garnet anti-racism psa was kind of in bad taste and talking-down to it's audience.

As far as complaints I'm not able to speak for because I'm white as fucc: if Sugalite's design, the human zoo plot, the way the crewniverse drew lips and people of color (AS people of color themselves) is uncomfortable or offensive to you- you're within your right to be offended about it and dislike Steven Universe on that basis. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Just because an LGBTQ or BIPOC person had a hand in making something does not mean it can't still be offensive: Velma, The Nutshack, Hazbin Hotel and Netflix's Good Times, though shows for adults, were written with/by/for bipoc folks-- that DOES NOT mean there aren't any problems with those series. I can personally think SU beats all those shows into the ground but that doesn't mean it can't be racist just cuz I don't want it to be.

I kinda feel like Sai is missing some of the point of the og articles, dunking on them for ever making these complaints and being upset, when the real focus should be on how Lily pulled an honest to god James Somerton.

What Lily did with Jaimie Kingston and Riley's is proof of her greatest flaw as a critic and activist: she uses (or 'steals') other people's criticisms to fuel her own hatred of something. Moreover, she phrases these criticisms made about the thing she hates as being an inherent moral failing on people who defend it and so her takes are the correct way to feel and think. That was not the point of either article, regardless of how I think they were written. These articles were written as a potential call-out at worst*, Lily's vid was a straight up attack on the Steven Universe fanbase as a whole.

Lily can try to say otherwise, but what she's really angry about is that Steven Universe wasn't written exactly like how she wanted and she's pissy because the fanbase was and is still really toxic. Both these reasons are valid enough to be all 'ick, I hate SU and I hate how god damn in love the fans are with every aspect of it'. You can fill up an entire video with just rants about the fanbase and the writing quality. If you don't know how/don't CARE TO articulate, add upon, link, or source another perspective that's not your own, DON'T TOUCH UPON THOSE TOPICS.

This is why I otherwise leave out the criticisms to be had against Star vs the Forces of Evil's diversity activism fails. I have 'thoughts' on it, as a white fan watching a show by a white creator about a white girl trying to be an ally, but my point in omitting them from this discussion is not to say these problems aren't there and worth talking about. I don't have faith in my own social awareness to talk about these issues I don't have a perspective on. I can talk of them, but not about them.

Even if Lily is native, which she could be (not what this post is about), she is not black. She sat here talking for black people using black people's words as if they were her own -> blocked these writers for stealing from her. And then she[Lily] went and made a couple dozen Nazi-references to the whole issue of genocide in the show -> when Jewish fans and listeners told Lily to maybe not do that (especially cuz Rebecca Sugar is Jewish), Lily dismissed, blasted or blocked them outright.

Lily only cares about social justice when she can use it to benefit herself and her own selfish ideas, feelings and wants.

Allies (of any kind, speaking for a group they aren't a part of) may be misinformed, apologetic, ignorant, rude or abrasive in how they go about their activism. There's no exact right way to do any of this. But, there is always a wrong way.

[sataara]

Window Shopping

Small holiday fic of Ingo and reader walking around the city together, it's short and just plain fluff! I wrote it on request of my good friend Snowy and inspired by this art from twitter!

You can read it on Ao3 too, hope you enjoy and happy holidays!

The warm cup of coffee you held, helped keeping the chill away. Not that you minded much, the cold being much more welcome than the searing heat of summer. As you sat on a bench, just outside the station, you hoped he didn't take too long to finish up for the day, while you held your own drink, his was resting next to you, on a cup holder, the rising steam gave you hope that the warmth would hold until he showed up.

With so many people transiting to and from the station, you didn't notice him until a shadow stopped in front of you.

“I hope you didn't have to wait here for too long, my dear.” You looked up at his warm expression, your own following along with the contagious mood.

“Not at all, love, I've only been here for twenty minutes or something. You're right on schedule as always.” Your smile grew just that bit more at using his own turn of phrase on him, Ingo rolled his eyes fondly.

“A train should always arrive at the station on time to not inconvenience any passengers. Or maybe I just missed you after these busy few days.” He picked up his drink, sitting down where it had been and letting you lean your head on his shoulder. His free arm snaked behind you to pull you closer, hand resting on your waist.

“I missed you too. How did work go?”

After Ingo finished telling you of his and Emmet’s latest battle against Nate and Rosa, you decided to walk, restless after sitting for such a long time in the cold, despite how comfortable you were against your partner.

As you walked, you decided to link an arm with Ingo, wanting to stay close even while moving.

“Do not try and lie to me, I know you're just trying to steal all my warmth.” Ingo said with a playful tone.

“Well, that's just a bonus.”

“I think it's the main goal.”

“How dare you insinuate I'm nothing more than an opportunist.” Your tone exaggerated, a hand falling to your chest dramatically.

“I would do no such thing. It's not an insinuation, it's a statement.”

You gasped with fake offense, making you both unable to contain the giggles bubbling up in your chests.

“Oh, look, Ingo! Isn't that model from the Orient Express?”

Your attention was taken by a store front, the lights shining just right on a few products for people to react just as you did. The decoration around the display also reminding you that Delibird Day was getting close, you already had an idea for Ingo’s present, but you wanted something nice for his brother too. After all, you became good friends since you started seeing Ingo frequently. Not that everyone would know that, since you showed your love by calling each other names.

“Yes, that is, but we have a better model at home, more faithful to the original and with better quality.” You loved hearing the pride in Ingo's voice.

You leaned closer to the glass using his arm as support, so you could get a better look, seeing the almost janky way the locomotive moved on the tracks and many other little flaws, that you only recognized thanks to the many times you were shown the twins’ beloved collection.

“I wanted to give Emmet something nice for Delibird day, I have no idea what, though.” You said with sincerity, eyes still on the objects in display, seeing a chess set with knight like pokemon inspired pieces, the pawniard pawns not very well made, much like the model train.

“Do you have any ideas?”

“I feel like everyone that doesn't know you two well just go for train themed presents, easier to get right. I wanted something different, I guess.” You right your posture and go back to walking, Ingo seamlessly moving with you.

The next store is a clothing one but nothing close to your or Ingo’s style, so you glance at it but keep walking.

“Hm, I think it's a nice gesture already, to not go for the obvious, but you need a starting point.”

“I know, I know. Emmet likes gaming too, so I gave his wishlist a look, but after nothing seemed to pop out I thought that maybe a physical present would be nicer.”

You went to take a sip of your drink but when nothing came out you noticed you'd finished while you were talking, your mind so focused on your conundrum that you didn't even realize you were taking sips every pause or so. Ingo brought you back to Earth by taking the empty cup from your hand and throwing it on the nearest trash can, seemingly having done so with his own just before.

“You're thinking plushie? That's always a nice gift.”

“For me, maybe, but all your plushies end up with either Galvantula or Haxorus, I want to give him a gift, not his pokemon.”

“Well, that may be true but at least it means I don't have to share my bed with ten million squishy creatures.”

“I don't understand the issue, they are cuddly and soft!”

“I know that perfectly well when I wake up holding a huge fake dratini, instead of my beloved partner.”

“Don't be a baby, anyone would be lucky to wake up with Catarina in their arms.”

Ingo huffs in amusement, the smile on your face betraying your own statements of annoyance.

“But back to the topic, maybe something pratical then?” Ingo said as you stopped again, this time in front of a bakery, eyes skimming the baked goods with interest.

“What, you want me to give him socks? Extra ten identical dress shirts like the ones you guys use to work?”

“Sure, give him those fuzzy joltik socks we saw the other day.”

“I can give the socks plus something else. Would be a shame compared to yours.”

“Oh?” Interest clear in Ingo's tone. “And what would that be?”

“It's a surprise, I'm not telling you.” You gave him a conspiring smile.

“Hmph, now you just made me more curious.”

You laughed and said nothing as you gave up on the bakery, not feeling particularly hungry. The next store had tacky shirts and mugs on display, one of them making you snort as you read “Of course I love double battles, I'm bisexual”. You pointed it out to Ingo who took a second looking it over before barking out a laugh, getting some eyes on you for a few seconds before people quickly moved on with their business.

Something else caught your attention, a t-shirt with Pier’s logo hung next to others of similarly known artists.

“Hey Ingo, does Emmet have any Piers merch?” You squeezed his arm to make sure he was listening, a plan already forming in your mind.

“He has a simple t-shirt and an autographed poster, but I think that's it.” It sounded like Ingo was following your train of thought.

“What if I called Piers to meet up here after Delibird day? And maybe sending a signed official tour shirt too, if he still has one somewhere?”

“Sometimes I forget that you have some weird connections.” Your eyes met, you recognized the bewilderment in his face.

“Crazy shit always happens to me. And we send each other cute pokemon videos every now and then, his zigzagoons are adorable.”

Ingo shook his head, amused. He looked back at the bakery and pulled you along, but instead of walking inside, he stopped by the wall just at the end of the shop’s window, resting his back against it and pulling you in an embrace, arms around your neck. You snuggled closer as if it was second nature, your own arms around his waist, letting your head fall on his chest.

“I thought you wanted to get a few pastries.”

“I do… But it can wait a few moments, can't it? I… Missed you more than I can put into words, I missed your arms around me, your touch, your voice close instead of over a speaker.” He let out a sigh, resting his cheek on the top of your head. “You were not here, we could talk but not actually see each other, something was missing in the apartment, your music while you moved around the kitchen, your excited talks about the things you love…” He took another deep breath and brought you just a little bit closer. “I don't mean to be sappy, I'm sorry.”

“Never apologize for this.” Your voice was muffled by his shirt, you had to hide your face while he talked, embarrassed by how much those sweet words affected you. “You are extremely sweet and that's one of the many reasons why I love you so much. Don't apologize.”

Ingo's grumbling stomach interrupted the sweet moment, making you both chuckle.

“You did just come back from work, we should go inside and get something to eat.”

“I know but this is so nice, can't we stay here just a little bit longer?.”

“I do not want you passing out on me.” You pulled a bit back just to stare him down and poke at his chest in accusation.

“Dragons, why can't you just let me starve so I can hug you for a little bit longer?” He said dramatically, moving one of his arms to rest a hand on your chin, thumb caressing you softly.

You leaned into it with a laugh, meeting his eyes and resting your own hand over his.

“You're lucky that I love you.”

“I am.”

Your comment was meant to be playful but Ingo's reply made you soft. You moved closer and he did the same, lips meeting sweetly in the middle. For a few more moments you lost yourselves to the kiss, to the feeling of being close, to the warmth shared. Although it didn't last long, his stomach once again reminding you that he had not eaten in a while. You separated, smiling and giggling at each other. Your arm found his and once again you walked close, this time entering the shop while joking and poking fun at each other, your smile was a constant for the rest of the night.

[hyperpotamianarch]

Why is Hannukah eight days if the oil sufficed for one day? Day 7.

Today, I've had a shift in schedule. It has surprisingly little effect on the time I write this, but it heavily affects my resources, which is a problem. You see, I usually wrote this after Shacharit, when I stay in the synagogue to study a little. The particular synagogue I daven at has a good inventory of Halachic books, which is an overall upside. The two exceptions were Friday and Saturday - on one I was in a different synagogue, and when writing the supplement for Shabbat I was at home. Home has the fascinating upside of having my computer at hand, on which I have access to one of the best resources for Jewish books: Otzar HaChochmah.

The change in schedule, however, means that I won't have access to books outside of Sefaria and Hebrewbooks for the time being. I would apologise for the break in format, but the format was never well-built and barely anyone seemed to read those posts so far. Can't wait for when hate free Jumblr will get to this post and it'll suddenly have a couple more notes complaining on the descending quality! I mean, at least yesterday I wasn't talking about myself.

The Me'iri disappointed me, to be honest. And yes, we're back on topic now. The Me'iri, it appears, thought of a couple of answers - all of which were already mentioned. Rabbi Mena'hem HaMe'iri, the Provençal Rishon whose books were only found during the last century or so, has nearly nothing new to say. Sure, he phrases the idea of "celebrating the victory" as "celebrating the Ge'ulah [salvation]", but that's still basically the same idea. He also mentions the miracle of finding the oil cruse, and disputes the "dividing the oil to 8 parts" idea. His disputation is a little new - he says the problem is trusting a miracle for the oil to stay alight - but that doesn't give us a new answer.

Due to the frustrating lack of resources I have, though, I'm going touse my backup card: the second book of Macabees, originally written in Greek not too long after the Hasmonean revolt. In it, in the first chapter, verse 22, it tells the Jews of Egypt to celebrate the rededication of the Temple eight days like the days of Sukkot.

Now, this may not be a direct answer to our question. It could be their way of teling them "you know how Sukkot has eight days? So, like that". Later verses in the book might indicate otherwise, though. Why might there be a connection between Hannukah and Sukkot? Well, I can honestly write a lot about that. Both have a connection to the dedication of the Temple, for one. You could assume that it also has to do with how the latest pilgrimage festival that was missed due to the war was Sukkot. I suppose if you'll ask Maharal of Prague he'll also tell you something about the significance of the number 8 in miracles as a number representing something beyond nature.

But, sadly, that would be it for today. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have a better, more interesting answer.

[alicepao13]

A lot of my thoughts about the second episode can be summed up in one phrase:

Why the hell wasn't that the first episode???

But I'll try to go a bit more in depth than that.

I'm sure we've had episodes with more action but this was a dynamic episode. Yeah, Charlie and Rex spent a lot of time being just the two of them again, yadda yadda. I can't keep talking about that after every single episode. In fact, since it's kinda the premise of the show, they could very well turn and call me stupid for assuming it would be centered on the rest of the characters as well. But I should also judge what was in the episode, not only what was missing.

Charlie character backstory in season 6? Okay, I'll take it. Daddy issues isn't something revolutionary (then again, you can't do anything remotely revolutionary in a cop show, much less a cop show that's comes from a previous show) but it's something. It's a character moment. Hopefully, it wasn't just that and we'll see Charlie's father.

The action scenes were nicely shot and very dynamically and made you feel like you were in the middle of the action. Yeah, they used a few too many dutch angles at times (they're not supposed to be used so liberally) but I can forgive that.

I don't have much of an issue with the plot as plot. The script was funny at times, some scenes were heartwarming, it was all pro-military bullshit of course, but it's a cop show and Charlie is a navy brat. I've seen 1,500 episodes of NCIS, I can cope. Even when the military-ish music started playing when Charlie was talking to the female perp (forgot her name and also don't have a better name for the genre of music). Props for them hinting that most vets fall through the cracks after they serve while they need help (this episode also aired 2-3 days after World Mental Health Day, and they did discuss a bit, or well, slightly brushed, the fact that soldiers come back after combat, often traumatized, to a world vastly different than how the military works, and they have trouble adjusting to the real world).

Sarah needing time off to buff up a resume that she makes clear she doesn't need? Do not want. Unless it's setting up some future storyline but it better not be her breakup with Charlie. I'll be honest, I'm on the fence about the lack of Charah. The way this show is being written, it could very well be nothing, so I'm not getting that worked up about it. But as a shipper I'd obviously have liked to have seen scenes with them by now. Especially considering how S5 started. I consider seasons 4 and 5 pretty much equal in quality, for different reasons (season 5 being a constant flat tone in terms of angst and stakes only to show "signs of life" in the end got some negative points for me), but season 6 is not starting off great for a variety of reasons which I will not list here, and I also reserve the right to watch a few more episodes to understand what the heck the new showrunner is doing (Names! I want names! I want to know who I'll be cursing this season. Why don't all shows just put a showrunner credit for fuck's sake?)

Things like getting a bunch of motorbikes, only to make a half assed scene, which wasn't bad but didn't offer much either, in which you also can't make your protagonist do the chase and subsequent stunts (unless you hate him), I don't understand. And let's not forget your other protagonist is a dog. And said dog in another scene is indicating that Charlie needs to be getting back on his own bike? Why would Rex care about that? Is he going to ride with Charlie?

Anyway, while this episode wasn't spectacular, it was on par with a lot of typical crime show episodes. Which is where I put the quality of the Hudson and Rex show overall. Yes, I do like the show and I do pay more attention to it than any other crime show I currently watch (never mind the strikes, I'm talking the last two years at least), but that doesn't mean I consider it revolutionary television. An actual 7/10 episode would be considered a good day for this show, in my opinion. If anyone feels differently, I'd love to talk about it with people who have watched at least a few more crime shows. Because if you don't have something else to compare it to, then you can't compare it to anything.

[raevenlywrites]

Ramble incoming

I know I'm not the only one who looks back on their youth and sees the hypocrisy. But now with some distance I can see that all those "only here for an MRS degree" chickies, we were not so different you and I. On a surface level and even a motivational level yeah, we had wildly different goals. But I could not put an ounce of focus on classes my first freshman year (yes I had two) bc 100% of my attention to was on my love life.

I was just thinking today how different that year might have been if smart phones had come along just a hair sooner. I missed classes specifically bc I felt so isolated from my friends that I prioritized staying at home on the laptop and chatting with them over AIM or Yahoo if they were around. I don't know if I would have paid any attention in class if I'd had messengers I could take on the fucking bus with me (phone plans still charged by the text back then), but at least I would have been in attendance.

But like, more than that, I knew on some level I was just going to school bc that's what you did. I had no interest or motivation in my gen eds bc I didn't see any path between taking this class and making enough money to live. The economy was already starting to seriously crash.

What I could see was how important figuring who my Person was would be. Whatever else time was gonna bring, I Needed the right person or persons by my side to make it through it. Not bc marriage was also just a thing you did, but bc I'd spent way too much time alone in my own head and I knew I needed an outside force to help balance the bullshit that is me

(in fact, one of my potential Persons breaking up with me included the phrase "you don't want to be in love you just want someone to help you with the burden of being you". Like yeah, I do. I want to help you with the burden of being you too, asshole, that's part of what love is)

I never have a tidy way to close these kinds of thoughts out (who does?) but I guess if I have a point it's that sometimes Queer is a verb. I queered the normative "went to college to find a husband" narrative even though on the surface it looked the same. And not just bc I wound up in same sex marriage (in fact we didn't even get married until we'd been together for over a decade) but bc the whole process was simply not the same. I wasn't checking off boxes, I wasn't looking for someone to complete me. I was putting my effort into the one area I felt could make a difference in my quality of life and wellbeing. School was the normative backdrop to a very queer metamorphosis going on inside me. On some level I knew I was arming myself with the people who would help support me on furthering my journey.

Without the support of my polyamorous triad, I wouldn't have had the strength and foundation and support to choose something other than the path that had been laid out before me. Without my mentor in kink, I wouldn't have developed the internal fortitude to be my own master. Without the unconditional love of my wife, I wouldn't have had the courage to explore my own gender and figure out how to shift the pieces around so I wasn't so miserable in my own skin. The people in my life have been so much more important to me than whatever education I missed out on by skipping class to hang out in AIM.

Could I be wildly successful and wealthy by now by that American Dream Bootstraps story by now if I buckled down and studied hard? Maybe, but most likely not. That dream is a lie and almost no one is actually a "self made man" - they all get help from networking. Well guess what? I was doing my own networking at the time, and Im rich in things money can't fucking buy.

Still wish I didn't have all that stupid student debt tho :/

[theimaginatrix27]

A blind person talks about Audiobooks for a minute

I grew up on story tapes.

Yes, that's where this essay is going to start. When I was a small child, story tapes were my jam. I loved getting new ones, but I listened to the ones I already had whenever I felt like it. There was a collection of fairy tale tapes my Grandma had, that eventually got given to my dad so I could access them more easily, that I never got tired of listening to.

And this was in part because they were well-produced, and the readers put their all into it, which made them enjoyable.

When I first joined Vision Australia's Library, I got a mixed bag of professionally made audiobooks the library had acquired for its collection, some very good volunteer narrators, and some less good ones.

Then they switched to DAISY, a fancy MP3 format with extra bits of code so you could, theoretically, page through the book and move by phrase as well as by chapter. They were not always formatted well, but that's not what I'm here to discuss.

It was about this time that I started getting books narrated by people who would either sound disinterested when reading (never good ever) or not do the story they were reading justice with their narration because their voices simply weren't that flexible.

One of these series was Sevenwaters. You probably have heard me natter on about how much I love Sevenwaters, and I absolutely do! But the narrator I first heard these books read to me by was ... she put more emotion into her reading than some others, but she was not well-suited to this series. She couldn't, and didn't, do an Irish accent for the Irish characters, she pronounced all the Gaelic names wrong except the ones that were blindingly obvious like Finbar or Conor, all her characters sounded so similar you really had to be paying attention to keep track. She did somewhat better with the fifth Obernewtyn book, but she didn't get the last two (maybe people complained, maybe nobody wanted to read Obernewtyn's last two books because of their length, I don't know). I'll tell you this much about those two books, the narration done by the people who read them was so dispassionate that I was bored. By Obernewtyn. I should not have been fucking bored by Obernewtyn.

Vision Australia also got some books added to the collection from a place in Tasmania who recorded their stuff on tapes which were then digitised, and again, they were hit and miss in quality, but the sound quality was so obviously taped on basic recorders like the ones I used to have that it kept distracting me.

And there were also a few instances in which the Brits, in all their wisdom, had several people, in one case maybe five, in the others (all part of a series) perhaps a dozen, narrate a single book, switching every fifteen-twenty minutes with no rhyme or reason, often in the middle of scenes, always mid-chapter, and the narrations varied wildly in quality! It pissed me off so much! I had a few I liked that I wished had taken the reins and read the whole book because they were genuinely amazing, but noooo, twenty minutes later, I'd get Substandard Narrator No. 4 again for an arduous quarter of an hour!

This lack of care stems, I suspect, from these particular productions being made for the exclusive use of blind people ("No unauthorised copying, broadcasting or public performance of this recording is permitted." was the warning typically given at the beginning of each in-house production), and the justification that blind people would be happy to be able to read the book at all.

Yeah, I'm calling fucking bullshit. If you wouldn't buy an audiobook whose narrator has less enthusiasm than a primary school teacher reading today's chapter of Charlotte's Web, then blind listeners shouldn't have to settle for it.

Besides, I listened to the RPH network growing up as well (Radio for the Print Handicapped, which means blind/visually impaired, though there are probably some other disabilities like dyslexia bundled in there), and they had book readings broken up into episodes, and most of them were done by volunteers for the network specifically, and they were nearly always good enough to stick around for (I can count on one hand the times a book read by someone there was genuinely unlistenable), so Vision Australia has no fucking excuse. The RNIB or whoever approved those haphazard multiple-narrator fiction books has no fucking excuse!

Why have I gone off like this about stuff that only affects a small population of listeners? Oh, honey, I am getting to that.

I have heard AI/synthetic voices read a handful of documents. All of them were fine to have been read by synthetic voices, specifically because they were:

Two separate user's manuals for two Daisy players I was sent by Vision Australia before they went totally digital.

A couple of lists of books added to the Vision Australia Library within the preceding six months (I don't think they make these any more because again, they went fully digital and people go to their website to download library books now).

Newsletters from the library/Vision Australia as a whole.

A very long recipe book.

These are acceptable uses of the technology. I preferred it when people read those, but I could accept the task being passed to a robot for reasons of it being more efficient.

Anything else read by an AI? Fuck no. It would be worse than the dispassionate human people reading books because they felt obligated to do something for the poor deprived blind people, but who didn't care enough to make it good.

As a screen-reader user, I know the limits of synthetic voices. Most of the TTS synths I can use with my screen-reader cannot have their inflection adjusted, and do not inflect to differentiate between sentences ending in periods, question marks or exclamation points. The synth I use, Espeak NG, has this capability, but many of its voices don't inflect as much as I'd like, so for eleven years I've stuck primarily with one voice variant, Linda. Some find her harsh on their ears, and she sounds worse with the English-US accent, but I use the default English Great Britain one (there are more region-specific English accents but I don't use those), so she's plenty tolerable for me. Most synthetic voices purporting to be more humanlike sound more robotic to me because they do not inflect, or if they do inflect, they always sound happy! This is not conducive to a good reading experience! Linda, at max inflection, is a far cry from a human person reading things to me, but she's still a lot better than those human narrators I mentioned above about injecting some level of emotion into what she's reading to me, and I've been using her to read fanfiction for almost as long as I've been using NVDA!

That being said, I wouldn't pay for her to read me a book. Unless I was buying the ebook, but we're talking about audiobooks here.

I am now a member of Audible. Yes, I know it's an Amazon company. I know more about how little it pays authors now than I did when I joined. But I am a member of Audible because it is the best place I currently know of to get good-quality audiobooks. Their collection is extensive, and although the public domain books are prone to the bad narrator problem (probably because they don't have to pay anyone for it because public domain), I've been able to read a lot more books that Vision Australia simply does not have. There are still books Audible doesn't have, like those whose authors kept them off that site for reasons of not wanting to sell their rights to Amazon, or books that simply were not deemed popular enough to get their own audiobooks (still sad about the second half of the Roddaverse being stuck in audiobookless purgatory), but even knowing this, I would never, and I mean never, buy versions of these audiobooks read to me by a fucking robot.

I joined archive.org a few days ago, because I heard they had some books I wanted to read. I couldn't read the borrowed books with my screen-reader because they were one-hour loans, and I couldn't listen to them being read by the TTS voice because it was awful.

I would never fucking pay a company to sell me that as an audiobook.

And yet some places are trying this out. I read in another Tumblr post that a bunch of professional audiobook narrators (angels, saints, precious gems that they are) were protesting because Apple was going to produce some audiobooks with AI so they didn't have to pay them to do it, and synthetic voices cannot intonate. This absolutely boils my blood.

I have ranted about bad narrators and bad productions for the majority of this post, but I have to tell you, when I have come across good narrators, it has in some cases been transcendant. Two of my favourites are sadly no longer with us, but they were both so good that even if they could not finish the series they read which introduced me to their talent, I could never fail to enjoy those books. Frank Muller, Katherine Kellgren, thank you for the work with which you blessed us while you were able.

I also know a lot of audiobook readers are voice-actors, and anyone paying attention would know they've gotten the short end of the stick for a long time, but I love and value them, because they are part of my childhood. They introduced me to characters I would never have known otherwise.

And I would not want their jobs stolen by mindless robots run by heartless companies whose greed and gluttony for wealth overwhelms any sense of morality or good will to their workers or customers.

I don't know what else I can do except write this post and hope someone sees it who can do something. I'm poor and blind and have no connections, and most people online don't know I exist. But I am here, and I value every human audiobook narrator who has ever taken the time to read a book aloud for the benefit of anyone who enjoys listening to a very long, complex, and perhaps soon to be beloved story tape. And I hope the robots lose this battle, and that the capitalists lose their power over this industry that is crushing so many artists right now.

[residentdormouse]

Find the Word Tag

‘D Edition’

Tagged by @mrsmungus. I’m so glad this is beginning an alliterative nonsense thing now! I'm here for it! 😂

Words I was given: Dust, Diamond, Duty, Desperate, Dare

Alright, I’ve been playing this alot, so OPEN TAG to anybody who wants to join in!! (Also, ‘@’ me, so I can read - and also let me know that you like to play these; I’ll try to remember to tag you more then. No promises though - Goldfish brain at its worst here.)

Your Words: Erase, Even, Ease, Escape, Elevate

Dust

(This seemed to be a fitting excerpt with all the ‘e’ words coming next)

"Can you believe it?!"

Teddy had been downright giddy the entire time he searched the theater. The old collection they had, it was better than he could have imagined. Every new reel elicited a cry out in glee and a rant about the first time he saw the movie. Or his favorite scene. Or some other corresponding anecdote. He couldn't hold back his elation.

Thankfully Susan seemed to find it endearing, and it encouraged him to keep on the path.

They spent the full day doing an inventory and organizing. But by the time nightfall hit, they were both covered in dust, and ready for food. Maybe a nice drink. Maybe something a bit more.

Diamond

I got nothing - goose egg. My characters don’t get nice things like diamonds, they get loads of trauma and an emotional punch to the gut. 😂

Duty

Even with the lack of cleanup needed, the pair barely had enough time to set down their packs before a knock came at the door. Alerted by Kojak barking in response, Glen was quick to answer the call.

"Hey there, Nick. I assume the higher powers are summoning us for duty then?"

There was humor to his statement, but Hayden noticed Nick was less than amused. Positive Glen picked up on this too, she simply shook her head knowing full well he wouldn’t bother concerning himself with it. If all of his stories were accurate, which she had no doubt they were, this was the dynamic for most of his personal interactions.

Desperate

(I have to laugh at this one - ‘Desperate times’ is a canon Glen line, and a running joke throughout both stories because of it.)

An involventary ‘hiss’ escaped her as Shay picked up her hand, examining the damage.

“Did a number on this one, didn’t you?”

“Desperate times.”

Her phrasing was instantly rewarded by a chuckle from Glen. Two words that were used all too commonly these days.

“I can’t do anything about that.” A motion was made to her neck. To the damned thing stopping her from doing all of this herself. No, she had expected as much on that front. “But the hand should come along just fine. Nothing too serious.”

Dare

His mind went off of the tangent. She had only been with them a short period; how did he miss this…

Is that why Lloyd had helped them in the fight at the hospital? Or was that what started it… Yes, that had to be it. Of course it was!

Harold stepped in the fight as well, sure. He shot that thing dead. Came to the rescue like he failed to do at the trailer. But he didn’t beat one to death. Didn’t display the typical mindless brutality and physical dominance that society deemed an attractive masculine quality. Pound on your chest in victory wearing the blood of your enemies. The idea brought a bubbling anger to the surface.

"…how could… I know people like him, Max! Arrogant and cruel and—"

"See! That's what I thought he’d be like too! But yeah, assumptions again. Made me feel pretty stupid after it all, but it is what it is. Don’t you dare repeat that shit though. Reputations to maintain."

First Stu steals Fran away. Now Lloyd?! How was Lloyd even competition for him? The man was a fucking joke.

"I can't believe this…"

[cloama]

MMATA covered the song from Freaky Friday on their new album. It's cute. The lead, Edith Victoria always has lots of personality but she needs some harmony help in these verses. Why we gotta wait for the chorus to get harmony? ETA: Iwas listening to this on headphones that were about to die. The quality was terrible. This song sounds great upon a second listen. I heard lots of background work. Sorry, babes.

The whole album is really fun and cute. It is full of breakup songs. Wasn't expecting that.

Love the bridge of Say it(to my face). She sounds like a punky lil angel there. It's also fun to see them get back at haters with an undeniable hit song.

The chorus of Kool is so chaotic. Why are you saying it like that?????? But the song with its very obvious Brainstew influence is just fun. They're wild for that one. Also Edith showing yall that she actually a mf vocalist. Bc that chorus be taking my lungs out. Yes, by the end I was singing it too. Very fun. Very silly.

Tea plays her ass off but I'm not hearing the shredding as much in this project. She's really restrained here but the parts shes writing a good. So solid. I kind of want her to compose for others. Similarly, Ava's feet aren't as heavy on the pedals this go round. It seems they've made a choice. It's fine. They get to do that. But choosing to leave that calling card off an album that's 50% breakup songs is a choice. Tea used to be fucking it up in the background. Just shredding her way through the verses which worked because there aren't a lot of bg vocals. Not singing backup as strongly, her playing made up for that. I miss it. I also miss Ava's heavy ass drumming. It's all really different on here. I need to find some interviews about this project. Need to know what went into these choices. I still really like what theyre doing. Young adult audiences should be in love with them.

After all that fun up top the albums takes TMI and Same Language into what I call the Frustration Break. A couple songs about mfs working on your nerves. They're cute songs but feel like a lull. It works because the choruses are so good and you feel relieved by the end of that chunk of songs. Also a-capella handclap breaks are my weakness.

A Few Tomorrows is the bittersweet midtempo song about how it's not goodbye, only a "see you later" which is placed in the right order because literally the rest of the album after this track is backloaded with breakup up songs.

Need Me(my favorite track of this album) is an upbeat breakup bop. Cute. MMATA has a gift for making songs you want to sing along to. Lyrics tho. The simplicity is good but I've seen the pen push harder.

This is where I noticed their hardcore influence is not present at all in this album. Poof. Gone. Aww.

It's Over for Me is another breakup song. Track sequencing is winning big. Love when songs are in correct order. This track is not as strong as Need Me. I would have left this one off the project.

Thx for Nothing is the last breakup bop in this chunk of songs. This girl is going through it. Very 5sos. I say this as a 34 year old who barely knows what a 5sos is. Oh and that main guitar part sounds like what i can only describe as family reunion music. Real ones know.

Rocket science is another optimistic bop taking us to the end of this album but the song is full of phrases from those Hang In There posters. It's cute. It's giving Disney Knees. Edith who usually enunciates to a fault just stops doing that. "Everything is possible" turns into "ennythahggihhhpohhhiiiubbboool" and I cant state enough that I loved that. The Gerard of it all.

King of Everything: lament about life being so unnecessarily hard and wanting a do-over. Hard relate. Don't love the melody as much as the others. Not a happy ending to the album but a resolution for sure. I think the last two songs should have been switched but they said what they said.

3.5 out of 5 stars to Meet Me @ the Altar for their sophomore long playing album. The sequencing of tracks is so strong. A lost art these days. The tracks work together to take your through a bunch of highs and lows then sticks the landing with that final track. The album is good at exactly what it set out to do. That's all I ask. Miss that hard playing tho. I'm sure the live shows will fill that gap.

[hanzajesthanza]

oh my gosh you guys i'm so excited

diary entry about post-graduation update + channel and equipment update... (tl;dr at end)

as it's a new year, i really do want to make the channel happen, and though i don't make new year's resolutions, i make "intentions"... what's plausible, what do i realistically think could happen during this year?

during college (which is essentially the entire time i've been in the witcher fandom, not counting my senior year of high school), i had no time to make videos, it was a laughable idea. but i've graduated now, and though i have a job and freelance, my job is currently part-time / as-needed and i work from home most days. on top of that, i now don't have homework and three other part-time jobs—yes, that was my schedule in college: full time student with extra units/elective classes, extracurriculars (clubs), two to three part-time jobs and working on the weekends, and since i'm some kind of masochist and intensely fearful of handing in below-standard work, always turned in the homework on time. i LOVED college, but that schedule, those responsibilities... whoo... my life was, should i say "an extremely fun living hell," like an amusement park, but the rides run on your blood.

anyways, with the foresight that my work-life balance will remain around what i've gotten it to by the end of last year, and foreseeing no extreme life or financial challenges this year, and hopefully no mental illness (sounds hilarious when phrased like that, but you know. depressive episodes are real) i finally have... free time. and WEEKENDS! what a concept! and at my job, i'm the newest of the team, as well as a junior, so i don't have to fend for myself when it comes to handling projects, i just have to be present, listen, and do my best! i'm there to learn from my senior coworkers! also, in the past six months since graduating i've gotten more sleep than i think i have in the past eight years of my life. so overall, i've been way less stressed and a lot more personally fulfilled in my life. though i do miss college, and looking at photos from the past years and especially looking at pictures from graduation almost make me cry because i miss it so much, there is no way i am going back to that kind of schedule. i'll stick with a stable 9-5 or part-time, thank you very much. (if i ever do go to grad school, it will have to be in some improbably future where i don't take a part-time job during the studies).

but back to my aforesaid prompt: "what's plausible, what do i realistically think could happen during this year?" this year, i think it's actually plausible that i begin to make videos. not produce them on a regular basis, no, and not commit to a video schedule, but just making them. or crafting them, i should say, it's a whole process...

the funny thing is that i've watched youtubers since 2012 and learned skills in video production in 2016, but only now am i really discovering how challenging content creation is. everything really has to be meticulously planned if you want to make good content. it seems obvious, but since it takes so little time to watch a youtube video, i never really appreciated all the work that goes into them. and, of course, since i'm a stickler for details and "quality content," i'm not about to put out something that's sub-par. this channel either gets done right, or not at all. since it's my personal project, i have the right to determine when, if stuff gets put out.

that brings me back to the original point of this post.

because of the intricate nature of analysis, it's impossible for me to do a video without a script, i can't just "wing it," because i need to specifically structure my arguments and cite my sources. but i can't memorize my lines, and have issues with eye contact & looking at the camera.

yes, i could make videos not using my face and just reading a script while playing something unrelated, but to me, that defeats the entire purpose of it being a video—at that point, either make an audio-based media (like a podcast), or better yet, leave it as a written post. additionally, i think it's low effort and not explorative of the medium of video and film, which, again, if you're making a video, it should add something. another additionally, i highly dislike the idea of just playing one of the witcher games as background visuals and placing my analysis of the books on top of that. the books are their own thing, and as far as i should be concerned when it comes to "serious analysis," the games don't exist as part of the canon. of course, the games exist as a part of the community, as a historical moment and landmark of the fandom, but i mean in terms of facts i have to go off of—this is about the series by sapkowski, not the series by CDPR. i have to make that as clear as possible. i'm even against using character models from the games in these videos, because—that's within the gamespace. even if it's a custom model or modded characters, as is how i play tw3 and also recommend—i don't want to use it in these videos, because it would directly suggest that this is something which could exist in the game space. this is all just a tangent about my artistic direction, but i think it's significant and important to consider when creating something that takes so much work anyways (analysis posts are both a lot of work, and also personal because they're mostly ideas i've nursed for a long time).

on that note, that's why i do indeed want to use my face and likeness in the videos, even if it's not me by my real name or likeness—rather, pseudonyms and characters i play. i came to this conclusion a long time ago anyways, but it has to be me, i can't hide behind visuals... and i think using a sona or animated figure just cheapens it and distracts from the serious nature of the videos.

of course, this is all countered by the fact that being on camera is SUPER difficult!

i enjoy writing long posts and scripts, and i enjoy talking about these topics and saying these scripts aloud (especially if the topic is something i'm especially passionate about, then i practically know the whole argument by heart anyways). but having to say a pre-written sentence, without that sentence in front of me, is impossible—at least for me, right here, right now. and i don't have time to become an expert presenter that's able to memorize that much and still act natural on camera, because i feel like the need for a books channel, or some kind of "hub" for book fans, is urgent, and it has been urgent for the past three years.

but what i realized was this: yes, i'm not experienced at being on camera, but i think it goes beyond feeling natural or being able to memorize lines, and exceeds into the territory of "i can't say my entire essay off the top of my head," because i'm just not a professional in that way.

i struggled with this for a long time, especially because after i bought my camera, and after i graduated and finally had time to make videos, i felt mad at myself for not being able to execute videos right away, off the top of my head. i had the resources right in front of me, but i still couldn't do it.

so, not to employ the sunk cost fallacy, but...

as the new year rolled around, i researched and invested in a cheap teleprompter for the channel, just because i've been having a lot of issues with filming... and holy shit, it works. no, i didn't film an entire video or something like that, so i don't have anything to show at the moment. but all i did was set it up and use it to feed myself a script (some analysis i recently wrote) and oh my god, i was able to talk to the camera, without overbearing awkwardness or fear, with a smile and everything. just the liberating feeling of being able to read my script while looking into the camera made me so excited, i just had to write this update post...

my next step is to get my audio sorted. i want to directly use a microphone linked to my camera so i don't have to record on my laptop and then sync audio in post (i hate syncing audio!) but i think we'll see what the budget is like and go from there. i can use my USB microphone, but it's also something i have to hold in my hand since i don't have a mic stand, so i can't just act natural while filming.

this will work for the analysis videos, though i don't know if it's relevant for the fun ~fandom~ videos i have planned. either way, it's a good thing. i feel like i just got some much needed accomodations, this is fantastic.

tl;dr

i got a teleprompter so i think it will help me film videos, i tested it out and felt way more confident while filming, yayyyy ❤️

[kindofwriter]

Can I offer you some: ‘Ep 25, The Gang Meets Wilde’

Pt. 2

I guess I swung wildly between ‘brandy’ and ‘whiskey’ when writing this and didn’t notice, oof.

Transcript under the cut:

HAMID: I don't, I, I don't think so... Um, hello?

HAMID presses his finger tips to the door, swinging it gently inwards but not fully opening it. SASHA instantly flattens herself against the wall, drawing a dagger and clutching it to her chest.

VOICE (O.S.): Oh, hello?

VOICE (O.S.): Oh, hello?

VOICE (O.S.): Oh, hello?

VOICE (O.S.): Oh, hello?

BERTIE: Oh! Hello!

SASHA and ZOLF both give BERTIE a glare. HAMID reaches out to push the door further, but stops before he does.

VOICE (LANGUISHLY): Oh, hello!

BERTIE (OVERLAPPING): Hello!

HAMID (OVERLAPPING): Hello?

VOICE (O.S.) (OVERLAPPING): Hello!

BERTIE: Hello! Hello!

ZOLF elbows BERTIE in the waist.

ZOLF: Who on Earth are ya?

VOICE (O.S.): I could ask you the same question, I suppose!

HAMID steps into the apartment, pushing the door wide open as he does so. ZOLF and BERTIE step in behind him.

OSCAR WILDE is lounging by the hearth, looking only slightly uncomfortable in a halfling-sized chair. He's human, average height and average build, with plump, youthful features. His hair falls the nape of his neck in glossy, brown waves that shimmer every time he turns his head; he's clearly wearing an illusion.

WILDE is dressed in a manner that's almost garish: peacock patterned waistcoat, scarlet, French-style suit, red shoes, and yellow socks, but between his good-looks and his charisma he completely pulls it off. In one hand he holds a glass of HAMID's whiskey, and in the other a note pad.

WILDE: So sorry I, uh, got here a little early, thought I'd just wait it out.

WILDE smiles winningly at the party. BERTIE reaches up to lift the grate of his armour. HAMID looks confused. ZOLF frowns, then grabs hold of his symbol. A low sound, part way between a hum and a growl, emits from his throat, reminiscent of wind battering across the top of a lake. For just a moment his eyes glow, then WILDE's notebook bursts into flames.

WILDE: Ooh, ah!

WILDE drops the pad, shaking his hand. It's burnt to a crisp before it hits the ground. Looking at its smoldering remains, a faint smile twitches at WILDE's lips.

WILDE: Fantastic, that'd be you... Zolf? Yes?

ZOLF (PLAYING DUMB AS A ROCK): Who, sorry?

WILDE (SMIRKING): Hmm.

CUT TO SASHASASHA is still pressed against the wall, head turned to the side so she can listen in. Her face is stony, but she looks poised for a fight.

CUT BACK TO INT.

WILDE: So, that must be Zolf.

ZOLF scowls and looks away from WILDE.

WILDE: And Hamid, and Sir Bertrand, yes.

BERTIE: Hello.

BERTIE steps forward, obscuring WILDE's view of everyone else. Between his height and his breadth he towers over WILDE, who immediately starts to look a little flushed.

WILDE (ALMOST COY): Hello.

WILDE looks BERTIE up and down in a meaningful fashion. He then glances away for a moment to meet ZOLF's eye, just to make sure he's catching what WILDE is doing. BERTIE looks a little affronted at the loss of attention.

BERTIE: Mm.

WILDE turns and begins to pour another glass of whiskey from HAMID's decanter, then offers it to BERTIE.

HAMID: Um, who might you be?

WILDE (WITHOUT BREAKING EYE CONTACT WITH BERTIE): Wilde. Good to meet you.

BERTIE: Pleasure.

BERTIE takes the drink.

ZOLF: Is there a compelling reason why, um, I shouldn't shove this trident up your bum?

Now WILDE does turn away from BERTIE, looking right at ZOLF. It's difficult to tell whether he's red with annoyance, heat, or still recovering from his intense eye contact with BERTIE.

WILDE: Oh, that's not very- You wouldn't want that getting out, would you now? Honestly!

BERTIE (CLEARLY TRYING TO WIN WILDE'S ATTENTION BACK): Well, you haven't been formally introduced, which I think is part of the reason.

ZOLF (MUTTERING): Well, also, you'd be dead, so it wouldn't be going anywhere.

BERTIE has clearly failed to hold WILDE's attention, as he watches ZOLF with a quirked eyebrow. There's no hint of the 'bedroom eyes' he'd tried on with BERTIE, but there's definitely some kind of passion in that gaze. However it seems, more than anything, like the passion to argue.

HAMID: You, you, you appear to be in my apartment uninvited.

WILDE: I do apologise.

WILDE actually looks at HAMID for the first time.

WILDE: I was just hoping to get hold of you, and, well, I thought this was the best place. I mean, you have been staying here most nights, haven't you?

HAMID: Yes.

WILDE: Well, there we go then, I, uh, I thought you might enjoy the company.

WILDE once again makes eyes at BERTIE.

HAMID: Next, next time it might be nice of you to wait for an invitation.

WILDE: I, I do apologise, I, I did knock!

HAMID sighs deeply.

HAMID: Not quite the same thing, is it?

WILDE (EVASIVELY): I suppose not. So! This is all very exciting; I'm noticing you're all looking a little worse for wear-

HAMID smooths a hand over his waistcoat.

HAMID: I, uh, I would dispute that, thank you.

WILDE: Well, let me re-phrase: not all of you. I'm, I'm noticing, um-

WILDE glances at ZOLF, who seems to be the only one in the room not trying to capture his attention.

ZOLF (GRUMPILY): No, I always look like this.

WILDE: One of, one of your party's missing?

ZOLF (PLAYING DUMBER THAN A ROCK): Who? Nope.

WILDE: Oh, I'm fairly certain that the girl-

ZOLF (INTERRUPTING): No, nope, who? What?

WILDE: The girl is. Hmm, yes. Quite. So, where have you been? How was today? I'm quite fascinated, actually.

HAMID (FIRMLY): Why don't you tell us why it is you're here?

WILDE: Well, I just thought it might be a good idea for you to sit down and, y'know, really, really share, y'know? Really explain things by yourselves, because people want to know. You know?

WILDE gives HAMID a very smug look.

HAMID: Are you a reporter of some kind?

WILDE: Mm, yeah, of a, of a kind. I, I, I sell my stories to whoever's interested, really. And a lot of people are very interested-

WILDE turns away from HAMID and begins to pour more glasses of whiskey. HAMID seems unfazed by this.

WILDE: I just, a lot of people are very interested-

BERTIE: Well, you know-

BERTIE shoves his glass between the decanter and the glass WILDE was filling, effectively giving himself a top-up.

BERTIE: I, I have been looking- I very much have an opening for a biographer.

BERTIE raises an eyebrow at WILDE, still leant across him from filling his glass. WILDE smirks.

WILDE: Well, we would have to closet ourselves away for a significant amount of time to really go over, go over the details. The nitty gritty, as it were.

Behind them, ZOLF scowls, clearly picking up on their queer-coded language, but immediately looking down on anyone who would willingly flirt with BERTIE. HAMID shuffles his feet, waiting innocently for the pair to finish talking.

BERTIE: I, I assure you, I have some extremely fine details to share with the appropriate young scholar.

WILDE turns, two new glasses of whiskey balanced in one hand.

WILDE (WITH A CHUCKLE): Presumably you mean of quality, not diminutive.

BERTIE joins in with his chuckle, but it quickly becomes mean, eventually devolving into a deep growl. Suddenly looking a little uncomfortable, WILDE moves away from BERTIE and offers a glass of whiskey to ZOLF. His face is soft; clearly he's looking for a little sympathy.

ZOLF refuses to take the whiskey, and scowls again at WILDE.

HAMID takes the glass offered to him, so WILDE drains ZOLF's.

BERTIE: My details are distinguished by their quality and their quantity.

WILDE (LESS SURE, BUT STILL PLAYING HIS PART): Indeed, I mean, that, that's a lot of the reason that I'm here. I've been hearing so much interesting- I mean, your deeds with Other London? And especially, I mean- Did you, did you manage to catch whoever it was with the antiques store?

CUT TO SASHA IN THE HALLWAY

SAHSA grimaces; tightens her grip on the dagger.

CUT BACK

WILDE: I heard that was, heard that was a bit of a problem, no?

An awkward silence hangs over the room for a moment as ZOLF and HAMID give WILDE a look that tells him that was in poor taste. BERTIE enjoys his whiskey.

HAMID: Uh, l-look, Mister Wilde, I don't-

WILDE: Sorry that was, that was, that was rude of me. Clearly I was treading on  a nerve. I'm so sorry.

BERTIE raises an eyebrow, seemingly losing some respect for WILDE as he apologises.

HAMID: I don't, I don't mind telling you about, uh, what we've been up to. As I'm sure you've seen in the press and will see again soon, we are not averse to sharing our story. But I really must insist that you tell me what it is you do, and why it is you are here specifically.

WILDE (JUMPING IN): It is so generous of you to donate so much to the natural history museum, as well-

Suddenly WILDE is knocked off his feet, backwards into HAMID's chair, dropping his glass as he does so. SASHA looms over him, the tip of a dagger pressed lightly to his throat. WILDE is surprised, but not afraid.

SASHA: What do you know about the antique store?

WILDE smiles, just slightly.

WILDE: Well, I was hoping you'd be able to tell me, all I know is that you were there.

SASHA (UPSET, BUT IN HER OWN WAY): What, what do you know?

BERTIE steps forward, placing a hand on SASHA's shoulder.

BERTIE: Now, now, Sasha. If there's any blade to be held to this young man's throat I feel it should be mine-

SASHA shrugs BERTIE off with such force he actually has to remove his hand.

SASHA (CLEARLY AGITATED): He, he knows something about what happened to Gusset. He, he knows who trashed Gusset's store!

WILDE (WRIGGLING BENEATH THE DAGGER): No, no, that's not what I said.

SASHA: Oh, really? So, you know-

WILDE: I was curious-

SASHA: So how did you know about that? Because we didn't go to the press about that.

SASHA pressed slightly with the dagger. WILDE leans further into the chair to avoid getting nicked.

WILDE: Well, y'know, some people are observant, and some people, y'know- I mean, where do the press find these things out?

SASHA: Well, but- Usually, Hamid tells them!

For just a moment SASHA alleviates some pressure from WILDE, and it seems as if she might wheel around to threaten HAMID. Then she looks down at WILDE and re-applies the pressure; she trusts HAMID.

WILDE: Well, usually doesn't always cut it-

SASHA: That's how journalism works!

WILDE takes a moment to allow his eyes to drift back to BERTIE.

WILDE: Some deeds will just speak of their own accord.

SASHA: Oi! 

SASHA begins to press the tip of the blade to WILDE's throat. Once ZOLF realises what she's doing he steps forward slightly, poised to pull her off.

SASHA: What do you know about who trashed Gusset's store?

WILDE: I don't know what to say. I know that you went in there, and you, uh, had a bit of a conversation. It looked very amicable, and then you headed on your way.

WILDE catches sight of ZOLF, stood behind SASHA with an arm outstretched. He visibly relaxes, allowing a huge grin to spread across his face.

[kiingocreative]

The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

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Every author starting out will know how important reviews are. If you’re yet to be convinced, here are some fun facts about reviews*:

1. 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.

2. 72% of consumers will take action after reading a positive review.

3. Positive reviews tell Amazon and Google you’re worth ranking and can boost search results for your book by feeding into SEO (reviews account for almost 10% of total search ranking factors).

So reviews aren’t just a nice to have — they’re critical to the success of a book.

Now, amongst the writers community, we talk a lot about receiving reviews, but less so about giving reviews. I enjoy writing book reviews immensely, because it makes me think about what I’m reading on a different level, and forces me to learn how to articulate that opinion. This is actually one of the main reasons why I got into professional BETA reading.

I was asked recently how I structure my book reviews (all of which can be found on my blog), so here you have it: all the secrets to how I go about writing book reviews, along with some concrete examples!

Start With Why.

The most important question to ask yourself before you even start writing a review is this:

Why do people read book reviews?

In essence, they want to know whether the book is good, what it’s about, and — more importantly — whether they should read it. They generally like some context and detail to back the review so that they feel it’s genuine and trustworthy.

If you can keep in mind what people generally want to get out of a book review, this will help you keep your review relevant and useful. It’ll help you figure out what’s worth including and what isn’t. If in doubt, ask yourself what you would want to read about in a review when you’re trying to decide whether or not to buy a book.

Some Key Questions.

Before you start writing, you also need to ponder a few things. It may not always feel natural to reflect on a book on this level of detail — it didn’t for me at first. I either liked a book, or I loved it, or I didn’t, but I rarely spent a lot of time critically thinking about why I did or didn’t like a read.

If you’re also finding this uncomfortable at first, I say stick with it. I found it extremely interesting to make myself think these things through. It’s made my writing so much better, because I’ve developed that objective evaluation muscle that activates even when I’m with my own work. It’s also made me much better at forming and formulating an opinion, which is something I didn’t use to be good at!

Here are some questions to start with before you start on your review:

• Did you like the book?

• What did you like about it?

• What didn’t you like about it?

• Are there any themes that were particularly well handled?

• Were there any characters you liked above others, and why?

• Would you recommend the book to a friend?

These few questions will start shaping your view of what you’ve read and provide the main elements of your review.

To take your critical reading to the next level, you may want to ponder the various elements of the story and the writing as a whole. Think about:

• The plot / storyline — is it strong? Consistent? Original? Enticing? Are there gaps?

• The characters and character arcs — are all characters well developed? Multi-layered? Do they make sense? Are they relatable?

• The key themes — what are some recurring topics through the story? Are they well handled?

• The pace and timeline — is the story progressing at a good pace? Where does it lag? Does the timeline make sense?

• The writing style — how was the writing style? Did it flow well? Did it feel unique or original?

• The dialogues — did they feel natural? Were they believable? Were they engaging? Did they add to the overall story?

• The editing — how was the editing? Were there any typos or formatting errors?

Example Review Outline

Once you’ve spent some time with those initial questions, you’ll find it gives you the best part of your review content. At first, you may want to note down your answers to each of these. With time, you may find you can process these in your mind faster than you did before, and you don’t need so many notes. Whichever way is right for you, once you have this, you’re ready to start structuring your review.

I tend to use the following outline (though, of course, this isn’t the one and only way to write a review!):

1. Star Rating:

It’s most common in this day and age to include a rating in your review. There are talks out there about not leaving a rating on a book, because these can be extremely subjective — someone’s three-star rating may mean they loved the book but for others it’s a negative rating, some people don’t leave five-star reviews out of principle etc.

If you’re reviewing the book on Amazon and Goodreads however, you don’t have a choice but to pick a rating out of five stars. Have a think about how that rating system relates to you. For instance: would you leave five star ratings? What rating do you use for a book you liked versus a book you absolutely loved? What kind of book would warrant a low-rating? etc.

2. Opening:

Start with a short overview of what you thought of the book. This should give the reader a concise view of what you thought of the book, in two or three sentences. The idea is that, if they read only this opening part of the review, they should know your view on the matter.

Here’s an example opening paragraph I wrote for Heart of a Runaway Girl by Trevor Wiltzen:

‘Heart of a Runaway Girl is a breath of fresh air. As far as crime and murder investigation novels go, I only ever read Agatha Christie, so my standard is high. But this book did not disappoint.’

3. Synopsis:

The next section of the review is a short summary of the book, which should give the main elements of the plot. I tend to keep that part really short because I find that, if anyone wants to know the specifics, the book blurb the author so diligently wrote for the back cover is a much better place to learn more about that. Yes, you need to give a sense of what the book’s about, but it shouldn’t be the bulk of the review.

I think this is a matter of personal preference, I’ve seen reviews out there with a much longer synopsis section, but I always find myself skipping those bits to get to the nitty gritty of the review, which is what the person thought. There again, go back to the why — people who read reviews do so to find out whether or not they want to buy a book, so the more valuable pieces to help with that (in my view) are your opinions, more than an in-depth summary which they can find elsewhere.

For instance, when I reviewed Counter Ops by Jessica Scurlock, the second opus in the Pretty Lies series, I kept the synopsis paragraph to:

‘In Counter Ops, we meet a familiar duo, Ivy and Nixon, as they face the aftermath of the Elite Auction, and each endure its painful consequences. We follow their journey as they try to escape their fate and attempt to come to each other’s rescue — in more ways than one.’

4. Highlights:

The next part is what I call the ‘highlights’. This is where you talk about what you liked most about the book, or what you thought the strongest parts of the book were. This can focus on one element of the book (a character, a part of the plot, a theme etc.) or cover multiple elements.

See, for example, the highlights I picked for my review of Age of the Almek by Tara Lake:

‘I loved the author's ability to give every character their own voice and a distinct perspective on the world around them. I loved how involved I became with every character's fate and woes. I loved the precision with which the Almek world has been created, with such minuteness you can picture it down to the finest details.

My favourite part is the portrayal of the many facets of human nature, be it through the reactions of the masses to the barbaric ways of their rulers or the individual views of the protagonists. In every Almek citizen is a piece of the great puzzle that is humanity at large, and the author has a gift for writing it as raw and real as it gets.’

5. Mitigate your view:

Right after the highlights is where you’d add anything that mitigates your view. That’s anything that wasn’t quite as strong as you’d want it to be, or anything you weren’t a fan of.

You can skip this part if there’s nothing you didn’t like about the book — you don’t have to go nitpicking if nothing comes to mind. And it doesn’t have to be a bashing of the author and their work either. Keep it constructive and explain why you felt that way. There’s never a need for insults or expletives, and these wouldn’t enhance the quality of your review anyways. Formulating constructive criticism takes practice, and requires tact and subtlety. It’s a valuable skill to have if you’re willing to invest time in honing it.

Here’s how I phrased that part of the review for Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan:

‘But - and there's a but - my qualm with this book is that, for a story that revolves entirely around Nick and Rachel... There's actually very little Nick and Rachel in it!

Yes it's all 'about' them and it talks 'of' them loads, and we're told theyare happy together and want to be together... But it's all 'tell' and no 'show'. Their intimacy is sorely lacking, so I was left missing that added colour to convince me that they, in fact, do love each other. And I'm not talking saucy passages — I 'm talking about basic things suchas them actually talking to each other and spending time together.’

6. Conclusion:

The final part of the review is a short paragraph with closing remarks, such as a short summary of your view on the book, whether or not you recommend it or some indication of what readers the book may be for (e.g. ‘if you liked… you may like this book’).

When I reviewed Collision by Kristen Granata, I ended the review with:

‘Readers used to intricate, far-fetched romance plots may find this book too straightforward for their liking. In my mind, this is what makes the book's key strength: it's real and honest, it takes the reader through difficult situations and complex emotions beautifully, and that makes it all the more relatable.

A great read overall - and the moment I finished the last page, I was on Amazon ordering the next book in the series!’

How long should a review be?

I don’t think there should be a minimum or maximum word count to a review, though I find that mine end up being around 300 to 500 words. I feel this is a good length because as a reviewer this forces me to be concise and clear in expressing my opinions, and as a reader it’s long enough to give people a sense of the book, but not too long that they’ll drop off before the end.

Final Thoughts: To spoil or not to spoil?

My view on adding spoilers in your review is simple: DON’T.

Try as I might, I can’t fathom what could be gained from adding spoilers to a review. Once again: back to the why. Someone reads a review to find out if they want to read the book themselves. If you ruin the plot for them in that review, what’s the incentive to pick up the book?

It just hurts the author’s chances of making a book sale, and it robs a fellow reader of the joyful rollercoaster of finding out those plot twists at their own pace. Don’t do it, it’s just rude.

*Sources:

www.bookmarketingtools.com

www.searchenginewatch.com

www.dealeron.com

[shadyb00ts]

A Chromatica Review

So I never really use Tumblr, but when I do go on here, it’s pretty much to review something long-form. As you can tell from my profile picture here, and from my glowing review of ARTPOP from 7 years ago, I am and have always been a Gaga stan. Just read the melodramatic first paragraph of my ARTPOP review and you’ll get the gist of how much I idolize this woman. Well, idolized. Past tense.

That’s not to say I suddenly hate Gaga–I’m still going to follow her career and listen to whatever she puts out. There have just been several factors this past year that have changed my perspective on how I view her, this album being one of those factors. But I’ll get to those later. First I just need to lay out all my issues with this album.

Yes, this is going to be that type of review, so if you’re a fellow Gaga stan that isn’t able to criticize her work, this probably isn’t for you. Otherwise please read to the end if you can, because this is honestly about more than just the album.

Issue #1: The Mismatch Between Music & Aesthetic

When the cover of the album came out, I was so gagged. Like, just look at it! It’s striking, and Gaga has rarely ever disappointed me when it came to visuals. Actually, I can’t even think of any visual choices she made in previous eras that disappointed me. Even in the Joanne era, the pink cowboy hat became iconic and all of her aesthetic choices fit with the overall vibe of that album cycle.

So naturally, when she revealed to us the new visual direction she was taking for Chromatica, I assumed it would give us some insight into how the music would sound. The aesthetic of this era always gave me grungy cyberpunk and heavy machinery tease. When I look at the album cover for example, I can hear a song produced by SOPHIE in my head, the clink-clank queen herself. (There were rumors that Gaga was going to or did work with SOPHIE but that was never confirmed, unfortunately for us.)

For those unfamiliar with SOPHIE, here’s Ponyboy, which was most recently used in the ad campaign for Beyoncé’s Ivy Park clothing line.

That was the kind of production I was more or less expecting when taking the visuals into account; dark, metallic, basically similar to ARTPOP’s production (to be honest ARTPOP sonically fits better with the Chromatica aesthetic; think about it). 

But what did we get? Light, garden variety dance pop, a stark contrast to what the album cover and the promo images teased us with.

In the album, we get these orchestral interludes that are beautiful but don't really mesh that well with the actual tracks. The songs don't have any orchestral elements by themselves, so the interludes felt a bit misplaced to me. I wish they'd incorporated more of that into the individual songs, so that there could be an orchestral through-line to give more cohesion, like what Ariana did in her album positions by using strings. However I will say, the transition from Chromatica II into 911 remains unmatched.

I get that the album is supposed to sound happy, that it was her returning to her “dance pop roots” and singing about serious topics like mental health over happy-sounding beats, because it’s supposed to reflect her current mental state. I get all that. But if that was the case, I think she should’ve gone with a different visual direction to match. Personally I wish she went a different direction musically instead, but even if it was just the other way around and she changed the aesthetic of this era, my opinion of the album would probably improve slightly, cause at least there would be cohesion between the visuals and the sonics.

I look at that album cover, and promo images like the one below, and then I listen to songs like Fun Tonight or Plastic Doll for example, and there’s a noticeable dissonance there. 

You might be thinking “why are you so hard on her for this?” and I guess it’s because I’ve always held Gaga to a high standard when it comes to how she links those two elements. Think of every era she’s had in the past, and you remember how the visuals always just worked with their respective albums.

And that’s before I’ve even talked about the videos. Oh lord, the videos.

Issue #2: The Videos Are Lackluster (Except For 911)

It started with Stupid Love, the lead single. I had mixed feelings about that song in the beginning, but because I was so thirsty for new music from Gaga at the time, I played that song like hell when it leaked and it was on rotation for a good while. But when Gaga premiered the Stupid Love video, I’m not going to lie; I really didn’t like it.

The whole “shot entirely on iPhone” schtick really did the video a disservice. I’m sorry but it had to be said. If I imagined the video with a higher budget and more of a plotline as opposed to just being a dance video, I think it could’ve worked a lot better and been a decent introduction to not only Chromatica the album, but this fictional world/planet that she’s created. Which by the way, she didn’t really deliver in that regard either. 

The concept of Chromatica being a fictional world could have been expanded on further; she could’ve showcased all of the different factions (I know they were called “tribes” at first but that’s appropriative so I’ll call them factions) and perhaps had an overarching storyline about how these factions are at war, and it’s Gaga’s job as one of the “Kindness Punks”, as she calls it, to bring everyone together for a rave.

This is why I will always say it: Chromatica needed to be a visual album. Just imagine the storyline I mentioned just now being turned into a full-length feature, and now imagine the album’s orchestral intro playing as they’re essentially opening the gates to Chromatica and Gaga discovers this world for the first time, and then it goes into the first song Alice where she’s meeting all the factions and getting acclimated to her surroundings.

Honestly I could go on and on cause I have thought about this for SO LONG now and I’ll never shut up about it. It’s just such a missed opportunity cause the concept was just begging for a visual album. Anyway sorry for my tangent: back to the Stupid Love video.

The whole “shot on iPhone” gimmick really was unfortunate. Like she really ruined the quality of a music video because she wanted that Apple check??? Come on, Gaga, there could’ve been some other way to secure that check.

And then there was the Rain On Me video, which definitely have visuals that are a massive improvement from Stupid Love because it was professionally shot and cinematic. But even that was another purely dance video with not much in the way of storyline. Not that storyline is always required for music videos, but I think specifically when it comes to Chromatica, not having storylines in the M/Vs does a disservice to the overall concept.

I guess my issue with these two music videos, but mostly Stupid Love, is that Gaga isn't fully utilizing her COIN. Like she's successful enough to the point where she has budgets for these videos and can go all out, but doesn't. She has the capacity for extremely high production value, but up until 911, the last video she did that had that level of extraness was G.U.Y. I miss the days when her music videos were an event. I still remember where I was and what I was doing the exact moment the Telephone video came out. That's impact.

Taylor Swift I think is somebody who really knows how to blow her budget on a video. Look What You Made Me Do may have been a terrible song, but I always thought the video was sickening.

Anyway, I have no notes on 911. She's a masterpiece. If there was a music video category at the Oscars, I'd be campaigning for it right now.

Issue #3: Any Other Girly Can Do This

The thing I always loved the most about Gaga's music was that nobody was doing it like her. Everything she put out always felt like it was distinctly hers and hers alone, it's unmistakable. Even in Joanne, despite that album being a major departure from what she normally did.

I know Joanne is a very polarizing album, even for Little Monsters, but personally I've always loved it. Joanne was an album that I always knew she would make and I thought was essential to her career and body of work. Despite her straying away from pop for a more earthy, grass roots sound, it still sounded very much like her music. Even from the first track, Diamond Heart, her DNA is all over that.

It's difficult to explain what exactly I mean when I say there's a certain signature "Gaga-ness" or that she has a very specific DNA injected into her songs. If you've been a fan of hers for a long time or followed her career, you probably understand what I'm referring to. It's the way she laughs maniacally in the beginning of ARTPOP on Aura, how she says "I don't speak German but I can if you like, OW!" and proceeds to recite broken German on Scheiße, how she invented the phrase "disco stick", literally the ENTIRETY of The Fame Monster.

These examples probably give you the gist of what I'm trying to convey. Gaga is fucking weird. She has always been fucking weird and I love that so much about her. And her brand of weirdness was so specific that if any of the other pop girls tried to do what she did, it would have been cringey as hell. To me, the most disappointing thing of all with this album was that this weirdness that was so uniquely hers was missing.

It's there in brief moments, in tracks like Sour Candy, 911 and Babylon, but most of the album doesn't really sound like her music. It sounds like songs that she wrote for other people, like her old unreleased stuff. OG Little Monsters probably remember songs like Second Time Around and No Way. These were leaked unreleased songs that Gaga had written for other artists, and even though they were absolute bops, they didn't sound like her. They weren't supposed to.

A similar feeling I had was when her song The Cure came out a few years ago. I genuinely thought that was something she wrote for someone else, cause even though it was a solid pop song, it absolutely had zero Gaga-ness and any current pop girl could sing it. This pretty much encapsulates how I feel about the majority of Chromatica.

I was gonna say it sounded like songs that were written for Ally, her Star is Born character, but I think even those pop songs from the soundtrack sounded more Gaga than Chromatica does. 💀 I can easily imagine Hair Body Face being on The Fame.

Final Thoughts

It's funny that the last review I had posted on here before this was my review of Kingdom Hearts III. The Kingdom Hearts game series is something that's very near and dear to my heart, and I waited a wholeass decade for the third game to come out. And then it did, and I was so disappointed.

So you know what happened after that? What helped me deal with my disappointment of that game was my anticipation for Chromatica, or at the time it was still called LG6. I had no idea I would feel the same exact way about this album the way I do about KH3. Now when I think of both of these things, I'm mostly frustrated by all of the potential and the missed opportunities, but I also look at them with a certain fondness. I had fun playing KH3, and I also had fun listening to Chromatica, despite both of them disappointing me overall.

In the beginning of this review I said that there were certain factors that have stopped me from idealizing Gaga too much. Firstly it's because I'm much older now, and secondly it's due to the sheer state of the world this past year. The pandemic really precipitated the fall of celebrity culture, and all of that made me really examine how putting someone on such a high pedestal can be damaging in the long run.

Gaga is a human being and I haven't agreed with everything she's done, particularly how she handled the whole R. Kelly situation back in 2013. And also the simple fact that she's a white woman, we know how a lot of the time they can't help but show their asses and are bound to disappoint us in some way. I'm forever grateful for her artistry and how she saved my life when I was a suicidal little eighth grader, but I'm also going to hold her accountable for any of her mistakes, and I'd be ready to stop supporting her entirely if anything she does ever goes too far.

Now I stan artists for fun. It's not healthy to idolize them to the point of revering them. I mean, I like to make jokes like that about Beyoncé, like "no way on Beyoncé's green earth", etc. But even she is just a person that we shouldn't deify for real.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Chromatica being a lackluster album and era ended up being a good thing, because it helped me grow out of idolizing celebrities too intensely. Chromatica was pretty much the best disappointment I've ever listened to.

If you've read all the way to the end, thank you! Writing this was very therapeutic but also stressful; this is a second draft cause Tumblr fucked up my first post. 😭

Anyway, SAWAYAMA & Ungodly Hour are albums of the year. Argue with the wall.

[sagebodisattva]

No Time-Space, Only Mind-Space

So recently, some of you may have noticed, that I’ve started to use a certain phrase; a strange new bit of terminology, that I’ve employed more then a couple of times in the past few videos. And this neologistic nomenclature seems to have piqued a little interest among you; leaving those within you wondering, what could this peculiar designation mean exactly? And this uncertainty has undoubtedly left many of you feeling anxious and watchful. Well, have no fear, the Meta Sage is here. The term in question is: “mind-space.” What is a “mind-space”, exactly? And to what, does “mind space”, apply?

The first outside inquest concerning this matter came about a week or so ago, when a commenter by the name of “The Trickster”, mentioned it specifically. Thereafter, the subsequent comment exchange that followed, served as the inspiration for this current video. But, before we delve right into the thick of the matter, I’ll read the transcript of that comment exchange, as it happened; to both, act as a supplementation to this video, and to hopefully, delineate for you, the basic premise of the subject at hand.

So, here’s the transcript:

The Trickster: You are hanging on to an unfalsifiable narrative that reality is just, as you called it, a "mind-space”, and anyone with differing ideas are lost in their own externalizations, or something. Did I get that right?

Meta Sage: More or less. Nice implication, but the “mind-space” is undeniable because it’s already the case before anyone can think about it. It’s the “space-time” theory that’s a conceptualization, and needs all kinds of explanations and narrative to support it.

The Trickster: Ergo, the mind-space theory is ultimately an unfalsifiable concept you choose to believe. As it can't be properly substantiated or debunked. See, I like you, Meta Sage. I don't dislike the ideas you put forth. But only a sheep refuses to question a particular narrative. And I also like poking holes in a narrative. “Space-time”, on the other hand, can be tested, debated, analyzed without an absolute perception.

Meta Sage: You have the whole thing mixed up, which I noticed last week when we were talking in the comments on the other video. You glossed over what I just said and reaffirmed a falsehood. To move forward, you have to break free from this obstacle; and you can do this more easily by throwing out the old model of reality. Case in point: If we take two people, wipe their minds clean of all memory, then put them together in a room to discuss reality, the “mind-space” is already the foundation of everything, before even one word can be spoken. The context of existence is undeniable, and this is a reality before any debates, tests or analyzations take place. The “space-time”, on the other hand, cannot even be discussed without first learning a whole bunch of things that one then has to assume as reality. There’s a slight difference. You have to be able to discern between reality and abstractions.

The Trickster: Yeah. I won't write a long response. Rather, I'll ask this, why do you assume the idea of a “mind-space” is inherently present in the minds of said individuals you mentioned in your example? If you propose life is a dream, most without some sort of philosophical capacity would just miss the meaning of such an idea. While time itself is experienced by everyone regardless if its an illusory and misunderstood aspect of reality. Most know time is the measurement of events in existence. A mental construct? Yeah. To some extent. But the “mind-space” idea is an abstraction by its very nature. An unfalsifiable idea which only needs one to believe, and no argument posed to it can truly debunk or pick it apart. Just because the mind serves as a useful interface for interacting with and perceiving the world it doesn't automatically mean the mind creates reality. Yes, we are experiencing something. But let's not jump to conclusions. But look, I won't claim to know everything. If I've got things mixed up feel free to correct me.

Meta Sage: Thanks for keeping that so short. Thing is, I don't have to assume an idea of awareness. Awareness is already the foundation. Or, said another way, because there is awareness, abstract aspects like "ideas, concepts and theories", about a so-called "existence", can be formulated. Now keep in mind, when I speak of awareness, I'm not trying to assign it an identity. It's not a consideration of a "me" or "them", when it comes to awareness. There's no "people" existing to experience something, nor any "world", and it certainly isn't a human's mind that is creating anything. Identities are part of the dream. None of this phenomena is your true identity. So the idea is to be able to discern between awareness, abstractions, and dream phenomena. Conflating these aspects is where the confusion arises. It's the context within the field of dream phenomena, that I call the “mind-space”, and this is to clarify the fact that it isn't a physical location. "Physical locations" are ideas formulated about a purely mental phenomena. As is "time" also. These are all just ideas about illusion. Only awareness is reality.

So, that was the exchange. And so now, I’d like to expand a bit more on the subject, and really try to make things nice and sparkling clear. In a sense, this particular teaching could be considered one of the core foundational principles of Pure Potentialism. If one can manage to grasp this essential teaching, much of everything else will fall into place a lot more easily. Simply put, one of the core principles of Pure Potentialism is that the context of experiential reality is the mind, not physical locality. This is what is meant by “mind-space.” The apparent “space” that things seem to occupy, is made out of pure mind, not made out of objective materiality.

Sounds easy enough, but it’s actually rather difficult to realize; as the idea of materiality is ingrained deeply into people’s minds unconsciously, so maintaining crystal clear clarity will be a very strenuous mental effort to undertake; and, to top that off, people don’t find any ego gratification in this, thus, are generally dissatisfied with the cold stark truth, and, ultimately, will deeply yearn to find some other kind of narrative; one that provides an explanation that places a great deal more importance on their ego’s supposed existence. That’s what matters most to the average man. His precious self image. His dandy pride. His lofty self importance. It’s really quite rather disgusting actually. So it’s an uphill battle the entire way. Thus, the way to start to make some tracks towards clarity, is found in the lucid discernment between awareness, abstractions and dream phenomena.

This is the stumbling block that The Trickster got snagged on. He got SNAGGED on it. The Trickster can’t tell the difference between awareness, dream phenomena and abstractions. He wrongly conflates them, then argues his points premised on this falsehood. So, I’d like to break this right down for you, which will hopefully lend some much needed cohesion to the matter.

1. Awareness. What is awareness? Awareness is the absolute base, and allows all else to be possible. It’s the original face, and the undermost real true identity, despite having no physical embodiment, or manifest qualities. What will we find to be the case, after every single falsehood is stripped away? After peeling back all the thoughts, the identifications with a self, the objects around you, the entire world; only this, is what remains. Awareness. And so now that there is awareness, there can be some “thing”, to be aware of. Or, “something can be imagined to be the case”, to be more exact. Now that there is awareness, awareness can be aware of imagination. And the imagination isn’t a thing. It isn’t located anywhere. Indeed, the imagination itself could be said to be imaginary. Hence, said another way, awareness can dream. And since awareness can dream, there can now be an aspect called existential reality. This is what awareness does. It imagines existential realities, with varying degrees of fleeting qualities. And this brings us to the next factor: dream phenomena.

2. Dream phenomena. What is dream phenomena? Dream phenomena is an illusion. It’s what the imagination of awareness imagines into being. There are no limits as to the possible variations the illusion can be imagined to take. And the context of any such imagined illusory variation, is what I refer to as the “mind-space.” The “mind-space” are the borders that hold together a particular illusion. Wherein, consciousness can now find it’s ground, and quickly begin to establish identifications that will bring it self affirming fortification. If this consciousness ever manages to become refined, it will perhaps recognize itself in it’s own reflection, and suddenly become self aware. And once self aware, there can now be these aspects called thoughts, ideas, beliefs, concepts, theories, and knowledge. Now a consciousness can philosophize about it’s own supposed “existence”, and make speculations about who, what, when, where, why, and how, this is. Which, brings us to the next factor: abstractions.

3. Abstractions. What are abstractions? Abstractions are the intellectual activity of a consciousness. The constant yammering of the inner voice. The ongoing internal narrative we tell ourselves is the storyline of our supposed existence. The purely intellectual deductions, and hence purely intellectual conclusions, that we THINK; and then go on to call that a reality. This is where things get murky, and then awareness, dream phenomena and abstractions become a muddled amalgamation of confusion; where now, one will have a hard time telling the difference between the concept and the object of reality, and may even mix them up entirely. This is exactly how the truth of the “mind-space” became forgotten, and how we now think we live in this idea of a “time-space” context; and went on even further to suggest that, the one and only true sure thing, the “mind-space”, is just a belief, and that the “time-space” idea, is actually the true default reality. Enter The Trickster.

So now you can see some of the reasons how and why this whole thing became so deeply convoluted. If the only things you think to question are only staged on a foundation of materialism, and inquiry into the intro-spectrum is something that never occurs to you as important, you are a pretty lame example of a skeptic. The Trickster makes the assertion that only a sheep doesn’t question a particular narrative, yet, oddly enough, doesn’t think to question the narrative of his own materialistic belief system. Apparently, he accepts as an unquestionable given that “time-space”, the normative mainstream belief system that has the general consensus of the shepherd’s flock, is a fundamental truth. And that’s truly rich. But, overlooking that for the moment, let’s move on to address one of the central themes of his argument: that the “mind-space”, is unfalsifiable; and cannot be properly substantiated or debunked.

Well, as far as being “substantiated”, is concerned, everything I’ve said thus far should leave no doubt as to why this isn’t that hard to flesh out. It’s only your over-thinking process that makes it extraordinarily over-complicated. Awareness is the fundamental truth. This might be about the only thing one can say to be, “self evident.” Without awareness, you cannot cast doubt, or weigh evidence, in the first place. Without awareness, you cannot even begin to make substantiations. So, if you actually have consciousness, and are not just a mindless zombie, then your consciousness is substantiated just by being conscious. What other evidence would you require that you are conscious, other than being conscious?

And as for debunking; what the hell would you hope to debunk anyway, your own consciousness? That seems a bit counter intuitive; and this is what makes me think that you’re just playing the usual little bullshit games of a delusion whore. Stop it. You have an absolute foundation that establishes a proper setting for investigative inquiry, and you wish to lessen it through doubt, or minimize it to some secondary status behind inanimate matter, for what purpose exactly? Or, as he so eloquently put it, “it’s a useful interface for interacting with the world.” The “world”, he comfortably assumes; but what gives context to his entire existence, he harbors reservations. And by the way, no one ever said that the “mind-space” creates reality, so it’s actually YOU who jumped to those conclusions. As previously stated, awareness dreams of a “mind-space”, and the context within that “mind-space”, is what you are wrongly calling an objective world. The “mind-space” is not a useful tool for interfacing with a world, no. There is no world. The “mind-space” is the composition of reality itself.

And if I need to go over the fallacy of the whole time delusion again, then you probably haven’t been paying attention. I’ve already deconstructed the idea of space, and much the same will apply to the concept of time. Yes, the idea of time is only an abstraction. The patterns you see in nature do not represent time. One rotation of a planet around a star is not indicative of any objective factor operating in the universe. There is no universe. Time is a completely fabricated ‘relative-to-a-subject’ tool, and nothing more. And it doesn’t matter that you can test it, debate it, or analyze it, without an absolute perception, (whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean), it doesn’t change the fact that time itself doesn’t exist independently to the factor that is giving time significance. So assuming the concept of time as some kind of fundamental groundwork of reality is a big problem. There’s no problem, on the other hand, with the truth of the “mind-space” reality. The only problem here, is your over-thinking intellectualism. An over-thinking intellectualism that likes to over-think so much, it now believes it’s ideas are reality, and that the actual reality is an idea. Nice!

And when it comes to “falsification”, that whole idea is largely stupid. Why would you make the criteria for a phenomena to be considered scientifically, a prerequisite of having certain conditions where the phenomena can be shown to be false? Does that seem to be reasonable? If that’s the case, then gravity is unfalsifiable, as it can be tested ad nauseam, and never be shown to be false; and yet gravity remains an accepted truth within the scientific community. And, on the flip side of that coin, astrology can definitely be shown to be false. So that suddenly makes it legitimate, and now qualified as eligible to be considered scientifically? What the fuck? Something’s definitely not quite right with that line of reasoning. And that’s why the idea of falsifiability is an impotent repellent against the truth. Maybe this qualifier was concocted as a ward against a god theory, but other then that, it accomplishes very little else. Again, why would you need to falsify your own consciousness? Why, other then to create distractions in an attempt to preserve your delusion; which, only causes confusion and delays.

Awareness is the absolute truth, and no, you cannot falsify the truth, under any circumstances; otherwise it isn’t the truth. The truth is the truth, and falsehood is falsehood. That’s why truth and falsehood have two separate distinctions, instead of being considered as the same distinction. Truths are never conditionally false. The truth is always the truth. Only a falsehood has the potential to be considered as conditionally true; and that’s due to the designs of illusion; but, that’s not why we’re here today.

Why is awareness the undeniable default axiom of existence? Because it’s the foundation of everything, whatever you want to call that. Whether you wanna say it’s the foundation of being, of consciousness, of physics, of material universe, of existence, or of whatever else you can come up with, matters not. The context is awareness. And that’s why it’s the ONLY sure thing. It’s not that there’s an idea of a “mind-space” inherently within you, but rather, that “mind-space” is the inherent groundwork for consciousness. Understand, this is not just a conceptual theory. It’s already the case before the development of intelligence. You don’t look outwards for it. You are already it. And you were already it, before the expansion into advanced philosophical thinking. No, it’s not god. No, it’s not materiality. Those are all prime examples of making outward attributions; what I like to refer to as, externalizations. Stop wallowing in the confines of mental slavery. You are beyond anything found within the “mind-space.” You are pure potentiality itself.

[black-water-simping-ships]

bless very legal streaming sites that get me access to what i will predict to be a very quality movie

we open on basic 'US in space' footage, followed by a site... *checks notes* 'near moscow', except it looks like your generic siberian wilderness lmao. then again i don't know what the moscow suburbs look like do i?

the electrical fence не работает. that is the literal translation of 'does not work'. it does not have a job. i do not kno how to say 'does not function' in russian so maybe не работает is the perfect phrase to use. but because i do not know it looks like a hilarious case of google translate

"boy howdy am i glad those sharks are behind an electrified fence"

8/10 on the bucket toss, i expected it to be dented

"speak english, they won't understand you"

a man just got cut in half by a shark fin maybe?

there. um. there is a conveniently parked spaceship there. right in the complex where they research mutated sharks. lads this is the soviet union i.

"how do i fly this thing?" "don't you remember your cosmonaut training? start the engines and hit the gas"

this was said in english. one of the actors is trying a light russian accent, the other doesn't even bother

oh yes and we have seen a woman take off her high heels to fight a shark that looks like the reused suicide squad shark guy model

timestamp: 04:17. thisd will be a long movie

present time! mission: tabula rasa, aboard a spaceship that looks straight out of alien, none of those guys are in space gear,

oh hey the engineer got appenditis just before launch. because of a food truck?

the alternate is a Cool Guy. we know that he is a Cool Guy because he rides between the two lanes on a fast street. unfortunately there is no traffic to maim him fatally for being a right tit

same third shot of a guy smirking and shaking his head, same third scene with two so far name- and speechless extras strapped into their seats

MOSS BALLS

everyone has had a line so far but the smirking guy's main job still seems to be to shake his head in amusement

"we'll shoot to the far side of the moon in t-95s" no. no, in 95 seconds. t minus x represents a fucking moment, not a timespan, do you say "oh, i'll go to the store in 5 pm", motherfucker?

only-tree-in-200-km-of-desert-hit-by-a-truck dot pee en gee

yeah so far they mentioned a LOT of the chinese moon equipment (TIL about the 鹊桥 satelite and the 玉兔 rover) but their pronounciation is godawful except for one woman

on that note, i hope henri isn't french because he wouldn't deserve americans butering his name for 88 minutes

how is a spectrometer lifesaving

ok the editing on the moonwalk is nearly acceptable but the acting is shit and dialogue is missing according to the subs

I TAKE IT BACK

moon shark moon shark moon shark m

where's vijay when you need him smh

even if you're...under a magma chamber? you sure bud? you mightn't be above it? no? no. ok.

god i wanna listen to their debut single

fyi sound needs a medium to move, the moon has barely any atmosphere, this. yeh

i'm calling it, he fucked a shark. his daughter is half mutant shark, which is why she can live without oxygen unlike him

yeah it took .5 seconds to reveal she has a fin

let us speak in english instead of russian before the american crew, papá, especially when we express doubts about their sincerity

ok yeah i'm stopping this for now, the 'russian' accent has become unbearable

[granatumre]

Hi, Jo! You're translating Those who stand? I thought you only made playlists. What language? Can I ask you a few questions? I hope I'm not being rude, I'm really curious because I want to translate fanfics myself (in Spanish) and I don't know where to start. How you do you keep the authenticity and the quality of the original text? How do you translate jokes and word play? Have you ever been stuck on a sentence you couldn't translate? Good luck on your translation! :)

Hi anon! I hope you can excuse me for such a late response, I’ve made you wait a whole month and for that I’m sorry. Oh, wow that’s the most interesting question I’ve received so far (not that I receive a lot of them haha). But I will, with pleasure, answer your questions! Thank you for asking and thank you for the luck! Good luck on your translation too! I’m sure you’ll do an amazing job! But keep in mind that I’m an amateur, so everything I say is only my experience and my opinion, it works for me, maybe it’s different for you.

It’s Russian and it’s not as hard as I thought it would be, but also not as simple. The key of translating, in my opinion, is that you have to know how to write fiction yourself, because it should resemble a piece of literature and not something soulless and taken out of google translate. So, basically, translating, is the same thing as writing: you’re living the words and sentences and you have to put them through yourself and back to find that exact line that fill satisfy you. Translating should also be fun, you have to enjoy the process because be prepared of transforming sentences and trying to make them as poetic, as the original is. And that is basically the key of keeping the authenticity.

In a way, you can’t, because each language has its own structure and I know how disappointing it is when you like the original line so badly, but you can’t make an exact translation because it would just sound weird. Sometimes I have to make a line longer, sometimes I would add some words just to make it more powerful for the language I am translating it into, sometimes I would breakdown a sentence into two separate ones. And it’s all okay! No translation will be identical to its original, it’s impossible. I will add 4 examples so you can see how it works.

The original: We’re too old for neon lights and bass sounds which are so loud that we can’t hear ourselves speak, and too young and privileged for dinner on our laps and an early night. We sit snugly and smugly, congratulating ourselves on our comfortable situations.

Russian version: Мы слишком стары для неоновых огней и басовых звуков, которые настолько громки, что мы не слышим своего голоса, и слишком молоды и привилегированны для ужина на коленях в раннюю ночь. Мы окружили себя комфортом и самодовольно поздравляем себя с bella vita*.

The exact translation of the Russian version: We’re too old for neon lights and bass sounds that are so loud that we can’t hear our voice, and too young and privileged to have dinner on our knees in the early night. We have surrounded ourselves with comfort and smugly congratulate ourselves with bella vita*.

The original: My heart beats right into his chest and his into mine as if they’re urging each other to throb at the same time.

Russian version: Моё сердце бьется в его грудь, а его в мою, словно это зов, сигнал одновременного слияния.

The exact translation of the Russian version: My heart beats into his chest and his into mine, like it’s a call, a signal of a synchronous merging.

The original: I lower my head to kiss him until he moans into my mouth in a way that is to be felt more than heard, and open my eyes to see his closed. It makes me think of all the funerals I’ve ever been to, and every open coffin.

Russian version: Я опускаю голову и целую, пока не слышу его стон на моих губах — он забирается мне под кожу, в ребро, и я открываю глаза, чтобы увидеть его закрытые веки. Я вспоминаю каждые похороны, каждый открытый гроб.

The exact translation of the Russian version: I lower my head and kiss him until I hear his moan on my lips — it gets under my skin, into my rib, and I open my eyes to see his closed eyelids. I remember every funeral, every open coffin.

The original: L said that he’d see me later, and I think about that a lot. I did, anyway. I try not to think about things I can’t reason out, but sometimes, and for the most stupid, insignificant reasons, I miss him so much that it pulls the air from me. I miss him like you’d miss air or water. An almost physical pain of loss but constant and thumping like blood in my head which wouldn’t cease until I thought that, yeah, I’d see him later. But I don’t believe it, really. I can’t, and it sucks big, hairy, massive balls. I couldn’t understand why I’d need to believe that I’d see him again just to comfort myself. I’d rather have felt nothing. So, as I say, I don’t think about it now. Everything worked out for the best, I suppose.

Russian version: Эл с��азал, что мы увидимся чуть позже, и я много об этом думаю. Думал, во всяком случае. Я пытаюсь не размышлять о вещах, которые не могу решить, но иногда, по самым глупым и незначительным причинам, я скучаю по нему настолько сильно, что это выбивает из меня весь воздух. Я скучаю по нему, как вы бы скучали по кислороду или воде. Словно потеря — это физическая боль, но постоянная и пульсирующая во мне как кровь приливающая к голове, и она не перестанет болеть, пока я не подумаю, что да, я увижу его позже. Но на самом деле, я в это не верю. Я не могу, и это настолько, блять, ужасно. Я не понимал зачем мне следует верить в то, что мы скоро увидимся, лишь для того, чтобы себя утешить. Лучше бы я ничего не чувствовал. Так что, как я и говорил, я больше об этом не думаю. Все решилось в лучшую сторону, не так ли?

The exact translation of the Russian version: L said we’d see each other later, and I think about it a lot. I used to, anyway. I try not to think about things I can’t solve, but sometimes, for the stupidest and most insignificant reasons, I miss him so much that it knocks the air out of me. I miss him, like you would miss oxygen or water. Like loss — is a physical pain, but constant and thumping like blood rushing to my head, and it won’t stop hurting until I think that yes, I’ll see him later. But I don’t really believe it. I can’t, and it’s so fucking awful. I didn’t understand why I had to believe that I would see him soon just to comfort myself. I wish I didn’t feel anything. So, like I said, I don’t think about it anymore. It was all for the better, wasn’t it?

So the only way to keep the authenticity is to make it authentic to the language you’re translating the text into. It’s still going to be the same meaning and that way you keep the metaphors running too.

Also, I was talking about this with the author yesterday and it’s probably the hardest thing to translate. In Russian (and Spanish as you know), unlike in English, there’re different versions of “you”. It will vary depending on the formality of the relationship between the speaker(s)/ listener(s) and how many people are being spoken to. So there’s an informal you that will be used with your friends which is a “ты” equivalent to “tú” in Spanish and “tu” in French. And the formal way of addressing someone which is “вы” equivalent to “usted” and “vous” in French. There’s this part in Chapter 1, when Light and L first meet and it was reasonable to use the formal “you” but then I didn’t know when to switch it to the informal one. I though that L knelling in front of Light and the “yeah, now we’re friends” was a good moment of doing it because this was pretty informal to me. And apparently it was a perfect choice, so I’m happy about that.

But the puns, the jokes and oh the British fucking slang is something my betas and I have been crying about. From the light the Light pun, to the «law» in Lawliet pun, to the «interbred, loose-toothed, pink pony fucking, grandmother mugging, vagina-faced, vomit guzzling, baby killing, rectal smears within driving distance» which I had to sit through for a good half an hour trying to sort this whole dialogue out. Light’s clothing monologue is always very hard to translate because it’s very specific and detailed and I’m just so lost, but I manage and Google is my friend. My favourite was the B mumbling, which was a nightmare on its own because what’s a coma and fucking «Noir de Noir and one part Tobacco Vanille» and also that massive part when he spoke slang and I wouldn’t make it without Laura’s help because apparently the phrases are used to describe stupid people so from this:

The original: Upstairs the lights are on but no one’s home not the sharpest knives in the drawer a few cards short of a deck the bats are out of the belfry a few fries short of a Happy Meal the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor the antenna doesn’t pick up all the channels all booster no payload one IQ point above brain death if I offered you a penny for your thoughts then I’d get change not the fastest ship in the fleet the gates are down the lights are flashing but the train isn’t coming isn’t that right L?

I got this:

Russian version: Это как если бы ты надел шапку под палящим солнцем если бы ты пытался разжечь огонь в воде если бы ты взял диетическую колу с жирным обедом если бы ты отдал деньги попрошайкам надеясь что они используют их во благо если бы ты разжигал камин без дров и искал правду у лжеца понимаешь о чем я Эл?

The exact translation of the Russian version: It’s like wearing a hat in the hot sun like trying to light a fire in the water taking a diet coke with a greasy lunch giving money to the beggars hoping they’d use it for good lit a fire without firewood and looked for the truth from a liar you know what I mean L?

Which is honestly as close as I could get and even tho it’s not the same lines, it’s still bares the same meaning. When it comes to jokes I always try and find an equivalent in Russian

The original: Oh. Well, I’m sure I’ll slit my wrists over that later.

Russian version: Ну, не волнуйся, обещаю, что надевая петлю на шею, я буду вспоминать твои слова.

The exact translation of the Russian version: Well, don’t worry, I promise, when I’ll be putting a noose around my neck, I’ll be remembering your words.

or when it’s too bad I’ll just put an asterisk and explain the joke in the chapter’s description.

Considering, it usually takes me 2 days (2/3 hours each day) for a chapter, it has been going rather smoothly. However, sometimes I can be stuck on a sentence because I don’t think it’s melodious enough or I don’t like the way it sounds. Sometimes I’m stuck on a sentence because I like the English one so badly and try to make the translated version as close as possible and then I cry because it sounds weird. I have to deal with tautology a lot (not repetition, which is a literary device!) because it might work in English, but it looks awful in Russian and I’m obliged of turning the phrase upside down. The same case with the excessive use of “I” which is so basic in English, but in Russian it looks like an unnecessary tautology and we don’t need to use it as much and plus: the less is better. 

But honestly, overall, Those is very easy to translate because of the way the text is written: it gives room for a translation and an interpretation, which is honestly so rare in a fanfic. Basically, the better the original is, the more metaphors there is, the more description there is, the easier it is to translate. It’s also easy for me, because the style in Those is similar to the way I write my fiction in Russian, if that makes any sense? I live for the metaphors and allusions and the game with punctuation where there’s none and then, suddenly, there’s a lot. It gives me room to breathe and create because a translation is essentially a text you have to break down and then rebuild in a way similar to the original but also correct in the language you’re translating it into. Which is probably why I’ve shed so many tears over it. Which probably explains the playlists, ha.

You have to pick something that you really like and picture yourself doing it. Try a few sentences, test the grounds and don’t take a translation you know you won’t finish. Also! Very important! And it’s something I regret not doing: talk to the author, ask them for help if you don’t understand a sentence or can’t get through something… like… slang, ha!

There’s a lot of fanfics that I really like but would never translate because I can’t relate to the author’s style. And this doesn’t mean it’s badly written, no, the contrary, but I just just can’t picture myself translating it. With any fanfic I read, I would always translate one sentence I really like in my head first and then, if it sticks, I’ll go along. And Those stuck with me.

It was a mix of an insane drive «oh my god the Russian fandom needs to see this, I need to spread the word» and a «are you mad enough to do it» and, well, guess what? I am.