#RP: Check Between the Lines

[badlydrawnronpa]

hi anon ty for sending the message! I did look through their blog and they very obviously use AI - I would've published the ask normally to let other people know but I decided against it in the end because after a closer inspection I noticed that all commissions are fake (besides being fake art I mean) and they're not actually scamming anyone because. uh. literally most of the blogs I saw interact with them are empty rp blogs that are blatantly controlled by them and one of the commissions I saw on their patreon was for a defunct ohsc rp blog from 2014??? Which honestly was really funny.

so yeah, they're very much not pulling any money from that, and on top of it all they posted pics of themselves sooooo yeh, not going to blast them on a blog with a big following for trying the 'i dont use ai im a real artist' but ultimately not scamming anyone out of their money. They're also not the best at like... hiding they're using AI because you can see their traditional art in other posts, and the style or experience level doesn't match at all.

I will post some of their AI stuff underneath the read more and point out the inconsistencies tho, to help out other people in spotting out ai shit (esp non artists that might have an harder time figuring things out). If you find out the original user that posted these, please don't harass them, be civil.

BTW I'M SAYING THIS NOW: if you see something I point out and say ''ah, I do that, I'm in trouble" - no you're not, if you actually draw the stuff yourself. You can see when an artist's work (and mistakes!) are genuine. Beginner's mistakes can be made by experienced artists too, but if you look at their entire body of work you can see when something doesn't add up.

to start off, I saw anon calling them out on this one so I'm just reiterating some of the points, but here's some junko 'art' they made

when confronted abt it, they said that the fingers look weird because they can't control their shaky hands and drawing small is hard. anyway if you draw digitally you can zoom in on the canvas and work on a detail as big as you need, so that excuse doesn't hold

this other post was basically what made me just say 'yep thats ai' and it was just the second 'art' post I saw from them

while taken alone they could've been a little harder to spot as AI, with them all bundled together you can easily see they came from the same prompt; the user tried to justify the inconsistencies saying it was because they were 'experimenting' with the design of their oc and gundham's scar but I'm telling you now, no sane artist fully renders four pieces that are basically the same concept while changing the design of the character just slightly in every single one of them. anyway, here's the breakdown of every piece:

another that was way easier to break down because it's so full of inconsistencies the moment you really take a look at it

also let's be real if you render art like that you're not gonna put a bright purple unreadable text on your supposed vtuber "art"

let's end this with the AI "commission" that could be harder to break down as AI if seen in a vacuum now, shall we? esp because our friend, the fucked up melty finger, isn't there

I honestly had to look for a while at this one because if you had shown it to me and I didn't see the other stuff this person posted, I could've just chalked up a lot of these mistakes to human error. Tangents between lines, scribbles for details, forgotten uncolored sections is all normal stuff. BUT we know this person used AI in all the other posts, so we know what to look at:

again, some mistakes the AI does can be also mistakes actual artists do: be sure to check the other art the user makes before throwing accusations

they also posted a fake speedpaint that is so embarassing it made me laugh but if I start pointing out inconsistencies in an AI speedpaint we're gonna be here for a long time, so.

TL;DR AI 'ART' SIGNS:

The classics: hands and fingers don't make sense, there's additional weird lines and they melt into other part of the drawing

long hair strands and other long or flowy elements can suddenly disappear behind objects and not reappear where they should

jewels, intricate details, hairpins and other accessories bend and melt into each other and other part of the design

the resolution of the image is very low and/or grainy - a lot of artists post lower res pieces online, but again: look for a pattern and combos of all the other signs

inconsistencies between multiple art posts, character designs constantly being different, sudden art style changes - while this can also be found with real artists, this is an additional tell of someone using AI, when combined with the stuff I mentioned above. humans mistakes usually have a reason for what they happen, AI makes them because it doesnt understand what it's doing most of the time

[meraki-yao]

Now I'm curious to know all the "candies" between Nick and Tay 👀 lol I don't ship them but I also find it interesting that some fans really ship real people together and gather evidence or proof of it. If its fine with you to share it pls do 🙏 but if not its also fine :)

Huh...

Actually, sure! I kinda wanted to share some of these at times but again I understand that rps is a complicated subject.

A couple of quick prefaces though:

1, If you’re uncomfortable with the subject, again, please don’t read under the post

2, I don’t have all the candies because I really just view them in passing, so I’m just gonna write/translate the ones I’ve seen, remember and find at least a logical speculation

3, I need to reiterate this in case my position in this gets misunderstood: Me writing about “candies” isn’t because these are MY opinion or things *I* found or *I* believe in them being evidence. I am just a translator and messenger.

4, (this one is gonna sound a little academic lol) Two things I realized when thinking about this “candy eating” culture is that Chinese people have a very difference understanding of platonic/romantic affection/relationships with the Western world, and that they look at the candies with rose-tinted glass. Chinese/Asian people are generally a lot less affectionate with their personal relationships, for example friends wouldn’t say “love you” to each other if they’re just friends, nor would they expand their friend group to the others easily or other stuff. And these people who look for candy go into their “investigation” already with the belief that “they are together”, everything remotely resembling a close relationship will automatically be interpreted as romantic. I thought about it a lot, and honestly among the “candies” I’ve seen, most of them are a matter of interpretation: yes those are things couples will do, but it wouldn’t be weird if friends did it too. So they’re not that seriously or up for further speculation. There is I think only one “candy” that I can’t quite say the same, which I will explain and elaborate on in this post. 

5, Please remember that the people who do this do it in good nature: something I didn’t make clear in my post yesterday, which is on me, is that the fans do want them to be together, but they’re not like… yandere level or something. If they’re just friends the fans won’t be upset or betrayed or anything, they just prefer to see them as romantic. They don’t mean any harm, and they don’t cause any harm because China is physically and digitally too far away for them to actually fuck shit up, and they understand the lines of parasocial relationships: those who met with Taylor during his China trip in December know to, and didn’t bring up this in front of him. They know where to draw the line, and whoever doesn’t and starts becoming a problem gets kicked out of the community. This is meant for fun.

6, Ok Future Meraki here, turns out, there’s a lot to translate, a lot more than I anticipated Jesus Christ and I do want to get this post how within today and make it a reasonable length, so I’m just gonna do two events and the one that I mentioned in 4. If yall want a part 2 let me know.

Ok with that being said, the main event under the cut:

In December they made a whole article about “candies” from December, and to quickly summarise (again noted that all of this is speculation, I didn’t and can’t fact check them, and I’m just a translator) (also this ended up way longer than I anticipated so for photo reference if you can please go to the link of the original article):

Academy Gala:

Nick and Taylor both attended the gala: Since the strike ended up to that point, the two times Nick attends a public event, Taylor’s there too (GQ men of the year and Academy Gala), and for both times he’s wearing Cartier’s Tank Must Watch (remember this watch, I’m gonna elaborate on it later because it is the only candy that even I can’t say it’s a matter of interpretation)

In various pictures of the night’s party that other people took, the boys can be seen together in the background

How the photography worked that night was magazine photographers wandered around the venue and randomly found people to take some relatively candid photos: so people who were walking/sitting/in any way sticking together would be photographed together. So best friends and married couples would be photographed together, which is what happened to Meryl Streep, Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan, and Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy and their wives. With that logic, Taylor and Nick were caught by the photographer together TWICE, in clearly different places. Later Korean fans (with the same “candy-searching” mindset) read the time on Taylor’s watch in the photos: one was 8:30, one was 9:50. The implication is that they were together for at least that period of time (nearly 1.5 hours)

In both photos of the boys together, Nick’s elbow is…straight up leaning into Taylor's chest. In a photo with Kaia, Nick’s friend and co-star from Bottoms (Brittany), there’s visible space between Nick and Kaia but none between Nick and Taylor (… okay I’m gonna pop in with my own opinion on the latter one real quick: I really think that one is just Nick being a gentleman)  

During that night, Taylor re-posted an Instagram post from July onto Little Red Book: but the things is in the comment section of the original Instagram post, Taylor teasingly pretends to not know Nick; and according to the posting time and the time calculated in 3, Nick would have been watching him post that to Little Red Book.

Nick got a photo with Taylor’s friend Jay Ellis (Jay and Taylor follow each other on Instagram, and Taylor comments under Jay’s post), even though Nick and Jay don’t seem to have any direct connections. Kaia and Taylor started following each other on Instagram after the event.

While other people who got photos with Taylor posted them, in Taylor’s Instagram Post for the night: He only included his photo with Nick, the rest are all solo portraits of himself. Not only that: he edited the background of the photo so it’s just them, and proceeded to put the photo in the middle of the post.

a bunch of Taylor's good friends, including Taylor’s cousin went to like Nick’s post for the academy gala night. Taylor’s sister Ash shared Taylor’s post to her stories: 2 photos of Taylor himself, and the one photo of Taylor and Nick. Taylor mentioned in a past interview if he had any emotional or relationship (I don’t know which one is the right translation, the original wording is 感情) issues, he would talk to Ash. (please note that I didn’t not and don’t know how to fact-check any of the things mentioned above except for Ash’s Instagram)

Conclusion/ Speculation (okay the academy gala part alone took me 40 minutes what the fuck): I cannot reiterate this enough: THIS IS JUST SPECULATION DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY but under the assumption that Taylor and Nick are a thing, the serious of shenanigans that happened that night, especially with the family and friends stuff in 6,7,8, was interpreted as they announcing it to their personal social circle. AGAIN THIS IS SPECUALTION DON’T TAKE THIS SERIOSULY 

Taylor’s China Trip

On 7th December, Taylor had a photo shoot at the GQ gala venue, but spent the rest of the afternoon taking photos and signing things for fans. Among those, one was the photo of him and Nick from the academy gala just three days ago. He was visibly extra happy and showed off the photo to the crowd, unlike the other photos which he simply gets it, signs it, and then gives it back.

This day was also the start of “Taylor giving Nick/Henry a moustache”: throughout the trip, he drew on four photos of the two of them

(This one is a … really big stretch) among the four, one of them was the GQ magazine shoot, and he first drew the moustache on Nick’s face, giggling “I’ll sign on Nick’s face”, signed his own signature, then just when he was about to give the magazine back he suddenly changed his mind and said “wait wait I wanna do something on my face”, and then drew a crown on his head while muttering “crown prince”. And the thing is… historically, George Villers had a moustache. And then he drew a moustache on Nick and a crown on himself. Also, one of the most popular Chinese RWRB fic on AO3 is called “The King’s Palace”, and the premise is putting Henry in George place as the social climber and the Duke of Buckingham (it is literally George’s character with blonde hair and a different name), and Alex as the crown prince who ascended to the throne and is also utterly infatuated with Henry. So… yeah.

When he drew the fourth photo, which was the piano scene, the fan who asked said “Oh you’re so nice to Nick!” and according to their description (there’s no video), Taylor blushed a little and said “yeaahhhhh” with a big grin

While Taylor was in China people were stirring shit up on Twitter about him, and during the Twitter drama, Nick liked Taylor’s Academy Gala post.

The boys liked the same video on Instagram but from different accounts (a video about a pony in the snow)

During the trip, Taylor was seen wearing a white button-up with blue stripes. Nick has been seen wearing a shirt that looks identical before.

Cartier Watch (aka the one that makes me do a double take)

Taylor used to wear a lot of Cartier watches until he started wearing Tagheuer last July due to a commercial partnership

Nick likes wearing Omega watches. In fact, Henry’s watch in the movie is Nick’s own omega watch. He also has a commercial partnership with Omega.

But then starting last year, both of them were seen wearing matching Cartier’s Tank Must Watches (the silver on with a black surface and a sapphire crown): Taylor can be seen wearing it in the 5th photos of his September post, while Nick can be seen wearing it during the GQ gala, the Academy Gala, in Milan during fan interactions, and last weekend in his TIOY co-star’s Instagram story.

And the thing about this watch is (and here is where I need to reiterate that I’m just translating, I didn’t fact check this) 1, watch is a typical thing to give a lover, and you must be familiar with their wrist size 2, Cartier is a pretty romantic brand 3, the price of this watch is closer to what Taylor’s used to wearing but much cheaper than Omega 4, This specific watch is a popular watch to give a partner/lover, 5, David and Victoria Beckham’s relationship was discovered because paparazzi saw the Cartier watch he gave her and connected dots together

Jesus Christ at this point I should consider getting a part time job in translation

This was fun but this took me so much time, it’s ~2000 words long

Again, all of this was found and speculate for fun, and mean no ill will, and haven’t, and won’t harm the boys, please understand that and don’t take this took seriously. If you find this interesting and want a part two, let me know.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for trying to block evade?

This happened several years ago, so I'll put the ages that we were at the time.

I [17F at the time], had an extremely close friend [17F] of 3+ years, and I still haven't found any kind of friendship that came close to the level of trust / openness that was there. So some of this backstory ranges from 14yrs to 17yrs.

My home was abusive, and she and her mom helped me figure out what was rational vs irrational, normal vs not normal, and pointing out local resources to get help - which was absolutely amazing and I could not thank them enough.

She invited me to her house pretty regularly, a couple times a week. We'd have hours of skype calls. She got me roped into Undertale & the fandom. Well, not that we really interacted with the fandom at large. We only publically posted some of the art and barely got noticed haha. Between the two of us, we had something like 26 AUs and had a lot of rp with multiverse shenanigans - like over 1200+ pages of google docs rp, because that's where we did like 90% of it. After we hit like 100-200 pages, we'd make a new doc so it wouldn't take so long to load. And we had like, at least like 9 docs I think. I was mostly in it for her, because it was really fun to just make up stories together. I could've done it with any fandom she threw at me, undertale is just the one that was popular at the time.

At one point, I think when we were around 16, I asked her if she wanted to start dating. She said something along the lines of maybe in the future, but not right now - she wanted to focus on school. Even though she declined at the time, she did say she appreciated me asking and that it meant a lot to her. And there were 0 hard feelings about the answer, we just kept on going the way we were going.

She got hit with a really bad level of depression, and stopped coming to school. After 2-3 days, I started calling her every day around lunch time just to check in on her and see how she was doing. See if there was anything I could do to help - bring some snacks, catch her up on classwork for the couple classes we shared, stuff like that. This was for couple months. More than just a mental health day, and the only reason she gave was Depression.

After a week or two of the daily calls, there was probably an aspect of toxic positivity on my end. Like "You gotta Do Something to avoid being trapped in your misery, even if it's just baby steps like sitting outside on the porch or going on a walk down the block" Not maliciously, but more out of not knowing how to handle a situation like this & genuinely wanting to help her because of all the help she's offered me in the past & fueled a little bit by fear because Depresssion is the excuse that my abusive parents used to justify their shitty behavior & neglect. Not because I was afraid of what she'd do to me, but more what she'd do to herself. That's one of the only things I could think where I went wrong, which I completely acknowledge and understand now.

She was still inviting me to her house, and we were still doing our normal thing there. Drawing and writing stories together.

After 4-5 weeks [? estimate, time is an illusion] of her not showing up to school, I can't remember if I asked if it was helpful or if she suggested that I stop calling every day. Calling every day was making her feel worse.

I did end up calling the next day or two at lunch - crossing the boundary was not my intent. We had planned to hang out on the weekend again, lunch is just when I remembered & had time to call to ask if she still wanted to hang out or if she wanted some space. I think she said yes to hanging out, didn't mention anything about crossing the boundary. Same with the next day - there was something I needed to ask clarification on, it wasn't a check in, nothing was mentioned of the boundary. I can't remember what it was now. This is another one of the places where I think I went wrong, which I acknowledge & understand.

I did stop the check ins like requested though. After those two off days, I did stop calling her every day at lunch.

She finished out the school year having shown up to class maybe 3ish times, I think.

Again, we were still hanging out regularly. There was no indication that I was doing anything wrong, there was no indication that anything I was doing was wrong. She was still the one inviting me to hang out at least half the time.

There were some problems that I was noticing that I just wanted to have a casual chat about and figure out, but she kept pushing it off as a "I don't have the energy right now, we can talk about it later" and we'd go back to the fun things. I don't really remember what those problems were.

In the summer, I went to a different state to visit my older sister that I hadn't seen in years. I talked to her about it, I was excited for it. We were still chatting regularly during my trip over skype or discord.

And then, during my trip that I was so excited about, she drops this bombshell. She sends me several massive messages detailing out a bullet point list of everything I've done wrong, that she's explicitly breaking off the friendship, and blocks me. 95% of things on that list either flat weren't true, or gross misunderstandings of what happened.

It was genuinely horrible things too.

For example, one of the things on the list was "Suicide baiting" or "Suicide guilt tripping" or something along those lines, which had happened several months if not a year before this. -I've only ever communicated feeling acutely suicidal to her 1 time. -Long before that, she made me promise that if I ever felt suicidal that I was supposed to immediately talk to her about it, for her own peace of mind so she wouldn't worry about me. -I reached a point of feeling acutely suicidal due to abuse at home & general existential dread, that happened to be during a time we had an issue.

I purposefully waited until after the issue was resolved, like 2 weeks, before telling her. I did that specifically so it would not be taken as a guilt trip or a form of coercion while still holding as true as I could to my promise. She made me promise to tell her, it was something very important to her. I made very clear to say "this is something I experienced a couple weeks ago due to unrelated things, it is resolved now, I got help through xyz means and genuinely feel better. You made me promise to tell you so I am telling you, I didn't want to say anything while we were having a problem for xyz reason." I just wanted to talk, and clear up the misunderstandings. I wanted to have a good conversation about figuring out where the communication went wrong, try and figure out how she came to these conclusions, and how that differs from my point of view. Do something to work it out, and just talk about it, and try and salvage this 3+ year friendship.

After I realized I was blocked, I was going through so so many emotions all at once. The whiplash of going from 5 to 100, Upset that I wasn't given any sort of chance to explain, the 5 stages of grief, being thrown away like the gum off your shoe, worrying about her and if this was the stage of isolation for depression, holding out the hope that we could still just talk and work things out, angry that she kept pushing off and refusing to have any sort of serious talk before this, doubting if anything she had said on 'normal vs not normal' - particularly communication styles, thoughts that maybe she was abusive and manipulative all along, maybe I was continuing the cycle of abuse, trauma flashbacks, anxieties that I had since squashed as 'irrational', fear that this was a sign that she was about to fucking kill herself and maybe the whole list was a lie so I wouldn't try and reach out and stop her, doubting my own reality and maybe the entire list she sent me was true and she was justified in her actions.

Simultaneously trying to process intense feelings and realities if it was true and I'm really secretly a horrible monster, if it wasn't true and she was about to die, and old traumas getting dug out of the grave.

God I was such an emotional wreck and did not know how to process or understand anything that was happening.

This is where the AITA comes in -

I was pushing through back to back panic attacks trying to contact her and figure out what was going on. I didn't want her to die, if that's what was happening. I didn't want to be discarded and thrown away like a piece of trash, if that's what was happening. I didn't want to have 0 chance of learning & growing as a person even if this friendship wasn't salvageable due to my monstrous nature, if that's what was happening.

So I block evaded like fckn crazy. Gmail, pet game sites, discord, skype, deviantart, whatever online platform that we shared that had messaging enabled. I called her phone several times. On the 3-4th call, her mom picked up and told me that none of the above was true. That she wasn't about to die, that I wasn't being thrown away like trash, and that I wasn't a monster. She didn't agree with her daughters actions and thought it unfair to me, but ultimately it was my friend's choice. All simultaneously which just did not compute.

If the list she sent me was true, I was a shitty horrible person. If it wasn't, and she isn't about to die, then not be able to just have a calm sit-down conversation at some point about it and clear it up - if I wasn't worth even attempting to make that effort then I was being thrown away like trash. I kept trying for days afterwards to talk to her - just, anything at all. Nothing got through, she never responded to anything.

And... that was that.

I didn't have a chance to talk to her again. I didn't have a chance to clear up misunderstandings, or understand what I did actually wrong and where, or any sort of closure.

Sometimes if I'm remembering it and feeling paranoid, I'll check and see if she's alive by looking at her online profiles for any activity. Like, maybe once a year tops now. According to the petgame sites, she's still alive at least. I'm assuming she got new social media. Literally it's just a "is she alive, do I have to worry about causing her suicide" check, I don't stalk or look into anything further than that.

Anyway, AITA for how extensively & desperately I was block evading?

What are these acronyms?

[roopnavarro]

Octoboss-related ask: I know this is a big hypothetical but there is this story on Ao3 called 'Guardian of Gastown' which involves Octoboss becoming the ruler of Gastown after the negotiations go haywire and Dementus and his crew get captured.

In your mind, what kind of ruler would Octoboss be?

Hey there! Excellent question! Thank you so much for the ask! I’m going to check out the fic later, thanks for the rec! But I’m going to answer this question before I indulge in reading it, because I want to go in blind, and I don’t want to seem like I’m rebutting or trying to invalidate another author’s work. Whenever I give my takes, that’s never the case. I think it’s wonderful that we have this wellspring of creativity and a myriad of interpretations around this character who has like, five lines and two minutes of screentime! I’m also going to give you a primer on how I portray Octoboss and his decision-making process. Disclaimer time! Everything henceforth is PURELY my speculation on what makes this imaginary horned biker tick. So even if it sounds like I’m making a definitive statement on how he “should” think or behave, I’m not. I just want to put this disclaimer out front so I don’t have to constantly couch my language in terms like “I speculate…” and “I think that…” I’m only discussing my view on the character and how I choose to portray him in RP and fanfic. With that in mind, let’s dive in!

As mentioned prior, I portray the character in roleplay. Since roleplay is like a mix between improv acting and writing, I needed to come up with a way for him to make decisions that are reasonably consistent with what we see in canon AND reasonably easy to replicate consistently in on-the-fly storytelling AND fun to interact with for collaborative storytelling. Rambling time, but I PROMISE this is necessary groundwork to cook up the answer. So how do we delve into the mind of a guy that tortured a woman and then gets pissy when his subordinates are shot by an ally? My first belief is that Octoboss doesn’t use a moral code. There’s no list of rules he follows; instead, he looks at each situation, in its context, and does his best to make decisions that uphold/advance a guiding principle. So let’s figure out his guiding principle. — I think that principle is “Maximize good for the Mortiflyers.” “Maximize good” can mean “help them avoid harm/distress,” “provide more/better resources for them,” and anything else that could be argued to improve quality of life or reduce unhappiness. 

Therefore, his decision-making process most closely mirrors a wacky Wasteland version of Act Utilitarianism. To oversimplify this, Act Utilitarianism weighs the morality of an action based on the outcomes for the “greater good.” For Octoboss, the Mortiflyers (and the Horde, pre-rift) are the “greater good.” As he saw it, Mary Jabassa held the keys to the Green Place, and it was morally IMPERATIVE that he take them from her, in order to make a better future for the Horde, by any means necessary. Now, sure, we could get into the weeds and say the Green Place isn’t big enough to sustain them, but Octo doesn’t know that. This use of torture is actually a prime example of a common criticism of Act Utilitarianism — it justifies some VERY bad behavior if the potential outcome is good enough!

(Hilariously, Dementus also seemed to be using an Act Utilitarianism framework when deciding to sacrifice the Mortiflyers in the Trojan Horse ploy — their deaths produced a benefit for the Horde and the rest of the Mortiflyers. Octoboss realizes this, but the pain of betrayal and loss are mingling with his understanding of Dementus’ moral justification for the killings. This makes Octo fume like mad. Got bit in the ass by his own philosophy…) However, Octo’s moral framework doesn’t exist to justify cruelty. It also undergirds the gentleness and approachability that defines my portrayal of the character. It’s better for the greater good of the Mortiflyers for them all to cooperate and communicate openly. Their whole gimmick — two-person motorcycle-launched paragliders, two-person motorcycle crews, and two-person flyer/driver combos — involves cooperation and communication. Their actions seem very practiced and well rehearsed, and in order to achieve that, they need to be quite open regarding what works, what doesn’t, and what could be improved. They need to be able to say to each other “I need more speed to launch,” or “I need you to get me closer to the target,” or “When you took that sharp turn and I was up in the air, that hurt my shoulder, and now I can’t throw thundersticks right.” The Octoboss does all he can to facilitate this by leading through example. 

In terms of emotions, information, and guidance, he is very open with the Mortiflyers. He believes knowledge is meant to be shared.  He also doesn't shy away from critique if he notices a member of the gang doing something that would endanger another. And he's not the type to simply tear someone down. He'd work with the gang member to fix the bad habit or remedy the issue that's causing them to behave erratically. Similarly, he’s open to critique from his men, especially if they can explain how his actions are negatively impacting them. All of these positive traits are built upon a foundation of “gotta do what’s right for their greater good.” 

So now that we’ve got a glimpse into his decision-making process, let’s move on to discussing his approach to power. From what we see in canon, it doesn’t seem like Octoboss is ruling by force/coercion, or with an iron fist. A random Mortiflyer is brave enough to look DEMENTUS in the eyes, after getting a direct order, and say “I take orders from the Octoboss!” There’s so much conviction in his voice. It’s loyalty to Octoboss, not fear of him. There are SO many ways this scene could’ve gone. Imagine if the Mortiflyer said “N-n-no! The Octoboss will have my head if I disobey him!” But no. That’s not how it went. Instead, the Mortiflyer almost sounds like a kid saying to his stepdad, “You’re not my REAL father,” which indicates preference, affection, and loyalty to the OG dad. You don’t get that kind of loyalty by being a dick to your people. I don’t think he’s hoarding resources from them, keeping them in the dark about plans, and generally just being an authoritarian prick. He cares about them deeply, and they return his sentiment. Within the greater dynamics of the Horde, I think the Mortiflyers have a decent amount of soft power. They’ve practically got a uniform, they’re loyal, and they don’t even seem to have a numerical advantage over the rest of the squad. This brings us to a discussion of hard power vs. soft power. Hard power is rule through force and coercion — locking people up, killing people, taking stuff away from them. Soft power is the ability to influence rather than coerce/force. The Mortiflyers seem like they’d be among the elite troops of the Horde, and I wouldn’t be shocked if other horde members aspired to join them, or at least be in their good graces. This “soft power” approach will have to get a bit harder if tasked with ruling over the entire Horde AND Gastown. With these factors in mind, let’s run down some steps I think he’d take if he were left in charge of Gastown.

Distance himself from the actions of Dementus when dealing with Immortan Joe and the other members of Gastown’s high command. Submit to Joe’s rule, since that’s the route that’s least likely to result in casualties on his side. Make it known that he and his men WILL work within the system and improve operations at Gastown. Do his best to IMMEDIATELY ingratiate himself to Joe by discontinuing most non-essential generator usage and adding that gas to the trade deal, in exchange for more food and water. Promise to boost fuel production by fixing issues in the production chain. 

Once again, motivated by the best interest of the Mortiflyers, he crunches some numbers. According to Lachy Hulme’s interview with Empire, there are about 4,000 bikes in the Horde. We can safely say every bike has a rider, but some bikes have more than one rider (people riding backpack, Organic Mechanic with History Man on the back of his trike, and so forth).The Horde also suffered some losses during the confrontation with Scrotus and Rictus at the first Citadel meeting, but the majority of the Horde was out of Thunderstick throwing range. I don’t think their losses were in the 100s. So for quick and dirty math, let’s just say there are 4,000 people in the Horde. Now let’s look at Gastown’s population. Australia’s largest oil refinery employed about 1,100 workers. Gastown also drills oil, and I haven’t been able to find much solid data on how many people you need for the extraction portion. The closest ballpark number I’ve been able to get is 100-200, but *shrugs* that may be off. So let’s add on various others in Gastown (Sanitation workers, kitchen staff, medical staff, mechanics, War Boys/Polecats/Flamers, Imperators, resource managers, guards, repair workers,  Gastown nobility, misc staff, children of anyone listed here). I think it’s reasonable to estimate 2,000-ish people, in total, in Gastown. In light of this information, Octoboss would immediately realize that Gastown has a carrying capacity problem due to the influx of new residents and its limited amount of food, water, and space. He knows they trade guzzolene for food and water, but they won’t be able to up guzz production enough to pay for the food and water needed to support all the new residents, especially since the population has skyrocketed immediately. And would the Citadel even need that much fuel at once? Probably not, fuel has an expiration date and can’t be stored indefinitely. People WILL riot and starve unless the population is curbed quickly. So that brings us to the question — how would Octoboss reduce the population? Well, he understands that the Horde is full of hard-working and resourceful people with valuable skills. He’d want to brief them on the idea of being traded to another settlement, and take a tally of who can do what jobs. Who would be open to working in the Citadel gardens? How about the sick bay? Can you weld? Would you be up to cast bullets or reload rounds? How about swinging a pickaxe or working in a kitchen? Who wants to be a War Boy BUT FOR REAL THIS TIME? Naturally, some people would be resistant to this idea. He’d give them the option to return to nomadic life, but he’d give them a fair warning that anyone raiding the empire’s shipments WILL be met with lethal force. And of course, some people wouldn’t want to work with the leaders that killed Dementus and friends. If that erupted into a civil war, it would curb the population, albeit in a less-than-ideal way.

Familiarize himself with the operation. His ass does NAWT know anything about running a refinery or drilling operation! And he knows this! To better understand his duties, he’d need a tour through the facilities. He understands guzzolene production isn’t just wizardry, it takes skilled workers, and he’d defer to them when they explain the limitations of Gastown’s production capabilities.

Identify quality of life improvements needed to boost guz production. Go from being the Octoboss to the OSHAboss! Despite what some people will tell you, a safe (or at least safer) work environment is more productive. IRL, oil refineries work 24/7, 365 days per year. Accidents are common, and also slow down production (a machine isn’t gonna run right with some dude’s arm stuck in it!). Due to the constant flow of work, it’s likely that some health and safety aspects of Gastown’s oil refinery have fallen into disrepair, and could use outside help. A high turnover rate due to death/injury is a problem, because training new employees takes time and distracts from the guzzolene production process.  Glancing at some cursory work injury data, it looks like entrapment, getting hit by equipment, and falls from high places are the most common injury causes. Ventilation issues are also common, and can lead to workers getting sick and reducing productivity. Some of these issues can be remedied pretty quickly — the Mortiflyers have lots of experience working at heights, and would probably be able to rig up a pretty simple (but useful) clip and harness system for workers in fall-prone areas. Identify spots that need guardrails and other safety barriers. Employ some Horde members to go scavenge some materials to build the stuff, and get the Horde to work on these improvement projects. Poorly ventilated areas (likely understood as “places that’ll make you feel yucky if you hang out there too long”) would be baffling to Octo, but I feel like he could consult with someone to figure that out. And when it comes to providing ventilation, well… Which faction has access to large fans? And probably understands how to build and repair them? …That’s right! In other words — use the Horde to improve Gastown, because this helps the Horde integrate better. It proves the Horde’s worth.

Identify the criticisms of the old Guardian of Gastown. The former Guardian of Gastown seems like a bit of an ivory tower kinda guy. He’s clearly put a lot of time and effort into his hobbies and beautifying his personal surroundings. His clothes are clean and neat, which is an “accomplishment” considering he lives in a friggin oil refinery. Wait, did I say “accomplishment?” Nah. I mean “this man has never done a day of manual labor in his life.” There HAVE to be people that have beef with the guy, particularly the workers. Listen to the workers. Win over the workers, because unlike the nobility, they’re the actual backbone of the operation. The workers of Gastown become a part of Octo’s priorities, since their work and productivity is essential for keeping the Mortiflyers safe, fed, and housed. 

Woooowhee! Nearly 2,500 words in this response! No such thing as “Shut the Fuck Up Friday” for RoopNavarro. Writing about this makes me want to play it out in an RP or write a fic to really delve into these thoughts (although I might skip that, given that it’s likely redundant with the fic that already exists, and I never want to step on another author’s toes).

Regardless, I am ALWAYS open to answer any Octoboss questions you may have! Thanks again for dropping by and wanting my take!

[askchilchuck]

Hey, how can I help you?

(Please read below before interacting)

Hi! My name is Sophie! This blog has gotten enough traction that I feel the need to lay some ground rules for it.

1) This blog is intended to be PG13 so I don’t have to exclude younger fans from participating. I will not be answering anything that wouldn’t fly in canon, or is adjacent to it. Anything explicitly sexual, or can be construed that way will not be answered.

2) Nothing related to suicide please. I tried playing it off the first time but between myself and some people around me, even the “KYS 🥰🥰🥰” jokes really aren’t funny, especially recently. Asks including it will not be answered.

3) No firearms. Related to rule 2.

4) Please no spammy asks. I’m honestly not sure how to answer them, and they clog up both the blog itself and the main tags.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to bully him, but these things cross a line for me. Thank you for understanding.

If you’re an RP blog, you’re more than welcome to interact! Even if you’re not a Dunmeshi blog! I don’t always have the time to do reblog chains, though, so please don’t feel bad if I miss you there. It’s easiest for me if you submit RP as an ask when the box is open. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. You can also DM this account for private RP if you’d like, but I may not respond promptly.

If you want to hang out with me in a less censored area, I also run @chilfucked which is 18+ only.

I also reserve the right to update these rules as time goes on, so please check them again before submitting when the ask box is open again. Thank you!

[ceasarslegion]

The DNI that made you do math to use it?? 👀👀👀

Youre the first one who asked, so you get the answer.

This person was one of the other two weirdos from the Half Life RP discord server i teased at in this post earlier this week:

Once again, i want to disclaimer that this is not a callout post, I will not be giving any details that could be used to identify this person, and I will not be posting screenshots this time because they are still active on tumblr afaik. I dont want this to be used to bully anybody, this is just meant to be my personal experience with my specific side of this story. You can DM me directly or throw in a private answer request in an ask if you want screenshots, but only people i already know and trust not to cyberbully them will get a direct link to the DNI. The person in the story I linked is no longer active anywhere online, which is why I provided screenshots in that story.

And before i lay out the DNI details, I just want to say... there is a FINE LINE between requesting accommodations for a mental illness and infantilizing yourself. I can handle the former just fine, I will do all I can to help, but if you're a grown-ass adult babying yourself and then going "waa im autistic i cant do anything" i have ZERO tolerance for that. Buddy, I'm autistic, and I'm telling you to grow the fuck up.

Yeah, this person was one of those. They were over 18, and had public breakdowns about how everything was just soooo hard for them and everybody else was being problematic and ableist for *checks notes* asking them to wait in a line that was a little long for a new phone plan. Real example, they were screaming and crying in the vent channel because the line at a verizon store was a little long, and implying their father was ableist for asking them to wait for 20 minutes. Buddy, there are some things you JUST need to deal with in the real world regardless of whatever mental soup you have going on. If your autism is that bad, the solution is looking into things like noise canceling headphones, sunglasses, etc. But the world will not stop having lines that you just need to wait in sometimes because you dont like them.

I know that sounds harsh, but they werent exactly the type of person im willing to give the benefit of the doubt to. The majority of their problems were entirely their own fault, and they were clearly enabling and feeding the harder parts of their autism rather than doing anything in the way of learning to cope with it. I am terrified of spiders, like full on panic-inducing terrified of them, but I throw hands at them instead of running or freezing up. One time, I posted a photo of this gigantic-ass spider that was in my dorm room after I screamed and squashed it with my heavy duty winter outdoor patrol boots (im a security guard, not a cop, before anyone draws the wrong conclusion from that), and they proceeded to vague about me IN THE SAME SERVER about how problematic and insensitive i am for triggering their arachnophobia. My brother in christ when did you ever say you were triggered by spiders? Do you expect me to read your fucking mind?

Another instance was when they asked for the role to access the nsfw channel. They were over 18, so it was granted. They then got mad at us whenever we got horny on main in the sex channel because they were only there for the dirty jokes (that were posted in the main server anyway because none of us consider JOKES to be inappropriate). They literally asked for the sex channel role and then claimed we were being problematic because we talked about sex in the sex channel when they were uncomfortable with sex. And they had borderline puritan attitudes around sex. They acted like sex was icky and gross and should never be discussed around them lest it corrupt their pure innocent soul. Yeah thats your own fault chief, grow the fuck up.

Some lightning round stories: they broke up with their boyfriend purely because he liked "irredeemable media" and when said boyfriend said they were being a total dick for that, they proceeded to whine and cry that he was actually being abusive and terrible for being upset that he was dumped over the fucking movies he liked of all things. They once sat outside their little siblings recital and complained that their parents were problematic for not charging their switch enough because it died at the same recital they couldnt be assed to sit in for because "waaaa its too boring and thats bad for my autism." Didnt even TRY, just sat outside the door playing switch and then complained that their parents didnt charge their switch enough. Can you not plug something into a wall your damn self.

Needless to say, i didnt like them very much. I can handle legitimate accommodations, but they were just so self-infantilising that they gave the rest of us a bad name. Your autism is not an excuse to act like a fucking baby. You are not made of porcelain, you will not shatter at the slightest touch, being uncomfortable is a part of life youre going to have to deal with. Its not your autism at this point, youre a grown-ass adult who throws a tantrum when the line is a little long. GROW. UP.

Now that that rants over, lets get into what the DNI on their blog was like, because this behavior from them that I just outlined really contextualizes it.

Their DNI had two tiers. The first was "red flags," which meant that if you met any one of them you apparently werent allowed to interact. Of this included your typical nazis, pedophiles, terfs, and... beastars fans. No word of a lie. Being a fan of beastars was apparently just as bad as being a nazi. What did my boy legosi do to you? (Side note: i am forever enamored with how these people seem to think that theres people out there who both self-identify as nazis and would respect a DNI. I didnt even respect that DNI. I didnt interact with them because i thought they were a terrible person, but i did not take that DNI seriously. I was openly posting about beastars in the same server LMAO) and it wasn't just beastars, there was a ton of media that i didnt even know had discourse around them that they listed as red flags if you ever touched. Amazing.

The second tier was "yellow flags" which meant that you werent allowed to interact if you met any 3 or more of them. Here was mostly media, including homestuck fans, neil gaiman fans (WHAT DID NEIL DO TO YOU), and harry potter iirc. (WHY DID YOU SINGLE OUT BEASTARS?? WHAT DID MY BOY LEGOSI DO TO YOU) my favourite part of this though, was that republicans were listed under yellow flags. Apparently its worse to be a beastars fan than a republican. We arent gonna fucking make it

[cats-are-grey]

FFXXIV Directory - Ley Qunya

Art by @minoruru

Roleplay and Inspiration Blog for Ley Qunya, FFXIV RP character on Balmung (Crystal). Most things are queued. Occasionally NSFW.

Ley is the reclusive and somewhat aloof owner of Spell Bound, a small bookstore specializing in rare, powerful, or lost tomes, for those who know where to look for it.

Carrd Screenshots and Art Prompts and Asks My Art (Coming ... Eventually) Writing OOC Tumblr

Name: Ley Qunya

Age: Unspecified Adult

Nameday: 16th Sun of the 1st Umbral Moon

Race: Miqo'te (Keeper of the Moon)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Demi Bi (Polyamorous)

Relationship Status: It's Complicated

Server: Balmung

Art by @the-sycophant

Appearance: Ley is a fairly unremarkable Miqo'te, aside from the fact that she is nearly all grey. Her hair is well cared for, long and silky and cut in a straight line across her back, the silvery tone nearly identical to her skin. Paler clan markings flow across her body and marks her face, along with a small teardrop shape at her forehead.

Eyes: Grey

Favored Clothing Style: Ley's clothing preferences falls somewhere between Hobo Wild Witch and Dark Academia Prodigy.

Common Accessories: She almost always carries a tome tied to her belt.

Profession:  Rare book dealer. Author.

Hobbies: Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ley reads a lot. What may be less expected is that in her spare time, she finds a decent amount of guilty pleasure in reading romance novels, preferably with an adventure spin. She also plays the cello.

Residence: Gridania, though she spends a decent amount of time traveling

Birthplace: The Black Shroud

Patron Deity: Menphina, the Lover

Spouse: No. Marriage is not a part of her culture and while relationships are not out of the realm of possibility to her, she values her independence and mostly solitary lifestyle too much to give it up.

Children: None, and no plans for that to change.

Parents: She doesn't know her father, but she grew up in a small family clan with her mother and a couple of aunts, who co-parented all the children.

Siblings: Ley has several sisters, and while they don't always see each other a lot, it's not uncommon for them to check in on each other once in a while. She also has a brother she has not seen since he became an adult and left their clan.

Other Relatives: A bunch of cousins she also grew up with.

Pets: While not exactly a pet, Ley is often accompanied by a small faerie named Nox, and a Carbuncle. She also has a silvery Chocobo named Andraste.

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Smoking Habit: None

Drugs: It depends. Not regularly, but she can enjoy certain kinds of drugs.

Alcohol: Rarely.

Spell Bound: Ley runs a small bookstore called Spell Bound, specializing in rare and sometimes dangerous (and sometimes illegal) books, tomes, and grimoires. Appointment required.

Forged in Ink: Ley is a fairly decent forger of books and documents if she can be convinced to take on the work

Wild Steps: Ley's tribe traveled heavily through the Black Shroud, and traded with other Keeper tribes. She may be familiar to other Keepers of the Moon.

I am generally open to RP and connections, but I work a lot so I'm not always around. Contact me here on tumblr or find me in game is the best bet.

I do have a Discord and I do RP on it. I don’t give that information out right away though. I’d like to interact in game or through tumblr a few times before I feel comfortable giving that information out.

Player is +30. I am open to most kind types of RP, but please don't expect immediate romance, Ley is a pretty reserved character.

[wander-wren]

small things to stop doing in your fics

(or any kind of writing, but i live on ao3. we begin with flat-out crimes and then slowly start moving into things that just bug me personally but aren’t wrong)

epithets. if i’ve said it once, i’ve said it a thousand times. you should only be using epithets for characters whose names we do not know. they can also be used VERY rarely to break up the repetition of names/pronouns or to emphasize characters’ relationships/viewpoints, ie “his boyfriend” or “the asshole.”

writing out accents. please stop. you can include a couple of small things, like “somethin’” or “ya” (for “you”), but even keep that to a minimum. specific turns of phrase/references go way farther imo to establish a character’s culture/background/etc. a little goes a long way, and doing it repeatedly can make sentences hard to parse. this also! applies! to children and babytalk! have you ever listened to a child speak? toddlers can enunciate pretty well!

not enough commas. put commas before names and titles. it’s not “Hey John” or “I’m on it captain,” it’s “Hey, John” and “I’m on it, captain.” also, put them after discourse markers/interjections such as “well,” “so,” and “now.” you should be writing “So, how are the kids?” not “So how are the kids?” even if your character is speaking quickly, you still want the commas because of grammar. it can occasionally be acceptable to omit them if you want to indicate extreme excitement/panic/anger/etc, but use it sparingly.

too many commas. i’m a comma fiend like the rest of you so i’m guilty here too, but we gotta at least stop with the comma splices. commas split and independent and dependent clause, meaning that one part of the sentence cannot grammatically stand alone. if all parts are complete sentences on their own, that’s a comma splice. try splitting it into two sentences, using a semicolon, or rewriting. this is usually fine in dialogue, though, that’s just how people talk.

also, using a lot of commas to denote panic is something i used to be HUGELY guilty of and now i hate it. instead of, “I, I, I don’t, I don’t know,” you can try, “I-I…I don’t—I don’t know!” probably not that much punctuation that close together, but for the sake of example. emdashes and ellipses, my beloveds 🫶

roleplay speak. i don’t know what else to succinctly call this? i’m referring to the tendency to be redundant and over-explain, especially in dialogue. it’s a phenomenon i see constantly in rp circles, usually because of post length requirements (and i have little issue with it there, it’s just the culture). things like:

“Surprise!” Adam shouted, popping out from behind the door.

“Oh my god!” Scott screamed, having been completely startled and not expecting Adam to be home yet.

yeah, we can guess that Scott is startled, right? because of the screaming? and clearly if Adam is surprising Scott it stands to reason his presence is unexpected? why are we stating this twice?

i believe this also comes from the mistaken idea that every line of dialogue needs a tag attached, which is….horrible. you can let the dialogue exist on its own sometimes, friends. you can also include an action beat without a tag. like above, i could have just said “Adam popped out from behind the door” and omitted the shouting altogether. we can assume he is being loud because that’s usually how people do surprises. anyway. moving on.

condescending to readers. this isn’t so much about writing as it is author’s notes and the like, and “condescending” may be a strong word, but i’m trying to be succinct. at any rate, please stop telling your audience to not read your fic? “do not read if sensitive to [blank]” or “if you have [disorder] skip this fic!” is a horrible way to trigger warn. people know their own boundaries. tell them what the work actually contains and let them self-select.

i also find “rest stop/check-in” type notes condescending, like “if you are reading this between the hours of 10pm-4am, go to sleep” and “STOP! have you eaten/drank/walked around in the past few hours? go do that!” again, we know ourselves. i’m not your kid, don’t tell me what to do. i don’t mind a polite, casual little “thanks for reading, remember to drink water and take your meds, bye” note, though.

the others in this category? i will straight up not read the fic over that on some days. ESPECIALLY because, in my experience, the people who are most intense about warning for every little thing are the ones with the mildest fics, and that’s not what i’m here for.

complaining about your own wrong tags. this is, admittedly, such a nitpick, and it definitely is more common in certain communities than others. but as longtime followers may know, i’m a bit obsessed with ao3’s tagging system and it drives me BONKERS when people use the wrong tags and follow it with “not actually but there’s no tag for xyz.” here’s the thing: you can still look at all the works that have ANY tag, just the non-canonized ones can’t be filtered on. and the best way to get a tag canonized is, guess what, to USE it! imagine that. also, if you’re using the wrong tag, you’re just going to clog the filter results and get people who don’t actually want to read your fic. just stop.

[desisailormoon]

It is modern day Tokyo. Years have passed since the Dragon War. Faux allyships between Ghoul and Mankind have crumbled like castles under poor leadership and glorified silver linings. From the ashes rose tired, angry, and vengeful ghouls that were given fragile promises and hope at living a normal life.

The TSC and CCG are now at war. The CCG believes that it is their rightful title as Japan's proper justice division. The wards have been distorted in chaos, as constant warring over Tokyo's wards appear to be never-ending.

OCs and canon characters are both welcome!

[angeart]

You know I gotta bite on hhau, I gotta, its actually a Need. Whats this in the tags about Kane having to step between Scar and Grian??? 👀

-🎀

ehehe. okay it sounds dramatic but—

it's actually from that whole Night For Living. the vex celebration? bonfire and music and games? late into that, with everyone drunk and their judgement impaired, there was a bit where scar and grian fooled around, being a bit silly, as they got ready to dance. on scar's request, one that grian wanted to fulfill, to make him happy! to be good for him.

but it was an Emotionally Dense Night, and some well-intended things went over an invisible line.

maybe kane misread the tension at first, when grian flapped his wings. when he stumbled from scar. when he edged towards him.

but with anxiety primed to fire and scar dramatically pretending to pout and be sad, sulking all too exaggeratedly about how all he wanted was to dance, being let down by his mate...

well. let's just say there was enough emotional turmoil before in the night for this to set grian a bit off. and at this time, kane is unusually attuned to catch onto any of grian's distress, especially as it piles up hint by hint until it seems Too Real, and he gets protective about it.

here's a teeny tiny rp snippet from scar's pov:

[Grian]'s with Kane, who’d clearly pick a fight with any vex at this party to protect Grian (including Scar himself). Maybe Grian needs that. Maybe he needs the space, maybe Scar really did push the joke too far—

nothing big really happens, but the protectiveness is there, and it feels vital. kane keeps grian close, but free to make his own choices, wings flared out in threat and glaring at scar, to let him know he'd defend the avian if it was necessary.

it's not necessary.

but scar is grateful anwyay, to know that there are people who'd keep him in check. people who'd stand up for grian. make sure he's safe and doing okay. that's important. that matters.

[osric-giroux-ffxiv]

On Integrity - OOC

Hi there,

Normally I don't do this sort of thing, and I assure you - if you follow this blog for OC content, you'll be back to your regularly scheduled content sooner rather than later (the broody boy will be back shortly, I promise). But for a moment, let's take a step down memory lane and let me tell you a quick story.

In early 2013 I was in my second to last semester of grad school and taking one of my last elective courses. It wasn't a terribly trying course, but it did require a group project with a presentation and a paper (because of course it did).

Shouldn't be a big deal, right? We're all graduate students - some of us just about to graduate, some of us just starting out in our programs, but no one in the class was brand new to college. We all knew the rules.

Cite your sources. Don't plagiarize. Have integrity.

Fast forward to two days before the paper is due and before we have to present in front of the class - one of my group members and myself were on the doc reviewing our parts when I (being a perfectionist) decided it might be a good idea just to check and see how the rest of the paper was looking - make sure things were in order...and noticed that one of the group members either had some amazingly technical writing skills (well above what one might expect for someone who was in their first semester of a graduate program)...or there was a problem.

And oh boy was there a problem.

When compared to the source material it was a word for word match.

And I lost my shit.

Keep in mind...I'm ALMOST DONE with my Masters, and if I hadn't caught this? There goes that degree.

I pointed it out to the other group member on the doc at the time, and between the two of us we managed to re-write the paper, citing the sources properly and without the plagiarism.

Went to class a two days later to present, and guess who didn't know their shit to present - if you're guessing our plagiarizing friend, you'd guess correctly.

I knew enough of the material to pull the group across the finish line - and myself and the other member who had been on the doc a couple days before had a chat with the professor after class was over.

Whatever happened to that other group member - I couldn't tell you, but what I can tell you is that their actions (and inaction) told me quite a bit.

So what does any of this have to do with ANYTHING on this blog? It comes down to integrity.

Doing the right thing when no one is looking.

In the academic world, there are very real consequences for taking someone else's work and claiming it as your own. I almost paid the price for someone doing just that on a project I happened to be assigned to with them.

In an RP setting, there's not a penalty for doing that kind of thing, at least not in the same sense - we just have to hope that people have the integrity and the honesty not to do that to one another.

There are so many stories out there to be told - so many characters to create.

And at the end of the day - I know every person who has an OC has put thought and effort into their characters (can we really quantify how much?) - but we each have to do just that...put in individual work.

It's one thing to be inspired by someone - but do the legwork, put in the effort...do the right thing when no one is looking.

This is a hobby that we all engage in, there are people on the other side of the screen. Respect yourself and the people around you. Be kind to yourself and the people around you.

There's no penalty in the RP world - but a little honesty goes a long way.

Thanks for listening/reading - be wonderful to one another.

[peachjagiya]

https://x.com/tekookmoments/status/1811810379804135873

Tbh I do kinda agree with what this appytappy person is sayin. They are all(comp+members) very aware of what goes on in the fd. It's not like shippers are new or just limited to their little corner. They are pretty loud, have been so since the beginning. I think if the people involved aren't much affected by the narrative that has been set for them for years now, then we are no one to police the people who joke about it 🤷🏻‍♀️

Oof this is complicated.

I have a lot of disjointed seemingly contrasting thoughts on this so bear with me.

I am not terribly offended by jokes about them having sex. As I've said before, I'm pretty difficult to shock and this seems like nothing compared to what I'm used to. I do not like the low key thread of puritanical sex-shaming inherent in "this is DISGUSTING," when it's literally like "they're having gay sex!"

But...

You make these jokes at a risk of criticism. RP shipping or even just RP fandom always carries a risk that you're crossing a line. I'm going to talk about the way I personally talk so I don't seem like I think I'm immune to this critique.

I make a joke about His Royal Thighness Namjoon, right? I am aware there are some people who might find it to be objectifying. I skirt that line knowingly and prepared to face the consequence of someone saying "don't you think that's a bit like objectifying him?"

Because they're right, aren't they? Maybe I defend my right to say stupid stuff on the internet and maybe I'm not necessarily going to stop because finding someone attractive is hardly a crime but I'm certainly not going to tell the person who finds it objectionable that they're wrong. I'm going to recognise the thin ice and balance it with more considered narrative.

And...

I would be mortified if even my most innocuous commentary broke containment and the members saw. This goes for individual members pr subunits, management, bodyguards, staff, close friends and acquaintances of the members.

I'm well aware that they see stuff. But the idea of them seeing stuff certainly keeps me in my place when it comes to defending my words. I'm not posting about Namjoon's thighs to weverse or in the comments of live or on his instagram and the mindset of a person who can flood lives with inappropriate questions will remain baffling to me.

Which leads to the bigger issue and the most visceral ick reaction I had to this...

There's an implication of victim-blaming here.

Trigger warning: small undetailed mention of sexual assault in the section between purple 🟣

"They're aware of the things we say and they still do it so it's on them" is gross. You dance around the boundaries of proper behaviour, write the sexual things and they now can't go anywhere near each other? Think how that sounds.

🟣 It might seem like a big leap from that to "she wore a short skirt therefore wanted to be SA'd" but it's the small pernicious ideas that create the ethos that allows that disgusting logic to thrive. 🟣

They could literally be kissing on screen and you don't get to say "Eh they're ok with anything I say then."

Literally how does Jimin (or JK, whichever it is) moving from sitting to sleeping in a bed seemingly by himself result in sexual discussion anyway? Let alone sexual discussion that they've kidded themselves into believing he himself is "okay with" because he dared to *checks notes* be in a bed? They've sexualised a guy laying down. That's absolutely not on him and I despise the accusation that he's feeding it. He is not complicit because they can't act right.

So...

Do it if you must. But do it knowing some people are going to think you're an idiot.

Some people are going to roll their eyes. They need to recognise that fundamentally, they're doing the inappropriate thing. Nobody is actually taking away their freedom to say dumb stuff on the internet and have fun with their internet friends... but a little humility wouldn't go amiss.

But whatever you do, leave the they love it argument at home. Or in the trash where it belongs.

And finally..

Why do they think a camera crew is filming them making out? PLEASE BEHAVE.

[capsekai]

RP Prompts:

Inspired by Random Lyrics Edition to get people started! Disclaimer: We probably aren't that good at this, we just figured we'd chime in for funsies.

What is it about them - I must be missing something...

Can you check your uber rating?

And i'm lying now, like a child in your arms, what is this feeling?

Wake up, earn a little money, but is the hustle free?

You should see me in a crown, i'll rule you until my dying day

If I could change the way that you see yourself

But when I wake up, I see, the world beyond you

Just say that I'm not your preferred sexual orientation

If teardrops could be bottled, there'd be swimming pools filled by models

Every time I feel the need, I envision you caressing me..

You always smile but in your eyes your sorrow shows

You came to my window on a dark and stormy day

Emptiness is filling me... to the point of agony

Shadows of you keep washing over me

Look, you know it's harder to find my mind in these times

Was hopin' I could catch you throwin' smiles in my face

You live in the dark, I cannot pretend

Said you wanted to see me thrive, but is it a lie?

I need to sit down, don't mean to make demands, but can you clarify?

If I gave you everything and everything is what I bought

I don't have no clue, ain't no me without you

Get your soldiers, tell 'em I ain't layin' low

Is there a word for bad miracle?

What would you trade the pain for?

This city always hangs a little bit lonely on me

I found the cure to growing older

Am I more than you bargained for yet?

Find a safe place, brace yourself, bite your lips

Why can you read me like no one else?

Where you've been lost, between the lines of eternity

The next time the phone can wring my neck

It's only therapy.

Long ago, you used to want me

This room won't be open, until the event you're searching for happens

if it makes you happy, then why the hell are you so sad?

If we are nothing more than dreamers

If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago, i might not be alone

You know how us Catholic girls can be

If I jump in this fountain, will I be forgiven?

And THATS IT, that is your random extreme sides of my not paying attention to RPC prompts even tho I run @midnyte-muses. XD

Have fun playing connect the dots to my piss poor music catalog.

If you LIKE The crazy, feel free to ask for more <3

[resident-paranormal-researcher]

'And quantum physics suggests we become a part of the fabric of the universe.'

Hey, it's Phoebe Spengler. Part time student, part time Ghostbuster. I thought I'd try starting a blog and interacting with people in order to get a little more social interaction into my day (at Trevor's suggestion). So- ask me anything, I guess.

Guidelines and other stuff (please read before interacting):

-This is a Phoebe askblog! I'll be posting answered asks as well as little posts in between about her day and her thoughts :)

-This is a completely independent blog! I'm aware there are others on the site with other storylines (and they're amazing go check them out), but to avoid any confusion, I just want to clarify that this one is entirely independent of said other storylines with other Phoebe blogs!

-Of course, since the character and I are both minors, I ask for no NSFW of any nature in the interactions (general ship stuff is okay! I just ask that no one is weird about it)

-I'm okay with interacting with other rp blogs in the franchise! (As long as it makes vague canonical sense of course- and as long as I'm not disrupting any other plotline with other askblogs! Which is basically a rephrase of the second point I made but I feel like it had to be said like that too-)

-I'll be using separate tags for 'answered asks' and 'Phoebe's thoughts' (might introduce some more down the line but those will be the initial blog tags)

-I have never done one of these before so this is a completely new experience for me- but! I'm extremely excited- I absolutely adore these characters and I'd be absolutely honoured to be a part-time Phoebe

Anyway, that's all, I think? Canon wise, this is intended to be set after the events of Frozen Empire :)

Thank you for reading!

[neuroses]

sending out yet another 1x1 discord rp call (21+) — as someone who has literally only read one sarah j. maas book i don’t have the right to be so obsessed with period/fantasy/royal plots and yet here we are … !

if you’re into soap opera level twists and storylines and doing a ridiculous amount of world building and me sending dms at odd hours of the day, please check out these three semi-fleshed out plots under the cut that i’d love to explore :’)

a romance between a leader of an underground rebellion and the prince/princess: muse a is a high ranking guard at the palace and has been assigned to watch over muse b, but muse a is actually working as a mole for an underground rebellion against muse b’s corrupt parents ! think slow burning and yearning and muse a having complicated feelings about how different muse b’s life is from theirs, muse b coming to grips with how sheltered they’ve been their entire life, maybe muse b gets thrown into an arranged marriage and that’s a whole other plot line we have them navigate … so much potential i would lose mind if you gave me this plot quite frankly !

a second-born prince/princess hiding from their family in a sleepy little village: muse a is a slightly spoiled royal who’s upset with how controlling their family has become as they’ve gotten older—so one night they run away to a small village in a neighbouring town to stay with their old governess and get away from how suffocating the court is and stay somewhere where nobody really knows who they are and they meet the governess’ child, muse b (who might be a baker, a librarian, any profession that could plausibly be one of the villagers in beauty and the beast) who’s initially put off by muse … but they end up falling in love but there’s sm drama because muse b still doesn’t know muse a is royalty, the king and queen are looking for muse a omg do you see the vision …

the classic pirate kidnaps the prince/princess: muse a is a notorious pirate who accidentally targets a royal ship that muse b happens to be on ! muse a is honestly very annoyed that they’ve taken on a captive because they think they’re much more work than they’re worth and it’s not really their crew’s mo to have captives at all, muse b is meanwhile delighted because they’ve grown up so sheltered and have been a goody two-shoes all their life and this is the first time they’re ever seeing the world ! muse a is a notorious rake and class a-asshole but they become so protective over muse b, muse b cleaning muse a’s wounds … i’m frankly screaming

ps. we could have it so the second and third plots are mixed together so the royal sneaks onto the pirate ship to travel the world !

like, dm, send a carrier pigeon, etc. if you’re interested in any of these ! i typically write m/f and f/f, bonus points if you let me write aaron taylor-johnson, tommy martinez, michael evans-belling, sam claflin and/or you write sofia boutella, adeline rudolph, alisha boe, sydney park <3

[someoneihavelovedbutneverknown]

PROJECT DAYDREAM

HELLO. YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN A ROLEPLAY PROJECT BY THE NAME OF PROJECT DAYDREAM.

PROJECT DAYDREAM WILL BE A RECREATION OF THE ICONIC STORYLINE OF THE DREAM SMP, WITH YOUR OWN CHARACTER HAVING THE PROSPECT OF TAKING THE PLACE OF A CHARACTER FROM THE ORIGINAL STORY.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, DM ME [Spore] ABOUT ROLES.

I WILL BE UPDATING ROLES AS THEY ARE TAKEN BELOW AND THE CONFIRMATIONS WILL BE IN THE WEEK BETWEEN OCTOBER 1ST AND 7TH.

REQUIREMENTS:

You will commit to your role. Once you tell me what role you want there is a very little chance I’ll change it so you better be happy with your choice.

A general knowledge of the role you’re playing. If you’re playing Wilbur or Ranboo’s character, you should know that you’d be playing their ghost version and revived version if they get revived; if you’re playing Fundy you may want to make yourself familiar with his cannon nightmares.

A light attitude! This whole rp thing is supposed to be fun, and if somebody is doing anything that makes you uncomfortable or threatening you, come to me immediately.

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

We will be ideally going through the entire DSMP storyline, from the start to end. You’re welcome to change plot lines to create an alternate timeline, but it is crucial to communicate that with everybody (especially me) to ensure that everybody is on board with it. This is a great time to fuse your character making and playing abilities with your knowledge of your blorbo!

To word it a bit better, you’re creating an original character who will take the role of a specific DSMP character.

Let’s say I create this character called Elle Woods (i’m a basic bitch okay), and she’s in the role of Jack. She’s gonna go through his part of the story and essentially fill in all his role. She’ll be a part of all of Jack’s arcs, and I’d play her out. She doesn’t have to do everything by book, but that’s specified above. Also, your character doesn’t have to be exactly like the original role’s character by any means. Certain things that are species specific such as the enderwalk can be either adapted to your character or even taken out or substituted (I have my limits, but you gotta talk to me before we both know them).

When is the last time to register?

OCTOBER 1st

The rp will be starting on the 7th of October, and I will be letting you guys know your roles in that week, giving you a week to prepare. Use it.

EXTRA INFORMATION:

You need to make a new blog for this

All the role playing will be happening here on Tumblr, and you’ll be doing reblog chains

There is no Discord bc I don’t have it and idk if my parents are cool with me getting it (strict parents amirite), but if you wanna make a server that’s cool with me but please check with me beforehand seeing as I am kinda modding for it

This is open for everybody, no matter the rp experience! I’ve been in a few rps myself (though this is my first time running one), and I’d love to see some people branch out their horizons! It’s all about good fun

You’re welcome to play multiple characters if you’re willing to dedicate to it! Just DM me about it like everything else :D

In no way am I or this project associated with Dream, the actual Dream SMP, or any of the ccs involved. I am just a fan with an itch to rp and to watch ppl rp.

I am not planning on involving Tales From The SMP, but if the person playing Karl’s role or anybody else would like to organize it separately from the main project then be my guest

Oh yeah this ain’t gonna be clean by any means lmaoooooooo (if you really wanna pull a sex scene i’m not against it just please tell everybody that ur gonna do it for our collective sanity)

As a second to the thingy above, if you REALLY wanna play out a sex scene, it is highly advised you keep it to the DMs unless it’s agreed on that it’s…central to the plot ig…if everybody who’s on board with the project in the end doesn’t mind it, then cool, but please check with everybody. Better safe than sorry.

“Spore how tf do we communicate without a discord-“ if you really need to talk to everybody at once, make a post and tag everybody in it

If you have any specific needs or concerns (sex repulsed, trauma from certain topics, etc) please communicate that with me so that we can create a fun roleplay experience for everyone. We can get into technicalities when you DM me about it, but I will likely share it as an announcement to the entire group.

(@mean-gills @championofapollo @jinxneedssleep @apricityxys @medlabmech i’m just tagging y’all for signal boost and sign up bc nobody seems interested and i’m sad)

ROLES THAT ARE TAKEN (this will be updated as more people receive roles, and I’ll be linking their urls so if you wanna wrestle your blorbo outta their hands I don’t have to be the messenger. be nice kids):

Phil - me

Charlie - me

Sam - me

Techno - @apricityxys

Tommy - @mean-gills

Ranboo - @mean-gills

Wilbur - @championofapollo

Dream - @chocolate-milk

Niki - @azurecake16

Quackity - @azurecake16

Tubbo - @epicaxolotls

Eret - @x-ca1iber

Schlatt - @epicaxolotls

BBH - @chocolate-milk

Fundy - @chocolate-milk