#also USE REFERENCES!! again!! i use them way less than i should dont be like me in that regard

[rookflower]

do you have any tips or tutorials for anatomy and poses? you always make it look natural and fluid!

hiya! I'm not really a professional so take this all with a wee grain of salt, but beyond the two common tips of "practice" and "use references" that I would second, I find it's always helpful to keep the skeletal structure of legs in mind when coming up with poses for cats! Simplified, a quadruped's legs look something like below- keeping these joints etc in mind, you can then push poses while keeping limbs (vaguely) on model!

I usually start a sketch by laying out a pose, planning where I want to put these Z-shaped legs, as well as aspects like a character's head, muzzle, ears, and tail. Think about expression here too- is your character feeling tense or relaxed? Shy or confident? Grumpy or cheerful? Try to accommodate for what you want to get across in posture, stance, and tail position.

Then, build over that guideline and add details!

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Sorry pls ignore my last ask BPP. Your point about Seven being the 'Dynamite' equivalent in solo era is a good one and explains the treatment it got. After the BB article I also now understand why BH dropped LC. If BB believed the LC record was 'tainted' with Chinese cash and BH never had that 'Dynamite' promotion plan for it, everything that's happened makes sense. But it still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. I can't wash it out. Are we now at the mercy of BB's whims? Also don't you find the support for Seven excessive? Is the elimination of direct to consumer sales enough to explain that kind of support to keep it number 1? I'm just trying to understand how the company is thinking about things without victimizing the members. They all seem to be still working with purpose so I feel they don't feel shortchanged, but from the outside looking inside it doesn't feel fair.

*

Ask 2:

Hi BPP,

Re: bb article

1. Do you think there will be additional changes coming, making sales even less relevant for bb charts?

2. I absolutely hate that it is again Jimin that takes the brunt of all this bulshit, I really do. He doesnt deserve this at all. But he is strong, he will be OK. That being said, its making me really upset IRL, so I will have to do some me time.

3. I would be interested to know your outlook on BB as a whole when it comes to BTS and their future in US market (if you have talked about this pls refer me to the post)

My opinion is, that while BB is paramount when it comes to big awards season, eventually BB and the awards themselves serve as a kind of promotion, to validate the artist to their (potential) fanbase, keep them invested etc. BTS guys do all of that on their own, with their music, personalities and lyrics. So going forward, if they dont chart as much, dont win as much... It will not matter in the long run. Their fan base is so solid that I trully believe they will have no problem selling multiple stadium stops 25 years from now. Easily.

There will be a significant fandom fall off, when all the people who are here for bragging rights lose their interest. And that is a good thing... But the people who will stay, who love the guys for who they are and for their art, those whose love does not depend on how many grammy noms or BB H100 they recieve... These people will stay and buy the tickets. And their numbers will still be enourmous. Enviable. More than the majority of the western industry plants can only dream of.

Rant over. Have a good weekend

*

Ask 3:

The latest Billboard discussion is disheartening, but the NYT article description of U.S. conservatives aping the tactics of Swifties and BTS fans to get their nefarious messaging across is even more so. Have we opened the gate for the Trumpsters of the world?

I was struck by this partvof the original question to you"

'... figure out a way to truly determine which songs are most popular (whatever that even means anymore)....'

So, how can we ever know what is truly popular? Are fervent fans willing to devote time and resources to get their fave to the top really the best arbiters? Even if they number in the millions, we are still looking at support that is far deeper than it is wide.

I mean, better than the suits deciding, I guess? Or is it just another group--this one outside of the target country--imposing their agenda on the population? One has the goal of making money; the other of winning a fan war.

So, how do we ascertain what is truly popular with the much-vaunted GP? Or doesn't it matter?

***

I've said many times on this blog that I'm not a writer, and that English isn't my first language, so I suppose it's unsurprising that despite my efforts putting my thoughts to paper/Tumblr, I'm still unable to fully communicate it in a way people understand right away, to eliminate/answer a lot of questions that I believe should be clear to infer from what I've written before. So rather than write a massive post like before where my key points could get lost, I'll pick out key questions from your asks and give fairly brief answers to each one. I'll work my way from the top, down.

Hi Anon(s),

Select answers below:

"Also don't you find the support for Seven excessive? Is the elimination of direct to consumer sales enough to explain that kind of support to keep it number 1?"

I think the results speak for itself. Dynamite and the PET got what is easily the biggest support any BTS release had gotten to date at the time - all of it tailored to mirror how American labels promoted their tracks, *and* the fandom had D2C sales buttressing it as the primary support mechanism. Like, please read that sentence again and think about what it means. Sales are the easiest and most transparent way for the fandom to influence charts, and so was always preferred for ARMY. Even if you weren't in the fandom then, understand it's impossible to overstate how much D2C sales mattered. With that now out of the question, everything we're seeing for Seven for me feels like a given, especially after the Billboard article.

"Do you think there will be additional changes coming, making sales even less relevant for bb charts?"

Yes. But not 'less relevant' in a sense, more like differentiated and treated as its own thing, perhaps in a separate chart.

"I would be interested to know your outlook on BB as a whole when it comes to BTS and their future in US market (if you have talked about this pls refer me to the post)"

This probably requires its own post but the long-short of it is: just like Ticketmaster, Billboard is only one arm of one of the largest private monopolies in the US entertainment market - PMC, and as such they serve as gatekeepers of sorts. Their interest in BTS (and k-pop by extension) lies primarily in how they can profit off the group/fandom, which so far BigHit and ARMY have created very limited avenues for. BigHit's strategy until now has been to expand BTS's reach without relying on the PMC apparatus, using it only for select releases that are explicitly tailored for it e.g. Seven and PET. While I don't think this strategy will change dramatically, every change from BB is to force more compliance with their apparatus. BTS will continue facing handicaps from PMC so long as BigHit continues limiting how PMC can profit from BTS for each release. (This sentence makes sense in my head but if it's not clear, please let me know.)

*

"Have we opened the gate for the Trumpsters of the world?"

Well, yeah. But ARMYs can't take all the credit. After all, ARMYs are only doing what the Bey Hive and Swifties have been doing for almost a decade with none of the scrutiny. BTS, more than any other group, actually has the absolute numbers in demand and grassroots support to justify it as they're comparable to the afore-mentioned artists, proven by their concert showings not just in the US but worldwide, as far back as 2018. People only started paying attention to ARMYs' movements because BTS didn't look like the sorts of people they expected to see at the top of the charts. Everybody took notice, including a political faction in the US that in recent years has moved more aggressively into the entertainment sphere to influence culture, such as Ben Shapiro's entertainment empire, movies like Sound of Freedom topping box office charts, and conservative country singers pushing Reagan-esque talking points to the top of music charts. So it's basically the result of timing and opportunity.

"So, how can we ever know what is truly popular? Are fervent fans willing to devote time and resources to get their fave to the top really the best arbiters? ... how do we ascertain what is truly popular with the much-vaunted GP?"

I've talked about this before I think. You can find my views on it in my Masterlist, and I've linked the post here.

*

People sent in more asks on BB but I've since lost interest in this topic and will post my responses when I feel like it, much later, using the same format I've used to answer the asks above. The truth is that while I understand why many people feel like everything that's happened so far with Seven and Jimin is unfair, I think a lot of the discourse is awfully reductive, actually does a disservice to Jimin and BTS, and that there's a much bigger picture here that's more consistent with how BTS has operated for the last 10 years.

This is probably not the best analogy, but one way I think of BTS is like a Swiss army knife, with each member being a separate tool. And that at different points, in various markets, BigHit and BTS are testing various approaches to expand their reach while aiming to maintain the market share they've gotten so far. The group has always had projects they release that have more artistic merit and cache, versus projects made by all appearances to be purely for commercial purposes to expand the reach of the group. For example, consider how BigHit promoted Butter/Permission to Dance, compared to the BE album, or how Seven was created and promoted relative to Indigo. To go back in even further in previous years, I remember how BTS appeared to center Jimin in Blood, Sweat & Tears era to build out his and their presence in Korea, and Taehyung in DNA era where his and BTS's presence in China ballooned in 2017.

While in the solo era some people feel like every accomplishment remains solely with individual members, I feel everything serves only one purpose: to further establish the group. Because by BTS's own words, they all have their individual ambitions, they've always had that and each member is aggressively competitive on that note, but they've each all said that their priority remains the group. Not everybody likes that, not everybody believes them when they say it, but the good thing with BTS is that they plan in multi-year stints and time always reveals what the facts of the matter are. We're only one year into Chapter 2, and while certain parts of the fandom are treating their solo debut albums as the be all and end all, I don't think there's anything to suggest this perspective lines up with the reality of how BTS has behaved for the last 10 years. I could be wrong, but either way we're just going to have to wait and see. In the meantime, I believe there's significant artistic merit in what the guys are putting out in Chapter 2, that I hope isn't lost in the noise. The fandom should do a better job of bringing the attention back to this, rather than a tunnel-vision on performance metrics that only tell half of the story.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

While it's understandable why they are telling him to stop the Todorokis including Shoto never make it seem like they want Toya back but only ever project the family's problems onto him. Like even when Endeavor finally sees Toya it is only when Toya can't really see him anymore and is in a delusional state due to his fire frying his own brain. I know they are finally releasing their pent up feelings but why is Toya always on the receiving end?

BTW I feel they see Shoto as the family hero because he actually puts in the emotional labour into actually reuniting the family and NOT looking away while the rest of them always looked away until now.

I hope Toya gets a happy ending and not simply seen as the family scapegoat/regret.

@rainygirl2399 Yeah.

Though, i think they all want Touya back, i think Shouto and Rei are the only ones who actually have hope for this. Fuyumi and Natsuo love their brother and they clearly were traumatized by his death. Thats why Fuyumi said she doesnt want to lose anyone else and thats why Natsuo felt guilty for not listening his brother even after all those years. For them, Touya is still dead.

I do understand why they couldnt help Touya in the past though, Rei was loosing it because she was treated as baby making machine and kids were just kids. They did their best in their own way at that time but i hope they can start seeing that Touya being Dabi is hope for them to become a family again.

But for Rei and Shouto, its different. Which makes sense. For Rei, she is not Touya's sibling, its his mother. She had a mentalbreakdown and hurted Shouto without meaning it so she know what its like to loose yourself. She knows that she let him down, and she wont make the same mistakes again. Thats why she still refered him as his son and apologised for his actions. Thats why she is here to save him.

And with Shouto, one because he was Earlyroki before so he knows that 'dark, revenge feeling' personally. He is hero who has job to save people so for him dealing with villains is part of the job, especially if it his brother. And once again, he is hero because he is familiar to the world of villains more than his family. Meanwhile his family are just civillians, normal people.

I think they all want Touya back, even Endeavour but they dont seem to have much hope, except Shouto and maybe Rei too. And once again, he is the black sheep of the family.

'Dont take them away too, big brother because you are dead anyway'.

'Stop causing any more trouble, brother!'

'You are not gonna hurt any more people!'

'Just kill me, Touya, make me the only one you kill'

Like, if they really want to stop him, they should use better words to reach out to him, instead of leaving him behind again.

And Rei's Shouto is our hero speech....even though, Fuyumi and Natsuo did their best to help their mother all of those years....they should be considered as hero too. Touya is the only one who stand up to Endeavour and the world that Endeavour get away so he is a hero in a way too. Not only they are putting the burden on the 'golden child of the family' but also, making others seem less heroic only because they didnt become hero as job or because they didnt born with right power. This is why Rei and others going to help Touya together is a lot meaningfull than Shouto's doing everything alone because anyone can be hero.

[egg-emperor]

if you dont mind me asking, how much is your eggman shrine worth (in pounds)??? not meaning to be nosy, i just want to make a collection of a character myself and idk how much money to put aside for it!!! thank you!

oh god I'm not sure because I don't keep individual track of how many pieces I have in my collection! reminds me that I really should make a list and count the next time I take the entire thing down to rearrange again and maybe add price estimates. I can't trust myself to count them accurately when they're all squeezed together like this XD

I can say at least £1000, maybe a bit more but I can't imagine too much more than that. many of the pieces I got were around £20 at the lower end, £50/60 on the higher end and the highest I've spent on a piece was £150ish, so I think it all adds up to about that much. I don't remember a bunch as I've been collecting since 2010 and some of the prices increased since I got them.

sorry that I can only give a rough estimate. it really depends on what kind of merch you're seeking of the character and also where you're getting it from. unfortunately all of my favorite Eggman merch is older and rare and often costs me a lot for that. also the way most merch of him is only in the US and the import charges for shipping here, or other places another times, can get crazy

if you're getting merch of a character that actually has the stuff you want still in production, within your country, widely available and not rare, it could be quite a bit less depending on what you want. I was just doomed to have the most expensive tastes because I love Eggman who has a lot of rare merchandise as it's often stocked much less than other characters lol

sorry that I couldn't be more precise, some time in the future I'll try to give a more certain reference when I have the spoons to rearrange it again and calculate it properly but hopefully this might help a little in you making a decision. good luck with collecting and building your own shrine! may it be as big and beautiful as mine hehe

[dapg-otmebytheballs]

Okay while i dont think that they are extremely rich, i do think their networth is well over a couple million, mainly just bc there is no way their house is worth less than a million pounds. A house like that? In london? It would not be cheap. Like they dont earn enough to live off it for the rest of their lives, but i also would not say they were struggling by any means. I mean they were able to go 5 years without many significant career endeavors and buy a house during it.

Oh yeah they aren't struggling whatsoever, they are one of the "successful" YouTubers, and they've had more steady income from other sources too, like the radio show. These guys very much are middle class (hence them making bougie jokes- bougie has always referred to middle class), being able to afford a house and all. But that's basically the point of that post, that people who aren't constantly financially struggling and people who have disposable income aren't the same as quote unquote "rich" people.

We're talking in terms of class analysis, yeah? The category of "rich" when used in such phrases as 'eat the rich' is convenient insofar as it helps us categorise the people for whose benefit a capitalist system works, whose interests are being taken into account when making policy, and who horde resources and mooch off of the labour of others. When we're just joking amongst ourselves it's understood what you mean when you call your middle class friends rich, or when you call YouTubers of this status rich (and again, they aren't even like Mr Beast levels of rich, who in turn isn't Hollywood A-listers level rich, who in turn aren't capitalist pig Bezzos level rich). But with a lot of people getting more involved in online activism these concepts are getting blurred and our perceptions of class are affected.

So while I've seen no one from like, our fandom do this, I've seen this happen to other YouTubers (and a friend and I were just talking about it today so it was on my mind) where people who haven't taken the time to understand class divides very well think that internet celebrities are genuinely hand to heart rich rich. On the same level as rich when we say the ruling class the elite the exploitative rich class. Except they aren't. They're middle class and upper middle class people. Even the millionaires amongst them are a far far cry from billionaires (we've seen the graphics explaining the massive difference between a million and a billion of course). And that skewed idea of "disposable income/being able to afford a house or good phone or bathtub or [insert item associated with Richness] means that this person is Rich" becomes dangerous when applied to clear political action in terms of class divide. Because then we're viewing these YouTubers as being the class that has their interests taken care of and are the ones exploiting people, rather than industry workers who are getting exploited by companies like YouTube.

And people very much are taking it too far, like that person who said John Boyega can't talk about class struggles and exploitation because he's also 'the rich'. He isn't. And these YouTubers aren't either but skewed ideas of what wealth looks like drives online hordes to view the wrong people as the enemy or as the exploitative class.

When talking about "the rich" we should be thinking about the capitalists. Blurring these classes is an issue precisely because people online are now engaging with artists and creators with great contempt, entitlement, and misdirected "eat the rich seize their resources" calls to action.

Btw not at all saying you should stop making jokes about them being rich lol, that's again, something we understand as "they have monies now" amongst ourselves. It's more to understand and know how to counter any misdirected rage of the sort we've seen lot of other internet celebrities and actors face. Idk how clear I've made this but feel free to follow up with me!

[neptune-ian]

meant to add for my ask about relationships / soulmates etc. that society has made it so complex nowadays in terms of finding a partner, I do think older generations had it easier in that area as they did not have to try so hard and I do think so many women or girls try so hard to get guys attention or say they maybe want to manifest idols being their relationships it is like no one tries being single anymore or everyone is in such a hurry to get a partner even if they are young or naive. I kind of laugh sometimes when theres young idols and tarot readers make it sound like they go through girls faster than tissues if I were them dating would be the last thing on my mind as they have eons of time to date later on in life but again I think fomo is so real these days.

If someone else has an item then everhone else has to have it as well, if someone else has a partner then so many others want a partner and if someone else looks a certain way then everyone else tries to look or dress that way. like people are scared of being by themselves or if they dont have a clique they dont belong somewhere or if they dont have a relationship they must be always on trend or they have to have latest brand names, so no one tries to stand out anymore or just be themselves. and even tho we are often told to be ourselves it does fuck all to be honest cause like no ones going to give u any attention cause someone else will always be trying to get it instead

I remember being in school and seeing so many girls just getting into makeup and thinking I dont know if I need makeup im not overly pretty then my "friends" bck then would always be trying to get guys numbers and this was in mid 00s mind you so we were still somewhat using old phones and school wouldve been bedlam or hell if we had have smartphones back in those days. iPods were our main entertainment or distraction but even so there was still some

Social media, dating apps, going outside, LGBTQ+ clubs etc… for you to higher your chance of meeting « the one ». I don’t believe society completly made it harder but I’d say people did made it harder and less meaningful but I got you ✅. Example : (not exhaustive)

Dark feminine energy

(My butt yes…)

That’s one of the most stupid things TikTok/spiritual community and women have put in a high position. How come you have/should break men hearts because they are bad and you are good??? Why would you have to manipulate??? Why only showing your strenght and acting like a superhuman when you in fact need to be vulnerable (atound trustworthy people) and accept your emotions? Why fo you have to be « dark » to be powerful???? What’s the point of all that???

IT’S THE SAME SH*T AS « Alpha Male » 💀

Also the « baddy », « lady boss » thing where you only need money and to show off that you are « better » than every other human being and nothing else…

Light feminine energy

Same thing. Why would you have to be submissive to whatever people tell you? Why would you mostly refer to your womb and reproduction capability? Aren’t you more than just a walking huge belly? Or a poor docile looking thing? Aren’t you allowed to fight for yourself even if that means being alone against the world???

Tell me HOW are you supposed to create a genuine and long lasting bond when all you got to do is breaking people’s heart, treating them like less than human, your sexual objects, your slave, your toy, your garbage, your opposite and inferior being? Explain me how you are supposed to be open, vulnerable, giving, loving and supportive when you just act dense and indifferent toward the opposite gender (or same sex in some case though it’s seems more rare?)??? That does not make any freaking sense. Think a minute : will you dare tell me that being the dark feminine energy people brag about will actually help you having a good self esteem AND relationship? For the first option it may work but mostly on a superficial level ; you are not listening to your own needs. The second option? Dont even daydream about it cause it won’t happen.

Are you not allowed to dive into your OWN energy (be it masculine/feminine/androgyne)???? And stop showing how strong you are and finally allow yourself to open up to genuine people (that will one day or another come into your life)?

That’s what stops people from finding a partner, all they want is to perfectly fit into a « cool » and trendy category just to show off. That’s so stupid and I personally feel bad whenever someone rely (and relates) to those trendy things. (Dark/light feminity/alpha/omega/baddy/boss lady/mascu/incel…) - it also keeps perpretrating gender stereotypes.

[astros-draws]

Doomguy in sky. Form the pov of my sky kid

I'm open to criticism.

Also doom guy is gona get referred whit they them pronouns because the ski kids don't know the pronouns and want to be polite.

________________

Bleu and I where in the island having a walk after the geyser, till they trip on something.

"You okay there?"-I asked concernedly.

"Yes, what even is that?"

We get closer to the thing half buried in sand, and i try to pick it up. "Heavy"

Bleu gets up "You are a little moth, im sure thats why you cant lift that," before trying and failing to pick up the thing. "Oh..."

"Are your old man bones too weak to lift it?"

"Shut! Im not old, i still don't have 2 years!" They scof.

"I know, i know, I'm just mesing whit you"

"Oh, maybe theres more things like this around?"

"Right! lets look, maybe it is a secret season." "Nah i doubt it, but lets look."

We fly a bit foward and...

"Is that a spirit? Or a tall Sky kid?"

"Its... huh, i actually don't know. It looks like neither" we land a bit far from them, "I have never seen that type of clothing"

"Do we say hi? It seems they haven't noticed us. Maybe the thingi was theirs?" "Yea lets go"

"Hey!" I honk

The big dude turns fast to look at us, like very fast, like terrifyingly so.

I wave my hand, this is not a sky kid, bleu turs and points in the direction of the thingi, while i continue to honk.

We got the big dude to follow us, and we had to walk, and we got to the thingi, bleu and I stand near it, and they pick it up without struggles, as if it weighted nothing.

"Dude is strong!" Bleu exclaimed

"Yea, im sure they could yeet a krill!"

The green armored one looked at us, and seemed somewhat relaxed, and Bleu and I got a frienly head pat.

"Can you understand us?" I try to comunicate, the only answer i got was a smal head tilt.

"Well, this makes things harder." bleu ponders for a second. "What about we go home?"

"Right! Maybe someone knows about em!" ..."But how do we take them there?"

"Right... I didn't think of that, maybe we could fly?" Bleu says.

"Do you think we would be able to carry them? Are you really sure?" I recive a no for an answer.

The sky slowly turns red.

"A sard event? Shouldn't it be tomorrow?" I ask, Less of a question and more of concern.

"It sould... - bleu doesn't finish, interrupting himself - WHAT IN EDEN IS THAT??!!"

It was a horrofiying creature, oh no, this is more horrifying than the deep krill, It didn't get time to aproach before the Armored fella jumps in front of us and.... does something with the thingi, i saw some light, it did something to the creature, it stopped moving.

Bleu and I tried to get a peek, but before we saw anything the Armored dude bloked our vision.

Bleu tries again, but fails.

"Maybe we shouldn't? I saw something red, so i dunno" i stated

"You are maybe right, with them in the way it will be impossible" bleu sighs defeated.

We are gently pused away from the weird creature, we near a camp fire and the Armored fella picks up one of the sticks, and gestures us to stay there, before going back.

"Huh, well that was weird... now we wait"

"Yea" Bleu thinks for a sec "We need to know how to call em, it will make easier getting information"

"Oh, right. I dunno"

We brainstorm some nicknames, awful ones but hey we are trying.

In frustration i started looking around in the beach to see if we find something,

"Another thing!" I exclaimed, getting bleus attention.

"Whats that? That is a weird tablet, huh, its looks broken, what are those symbols??" Bleu talks.

"I dont...... Whats that writen there?" I ask

"I only understand the first simbols of those words??? DG?" He says.

"Well, we have a nickname now, DG." I like it, simple :3.

"Thats not a bad one, yea, we are using that" Bleu proudly states.

DG is back, we honk to show that we did listen, and starts to gesture... i don't know what that... oh asking us to go away, for a bit?

"We should take our leave now" bleu says "Gota go to grandma's" before returning home.

I bow and wave at DG before going home too, i saw them turning around and gripping harsly the thingi, before being teleported home.

Gues I should go later, the sky was very weird there.

--------------

Welp, thats that, i will (probably) write more, and remember this is written from the pov of a Sky kid making them lack much knowledge.

[turing-tested]

but like, the thing with 'kin is it's a specific belief about the self. what kinnies are doing is closer to face-claiming (thinking a character/animal/etc. is a good representation of you and presenting yourself as them in online spaces) rather than what being otherkin is (believing yourself to actually be a character/animal/etc. on some intrinsic level)

im an inclusionist which is why i welcome kinnies in the general alterhuman community, i do think we have a lot of things to learn from each other, but we are 2 completely different communities that simply got conflated due to a lack of information. our experiences are so different it's really not comparable to someone having a less strong belief, because fundamentally we really don't believe the same thing at all and it can cause both kinnies and otherkin people confusion when talking about it which is where a lot of that frustration comes from.

i fully support kinnies but i've also had some really bad experiences with them, entering spaces labelled as "kin" and then getting laughed at and called crazy. i'm not alone in this and it happened enough times that at this point i have a hard time trusting kinnies. while i trust not all kinnies are like that, it's also a part of their community they've mostly failed to address and us using the same terminology in such different ways makes dialogue hard. i think a simple switching up of words ("click/clicking" has been proposed as an alternative to "kin/kinning" in that sense and i really like it personally) would go a long way with distincting us and would be beneficial for everyone here!

with all due respect anon but this isn't accurate at all to the term and delineating between "kinnies" and "otherkin" isn't....like a set thing. kinnie is literally just a shortened joke version of "otherkin" and "fictionkin" people who were other/fictionkin created as a joke to refer to themselves as. determining whether or not someone is serious about kinning based on them calling themselves a kinnie isn't a good metric by any means, it's only really just a metric about how seriously someone takes themselves.

i'm a kinnie. i exclusively refer to myself as a kinnie and don't like referring to myself as fictionkin or otherkin at all, and my legal name is Dirk Strider. I also think that me saying i kin a guy from an episode of a second rate tv show that only appears for ten minutes even if i don't really think I'm him isn't diluting the word or making anyone else's understanding of themselves who refer to themselves that way 'less meaningful,' and incredibly popular philosophical argument in inclusionist communities you should keep in mind everyone i know who kins also primarily refers to themselves as kinnies as well; i just dont think the point you're making here of "kinnies are different" isn't accurate in the sense of "kinnies believe this" or "kinnies don't believe this" i guess. as for the "being called crazy" thing, thats an ableism thing, and again im not sure if going "well you need to call yourselves something different so i dont go into your spaces" is a solution here because that doesn't fix the ableism or the fact that ultimately for another example; if someone goes into certain system servers and talks about soulbonds and is not taken seriously that those people need to not call their space a system space, its just not a space that is under that umbrella that is going to suit that persons needs- requiring others to describe themselves differently because they don't ascribe to a specific belief among an extensive collection of philosophies just is not the solution here. tldr: i'm still up for discussing this stuff further but i dont think making a line between "kinnie" and "otherkin" here is.....an actual distinction that indicates anything about how serious or inclined someone is to understand your particular philosophy and saying "what kinnies are doing is xyz" is about as helpful to a situation as saying "what homestucks are doing is xyz," the term 'kinnie' doesn't indicate nearly as much about belief systems as you think it does

[magpigment]

duck or ape by roar and i dont wanna die by the unicorns are SUCH good songs for william my god!! i already had those songs on my radar but man do they fit him. Also i would love to hear any and or all of your reasoning for your william playlist!! 👁

this got longer than i thought and i still didn’t finish it so i might go back to this at some point and expand upon or add certain things BUT for now, enjoy!

ok so! not all of these will have explanations, and some will only have explanations, but most will have lyrics that specifically remind me of wiwi and a brief explanation. hope this is cohesive enough!

william wisp:

dead now by forrest day

ok listen. listen listen listen. this entire song? literally william to a T.

'Save the rest for another day like this Your mind has gone blank, you're dead now You're dead now

The flames I lack, maybe never coming back Under attack, I'm dead now I'm dead now

You creep, you've grown too cold to sleep Your eyes grow wide, you're such a creep You've reaped, you've sown, your own you keep You creep, you freak, you've blown it

You're alone, you're alone, you're alone, you're alone You're alone, you'rе alone, you're alone, you'rе alone [cont.]

All right, you've grown too old to fight Your life is shown in different light You laugh and toast your final night You laugh too late, you've blown it'

this entire song fits not only his first death but his slow loss of function over the next few years and his general uncanny effect on other people and how they perceive him AND how he perceives himself. i cant even articulate how much this song IS HIM in my brain.

momento mori by fish in a birdcage

'Like a muzzled hound I'm tied and bound A wild beast crying for release I want my mouth so I may howl And share with silence of the trees Ashes to ashes dust to dust Filling up my coffee cup One way to shake me up I never wanted to sleep My bones became a drip Now that I've had my sip After a little taste I never wanted to sleep'

ONE: wolves. TWO: in my head this is more or less how he never wanted his powers, much less to die for them, and how he tries to cope w them after the fact

oh! starving by car seat headrest

'Goodbye, secret files When I'm gone, all this information will die'

'Cats crawl into gutters Just at the sight of me You guys got mad skills I just got mad (I'm not happy unless I'm unhappy)'

this bit specifically is very william to me, because like. especially in early seasons he was pretty vocal about his view of himself as just some guy vs dakota and vyncent, with his powers not being some grand thing and his own struggles with heroism and morality. you guys got mad skills is to me about how he views dakota and vyncent, and i just got mad is about how his own abilities only ever served to make him worse off and how he feels like he could never use his own powers for good things (ep31-35 for reference)

i hate living by car seat headrest

'I wish I was drunk I wish I weren't here I need to be more drunk Or be less here And when the cops came Hiding in the back of the closet And these people would not stop laughing They could not shut their mouths Oh Wasn't I the life and soul? No no no'

'You wouldn't think having a good time Would be so goddamn hard You wouldn't think having a good time Would be so goddamn hard You overthink, you don't have a good time You just wait for it to end You don't think you'll ever try something as Meaningless as this ever again'

the comfort of a laugh track by roar

Why is it so hard to speak To people I don't know Is it something that you learn When constantly alone? When did I become a man Trapped inside a ghost?'

'If you could only see me now I know I'd disappoint somehow I'm stuck inside a fantasy Where I could be all you would need'

'Will I live in shame of the things in the past that I should have done for you? And is it possible to forgive all the ignorant ones if they're just too young?'

'Fake love, yeah, you know you'll be truly missed Fake love must be some kind of abstinence Let's not make much more out of all of this Let's not, but we still can pretend we did'

poor grammar by roar

'I can't see you when I need to How am I supposed to get through? Method-actor, suffering Try repeating once again, this time with feeling Premeditated like some sick joke Waited all night for you Waited all night for you'

to me this entire song really fits william and vyncent

duck or ape by roar literally this entire song. self explanatory lmao

nights like these by pigeon pit honestly this song just gives me the vibes of the three prime defenders just being traumatized kids and comforting each other and stuff, or specifically during the timeskip when it was just will and vyncent just trying to cope, and then dakota trying to find his place with them again after he gets back.

saintly rows (oh oh) by dear and the headlights OK SO. RELIGIOUS TRAUMA WHO?? not to mention the entire song heavily uses death and religious metaphor near interchangeably, and ghosts are used largely as that metaphor. it lends itself very well to his religious upbringing (even if it's not a super large focal point of his character but clearly both his parents are religious, his first idea for his superhero suit had religious imagery which he ended up not going with, and he, with dubious canon implication, has some sort of actual physical aversion to various religious artifacts or rituals such as bibles and praying, along with how much focus charlie puts on the fact that william keeps bringing up that there is no god) which is super super interesting to me. also the song has several allusions to being unable to sleep, paranoia, loss of oxygen and by extension the ability to breathe, 'Caskets for hands bury your plans right next to your songs', 'Out come the gaunt ghosts of your thoughts,' and generally being plagued by some sort of ghostly figures which cause paranoia which in william's case could be the wisps or some sort of extension to how he perceives himself. either way i think the song fits a lot!

im not crying. youre not crying, are you? by dear and the headlights

'Did the seesaw nights put their hands on you? I can't really say, I can't really say Are you swinging from the eaves in a tasteful noose? I can't really say, I can't really say'

in my mind this section fits with how he died the first time, following the wisps in the woods and falling and not wanting to fully admit to himself that he died that night

'You're following a flashlight down utility halls And then you mumble to yourself that this has all been your fault And oh, you're not laughing, you're not laughing, are you?'

this fits with his incessant need to solve mysteries and his tendency to blame himself

'Then the howls and moans pour from the black and it's a sea of blank faces straight to the back Aggressively mediocre in every single way Yet you're the only reason that they came'

this fits with when they went to the spirit world, his own identity crisis and his feelings of inadequacy in comparison to the rest of the team, and being unable to rectify that his own abilities help, and that even without them his friends would still want him around the rest is just like. vibes? and scenes in my head lol.

harness your hopes - b side by pavement

'And the freaks have stormed the White House I moved into a lighthouse It's on a scenic quay, it's, oh, so far away Far away from the beginning, the shroud is made of linen The yearling took the purse, the goth kid has a hearse Heart-breaking, earth-quaking'

'Minds wide open truly Leisure, a leisure suit is nothing It's nothing to be proud of in this late century And I'm asking you to hold me just like the morning paper Pinched between your pointer, your index and your thumb It's a semi-automatic, believers are ecstatic You see the way they cling, the cold metallic sting And I'm living in a coma for Donna de Varona The harness made of hopes, the lovers on the ropes Nun is to church, as the parrot is to perch And my heart's wide open Truly'

i dont wanna die by the unicorns

'I spotted the glow over the mountain, tonight My turn to turn in just when the weather's getting nice I predict: I die in a plane crash I see it now, I die in a car on tour And there's no one to stop this Nobody to loosen death's firm grip on me Doo doo doo doo I die It's true Doo doo doo doo I die And so do you My prophecy is almost complete My finger's on the pulse (But where's the beat?) We don't wanna die in the ocean (Drifting out to sea) We don't want to die in our sleep (-ing bags) DEATH: buckle up boys, we're going for a little ride Death! I just want one more breath! Can you grant me one more please?'

all the dying by mother mother

this entire song just fits him very well i think? especially with his upbringing in deadwood being able to see things that werent there and being able to see ghosts, and how prevalent death was in his life from even before he died

NOT TO MENTION ITS ALSO LIKE HOW HE VIEWS HERO SOCIETY AND HEROISM AS A WHOLE. and his general viewpoint on his own powers and his disdain for his powers especially in association with mallard etc etc

'When I see the damned in their dire straights Damning all the men with those american names I said don't damn the man, damn your hand For makin' a fist and shaking it all around Damn the hand, damn your hand Oh, you can damn the butchers and damn the beef Oh, you can damn the flies in all the heat Or you can damn the dying and dying and dying ♪ Dying and dying and decomposing Dying and dying's for real Dying and dying and pounds of posy Dying and dying's forever When I hear the crying of a siren in the night I think of piles of writhing people, fighting for their lives I see an image of a body, broken and beet red I hear the acappella angels singing for the dead I think of all the butchers and all the beef I think of all the flies in all the heat I think of all the dirt that lays a bed for bones I think of all the words that get written on the stones I think of all the surf that come crashing over souls I think of all the dying'

figure in the background by snake pool rather self explanatory methinks

friendly neighborhood poltergeist by rory webley

self explanatory also, but imo this fits very well with williams crush on vyncent

villains pt1 by emma blackery

'So I'll go I'm better off alone Run and tell them that the villains on my list They're the reason I've been pulled so low Monster, monster, I feel like such a monster Tell them I've been saved But the devil walks amongst ya, amongst ya I'll be the ghost the haunts ya You've seen my demons but you weren't really supposed to You've got me locked up but I'm not like you I'll be my own escape route, you know I'll get you caught up Got my attention I'll make you my victim'

'I don't feel anything Because I became possessed and obsessed With the idea of revenge Where you going now? Everybody's looking at you 'Cause you set yourself on fire just to light up the room'

youre not welcome by naethan apollo

'I can't believe you used to truly scare me You were like a ghost story told to keep me weary But I never listened, no, I slept good 'til morning And when our paths finally crossed, I didn't heed the warning Then push, push, push, push Yeah, you pushed me to the edge I used to dread the thought of falling quickly But now I just wish that you'd send me off that ledge So I can finally fucking take you with me'

basically this can be about his tumultuous relationship with the wisps, mallard conway, or the hero agency as a whole, or a mix of the three! however, i mostly associate this segment with his tie with the wisps and how badly mallard wants him to embrace it (especially the 'i used to dread the thought of falling quickly' because of how william died the first time, and then the 'now i just wish youd send me off that ledge' with him falling down the slope of morality in e31-33)

dead! by my chemical romance

'And if your heart stops beating I'll be here wondering Did you get what you deserve? The ending of your life And if you get to heaven I'll be here waiting, babe Did you get what you deserve? The end, and if your life won't wait Then your heart can't take this Have you heard the news that you're dead? No one ever had much nice to say, I Think they never liked you anyway'

'Wouldn't it be grand to take a pistol by the hand? And wouldn't it be great if we were dead? And in my honest observation During this operation Found a complication in your heart, so long 'Cause now you've got (now you've got) Maybe just two weeks to live Is that the most the both of you can give?'

'If life ain't just a joke Then why are we laughing? If life ain't just a joke Then why am I dead? Dead!'

grave digger by matt maeson

'I can't run to you, Father I need love ♪ I can't talk to you, Mother I know it's got you caught up But your sweet sinless sensation is not my style And I'm not giving up But tell me if I run away How long will I bleed? Tell me if I run away How long will I bleed? ♪ Colors blend They're all black and white ♪ Goddamnit, I cannot bend I'm all shriveled inside'

'Ain't no point in tryna pick-a me up when I'm down Yeah, you can stick out your hand And you can lean towards the ground I'll be tryna suck all of the liquid out the dirt Tryna catch a curve Digging my own grave'

hand me my shovel, im going in by will wood and the tapeworms

'My soul was crushed like a tall boy Underneath the boots on the curb And I'm still picking up my molars And putting them back in my face My name was soiled by a last call spill With a backwash swill and the blackout killed me Sober on impact from a fall from grace Take the road on higher ground And tell me, "Don't look down, you'll fall and break your back" But that just reminds me how there's more to be found beneath the black! This is not enough This is not enough to prove it yet No, I need to hit the bottom This is not enough This is not enough to prove it yet No, I need to hit the bottom (Gotta get to the bottom of this) (Gotta get to the bottom of this) (Gotta get to the bottom of this) Take you with me'

'Looking up, we see the point of entry Between where we are and we've been Looking down, I could say Heaven sent me Hand me my shovel, I'm going in!'

'Gotta gotta gotta get, gotta get, gotta get Gotta get to the bottom of this If it kills me!'

this entire song describes william's need to solve mysteries to a T dude.

hope this made some iota of sense, and sorry for the lack of explanation on most, i just couldn’t figure out a way to properly articulate it 😭 anyway hope you enjoyed lol, i’d love to hear others thoughts and additions if they have any!

[nerves-nebula]

I’ve got a friend or two that I like hanging out with and feel comfortable around, but we’re not on “love terms” by any means. The idea of them saying I love you to me and vice versa is HELLA uncomfortable, so to “combat” this in a way is for one of us to say “I care you” to them at any random point in the day

Most times we don’t say it back, but we’ll like laugh and go “awww”

It makes it all that more meaningful when one of us does say it back

That’s so sweet :) I do a similar thing with my sister where I just send her turtle emojis instead of ily’s

Tbh tho I was referring to like, people I “should” be ok with saying it to. Like partners or family. obviously it’d be uncomfortable if someone was being overly familiar but I also don’t like the idea of anyone saying I love you to try to get me to say it back. I’ll say it if and when I want to and when I do it’s not to get something out of the person I’m talking to, it’s to make sure they know how I feel.

If someone’s in a relationship with me then the best way to never hear me say ILY again is to keep trying to force me to or to passive aggressively imply it makes them sad that I dont say it back.

I love you is a lot like I’m sorry, in that it matters a whole lot less to me if your actions don’t back it up. In fact if you just say it to say it that makes it basically the opposite of what it’s supposed to mean (to me.) Cuz now it’s not about me feeling loved or being apologized to- it’s about you expecting me to say it back or accept your apology.

Someone saying they love me while or as an explanation for something they’re doing for me? Love that, fantastic. Feels good a+

Sometime saying they love me just because they want to? That’s fine I guess.

But I can’t stand being expected to parrot it back. It’s uncomfortable. It feels violating. It feels like saying what you know they want to hear just to appease them.

It feels like being forced to say you accept the apology your parents made your shitty sibling give you- the word is less than meaningful at that point, it’s actively hurtful to me because everyone can tell it’s not about how I feel. It’s about pretending everything is ok.

But a lot of people hear “my partner won’t say they love me back :(“ and immediately assume that the problem is they don’t love you. And while I’m sure that’s the case sometimes, I don’t like the idea that the only correct response is to say it back or you don’t love them. Cuz that’s shit. And I’m sorry if you’re someone who needs to hear ily a lot but you’re not entitled to it. I’d rather be reminded that I’m being thought about by someone else than be randomly told ily with nothing to back it up.

But what do I know I’ve only ever been in one relationship with an incredibly dubious age difference so who cares

[caffeine-high]

rant about some frustrations about my gender/romantic interests/sexuality, stuggles with labels, and consequences (sorta) below (actually, after typing it out, it mainly ended up being abt my aro-spec self, with the beginning abt gender and tiny bit of sexual attraction)

i just need them out of my head for a sec, so feel free to ignore (or not, i am posting this on a public platform so like, ya know)

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i think the worst part of being on the spectra of ace, aro, and agender, but not being fully ace, aro, or agender is that it often requires way to much explanation to get yourself across fully and even then people get confused

so i usually just let everyone come to their own conclusions, but no i am not a pansexual transguy (or to those less well versed in the alphabet mafia, bisexual transguy, or even less well versed, bisexual born-in-the-wrong-body-but-now-a-guy) like, im fine with being seen as that!, but it is not who i am

i gave my cousin a 10 minute metaphor and after another half hour of questions and discussions he does get my view on my gender, but thats only one part (he is vv sweet tho, and every now and again refers back to the metaphor to ask how im feeling atm)

like, i dont like labeling myself, and i generally dont use microlabels, i have found a few that sorta get close to my views and experiences, but always with like a 5 minute caveat of this is why it does not fit exactly, and the people who are already well versed enough to be aware of the microlabels are also the ones accepting in listening to a long explanation if desired

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from here on my rant will mainly be focussed on my experience/views on my being on the aro spectrum

but i am sooo tired of talking to someone abt smth (mainly romance tho) and having to either just nod along like i feel the exact same, say im aro (and them not accepting, or knowing different cz they have known me for a long time), or having to go into the full spiel of well no but also yes and having to deal with that instead of just the conversation at hand

or even worse, getting asked on a date and then having to deal with that whole thing, cz sometimes i genuinely do think it could be a thing, but it just requires way different expectations and/or circumstances than what that person/those people want or are able/willing to have/provide/give

i am also struggling with seeing my brother have similar(sorta) experiences(at least on romance, not the others). he has now found someone who is accommodating to him (idk her wants/needs/views, but i know that both of them are doing the "dating"(or being partners-ish) thing in a way that works for them). but i hate to see the way my family is reacting to it. like, they just do-not understand how they function, or why they're not boyfriend/girlfriend yet despite having been doing this since march, and they keep on making comments (not to them luckily, but vv much to me) abt their confusion, and wishes for them to just hurry up. or express excitement for him finally having found a partner and that they soo wished for him to have found one sooner, and that it was always meant to happen n stuff like that

and i just know that i will also get those, should i ever do the 'romance' thing, or will probably get even worse should i not do the romance thing

like, i just dont rlly care personally, but everyone else seems to care sooo much that at some point i will have to explain my feelings, and i am not looking foreward to the 'oh but you just haven't found the right person yet' conversation, like, yeah i KNOW, but also, if i dont find them thats fine by me as well?? like, i'm good? and finding the 'right' person(s) is not gonna work for me in all the ways youre suggesting????

i know people not doing it out of malice, and they mean well nd shit, but it is frustrating and tiring, and even worse so cuz i can't just say, i dont do romance at all

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anyway, if you did and up reading this, thank you for your patience, yess i am very much willing to have an in depth conversation about this sometime, and no, i did not get a whole lot of studying done today, in case you couldn't tellXD

[sagemoderocklee]

How would you rearrange the kids' teams so they feel more balanced? I would love to hear your thoughts

honestly while i don't think the way kishimoto set up the teams works from a tactical standpoint, there's no reasonable way to rearrange them because there's such a lack of other characters and their personalities while not always compatible, they still work better together than they would with other characters

anyways this got long so its under a cut

like the first issue that rlly comes up is that as far as the kids from naruto's graduating class go, there are... nine????????? like i find it hard to believe that only 9 kids actually passed. i also find it hard to believe that their entire class is taught by one teacher. like even if we assume there's only ONE ninja academy in the entire village (which makes zero fucking sense and i don't hc that to be the case) no school only has one class for each grade unless you're maybe in like a small rural town which konoha isn't. even if there's a sort of rural aesthetic to parts of it, konoha is one of the five GREAT shinobi nations and according to the naruto wiki which i think pulls from data books, konoha's population is ranked as 5/5... that's a lot of fucking people. their military is ranked at 3/5. there's no explanation for what these numbers mean, what their measured against, and how they relate to each other, but i assume this is a numbers game ie: 5/5 means a higher population.

population must be somewhere in the high hundred-thousands (like 900k) or 1 million. and based on the militaristic nature of the shinobi villages, you have to assume that military fraction refers to how many of konohas citizenry are actually shinobi which would mean just over half the village is made up of shinobi. so how the fuck is there only one academy? and how the hell is there only ONE class in naruto's year? and HOW are there only 9 rookies in naruto's graduating class?

makes zero sense. so there has to be more kids who graduated that we never see, which means the limited skill set and personalities we have to work with to balance out teams could have been broader

obviously from a writing perspective, even with an ensemble cast, having too many characters to showcase is a challenge. you can easily bog down your story with too many characters (cough shippuden cough), but there's no reason he couldn't have broadened the scope a bit and just had some teams that were more tertiary to fill things out, AND maybe allow for a few more teams to be brought into the background. most of the characters already don't get a lot of screentime and the true main focuses within classic outside of team seven are the issues within the hyuuga clan and lee's story. team eight and team ten get far less focus than team gai overall within classic. ino and sakura's relationship is obviously given screen time, and hinata obviously gets her own screen time when she's useful to prop up naruto. shikamaru gets his moment too, but ultimately there's a lot of characters who are there but not really getting the chance to shine because they aren't useful to moving forward the plot or relevant to a character's arc.

my other problem with trying to rearrange the teams is i wouldn't break up ino-shika-cho because while i dont think their skills are balanced, the reason they're a team is because of their clans, and i think that's an interesting and necessary relationship (which should have been explored more in canon) to showcase and highlights some interesting political things that again went under explored.

but the problem is that our already small pool of individuals to make a team out of has dwindled to 6, and uh those six are... not very compatible teams personality wise (or even skill set wise).

like right off the bat you can't put someone like kiba and naruto together. they're both hot-headed and it will not go well. kiba needs to be with someone like shino cause he needs to be around someone with that kind of temperament. no one on team seven has that personality, and i think kiba would butt heads most with naruto and then with sasuke. i think he could potentially work with sakura, and though there would be some conflict with his personality and hers, i think they could actually get along and work together. i think she could also work with hinata.

i think shino is really adaptable and could probably work with anyone tbh. and i dont think hinata could be on a team with naruto for obvious reasons. i dont think sasuke would have the patience to be on a team with hinata, either.

so it's really a rock and a hard place trying to balance the teams because there's not a lot of characters so we lack diversity in both skills and personalities.

team 8 is all trackers with 2 out of 3 members being close range fighters. shino's bugs honestly make him the most adaptable of the team for other teams.

team 7 is made up of close range fights with minimal skill outside of that in the beginning--especially given how under utilized sakura being good at genjutsu ended up being. they do have some long range skills with sasuke's fire techniques, but again it's a limited range. i dont think naruto or sasuke could work well with other teams because of who they are. sakura is the most adaptable of the two of them in that sense, but her skill set is still ultimately very limited.

team 10 is made up of 2 long range fighters and one close range, but ino isn't meant for field work, she's meant for covert ops and intelligence. if she's in the field, someone HAS to watch over her body, which limits the team from three to two people. shikamaru is a long range fighter but his chakra stamina is so limited, and while he has close combat experience, if someone gets past his shadows its cause his chakra is depleted enough he can't utilize that technique which then means he's more likely to be open to attack. and chouji, whom i love and adore, is a close range fighter but he doesn't even wanna be a ninja. but ino is by far the least adaptable of all the rookie 9 like obviously she has hand-to-hand skills but if ino is in the field using her jutsu she needs to be watched. having a genjutsu user who could hide her would be a good option... or having someone good with clones, but god she could NOT work with naruto....

so all in all, it's a very difficult balance to strike because kishimoto didn't give himself good options. these teams dont make sense--and makes me question how a shinobi village even puts these things together cause you'd think theyd be better at this shit--but i dont actually know how to fix these issues without either drastically changing characters (skills and or personalities).

anyways im babbling now but yeah i just rlly don't like the options we have within the series and think you'd need a lot more characters or just a character makeover to rlly make teams that make sense tactically.

[sophieinwonderland]

why are sysmeds so 'source: trust me' about everything

'do you have any proof that endos dont exist?' 'yeah, common sense'

you cant make a point about psychology and have no source, especially if you arent a psychologist.

they just arent aware that actual psychologists disagree with their point and then hide behind "we believe in science"

I think you answered your own question. 🤪

Looking at science and listening to the opinions of scientists is hard. Reading a blog that claims science agrees with you and doing zero follow-up research is easy.

I feel that it's a lot like how many Christians will base their opinions on what a preacher says about what's in the Bible, rather than the actual text of the Bible. There's this very pseudo-religious air with how the anti-endo community approaches science. Very rarely will sources be used. And when they are, they almost never support the point being made.

If you replace the word "science" with "Gospel" then their whole attitude starts making more sense.

To them, science isn't a process of learning filled with many voices challenging each other. It's statements of absolute truth. And like with many religions, they throw out the parts that don't support them and unquestioningly cling to those that do, or those that they can twist to give the appearance of supporting them, while covering this up with vague platitudes like "I believe in science(/the Gospel)."

The fact that they're approaching science as religion also would explain why they so often mix moral arguments with scientific ones, and attempt to look for ways to invalidate or dismiss the science based on morality.

I still can't get over a prior conversation when I pointed to the study into the Vineyard Evangelicals talking to God, and anti-endos responded by mentioning how predatory the Vineyard church is. And... Okay... Sure... That's not wrong. But I can't possibly see how that factors into the current conversation. I'm not endorsing the practices of the Vineyard church by citing a psychological study into their members who engage in a practice that lets them carry out two-way conversations with "God." I'm just demonstrating the existence of the psychological phenomenon with accounts of the method of achieving it.

The morality of the subject of the study is just completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, but they seem incapable of separating the science from morality, and I think this plays into the whole pseudo-religious view they've taken towards the idea of science.

Okay, I'm going to go on an even less relevant side tangent below that's completely removed from the current topic...

I still roll my eyes every time I think of that old callout post accusing me of ignoring "abusive sources" in reference to that. The "source" isn't even the what's being accused of abusive behavior. The subject is in a matter completely unrelated to the study.

But also, studies like the Milgram obedience experiment or the Stanford Prison Experiment, while considered unethical, are taught in every basic psychology course. Similarly, treating patients through lobotomy is horrible and monstrous, but the data we gathered from patients like HM was invaluable to understanding the functioning of human memory. Those things may be immoral, but the data from those terrible practices has provided huge amounts of information for modern psychology. We should obviously never do those things again and clearly shouldn't have done them in the first place, but at the same time, you wouldn't tell a psych professor that they can't teach any information that was obtained through these studies.

Science needs to be conducted in a way that is ethical and doesn't cause harm to subjects. I agree with that. But ethics also has no bearing on the validity of data from studies already conducted. "You shouldn't conduct this experiment because it's unethical" is a good and valid position. "You can't cite this study because it was unethical" would be silly and isn't at all how science works.

Again, the study I cited in this instance was completely ethical regardless of other accusations against the subject of the study in other contexts. I just wanted to get that off of my chest, because I could easily see someone applying the same logic to say that the Milgram Obedience Experiment can't be cited because it's an "abusive source." Or even that every contribution Stanley Milgram made to the field is invalid because HE'S an "abusive source."

Sorry for the tangent.

[theguardianace]

tell me ur pjsk thoughts <333

yknow what i talk about the blorbos so much i want to ramble about gameplay first. its a game of music so obviously they put a lot of work in sound design, right? the way that the different degrees of note sound slightly different (perfect is a sharp, crisp sound, great is softer, good is dull, etc) is both a useful audio indicator for experienced players to measure how well they are doing in a combo/all perfect attempt but also a way to keep less experienced players engaged with variety! also the background music slaps so hard you'll be watching a silly little play by some gay little theater clowns and the most banger of epic orchestras is playing in the back. this is my favorite it plays during a scene where rui makes the funniest little aaaaauuuuuuu!!!!! when he (the villan) is defeated. i had to put down my phone for a second. it's also a soundtrack that really fits the vibes of each of the units songs are used for! oh and actually playing games is quite fun, too. i feel like i should mention i actually like to play the game. i spend a lot of time doing that. according to the game i have played 3246 shows. i have done over a thousand of those shows with rui as the leader. i have a card for him for every type completely maxed out. hes also like 10 character levels higher than everyone else. i dont have a favorite..... this is not about shows uhhhh something i really appreciate about sekai is how creative the beat maps are! the law evading rock map is both super fun to play but also mirrors the original 2dmv!! oh and traffic jam during a part in the master chart there's green holds and then red flicks mirroring the 2dmv as well! and the salamander chart has a little cloud shaped hold for the "fuu" like blowing on hot noodles! and the once upon a dream during the "this world is full of strange, irregular things" or however the lyric translates the holds are funky shapes! there's so so so so so so many little references and they all fit so well.

ok i think that's enough about like. playing the game. anyways blorbos are amazing rui the aromantic gender stealing king and his little troupe of aroace idiots i love them so much they do so much for eachother and simply being hwere they are now shows so much growth from their pasts. tsukasa in a place where he can learn to be the star he's always dreamed of and he has friends who genuinely care about him and he's no longer lonely and he learns so much about being a better person and aaaa. emu's card stories hurt so bad cause those are the ones she mentions her grandpa in most. one story she had wxs decorate pxl for christmas and she climbed like a two story tall tree to put some lights up and she was like this is what me and grandpa did :) and then wehn they put the lights down she climbed the tree again and looked up to the clouds and thought about how she was closer to her grandpa from up there and she hopes he's proud of how much fun she's having with her new friends. he is proud emu. she's the best girl ever shes always painted as sunshine and bubbles and she is all wonderhoy yay happy but she has emotions too yall she's learning how to express those not so happy emotions and im proud of her for it. nene is the best she's so skilled i love how she gets very sharp tounged around those she's safe with and how much she cares about these new friends and how she's learned to not only become more confident in herself but how to be a teammate and yeah. nene. dont even get me started on rui. this dude. he's been so lonely. middle school rui breaks me he just needs a friend and now he's in a place where he's not only allowed but embraced for who he is. hes weird and dramatic and thats why hes awesome. and he cares! so ! much! all the safety he puts in and how much he considers everyone in the troupe for his plans and ajajfkdjfklasjfkljdsakfjdsaklfjksaljfklsdjfklasdjkf he loves his friends so much he made an entire sekai inside sekai about it. and inside the sekai were mini wxs and they went to the moon (literally) beacuse of him and they wanted him to stay. not to be cast out. to stay. thats how he feels about his friends. accepted. amazing.

[funshinebf]

gender moment venting below idk its kind of long and messy but i was just stream of thoughting about this shit

ive been wondering a bit lately about if i would want to go back on T again in the future. im trying not to worry about crossing that bridge til i get to it, but its just. idk. i sort of feel like if i decide that going back on it isnt right for me, that ive somehow... failed? like. i do not regret going on it! im very happy with my voice deepening, as well as my body hair growth. but i also really struggled with keeping up on my shots, the appointments and bloodwork, as well as the acne and patchy facial hair and how they affected my body image and self esteem. while on one hand, i would Love to have facial hair, i had a really hard time with the awkward phase of it growing in, and i just felt... really, really shitty about my appearence while i was dealing with it. if i could go back on it and instantly have fully formed facial hair and clear skin, i might consider it, but... since thats not possible, i think i'd rather just keep the changes i already got and continue to be off of it.

and like, i know that every trans persons needs and wants in their transition are different, and its okay to not want certain changes, it doesnt make someone less trans. but it just feels like, with how long i was fighting for it, and how desperately i assured everyone around me that it would be good for me... it feels like by stopping it ive just proven them all right. and thats really frustrating for me! because like i said, i dont REGRET doing it, i dont want to get rid of what i did get from it! i just. couldnt handle some of the other effects.

i also feel almost like. it isnt fair to other trans people i know who arent able to start hormones? like, oh, i got on them super easily and now i dont even want them, when other people are still struggling so much and would love to be in my shoes. its so disheartening.

and idk. i know that my reservations about this are most likely just internalized transphobia, but its still.. very upsetting. i dont want anyone to think of me as less of a man, or less valid because of my hesitance to go back on T. and like, i still very much want top surgery, and i have no doubts about my pronouns and expression of my identity. i know who i am, i know what makes me happy, and i know what makes me unhappy! i just wish i didnt have to deal with any of this, pressure i guess? to conform to something that lines up more with a cis persons view of how trans people should be. i dont want to pass as a cis man. i dont think i ever will. i wish how i look didnt affect how people saw my gender, i want to be called 'sir' or 'young man' even when im wearing a full face of makeup and a dress. even when i have long hair and painted nails, even when i walk a certain way or have certain mannerisms or talk a certain way. i dont want any of that to automatically make people assume im a woman, or even use neutral pronouns for me. i just hate having to explain over and over again, that yes i ONLY use he/him, even when i look super feminine or use feminine terms for myself. if i ask someone else not to use feminine terms for me, why is that so hard for some people to understand? it isnt the same as me using it for myself. when i use it for myself its because i know exactly how i mean it and how i view myself when using it. i dont know those things when other people use it. only a select few people that i know for sure view me the way i am are allowed to refer to me that way. this shouldnt be so difficuly to wrap your head around. i know my own intent. i dont know yours. its that fucking simple!

urghhhh, this got a little more ramble-y than i meant it to. whatever. gender beam

[souleaterpostanime]

SE-POST Reread part 2/4

Well continuing my reread, so here some notes and doodles again.

chapter 10:

Even after all this time and rereading it, I'm not sure of the title of this mini-arc is clever or just tedious to read and comprehend. I guess I let you decide,

Think this one improved shows an improvment in drawing the faces, or atleast it has some panels that were quite nice or probably just used a relevant reference. I even like the scratchy coloring of Ragnarok. Ofcourse some action panels still are hard to read and rushed which is one of the biggest flaws of it t. The other flaws that I noticed atleast when rereading it now was the clunky dialog, with all the repeated words and some of it probably being unclear without the context of being the author. Still I think I liked the chapter for a few reasons: Firstly, a lot actually happened in it, not only having a lot of conversations in different scenarios with different scenarios but also an action scene and other variety. I think I made Ragnaroks perspective interesting enough, but maybe I have read not enough stories to know if it truly is just cliche and explored better in them. Still, maybe being an asshole as a defense mechanism so others dont realise how pathetic you are is relatable to somebody, even if nobody would admit it lol. Anyways this is a two-parter, so I probably will write more developed thoughts after rereading that one.

chapter 11:

I think I once said this was one of my favorite chapters, and even if I like a bit less than before, I still find it solid. Think if I didnt rush the art in certain parts it would be a big improvement already, even though I quite like the visual direction for it overall. Maybe having Ragnarok face such a suicide-like situation is a bit to extreme, but I guess you can only redeem yourself by being on the brink sometimes. Still hope people liked the humor as much as I did, even though I expressed it through clunky dialog as allways. Atleast the gift giving scene at the end should be ok for most people, but if it isnt, I dont care cause I know its good lol. Still wonder if anybody who cares about "power systems" thinks my justification for the resonance and the whole "soul-world" interaction to be bullshit But I think stuff like that doesnt really matter to much, especially in a story like Soul Eater. Anyways, hoped I have something deeper to say in this note, maybe the chapter speaks for itself afterall? Oh also go to youtube and type "village sniper" if you havent by now, funniest video.

chapter 12:

I still wonder if people get who I was referencing as the bad guys in this chapter, because I made it obvious enough, but maybe the overly rushed sketchy look of the designs obsucred it too much. Still if serial killers can be shown as kishineggs, why not evil businessman and politicians (we had allcapone afterall). Still the biggest loss due to the bad art in this chapter was that I couldnt convey the drip of the certain Bahanas resident in a way it actually looks good. But maybe Pattys training paying off makes up for that, hope I didnt make her to "OP" or "Mary Sue-ish", think she has enough charachter flaws for that not to be the case, and (maybe I should have shown that more clearly) she probably wouldnt survived against the big bad if Kid hadnt shown up (and Liz too, because maybe if they weilded each other and werent distracted by sibling rivlary, but eh that would be to soon for the story...) Also Kid snaping out of one phase and jumping into another - maybe the change was a bit too quick, but eh, think he was in his "literal kid" phase long enough, and repetive jokes get old, nomater how thematicaly relevant they are (like the 8 and symmetry jokes got old in my opinion, not counting the times they got some variety and clevernes added) Anyways this chapter also set up alot of stuff that didnt get resolved completly by know, but what should be of importance in future arcs, some things getting payoffs sooner than later...

chapter 13:

Man, I remember wanting to finish this chapter but being super tired, so I did the cover art at a time my brain was probably already shutting down, because I only later realised how shitty it looked. At the moment of its creation I genuinly thought it looked well rendered, and just after the fact saw what a polished turd it actually was, weird how impresions can change. Shows that I should get more experience in rendering things and not just sketch aimlesly... But on the chapter itself - I think the dialog is often less clunky than in the beginning and not bad overall. I wanted to portray how everybody thinks of Kurma as a joke but that her delusional confidence actually is able to overcome some of the disrespect by the end. Is that a good message or interesting dynamic - maybe. One could wonder if introducing an even bigger threath right now is a bit overkill, but I thought it would show that the only threats arent just some witches having a midlife crisis. Also saying "sis" instead of "bruh" lol. Anyways, one could say that in the end it is a set up chapter, but I enjoyed my intepretation of witch society, from its culture to worldview and eccentricities. Maybe I went a bit to farcical with the whole humor, but eh its a stupid fancomic of a stupid cartoon, so to make it all gritty and serious would be even more stupid. And maybe the witch society being so broken is kinda a point, I mean complaining that Satan gets worshiped the wrong way seems to be a sign that mayb the fundementals werent that great anyway Oh also it has the tease for the school dance chapter, so lets see if that holds up as the best one yet...

chapter 14:

yeah this one is still great. The art is improved from the previous ones, the plot is fun and yeah I dunno I just like this one for some reason, cant say much more

chapter 15:

I wonder if I had started with the art quality of this chapter, if the reception of the whole story would have been different? I mean it still is amateurish and sloppy in the fight scenes, but still, atleast to me, looks acceptable for a fanwork. But ofcourse this chapter was very dialog heavy, so thats one reason for all that. And that probably isn't what most people like, it got a bit sacherine and overly sappy even for me, and I think the brief action sequence was included just so it isnt all just charachters crying about how they love each other lol. (And for thr gnomesis pun, gnosis, gnome, get it????!) Oh it also was one chapter that started hinting the whole oil thing that got later revealed as necessary for the black blood, I wonder if this will go anywhere... Anyways maybe writing about a charachter who is an orphan wothout first hand experience is not the best idea, but I guess if one couldnt place oneself into others shoes, all books would just be authobiographies.

chapter 16:

Ah the Giriko chapter, fun fact when I was "storyboarding" it out, I thought it would be a two parter again, but then I realised that it all fit into one chapter. It is also the first chapter where you can really see Crona developing his dislike for witches, and we all know how that goes (technically it began at the end of last chapter, and there were hints earlier but you know). Think the faces and stuff were mostly good, but some the action was so bad that even I had difficulties telling what is supposed to happen, lol. But still I think it is a decent chapter, having a lot of action but also some humor and interesting conversations and developments. Also a few setups that still only have developed a little, so you know I have a lot planed, and I'm not close to finishing writing this weird story, maybe by the end it all will make sense...

chapter 17:

Oh boy, the start of the probably most out of left field miniarc. But with soul having a vintage bike he just casually rides around, why not? They uave to move around somehow And its a more original thing to include than playing nintendo games or something like more than one soul eater fic I read did lol. But anyways, I actually liked the weird pencil like "shading" in the beginning of the chapter, had a nice look to it, matching the whole cartoony but dark asthetic of hitchicking at night. Think the whole chapter has a unique look to it. Things about art aside, I guess the main conflict could sound a bit to overdramatic, would Crona break down like that after something like this? Maybe not, but I think I made it plausibel with the disapointment of having your selfdoubts confirmed again after a brief moment of hope, especially when everyone said that its so easy and you think ypu would disappoint people. Still wonder if people felt this chapter is to weird and I might admit that I put in stuff I didnt even want to consiously, maybe some bad memories warped too fit the story... But anyways, the story turns into a kindof b movie thing so that will be more obvious in the next one.(Also did anybody get the Magic Mountain joke?)

chapter 18:

I don't remember this one being this good lol Probably just remembered messing up the reveal of the GT-R and thought the whole thing was trash, but nah, dont care what anybody thinks, this shit was entertaining. I mean who would come up with fighting a car? And even the moral/lesson worked lol, think its something everybody needs to hear. I mean, I admit some panels were hard to understand, like Crona using Ragnaroks wings to get a boost to lure the car into the swamp and ect. but still. Oh and also, out of all my typos, "Jhoney" was on porpuse, if you know you know. Anyways, I dont know, guess I just liked the humor and interactions and shit, dont know if it resonantes with anybody but me, but if you wonder why, this all was why. Even hard to summarise it all, so lets go to the next one, think that one was genuinely kinda lame, but maybe I'm wrong again

chapter 19:

This one probably really felt like filler for many, and yeah it is more of a slice of life one without too much "happening", even though a lot of charachter development, seeds and set ups do occur in it. Also I quite liked the coloring and shadows in this one, must be when I accidentally had the right settings in the programm before I actually understood what I was doing later lol.

But yeah, maybe I overdid it with BlackStar bashing in it, like I find it funny that he interupts some make a wish foundation thing for a kid who has literal cancer, but that is maybe more of familyguy tier humor that doesnt really mesh with the tone, but eh Still think I gave BlackStar enough self awarness to not make it tottaly a hitpiece, and I guess the way is going is also because I actually have in a certain sense the most longterm plans for him, but if that ever gets fully realised, I dont promise cause, man, it will take more than anybody would ever expect. Anyways, as said the movie referenced was "Wild at Heart", a weird movie that one should not watch with anybody, especially not with relatives. Maybe just watch some scenes on youtube, like the one about the main charachters, Sailor's, alligator jacket. Anyways maybe I should say more but maybe not so