#also currently thinking about the use of the word consume and how it’s meaning has changed in regards to art

[sgiandubh]

Lallybroch: copyright vs. trademark

An excellent question was asked by our friend @rosfrank in the comments thread to 'The door faces North' post and given the cosmic amount of uninformed bullshit being ventilated for almost ten years in this fandom, I think it's time to answer it once and for all:

Whenever we are informally talking about 'owning the rights to something', I think it's very important to bear in mind a fundamental distinction between two different categories of ownership rights: copyright and trademark.

The copyright is the most familiar one to many of you. It is what you usually find on those annoying and apparently useless first or last pages of all the printed or digital editions on this planet. Something like this:

In the US, copyright issues are regulated by the Copyright Act of 1976, as included in Title 17 of the US Code. The US public authority competent for registering and managing copyright is, as predictable, the US Copyright Office.

Perhaps the most seminal US Supreme Court decision, as far as copyright is concerned, is the 1991 Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co. In it, the Court ruled that mere compilations of information or facts (such as, for example, telephone books) are not protected by copyright, according to US law. In other words, the ancient legal concept of 'sweat of the brow' (which simply means the amount of work required to gather and compile those facts/information) is not enough to qualify a work for copyright protection, if no creative effort is added to enhance its content. This is why I have always considered absolutely ridiculous Marple's efforts to watermark public information screenshots: it is useless (to the extent that it legally protects her from nothing) and, as her timelines, a mere compilation of facts (legally ditto). A similar approach is preferred by the UK and also by many Roman law legal systems, such as the French one - just making things clearer, here, by the way.

See how 'Erself is roughly doing, right now, in this department:

But I am rambling. In my view, Lallybroch, as a pivotal concept used in Diana Gabaldon's books, is protected by the copyright granted to each and every of her books mentioning it, according to the Roman law principle 'accessorium sequitur principale' (the accessory follows the principal). So it will remain protected for at least 70 years since the last of her books mentioning it would have been published under copyright. Unless she chooses to separately protect the entire finished cycle as a whole, once Book Ten (fingers crossed) is published, preferably during our foreseeable lifetimes.

That being said, that goes only for one copyright category: (published) text - you cannot copyright that secret diary in your drawer, LOL. This is why, the current US Copyright Office records concerning Lallybroch look like this:

Sony Pictures Television Inc owns the copyright to the fictional name Lallybroch in the motion pictures category, as it is the title of the Episode 12, in Season 1 - DG has been handsomely compensated for this, no worries. And someone I have no idea about owns the rights to an original musical score she has written and titled Lallybroch in the music category, since October 2013.

Onwards to the trademark. This is something different and this is all about making your name/concept/idea profitable. It is all about branding it, putting it on a product and selling it under that brand. It includes all the graphic elements and the logo of the brand (accessorium...) - in short, its visual identity to the consumers. In the US, trademark issues are regulated by the 1946 Lanham Act and the public competent authority is the good old US Patent and Trade Office (USPTO).

Right now, the situation for the Lallybroch trademark is as follows:

So, we see three different trademarks: two of them, owned by Diana Gabaldon, are classified as 'dead' (cancelled and/or abandoned) and the third, Lallybroch Spirits, owned by S's Great Glen Company is pending approval - he will not be able to label any booze bottle Lallybroch Drink Me before permission is granted by the USPTO.

Let's unpack:

Both Lallybroch trademarks formerly owned by Diana Gabaldon were filed at the USPTO on February 21, 2000 and granted on December 12, 2000. The first was aimed at producing 'tartan fabrics for the manufacturer of clothing' and it was abandoned in December 2003:

The reason is that the owner did not file in any Statement of Use after the trademark was granted. She had three years to do so, and since she chose not to do anything about it, the trademark was deemed abandoned (Stacy K. Smith is the attorney hired by Herself, btw). That means she specifically implied not to intend using it in the future. As such, she may claim NO rights on a now free to use mark:

The second trademark was aimed at producing 'clothing, namely, t-shirts, dresses and headwear' and also 'jewelry, namely, rings, pins and necklaces'- to cut the story short: OL merchandise - and it was cancelled on March 1st, 2013:

The reason is that the owner did not file the Section 8 declaration (of continuous use for five years) within the allowed legal timeframe (6 months after the fifth anniversary of the trademark granting renewal). Her trademark federal rights are now deemed canceled (but not her state law and/or common law rights!) and if she wants to ever use that name again, she would have to start the whole process over, bearing in mind the trademark could have been granted to someone else, in the meanwhile (not her case).

And for anyone who might ask, 'Erself does not own any other trademarks whatsoever:

The other (Doll Lab - LOL for ages) Diana Gabaldon is a pharmacist from Albuquerque, NM. Chill. 🤣🤣🤣

The owner of the copyright to the fictional toponym Lallybroch, as far as published text is concerned, is Diana Galabdon.

The owner of the copyright to the fictional toponym Lallybroch, as far as motion pictures are concerned, is Sony Pictures Television Inc.

The owner of the copyright to the fictional toponym Lallybroch, as a personal work of music, is Mrs. Kelly Ruth Davis, of Pennsylvania, USA.

The owner of the Lallybroch Spirits trademark will be Sam Roland Heughan, when that trademark is granted by the USPTO.

I hope this answers your question, @rosfrank. Thank you for asking.

[neptunesenceladus]

help i’m having deep thoughts at 12am i should be asleep

[eamour]

feeling the wish fulfilled.

if you have read and consumed some of neville goddard's works, you will already be familiar with the word "feeling". when speaking of "feeling it real" or "feeling your desires to be yours", it is not an emotion that we are referring to. "feeling", here, means to know something for a fact.

feeling it real.

when you "feel" something to be real, you don’t try to "get" it, you don’t think that there is still "work" that needs to be done, you don’t "try" or "attempt" to manifest something, you don’t "pray“, "hope", "worry" or "wonder" if it’s going to occur in your reality, you don’t feel "unsure", "trapped", or "confused". the reason why you won’t feel any of these things is because you have managed to feel your desire to be yours. you cannot be convinced of the opposite. you have created an unshakable experience within that cannot be taken from you — a new belief of yours has been established!

perception with senses.

to "feel" usually implies your perception with the senses. you will use all of your senses — but within your mind — and recreate the same experience you would have if you were to experience it physically. to make your desire as vivid, as touchable, as perceivable as possible will help you make it feel real. the moment you free yourself and allow yourself to feel the way you would want to feel, you will lose yourself in it. eventually, you will start to feel relieved, empowered and secure. why? because you have accepted this imaginal act to be reality. your reality.

its transformative power.

you may question the power and effect of this way of "feeling" but it will and has to change you. the moment you bask in the feeling, the acceptance and the liberation that come along, you will begin to shift. your mind will begin to change and therefore your very environment. at the end of the day, your feeling portrays a shift of a state. every state is a feeling that you can move in and out of. it’s a coat you can choose to wear or take off.

to feel means to let go.

in order to feel it real, to feel the wish fulfilled, you will have to let go of something: the world around you. you will have to let go of reminding yourself of the looks of your current reality and leave it as it is. don’t even try to fix it, but let go of your worries, your obstacles in life, the limitations and restrictions in it, and allow yourself to perceive, experience and accept whatever it is that you want to have to be yours. only through the art of removing yourself from the outside and feeling like a part of it, you will begin to understand that the outside is actually just a part of you, a part that you've got in your hands.

the challenging part.

now, the difficulty in this is disregarding your logical mind, your rational and realistic (whatever the hell that means) way of thinking. you will have to accept your imaginative acts, your inner conversations to be reality — not for your outer world to determine your inner world. the more you do this, it does not only get easier, you will also ease your anxiety and let go of your fear... but you must be willing to grant yourself greater feelings.

dare to feel it.

dare to imagine and feel the things you would want to feel. expand your former limits or give them up entirely. get rid of rules and forget about how the outer-world has once appeared. and most importantly, don’t be afraid to do so. don’t be afraid to use your mind’s power. if you find it hard to do so, then you are still attached to your senses who can only give you a limited outlook on a limited reality.

practice the feeling.

start simple. think of a scenario you would like to experience. visualise or just think of it. and now, ask yourself "how would i feel if i was to experience this?". you may feel resistant at first, maybe even ridiculous or delusional, but just permit yourself to feel it for some time. go back to that scenario and go deeper. "how do i look like? who am i with? what is it that i own? what am i doing? what's happening to me?". and then, the most important question: "what if this was my reality now?". i want you to rephrase this question and form a sentence. your "what if" becomes a "this is", the same way your "this would feel" becomes a "this feels". i want you to declare that this — the scenario you have felt — is factual. it’s true. it’s a reflection of your reality, RIGHT NOW. after all, this is what distinguishes creation from daydreaming.

with love and lots of feeling, ella.

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts

Ch.26 (Red Dragon)

THEY'RE. SO. DANG. CUTE.

Damn these kids. I also love the fact that Falin has different hair as a child. Kids never changing their hairstyle as they grow into adults is such a storytelling pet peeve of mine.

Also: Laios at his most rambunctious? You mean now? Currently?

This man saw his son and daughter outside for half a second and already somehow knew they were up to shenanigans.

Oh no, he grabbed the wrong hand! How embarrassing. Hate it when that happens.

Bro, he's like 10, you need to find a better person to yell at.

That was solid. A konk on the head that came straight from the heart. The kind only a sibling can give.

.....th-thank you, pokedex junior...?

I would be thrilled if my kid knew how to ward off the undead! Well... I guess maybe thrilled is the wrong word for it.... There are certainly some complications to consider.

He's so cute. He's such a good brother!

HEY, THAT'S ILLEGAL.

Now that you mention it, healing magic stitching entire wounds closed so quickly would probably generate not only a lot of strain, but also heat, and also an insane amount of... well, if not pain, then at least itching on par with pain. That's SO MUCH REGROWTH.

Gotta give it to Marcille, she ain't bitching about things being weird now. Girl's FOCUSED.

Horrifyingly simple. I love it.

He really is just going to CoolAid man his way in there, huh.

But seriously, they're just walking on it! How are they slicing so cleanly? What about bones? They can just... what... cut between the ribs? What about the peritoneum or whatever? If they cut enough of that, wouldn't the innards start spilling out?

So Falin either wasn't eaten or... was already digested......but why would it be COMPLETELY empty?

It's not rested in THAT long... AND it fried up a bunch of Worgs and didn't eat them, now that I think of it. What's the use of killing prey and not consuming it, for a creature that has such a high caloric need?

Laios, mate, you good? Marcille is having an understandably stronger reaction to losing Falin but you're just... coping I guess?

You know, as someone familiar with ttrpgs this line of reasoning is solid. Resurrection spells need materials from the body to be effective. But to anyone else, this MUST be creepy as hell, right? Or am I overthinking?

................how do you even begin to come to terms with a death if there's nothing too big to come back from?

How is it that it's only NOW that I'm thinking of it?

[sirgogington]

My Word Vomit Response on the Shelby Situation

Main Situation: Last week Wilbur Soot from Lovejoy was accused of having been abusive towards his ex girlfriend Shelby. Shelby is a live streamer and last week she did a livestream about the signs of knowing if you are in an abusive relationship. She never stated his name, but from details given people started assuming it was about Wilbur Soot. A few days later Wilbur confirmed that it was him in an apology tweet on his Twitter account. The abuse had to do with painful biting, and manipulation. 

    I want to start off by saying I do believe Shelby's story. I don't think Wilbur is innocent, but I do believe this situation isn't as black and white as people are claiming it to be. 

    Former fans after hearing the story started unfollowing Wilbur and Lovejoy and saying what a terrible man that Wilbur is, and vowing to never listen to or view any of his content ever again. He's not just a terrible man, he has to be evil too. I may be optimistic but I do think most people can change for the better if they truly want to. There are exceptions, but I truly believe that Wilbur can. The internet wants to just label him as evil and not give him any room to do that. The new thing is "guilty until proven innocent" and that's super harmful as I will go into in a different post. The way people are spreading hate in a us/them mentality is not a mature way of viewing/handling this situation and does more harm than good. Especially when it comes to death threats and doxing which have been received by both sides.

   Wilbur is someone who had a hard upbringing, and has brought up at different times his struggles with mental health. On screen or on stage you would never know this about him, because he has this mask of being confident, well spoken, and joyful. Through these details Wilbur has shared we know that touring took a lot out of him mentally and put him in a bad place, but that he was seeking therapy and is probably currently still seeing a therapist to try and get better. He's shared in the past that when he first blew up on the internet he used alcohol to cope because of how overwhelming it was that so many people were consuming his content. From Shelby's stream we also learned that his living space was dirty and unhygienic and that he would make excuses for it. The details for me paint the picture of a guy struggling badly with mental illness and having a hard time caring for himself and his home. Someone who can hardly take care of themselves should not have been in a relationship. This puts a lot on the other person.  It's different if he were stable and then then his mental health crashed in the middle of a longer relationship, but not if your too mentally ill to begin with. I do deeply feel sorry that Shelby had to experience that, as it truly shouldn't have happened. 

   I went to school for psychology and know quite a bit about different types of mental illnesses. I am by no means diagnosing Wilbur, but I do think he shows signs of someone with Boderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder is an emotional disregulation disorder characterized by unstable mood, behavior, and relationships. People with BPD self sabotage and will frequently end up pushing people away because they don't think they're good enough for them. (In this case maybe he wanted to act so bad so she would leave him, which is very unhealthy). People with BPD also go through depressive episodes and can act impulsively. Without therapy it is extremely hard to cope with this condition but with therapy you can make great strides in changing. I think like most mental illnesses you are aware of the fact you don't like the way you're acting you just have a hard time controlling it. For instance for me growing up with anxiety I knew most of my fears were completely irrational but that didn't stop them from overtaking my life and still feeling anxious. Wilbur has written some really deep lyrics on his new solo album Mammalian Sighing Reflex and I feel like it reflects that he doesn't like the way he is and feels guilty about those he's harmed through it. Maybe I'm giving this man too much credit, but like I said I do believe most people are capable of changing for the better. 

   Shelby stated she did the livestream as a way to help protect other victims of domestic violence and Wilbur Soot himself. He might still be dangerous to the public, it's really hard to know. I know after my own situation with being manipulated I was worried about the guy going after other younger women like he had with me. I didn't want anyone else have to be in that situation so I understand where Shelby is coming from. I also know that if the guy in my life had ever posted an apology, no matter how good it was, that I still wouldn't believe him and have a hard time forgiving him. Bold take but I think his apology was at least decent. Could it have been better, yeah, but could it have been a lot worse, also yes. In his apology he admits to being the person Shelby was talking about. He states that her feelings are valid, and that he wants people to hold him to higher accountability, and that he was sorry for any hurt he caused. Maybe he isnt, but it's hard to know. Wilbur stated in a livestream from last October 2023 that he was going to therapy the next day, because of this we can assume that Wilbur has been going to therapy at minimum since October. In that same livestream he states that he showers once a day when he's in his "big sad", and that he has rented places all over Brighton. He is at least hygienic in this regard, maybe moreso than he was before. It could be a red flag that Wilbur has lived all over Brighton due to possible evictions whether that be negligence or noise complaints from doing livestreams.

   We'll never know how other content creators truly feel about him except for the ones that made it obvious. Of course most content creators are going to jump on the bandwagon and agree that he's an evil man. If they don't then they'll lose their platform because of all the hate they'd get. I do believe some content creators will still hang out with Wilbur secretly or still even remain his friend. But we'll never know. 

   For the people who are posting different video evidences of Wilbur supposedly showing signs of being abusive in the past this is what is called confirmation bias. If you believe someone is abusive suddenly you can find details in the littlest things to confirm your thought process. A lot of the clips I've been seeing have been of normal everyday behavior or confirmed bits. I've seen people say that Wilbur must have bit down really hard to leave bruises. In some cases people bruise more easily than others. I know I have random bruises on my body from nothing. We can tell that what Wilbur did however was pretty painful due to have to use a safe word. Getting bitten usually hurts. I've been bitten by a 5 year old at work and can't imagine how it would feel to be bitten by a grown man who intentionally bit down hard.

This could be confirmation bias as well, but when looking at the lyrics in Mammalian Sighing Reflex and at the album art it seems to tell the story of a man (Wilbur) who really messed up in a relationship and is feeling the pain from that, and has a lot of regret due to knowing he was the cause of her pain. He poured so much of himself into the album it's like he's bleeding out in front of the audience with the amount of vulnerability.

Analyzing lyrics because why not, using lyrics from "Mammalian Sighing Reflex"

"I get so drunk I can barely see." If this album is related to his relationship with Shelby, which I think it probably is, then maybe he tried to cope with the relationship failing by using alcohol, or sabotaged the relationship through drinking.

"A lot of friends have left my life, escaping my tractor beam of woe" Having a mental illness can make it hard to maintain friendships. This could be because it makes you so self-focused on your problems, or that people get tired of hearing about your problems. If you constantly talk about how sad you are, some people are going to have a hard time dealing with that, or get burnt out from having to keep on cheering you up.

"Fuck my life, you cared when I was sick, no one ever gave a shit.....you fought this war one-sided and asked me what am I doing this for." These lyrics seem to speak about how in a past relationship (probably meaning with Shelby), that she cared that he was mentally ill/in a low point and wanted to help him get better. The fight to help him get better was one-sided due to Wilbur not helping to get himself better. If he would have helped her then they "could of stitched my mind together."

"Never been the one for romance, never thought that I'd get married. Never been the kind to give a shared life a second glance, selfish prose." In Shelby's livestream she talked about how her and Wilbur talked about the possibility of getting married and having kids until he backtracked and said that he wasn't that way and changed his mind.

The song "I Don't Think It Will Ever End" is how his mind seems to work in cycles. He'll be sad, because he feels sad he hides away for a bit, but then he feels silly for hiding himself so he forces himself to interact with people. But then when forcing himself to interact again he feels sad, which he says is not a good feeling when you're supposedly in a good phase. He says as self-sabotage he gets silly. Wilbur is known for telling a lot of jokes, and maybe this is a way he masks his true feelings. Also for Mammalian Sighing Reflex it says the songs were written by William Gold (his legal name) and performed by Wilbur Soot (his stage name). Wilbur is who the internet/fans see him as and William Gold is who he really is. Meaning the way we see him online is the extroverted, charismatic, likeable guy we know him as whereas William Gold is introverted, self-sabotaging, nerdy, and a deep thinker.

     The internet gives us way too much information. We're constantly bombarded with more and more information. Before the internet and even in the earlier internet days you did not have this. People were not being as closely viewed and known as they are now. You have to be careful about every little thing you say, because God forbid you say the wrong thing and get canceled. It didn't used to be this way. The only reason you'd ever know anything bad about a celebrity is if they were in the news. I think most of the media we consume whether TV shows, movies, etc. have the potential to have us supporting "bad people". It would be overwhelming to look up every single person we had ever consumed media from and sift through what are lies and what are not about each actor, singer, etc. I get that people don't want to give a platform to people doing bad things, but it's almost impossible to know and to remove every single bad person from the content you consume.  Being a celebrity in general is hard. It's easy to become addicted to drugs, and experience toxicity especially celebrities that live in Los Angeles. Most become people they regret, but some change for the better too. I'm not saying people who do serious crimes should get out of jail because they can become better people. People in jail should remain in jail for serious crimes. Time will tell what becomes of him. If more about him is released or if he's able to actually make strides in his health like he said he would. We will wait and see. I really hope he can heal and get better. Even the most unlikely ones can change their lives. You can both support Shubble and hope that Wilbur gets better.

[bulkhummus]

Hey!! I’m curious, in what ways do you think wtnv sucks? I’m not necessarily disagreeing but I can’t think of anything tbh and your tag made me start wondering

Hi!

No piece of media is perfect, and expecting it to be is unfair to the creator, and unrealistic of the consumer. Being able to consciously understand the ways in which something you love also has flaws is a healthy way of engaging with the things you enjoy without succumbing to the all-or-nothing mentality of being able to enjoy, well, anything!

I love wtnv, obviously, it's about 90% of my blog, and I have listened to it for a very long time. I respect the creators (including the actors) for what they have accomplished.

However, there are a few things about wtnv that I as a listener and long-time fan have recognized as, lets call them, potential critiques. Sucks is too strong a word because I’m not focusing on specific instances where they have messed up (and they have, people make mistakes). This isn’t a list where I tell you specific things— but rather I just explain to you some thoughts I have about the show. This is, by no means, a complete or solitary list, or even an ‘accurate’ one. This is just my own opinion and you're welcome to disagree.

Consistency

I do not have the expectation of wtnv having continuity. I never once have, due to the nature of what it is, what it's about, and how it's written. I don't care if facts change. Cecil is an unreliable narrator. Timelines shatter and splinter off regularly in the show. Time doesn't work right for most of the podcast. The Cecil we listen to currently is not the same Cecil we were introduced to. Writers make mistakes when shows have been on for over a decade. etc etc etc. Instead, I use the word consistency.

The show lacks consistency in story telling. This is its strength! WTNV was a podcast made by a small group of people that skyrocketed in popularity very quickly. It was a passion project. It was a bunch of think pieces where the writers got to explore different styles of writing, different characters, and their thoughts and feelings on current events in real life. That’s what it was built on. It was recorded in a coat closet on a shitty mic and then suddenly it became a livelihood with a massive following. So, the show lacks consistency in story telling, which to me has always been the joy of it, because of its freedom to do as it pleases. A lot of ‘plot’ would happen and we’d leave on a cliffhanger, and in classic Night Vale fashion, it’d be like 4 months before you heard about it again. However.

WTNV was introduced as a serial podcast where the only consistency was that they'd upload twice a month. With the introduction of mini-arcs, and later longer arcs (such as STREX, the DOW, or UOWII) the writers introduced the expectation of continuity. The story would build over the course of several episodes and resolve in some type of way. This requires more planning and greater attention to detail than episodes that are one-off or ongoing by the nature of what the show initially was. My issue here is that they have given themselves the problem of continuity given how they write longer arcs now — but they just don’t seem to fact check or communicate with one another when it comes to these arcs that span several episodes or rely upon info from older episodes. Now, the show often feels like its fighting between what it wants to focus on, and how it focuses on it and I am left sensing this inconsistency that I once used to enjoy. Which brings me to my next point.

Understanding A World

WTNV is a show about a fictional town, told by an unreliable narrator in the form of a radio show. When the show started, I felt it understood that very well. New characters were introduced as callers, or interviews on local news, ad reads, and even Cecil playing his voicemail on air. It operates under a VAUGE set of rules (but rules nonetheless) that this was a radio show.

There have been several instances, more recently, where I feel as if the show forgets that Cecil is a radio host and the story is told through his perspective about 90% of the time. It is that exciting 10% where we gain insight to the same stories from different characters giving us new information.

For example, having Carlos and Janet go back and forth at one another in the finale of the UOWII arc completely casts aside Cecil's perspective as the narrator, and as having control over the story. Cecil hated Janet. it would have been more amusing and in character for him to have ad libbed whatever Janet said and only play Carlos' parts -- only for her to burst into his live studio outraged that he wasn't fairly reporting and THEN tell her side of the story after wrestling the mic away from him.

My issue here is that, more recently, it feels as if they forget that operating under rules, or constraints, in story telling, actually helps them be more creative in how information gets delivered to the listener.

I think how they use their patreon needs a massive overhaul too but thats a different post. Which brings me to my next point.

Hand Holding

They are good writers. They are capable of balancing humor and horror in a way that enhances both. I have felt gutted, I have felt hopeful, and I have felt absolutely feral after certain episodes because they have good ideas and can write well!

So it becomes really frustrating when they just tell me a bunch of stuff without it being reflected in the show, or they don’t trust themselves as writers. I get it. Not every episode can be their best, but there have been several instances recently, in moments where it really counts, where I am just being told what's going on instead of it going on. I’m being told why things are happening instead of listening to them happen, and often I feel they forget they are writing something to be performed. They don’t need to explain all of their metaphors or explain what the point of a characters actions are. The audience is not stupid and things don’t always need to be spelled out. Which brings me to my next point.

Writing for an Audience

All creators have to work off of in terms of how well something is doing is fan engagement, especially in a smaller project like this. However, they have an audience that varies in ages of 11-45 given how long this show has been running for. Go to a live show you will see what I mean. How do you write for an audience who is that diverse in age? Should you have to? Is it bad engagement to not think about your audience? Sometimes something a 30 year old understands, a 11 year old may not. Not for any other reason but time and lived experience. Theres things 30 year olds forget about being 11! That’s how it works.

And while this is less of a problem they may have, it’s something I noticed about the reception of different episodes by fans. The second to last live show I went to I had the enjoyment of listening to two 13/14 year olds sitting behind me offering their vastly different perspectives on some recent episodes, especially given the fact that I heard one of them say they had only just started listening after listening to the first 100 episodes summary. Which brings me to my next point.

Duration

Everything I have said previously comes back to the duration of the show. I think its impressive that its been running for over a decade with consistency. And they should! In a perfect world, WTNV would run forever because of how much I love it. I love this show and I don’t want it to end. HOWEVER. If the quality of something begins to degrade because there is not enough time dedicated to it and the creators no longer find it engaging and exciting then I’d want it to come to an end. They’re people. They want to work on new things. I respect that! And I’d be heartbroken if the show faded out or ended in a rushed manner in an unsatisfying way because they decided on a whim they don’t want to make it anymore.

I think it is a disservice to the work, effort and history of the show for them to create a 100 episode summary and tell people to start there. Idc. “But Bulk people might not want to listen to 10 years worth of podcasting—“ Babes the show is 245 episodes long. They’re like 25 min a pop not including ads. It’s a bimonthly show. Buckle up and settle down. The creators should take pride in their work, and how long the shows been on for, and be encouraging people to start from the beginning. Let people experience for the first time what many people fell in love with. Why on EARTH would you tell people to NOT start at the beginning? To me, as a long time fan, it feels like the creators don’t have faith or pride in their work.

I’m not saying they don’t dedicate time to their show of 10 years, because how could I know that, but, when they don’t fact check (because now there is the precedent of continuity, especially with newer fans, because they chose to write more serially) and they tell fans its ok to not start at episode 1, and they are advertising other projects on WTNV episodes where fans call them out for not fact checking and and and— where does that lead me as a fan? It sometimes makes me feel like they don’t care about what they’re making anymore.

I also think that this show has become a means of income for them. And it has. They have a patreon now, they do shows, they sell merch. What was once a passion project for them is now a product. People who pay for something demand a better quality— thats like almost universally true. And people who are newer fans, and don’t understand what podcasting was like a decade ago, who don’t know what WTNV was like a decade ago, don’t have that background knowledge of what the show was built up on and created as (ie. A bunch of experimentations, think pieces, and whacky one-offs as previously mentioned).

Because they’re telling fans not to listen to the first 100 episodes and focusing on more serial story telling. Am I making sense? It’s all connected and I feel like I’m making sense.

Conclusion

I love WTNV but, in my opinion, it was never meant to be what fans often demand it to be, and the creators sometimes have to respond to. What I fell in love with it for is often the things I see people criticize it for. It’s this story that sort of does what it wants, when it wants, because that’s how it started. It’s grown into something else now, which all things do over time, and I just hope they don’t grow it into something it is not if they aren’t careful. The show was is deeply unserious but also really interesting and exciting and chilling and worth the time spent, despite the ways it may be imperfect. Perfectly imperfect, if you will (wink wink).

You don’t have to agree with what I’ve said here, and maybe none of it reads true for you, because I really am just speculating and offering thoughts, and thats fine! I’d never tell someone their viewing of the show is wrong, but I do think it’s good to stop and think about your favorite pieces of media like this. Anyways thats why it sucks or whatever

[thesparklingwriter]

𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 (part two)

~it’s not very often that you indulge yourself and cry, but on the one occasion that you do, someone catches you in the act.

featuring: scaramouche, itto, albedo

tags: gn!reader, hurt comfort, fluff, established relationship, mentions of injury in Itto’s

word count: 1k

notes: part one did well and I take that to mean you guys enjoyed it so i wrote some more ^^ (albedo’s was heavily inspired by @/zhongrin 's current albedo obsession—oops sorry i mean the one that was always there my bad—) i'm totally not just out of ideas nope nope nope (also scara and albedo debut wow)

taglist | masterlist

𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆

Scaramouche was being nice. He’s so sure he was being nice. So why are you slobbering all over him like a newborn baby? All he’d said was that he was grateful that he had you around him. What about that has reduced you to such theatrics?

“I was being nice. Why are you crying?”

You look up at him through drenched eyelashes, still so beautiful despite being a wailing mess. “You never say things like that,” you sniff. “Sometimes I’m convinced you keep hanging out with me because I just happen to be around, not because you want me.”

That irritates him. But his irritation isn’t aimed at you. It’s at himself, for making you feel so unloved that even basic words of affirmation make you cry. How could have been that inattentive to your needs? So stubborn that he couldn’t bring himself to simply be nicer to you every now and then?

“I don’t just tolerate you,” he grumbles, pulling you into his arms. “I seek you out everywhere I go.” It’s kind of annoying, he thinks to himself. The way he scans every room for you the moment he walks in, always disappointed when he doesn’t catch your eyes in the crowd, delays him massively.

“Truly?”

“Truly.” He says. He really doesn’t go for all this lovey-dovey stuff, but as long as you’re with him and tolerating all his moods and flaws, he’ll do his best to be better for you. It’s the very least you deserve.

𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒐

You’re a klutz. The clumsiest being to ever grace the plains of Teyvat. And nothing—to reiterate, nothing—troubled you more than Inazuma’s cobblestone streets—the same streets that you and Itto are excitedly scurrying down to get some lunch. Upon noticing a crowd forming at your favourite lunch spot, Itto rushes ahead to reserve you both a table before you spend half an hour waiting. (Last time that happened, both you and Itto were so put off your food that you barely touched anything and walked home in stoic silence.)

It’s a good idea in theory, but if there’s one thing Itto is very good at, it's acting as your stabiliser. His built arms are perfect for grabbing onto should you lose your balance, and you’d become overly reliant on him in recent weeks. So of course, without him around, you manage to trip, a shooting pain consuming your ankle as you tumble to the ground.

Part of you is grateful that he’s not around; you can let your frustrated tears pour out as you massage your foot. You hate it when you cry in front of him. He always seems so desperate to make you stop crying and distraught at the sight of your tears. You hate worrying him.

You resolve to get it all out of your system, sobbing pitifully as you attempt to stand up, leaning on a nearby building for help. It’s at that moment that Itto notices you, running back with a smile. “Hey sunshine, I got us a table— Wait, what happened?”

You mutter something along the lines of you tripping, not wanting him to feel guilty for leaving you. He doesn’t seem convinced but wipes your tears away with a slight frown.

“Come on,” he says, turning around and crouching before you. “I’ll carry you to the restaurant. Someone there will help.”

“No, Itto, that's so embarrassing… Everyone will see I’m a stupid klutz that can barely walk without injuring themself.”

“No,” He counters, picking you up anyway. “They’ll see someone being carried by their boyfriend and think ‘How romantic, he’s such a great boyfriend. I’d love to have one like him! Such magnificent hair too!’”

You giggle at that, wrapping your arms around Itto’s neck and kissing his cheek gratefully. He really is the best.

𝒂𝒍𝒃𝒆𝒅𝒐

Months and months ago, Albedo asked you to sit for one of his paintings. At first, you’d said no, concerned about the fact that sitting still for hours on end would be torture, but then you’d noted how disappointed he’d been in that answer, and changed your mind.

And then Albedo said that you weren’t to even look at the painting until it was done, and that had you backpedalling a little. What was so special about the painting that you wouldn't be allowed to see it? It was your face—you could look in a mirror and see it any time. But you nodded, too afraid to disappoint him again. After a few days, he said he didn’t need you to sit for him any longer and that he could do the rest himself. And after that, the painting wasn’t brought up again by either of you. That is, until today when he presents it to you with an uncharacteristically nervous smile.

“I thought it was time I stopped obsessing over every detail. It’s for you.”

You smile gratefully, turning the canvas to see the most beautiful piece of art you’ve seen in a long time. And that’s not only because it’s your face, but because it’s different to his other pieces. Usually, his art is calculated—a perfect example of the scientific mind behind his artistry. Every stoke, every shade is calculated and evaluated before it hits the canvas.

But this? This is different. There’s emotion behind his strokes, and enthusiasm in his colours, and you can’t help but be surprised by the way he sees you. Looking at yourself in this portrait, you feel, in his eyes, like you’re the most beautiful being to exist. Why else would he have gone out of his way to make you look so…perfect?

Before you know it, you’re sobbing uncontrollably, holding the canvas away from you so that you don't dirty it with your tears.

“I’m going to assume those are tears of joy,” Albedo says as you pull him into a hug.

“Do you really see me like this?” you sniff.

Albedo hums to himself, pretending to think hard. “I don't think the painting does you justice.”

And you’re back to bawling again.

© 2023, thesparklingwriter. please do not copy, edit, repost, or translate.

taglist: @medusuu @aixaingela @thelonelyarchon

[rs-hawk]

Do you have any writing tips? Even if it’s not necessarily for smut?

I won’t be touching on tips for smut at all on this post but I can make a separate post for it if y’all want.

My Top 10 Writing Tips

Love all your characters. Yes, even your antagonists. Hell, especially your antagonists. Even if they’re evil for the sake of being evil, if you want a 3 dimensional character, you have to acknowledge that they’re more than just evil to someone. Their mother. Their friends. Their dog. You have to think of their motivations, and honestly?-acknowledge that every character you write has a part of you in them. Maybe just your anger, your fear, your trauma, but love them for that, and it’ll shape them and your works in ways you never thought of.

Don’t reread your work too often! It’s hard (so very very hard) but when you have to crank out 2k words a day every day of the month but 2 it gets easier. Lol. Fr though just keep chugging along. You can reread later. You can edit later. Just get it done.

Don’t edit too much while you’re still actively writing. I know that’s hard, I really do, but if you keep rewriting, you’ll never be able to finish. You’ll keep writing a handful of scenes over and over again until you hate it, your book and yourself for “giving up”. You can edit later.

Write for yourself. It doesn’t matter how good of a writer you are, how beautiful or eloquent your style, if you hate it with every fiber of your being, it’ll turn to dust in your hands. I consider writing work, and when people enjoy themselves at work, not only do they do better, but the consumer enjoys it more. Think about it. If you’re at a restaurant and the workers are laughing and smiling with each other and seem genuinely happy, you’re more likely to go back than if they’re miserable, on the verge of tears and seem to hate being there, right? The same is true for your writing. Readers will enjoy it more if they can feel how much you enjoyed creating it.

Don’t just write. Listen to music. Get up and go for a walk. Text/call a friend. Watch a TV show. Pet your cat. Experience something. It helps you write but it also reminds you that hey, you’ve been here like eight hours. Get something to drink. Take a screen break. Go outside.

Be comfortable while you write. I’m not going to lecture you on posture because I’m currently laying down with my legs drawn up under me, my upper body turned and my phone in the air because I’m trying to put enough pressure on my lower back to pop it. Anyway, even if you can’t stay in one position long, switch. Listen to your body. A “proper” posture can end up hurting you if you don’t ever relax or if you’re putting too much pressure on your lower spine. It’s okay to lean. It’s okay to lay down. It’s okay to sit cross-legged. Just not at the expense of your body. Be aware, and don’t forget to get up and stretch!

Take breaks. Eat. Drink. Stretch. Go to the bathroom. Some people need them scheduled, and that’s fine, but also listen to your body. If you need to use the toilet but you don’t have another break scheduled for an hour, just go. Pause your timer or delay your alarm if you want, but take care of yourself.

Don’t be too rigid with your “starting” plot. We know most of us have that one scene or one character in mind we want to write, so we create a plot around them. That’s fine and I love it, but your writing is like a living creature. You might change while writing it. Your characters and ideas might change while writing it. Let them change. Let you change! You can edit later.

Remember it’s not a race. Just because you see some people dropping 3 novels a year, or 5 Tumblr posts every day doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. No one can write what you write. No one can create what you can create. Your work deserves to exist and be judged on its own merit. Not compared to anyone else’s, even if it’s you five years ago who could crank out multiple posts daily. It’s okay.

Don’t expect anything. Start writing because you love it. It makes you happy. It itches that part of your brain that no other hobby does. That no other love does. I’ve been writing for about 15 years now. I don’t know who I am without it. I have tried giving it up, moving past it, doing other things, but I always come back. Nothing else makes me feel the way writing does. I have gone years without writing, but when I start writing again, it’s like a high. I can go for hours, and I have! I have been lucky to be able to monetize my work, but it took 10+ years and was only because I got goofy about werewolves on a PTR app. You can’t go into the arts and expect to make money right away, or ever. You can hope, and do your best, but don’t only do it because you think you’ll make a living. It’s a sad but real fact. Capitalism makes us think we should only do stuff we can make money off of, but that’s a lie. You can AND SHOULD create just to create. Humans are meant to make art, and if writing is your canvas like it is mine, write to create. Fuck capitalism. Your art existing is enough reason to create it.

[fatuismooches]

omg omg how would fragile reader use foxtorre in gameplay? idk why the first thing i thought of is reader throwing it at their enemies but they wouldnt do that 😭 im suddenly thinking how their gameplay would be like, their vision, their idles, etc... IF YOU COULD PLEASE MAKE VOICELINES FOR THEM I THINK IT WOULD BE COOL

Fragile reader throws the creature onto the field to do the work for them! Depending on whether their skill is held or tapped, Foxttore will summon multiple little Puffttores that will attack enemies to heal the team or do damage, based on reader’s current HP. Using the skill also consumes a set amount of fragile reader's HP. But using their burst will let them recover HP, as they will steal a certain percentage of HP from their fellow party members. All they want to be is healthy, they can be a little selfish, no? But fragile reader isn’t that mean, they’ll grant the party members who they stole HP from a random buff (ATK, crit rate/dmg, EM, etc) so they can sit back and relax as the others fight for them. And no, they won’t steal HP from Dottore or another Harbinger on the team, that’s their beloved and their friends after all! But they can’t do elemental reactions, they don’t want that horrid thing from Celestia and even if they got one they would refuse to use it. (But I still have hope another element will be added, I cannot see Dottore using a Vision HE BETTER NOT he’s stronger than that 😞)

Their idles include pulling out Foxttore and squeezing it really tightly, and then they suddenly pause for a few seconds as they feel something fuzzy moving inside of their shirt... and then a few small Puffttores jump out of their clothes making them laugh :) Another one, i imagine they carry around a small bag to hold their necessary items (such as medication) but also to bring around a scrapbook they've made with all their memories. Lots of photos and journal entries spanning many years. They pull it out and flip through it, before sighing almost sadly and putting it away again. Their BIS weapon is the same one from centuries ago, Dottore had preserved it for all those years so they could use it once again (not really though because they wobble all over the place if you use their normal attacks)

Hello: "I am [Name]. I doubt I'll be much help to you, but I'm here now. By the way, I won't do anything I don't want to. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with Dottore."

About the Archons: "... Do not mention them in front of me... it makes me sick to my stomach, thinking about the divine. However, there is one exception - the Tsaritsa of course. She is truly the epitome of what a God should be, benevolent and kind. I may not be able to help much, but I will support her until the end. When you meet her, Traveler, I hope you will understand her goals."

About the Illness: "Ah, my sickness... it has plagued me for countless years, laying a horrible curse upon my body and mind. It's... it's been quite difficult sometimes... er, forgive me. It's hard to speak about."

"Oh... to be honest, Paimon always thought you were faking it for the Fatui's goals to some extent."

"... this is why I only confide in Dottore."

About Dottore: "My one and only... words cannot express my tenderness and love toward him. Not once has he given up on me, despite the times I've given up on myself. And he has always taken care of me, not once faltering in over four hundred years. I- I don't know what to do sometimes when faced with that information. I wish I could be... less of a burden on him... *sigh*"

About the Akademiya: "Say, does anything good come out of that school anymore? Hm? You say a brilliant mage graduated from there and is now a librarian? Well, good for her. Who would want to be associated with them anyway? And there's also a doctor who's very sick, searching for the answer to immortality? Well now... how interesting."

About the Past: "You wish to know about my past? Well, there's not too much to say. I was a regular student in the Akademiya before I met Dottore, and we fell in love... we did many things together before I... It's not like it matters anymore, being the way I am now..."

Chat - The Body: “One’s body is extremely important, yet many take it for granted. Please, make sure to treasure and love your body. It does more for you than you could ever imagine.”

Chat - Walks: "I love taking walks. It seems so normal to you but, it brings me great happiness. Especially now... I have not felt the sun caress my body or the soft breeze sweep through my hair for a long, long time. Hm? I don't mind if you come with, but... Dottore will be joining me shortly. Would you like to see him? No? Hehe."

When it Rains: "Oh no... do you have an umbrella? Dottore's going to- a-achoo!- get mad at me for not taking care of myself properly..."

Likes - Dancing: "O-oh. You saw me just now? I was just... practicing. I'm not very good at it, but dancing with Dottore as he twirls me around makes me... happy. I just need to stop tripping and falling over his feet all the time."

Nahida - About You: "You've met the Doctor's spouse? Please, would you enlighten me about them some more? I have always been extremely curious about the kind of person who would capture his attention. Hmm... I see. Still sick, are they? Perhaps Dottore sees something in them that the rest of us cannot. Though, I have to commend their spirit. Being able to wake up every day and face what's in front of them while being afflicted with such a condition... takes a strong will."

[cvntkisser]

This is a massive fandom pet peeve of mine that I've literally never talked about. Yanno how people use headcanon refer to anything anyone thinks a certain character would do? Well thats not what it means.

A Headcanon is something that a character would do that does NOT contradict canon.

Headcanons are things that someone who has consumed that piece of media can hear about and go there's nothing in canon to disprove this, so even if it isn't stated it could hypothetically happen so maybe the character did do this but it was just never talked about.

A headcanon is something like Frankenstein having bolts-canon never says it but canon also never not says it.

For example, saying you headcanon a character is gay when they have canonically been shown to be attracted to the opposite gender is not a headcannon, because canon disproves it. Saying that a character is bi or pan or multisexual when they have canonically been shown to be attracted to the opposite gender is a headcanon(just because they have been shown to like one gender does not mean they don't like other genders).

Similarly you can headcanon a character as having transitioned into their canon gender but only if there's no canon depiction of them as a baby or toddler where they are the same gender they currently, canonically are(because that would show that they are cis).

This isn't just about sexuality or gender, but also about things a character's likes or dislikes and habits. I've seen so many people depict in fics and/or headcanon a character who mainly uses non violent & defensive strategies in fights but bcz its never really pointed out by the narrative and also bcz they are often verbally aggressive, their dislike of physical violence has been ignored, and its common to for them to be depicted and/or headcanoned as violent and physically agressive.

Another example is if a character canonically has been raised by their parents-even if it's proven by a single one off line or something the creator said in an interview-and then you headcanon them as growing up in an orphanage, is not a headcanon, because it actively goes against canon.

Another thing is things that are implied to not be canon being seen as a headcanon. For example, if a character is implied to be poor as a child and you headcanon them as being raised rich, then you either need an explanation for why they did or said whatever implied that they were raised poor or it's not a headcanon.

I think fandom needs a new word for stuff that people want to believe about characters that contradicts canon and/or implied canon. Oh wait, just realised that's called ooc but no one likes saying they like an ooc version of character bcz then they have to admit to mischaracterising a character or not actually liking the canon character so i still sorta think we need a new word.

[blueepink07]

Skipped a beat

Just my interpretation of what Mahiru was thinking during the latest timeline conversation! You can also read it here.

The dining room is quiet today, the only sound that can be heard being the occasional rattle of a wheelchair.

Mahiru is waiting quietly as per Yuno's request with a feeling of anticipation. Unfortunately, boredom easily succumbed, her thoughts of worry for Yuno and for the current events peeking in.

The voices have unexpectedly calmed down… Meaning that the days of guilt for always needing someone to escape from the prison of her mind are finally over. Recently, the voices are taking pity on her condition and seem to be encouraging… But Mahiru feels weird because of that. Sometimes, she hears words of love and admiration, complimenting her. But she doesn't like it, especially after discussing it with Yuno. It doesn't feel sincere like in those beautiful mangas she used to read. Not like in her past relation-.....

Better not think of that. After all, Yuno wanted to give her something. She doesn't know why… Is today a special event? It has been long since Mahiru has kept a hold of the days… It makes her upset to remember that she can't enjoy the activities she used to. Cooking, baking, cleaning, make-up…

She can only hope that Shidou's treatment will be fruitful. Her only hope to feel better again lies in his hands. But… It is scary. It's scary that she doesn't feel much better. Like her body is one with the pain. However, he promised her that, no matter what, she will be healed. Those words he said that day, made her heart flutter at that time. But doubt does really creep in… sometimes…

"Hei… Mahiru…"

!!

Fuuta…? Was she so deep in thought that she couldn't hear him approaching…? She doesn't remember the last time they talked. She hasn't seen him having a conversation with other prisoners for a very long time. Small talks with Amane, but nothing more. He would go to his cell immediately after dinner or lunch. She has always wondered how he can subdue the voices, being in constant loneliness. Mahiru can't help but feel that the boredom has dispersed.

"Are you… doing alright? Isn’t there any way you can get better…?"

So gentle… is he really ok? She has noticed that Shidou stopped tending to his injuries as much as before, all his attention being on her, because he grew worried about not seeing visible changes. She feels guilty. Fuuta is also in pain, but because of her condition… She should really talk to Shidou about this. Wait…

What had Fuuta asked her..? If she can get better…?

…

Better… She wished she could smile happily at him and answer with a genuine cheerful voice that she does.

"What's wrong, Fuuta? Yeah, I'm not feeling great… But Shidou has been taking care of me all this time. I'm sure if I keep getting treatment like this, I'll get better…"

"Would she really get better? Poor Mahiru…"

The voices… It's unfortunate that they really ask a good question…

Mahiru slowly moved her head to take a better look at Fuuta. His face is so changed… his expression… Mahiru can't decipher. It has lost that fierceness, his gaze seemingly withered out, without energy. The guilt consumes her more.

"I see. Continue the treatment, huh… How can you truly be saved, I wonder?"

Her heart has skipped a bit. But… Why? Despite thinking of him as nothing more than a bully, somebody who could never understand how beautiful it is to care for somebody else, to give all yourself to them… He still came to her with all these injuries which cause him pain. To express his worries! And they seem sincere… So sweet… like a cake…

Simple words, but she feels better… A sudden wave of energy makes her forget about her hurting body.

"Saved…?? Are you worried about me?…That's nice of you, Fuuta. Just thinking that way… Mahiru feels saved already."

This time, she was honest. Her chest was warm as she carefully watched Fuuta's expression.

…

It's still the same. Lost and empty. Does Fuuta not believe her? He from a few months ago would have argued back and denied that he acts from kindness. She shamelessly admits that she misses these reactions from him…

"It's that so…? My words made you feel better? "

"Y-Yes!?"

"Perhaps my question has been answered already… "

"What… Fuuta have you said something?"

"No… It's nothing…"

Fuuta looked at her like he wanted to say something more. Mahiru was eagerly waiting. It felt like it was something important.

"Take care of yourself. I wish for you to get better soon…"

With that, Fuuta slowly moved away from the wheelchair, still seemingly lost in thought.

… Mahiru is not very good at reading people, but she could tell that this was not what Fuuta wanted to say. She sighed disappointed watching Fuuta's figure fading away.

"Mahiru!!~"

"Ah, Yuno!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting so much! But I wanted to add a few more things!!"

A strawberry shortcake was put on the table with visible care. There were many pink and red hearts drawn on the white frosting and a few ones cut from some strawberries. They were by far from perfect, but for Mahiru it didn't matter. Just the thought alone that Yuno spent time baking and decorating it, made her heart skip a beat for a second time.

"Happy birthday, Mahiru!!"

The day she had forgotten about…

"Ah… Mahiru, don't cry… Then your special day will not be happy anymore, won't it…?"

"These… These are tears of happiness! Thank you…! I don't know what else to say… I'm sorry, I'm not good with words…"

"You have nothing to apologize for… Please take a bite! Hope it's good!"

Mahiru has slowly calmed down, a sweet flavor invading her taste buds. Fuuta's words still lingered in her mind as she took another bite.

It was sweet…

[gothoffspring]

Template to send to EA regarding Paywallers.

Hey y'all! I had an anon ask about this, so I wrote this up real quick for anyone who doesn't have the time or ability to pen a long thing to send to EA about the paywallers. Feel free to change it up as much as you'd like, add even more paywallers (highly recommend this), do whatever you want, let's REPORT REPORT REPORT 💖

How to report:

To report Mods, give us the details right here on EA Help:

Click Contact Us from any page on EA Help.

We recommend logging in to your EA Account.

Select The Sims 4. If needed, use the search bar to find the game.

Select your Platform.

For Topic, select Report concerns or harassment.

For Issue, choose Report website.

From here, you’ll open a webform to let us know more about what happened. Please provide a link to the Mods you think break the rules, and as much detail as you can about why. Your report will be reviewed by our team.

Then you just enter your name/email (which isn't shared with anyone but EA)

Here's my lil template! THIS HAS BEEN CENSORED. In my actual report I listed their full names, and patreon/tumblr pages. I HIGHLY recommend you check out mack3030's anti perma paywall posts. Give EA as MUCH info as you can on this. The more of us that report the better off we'll be. Also i borrowed a little bit of wording from @myshunosun (the distribution and installation part) sorry but it sounded nice and I couldn't think of how else to phrase it.

My Template:

I made the subject "Custom Content in the Sims community- perma paywallers"

"Hello there, my name is ______, and I have been an avid sims fan and consumer for MANY years. It has recently come to my attention that EA has released an official article on the distribution and installation of mods and custom content. It states to reach out if we find any mods that go against the guidelines in this article. As a community, we know of MANY people who permanently lock their custom content behind what we call 'paywalls', which means simmers have NO access to them unless they pay. This is clearly against EA's policies and I would now like to report them to you in the hopes that you will not let this continue any longer. As someone who has already spent hundreds on this game and franchise, I believe it is wrong in so many ways to lock content using EA's intellectual property/program/meshes behind paywalls when it is clearly against your policy. Following is a list of some of the most notorious paywallers in the community.

S*xamcc

currently makes over 10k a month from perma paywalling their custom content. They have removed thier public patron amount due to the backlash they have received. This is unacceptable when EA CLEARLY states that mods are NOT to be sold. This creator will continue to lock all of their content behind paywalls until someone stops them.

Other perma paywallers:

antos*ms, bergd*rf, cowbu*ld, P*xel V*bes

Thank you so much for reading my report and taking what we as a community have been against for so long seriously. I greatly hope that you look at these reports and do something about these creators."

[honoviadakai]

Foods I think Team Urameshi enjoys 🍜 😋

This post is kinda inspired by/a continuation of this post I made about Hiei so please enjoy my thoughts on the rest of the team’s taste in food!

Yusuke:

If the live action did nothing else, it definitely established that Yusuke’s a ramen guy 😂

He likes both the instant stuff and the traditional kind but the latter is his go to if he can afford it

The instant ones are good but they doo remind him of his childhood when either his mom didn’t have enough money to feed him properly or she was too intoxicated to feed him properly

He also really likes American food

If you get him a good burger, some fries and some soda, he’s your friend for life

He LOVES a good cheesy pizza! The greasier and cheesier the better

Honestly he just LOVES heavy, greasy, heart food

It makes him feel full and weirdly energized

He could eat an entire family bucket of fried chicken by himself, sides and all, and feel pumped up for a good workout 🏋️‍♂️

He also loves spicy food

His spice tolerance is average but he genuinely likes the burn 🔥

If he sees a spicy challenge, he’s gonna do it just to see how far he can go

He’s currently at a level 7 out of 10 on the 🌶️ meter

He’s also very open to exploring weird food combinations and food from other cultures

This includes food from the demon world

He actually kinda likes food from demon world, he just feels like it could use some more spices

Catch him trying Nutella and bologna because Chu swears that the last time he went to the human world he tried it and it was delicious

…he actually tried it…and he liked it…

9 times out of 10 he’s gonna try and actually like the cursed foods you recommend to him

Kuwabara:

He’s a big sandwich connoisseur 🥪 🧐

He just likes how customizable and portable they are

Honestly he likes meals that are not only balanced, but a comfort to the soul

So things like stews, ramen, soba, curry and pasta dishes

One of his personal favorites things to both eat and make are bento boxes 🍱

He loves making them for his friends and family for a number of reasons

For one, it’s his way of making sure his loved ones are eating enough

Some of his friends come from low income households that don’t always have enough money for food

He made sure that whenever they hung out, they were always well fed

He also learned how to make bentos from his mom and sister

He really enjoyed the cooking lessons and he enjoys the warm fuzzy feelings he gets when he feeds his loved ones

The one food he won’t make or consume is anything spicy

He can’t handle spicy food and doesn’t feel confident enough to properly make a spicy dish

Honestly he can’t eat anything spicier than a jalapeño

But he will try to beat Yusuke and Hiei in spice challenges

…my boy never wins and I don’t know why he thinks he will at this point 😂

Kurama:

Like seemingly everything else about this guy, his palate is very refined

He likes expensive things like lobster, caviar, and liver tartare

Part of why he likes it is Yoko has expensive taste and old habits die hard 😂

In Yoko’s correct opinion, if you’re gonna feed him, you might as well break out the good stuff

The other reason is that a lot of these foods have very strong flavors and he enjoys that every now and then

That by no means mean he hates “Lowe quality” foods

He use to eat McDonald’s as a kid

He liked it

Still eats it from time to time

Not as often as Yusuke does, but like…if friends invite him out for a burger, he’ll eat it

Big enjoyer of fruit, grows it himself actually!

The fresher the better 😌👌

He loves ice cream! 🍨 specially strawberry, vanilla and most fruity sorbets

He actually has a bit of a sweet tooth tbh

Thank his mom for that cuz she’d give her baby boy sweets if he looked at her with his big puppy eyes

Mf didn’t even have to say a word

She’d either buy them or make them for him

Even into his adulthood, he can demolish a tray of cookies and macaroons on his own

The difference is that as a child he didn’t care about his weight or how much sugar he’s eating

As an adult, he absolutely cares because he wants to stay in shape and also his body is technically human so he doesn’t wanna deal with diabetes if he can avoid it

Now he also technically grew up with demon world food when he was Yoko

Demon world food is whatever you can find that’s edible

So usually it’s other demons and edible plants/produce

Some of which does that pretty good

But a lot of it is more for survival than taste

He’s absolutely had to eat a bug demon before and not only did it look gross, it tasted gross!

But it was either that or starve…

And believe me…he did debate it…but food doesn’t always just die for you so…🐛🐛🐛

Boy was he grateful that humans in Japan eat some of the best food he’s ever seen

Human food has also made Kurama appreciate the artistry that can go into food

When he sees the chef went out of their way to make the food look like a literal work of art, he’s always so amazed!

He actually has a hard time eating something if it looks super pretty

Expect him to take a few pictures before he eats btw 🤣

He also has an shockingly high spice tolerance

He can eat authentic Thai food without sweating

But certain peppers will automatically have him on his knees

He can and has grown his own peppers to see if he can make spicier peppers than what’s available

He has, but internet trends make people competitive enough to dethrone him by next week 🤣

Hiei:

Oh this guy ain’t picky

Honestly he’ll eat burnt food if he’s hungry enough

He can also eat 10xs his own body weight

Want proof?

Togashi himself knows this little gremlin is a bottomless pit of angst and hangry

He could easily eat you and 12 of your friends out of house and home and still have the audacity to wonder why ya’ll stressed 🙄

Hello grew up in an environment where food was not guaranteed every day so any food he got, he wasn’t wasting a crumb

Even if he’d been given a giant demon bug leg, best believe he’s eating it

Waste not want not as they say

The only food he’s very sus about is mushrooms 🍄

Especially when talking about demon world mushrooms, a lot of them are very hard to identify wether they’re poisonous or so he tends to avoid them

Unless Kurama is there to tell him it’s poisonous or not

He’ll never admit it out loud but he LOVES human food so much!

It’s so flavorful!

His favorite dishes are meaty rice and noodle dishes

Honestly any dishes with meat are an instant hit with him 🍖

But his all time favorite dishes are the spicy ones

The spicier the better 🌶️🌶️🌶️

His spice tolerance is otherworldly

I’m 99.99% sure he could eat lava and not react

To this day, Yusuke and Kurama are trying to find a dish or pepper spicy enough to make Hiei sweat

They so far have not been successful 😔

Honestly not sure they will succeed any time soon

Mf pops Carolina reapers into his mouth like popcorn 🍿 🌶️

[goodluckclove]

Tag Game - Questions for Fellow Writers!

I was tagged by the talented @mushroommanchanterelle but I'm going to be a dingus about this, just you wait.

Last book I read: I'm reading an encyclopedia about birds that I got from a used bookstore because it's little and cute and I wanted it to get inspiration for Edgar in Songbird Elegies. I'm also reading The Dead Beat, which is a book about obituary writers. It's pretty good!

Greatest literary inspiration: I definitely get a lot of Vonnegut and maybe Hemingway in terms of accessibility in prose? One of the most important things to me in what I write is making sure that language is beautiful, but simple enough to be easily understood. I think the highest praise I've gotten is from non-native English speakers like my beloved compatriot @ivaspinoza who still really enjoy the excerpts I post.

Maybe also Palahinuik with some of the content and narrative gimmicks? Lil' bit of Kerouac, but like before On the Road? Does that sound like anything?

Things in my current fandom(s) I want to read but I don't want to write: My greatest shame of mine is that I don't really actually have a fandom. I don't like to admit that because it makes me sound like some hermit who only fixates on their writing, but that's...not entirely inaccurate. I consume a lot of media, but nothing that I'd consider myself part of the fandom of.

But I still want to be included because my friend Mushy wants to include me, so I'm making up a fandom. It's a TV show called Jonathan's Food Truck, staring Don Cheadle as Jonathan Fudtruk, a man with aspirations to start a food truck.

I really want to read an AU of Jonathan's Food Truck where he has to sell the food truck. What would happen? Where would he go? Imagine the outage. He fucks that food truck. I'm a Jonathan/Food Truck pro-shipper.

Things in my current fandom(s) I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: a whump fic where Jonathan is forced to operate a brick and mortar restaurant and also he can't stop pissing himself.

You can recognize my writing by: Apparently elaborate food descriptions. I think my dialogue is pretty distinct from what I've been told. Kind of experimental and not super literary. I don't really know how to answer this, maybe you guys can tell me.

My most controversial take (current fandom[s]): The analog horror ARG for Jonathan's Food Truck was not as bad as people say it was. And since it came out before The Mandela Catalogue, they're actually the originators of religious trauma in modern online horror.

Top three favourite tropes: Pathetic characters, abstract narratives, radical softness

What’s your current writing mood? (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut) I mean it's mildly annoying to me but I'm deciding to put aside Book Two for like a week or so and re-edit Book One for a final run before I consider it fully ready to publish. But I'm down for that so - 10?

Share a random frustration: Itch on foot. I don't have one right now but I don't like when I do.

I tag @mercuryytheraven and @rkmoon and @ratracewriting, and I highly encourage you all to make up a fandom like I did because it's a very funny additional challenge.

[ivyial]

Gojo Satoru and Emotional Strength

Now that the Hidden Inventory arc is over in the anime as well, and everyone is caught up on Geto and Gojo's backstory, I wanted to share some thoughts on Gojo's reaction to the Geto debacle and how it all ties into his relation to strength.

Gojo is a physical force to be reckoned with: we know that, every character in the anime, including Gojo himself, tells us this all the time. He is the strongest. There is no one stronger than Gojo (with the potential exception of Sukuna, but this is awaiting confirmation as *spoilers for the manga* the Sukuna vs Gojo fight is currently ongoing in the manga).

Every time we talk about Gojo's strength though, it's purely physical. Every observation and remark ever made is about his fighting abilities and his technique. However, there's also a key component of Gojo that allows him to be who he is, and that is sheer emotional strength, even if we always make fun of him for being outwardly emotionally immature.

(Note: I know this is Geto's episode, and me talking about Gojo's emotional intelligence doesn't take away from Geto's experience in the episode. However, everyone's already talking about it, and I have nothing to add to the discourse. So I'm going to talk about this instead.)

Geto touches upon that shortly during the infamous KFC breakup (2x05 - Premature Death):

Geto: You could do it (nb: create a world without non-sorcerers), couldn't you, Satoru? Yet you would try to convince someone else that it's impossible to do something that is possible for you?

And then we get *the* Geto quote (which is honestly so poorly worded and it's a bit fake deep but it does convey an interesting message): are you the strongest because you're Gojo Satoru, or are you Gojo Satoru because you're the strongest?

Gojo: What are you trying to say?

Geto: If I were able to become you, this foolish ideal would become a lot more grounded and real, don't you think?

Geto's jab at Gojo's strength and ability to execute his plan raises the following question: if Gojo could, why doesn't he?

I don't think the answer is as simple as saying that "Gojo is naive" or "Gojo is too empathetic for that" or "Gojo is a good guy".

Geto's been through hell by consuming curses and his life as a jujutsu sorcerer has definitely been more miserable than Gojo's. 16/17-year-old Gojo is removed enough from the reality of weaker sorcerers to not be as impacted as the rest of them. However, he's seen as much as they have: he's seen the numerous, pointless deaths, the destruction, all of it. He's just lucky and talented enough to avoid getting overinvolved (stated by Akutami himself - Gojo can do just about anything he sets his mind to, so he doesn't get too involved with anything). But that doesn't make him blind. We know he's frustrated with jujutsu society, the rules, and the suffering (of his students especially). He also knows that someone has yet to outrank him, and he's aware of the burden placed on other sorcerers, despite how often he jokes about them being weak.

It would be ridiculous to argue that Gojo is too foolish to know how curses and cursed energy work and that they all mostly come from non-sorcerers. But it's not like he doesn't want to stop people from suffering either. So, why did Geto join the 'dark side' (lmfao) and Gojo hasn't?

Emotional strength.

By emotional strength, I mean the character's way of dealing with his emotions and handling them correctly, no matter what is thrown their way.

Make no mistake: I am not calling Geto emotionally weak. In fact, to be able to withstand all that he did for such a long time, you'd have to be incredibly driven. There's only so much he could take.

No matter how close they were and how much they loved each other (and this is also why I'm making the case for Satoru's emotional strength - you can't look me in the eyes and tell me that he wouldn't have ideally done everything for Suguru or joined him in everything he did), this is their point of contention: when is it time to let go of traditional logic and moral and to give in to emotions?

They both have similar emotional baggage due to how often they were sent on missions together and how they both lived through the Amanai incident. Where Geto decayed over months and months, Gojo literally died. They both went through incredibly traumatic events.

I'd argue that the reason why Gojo didn't immediately join Geto, the person he loved the most, in his quest, was initially shock; but it's not naiveté. It's a mixture of genuine shock and a lack of understanding. As I said, though, he knows how the jujutsu world works and he saw what happened to Amanai. You can't possibly, in good faith, call him naive.

You also couldn't say that the reason why Gojo didn't follow Geto was pure emotional strength. He was too young for that. But the event did contribute to building that part of himself.

Geto is partially right: there is a "simple" solution to end everyone's pain, to make sure that no one ever has to get hurt again and to look out for the next generation without them even touching a curse. Gojo could do it. The reason why Gojo is also the strongest is because he doesn't give in to his emotions when dealing with jujutsu matters. What we tend to mistake as carelessness is the complete opposite.

I don't think such strength could have been achieved without Geto's story. Gojo has thought about killing the higher-ups before and going on an actual rampage:

(And, spoilers for the manga, they've all been massacred, and if I'm not mistaken, we still don't know who did it. Let's work under the assumption that it wasn't Gojo, because the signs don't point to him.)

Gojo's not *that* empathetic of a guy. He can and will be brutal against his foes and he has pretty much no mercy for them.

His anger is not directed at the victims even when we know he thinks of them as weak. I'd be willing to bet that every time he has those thoughts, he thinks of Geto to remind himself of what he shouldn't do. Again, sheer emotional strength to think of this guy you loved so much, with whom you've been through insane trauma, who engaged in the most heinous acts and not think "You know what, maybe he was right after all."

In the end, I'd say that there is an answer to Geto's riddle: when they were teens, Gojo was who he was because he was the strongest - he was strong enough to be somewhat oblivious to everyone else's pain. It's kind of like knowing something in theory, but not seeing it in practice. Later on though, he is the strongest because he is Gojo Satoru. He would be a significantly weaker character without his ability to handle his emotions the way he does. And no, if Geto were able to become him, this "foolish ideal" would not become a lot more grounded and real.

Now, the question is, is he eventually going to snap and let his emotions get the better of him?

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL!! This is more of a data question then anything but it might not actually be answerable.

How does the world of BL define a successful show? Is it money made on ads revenue? Streams? Trending hashtags??

Granted in North American media I also couldn’t answer this question, but I could gage based on…article reviews or critical acclaim. Or something.

I see soooooo many people saying something flopped or was massively successful, but truly. How on earth are we making those benchmarks?

I figure you might have at least a tiny sliver of insight into how this works! Or at least a key word I can take to google LOL. Thanks as always!!!!!

Hum.

Well for GMMTV et al, it's YT views. So that's easy. We can see those eyeballs outright.

The streaming platforms obfuscate data (that is one of the reasons SAG is still on strike) but we can see things like where it's ranked on their internal leader boards (what's "popular on Viki" for example). How many reviews something has. How many collections and lists it's on. How many people on MDL have it listed as "currently watching"

More key is how much chatter a show is getting. How many comments. But also...

Literally when you do a Google search for that IP:

How are the hit returns?

How many top spots does it hold above the fold on Google main (using private or incognito mode).

Are people blogging about it? Think pieces?

Are there reaction vids?

FMVs?

Reddit chatter?

BTS's?

Interviews with actors?

The amount of fan content generated around an IP tells you a lot about the number of viewers - since it is all a numbers game. Commenters (those who visibly/trackably react to content) are more common than (content) creators. Ghosts (passive consumers) are more common than commenters.

There are those in EntDA working on formulas for predictive fan base numbers sourced in the ratios of these.

Lemme try to explain...

In other words, the fans who create content for IPs (fanfic, art, meta analysis, FMVs, etc...) are the rarest. Those who interact with the content, leave star reviews, comment on the above fan-made content, engage in discourse, leave YT comments, are the second rarest. Those who tend to do nothing more than ... well, ghost (maybe have a subscription, maybe save the vid to a playlist or on MDL, maybe read this on Tumblr but don't react to it). They are the largest contingent but hardest to track.

If we could get a good handle on the first 2, there's usually a predictable ratio that can be drawn for the fan base as a whole, the largest number 3 - ghosts.

For example:

For every 1 creator there are 100 commenters and 1000 ghosts. Something like that. However the nature of this ratio is dependent on venue and vocality of the fan base (often a generational thing). So like, most Kpop stans are vocal, but 4th gen stans tend to be more noisy online, even though 3rd gen groups tend to have bigger overall fan bases. (Superstars, like super hits, are non-viable non-predictive outliers. There can never be another KP, or 2g, and we can't use their numbers to predict anything. Just like Taylor Swift or BTS can't be used to predict/estimate the success of a new pop venture).

back to the BL fandom

Here on Tumblr you can tell what's popular by which ones are getting the most gifsets.

That's how we know Only Friends is out performing Dangerous Romance. (I mean I could check the numbers on YT but I don't really have to.)

Also, I bet you good money Kiseki is garnering more eyeballs than You Are Mine. Again, I can say that with confidence just based on the content that's being created for that IP in this one venue.

On a practical level, in the ET industry, if there is chatter about a BL outside of BL circles (as happened with KP) you know it's gotten HUGE (by BL standards).

The moral of this story, incidentally, is if you like a thing, doesn't matter how shy you are, if you want it to continue, get a second season, whatever, you gotta NOT JUST WATCH IT BUT TALK about it. Online, where careers are made and broken. Squeaky wheel and all that.

Entertainment is about attention. More money is always thrown at the thing getting the most attention.

Just like politics.

Okay, I done now.