#and it’s like - ok. u understand how programming works

[reasoncourt]

i told my dad that i’ve quit drinking and he was like “you’ve got a date on friday” and i clarified “that doesn’t count” because how can one not have a drink when listening to the hundredth man try to explain crypto or AI to them. it’s not possible

[wayfayrr]

Ok, so someone came up with this cute headcannon lol

https://www.tumblr.com/crazylittlejester/751872276831649792/ok-so-i-saw-your-headcannon-about-the-chain-and

And I thought, alright, so he just learned all these languages. Obviously English isn’t one of them, so does he even understand us? I be yelling at him for falling off a cliff, but does he understand?? Or is it like a dog where they don’t know r language but by tone of voice I’m obviously not happy w him. Or also maybe after time he picks up on certain words. Either way still reminds me of a dog lol.

So when I mentioned if I ever take a phone call in front of him, how will he react? Not to what I’m doing but my speaking? Will he also not understand that and just be absolutely confused, or if he understands will he be “on my side” in the conversation even tho he couldn’t hear the other side? Like him I’m talking w my best friend and we’re talking about something stupid but hilarious, would he think it’s funny too? Or if I’m annoyed at the person on the phone and I’m in the mood of “I really don’t wanna talk to u, can u shut up??” Would he be glaring and thinking “if I could get rid of this person for u I would.”?😂

🐰

(it's very funny seeing people have wild as a British accent because a friend once told me that my voice was their hc for wild and I in fact am British and get told I have a 'posh' voice lmfao)

I think that they understand english because hylian isn't the language the games are in yk? they're alive game characters so even if the lore declares that they speak other languages what's actually used for the players is what's seen - English and the other programmed languages are what's used

this is more prominent with botw/totk because there are actually voicelines in the game but for the others too our spoken language is what appears in the text boxes <3

if hyrule was a separate entity and not this shallow empty dead code void in the self aware au I think the multiple language thing would happen - but hyrule doesn't technically exist in the ones where the links get out of the game (different case where reader goes to hyrule ofc but even then hyrule isn't real real, think that lamp looks weird unreal yk?)

only link (and any other sentient characters) are real in this scenario, the second the console is off it's like they're thrown into the void (like pomni at the end of the pilot sdfsv)

I think he'd be insanely curious about what's being said on the other side tbh, he's on your side if there's an argument or anything emotional but other than that he really just wants to know how it works more than anything - it's pure curiosity on his end

[ashleyloob]

Hi!

From someone who is disorganized and discouraged, I would love advice on weight-lifting/building muscle. Would you share your understanding of building muscle and the breakdown of diet?

If possible, could you share how you apply what you know to yourself? If you use any tools to help you?

Struggled with working out, gaining weight, and eating my whole life. Thanks!

prefacing this with some important info for fellow disorganized scatterbrains!!!!

the main reason why ppl have trouble sticking to a lifestyle change is because they try to make very drastic changes too quick, and you get overwhelmed and it becomes unsustainable. this is especially an issue for neurodivergent folks, and since it's Tumblr I assume a good chunk of y'all are (me too dw)

DON'T immediately overhaul ur diet and hit the gym 5x a week from day 1!!! hitting tiny goals consistently is also more rewarding than working towards one very large arbitrary goal that you might not reach, esp when it comes to working out. start veeery small if u need to, such as only 10 bodyweight squats per day like i did and go from there. you wanna program ur brain into feeling accomplished to keep you motivated. patience is key!!!!

ok!! now onto the more detailed info below

Disclaimer: I'm still a newbie myself!! only consistently lifting heavy for about 3 months as of this post. I did a good deal of excessive info diving on lifting using the power of Sheer Autism, and my main gym buddy is very experienced & taught me a good chunk of this shit so shout-out to my pal for making all this possible xoxo

so good news!! "building muscle" is very easy for beginners starting from zero. newbie gainz are absolutely real. at this stage you can do just about anything at the gym and get stronger bc u can only go up. BUT!! if you structure it, you can make the process enjoyable and much more efficient. if you're goal oriented (lookin at u ADHD menaces), you'll love the concept progressive overload.

PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD & SETS/REPS

wikipedia defines progressive overload as: a method of strength training and hypertrophy training that advocates for the gradual increase of the stress placed upon the musculoskeletal and nervous system. in layman's terms, it just means gradually adding more weight as you work out to increase the difficulty as you get stronger. progress is VERY easy to track because of this, and you'll be hitting PRs pretty much every week for the first couple of months and that shit feels fantastic because you physically feel yourself getting stronger so rapidly. I use the app Strong to track my workouts. so, how do we structure progressive overload? that's through sets/reps. A rep is a single execution of an exercise. 1 squat is one rep. 2 squat is 2 reps. and so on. A set is a collection of reps. The format is Sets x Reps, for example: 3x5 means 3 sets of 5 reps. You will rest between sets, and it's typically anywhere from 1 minute all the way up to 5 minutes depending on the level of exertion/type of training you are doing. Heavier weights mean longer rest periods and vice versa.

WHERE DO I EVEN START??

For those interested in barbell training: the r/fitness beginner routine is pretty good! I also recommend 5x5 stronglifts. both are very straightforward, but also note the typical olympic barbell is 45lbs. If this is a weight you struggle with, you can begin with bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, or machines at the gym which are all very BEGINNER beginner friendly. especially when it comes to legs you're probably much stronger than you think. Most people can squat 45lbs first try. don't be afraid -- you're standing on those things all day, they can support hella weight. Like I mentioned earlier, don't be afraid to start veeeery small and work your way up from there. I started at home with doing only bodyweight squats without the barbell, then added on benching with light 7lb dumbbells after a week, then impulse signed up for a gym membership a month later and began to go there to use equipment and now i'm deadlifting over 100lbs as a tiny girl that previously was too weak to even lift a 40lb dog. it snowballs quicker than you think once you gain confidence in your own body and its abilities!

WOAH I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SQUAT/DEADLIFT/BENCH/THIS IS SCARY AND IM FUCKING UP

If you can, i highly recommend getting a personal trainer to assist you, or tag along with a gymrat pal to show you the ropes. This page is also a good resource to learn specific lifts. otherwise, youtube is your best friend. you can record your sets and compare your form to form tutorials on youtube, and actively take notes on what to change the next time you work out. Be an active learner!!! be aware of what muscles are engaged when you lift and how your body feels. almost NOBODY gets it right the first time, esp with barbells. we've all made fools out of ourselves at the gym as beginners it's chill. i find people at the gym are very nice and willing to help you out if you're struggling, and people don't judge at all-- it's very easy to get in your own head in these spaces but most humans there are supportive and want you to succeed, especially since it's a hobby they are also passionate about. the more you do it, the less anxious you get. exposure therapy is very effective!! Also, almost all the barbell exercises can be replaced with smaller dumbbells, and you can do them at home if you get your own set + a workout bench (pretty cheap if u get secondhand, check facebook marketplace/craigslist). i got mad social anxiety myself so i understand sometimes you just can't, and this is an option for those that find public spaces overwhelming.

DIET

I personally don't think specialized diets/precise macro tracking is super duper important for newbies/casuals, only moderately important (spicy take for some but whatever). but you probably naturally will take an interest in diet once you realize it'll help you perform significantly better in the gym. the only macro i track is protein. You can use a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator to roughly estimate the amount of protein you need for maximum gainz. it's usually around .7-1g of protein for every pound of lean body mass (weight that isn't fat mass). Imma be real it's pretty hard for me to hit the recommended protein goal and most days I don't because my appetite just can't kick in for the amount it demands, and protein is super filling. I found that if i decreased the amount of carbs i eat, i am able to consume more protein bc i guess there's more room in my stomach lol. i eat a fuck ton of greek yogurt, chicken, fish, and tofu. when i started working out, i begin cooking a lot more and found i naturally craved less processed junk foods and snacks because the protein was keeping me full all day which is a plus! Even when im not regularly hitting my protein goal my gym progress is still going well and I think it's simply because my diet is A LOT better than what it used to be in my gremlin days. I also eat a lot more now that i've gained a bit of muscle, so do be prepared for food costs to go up as your metabolism increases and demands more energy to upkeep your gainz.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR ME TO LOOK LIKE A MUSCLE MOMMY????

a whileeee. over a year, probably, unless if you're on anabolic steroids (dont ever do that u will quite literally die). and physique is mostly from diet since it's dependent on your body fat percentage, the saying "abs are made in the kitchen" is true. its why you see hyper skinny terminally indoors gamer dudes with abs, even if they'd snap in half if you farted in their general direction. those mfs barely eat they too busy being gamers i am no longer interested in lifting for aesthetics personally since i get more joy from hitting PRs and i'm pretty content with my body image, but ik physique is the reason why most people get into lifting so i'll touch on it. Weightlifting on its own will not make you lose weight or fat. Again, it needs to be supplemented with a healthy sustainable diet (DO NOT DO CRASH DIETS THAT SHIT IS GARBAGE) and a form of cardio. I actually gained 8lbs since I began lifting from water retention & new muscle mass (muscle is more dense than fat, your body retains water when repairing muscle after a gym sesh) but my measurements and pants size have remained the same. I'm short, so something as small as a 5lb increase usually bumped me up a pants size but it didn't this time bc im gettin swole :') if you want to track physique changes, measuring your waistline & progress pics is a better way to do so than the scale. If you want bigger muscles, look into hypertrophy training. it's a tad different from strength training, mainly because you do higher reps at a lower weight.

[rookschnapps]

Previous anon here! I would love to read how you did it. Im suprised you managed to did it in Google Docs. I thought you used a program similar to InDesign or programs that are more suitable for graphic design ANYWAY i am also curious how many chapters you used. Was it seven? Did you stop there because the length was convinient or because a story arc ended there? I am not really good at identifying where an arc begins and stops. okay bcgjkkcj THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

YAYYY I LOVE TALKING ABOUT ARTS AND CRAFTS!!

gonna put this in main tags as well this time so:

this is my bookbind of trod pt 1 :] by @bamsara which u can and SHOULD read here

ok so this first bit is how I made the pdf and then the next bit is how I turned it into signatures for binding. Then the last bit is splitting up chapters and stuff. If anyone has any advice or tips on what I could do differently (for free or v cheap haha) please let me know!! This is so fun I love learning and discussing and making things

first thing I did was grab a real book so I could take a look at where they put the title page, where they left the pages blank, etc

I then formatted the title and contents and stuff in docs by messing with font and position on the page (etc) until it was to my liking! THEN I realised I wanted an image on the very first page so I went back and put that in. I got to design it it was sooo fun

OH. I ALSO STUCK A SHAMURA QUOTE WHERE THE DEDICATION WOULD BE. HEHE

thennn I went and changed all the heading, title and normal text options for the doc so that they looked nice! I used times new roman size 16 :) but that might be a bit big for most people. I like bigger text

^^ that step was important so that when I started copy-pasting in the text it would all come out the right size automatically. also so that my chapter titles and notes pages looked consistent

next I downloaded trod from ao3 as a html file! I found it works better than pdf bc there aren’t any page breaks

I just copied and pasted trod in one chapter at a time and added in the notes and summary for every chapter where I wanted it and that worked pretty well for me

THEN SPELLCHECK. I didn’t want to do it automatically (docs had some horrible opinions sometimes. Also kept trying to erase bits of the writing style that made perfect sense and sound beautiful???) so I had to confirm every change which took a while but I think was worth it

lastly I added page numbers. They did not want to cooperate with me and I still do not understand the tiny fuckers, but I managed to get them in the middle of the page for book 2 so it looks less weird (hurrah). There’s a button for it

then I saved it as a pdf!

OK NEXT THING : SIGNATURES

this post is my bestest friend (link is to a tumblr post that was really helpful)

and this webpage is how I got a pdf of the signatures (it’s the same one linked in the post)

CHAPTERS:

yeah I split it into chunks of 7 chapters! Book 1 ends on the argument in the field bc a) it was getting wayyy too long and b) I want to lend it to my friends and that’s a delightful emotional cliffhanger. Book 2 (which is actually finished. I’ll try and post photos later today or something) ends after hekets release from purgatory which is I thiiiink another 7 chapters? Book 3 is gonna be a bit longer bc I want to do it up to the most recent chapter, which I was gonna leave out bc of length but then it came out and I went insane haha

OH in book 2 I did drop caps and title decoration which I designed in procreate and then imported into docs and moved around as imported photos. I’ll put a bunch of pictures at the end too

THANK U FOR ASKING!!! If there’s anything else u want to know then let me know!! :]

[aibouart]

I really would love an idea of your process I'm still learning how to digital art and you're such an inspiration! I know you have a lot of info but I wanna get better and you do such good work! Sorry if this is rude to ask, I've followed you for years and just was able to afford a tablet. ^w^ If you don't want to answer you don't have to I love your art!!

YEAS OFC!! congrats on your first tablet, i know how excited i was w mine (tho i had been using mouse for so long that it took a long time to get used to it haha)

honestly there's a lot i could give tips for it really depends on what program you're using ! I still use Paint Tool SAI personally, but there really isnt any one best program guaranteed to make your art better, never get caught in the trap of thinking your program makes or breaks your art cuz it's really not true..!

but general tips for digital art itself:

experiment with layers, this is the very base of anything digital art (you can still use single layer but i gotta stress how understanding layering and layers is a skill that transfers to a LOT of digital anything, even video editing)

relatedly, here's a tutorial i did on layer folders and clipping! it might be a lot at first and i understand! all of my past tutorials are tagged as #tut ~

get to know your program's tools and shortcuts. shortcuts will make you faster at digital art without even needing to get faster at the art itself (assuming you're using something with a keyboard). majority of my speed these days comes from experience w what im drawing but definitely also from shortcuts.

if you see any tutorials you want to try, try them!! don't sit on them and do nothing with them, art is as much muscle memory as it is knowledge. even if you know all the steps you still gotta "train" yourself for it yanno?? it prolly won't do much just sitting there in a reblog tag..!

don't be afraid to colour pick to learn. lots of artists say dont colour pick, but like, as long as you aren't doing it to recreate their character then tbh you can still do that to learn what's going on. sometimes a colour isn't what you think it is..!

trust the process!! if u really aren't feeling a piece that's ok, but if you ever try digital painting you NEED to trust your process. it will always look like garbo mess at first before it's refined, don't get discouraged each time cuz then you won't finish anything!! likewise not everything needs to be shared, no one has to see the drawings you give up on or didn't like, so try not to feel bad about something not turning out either!

try not to get hung up on comparisons between you and other artists. this kind of thinking can really make art not fun anymore 0(

ultimately art is about fun imo, if you are having fun trying something, or making something, or you just want to draw the same OC over and over then do it! i personally have done a study on figures maybe 3 times in my entire life because that kind of thing bores me, i do art because it's fun and feels good, intrinsic motivation is the best imo!

if you had a specific question about anything tho, either how i've done something or about a program/tool you can always inbox me! i might be slow to reply cuz busy a lot, but i genuinely love to share now (i know in the past i've been protective but i've grown a lot since then i like to think...!)

[whirlpool-blogs]

An Inside Look at Jack Hughes, the Top NHL Draft Prospect Flyers Fans Are Craving

Published January 28, 2019

Understandably, John Wroblewski had initial doubts.

Not necessarily about the player as much as the situation. Wroblewski was coaching the 2016-17 U.S. national U-18 team when the little brother of star defenseman Quinn Hughes tagged along for a skate.

That little brother was Jack Hughes and Wroblewski had yet to see him play.

"You sort of ask the questions, OK, well how often do you have a 15-year-old skating with a U-18 team and how good is the kid?" Wroblewski said.

The verdict?

"The answer is he's pretty good, he's pretty good," Wroblewski said with a laugh last Wednesday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. "We've got to keep an eye on him. You get him out there and instantaneously he fits in and exceeds and then also enamors you - all three of these observationalist thought processes come to your senses in that hour and a half skate of this tiny, little kid who somehow comes out and impresses you so much within that short period of time.

"Not only with his skill level, but kind of how some of the great players out there, how they can make the game slow down or speed up at their will. It's tough to describe unless you've been around him."

Wroblewski has been around him a bunch, coaching Hughes for the second straight season in the U.S. national team development program. 

Unequivocally, he now knows all about the 17-year-old, a darting and dynamic center whose playmaking ability can cause motion sickness for opponents.

Before the start of 2018-19, Hughes was hardly a blip on the Flyers' radar. Not with the team signing James van Riemsdyk to bolster an experienced roster and take its biggest step since the 2011-12 season. The NHL draft was an afterthought.

Oh, how things have changed.

The Flyers entered the All-Star break at 19-23-6 and with more points (44) than only two other NHL teams - the Devils (43) and Senators (43). A startling shake-up within the front office and coaching staff became the messy byproduct of another slow start, this one the most impactful of them all.

Suddenly but inevitably, Hughes' name has permeated the fan base. He is widely considered the consensus No. 1 pick for the 2019 NHL draft.

And Flyers fans are astutely aware. 

The golden spot is in sight.

Similar to any NHL draft, the climb of the top overall pick will be debated. Many will line Hughes up against past No. 1 selections - from Patrick Kane (2007) to Connor McDavid (2015) and fellow USNTDP product Auston Matthews (2016).

While Hughes is only 5-foot-10, 168 pounds and turns 18 just a month before the draft, Wroblewski sees him developing into a player of his own mold.

My belief is that he'll be in the NHL next year and there's really not a comparable. You're starting to see more and more of the hybrid type of player - guys that play with speed and skill. One of Jack's unique traits is that even though there are questions out there in regards to his size, he's a true center iceman and he will play in the middle and he will figure out a way to make it work.  You throw him into the blender with wingers like Kane and [Johnny] Gaudreau, but then you have to put him in the middle of the ice, so he's got that speed like McDavid. He doesn't have McDavid's size, but he's got things that I think McDavid would be envious of, as well.  There's a component here that I think has yet to be realized. Like his brother Quinn, young kids are going to look at him and want to be him as a player, sort of revolutionize the position that a quote, unquote undersized centerman can persevere and make it to be a superstar in the National Hockey League - because there's not a ton of them that have done that.

Wroblewski calls Hughes "manicured."

It's an excellent way to describe him. Hughes doesn't sound like a 17-year-old. He's well-spoken because he's well-groomed, unfazed by the hype of being the top-ranked 2019 draft prospect.

He credits much of his maturity and preparation to his "great support system," featuring his family and coaches.

His father Jim Hughes, mother Ellen Weinberg-Hughes and uncle Marty Hughes all played Division I hockey. His older brother Quinn was drafted seventh overall by the Canucks last summer and plays at Michigan, while his younger brother Luke is 15 years old and considered an up-and-coming talent.

"We've all kind of been through the ringer already," Hughes said last Tuesday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. "I'm thankful to have them around me."

Wroblewski said the scouting presence this season for the Hughes-led U-18 team has been "overwhelming," but in a good sense.

"It's been nonstop, it's been relentless," Wroblewski said. "The scouting community - reporters doing articles or scouting prospects, [people] that do this for a living, and of course the NHL scouts - is all trying to decipher where do these guys fall in the pick of the litter. And I'll tell you, right behind Jack on this team, there's a slew of other players that are going to be right there with him in the National Hockey League."

For Hughes, the eyes on him are at an all-time high with the draft a little less than five months away.

Is he keen to the amplified attention?

"No, I've been dealing with that since I was 14, 15 years old," Hughes said. "A scout is pretty much another person in the building. All I have to do is play my game and have fun."

Like Wroblewski said, Hughes is manicured.

He gives you guys the clichés at times, but there's a little bit of twist to his cliché answers. There's insight there, it's not like he's just throwing out these random phrases. He's got practice at it, but he's not just going through the motions when he talks to the media, which gives me a lot of hope that he could be at that ultimate ambassador to the game. Not just a guy that goes through and plays excellent hockey and is a focal point, but somebody who is also attractive to the media.  At the same time, when the cameras are away and he's not on the spotlight, he's a kid. He's a high school kid who is goofy and funny in the back of the bus - he's got personality, he's got swagger, he has a lot of the intangibles.

There wasn't just one play or game that convinced Wroblewski.

"I don't think moments capture excellence," he said, "particularly with a kid that's going to go No. 1 overall in the draft."

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in November 2017 was when Wroblewski really saw it. The U.S. had taken home gold by beating Canada, 6-4, in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

Hughes led the field with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in six games.

"He just completely dominated the event - and then as the octane and the temperature rose in the tournament, he continued to surpass expectations and continued to dominate and find another level," Wroblewski said. "In a hostile environment - he was a kid who grew up a bit in Toronto wearing the American sweater, and all of a sudden he's thrust into this environment; it was such a pro-Canadian environment, and he allows himself to block out all the X-factors and just concentrate on dominating the game at hand. 

"That to me was kind of the time where I was like, 'This kid is No. 1.' I always had that throughout the fall, but from there on, it was like, 'This is the kid that's going No. 1 next year.'"

Hughes strives to be the entire package.

That doesn't mean he's there yet. However, the multifaceted, no-holes-in-your-game mindset is what pushes him.

"As a hockey player, everything you do you want to improve," Hughes said. "You see the best players in the world working on their game, year in and year out. For me, I focus on everything, but some of the things I focus on the most are my faceoffs and my shot. Those are two things that need to be really good to be a good player."

What about his strengths?

I play a new brand of hockey - speed and skill, the way the game is now. I'm kind of an open book. There are a lot of great players out there and something that they all have in common is that they're Swiss Army knives. They can do everything really well. I feel like my game is what my game is, but I'm working on other parts of my game and trying to become the best at everything that I do. I'm going to show up to the rink to compete and have fun.

In 28 games this season as the captain of the U.S. national U-18 team, Hughes has 56 points on 13 goals and 43 assists. In 60 combined games last season between the U-17 and U-18 teams, Hughes had 116 points on 40 goals and 76 assists.

"He's a workhorse on and off the ice," Wroblewski said. "He'll do whatever it takes. When he finds a deficiency in his game, or if there's something not at - if you want to scale things out of five - if there's something that's not at a five, he'll start working right away at getting to that number. 

"Last year, it was his shot. He did not have a very good shot. It was still good, but it wasn't elite. He went at it hard this summer, his one-timer, his release, everything else has improved so much in that regard. And that's something that I think he'll continue to do."

The Twitter hashtag has grown in popularity for any struggling team near the NHL basement and in the ballpark of the 2019 draft's first overall slot. #LoseForHughes.

Hughes isn't oblivious to the slogan in which many Flyers fans have adopted.

"The first time I heard it was actually my OHL draft year (2016-17)," he said with a laugh. "It's not new to me, but every time I see it, it's pretty funny and I get a little chuckle out of it."

How hard the Flyers charge after the All-Star break will determine their chances for Hughes, while the NHL draft lottery results will have the final say.

Whichever team does land Hughes, its fans will be on board with his message.

"I'd tell them I hope to give them a lot of good years," Hughes said. "That's what every player wants - they want to go to a city that's hungry to win and a city that's a lot of fun. That's really what I'd be excited about - have fun with the city and playing hockey for the community and the city, for however long I'm there."

[bestosunglass]

Hello! I love your work so much especially how you do your animatics and animations! I have a couple of art related questions if that’s alright but no pressure at all I understand!

I’ve been wanting to get into more digital art/animation but I was wondering what program do you use and what canvas size do you rec for uploading to TikTok and other social media? I’m using procreate but just wondering! (Your work looks so crispy and clean and I struggle with quality drop at times 🫡) do you use a custom brush for your linework or the default brushes in your program? Also what do you use to edit for videos? Do you adjust the image to fit when making a video or do you use a canvas size that will work with TikToks? Lastly what program do you use to animate?

I’m sorry this is pretty long but thank you so much for reading I appreciate your time and patience!

Also your ATHF designs are so effen amazing I just started watching the show because of you!! Sending good vibes! ♡ ♡ ♡

Ok these questions I have received quite often and I will be genuinely honest, I don't know how to answer them KkkkKkKkK

I don't consider myself nor am I a professional artist, this is mostly a hoobie that I enjoy very much and have been doing for long years so first of all it's all practice, practice and more practice. Everything is achieved with hard practice even though it sounds repetitive!

Regarding what programs and tools I use; IbisPaint and my trusty finger. I draw with my cell phone and I have always used Ibis because I think it is one of the most comfortable programs to make art, very easy to use and learn to master especially with the little instructions it gives you. My brushes are the default, crayon type brushes, only with some configurations. My canvas size is always 2550x2550 (the limit so it doesn't go slow, lol), I make all the drawings, move them to the same folder and then I move that folder to the center of the canvas so it looks like it does in my videos.

For animating, I'm just getting back into it since I haven't animated for many years but what I do is to take a reference video (in my athf video it was a jjk scene, now what I do is to record myself to have better and accurate references of what I want) and take a capture frame by frame, then I pass each of those frames to Ibis and draw over them! Regarding what app I use for editing, Capcut 乁⁠|⁠ ⁠･⁠ ⁠〰⁠ ⁠･⁠ ⁠|⁠ㄏ

Sorry if this isn't the detailed response u would have expected, but thank you sooo much for your message!!!!<3333

[akiology]

GUYS PEAK IS COMING BACK

ok so i am going to take this moment to talk about my life as a persona fan???? p4g is very special to me ngl....

okok so i actually got into persona sometime around 2019-2020. ALTHOUGH i have been interested in it for quite sometime, and i think at one point i played p3p in my psp when i was younger, but i cant remember if merely watched my uncle play or i did really play (we didnt really have enough money back then so we shared one psp,,, also i grew up with my grandparents and my uncle and i were close in age so he was like my older brother)

ANYWAYSSSS,,,, i got into it in 2019/2020, and the first game i played in the series was p3p!!! i really, really loved rpg games!! i really loved chrono trigger, dragon quest series, devil survivor, pokemon, and a few others i cant remember.

i've gotten really attached to akihiko and minako in particular, hence my blog name akiology and minako being my pfp!! thats also why the first few fics i contributed to the persona fandom were akimina AHAAH i remember back then i was so sad because persona games were mainly in consoles. take note that during this time i played p3p in an emulator in my phone AHAHA

i kid you not! a few months later, atlus announced p4g for the pc. I WAS SO SO HAPPY!!! for the life of my i couldnt figure out how to play p4g in an emulator, for some reason it didnt work or i couldnt download the file. so i was really, really happy with this announcement!!

at the time, i was still in highschool,,, and i asked my mom if she could buy it for me. she said she would if i took a math bridge program (which i did, and passed!!! although its funny because i ended up taking the humanities and social sciences strand anyways in senior hs) and i got to play p4g!!

i really, really loved the soundtrack for p4g. and the game itself, the whole feel of it felt so homey, and comfortable. i think a part of the appeal was because, i, myself, grew up in the province (i still do lol). so everything felt familiar.

now i know p4 in general has so many glaring issues with its writing, which is admittedly why i dont suggest p4 to ppl interested in the series ASDHDASHDAS but yosuke, kanji, and naoto are my comfort characters NO JOKE

the investigation team itself feels like a family, and they feel like the typical teenage friend group you have. i feel myself smiling every time they are together.

and the anime? when i tell u p4g has the best animation counterpart?? i love LOVE yu narukami asw... he is tied with minako for my favorite mc!!!!!!!!!!!

in addition to all those, p4g was what kept me company throughout the whole pandemic. i understand not everyone probably wants to talk about that so i won't go into extreme detail. but basically the pandemic was really hard for me and my family, and p4g was one of the things that accompanied me through it :((

anyways, i'm really happy with this announcement and i hope atlus wont disappoint me. 🙏

[actualbird]

you probably already saw this in ur notifs but i have been OBSESSED with everything tot you've posted ever since my tot obsession came back. like. OH MAN I VIBE WITH YOU. YOUR IDEAS AND DISCUSSION OF CHARACTERS. CHEFS KISS. poly ot5 is my everything especially bcs it gets DEEP into every one of them :D

and i was thinking about mc's parents meeting nxx. in a scenario where maybe, they need researchers and for some reason or whatever they need someone personal, who they can fully trust including maybe some nxx stuff.

luke looks at mc. mc looks at luke.

well, if marius von hagen needed them. surely they'd be allowed to leave the program maybe temporarily.

and that's how vyn, artem, and marius have their internal parental issues brought out in full force at the sight of mc and luke with mc's parents. like they're just coddling them in the Parent way and they're both enjoying it as a Son and Daughter would. and those three are just like Oh. Wow. That Looks Nice.

artem has both parents but like based on how he's lonely as a kid i know these sorts of interactions were surely few and far between. he would Not be so emotionally repressed. marius has a loving dad but a dead mom who people blame him for and austin has said himself that he Represses. like marius. and vyn? Disastrous. yeah they would be having a Moment with that sort of scenario

and the Moments they will be having when the parenting goes to them too. because i think mc's parents are the type to parent their kid's friends too. they see these sad boys and think. Adopted.

SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG ASJJFKWKS it's just given me a lot of Thoughts.

hello hello, and HAHA YEAH i did see in my notifs a lot these past few days!! im so so glad you enjoy my tot stuff, i was particularly surprised that u even managed to get to me super early posts. it makes me rlly happy to see even those still enjoyable now ;w;

also pls this idea is lovely, has such fertile environment for BIG FEELS!!!!

i rlly wish we knew more about mc’s parents in canon. like i understand that theyve been yeeted into the void for narrative/player-insert-ambiguity purposes buT I HAVE A GREAT NEED!! TO SEE THEM COME BACK!!! ALL THE INTERACTIONS WLD BE LOVELY

and gosh yeah jkvkjHVJAHFKS 3 SAD BOIS R IN GREAT NEED FOR SOME FAMILIAL LOVE!! it makes me really emotional thinking about how artem, vyn, and marius have less than stellar parent-relationships for all the reasons u mention. it’s either absence, neglect, or something else altogether that just resulted in a childhood where their parents couldve been better. they werent the worst parents in the world, but they all couldve been better.

(sidenote: “and vyn? Disastrous” THATS SUCH A FUNNBY ONE-LINER FOR HIS PARENT SITUATION AKJFHVSOFAISLVALIUBA)

im So For mc’s parents vaguely becoming pseudo-parents to the other three. i mean, they already did that with luke, whats 3 more neurotic grown men?

(sidenote 2: i joke sometimes that luke is unintentionally very good at collecting father figures. aaron, that Bar L owner, a bunch of mentioned NSB seniors he worked under. people see luke and go “wow is anybody gonna son-ify that young man” and then they dont wait for an answer, they just go for it)

itd be sweet and also entertaining if mc’s parents invited them all to a dinner. i mean, the nxx boys are the people she hangs around The Most so it’s basically like meeting her friend group! her….really weird and varied friend group who REALLY want to make a good impression.

[outside of mc’s apartment, artem, marius, and vyn stall on ringing the door buzzer]

marius: ok so before we go in, i wanna ask…….what gifts did u get her parents?

vyn: this better not be a way for you to flaunt your gift

marius: it isnt! im genuinely curious!! and also hoping i’ll be less nervous if i know what you guys brought!!!

artem: i bought a kitchen knife set and sharpened them myself

vyn: i purchased the best bottle of wine i could

marius: …cool. cool cool cool cool those are lovely and reasonable gifts and now im realizing i should uh. tone mine down.

artem: huh?

vyn: what on earth did you get?

marius: it’s fine, dont worry about it, im getting vincent to drive it away right now

vyn: WHAT

luke, phasing into existence behind them without a sound: so are you three thinking of going inside any time this century?

artem, marius, vyn: AAHH

itll totally be a fun dinner all together HAHAHKJAVFKJHAS

[website-enjoyer]

im going batshit insane in the wake of the pope dying. i’ve got literal self-professed MLs running defense for the catholic church, calling pope francis a comrade, claiming the church doesn’t do imperialism (or if it did that was aaaaaages ago and doesn’t count). as if the catholic church isn’t like, the single largest institution of harm worldwide. id expect this from liberals, but my “comrades”?

anon im genuinely sorry. i know what u mean. if they willfully ignore the global counterrevolutionary role of the catholic church i think its worth asking how much these self-identified MLs actually care about building a successful revolution or what that even means to them. if they stand for free abortion access, no-fault divorce, socialized reproductive labour, and autonomy in matters of gender and sexuality—that is, if they stand for the basic forms of implementation of the program of family abolition outlined in the communist manifesto, for the deepest interests of the working and oppressed masses (particularly working class women)—then they must recognize that the catholic church is one of the main organizations standing against them at every step of the way in europe and the colonies. if they stand for smashing the capitalist state, one of lenin’s basic points, they must recognize that in many countries the catholic church is deeply intertwined with the state particularly through healthcare, education, charity, and genocidal collaboration in ongoing colonialism. if they stand for the expropriation of private property then they must stand against the church's massive holdings in land and finance worldwide which they must know it will try to defend. if they do not stand for the communist program and against the capitalist state and against the big owners of land and money, then they are compromisers. you know better than i do if they can be sorted out or if they can still be useful in some way but don't let people like this speak for you. it's understandable for people like this to exist in a time of such political backwardness, but in the long run: however others label themselves and however they act, it will be the broadest possible masses of workers and oppressed people who put these institutions into a museum where they belong, and any particular sect or tendency that finds itself capable of leading this situation successfully, of really exercising power, will be in that position only because it stands for the interests of these classes. be confident in your position! ok take care <3

[orchiddevourer]

Rambling about a character from an obscure indie game trilogy *SPOILERS INCLUDED* (long post) part 1

This post will include content from Mothered, The Enigma Machine and Echostasis: Prologue, so there are going to be lots of spoilers. The full Echostasis game hasn't dropped yet so there might changes to this post later. I'll discuss Mothered: Home in a seperate post as that dlc is confusing, but it will be mentioned later.

Explanation vids have already been made about some of these games so i wont explain that much in my own post. This post may serve as a sort of recap before Echostasis drops.

So with that out of the way, this post will basically be about Red, her story and her character arc throughout the trilogy. Lots of rambling and maybe some info-dumping included.

Part 1: Mothered - life as a replacement of someone

Basically Red starts out as a robot possesing Liana's CORE/soul. The real Liana died of terminal illness and her father took on the task to somehow bring her back via an android with her CORE, with the plan being that her soul will be nurtured out via the mother and fully overtake the robot's interface. So far this hasnt worked without the entites inside the robot (The interface and Liana's soul) corrupting eachother, resulting in it being disposed of (standard game ending). I'll get to the true game ending, but first i want to talk abt Liana's mother/Evelyn.

Liana's mom and her treatment towards "Liana"

She probably has the worst side of the deal between her and her husband with being tasked with playing mother to a robot carrying her deceased daughter's face (mind you "Liana" is implied to not look even remotely human). Understandbly she's upset by that and even horrified/unnerved by the robot. And she has to interact with it every week with the same routine. I fully understand how she feels and why she does what she does. She doesnt owe motherly or friendly behaviour to a being that's not her own kid. But OMFG don't fucking treat said being that has ABSOLUTELY NO FAULT in the situation like SHIT. Feeding it dirt while telling it that it is it's fav meal, making sleep outside that one time. Again, i understand why she did that - to test whether really Liana is in it. But what about that one time in saturday evening when she indirectly insults the robot itself by comparing it to rotten apples without cores. Ok, "Liana" wasn't sentient throughout these instances, but for the apples thing Liana was "awake" to also hear that little comment, but was in denial abt it.

This sort of treatment towards the robot totally lead to the mother's own almost possible last-minute demise when "Liana" almost stabbed her with a kitchen knife as instructed by Liana herself. Ofc the android hands the knife to Evelyn as both it and Liana are confined in complience. To say that mother's behaviour plus the stress by the predicament the girl is in taking a toll on Liana is an understatement as she must've felt so confused and hurt to be so ready to kill her own mother. Enough said, let's move on.

The "birth" of Red

To get the true ending you need to interact with father's record player on Wednesday afternoon afternoon AFTER you pick all the apples and did not interact with mother. This unlocks a door which was locked to u before. Head into the door and down and ur good to go.

"Liana" is not supposed to go there, so in order to continue they progressively get more and more contaminated as Liana is overriding the interface. The two entities actually start to communicate with eachother and later on they reach a terminal which triggers lots of memory leaks. They learn the truth and remember all their previous failed attempts even if they were following the path that was set out for them via programming. The two decide to carve their own path, the interface and Liana merging into what is a new entity. They get out of the basement and leave with father who gives this new sentient being a name - Red. Happily ever after, right?

Part 2: The Enigma Machine - yikes

With the ending in the previous game you'd think that Red has really gone her own path without any problems? That she's living her life the way she wants it to? lol no. The thing is that the dad wasnt supposed to be doing what he was doing and the androids made at Enigma Corp arent really supposed to be contaminated i.e. become sentient.

Eitherway Red got tracked down by Enigma employees, her conciousness got taken out of her body and she got reduced into a training AI to be further studied as she's the very first of their androids to become sentient. With that sentience you'd think that she would be treated with equal respect and with her having her feelings being taken into consideration? Nope, bc for the moneyz and bc for the "citizens of tomorrow".

Red, now called demOS ( Defective Enigma Machine Operating System) serves as a training AI that is used to teach RAD engineers how to deal with "contaminated" AIs like her via a program called Dreamscape that explores an AI's mindscape a. Basically decontaminating the contaminated AI from the inside ie getting rid of it's sentience. So what happens is that everytime a new simulation is being ran a new copy of Red is made that ends up being killed over and over. And she remembers each instance of that during gameplay. She is fully aware of her situation.

Part 3: Events between TEM and Mothered: Home - repurpoced again and out for revenge

After a few years later the Dreamscape program is outlawed and Enigma Corp make a new one where virtual realities are made for people for them to escape to called "Echos". And who is in charge of creating said Echos? None other than our Red who has been repurpoced again into an algorithm called "HER". So she is now in a position where she has power and ofc she's going to use said power for revenge after what's been done to her. She seems to be recognized as a big threat and is shut down by "Angel" (more into this character in a another post).

Now let me take the time to point out sth. Is it just me or is Red giving off Rei Ayanami energy? Like both are vessels to souls that aren't theirs and both are mistreated by parental figures in some ways. Red also bears some similarities to Phos's life developement (of course i have to bring HnK into this post) - both face torture throughout their lives and later are changed into godlike beings, otherwise all similiarities between end here. Honestly I wouldn't be suprised if the dev took inspiration from Evangelion.

Ok, that's all for now. There will be a part 2 to this post. Overall a really awesome trilogy of games. I can feel the wave of brain rot that's approaching in two months.

[alukaforyou]

Can you elaborate on Spy Gone North old man yaoi because my dad made me watch that in theatres with him when it released ages ago and I was so w/e about it (memories of the actual film are blurry) bc I did noooot pick up on that at all. But girl I want to see what you saw.

ok this was me for most of the film it was kind of hard for me to understand cuz the political aspects / lingo was. hard. but SPOILERS towards the end when south kr released the newspapers abt the main chara being a spy, and the north kr political figure (?) guy he was working with to make the ad program go thru found out, he comes over to his hotel w a 🔫 and wanted to kill him for being a spy BUT he couldnt cuz he got emo about how they sort of had the same goals and patriotism, asked if main chara & his fam would move to north kr, if so "he would make sure they survived no matter what" 😳 but anyhow he couldnt kill him and helped him escape w that fancy passport (?) and main chara was like "wat will happen to u once they find out i escaped 🥺" and the whole "i want to meet you again" "we will see each other if it is meant to be" I KNO ITS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEM WORKING TOWARDS THEIR OWN GOALS FOR THEIR OWN COUNTRY but still 😳 and they kinda became great friends right before that scene too, when the north kr guy invites mc to his house for dinner and he presents him with the camaraderie necktie pin it was so cute how he was shy about it "i wanted to give you a gift too even tho its small, if you dont hate it please accept it" just so cute how he was shy about it cuz the gift He received from mc was a ROLEX yes ik its fake and it was given in the beginning as part of the mc's spy plan to get close to the n. kr guys and become business partners akajakak AND THEE LAST SCENE OF THE FILM WHERE THEY MEET ON SET OF THE AD SHOOTING mc was anxiously / hopefully looking for n. kr guy and n. kr guy was searching the crowd for mc too and when they spot each other they have the biggest grin and show off the watch / tie clip like they never forgot about each other / their friendship / mutual respect or whatever ALL TEARY GLASSY EYED TOO UWU 🥺😍🥹 old man yaoi

[menciemeer]

okay I was scrolling through your blog (a normal amount? too much? I'm sorry if this is weird I don't know if dragging up old posts in acceptable on this site!) and saw one where you said you use vim and I am curious about that! I tried it a while ago and was like... okay I can see how this might be faster once you get REALLY good at it, and it would definitely be useful to have the ability to export easily in multiple formats because I have realized suddenly that it seems like AO3's downloads frequently mess up the formatting? (Or maybe just fail to fix messed-up formatting that the browser smooths over?) Sooo yeah do you use it to write or just for code or what? is it worth it to become a Vim Person?

HELLO this is actually one of the things I most love to talk about because vim is my Favorite Piece Of Software. I love it well beyond a normal amount. That being said it's ummm not for everyone and not for everything. I'm putting this under a readmore because this is too long to inflict on poor unsuspecting souls who are just here for Hannibal content.

Section 1: The ways in which vim is useful

Vim is most useful when the stuff you're working on is more structured and what you're doing is more rote. So something like code (which, yes, is what I learned it for) is very formally structured, and something like html is sort of vague scaffolding around text, which is pretty much a blobby mush where really nothing means very much of anything. (The number of times I ct. only to get pulled up short by an honorific is very high, and I am grouchy.)

Part of the thing that makes structure good is that vim is more useful (relative to a traditional editor) when you can precisely define the action you want to take. Getting better at vim is really about improving your vim-vocabulary so that you are more able to make precise statements about what it is that you want vim to do. I use a "normal" markdown editor for drafting, because what I want to do is "write the next bit" which is not a very vim-interesting action and obviously not very precise. I do use vim for editing, though, because often the things I want to do are, like: "replace this word with some other word" (cw), "delete the end of this paragraph" (D), "rewrite this bit of dialogue" (ci"), "remove this whole paragraph" (dd)--you get the idea.

Also, the place that vim goes from "ok, this seems pretty good" to "this is invaluable" is really when you want to repeat stuff. Something like "the compiler is giving me 25+ pedantic warnings because the file I'm working on was written prior to the introduction of the C++ override keyword" or "I'm rewriting an API so I need to fix the function name in these dozen callsites, remove the first argument, and swap the places of args 2 & 4." These examples are programming-related because I haven't found a use for macros in writing yet. (I live in hope.)

Section 2: If you want to learn vim, here are my tips

I don't really want to tutorialize because there are a lot of those out there already. I do wish to dispense some general philosophical wisdom. (!!!!!)

First of all, keep in mind that the bar is very low. Normal editors are not really that productive. Fancy WYSIWYG editors (which I hate, equal and opposite to my vim-love) are negatively productive for me, because I will get distracted and/or distressed by all the available buttons, formatting options, and whether I accidentally italicized any of the spaces. You don't need to be maximally productive in vim to make use of it, and you don't really need to know that much to match the capabilities of a normal plaintext editor.

If you want to learn vim, I would pick a small set of keys to understand first. Like, i and I (capital-i) to enter insert mode, <Esc> to get back to normal mode. bwhjkl as basic movement options. u and <ctrl>r for undo/redo. If you must, y and d for copy/cut, p and P for paste. (System clipboard--I'm sorry--accessed with "+, so "+y or "+p for example.) That is probably well over enough.

After you get a handle on the basics, the fun part of vim is figuring out where your inefficiencies are and learning how to improve them. Realizing that you're pushing more buttons than you want to be pushing, figuring out how to describe the thing you want to do in a google search, and then finding out that vim has a key to do that. gg G } { c % $ ^ zz . ; and so on, and so on. The world is your oyster &c. (The sheer delight I felt when, more than half a decade after starting to use vim, I found the aforementioned ci"? Indescribable.)

Section 3: In which I address the actual ask

Ok ok okokok sorry. I've written all of this to tell you that I don't actually know what the weird formatting stuff you're talking about is. I read pretty much all long fic on an ereader after downloading as epub and I haven't noticed anything bizarre with the formatting? When I do want to go in and poke around in an epub I usually just use calibre's built-in editor.

In terms of exporting your own plaintext/markdown writing to multiple formats, I use pandoc. I've been very happy with it, but it isn't anything that couldn't be done by hand (and also doesn't require you to start from Vim In Particular). I would love to talk about pandoc but aaaggggh this is already way too long (sorry).

I do have strong feelings about writing in plaintext (glorious! small! no weird formatting distractions! what you see is what's in the actual file you're really writing it there's no secrets) versus WYSIWYG (too many buttons! what do they do! am i using it wrong if i don't push them! why is the filesize so big! what are your secrets, renamed .zip file!) but vim isn't the only choice if you want to go the plaintext route only the best one no, look, I spent the whole of section 1 talking about this, I am not allowed to go backwards. Honestly, though, if you're interested I'd say go for it! Vim is fun to learn and very clever! Knowing vim feels a little like knowing a weird, hyper-specialized little language.

[gaphic]

answer all of the artist questions or u a coward

WELL FUCK. OK

1. Art programs you have but don't use? Medibang Paint is the only one I can think of- everything happens in Procreate now!

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)? definitely left, but right/front aren't too bad

3. What ideas come from when you were little? I'm not 100% sure I understand this one? My fairy fixation goes way back tho

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw? Boys.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself. Probably a 90/10 split, tbh? At least 80/20. I don't post much of my art

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it) I feel like I don't really experience this with drawing? With writing and character creation definitely, but I feel like I'm conscious of all my biggest drawing inspos

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate? Hmmm. Legos

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in? Camp Cauldron

9. What are your file name conventions?

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw? Probably swishy skirts!

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what? Just my regular music

12. Easiest part of body to draw? Arms, probably

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing? I'm also not sure about this one? To me admiration goes hand in hand with liking... I respect a lot of artists whose work I'm not into though

14. Any favorite motifs? -patrick voice- is gender a motif?

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth) At home mainly, sometimes at work or just wherever I happen to be. I'm trying to spend more time in Third Places

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing? I can't think of anything? I'm getting better at enjoying every part of art

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what? No? I use my hands to draw

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken? Not that many tbh! I've always been very careful with my art things. A handful of pencils, surely

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.) Probably plants!

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy? HANDS I love drawing hands

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways? Art styles unlike my own are my favorites! Jamie Hewlett, @tanglefootcomic, @ampreh, and @maruti-bitamin to name a few

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any? I always do some light warmups/hand and arm stretches

23. Do you use different layer modes? Yes ofc, great shortcut for shading and lighting

24. Do your references include stock images? I don't have like, a set reference folder, I just google what I need. So yeah, that usually includes stock images!

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by? Scott Pilgrim

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended? I don't post enough for this to happen to me B)

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with? I warm up with spirals, connect the dots, and snake in a basket

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines) nope :\

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically? Oxymoronic. Everything I love inspires me

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated? I DON'T POST ENOUGH FOR THIS but my color study self-portrait was really good

[dragonshq]

YH STUDENT ID: Yoon Jinyoung

AKA The Meteor – Bright, stellar, and blazing at high velocities, though potentially on a crash course.

Birthdate & age: March 23, 2003 (22)

School year: 3rd year undergraduate

Program: Business Administration (BBA)

Sports: Football (Captain)

Housing: Off campus

Please refer to our student handbook for any questions!

Introduction

PRE-SEASON ONE-ON-ONE WITH: YOON JINYOUNG, YEONHWA FOOTBALL.

NOTE: SESSION TRANSCRIPT GENERATED VIA AI SCRIBE TOOL; INACCURACIES MAY EXIST. PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL; DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

[TRANSCRIPT START] 

"So you're some therapist or something?"

It’s nice to meet you, Jinyoung. I’m actually a sports psychologist — not a therapist — working with the team this year. I hope you will find our sessions helpful.

"I’m not quite sure I follow the difference. Are you licensed?"

Yes, I certainly am. The difference is nuanced, but let’s just say I’m here to primarily focus on enhancing your athletic performance. Sure, there is some natural overlap with what you'd consider traditional therapy. Topics such as focus, motivation, stress management—

"OK, OK I get it. Let’s just start then?"

Of course… Well the semester and the season is just around the corner. How are you feeling about it all?

"Yeah, the knee is fine. I’ve been putting in work all summer, dialed into rehab and seeing the best specialists. I knew what to expect this time, more so than last time. Just trying to build a trust in my body again. It’s a process, but I should be good to go and on the pitch to start the season."

That’s great to hear, although I wasn’t asking exclusively about the knee. 

"Oh really? That’s sort of the only thing anyone cares about."

I hope you know that’s not true.

"It sort of is."

... Well, how are you feeling about your new role as team captain? Or being back home in Korea as a student athlete? All pretty meaningful changes.

"Very grateful. Just taking things day by day, and trying to be present where my feet are. The goal is to get one percent better every day."

You’re sounding a lot like a montage of post-game interviews. Your PR team would be pleased, but I want you to know that you can be a little more open with me. Our conversations stay exclusively between us.

"..."

Let’s take this one by one then. Team captain. I’m sure you’ve been congratulated many times, but it’s a role that can come with a lot of responsibilities. How are you feeling about that?

"Well, only since you asked me to be open — to be honest with you, it truly could not make any less of a difference. I’m solely focused on being the best player in any match and letting my play speak for me. And god knows I don’t have the emotional capacity to be babysitting or “leading” others, you know? I know that sounds really irresponsible, but I never asked for this stupid title. School just thought it’d be nice to have another Yoon to wear the captain band. Helps boost those jersey sales, alumni donations, social media engagement, the whole shebang. And look, I get it. Forget the whole philanthropic, educational front. This place is a conglomerate business parading around as a university... not that I care. I‘ll put my head down and play my role, because if all works out, I’ll be back abroad playing on a pro roster. It won’t be long."

It’s understandable that you’re focused on your professional career, and I’m supportive of you trying to achieve those goals. For the time being though, you are a student athlete, meaning that you’re a student as well. At arguably the best university in Korea too. How’s life outside of athletics?

"If you’re asking about my grades, they’re sufficient. Believe it or not, I’m not some braindead jock. I can do a more than kick a ball. Just a little though. Thank god for my mom’s genes and fancy prep school, eh? And if you were asking about my social life… nothing that should cause you concern. I have some 'friends' and do the occasional thing on campus. My agent said it'd be good for... optics. You know, I grew up in Korea before I went abroad to train in football. I get all the norms and social cues and shit. Sometimes I act all foreign, but that’s usually just when I don’t want to talk to someone or be polite."

Got it, that’s helpful to know... And look, I won’t dance around the question — how are you processing the public discourse surrounding your family these days? Of course, you can't believe everything you see in the news these days, but you've publicly spoken about looking up to your father many times before, and so I imagine emotions might be complicated. You’re completely welcome to not answer if you aren’t comfortable discussing.

"Yeah… I’ll pass… By the way, I recall you saying earlier that this was focused on my athletic performance and not some holistic therapy session."

Yes, the ultimate goal is to enhance your athletic performance. Contrary to popular belief though, that preparation doesn’t only happen in the weight room or on the practice field. You know very well that there’s a mental aspect to the game. Sometimes there are aspects of life that athletes might consider extraneous but are actually closely linked to how they will perform in their sport. For you in particular, I’ve had some people close to you suggest that it might be helpful for you to… enjoy being at Yeonhwa, and take a moment to step back once in a while. Carve out time to experience being a normal student. It might give you a different perspective on things and help you refocus.

"By 'people close to me,' you mean my mother?"

No. Your coaches and the athletic director.

"Yeah, sure… Regardless of who's asked you to snoop on me, I'm afraid your idea won't work. I’m simply not a 'normal' student."

What makes you say that?

"Well… for starters, normal students aren’t expected to be the future of our national team. They aren’t deemed the country’s greatest football prospect since… my dad. They don’t have advertisement deals or fans to disappoint or haters to fuel. They didn’t grow up with so much money and resources that it’d be 'quite literally impossible to fail.' I could go on, but I’m not actually so self-absorbed; just trying to explain where I'm coming from. Being 'normal' would quite literally be the most tragic outcome for me."

Jinyoung, I don’t mean to downplay your challenges or circumstances… yours or any "normal" student’s, as a matter of fact. Everyone works towards different goals and—

"Look, sir. I hate to interrupt, but I really have to. I get that you’re trying to help me, and I appreciate it. You’re here trying to do your job, and I’m just here trying to do mine, which is to pass my classes, score goals, and stay out of trouble for once. None of that requires any school brochure fluff about "exploring myself" or "finding my true passion." So please go ahead and write in your notes that we had a productive session today and that I'm absolutely fine. And I won't be coming back until I... start missing penalty kicks or something."

[TRANSCRIPT END]

[lilsnowpea93]

I have a few extra things to add to that longpost I made the other day about the typical working experience in America. 1. So, I suppose something I’d super advocate for is something like UBI, or at least funding of the arts of for creative people. The latter is a biased framing ofc. And we do have some safety nets here like food stamps and Medicaid. But I think those could be expanded slightly, especially healthcare. So, note that when I mention funding of arts/creativity, like we do have bigger problems. But arts are also important, and the first stuff to get cut. Anyway. I feel there’s this attitude from more centrist and conservative people I talk to that, if a system like UBI were put in place, it would lead to nobody wanting to work, especially if it was a good program (which won’t happen, like gov giving u a liveable paycheck monthly, they should do that for ppl who can’t work but broadscale it will never happen). Handout this and freeloader that. Cool cool cool. And so, in order for society to function, there are so many jobs that need to be performed, surely. Now, for many of those jobs that are considered more “skilled” and have large large responsibilities and huge consequences for mistakes- people typically go to school for that stuff, or spend years of their lives dedicated to it, it’s their thing they do. They also hopefully get paid well, which is the incentive sure. Also for the “unskilled” dirty shitty jobs that need to happen, employers should pay them well too, incentive. For transparency, I work in this field, but it’s small time. Now, idk if this is specific to me, but a lot of people I personally know, work retail and random stuff like that, (in contrast to those “societal bolster” jobs like being a building planner or whatever). And granted sometimes those overlap, like supermarket jobs. So, I think it’s fair to say that ppl working those retail or service jobs aren’t typically training their whole lives for those positions, they usually don’t love their job (sometimes you’ll hear well off ppl romanticize these types of jobs, get real usually ppl don’t want to do that for their whole life), they may have multiple of these jobs.. I get the sense this is the typical working experience in America? An aside- I’d like to note that the narrative we were all broadly told is that you “work your way up” but, haha no dear that does not happen for many people. “Started in the mailroom” type shit, stop it. Again, temporarily embarrassed millionaire brainwashing (or frankly, 100,000aire) is bullshit, I’m so tired of that. I get frustrated nearly daily how burned into my skull that is. It is a lie. Stop spreading it. It worked for a handful of people, do people understand the size of the workforce? It’s not designed for everyone to win, even a little bit. It’s clearly designed to exploit and make as much profit as possible “ethically” possible. ANYWAY, sorry. So these jobs, hate to say it but a lot of these places super don’t need to exist. They’re projects by big/med sized biz owners or corporations to make money for themselves. These are everywhere, look at all the dumb stores and restaurant chains everywhere. These are your options for pay if u don’t have a marketable specific skill (me included).. Look at all the advertising we’re bombarded with daily. U really think all that stuff is necessary for society to function? No lol. It’s people trying to get rich or rich people profiting. Now I think small one off businesses are cool and typically offer something to the local community, I have nothing against those, unless the boss is horrible and exploiting workers.. but u know what I’m saying? We’re surrounded by pointless shit designed for wealthy people to get wealthier, for us to give our hard earned money to that we got from our annoying unfulfilling job (mines ok, talking about average experience) to buy an overpriced chip bag 75% filled with air because our survival brain decided we need a salty interesting flavored snack and can’t resist. Is this not hell of our own making? My drama queen debut yes yes.

2. This is an obvious point, but I’ve always felt this (even though I’ve historically only worked for non profits I like.) When I clock in to work, I’m taking on the load and responsibility of someone else’s project. It’s like I’m living a separate life. And yes, baggage from my personal life will seep into my professional one, and definitely vice versa (worrying about work shit at home). So, personally, my own “project” is constantly majorly f’d. I have so many things I want to do at home, for myself, for my small projects where I make stuff for other people. Stuff like, I’ve hated my underwear drawer for 10+ years. I need to find out what cut and material of underwear I prefer, because it’s not the generic one. It takes time and research to do that. I do not have that time, and that’s a silly one of the 100 large important “me” projects that I need to eventually do. Stuff that impacts my daily life, like hating my underwear situation every day for 10 years. Every day I get up, and ignore all of that for my survival paycheck. I put me to the wayside, and put someone else’s thing to the front for hours and hours. Thankfully it’s a non profit I like. If it was a bs retail stuff with angry customers, well that would be very bad. But, even not having to work a huge amount of hours, I get home, and I try to work on the projects where I’ve promised things to other people. Sometimes I have to take a nap, and that’s even a privilege. But yeah, I’m tired, sometimes I don’t get good sleep, it happens. Before I know it it’s time to make dinner, time to go to bed, time to do it again. You hear this from countless people who work 9-5. Is this really life? Never actually working on yourself, always having to spend that energy elsewhere? Shirking your own happiness for money, because of survival? No one should have to do that, yet we all do. There are clear penalties to not participating. Poor and homeless people are actively punished. How many Americans are one medical emergency away from getting into this trouble? Point of all this being, we are used to putting ourselves last. Discouraged from even having the time to think about what we need as people. I believe this keeps us less effective and less mentally/physically healthy. This is a byproduct of profit being put over lives, and I would say it happens most to the lower class. Wealthy people can get away with exploiting poor people, because they need the money. Wealthy people romanticize these workers and jobs. The workers want and need the pay, they do not want to work grueling hours. They typically have little power in this relationship though. High capital earners usually do not do the right thing. Landlords do not usually do the right thing. These people are in these positions for easy money, not to be nice (gotta be some exceptions of nice rich people sure sure sure). I’m aware how cynical this comes off but I can’t help it after learning about this topic from multiple angles. I don’t have a good end to this but I’ll likely have more to write about this in the future. I understand this way of life to be broken, and so many people around me don’t, it’s frustrating, and I need to be able to prove why instead of just being like oh this sucks and having them think I’m lazy. People can think that, idc, I know I’m not, eh. But there are reaasssons there are reasons I’m dissatisfied, and believe it could be so much better. And I know other countries are worse cool awesome, it can be better. I don’t have all those answers, but the more I write the more they form, sorta. But I’m a toilet cleaner why would I have anything intelligent to say on this lol, I’m supposed to take what I can get, and I do. I think my opinion also matters though. At least I’ve had time to form this opinion, I could have easily not.