#but a lot of people are hacks who think they're smarter than they are

[likecastle]

Is it a hidden clue in the text, or are the writers just not that deep?

[charaznablescanontoyota]

"marn i missed sgdq 2024 what should i watch"

hi i decided i'm doing another one of these. it's been a minute. this past week was summer games done quick, an annual speedrunning marathon raising money for doctors without borders and also a great way to get into watching speedrunning. a lot of their content is tailored towards being both clearly explained and fun to watch for an audience outside the speedrun community, so you can jump in with basically no knowledge besides “this person is gonna play a game really fast”.

gdq has the full week's worth of vods up as a playlist on their channel, but here are some runs that i personally think you should check out:

ken griffy jr presents mlb by peanut butter the dog: look it's a dog playing baseball. i don't know what else to tell you.

the entire silly block: speedrunners get up way too early in the morning/late at night to play games that feel like a fever dream. some of the commentators are going on 24 hours of no sleep. it's brilliant. my personal highlights of what i've seen so far are stuart little 2, mad panic coaster, city bus simulator race, and the golf it wrong hole only race that the players dressed up as golfers for

alan wake 2 alan%: alan wake clips through walls and generally has a bad time while a bunch of gamers call him a sopping wet catboy. the runner for this one is really charismatic and it's very funny to see staff rushing to open up the pit as soon as we sing starts (yes they do the dance of course they do the dance). i just love joyful runs of horror games man

super mario 64 blindfolded randomizer: what if you played mario 64 blindfolded and also the stars were in completely random locations. and also you had to do it very very fast.

kingdom hearts 2 critical any%: every kh2 speedrun i've ever seen is a work of art and this one is no different. some of the boss fights go down so fast you will literally miss them if you look away for a minute. and also two of my favorite runners are on couch commentary!

balatro showcase: genuinely made me rethink how i'm playing some of the balatro decks. also great commentary and just fun all around despite (or perhaps partially because of) the absolute struggle session going on with plasma deck in the beginning

super mario world kaizo relay: kaizo is a shorthand term for a game hacked to its absolute limits of difficulty that often requires strict precision of movement and can punish the player for thinking they're smarter than it. in this segment, two teams of 4 very very good mario runners race to complete 8 kaizo levels they've never seen before in their lives

mario maker 2 troll level race: i always like the mario maker races for the same reason i like the kaizo relays. i love watching two speedrunners thrown blindly into the shit have to make up strategies on the fly via trial and error (and error, and error, and error, and...)

kirby air ride race: two high level kirby air ride speedrunners race for an actual physical title belt. the trash talk game happening here is of the insane variety that only two very skilled people who truly respect each others' talents at their game of choice can provide

kaizo mario galaxy: what if mario galaxy hated you even more than usual and would stop at nothing to kill you. also most of the commentators are only familiar with the vanilla game and their reactions to the added-in bullshit are hysterical

tony hawk pro skater 1, 2, 3, and 4: i fell asleep watching this and woke up in a cold sweat to the sound of a bunch of people singing superman by goldfinger. good run

super mario rpg remake: this was the finale block and it's just great to see a bunch of people who really really love the original mario rpg get to hang out and talk about how good it is and also watch a world record level player absolutely stunt on the game

halo 3 four-player co-op legendary: dudes rock

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Tabs give me superpowers

Berliners: Otherland has added a second date (Jan 28) for my book-talk after the first one sold out - book now!

"Lifehacking" is in pretty bad odor these days, and with good reason: a once-useful catch-all for describing how to make things easier has become a pit of productivity porn, grifter hustling, and anodyne advice wreathed in superlatives and transformed into SEO-compliant listicles.

But I was there when lifehacking was born, and I'm here to tell you, it wasn't always thus. Lifehacking attained liftoff exactly 19 years and 348 days ago, on Feb 11, 2004, when Danny O'Brien presented "Life Hacks: Tech Secrets of Overprolific Alpha Geeks" at the 0'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (aka ETCON). I was there, and I took notes:

https://craphound.com/lifehacksetcon04.txt

O'Brien's inspiration was his social circle, in which people he knew to be no smarter or better or motivated than anyone else in that group were somehow able to do much more than their peers, in some specific domain. O'Brien delved deeply into these peoples' lives and discovered that each of them had merely ("merely!") gotten very good at using one or two tools to automate things that would otherwise take up a lot of their time.

These "hacks" freed up their practitioners to focus on things that mattered more to them. They accomplished the goal set out in David Allen's Getting Things Done: to make a conscious choice about which things you are going to fail to do today, rather than defaulting to doing the things that are easy and trivial, at the expense of the things that matter, but are more complicated:

https://gettingthingsdone.com/what-is-gtd/

One trait all those lifehacks shared: everyone who created a little hack was faintly embarrassed by it, and assumed that others who learned about their tricks would find them trivial or foolish. O'Brien changed the world by showing that other people were, in fact, delighted and excited to learn about their peers' cool little tricks.

(Unfortunately, this eventually opened the floodgates of overheated posts about some miraculous hack that turned out to indeed be silly and trivial or even actively bad, but that wasn't O'Brien's fault!)

I'm one of those people whom others perceive as very "productive." There are some objective metrics on which this is true: I wrote nine books during lockdown, for example. Like the lifehackers O'Brien documented in 2004, I have lots of little hacks that aren't merely a way of getting more done – they're a way to make sure that I get the stuff that matters to me (taking care of my family and my health, and writing books) done.

A lot of these lifehacks boil down to making your life easier. There's a spot on our kitchen counter where I put e-waste. Whenever I go out to the car, I carry any e-waste out and put it in a bag in the trunk. Any time I'm near our city dump, I stop and throw the bag into their e-waste bin. This is now a habit, and habits are things you get for free: I spend zero time thinking about e-waste, which means I have more time to think about things that matter (and our e-waste still ends up in the right place).

There's other ways I use habits to make my life easier: after many years, I learned how to write every day:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/22/walking-the-plank/

For longer-form works like novels, I "leave myself a rough edge," finishing the day's work in the middle of a sentence. That way I get a few words for free the next day, meaning I never start the day's work wondering which words I'll type:

https://locusmag.com/2014/01/cory-doctorow-cheap-writing-tricks/

One of the most powerful habits I've cultivated is to have a group of daily tabs that I open in a new browser every morning. The meat of this tab group is websites I want to check in with every day, either because they don't have RSS feeds, or because I want to make sure I never miss an update.

This tab-group habit started before RSS was widespread, when most of the websites I wanted to check in on every day didn't have feeds yet, and for many years, this group was just a set of daily reads. But over the years, I started throwing things in the tab-group that I needed to stay on top of.

My daily tabs are in a folder called "unfucked rota" (they were originally in a folder called "rota," which got corrupted and had to be reconstructed in a folder I called "fucked rota," until I finally took a couple hours off and got it in good running order, hence "unfucked rota"). As I type this, "unfucked rota" contains more than a hundred websites I visit every morning, but it also contains:

The edit-history pages for four Wikipedia entries I'm watching;

Chronological feeds of my books on Amazon and Audible, to catch counterfeits as they are posted;

The parent notification portal for my kid's school;

The mileage history for the airline I flew on yesterday (I'll delete this once the flight is posted);

The credit card history for a card I reported a fraudulent charge on (I'll delete this once the refund is posted);

The sell-pages for three products that are out of stock (I'll delete these once the products are in stock and ordered);

A bookmarked newest-first Ebay search for a shirt I like that has been discontinued by the manufacturer;

The new-survey-completed pages for my last two Kickstarters;

The courier tracking page for an item being shipped sea-freight to me from Asia.

The tail end of this unfucked rota changes all the time, but as you can tell, it's got a lot of stuff that would be time-consuming to build a whole new system to track, but which has a web-page that can be easily added to a daily, habitual check-in and then removed when it's not relevant anymore.

Some of these things have email notifiers or RSS feeds, but those are too easy to lose in the noise. I generally delete email from ecommerce sites unread, since 99.99% of the messages they send me are unsolicited marketing nonsense, not the "notify me when this is back in stock" message I do want to see (same goes for my kid's school, which sends me fifty unimportant messages for every message that I must reply to).

Most of the internet is still on the web, which means it can be bookmarked, which means that it takes me one second to add it to the group of things I'm staying on top of, and one second to remove from that group. I get up in the morning, middle-click the "unfucked rota" item in my bookmarks pane, make a cup of coffee, and then sit down and race through those tabs, close-close-close.

It takes less than a second to scan a tab to see if it's changed (and if I close a tab too quickly, the ctrl-shift-T "unclose" shortcut is there in muscle-memory, another habit). The whole process takes between one and 15 minutes (depending on whether there's anything useful and new in one of those tabs).

Tabs, like lifehacks, are also in bad odor. Everyone stresses about how many tabs they have open. It's even inspired Rusty Foster's excellent newsletter, Today In Tabs:

https://www.todayintabs.com/

But this is a very different way to think about tabs. Rather than opening a window full of tabs that need your detailed, once-off attention later, this method is about using groups of tabs so that you can pay cursory, frequent attention to them.

In a world full of administrative burdens, where firms and institutions play the "sure, we'll do that, but you're going to have to track our progress" game to get out of living up to their obligations, this method is a powerful countermeasure:

https://memex.craphound.com/2015/02/02/david-graebers-the-utopia-of-rules-on-technology-stupidity-and-the-secret-joys-of-bureaucracy/

My little tab habit is so incredibly useful, such a powerful way to seize back time and power from powerful actors who impose burdens on me, that I sometimes forget how, for other people, tabs are a symptom of a life that's spiraling out of control. For me, a couple hundred tabs are a symbol of a couple hundred tasks that I'm totally on top of, a symbol of control wrestled back from others who are hostile to my interests.

This isn't how tabs were "meant" to be used, of course. It's an example of the kind of "innovation" that comes from users repurposing things in ways their designers didn't necessarily anticipate or intend.

This is what Jonathan Zittrain meant by "generative" technology back in 2008, when he published his incredibly prescient The Future of the Internet: And How To Stop It:

https://memex.craphound.com/2008/07/22/zittrains-the-future-of-the-internet-how-to-save-the-internet-from-the-internet/

For Zittrain, "generativity" was the property of some technologies that let its users generate new, useful tools and solutions for themselves (this is very different from "generative AI!")

Zittrain described how "curated" computing systems, like mobile devices that relied on apps that couldn't be adapted by their users, were dead ends for generativity. 15 years later, the dismal world of apps has proven him right:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/24/everything-not-mandatory/#is-prohibited

To the extent that "lifehacking" is about doing more, rather than being more deliberate about what you accomplish, it can be harmful. I am not immune to the failure modes of lifehacking:

https://locusmag.com/2017/11/cory-doctorow-how-to-do-everything-lifehacking-considered-harmful/

But overall, using tabs as something I close, rather than something I open, is a source of comfort and calm for me. For one thing, ripping through a group of tabs every morning means that I don't have to worry about missing something if I go too fast. I'll get another chance tomorrow:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/27/probably/

Decades ago, Dori Smith dubbed her pioneering blog her "#Backup Brain":

https://web.archive.org/web/20020120231027/http://www.backupbrain.com/

At their best, our systems – be they physical, like a spot on the counter where the e-waste goes, or digital, like a tab-group – are "congitive prostheses." They allow us to move important things from the highly contested, busy and precious space between our ears and out there into the world:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

Like those lifehackers that O'Brien studied for his presentation in 2004, I confess to feeling a little silly about telling you all about this. For me, this habit of decades is so ingrained that it feels trivial and obvious. And yet, when I look at people in my life struggling to stay on top of a million nagging administrative tasks that could be easily watched through a morning's flick through a tab-group, I can't help but think that maybe some of you will find a useful idea or two in my unfucked rota.

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/25/today-in-tabs/#unfucked-rota

[coralinnii]

I had some people a little curious as to how I rated the TWST boys in my "TWST guys I would let date my niece (theoretically)" post in terms of personality only (considering they're fictional and my niece is 10). I can't completely answer everyone since there's only so many words tumblr would let me write as a reply, so here's for anyone who was curious.

The rating system was created alongside my niece on what she wanted in a partner (as much as she understood dating, anyway), compatibility with her personality, and my input as someone who has either met, known, or fortunately and unfortunately dated ppl with such personalities. With this in mind, maybe our list would be different from how you would categorize, which yea fair enough. This is all hypothetical anyway and it was interesting to see what my niece likes.

This does NOT mean I dislike any of the TWST guy. Seeing how unique each of them are personality-wise is honestly amazing and I want to believe that even if you have what people call "red-flags", "dealbreakers" or "turn-offs", that doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, just incompatible (with exceptions of like really toxic, destructive traits, like stealing someone's dog. Don't do that, guys).

Has my seal of approval

Trey responsible, good work ethic, loves to bake + the bonus of cute glasses (apparently me and my niece really like glasses).

Kalim fun-loving, open to new experiences, optimistic, and willing to learn if you're willing to teach.

Silver kind if a bit intimidating-looking, takes care of others, family-oriented,

Jack responsible, good lifestyle, works hard, kind while kinda grumpy, family-oriented.

Vil responsible, good life habits, works hard for success, not stuck on gender norms, kind if sort of stuck-up.

Lilia mature, fun-loving, open to new experiences, loves kids, not quick to anger. He does have his secrets, tho.

Neige kind, works hard for success, not afraid to be silly,

Ok…but I’m keeping an eye on you

Ace he's kinda lazy and willing to cheat in school but not a bad person.

Cater not willing to be vulnerable sometimes but is a responsible person that respects boundaries.

Azul a bit too opportunistic (in a sense he's also judging the value of anything, first) for me and may not vibe well with my niece but not bad.

Jamil not happy with how he sometimes lies and insincerely flatters others, but I don't think he does it maliciously so not a bad guy(?)

Ortho prone to violence if he thinks that's the best logical solution (i.e, hacking into security and blowing up the school??) so kinda worried.

Chenya a little too fickle and in-and-out physically which worries me, but he seems loyal and brave.

First, you and I are gonna have a talk

Riddle mainly his temper and impatience…and the in-laws

Deuce also his temper, and my niece prefers smart ppl (ooff)

Ruggie the 5-finger discount don’t fly under my watch

Epel also temper and prone to get into fights in the beginning. Also, my niece's not into the "gotta be manly" mentality, what are you gonna do?

Sebek it's mostly the temper and shouting…and tone down the Malleus simping

Jade don’t be bringing drama into my household

Rook it’s the creepy simping

Malleus kinda seen in early Book 7 and the spectral realm event, he doesn't communicate and talk things through with others and just does things on his own because he's powerful enough to do so, which is just...something we gotta talk about, first.

Oh, you and I are gonna fight, first!

Leona spoiled to high heavens, gives up on a lot of things, and is too used to having things done for him. I'm not letting my niece become his maid!

Floyd No...just no. He's the friend that I worry my niece will someday have to pick up at the police station. No

Idia Quick to judge others, kinda thinks he's smarter than everyone, and has a hard time communicating and socializing even with his friends and partners. I know this because I used to date someone like Idia, and currently have a crush on another person very similar to him.

Rollo Also (sorta) dated someone like him which is...an experience. Treated me as someone pure and sweet, but disliked my friends because she thought they were bad influences. Also really wanted me to join her kinda sketchy religious thing which I wasn't really into.

[aaditya-09]

The Story of Hacking, Hackers, and Cybercrime: A Simple Guide to Understanding.

Introduction:

In today's digital world, where computers talk to each other and information moves like magic through the air, hacking has become a big word. It's about people who try to figure out how things work, but sometimes it's not as fun as it sounds. The story of hacking, hackers, and cybercrime is like a rollercoaster ride through time, showing how people have tried to control computers and gain power in the online world.

1. The Beginnings of Hacking:

Imagine a time when computers were huge, like giant rooms full of buttons and lights. They worked faster than people's brains, but not many knew how they did it. In the 19s, some students at MIT (a special school) were very interested in these machines. They weren't happy just using them for regular stuff. They wanted to see how they worked inside.

These curious students started playing with things they shouldn't touch, like phones. Back then, phones were connected to computers. These students realized they could use phones to make free calls. It was like finding a secret door to exciting places. They called this playing phone phreaking.

Think of someone using keys to open doors and discovering a room full of secrets. That's how these first hackers felt – like they found a treasure chest of knowledge. They didn't want to hurt anyone. They were just curious about computers and phones.

This was the beginning of hacking – like a journey to learn and explore. These hackers weren't bad. They were like adventurers discovering new lands. They started something that would become a big part of how we use technology today. As computers got smaller and smarter, hacking grew into a big story, with curiosity, cool ideas, and some challenges too. And later, new heroes had to protect the digital world we live in.

2. Different Types of Hackers:

Let's talk more about the different types of hackers in a simple way. Imagine hackers as people who like to play with computers and find out how they work. They're a bit like kids who take apart their toys to see what's inside. But just like kids, not all hackers are the same. There are three main groups:

1.   White Hat Hackers: 

These hackers are like superheroes who use their computer skills to help people. They wear white hats, like good cowboys in old movies. They help companies and governments make sure their computer stuff is safe. They find problems in computer systems before bad hackers do. It's like they're building strong locks for digital doors. They're good guys using their powers for good.

2.   Black Hat Hackers: 

These hackers are a bit like the villains in stories. They wear black hats, like the bad guys in old cowboy movies. They do things that hurt people. They might steal your passwords, take your money, or mess up computer systems. It's like they're trying to break into houses and steal things. They use their computer skills for bad stuff, like sneaky bandits in the digital world.

3.   Grey Hat Hackers: 

These hackers are a bit like the characters who aren't totally good or totally bad. They're in the middle, like anti-heroes in stories. They might find problems in computer systems, just like good hackers, but sometimes they tell the world about these problems without asking first. It's like they're saying, "Hey, look, this door is broken!" They're not all good, but they're not all bad either.

So, hackers are like people with different hats. Just like in the old days of cowboys and bandits, there are those who use their skills for the right reasons, those who use them for the wrong reasons, and those who walk the line between the two.

3. Hacking in the 90s:

As time went on, computers got smaller, and the internet woke up. This was like the time when the playground got big for hackers. Imagine a huge playground with lots of secret doors and treasure chests – that's what the internet was like for hackers. In the 1980s and 1990s, some cool hacker groups popped up. There was the Chaos Computer Club in Germany and the Legion of Doom in the US. These guys did amazing things with computers. But not everything was fun and games. There was a guy named Kevin Mitnick who did some big hacks and got in big trouble. And then there was something called the Morris Worm that spread like a digital sickness, causing problems all over.

4. When Hacking Got Not-So-Good:

Remember how hacking started as a way for curious folks to understand computers better? Well, as time went on, some hackers started to do things that weren't so nice. It's like they took a wrong turn on the hacking journey.

In the 2000s, when the internet became a big part of our lives, some hackers started using their skills to do bad things. Imagine someone who used to be a friendly explorer in a jungle, but then they decided to steal from other explorers. That's what some hackers did – they became like digital thieves.

They used sneaky tricks to hurt people and steal things. They created things called viruses and malware. These are like digital bugs that can make computers sick. Just like when you catch a cold and feel bad, computers can get sick too when these viruses infect them.

Another trick they used is called phishing. It's like pretending to be a friend and then stealing their lunch money. In the digital world, they would pretend to be a company or a person you trust and ask for your secrets, like passwords or credit card numbers.

It's like some hackers turned into bad guys in a story. Instead of being helpful and creative, they started causing trouble and making people worry about their digital stuff. This is when hacking took a dark turn and became cybercrime – a bit like the digital version of stealing or breaking things.

Just like in real life, when some people do bad things, it's important for the good folks to stand up and protect others. That's why companies, governments, and even everyday people started learning about cybersecurity – how to keep their digital stuff safe from these bad hackers. It's like putting locks on doors and making sure the windows are closed tight to keep the bad guys out.

  5. Hacking for Big Reasons: 

Hacking didn't just stay in the shadows. It got political too. Some hackers started working for countries, like secret agents of the digital world. They did things like snooping on other countries' secrets or causing trouble in their computer systems. There was a group called Anonymous that did hacks for all sorts of reasons – they fought for social justice, they stood up against governments, and sometimes they just wanted to create chaos.

  6. Today's Hacking - Staying Safe: 

In today's world, we worry a lot about cybercrime – that's when bad guys try to do bad things using computers. To fight back, we've become superheroes of a sort. Governments and big companies spend tons of money to keep our digital stuff safe. They hire people who are like good hackers, but we call them ethical hackers. These cool folks try to break into computer systems to find the weak spots before the bad guys do. It's like trying to find all the holes in a castle wall so the dragons can't get in.

  7. Ethical Hacking and Finding Bugs: 

Ethical hacking is like a good guy with a magnifying glass, looking for clues. Big companies pay these good hackers to test their computers and make sure they're safe. Some hackers even get rewards, like digital gold, for telling companies about the problems they find. This helps keep our online stuff safe and sound.

  Conclusion: 

The story of hacking, hackers, and cybercrime is like a trip on a spaceship through time. It shows how we've learned to play with computers, both good and bad. But as we travel through the digital universe, we need to remember to keep ourselves safe from the bad things that can happen. Just like a knight wearing amour, we wear our digital shields and swords to protect our online treasures. From the days of curiosity to the modern age of keeping things secure, the history of hacking reminds us to be both explorers and protectors in the magical world of computers.

[narutomaki]

Shikaku, Itachi, Kiryu, and Majima for the character asks 💕

(for Itachi (and Shikaku to a degree) this will be my 'first' impressions as an adult bcus i don't remember how I felt as a kid lol)

Shikaku:

First impression- Who are you.

Impression now- I am a Shikaku enjoyer lmfao. He's your favourite character so by default I also love him, but I think from what I did see of him in canon that he's a really crucial character and because I never got to the episode where he dies he is simply still alive :-)

Favorite moment- The only canon one I really remember more than vaguely is him talking to Shikamaru on the steps to the hokage tower (?) and him talking to them over the battlefield using hacks so like that's cool

Idea for a story- I'm all out of Shikaku story ideas for the time being and it shows (I wrote a piece for the final day of Shikaku week and I hate it lmao, the Big One took it out of me). Maybe one where someones explores the implications of him being right next to the Hokage and working with the confidential files and information that entails and how he likely struggles in his personal life due to the knowledge he has.

Unpopular opinion- I only know your opinions on him and they're all correct so... really that he's just like one of the only decent adults in the story, and that he deserves a vacation

Favorite relationship- his wife, bi4bi t4t relationship for the win. Lmfao uhh... also with his son. Idk I just think as a family unit they are very neat :-)

Favorite headcanon- hits him with our combined transgendification beams, and also just the headcanon/concept/world building thing I did for the Nara clan for day 4 of Shikaku week pfft

Itachi:

First impression- here he is. my evil child.

Impression now- HE. WAS. THIRTEEN. HE WAS THIRTEEN. HE WAS THIRTEEN I AM SHAKING PEOPLE BY THE SHOULDERS AND SCREAMING AND CRYING.

Favorite moment- Itachi, likely nearly fully blind at this point: uh naruto uh... talks a lot bye! lmfao. All jokes aside... I don't really have one? His story line makes me really depressed. I enjoy his interactions with Naruto but I really don't think anything stands out to me as something I would point to and be like "wow I LOVE this part"

Idea for a story- Someone with the power to stand up to Danzo+Hiruzen stops the Uchiha massacre in it's infancy and Itachi has to live his life unpacking the reality of what he almost did to his entire clan, and eventually as an adult (MEANING. OLDER. THAN. THIRTEEN.) turns on the people in power. Idk how this would play out seeing as he has a lot of compassion and struggles to question those above him in positions of power, but it would be interesting to see as I've only seen one fic where this has been a side-plot. Then again I also don't go looking that often of Itachi centric things.

Unpopular opinion- apparently thinking a 13 year old can't be 100% faulted and tried as or considered an adult murderer is unpopular. Other than that the blind jokes DO get kind of old, and I think he and the Uchiha deserve more respect and general compassion for the side effects that the Sharingan cause (not the blindess, the traumatizing mental reminders of all the worst times in their lives in 4k HD macro detail)

Favorite relationship- Kisame acting like a parental figure.

Favorite headcanon- gives him my autism card. :-)

Kiryu:

First impression- Oh hi there sexy man (age 21) dear god someone help him

Impression now- Show Hole (age like. 48), also that he's smarter and a lot deeper than a lot of people in the fandom seem to give him credit for and god i wish he could get some trauma counseling

Favorite moment- yes <3 , there's like. too many to remember at this point and they all kind of blur together but also. the shower scene in Y0, tied somewhat with his like 2 actual breakdowns throughout the series. get him help

Idea for a story- Kiryu gets out of the game and stays out of it as best he can, but this causes it's own huge slew of issues for him and his family (Sunflower Orphanage) that he's not ready to deal with

Unpopular opinion- I do not see Kiryu opinions very often somehow so idk how unpopular my opinions are about him but like. He always thought that he was making the right choices at the time and he has a difficult time owning up to when he does make a mistake, but that's not a sign of weakness or cowardice, it just shows that he was never equipped with the tools to deal with the trauma and hardships his life would come to throw at him. Also- he would have been fine acting as a parent to the children at Sunflower for the rest of his life, taking care of a group of children isn't a job you can do sitting on your hands, I don't think he was dissatisfied with it at any point.

Favorite relationship- Dad!Kiryu owns my entire ass, he was HAPPY taking care of the children at Sunflower man *cries*. Also SaeKazuMaji/KazuJimaJima lmao

Favorite headcanon- Autism. alkdsfjklasjf. Just, gives him my autism... Look. Also that he definitely is missing some of the Shame brain neurons.

Majima:

First impression- show hole. *wolf whistling* (If you've seen his introductory scene... you know. If you know you know.)

Impression now- go to therapy.

Favorite moment- Fighting with Lee turning into working with him efficiently and willingly like 3 chapters later.

Idea for a story- Lee succeeds in getting them all off of mainland Japan and they end up in Okinawa and say "it'll just be for a couple months while we tracks down some forgers" and then end up staying there much longer because no one goes looking for them for the longest time (turns out Nishitani was implicated in their deaths, much to his amusement because he never even actually met up with Majima) so they end up settling down, Majima transes his gender, goes on a fake date with Lee in which Lee embarrasses them both, gets a job at a flower shop because the old lady working their is nearly blind (she isn't) and doesn't care that Majima is transing her gender (meaning: taking hormones and living as the most authentic version of themselves they can); through a series of comedic events Nakahara and Lee become mohjang partners while Makoto starts distance learning to get a degree in law under a different name- and okay maybe I have a whole AU for this that it nearly fully fleshed out in my head from start to end but I'm not gonna be the one to write it. Nuh uh.

Unpopular opinion- Idk if I have a lot of unpopular opinions on Majima... uh. He's not the greatest at any sort of relationship? He doesn't have a form of self expression that isn't violence because anything else he's found he enjoys is not longer allowed to him as a Patriarch in a massive crime syndicate and he slowly loses any joy he once had because he has to repress himself more and more so the only way he has an outlet is by fighting Kiryu? Go to therapy?

Favorite relationship- yes :-) look I know I just said he's not great at any kind of relationship but also... besides shipping, my all time favourite relationships is Majima & Haruka. Mostly because Haruka can and should threaten him (like in the movie i think?) and he's just like "wow.... that is scary" any way all I'm saying is Majima & kids are the healthiest relationship Majima can form with anyone, because of the lack of ingrained expectations on what Majima should be (and the fact he can't fight them, or do drugs around them)! And if he's caught doing Haruka's hair? Or getting his nails painted? Or going in and out of shopping malls, salons, arcades, etc etc all day long buying cute gifts and cute clothes? It's for the kids! Get off his dick!!!

Favorite headcanon- non-binary/bigender (in the Western sense, I obvs can't speak of how he would express or experience his gender as a Japanese person in the mafia, so I think it would be insincere of me to even start trying; when these games are also about. you know. fantastical super powered (Heat Mode) organized crime, murder, and death. so no one should be really looking to them for a realistic, well written, or accurate experience of anything let alone queer/LGBT representation. all that being said-) and also he's bi :thumbsup: bcus i said so and I project a LOT onto Majima in places I likely should not and then other places I should definitely be seeking help for relating to :-))

[holyfuckingshitfourtythousand]

I'm actually pissed off because of some dumb ass conversation i saw in a discord server I barely speak in.

It was like 4 people talking about what art has heart or passion behind it which of course defaulted to shitting on modern music , movies and literally any anime ever made ever apperently.

Let me just focus on the anime aspect for a second because i think it's indicative of how a lot of pretentious motherfuckers talk about shit they think they're better than

The prevailing opinion in this discussion is that all anime is just shill bullshit made for no other reason than to appeal to the lowest common denominator , that all of it is simply the same product repackaged over and over with nothing changed because that's simply what sells.

This is one of the single dumbest things I've heard in my entire fucking life , and I'm forced to hear this take about nearly every form of media that has existed or will ever exist.

I swear to god I do not understand people sometimes. Wow dude! You figured out anime and manga have cliches in them!! You're so smart!! I guess there is no value in them at all because they have common tropes!! Good to know that i can just completely never engage with this art at all!!!

the idea that you can just sum up an entire body of worlk and call it uninspired and soulless is such pea brained thinking.

Motherfuckers who have never made anything think they have the power to dictate what is truly art and what has soul or heart , while they sit at their desks with their eyes glazed over , unthinking , watching another video essay about how a movie they never watched or heard of is actually bad and reprehensible. They will not think critically about this at all , and will forever parrot the opinion they heard from "the gamer dude 420" as if it were gospel.

God fucking damn it.

There are artists who work their whole lives on their body of work. Even if the work that they create does not resonate with everyone , even if it's shit , it's a million times more impressive that they managed to do any fucking thing at all.

I hate this shit.

Its just " all of the things i like are actually full of spirit and heart and anything else is soulless trash that is made by hacks and frauds"

If you think this way , I'm begging you to reevaluate the way you look at the world. You're not smarter than everyone for pointing out that clichés exist. You are not smart because you know tropes exist. You are not better than anybody. You're fucking lame.

Look around for a single second and realise you wouldn't know what heart and soul was if it hit you in the fucking face.

If you're reading this and it doesn't sound like how you see the world then don't worry about it. I love you and thank you for using your brain