#do you have any like screenshots of it by any chance? id like to take a look at it lol

[babycharmander]

PSA for TF2 Fanartists

(And... really for everyone on the creative side of the fandom, but artists are the ones hurt by this the most.)

I've been seeing some really concerning stuff here that is going unnoticed. Granted, I don't think this is any artist's fault--if anything, the artists are the victims here. But that's why I want to make you guys aware of this, so you can protect yourself from this sort of thing.

"This sort of thing" being a little something called fetish mining.

Fetish mining is when someone with a specific fetish attempts to trick someone else into providing them with content for their fetish... without letting them know that's what they're asking for. Outside of fandom spaces, this can look like someone with a foot fetish approaching someone who is selling socks, and asking them to "model" the socks for them--they're not actually interested in buying the socks, they just want to see pictures of feet.

Within fandom spaces, however, they often take the form of someone repeatedly requesting something featuring a very specific body part of a character, or repeatedly requesting art of a character performing a weirdly specific action. (The repeated part is important here--someone could just say "oh hey could you draw this character shirtless?" once, and that would probably be fine. There's a chance it could be a fetish thing, sure, but it's significantly less likely. Same with a really random request--someone could request something really specific, but if they only do so once, it's significantly less likely to be a fetish mining request.) They might also provide an excuse like, "oh, I think this would be really funny! :)" or "this is a joke request! but it would be hilarious if you drew it"

So what are some examples of this?

Well... they might look a little something like this:

[ID: Two screenshots of two different anonymous asks. The first one reads "HEAVY TF2 TUMMY" with multiple red exclamation points afterward, and the second reads "Sniper tf2 teeth" followed by multiple red exclamation points. /end ID]

(I was going to feature another but then realized it wasn't anonymous, and I'm not comfortable putting an actual blog on blast.)

If these were just one-off asks, that would be one thing, but if you look up these things, you'll see dozens of these asks.

As well, there's nothing wrong with drawing Heavy shirtless, or drawing Sniper baring his teeth. Having fetishes for stomachs or teeth is not wrong, either, nor is specifically requesting fetish art (so long as the artist is okay with such requests)!

The problem is that the specificness of these asks, combined with how frequently these asks get sent, are signs of fetish mining.

(Though another problem is that... this isn't always a 100%-for-sure sign of fetish mining. Some people have special interests that might not be a typical thing like a fandom or hobby or branch of science, but could just be something oddly specific like stomachs or teeth. These things are okay and are not bad! But requests relating to these things can, unfortunately, look identical to fetish mining.)

And again, fetish mining is a person sneakily asking for someone else to provide them with something that is fetish material for them--something that is sexual for them--without letting that person know that's what it's for.

This makes it a form of sexual harassment.

I feel like a lot of the fandom is... not really aware of what's going on, here, and it's distressing. These are very likely bad actors trying to take advantage of people and get away with sexually harassing others (including minors). This is not okay. No part of that is okay.

The best thing to do when faced with a request that seems oddly specific is to look it up, and, if there seem to be multiple requests of this nature, to ignore it--do not fulfill the request. Do not encourage this behavior. (Unless you're okay with drawing that kind of content, but like... if that's the case, then tag your work appropriately.)

Don't feel bad if you've fulfilled some of these requests in the past--you didn't know, and being tricked is not your fault. But now that you do know, you can hopefully better protect yourself from this kind of thing.

[certifiedsexed]

ID: Three screenshots from Trans Safer Sex Guide. It shows a list with three categories, labeled: "Activity", "Known Risks" and "Options For Protection".

First on the list is: "Kissing", "Herpes", "Herpes sores rarely pose serious health risks but if you want to reduce your risk of transmitting them, do not kiss your partner(s) when someone is having an outbreak. You or your partner(s) can also take medication daily or during an outbreak to reduce the chances of spreading herpes and to heal outbreaks faster."

Next is "Masturbation", "No known risks" and "N/A".

Next is "Sharing sex toys, strap-ons, and prosthetics", "Chylamydia, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis A, Herpes, HPV (These risk are theoretical; there are no documented cases of transmission)" and "Put a condom over any toy, especially ones made of porous materials like "jelly" and PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Boil or bleach sterile toys (ones that are made of silicone, glass or metal) between each use.

Next is "Humping/Rubbing", "Herpes, HPV, Syphilis" and "If you are not wearing clothes, you can put a dental dam or a piece of plastic wrap between your parts."

Next is "Oral Sex (on dicks, front holes, vaginas, strapless or anuses)", "With exposure to semen/fluids: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV With Skin contact only: Herpes, HPV (warts), Syphilis With exposure to fecal matter: Intestinal parasites, Hepatitis A" and "Use a barrier such as an external condom (if it fits snugly), A finger cot, a dental dam or plastic wrap. If none of these options feel comfortable, split a latex glove down the side and put the thumb hole over your parts. Avoid oral sex if you or your partner(s) have any open sores on the mouth."

The next is "Fingering, fisting, manual sex", "Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis A, Herpes (These risks are theoretical; there are no documented cases of transmission)" and "Keep nails trimmed to avoid scratching the skin or causing cuts or bleeding. Use latex gloves (with cotton balls in the fingers if you have long nails)."

Last is "Front hole, vaginal or anal sex", "Chlamydia, Crabs/Scabies, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis B, Herpes, HIV, HPV (warts), Syphilis" and "Use an external condom. Use an internal condom - if using an internal condom for anal sex, remove the flexible interior ring."

[chahnniesroom]

in sickness and in health

pairing: kim seungmin x female reader

summary: you're the most important thing in seungmin's life, of course his biggest fear would be losing you. it means that taking care of you when you're not feeling well comes naturally.

word count: 2.1k

warnings: a little bit of angst, sickness (fever, feeling nauseous, etc.)

a/n: partially inspired by me being ill at work and my amazing coworkers taking care of me and making sure i didn't faint lol.

till death do us part collection | read it on ao3 | masterlist

Seungmin loves being an idol. 

He loves to sing and performing in front of Stays always thrills him. He loves the other members and really, everyone else that he gets a chance to work with. At times it can be stressful, but for the most part, it’s fairly easy to manage the downsides of being famous.

But when he started dating you, he found out that there are parts of being an idol that he hates.

He always thought that he'd be different from a lot of idols and wouldn't be afraid to show his partner off. The second he met you though, he knew he'd do anything and everything in his power to keep you safe. You understand, of course, and do your part to make sure that only your closest friends and family are aware of who you're dating.

It pains Seungmin to do this, but he knows nothing good can come out of your identity being known.

The two of you are more than careful, sometimes Seungmin feels silly with how cautious he is about meeting up with you. Yet somehow his heart always feels like it will beat out of his chest whenever he sees articles that speculate about idol relationships.

You do your best to stop him from stressing, but it’s something that Seungmin can't quite shake. You're the most important thing in his life, of course his biggest fear would be losing you.

—

The first time his phone rings during a livestream with the whole group, Seungmin brushes it off. The caller ID says it's an unknown number and everyone he knows has been receiving a lot of spam calls and texts lately. 

He swipes away the notification and tries to focus on just reading comments when the same number calls back, a couple minutes later. He ignores it again, but on the third call, he nudges Chan’s knee beside him and subtly tilts his phone screen so that Chan can see. His phone is on silent so nobody watching the live should be able to tell that he's getting the calls, but the timing feels too coincidental for him not to be suspicious. 

"They keep calling," he says under his breath. 

"We'll get someone to look into the number later, just keep ignoring it," Chan advises quietly.

Seungmin takes a quick screenshot of the number, then tries to get back into the conversation to distract himself. The next time he looks down at his phone again, someone is once again calling him.

Seungmin almost reflexively rejects the call, until he realises it's your nickname flashing up on his screen.

You generally don’t call Seungmin without warning, especially not during the day when there’s a higher chance that Seungmin won’t be able to readily answer.

[sent - 3:12 pm]

sorry baby, working right now, can it wait?

His stomach drops when you just call again in response. He doesn’t want to alarm any of the members or the fans when he doesn’t know what’s going on, but he has a bad feeling about this. He once again flashes his phone to Chan briefly and leans in close.

“I want to take this, I don’t know why she’s calling, but something doesn’t seem right.”

Chan bites his lip, obviously torn for a second, before he seems to make up his mind.

“We’ve been live for almost 20 minutes, give me one second and we’ll end it so that you can talk to her, yeah?” Chan puts a hand on Seungmin’s shoulder and squeezes it tightly for a moment before clapping his hands together, effectively ending the conversation that the rest of the members were having.

Seungmin makes himself smile as they all say goodbye, but it's obvious that it's forced.

Even though the live ended as quickly as possible, Seungmin still has 2 new missed calls by the time he’s found himself an empty room to use.

"Hello?"

"Uhm hello, is this Min?" a man asks hesitantly. His voice is unfamiliar and it scares Seungmin. The only thing that brings a little bit of comfort is knowing that you’re careful to never call Seungmin by his full name when talking about him with friends or coworkers, you even have his contact information set as a nickname.

"Who is this?" he asks instead. “Where’s Y/n?”

"My name is Hyunwoo, I work with Y/n-ssi. I’m very sorry for interrupting you, but Y/n-ssi said that you were one of her emergency contacts. We tried to call with another number previously, but weren’t able to reach you."

“Sorry, I generally do not answer calls from unknown numbers. Is Y/n okay?” Seungmin swallows hard, his mouth suddenly dry. “Can I- can I please speak to her?”

“She’s just not feeling well and needs to go home. She’s resting in another room, but I can get her, one moment please.” 

There’s a bit of background noise, the sound of footsteps, murmuring, then finally, your voice.

“Minnie?” you ask, sounding groggy. “I’m sorry for bothering you, I know you were working today.”

“Hey baby, it’s okay. You don't have to worry about me. You know that you’re more important than work to me right? I’m glad you got them to call me. How are you doing?”

“I'm tired. I'm okay, just, I was feeling light-headed and have a headache so I can't work. Hyunwoo said he thinks I have a fever.”

“Okay, I’m going to pick you up and bring you home then. Just continue resting until I get there. I'll see you soon.”

Seungmin doesn’t know what he’d do without the other members. As soon as he finishes explaining the situation to them, they’re already calling a car and working out schedules so that there aren’t any problems.

—

Hyunwoo eyes Seungmin carefully when they first meet, likely due to the face mask and hat he's wearing. When Seungmin removes the mask and shakes Hyunwoo’s hand, he's relieved when he doesn't appear to recognise him. It's not exactly a surprise, men are generally less likely to follow k-pop groups and Seungmin hardly looks like an idol when he's barefaced and in the jeans and t-shirt that he wore for the live.

“Thank you for calling me, Hyunwoo-ssi,” Seungmin says. “Sorry I didn’t pick up at first.”

“It’s okay, Min-ssi. Y/n-ssi mentioned that your work might make you difficult to contact.” Seungmin appreciates that Hyunwoo doesn’t make any attempt to pry further.

“And thank you for taking care of Y/n.”

“It’s not a problem. Y/n-ssi is a pleasure to work with and we all want her to get better as quickly as possible. Come with me, I’ll bring you to her.”

You’re lying in a small meeting room that has all the lights off and blinds drawn. The table and chairs have all been shifted to the side to fit a yoga mat that has been laid out. You squint up at Seungmin from under a mis-match of jackets with your head resting on a pillow that matches the couches that were in the reception area of your office.

“Minnie?” Your voice is soft and a little bit confused.

“Yes, it’s me, Y/n. How’re you feeling?”

Seungmin rushes to your side, crouching on the carpet so that he can cup your cheek. Your skin is flushed and hot to the touch. You reach out a hand and he clasps it tightly with his free hand.

“Mm, I wanna go home.”

“Let’s go home then.”

The company car is still parked outside of your office building, close enough that you insist on walking yourself. Seungmin tries not to hover, but he makes sure to keep his arm looped around your waist so that you don’t stumble. The drive back to your place is fairly short, but when Seungmin glances over you’re looking unwell. Maybe it’s just the dim lighting from the backseat, but you look paler than usual and your eyes are closed.

“You feeling okay?” Seungmin asks, squeezing your hand.

“A bit nauseous,” you murmur.

“We’re almost there, just take a few deep breaths through your nose for me.”

Even though it's only a few minutes before they pull onto the street that you live on, it feels like forever. Seungmmin tries to keep you preoccupied by rubbing circles into your palm. Instead of trying to help you out of the car and into your apartment, Seungmin thanks the company driver and opts to just carry you all the way in. 

He helps to change you out of your work clothes and tucks you into your bed. You link your fingers together and protest when Seungmin attempts to leave your side.

“I promise I'll be back in a second, I just want to get some things to help you feel better, okay?” he says, pressing a kiss to your forehead. You agree, but reluctantly.

Seungmin tries to stay quiet as he rummages around your apartment, gathering some medicine, a thermometer, a glass of water, and some crackers. Next he dampens a face cloth and brings everything to your bedside table, folding up the cloth and laying it across your forehead. 

He supports you in sitting up slightly to take your temperature, brushing his fingers through your hair as you wait for enough time to pass. You lean into his touch slightly, humming in pleasure when Seungmin switches to giving you a light head massage. When the thermometer beeps, it confirms what Hyunwoo suspected, you have a low grade fever.

“You have a bit of a fever,” Seungmin tells you, keeping his voice low. “Do you feel up to having some water and medicine? It'll help you feel better, I think.”

“Okay,” you say, taking the pills that Seungmin hands you and swallowing them with a bit of water.

“Do you want to rest some more now? I want you to stay hydrated so I can make broth for you or get juice.”

“Do you have another schedule? You don't have to stay and take care of me.”

“I don't have to, I want to. And what did I say earlier? Don't worry about me. I'm not missing anything important.”

“So you are missing something,” you insist, your stubbornness making itself known. Seungmin can't help but find it endearing, especially the way that your bottom lip juts out to form a pout.

“Just vocal lessons. I already know how to sing, so it’s fine. Innie had his scheduled for tomorrow, the two of us are going to swap.”

“Oh,” you say, apparently satisfied by that.

“See, nothing to worry about. Now, what did you want? Broth or juice?”

“Broth,” you decide. “But that means you'll have to leave again. I don't want to be alone.”

Seungmin hesitates for a moment before reaching for something resting on the side of your bed.

“You won't be alone, Daengmo will keep you company, okay?”

Seungmin had gifted the stuffed dog to you the first time he had gone abroad after the two of you had started dating, even though it was only to Japan. You had insisted that he keep it at first, knowing how fond he was of the toy, but he had convinced you that it would prevent you from missing him whenever he was away.

“M'kay,” you say sleepily, wrapping your arms around Daengmo.

“You can close your eyes while I'm gone and I'll be back before you know it.”

“I'm not tired,” you say, although even in the dim lighting Seungmin can see that your eyes are starting to droop. “I'm going to stay awake until you come back.”

“Whatever you say,” Seungmin replies.

He leaves your room, closing the door behind him quietly, and heads towards the kitchen.

Seungmin prepares a couple of pots to make you soup. The first he prepares with some ingredients to make a simpler version of a ginseng chicken soup. He knows it'll take a while to cook though, so he adds water, powdered chicken broth, and ginger to the second. Within a few minutes, the clear broth is ready to serve.

Seungmin scoops a portion of it into a mug and slips an ice cube in so that you won't burn your mouth trying to drink it. He makes his way back to your room as quickly as he can, but careful to avoid the liquid sloshing over the sides.

When he eases the door open, he's greeted with the side of you with your eyes closed, clutching Daengmo tightly. Your breaths are deep and even, although you stir slightly when he sets the mug down on your nightstand.

“I'm here now," he reassures you quietly. “You just keep resting.”

“Thank you for taking care of me,” you say in a small voice.

“Of course, I’ll always be here for you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

till death do us part collection | read it on ao3 | masterlist

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Why We Never See Elendira's Story

In a story that emphasizes the human or otherwise sympathetic aspects to its focal characters, it’s very intriguing that Elendira remains an enigma right up until the very end of her story.

We receive some tantalizing hints that there is much, much more to Elendira than what we’re explicitly shown – asides from her apparent sole interest in witnessing the end of the world (to which she'd prefer to see Knives' chosen ending, but is prepared to act herself if he fails), she looks somewhat resigned when saying that nice men “die so easily”, that no matter what Vash does, humans will “ruin it”, and so on and so forth.

[ID: Two screenshots from Trigun Maximum Volume 11. In the first, over a rocky ground, Elendira says "I liked you better when you had nothing to lose. What a shame." She looks down, somewhat resigned, and continues "I don't like nice men. They die so easily." In the second, she stands, frowning and saying "No matter what Vash the Stampede does... there will always be those..." On a close up of her right eye, she says "...who ruin it." End ID.]

Elendira seems to have little to no faith in humanity, and in that sense, she seems a lot like Knives. Knives, who aims to become more and more powerful, and in the process, severing all meaningful ties he has with others on his quest to ensure no one can take advantage of him or use him. We know, of course, that Knives doesn't quite succeed here... but Elendira has. She is the peak of human (or part human? We never get an answer to her unexplained abilities) capability in speed, skill, and strength. The only reason Livio stood any chance in that fight was due to his incredible regeneration.

(As an interesting aside, she also has an interesting commonality with Vash - what comes to mind is her telling the kids to bury Livio because he "died" trying to protect them. Why does she care about that? Why does it matter? None of the other GHGs do this. This is not important to the point I'm making here but it's just interesting to me. There's very few characters who explicitly make a point of burying the dead.)

The point being, Elendira is the height of strength... and at the top, she is alone.

[ID: A panel from Trigun Maximum Volume 13. Elendira is in the action of dropping her white coat, which she has taken off to reveal an underarmour suit that is almost skeletal in appearance. She looks confident. End ID.]

In a story where characters' motives and pasts are told through their connections with others, through their memories with people they cared for, and through the eyes of the people who care for them...

Vash's story is eventually told in pieces to humanity through Meryl, through Luida, and through his sisters. Rem survives in Vash's memories, and we see the part of her story that young Vash saw, just as we also see his own past from this recollection of her.

Milly is a clarifier and communicator who sees so strongly the sides of Meryl and Vash that they suppress, all that grief and fear, for the sake of remaining steadfast. She is the one whose eyes we see through. It had to be seen to be told. Wolfwood does this too.

The rest of GHGs get some elaboration also. Hoppered is defined through his loss of the woman he cared for in July. Midvalley is defined by his fear and contention with Knives. They also have a dynamic between them that few of the other GHGs shared - and it's likely for this reason we received more elaboration on the two of them than many of the others. But even characters like Rai-Dei, for whom we don't get very much at all, has at least his sunk-cost fallacy explained through the memories of the people he's killed to get to that point.

Chronica's story, though largely removed from the people of No Man's Land, is given definition and stakes through the loss of Domina, and we are told about her incredible determination and strategy she has through her reputation with the Earth fleet.

Legato, desperate to play a singularly important role in Knives' story, tells his own through that lens and that lens only. The moment his life changed was the moment Knives entered it, and that is likely the most important memory to him - Knives is the only meaningful bond he has (sadly for him, this was not reciprocated). Well, an argument can be made for the contentious dynamic he builds with Vash too.

Even Knives, for all that he tried to separate himself from others, is known and seen through his connection with Vash - and his acceptance and unwillingness to fully lose this connection is not only what eventually saves him, but also the reason we, as the audience, know his story so well.

We see characters' stories in Trigun mainly through the bonds they share with others - never the whole story, but the sides that others knew of them.

So, who does Elendira have? Every interaction she has is shallow, dismissive, and exceedingly temporary. Through her dislike of Legato, we get that she may be somewhat bitter about his important status to Knives... but there is no elaboration, because it goes no further than that. Knives calls her directly on the phone, and she is very invested in his vision for the end of the world and intrigued by him... but it goes no further than that. He does not really seem to care about her beyond her effectiveness, and she does not offer any information about herself. Even her allegiance is kind of flimsy. She's only there because she wants to be.

During their final fight, Wolfwood lives on through Livio, through his actions and resolve. It is the teamwork between him and Razlo, in the spirit of Wolfwood, that eventually overpowers Elendira. Amusingly (at least to me), Livio is quite literally never alone, because he always has Razlo - and now, Wolfwood too.

"Yer too strong... and that's why yer gonna lose."

[ID: A screenshot from Trigun Maximum Volume 13. Livio narrates over a shot of his eye, Razlo's eye, and finally, his whole face, with Wolfwood's final vial of serum between his teeth. "...to me... to Razlo... and to him." End ID.]

Elendira has succeeded in separating herself from everyone – she is the most powerful of the GHG, and every battle with her is basically one-sided – but she’s alone, and that’s not only why she loses… it’s also why we never get to know her in any meaningful way.

Because no one knows her. She has no personal connection with anyone. Her motivations never get any clarity. We don’t even know who did her modifications or how she gained her power. Even if she did have someone she cared for in the past, she apparently does not hold onto their memory. And maybe that's the reason she told the kids to bury Livio - not out of respect, but because to her, that is where the past belongs - dead and buried, soon to be joined by the rest of the world and humanity as it all comes to an end.

We never see Elendira’s story… because there is no one from whose eyes we can see it in any capacity.

[eshithepetty]

LISTEN. I KNOWWW that the polls haven't even started, but I'm impatient, ok, I'm just putting this out there now cause I can't take it..... anyways - I've seen people do powerpoints as a way to campaign for their blorbos in the various polls that have been going on, so!! I thought I'd do one of my own for the @autismswagsummit ^^ as I simply can't pass on any chance to be brainrotted over this series, it seems...

ID under cut, as it's very long!

[ID: a powerpoint presentation campaigning for Mob from Mob Psycho 100. It's formatted in dark purples and pinks.

The first slide is the titlecard, differing from the main slides by having a pink holographic aura, like the ones from the show, as the background. The text says:

"#MOBSWEEP 2023

Aka why you should vote for Mob in the upcoming autistic swag summit. Please

(JK follow your own heart ^^ but for your consideration:)"

The second slide is titled: "Who is Mob, aka Kageyama Shigeo?" and below the text lists:

"Source: Mob Psycho 100, which is also where Reigen comes from;

The protagonist! Only with background character syndrome (which is why he’s named ‘Mob’ – it’s kinda like naming your protag ‘John Doe’ lol);

A 14 year old with the psychic strength to destroy the world. Which he’s not very happy about actually;

Cause really, he’s just a nice, gentle boy who simply wants to improve and impress his crush by getting swole :) Oh, and he also experiences the horrors. Btw."

On the right of this text, there are two images: One is a zoomed in screenshot of Mob, his face blank and confused, and the other is an official art of the show, depicting Mob in the center, aura glowing, with many of the show's other characters around him, with the show's title at the bottom of the image.

The third slide's title is "Ok but tell me more about the autism", and below, the text says:

"Gladly ^^

Ok, first off – symptoms:

Bad at reading social cues, detecting sarcasm, lies, etc.;

Struggles with recognizing/expressing emotions. Has what could be called psychic meltdowns;

Very honest and blunt, sometimes appearing ‘ruthless’ as a result;

Explicitly low empathy, in that he can’t feel what others are feeling;

Actually very compassionate, and follows a really strict moral code;"

There are no images in this or the next slide.

The fourth slide is a continuation of the previous, with the text being:

"Abnormal reaction to sensations, but instead of overreacting, he underreacts, rarely responding to physical touch and disturbing imagery. Has shown to be at times sensitive to loud sounds, however;

Prefers following a routine. One of his biggest conflicts with Reigen literally arise from the man often calling him out of the blue and making him suddenly adapt, which Mob finds really annoying/upsetting;

Struggles in school. Explicitly bad at math, japanese and PE (really passionate about the latter tho), which could be for a variety of reasons, autism related conditions (like dyscalculia/dyslexia/dyspraxia) being one of them;

Has felt like an outcast for most of his life. Even if he grew up in a pretty loving environment, he recognizes that he is different to others, and people sometimes treat him as such (in a /neg way);

His main arc is about overcoming trauma and… just masking (and how to stop doing it), pretty much, lol."

The fifth slide, in contrast, is mostly just images, placed upon a white background. The title for this one is "Alternatively, just look at him:"

The images, from top to down, and then left to right, are:

Three cropped subtitles out of screenshots of the show, which say:

"I'm sure I just got the wrong idea again. How embarrassing."

"He's detached from urban legends, fads, and other hot topics among people."

"You just can't lie, can you?"

The fourth is a cropped screenshot of Mob's explosion meter. Both in Japanese and English. Specifically, it says: "Progress towards Mob's explosion: 92%". Additionally, there is an annotation above this image, saying: "Literally has a meltdown meter ksfdks"

In-between these and the next column of images, there is also a transparent image of Mob, him standing stiffly, faced towards the camera, his standard, blank expression with a small smile on his face.

The next column of images goes like this:

A screenshot from the show, done in paint on glass, of various kids towering over Mob, who's standing in the middle of the image, small. Their expressions wary, from sneering, to frowning, to looking disgusted. The subtitles at the bottom say, with one part blocked out due to spoilers: "[spoilers] didn't treat me any differently even though I could use psychic powers."

Next two are cropped dialogues as well. They say:

"This version of him was created from being suppressed and locked away."

"Social skills like that are beyond you."

And on the right of the slide is one vertical image, showing one of Mob's books, with the subtitles translating the Japanese title of the book as "The Proper Way of Reading the Room". Next to this one, there is also an annotation, saying: "He has a book on learning social cues :’)" That's all for this slide.

The sixth slide is titled "Is he good rep though?" Text below is:

"Well, to answer the first thing relevant to this question… no, he’s not actually confirmed canon autistic. But c’mon.. it’s so obvious. This kid is not fucking allistic like c’monnnn

Of course, what people consider good and bad rep is gonna vary from person to person. But to explain why a lot of people see him as very positive rep:

"1) He’s the main character, so he gets the most spotlight, and the narrative is formed around his pov, in that we only see things that are relevant to Mob, and visually things are often represented in the way Mob sees them as well (take the body improvement club or Tsubomi, for example), which puts all viewers soundly in his shoes and makes him easy to relate to and sympathize with, and makes it clear how important his emotions and view of things really are;"

On the right of this are 3 images against a white background. The first one is a screenshot of the Body Improvement Club - 5 very buff and large dudes - standing against an explosively red and yellow background, with all of them enthusiastically flexing. The caption below that is "The body improvement club! ...they're supposed to be middle schoolers lol".

The next two, below the first one, are two screenshots of Tsubomi. The one on the left has her smiling, her eyes wide and bright, the background being pastel pinks and yellows. The one on the right, however, has her frowning, the background turned black, her eyes dark and disinterested. The caption below says: "Tsubomi :) And how her design subtly changes alongside Mob’s view of her".

The seventh slide is a continuation of the previous, with the text being:

"2) He’s a very well rounded character, with well thought out strengths, flaws, motives, and his overall story is very cohesive and satisfying; 3) His autistic traits are portrayed neutrally – in both where they help, and where they can cause conflict. It balances between him learning what things he would benefit to address and deal with, and what things he shouldn’t be trying to change at all, and as the whole message of the show emphasizes – he is no more or less special than anyone, no more or less of a person – he is simply human, and his autistic traits are just part of what makes him himself."

This one has images next to it as well. The first one is a screenshot of Reigen looking towards the camera (at an off-screen Mob), hand to his chin, eyebrow raised and smiling, some food crumbs still stuck to his face, as he says: "Today you happened to save some people that only you could have saved." Next to it is the annotation: "Reigen reassuring Mob about how his inability to read the room and feel empathy actually can be a huge benefit sometimes :)"

The next image below is a zoom in of Mob's face, his eyes shadowed by his hair, the scene's lighting dark, as he says: "I'm not being mocked, nor am I easily taken advantage of." The annotation next to this one says "Mob learning to recognize his emotions and assert himself better as the story goes on!"

And the last two images is a screenshotted dialogue, saying "You don't think changing yourself for someone you love is natural?" "I don't. At least, not when we're talking about [spoilers]" (The last bit is blocked out again).

The eight slide is also a continuation. The text says:

"4) He is loved. Loved by his friends, his family, his allies… even most villains come to take a liking to him. In fact, he’s something I haven’t seen many autistic characters be – he’s admired! So many characters, and even viewers of the show I’ve found, really admire him and want to be more like him. And not because he’s a perfect person, or super smart or anything, but because he sincerely tries his best. And I just really appreciate that, personally,, 5) And more than just loved, he is accepted – the whole main arc and the resolution of his story centers around that, around how important it is to feel accepted by the people around you, in all your entirety, no matter how strange or destructive you may feel yourself to be. And how you need to come to accept yourself in the same way as well. I just think that’s a really sweet in a story centering around a neurodivergent person :’)"

And the images next to it are as follows:

A screenshot of dialogue from the show, saying: "At first glance, Mob may seem unreliable, but his strength is undeniable." The annotation clarifies with: "The ‘strength’ in question, in this case, being Mob’s ability to reach out to people ^^";

A screenshot of Teru placed against a blindingly white background, him grinning widely, looking down, eyes shining, as he says: "I knew it, you really are amazing!". Next to him, there is a small caption of "Lol gayass /pos";

And a screenshot of Mob, in the bottom center of the image, small, as he is surrounded by various characters. Most of them are smiling encouragingly, with the ones closest to him, like Reigen, Ritsu, Dimple, Teru and Tsubomi, being bigger and placed in the front. A small caption at the top says: "He has so many friends and allies ueueeueueue.."

The ninth slide is titled "Additionally:" and the text lists:

"Psychic powers as a metaphor for being nd/othered, if that suits your fancy;

His design is iconic and versatile;

The boy has. Issues;;

There are many other characters in mp100 who can be read as autistic. Not a single neurotypical in this show /hj

Mob has more than just autism swag. I’ve seen people with bipolar disorder, ADHD, anxiety and those who are plural (etc.) also relate to him :)

He is simply the Boy ever"

Next to the last line is a small, low quality image of Mob smiling from the manga. The rest of the images, on the right, are:

The meme "I can be your angle....or yuour devil", with images of Mob instead - on the left, him smiling brightly and blushing, placed upon a colorful magenta background, and on the right, a panel from the manga: Mob in one of his explosion states, surrounded by fire, face shadowed, hair pushed back by his powers and waving in the air, and his eyes, wide and eerie, being the only features on his face that are visible.

On the right of these images, there is a smaller one, of Mob in another one of his explosion states (the one from episode 3, season 1 of the anime). He is facing to the side, aura surrounding him, hair pushed back by his powers and his eyes a glower. His pupils are red.

Below these, there are three images of, in order, Serizawa, Tome and Ritsu. Serizawa is sweating, nervous, Tome is sweating even more and yelling into a phone, and Ritsu is simply glaring towards the camera. The annotation pointing to them says: "A few of the other autistic blorbos in question :] (as I personally see them at least)".

And the last is a panel from the manga, of Mob sobbing, tears and drool dripping messily down his face, his hair waving in the air. His expression is somewhat blank despite the clear distress, and the text boxes next to him read: "His tears won't stop. It's an emotion he has never experienced before."

And the tenth, final slide, is formatted the same as the titlecard with the pink aura background, and says:

"Thank you if you got this far <3

Have good days everyones, and remember, the true win for autism is the fun we had along the way :]

Buh bye!! ^_^"

Around this text, there are various images of Mob. Counter clockwise, starting at the left corner:

A low quality screenshot of Mob flying in the air;

Mob, in his puppy hoodie, sweating in distress as he points at a vase;

Mob caught mid smear frame, his leg kicked high in the air as he jumps, his school bag swinging to the side, his expression comically flustered.

A panel from the manga. Mob's eyes are shadowed, chopsticks held to his face, as he stares to the side and says "Tch... Shut up and eat.";

A Mob in an alleyway from the anime, smiling, pointing and looking up and to the left (the center of the slide);

A photo of a Mob plushie tucked into bed;

A low quality screenshot of Mob, standing against a wire fence, facing forwards, his eyes appearing a bit angry due to his hair cowering them.

End ID.]

[dca-fanart-gallery]

The DCA Palooza is finally here! We're so excited to have you here.

After years of hard work...

The DCA Palooza is finally here.

And here's the intro post.

Why was the Palooza created?

Recently, I made a note commenting on the atrocious reblog-to-like ratios for the Daycare Attendant Fandom. As @chandlelures calculated using their own art, 18 percent of their notes were reblogs, and the rest were likes. Now some are fine with this. For them, likes are any other type of validation except that logic falls flat when you consider how this site works. Reblogs put art on your follower’s dash, keeps the art circulating, and you can leave nice compliments in the tags which artists will probably screenshot and read when they’re feeling sad. It’s about a feedback loop of good vibes and participating in community.  The ratio particularly affects smaller artists who may average 10 notes at best, and when over half of those notes are likes–well, it hurts their chance of growing their audience and having more people see their hard work. 

That’s why I’m excited to introduce the DCA Palooza! 

It’s not just about fixing numbers, or asking people to reblog more. It’s creating an event space where we can share our ideas and art, while also promoting image accessibility (writing IDs, tagging for eyestrain and flashing, etcetera) for disabled fans too! It’s addressing the wider cultural shift that many older fans have complained about, where we’ve started treating ourselves as content creator and consumers, instead of fans all obsessed with the same blorbos. To do our part in fighting against this and building community…

Here are our main goals: 

Encourage fans to reblog and support smaller artists.  

While we love the concept of “gallery spaces” from @roachworks Gallery Jamboree! You don’t need to create a sideblog to become a curator. If you want to join Monthly Wrap Ups (where you promote new artists and AUs you found) all you need to do is tag @dca-fanart-gallery to join the event! We’ll see your tag, reblog from you, and then go hunt down those artists you mentioned and reblog from them too :D! 

Host weekly magmas and community events 

Magmas are a place where multiple artists can draw on the same canvas. It’s a great way to find new artists and their art styles, and have fun with their community. They’re currently hosted by @venomous-qwille every Saturday, and we post the art pieces in our Discord

Raise awareness about accessibility 

In the Discord Server, we ask that you write short IDs for every image you post and hopefully learn to write IDs for your own art. The main gallery will promote accessible artists and link to resources for writing image descriptions, as well as write IDs for much of the art we reblog. It doesn’t take too long to learn, and as the original artist, you’ll know what to emphasize in an ID than we’ll ever can! 

How can you support us?

Check out and follow @dca-fanart-galleryl! It’s run by a blind Y/N who’s trying to understand where the heck these blorbos came from. Donate your abandoned sketches to become coloring pages for the @dca-coloring-book! Look at the ID guides tag and make your art accessible for your fellow blind/visually impaired fans. And most excitedly...

Join our discord server and have loads of fun!

[dieselpvnk]

Why don’t you like your least favorite campaign in rw?

Spearmaster is just. I dont like it so bad. Most of this is btw not objective critisism but just stuff I personally don't like for reasons varying from pretty valid to plain stupid.

there' just way too many moments that I find frustrating and not fun. Sure, you could say skill issue and that I should just get better at the game, but

I did this with chaos + enemy randomizer, I make myself suffer in this game for fun and Spearmaster just hits different. (also yes I'm just taking a chance to bring up this screenshot again because I kinda slayed)

random, but this is the only time I get to mention I was so excited at the start of the campaign, just to get upset upon realizing cool new starting region is just Outskirts, the first few rooms made me hope for a mix of Shaded, Drianage and Superstructure kinda region. I guess seeing what's behind the Surv/Monk starting pipe is cool, but I hoped for something different. Also sad you can't go back there.

The mechanic is nice ig, I like killing things, holding two spears is cool ig, but tbh, a pebbles and a spear is even more effective in most situations. The way Spearmaster gets food is pretty cool and very unique, but I do miss munching on corpses. Not having a stomach slot isn't a big deal, until you remember Spearmaster has a bunch of unique lore pearls bc nobody else has access to pre-collapse Moon. Imo it's much much worse than the story pearl.

Speaking of, the story pearl. It's whatever, don't care, prior to Spearmaster I played Hunter bringing both the pearl and the neuron to Moon and it was much more difficult, as Spearmaster I just used a passage. What IS a problem tho, is having to go between iterators back and forth. I wanted to know what Pebbles was talking about, so I went to Moon first, then I had to go to Pebbles to get top surgery, then I had to go back to Moon again to give her the pearl, and then I had to go to Sky Islands, which is also going past Pebbles through the Precipice.

The spawns are brutal, which is not an issue itself, I liked Artificer's camapaign a lot. The issue id that it feels "bullshit" brutal instesd of "challenging" brutal.

The regions are also not something I enjoy. Past Garbage Wastes? Better as Artificer with brief acid immunity and awesome mobility [and high threat level to compensate]. The only really good part is build-a-ladder room. Waterfront facility? It's whatever, and again better as Artificer because I can make shortcuts myself, as a little treat. any wall is scaleable and gap is crossable [unverified information], the Precipice is bad. Tight jumps, no shelters, missing a jump.is very punishing and a lot of threats on top of that. Yes I know you can bring a grappleworm, but I hate them so I'm not doing that. Moon's Underhang? Struts, I believe. Also very fucking bad, just. she has an awful infestation she should get it checked out. The only and only thing that made me get get that awya from me mod and remove spiders. Also it's hard to navigate and it doesn't have enough shelters to compensate. Moon's superstructure? I don't like superstructure regions because zero-g is the worst mechanic every concieved for rain world. also getting food from neurons is annoying. I know I don't have to I can just go through Superstructure in one cycle. but I still hate it.

The lore? Don't give a shit honestly, I was kinda hyped for the broadcasts but then I just didn't care, I was just hoping I can skip them faster. I don't care about iterator drama stfu!!!! Like it's cool and all. in theory. but in reality I really just ended up not caring at all. Call me a fake fan but I wish they just weren't in there or there was a lot less.

Spearmaster is a lot more enjoyable if you disregard the camapign and do whatever. But at that point I'd rather play slugcats I enjoy more anyway. No dual-wield and no unlimited spears isn't a deal breaker

[satoshi-mochida]

Exploration-based adventure game Refind Self: The Personality Test Game announced for PC, iOS, and Android

Gematsu Source

Publisher PLAYISM and 7 Days to End with You developer Lizardry have announced exploration-based adventure Refind Self: The Personality Test Game for PC, iOS, and Android. It will launch in November worldwide.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

All players approach games in varied ways, making different choices. No one ever plays in exactly the same way. Indeed, how a person plays can be an indicator of their personality… And Refind Self is a game where you can learn all about that personality.

Story

You are an android. The story begins with you standing at the grave of the Doctor who created you. The world is populated by robots in various forms, created for numerous purposes. Travel to places key to your memories of the Doctor, interact with the robots, and unravel the secrets behind the future the Doctor sought and what you were entrusted with.

Important Characters

Protagonist – The player, a robot created by the Doctor as an EAI: an AI that can take action based on emotions.

Dull – A robot clerk at the café. Always lazy due to misconfiguration by the Doctor.

GoGo Scrap – A robot that collects scraps. Sociable and boylike.

Inori – A shepherd robot created to carry out orders.

How to Play

Go wherever you feel like, converse, investigate, play minigames… Simply play as you please. There are no game overs, and there’s no right or wrong way to progress. With each action you take, your personality will be analyzed. Once analysis is 100% complete… Congratulations, you’ve beaten the game! Your personality results will then be revealed. If you want to know more about your personality, you can go back to play again and again. Of course, this also goes for those who want to know the truth of the story.

Personality Comparison and Sharing

Your test results are stored in an online database, and you’ll be issued a unique results ID. You can share your results ID, and view others’ results to compare them with your own. Perhaps similar personalities mean good compatibility? That’s another way of having fun with your results. *Test result data does not include any personal identifiable information.

Examples of Possible Personalities

Adventurer (Passion) – One dedicated to going where none have gone, and doing what may be impossible.

Leader (Morals) – A proactive and responsible sort, who keeps promises and fulfills duties.

Planner (Methods) – A meticulous sort who does anything they can to prepare and increase odds of success.

Sage (Daring) – One who always prepares for possible crises; better to reliably avoid loss than to chance gain.

Samurai (Judgment) – A strong-willed sort who doesn’t hesitate, sticking to their first decision

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

English

Japanese

[robynbaldurlogs]

baldur log day 1 + 2

day 1 i dont have much to show for this day visually bc i wasnt actively documenting... but essentially, i: made my character, went through the beginning tutorials and stuff, took the little brain guy with me, saved shadowheart, and crashed on the beach. then i stopped playing. here is the only image i took before i got off LOL

day 2 ok. so: shadowheart is cool as fuck. i LOVE her already. cannot wait to strengthen the social link with her or whatever the hell you call it. get the friendship numbers up. this fuckass poem had me dead:

shoutout the bitch queen ig whoever you are. keep serving also i love this fucking guy. i can tell hes a conniving fuck but ohhhh hes kinda hot though!

like why is he kinda cunty. but yea anyways he joined my party. also met this guy. gale. he is strangely charming. but he also gives me zephyr breeze vibes (which is bad) and jack sparrow vibes (which is very good). told my friend speves that and that i thought he looked like a smart himbo and she was like "i dont blame you for that read" + "we'll see" which i Dont Know how to take. my judgements were based off the literal first minute of conversation btw

+ really stupid visual glitch i almost didnt notice. theyre fusing

shadowheart talk your shit man.

"just waiting, like a lovesick puppy?" ...... thats a bad thing? whatever you say man. gonna scare shadowheart with commitment. COMMITMENT JUMPSCARE BOO also little parentheses shadowheart is the most fucking dementia raven way ass name and i love it but it was hard to take it seriously for a little bit. warrior cats ass name. also i got crazy fucking lucky with my rolls. dont have many screenshots but i kept getting high numbers it was lucky as shit up until gale talked to me about needing to consume magical items like crack i read his mind with the mindflayer tadpole and found out it was cus he consumed some crazy ass Dark Magic or something, got a critical failure first, then just used some inspiration i had to get it right, and rolled high as shit LMAO

hit the rolls TWICE btw. read his mind once and then went deeper into his mind which had a 15 dc and got that too. hell yeah baby. also afterwards i was totally honest with him about reading his mind and he freaked the fuck out which fair i read your mind. i get it. but still

then i calmed him down by being like "hey man i had to know. youre dangerous" and passed the persuasion check :sunglasses: easiest game of my fucking life oh i talked to shadowheart abt her pains before that which was cool every conversation i have with her makes me like her more.

i met wyll. great guy. i went to camp to long rest and he dropped some INSANE fucking knowledge on me. like. i could live by this

so i switched gale out in my party with him LMAOOOOOOO and had a conversation with astarion about how hed kill me if i started turning. i asked what he would prefer personally and he said decapitation. which was CRAZY. so i was like yeah sure king decapitate me if i turn. do your thing. i trust your judgment

also talked to shadowheart bc i will seize every chance to learn more about her

then i left camp, talked to kagha while looking for a healer, got them to free a tiefling girl through more persuasion rolls (BECAUSE IM GOATED) and talked to the healer nettie who was fixing a Regular Bird

she told me how strange it is that we arent turning, to swear on my life id drink a poison if i saw any symptoms (which i of course agreed to, shadowheart approved and astarion did not) and stopped playing on the way to rescue halsin. fun times!

p.s. days doesnt necessarily mean im playing this daily but rather just what happens when i play per irl day... days just works as a way to categorize tbh

[murdotranscribes]

[Profile picture transcription: An eye shape with a rainbow flag covering the whites. The iris in the middle is red, with a white d20 for a pupil. End transcription.]

Hello! This is a blog specifically dedicated to image transcriptions. My main blog is @murdomaclachlan.

For those who don't know, I used to be part of r/TranscribersOfReddit, a Reddit community dedicated to transcribing posts to improve accessibility. That project sadly had to shut down, partially as a result of the whole fiasco with Reddit's API changes. But I miss transcribing and I often see posts on Tumblr with no alt text and no transcription.

So! Here I am, making a new blog. I'll be transcribing posts that need it when I see them and I have time; likely mainly ones I see on my dashboard. I also have asks open so anyone can request posts or images.

I have plenty of experience transcribing but that doesn't mean I'm perfect. We can always learn to be better and I'm not visually impaired myself, so if you have any feedback on how I can improve my transcriptions please don't hesitate to tell me. Just be friendly about it.

The rest of this post is an FAQ, adapted from one I posted on Reddit.

1. Why do you do transcriptions?

Transcriptions help improve the accessibility of posts. Tumblr has capabilities for adding alt-text to images, but not everyone uses it, and it has a character limit that can hamper descriptions for complex images. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the ways transcriptions improve accessibility:

They help visually-impaired people. Most visually-impaired people rely on screen readers, technology that reads out what's on the screen, but this technology can't read out images.

They help people who have trouble reading any small, blurry or oddly formatted text.

In some cases they're helpful for people with colour deficiencies, particularly if there is low contrast.

They help people with bad internet connections, who might as a result not be able to load images at high quality or at all.

They can provide context or note small details many people may otherwise miss when first viewing a post.

They are useful for search engine indexing and the preservation of images.

They can provide data for improving OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology.

2. Why don't you just use OCR or AI?

OCR (Optical Character Recoginition) is technology that detects and transcribes text in an image. However, it is currently insufficient for accessibility purposes for three reasons:

It can and does get a lot wrong. It's most accurate on simple images of plain text (e.g. screenshots of social media posts) but even there produces errors from time to time. Accessibility services have to be as close to 100% accuracy as possible. OCR just isn't reliable enough for that.

Even were OCR able to 100%-accurately describe text, there are many portions of images that don't have text, or relevant context that should be placed in transcriptions to aid understanding. OCR can't do this.

"AI" in terms of what most people mean by it - generative AI - should never be used for anything where accuracy is a requirement. Generative AI doesn't answer questions, it doesn't describe images, and it doesn't read text. It takes a prompt and it generates a statistically-likely response. No matter how well-trained it is, there's always a chance that it makes up nonsense. That simply isn't acceptable for accessibility.

3. Why do you say "image transcription" and not "image ID"?

I'm from r/TranscribersOfReddit and we called them transcriptions there. It's ingrained in my mind.

For the same reason, I follow advice and standards from our old guidelines that might not exactly match how many Tumblr transcribers do things.

[amndmirk]

bestie drop the Kris & Ralsei relationship rant and why there's less fandom reception for them because of archetypes. the ppl want to know.

its. ugh

im not tidying it up, ill be putting it off forever (haha krals quest reference. VIBE CHECK)

so, deltarune community, i introduce to you, a half-assed 3AM rant about kris and ralsei.

transcription below, sidebar screenshots, tldr and everything. uh, i recommend reading the post

while i still cannot pass out i figured out what bothers me about the way theyre presented and why platonic kralsei is such a craving that has no material in the fandom to work with whatsoever

we know the susie relationships. everyone cherishes kris and susies friendship. id say it comes first if anything. people vaguely appreciate her and ralsei as well - we had plenty of hangout opportunities for the two, there are even two or three comics about ralsei and his beef with her. friendship content. dynamic exploring

kris and ralsei presentation however includes but is not limited to: dry interaction (choose your flavour: kris/kris as player projection aka the thing everyone did with ch1 ralsei cutesy content), dry interaction 2.0 aka The Sillies/ralsei as sole background commenter in goofyass situations/the normal dude (may or may not include in-game shit), kris' resentment of ralsei (at least theyre getting creative), and finally mushy romantic couple shit and sugarcoating tropes

vc: and you could excuse that with a "oh, well but we dont know anything about ralseis backstory" yet we hardly know anything about susies either. we only theorise of her past related to adoption, being homeless, insert other determinators based material. we factually know very little of her, yet susie has established friendships with both kris and ralsei, even well-written fan content with noelle that is not limited by surface romance but rather the exploration of their dynamic, friends first, partners - second.

as in for either of them being morally gray? susie has no problems with that and i love her, we love her, the_newest_girl sweepstakes log hasnt changed anything. i do have a theory on how that could affect ralsei, though. might contemplate on that.

so susie has all that. kris, their nature still unknown to most, but overall sympathetic with a shade of gray morality (HEEEELLL YEAAA) has the similar spectrum. kris has all that.

with them and ralsei though? its like. not a single plate of them as a dynamic. as actual friends

and honestly its no wonder kralsei is getting rejected from lightner ship/old darkner ship communities

we present no base. no fundamental understanding or interpretation of them

...though i wish id browse through deltarune tag more legitimately and take samples every time i see kris and ralsei on-screen to have a list of categories for each interaction to sort them like legos by shapes and colours.

there was one.ONE comic of them that kept the hopes up. this is why kralsei is stayin alive. that, and tunas scarf thingy. our icon (shhhh hes seepy)

i, uh, dont have a conclusion. i remember writing it because i wish we actually came up with who they are. wish that even they had conflicts and resolutions, similarities and differences, like any other dynamic in the fanon, having multiple headcanons and interpretations.

i just wish we gave them a chance to be friends.

[kaiokentimesten]

Could you tell us more about why you don’t like ancient cities :0? /genq (I haven’t had the chance to play the new update still so I’ve never encountered them myself)

Oh boy. Ohhhh boy. I've had this ask in my inbox for a good bit, because I wanted to take some time to formulate my reply

So, for you all, I'm going to go into detail as to why I don't like not only the ancient cities, but the entire deep dark as it exists now in Minecraft. Rant under the cut for your sakes, but the TL;DR is that the way that the deep dark, ancient cities, and the Warden have been implemented into Minecraft (especially on Bedrock) is unfair and not fun

Now, as a concept, I think the deep dark is fucking awesome. It's absolutely GORGEOUS and I love the idea of something existing in the caves deeper down than we were originally allowed to see (below y=0). However, there are some key components that make it an absolute nightmare to play in, and not in the fun way. We'll tackle them bit by bit, getting more specific as we go on.

First, the deep dark itself. Now, largely, there are no problems with the general deep dark: it looks cool and is implemented pretty well. However, there is one core problem, and that is the fact that sculk shriekers—which are used to spawn the Warden—are in there, regardless of whether or not there is an Ancient City.

We'll get to the Warden in much more detail later, but here's the main takeaway: in Ancient Cities, you know what you're getting into. You know that you are taking a massive risk (spawning the Warden) for massive reward (the loot in the chests). In regular deep dark, you're not really supposed to expect that. It's just another cave, but there's sculk in it. Why would you make it so that one could accidentally spawn a boss that is more powerful than any other boss while just casually mining? I have heard countless stories of people spawning the Warden on accident by just strip mining, and that's just ridiculous to me. And, if we want to get into the lore, it makes even less sense. What is the Warden guarding in just the regular deep dark caves?

I don't even think it'd be a hard problem to solve, either. Just make the shriekers in regular deep dark not spawn the Warden, like what happens when you break a shrieker and place it down again. This shouldn't be a problem.

Next, the Ancient Cities. So, we've established that you know what you're getting into when you go into an Ancient City, but do you really? Because the thing is is that there was an update to Minecraft Bedrock(though this also applies to Java as you'll see) recently that says, "Increased Sculk Shrieker and Sculk Sensor generation rates in Deep Dark and Ancient Cities to better match Java Edition."

And now, because of that update, Ancient Cities are no longer fun to go through, at least in my opinion. Before the update, my friends and I used to go through them all the time, and we had fun sneakily getting the loot while tactically traveling and wooling off/breaking shriekers. However, now it's nearly impossible to go through them without setting off a shrieker, no matter how careful you are. Sculk shriekers can now be embedded in walls, or buried completely underground where you can't see them, like this youtuber saw:

(Image ID: A screenshot in Minecraft of a chest room in an Ancient City. The player is breaking a block of sculk using an enchanted netherite hoe, revealing a sculk shrieker underneath. End ID.)

(Image ID: A second screenshot in Minecraft of the same chest room in the Ancient City as the last. The shrieker under the sculk is now activating, blue rings coming out of it. End ID.)

The screenshots were taken from around 8:42 of this video btw

There is no strategy to counteract this. It is impossible to detect shriekers buried under the ground like that without activating them. You could wool off everything else in the area and think you're safe only to open a chest and set off a shrieker underground, which has happened to me personally countless times. Not only does that make going through these unfair, but that also by extension makes them not fun, as there's a chance that you could get fucked no matter what you do. There's no element of strategy like this.

This was especially a problem in Minecraft Bedrock before the recent update on October 4th. Before then, you could actually set off multiple shriekers at the same time and instantly spawn a Warden. This happened to a friend (Thes) and I a couple of days ago while we were going through an Ancient City: despite our warnings levels both only being at one (and it requiring 4 to spawn a Warden), we instantly spawned a Warden after setting off one other shrieker. We survived, thankfully, but we shouldn't have had that scare in the first place. Shriekers are supposed to have a 10 second cooldown before one can go off again, but somehow, we were able to set off multiple at the same time. It wasn't even addressed in the changelog (I had to learn through my own testing), but the fact that this was ever a problem is ridiculous, given how dangerous the Warden is.

Which. Speaking of. Let's end this off by talking about the Warden.

Now, as a concept, I think the Warden is cool. I like the idea of having this incredibly powerful mob that relies only on hearing to guard the Ancient Cities in the Deep Dark. However, the way that the Warden was actually implemented is abysmal in my opinion.

Firstly, there's the fact that the Warden really doesn't just rely on hearing. In the initial trailer for the Warden, you can see the player divert the Warden away using snowballs at around 1:17 in the video. The Warden easily tracks that sound and follows it, not even caring about the player as it sneaks past.

That's not how it works now. Using snowballs is virtually useless, because if you're close enough to do that, then the Warden will just automatically track you down and kill you via either sniffing or just...sensing you're nearby. In that same video that has the screenshots from earlier, you can see the player try to divert the Warden using snowballs like you're supposedly supposed to do, and it doesn't work. The player even flies a great distance away, and the Warden still locks onto them. You can see this from 6:45 to 7:48 in the video.

It's strange to me that they made the Ancient Cities out to be this place that requires so much stealth, and yet, their supposedly blind mob that should only rely on hearing can just sniff you out from 100 blocks away and kill you in 1-2 hits. It seems to contradict the whole idea of the Ancient City in my opinion.

And, let's say you want to kill the Warden. You want to go through the whole ordeal of trying to kill this boss that has more health than the Ender Dragon and the Wither (on Java). What do you get for that? You get a single sculk catalyst and 5 XP. Basically nothing for an achievement like that. I think you should get a reward for something that big, even if it was just a decorative Warden head or something. Give something to those players that go above and beyond.

This all isn't even getting into how the Deep Dark as a whole is an accessibility nightmare, at least in the case of Minecraft Bedrock. There are no in-game subtitles on that version, which is pretty shitty especially when you consider them adding an entire sound-based part of the game that you really can't avoid, since caving is practically essential to casual Minecraft.

And, really, that's the thing. The way that the Deep Dark has been implemented flies in the face of casual Minecraft players. With the Warden being able to spawn anywhere in the deep dark, and the deep dark being able to be in any cave below "low erosion areas" (mountains, plateaus, etc. Which are pretty common in Minecraft), it makes it so that any casual player could accidentally spawn and get killed by the Warden while just exploring the caves, which is a huge part of Minecraft to a lot of people. At least the other boss mobs are optional.

That's my rant. thanks for reading if you read the whole thing you're a trooper. Uhhh vote Sniffer for the mob vote amen peace and love and FUCK THE WARDEN!

[autisticgirliesbracket]

What makes Nagi Usui from The World Ends With You the autistic girlie ever of all time? Here's what the people have to say:

Nagi-related asks/reblogs: x This post will be updated after each round!

Image ID in alt text and under the readmore.

[Image ID. White slide with a screenshot of Nagi Usui in the bottom left corner, her glasses are all white and there is blue lightning coming off her. She is surrounded by text boxes which read,

"Has a special interest in EleStra, a mobile game, and it is her main motivation to live (or to come back to life, at least). Has an unusually formal, sometimes awkward manner of speech; often refers to others with Lord/Lady honorifics. Hyper-empathetic; can sense when people are masking their feelings, and is strongly affected by others' negative thoughts and emotions. Her power allows her to go into others' minds, but she dislikes doing it, both for their privacy and because dealing with their strong emotions exhausts her. Puts significant thought and care into her interactions, calculating every aspect of her behavior when communicating."

"Winner of the The World Ends With You autism bracket! Nagi is very emotionally perceptive and is easily overwhelmed by others' emotions, suggesting hyperempathy. She has a big interest in a game called Elestra, which she talks about often and relates situations from it to situations in real life. She particularly loves one character from the game, and pretends that someone from real life that she knows is that character. While Nagi is very empathetic, she struggles to see things from the point of view of those who are very different from her."

"Trapped in a death game and her sole motivation for escaping is to get back to playing her fave video game which she hyperfixates on. She has a speaking quirk where she talks very eloquently and overly formal and makes a lot of sounds/unintelligible noises to express when she’s feeling excited. Hyper empathetic and makes an active conscious effort to understand and communicate with people, calling it a skill that can be honed like any other."

"Literally died and landed in a death game, but was more worried about not being able to play the next chapter of her gacha game hyperfixation than y'know, being dead She is also hyperempathetic and makes So Many Noises"

" "I am simply aware of the importance of communication. And I take great pains to ensure my interactions with others remain as peaceful as possible. Asking questions. Gauging responses. Reacting aptly. I leverage every element at my disposal—actions, words, emojis, anything at all—to ensure everyone feels welcome.” - This is a direct quote from the game, which should be pretty autistic on its own. But wait, there's more! This is how she's able to Dive into other people's souls and help rid them of their inner demons. When she ends up in a three-week-long series of death games in another layer of reality played by the dead for a second chance at life, her motivation to get back is that there's a new chapter of her special interest mobile game and she can't play it until she's done with all of it. She joins the team because there's a dude who looks eerily like her favorite character who hangs around with them. Her arc resolves not by being less interested in EleStra (said special interest mobile game,) but by getting someone else who she'd previously had trouble getting along with because he spent the game masking INTO EleStra, on the grounds it'll help him cope with grief and improve his social skills. Nagi was voted Most Autistic Swag of the game duology in a fandom tournament, and this is saying something because you can make a case for like 60% of the cast at a low estimate being readable as autistic. She is an autistic queen."

"She obsesses over a mobile game (and one of her teammates because he looks JUST LIKE her blorbo/husbando). She has an ita bag covered in pins of said blorbo. She speaks in an old-timey fashion (she's 19 in modern day Tokyo) and refers to others as "Lord/Lady [Name]". AND she refers that special interest game to others as a way to "heal (their) hearts." She was voted Most Autistic TWEWY character on tumblr in a finals match against someone who's literally nonverbal with a special interest in tech who talks EXCLUSIVELY using text and rarely facially emotes. That's how autistic she is."

"Nagi is described as devoting most of, if not all her time to her pastimes, especially for a certain in-universe mobile game (Elegant Strategy, or EleStra), which she carries an itabag completely decorated with merch of a singular character from the aforementioned game, from several buttons and pins, to a charm, to a keychain plushie. She is also described as "more of a subdued character who can't assimilate into a social environment as easily as other people" by her character designer. I could go on but I'm not sure how to put concepts into words"

"She has an INTENSE special interest in a mobile game called Elegant Strategy to the point where playing it is her main motivation for trying to escape the literal actual death game she gets chucked into. She is highly empathetic which is highlighted by her psych (essentially the magic system in this game) being the ability to dive into other people's minds. She is extremely observant and puts a lot of effort into effectively communicating with the people around her, calling things like jokes or emojis "tools" to make sure everyone has a good time. The twewy fandom hosted an autism poll and she won so she absolutely deserves to go here" End ID.]

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trimax Thoughts Vol. 4 Pt. 3

Alright. Bit of a heavier one for tonight. I want to talk Vash's relation to his own feelings of anger and how these tie into his suicidal thoughts, because it's tragically fascinating and I still can't really make heads or tails out of it - specifically in that I don't think anyone is a reliable narrator in this situation so I'm left a little lost as to who to believe.

(ID: A screenshot of four panels from Chapter 7 of Volume 4 of Trigun Maximum. A conversation between Hoppered and Vash takes place, in which Hoppered says "I bet you want to kill me too, right? Of course you do... You want to tear me limb from limb." A somewhat grainy image of Rem, smile visible but eyes hidden, is shown, before Vash replies, his eyes narrowed, "Yeah... I do..." End ID.)

Warning! I am going to be discussing Vash's no good, very bad mental health. It's nothing worse than what is obvious from a read of the manga but if you're not in the headspace for it, you might want to skip this one. I had a bit of trouble writing it, if I'm being honest.

Volume 4 basically solidified what had kept cropping up all throughout the manga - Vash is keeping himself going only through his goal of "settling the score" with Knives. On the next page, Vash says the following:

"That's why... you can go right ahead and kill me. But... before I give you that chance... before I let you bind me in chains, lock me up, and torture me to death... I will send Knives to hell!"

Yikes buddy. This has been a running bit of characterization all throughout the manga - Vash survives because he has to. He takes small moments of joy where he can, tries to smile even when he's not feeling it, looks on the bright side even when things seem hopeless, because that's the only way he can survive to do what he has to. <- There's nothing especially wrong with this. This is a coping mechanism and as far as his coping mechanisms go, it's not so bad at all. It's actually pretty good, all things considered.

Problem is, he also has to embody the ideal he strives for - that no one needs to die, that he will never kill. And herein lies the issue, because Vash already feels like a monster because of July. Any deviation from the peace loving pacifist image he tries so hard to maintain brings Vash's self-loathing to the surface.

Ex. Vash sees the moon his angel arm blew a hole in and goes from denying culpability for the destruction of July to hardly resisting and calling himself a murderer.

Ex. Vash expresses that he holds murderous sentiment towards Hoppered. He sees this as a justifiable reason for Hoppered to kill him.

Even the thought that he has or could still deviate from his promise made in Rem's memory causes him immense amounts of shame. Vash does not want to harm people. Is it out of love? Is it out of guilt? I think at this point, there's no separating them. Vash doesn't kill out of a mix of these two emotions that are so intertwined in his core they have become inextricable.

The thing is... Vash's driving emotion appears to actually be anger, specifically, anger against Knives. He wants to "settle the score", which is a pretty retributive mentality for someone trying to embody pacifism. In fact, that kind of motivation strongly clashes with that image in a way that imo cannot coexist. It's reasonable in his mind to take that stance against Knives, who is not one of the humans Rem died to save, but against humans, it's unacceptable. So, Vash represses his anger constantly.

A great example of this is watching the contrast between Vash fighting Leonof and Wolfwood fighting Ninelives. Wolfwood fights with his emotions on visceral display; he is loud and cocky and desperate and violent. Vash, on the flip side, is almost dangerously quiet and composed, to the point Wolfwood seems a bit disturbed by it - but it's all repression. He needs to stay focused, his motions are calculated to reduce harm even against the puppets, he's eerily silent and his facial expressions are controlled and muted for the most part; all methods that Vash uses to stay in control (<- this is important!).

Here's the thing. I don't know that I necessarily, fully believe that Vash wants to kill Hoppered. I don't know that I trust anyone's narration in this scene - first of all, Hoppered is mad projecting his animosity onto Vash because he needs to secure the image of Vash as unrepentant destroyer of July; if Vash isn't the demon he believes him to be, his quest for revenge was for nothing (well, sort of. Vash obviously did destroy the city, but the intent was not there - and the latter seems to be what Hoppered is banking his hatred on). Hoppered earlier accused Vash of enjoying the fight... which is pretty clearly not true, so that it was Hoppered who prompted Vash's admittance above is a little suspect. Second, we've seen what Vash looks like when actually violently angry.

(ID: Two separate images screenshotted from the Trigun manga. The first shows Vash raising his gun at a recently reborn Knives, angrily shouting the other's name. The second shows Vash having jammed the barrel of his gun into Monev's eye, clearly close to pulling the trigger. End ID.)

To me, I see little indication in the build up to this of Vash legitimately wanting to kill Hoppered. He had no desire to kill Rai-Dei after all, and that was after he knew the GHG were targeting Home. Hoppered is probably the most sympathetic of the GHG. Vash is also in a self-destructive mindset in this scene, having just called himself a murderer after seeing the damage done to the moon again.

Is he agreeing with Hoppered's projection because he wants Hoppered to continue to hate him enough to punish him for the deaths of all those people? (The image of Rem then becomes symbolic of his having already failed to uphold her sacrifice.) Or should I be taking his words at face value and he really does want to kill Hoppered? (In this case, the image of Rem is out of guilt for voicing something aloud that goes against his image of her.) Is it possible that a combination of his self-loathing in this scene and fear of himself has him agreeing with Hoppered out of resignation that despite his best efforts, he is doomed to destroy? (Like in fifth moon's "we were no good from the start". The image of Rem is thus the image of someone genuinely good and kind to him, an image he feels he cannot embody no matter how hard he tries.)

I find it very ambiguous honestly. Any interpretation is compelling from a character sense. Perhaps they all hold merit to some degree.

Regardless of how you interpret the line though, Vash is obviously angry, and for good reason - Hoppered, Midvalley and Zazie have taken Meryl. He's also likely afraid for her too - dude did jump out a window for like no practical purpose whatsoever before Zazie even finished talking. Like that's really sweet buddy but you accomplished absolutely nothing of use lol. Anyways. The point is, even if Vash was angry enough to want to kill Hoppered (and it would be for this reason, since nothing else would really warrant that), then that still wouldn't make Vash secretly evil and awful - first off, having a thought does not mean you will actually act on it, and second, what's the thing we keep getting shown and told, again and again?

Anyone will pick up a gun when their loved ones are threatened.

It's very natural to feel animosity for a person who may have harmed someone we care about. In that sense, Vash is behaving very human.

However, there's an extra layer here that complicates things. Vash has never been shy about his anger, but I think there is a bit of a progression of Vash kind of... tamping down on it faster, reeling it back in a little sooner after an initial flare of rage. ...Ever since Fifth Moon, actually. We also know that he has a strict training regimen, he does not miss a target, even blindfolded - Vash clearly maintains strong control over himself, all to mitigate the potential damage he could cause.

But then there's his Plant abilities. The angel arm. Something destructive he clearly does not understand, and has little if any control over (never mind that control was literally wrenched away from him but whatever). I don't think it's a stretch to say Vash is terrified of losing control.

Any human can feel hatred and anger and potentially cause moderate amounts of harm and damage, but these are likely to be targeted and can be more easily contained. Vash feels hatred and anger and has the capacity to level a city and blow a hole in a celestial body in the blink of an eye, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. That must be terrifying.

Because, see, the no-killing thing is out of respect for Rem, but Vash also strongly wants to, needs to believe that non-violent solutions are possible, that people are good, that anyone can change. Vash, out of some combination of love and guilt, does not actually want to harm anyone, but Vash is also a living gun just under the surface of his iron self-control. And being reminded of that deeply fucks him up, to the point he believes he is a danger by nature, incapable of living up to the standard of kindness he wants to put into the world, so even just the thought of wanting to inflict harm on another is enough to send him spiraling - because what if that is the point he loses his control? "I should never have been born" indeed...

It's interesting to me that Vash should call Wolfwood out on his lack of hope in a future for the world, when he so clearly has little if any hope in a future for himself. He allots himself no place in the world. Maybe you should allow yourself to heal a little, buddy. You have some people pretty close by who, in spite of it all, like you quite a lot...

[katatty]

I've seen your posts on your strangeswap hood and Im really interested in this idea. Do you have a download for this hood by any chance? I know its an old post but thought Id ask as I really like the idea!

Hi, the Strangeswap thing was never really an actual neighbourhood, just some picture concepts! All I did was move them into different houses and change their clothes so I could take some screenshots, they don't have actual adjusted memories or relationships or anything like that.

Never say never, but as much as I like the concept I probably don't have the time/interest to make it into a real downloadable neighbourhood :(

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

—1— What would be in your character's inventory if they were in a video game? (Seyonna, Josephine, Merridy)

Thank you for the ask! :D From this ask game.

Let's take a look:

Josephine has:

[ID: A screenshot of a 20 slot inventory part of the game guild wars 2. Items in it are a multitude of weapons, consumables for stealth, speed, damage and crowd control, and undead remains. End ID]

Hahaha, oh god, the skull thing is called "piece of undead" and I had it since the time I had planned to have Christine killed by undead. No more undead in my world, and I am also attached, so... fun reminder.

But yes; she'd totally have a weapon or thing for any situation. Needs a hammer only to blast speed fields in a dungeon group? Got it. Need a torch? Got it. She'd also stack healing potions and the like (they do not exist in guild wars), and might keep quest items (in a game that has those) because she doesn't trust the others with them.

Merridy has:

Oh god, this is hard. She's been one of my 2 main open world chars so her inventory is not representative lmao. Let's just shove a few things into one bag to make it better. Though, honestly, she'd be the "let's keep that, we might need it later" type.

[ID: Another screenshot of an inventory part, this one 24 slots. It contains several tools, a cape, objects that turn the user invisible, soup and fruit bread food items, a healing item that shares the icon with vanilla beans, maps, a teddy bear, a dagger, and assorted rainbow colored items. End ID]

Yeah so, any game that has lockpicks, she has them. No questions asked. If there's a different tool for like disarming traps, those as well. Prepared for everything, but in a more survival than fight style like Josephine. Food items that are the most effective/best price ratio. That one useless item she got super attached to and will never drop. Some arbitrary collection of themed items that don't make sense. I couldn't get the lavender item, so took the next best, which was vanilla.

Knives :)

Seyonna has:

under the cut for spoilers, lmao

don't look at it Kate

[ID: Another screenshot of an inventory part, this one 18 slots. It contains different buff foods, experience boosters, many of the same consumables Josephine had, and a stack of fire elemental transformation potions. End ID]

Not the most exciting selection, but checks out. There's a big chance she carries lots of snacks with her, but also if the give buffs some for the right situations. Some smaller useful items as well - not as prepared as Josephine would be, but if the game has something like lockpicks or repair tools (or, in guild wars' case, those stealth items and rocks), she's in. Anything to boost experience, or knowledge, she picks up. And uh... let's just ignore the potion. That's just. Oh look, is that a mining node over there? *wanders off*