#here are some examples:

[shittyarcanetomes]

my favorite genre is the kind that makes me behave like this. the Layers. you know.

[inkskinned]

i have chronic pain. i am neurodivergent. i understand - deeply - the allure of a "quick fix" like AI. i also just grew up in a different time. we have been warned about this.

15 entire years ago i heard about this. in my forensics class in high school, we watched a documentary about how AI-based "crime solving" software was inevitably biased against people of color.

my teacher stressed that AI is like a book: when someone writes it, some part of the author will remain within the result. the internet existed but not as loudly at that point - we didn't know that AI would be able to teach itself off already-biased Reddit threads. i googled it: yes, this bias is still happening. yes, it's just as bad if not worse.

i can't actually stop you. if you wanna use ChatGPT to slide through your classes, that's on you. it's your money and it's your time. you will spend none of it thinking, you will learn nothing, and, in college, you will piss away hundreds of thousands of dollars. you will stand at the podium having done nothing, accomplished nothing. a cold and bitter pyrrhic victory.

i'm not even sure students actually read the essays or summaries or emails they have ChatGPT pump out. i think it just flows over them and they use the first answer they get. my brother teaches engineering - he recently got fifty-three copies of almost-the-exact-same lab reports. no one had even changed the wording.

and yes: AI itself (as a concept and practice) isn't always evil. there's AI that can help detect cancer, for example. and yet: when i ask my students if they'd be okay with a doctor that learned from AI, many of them balk. it is one thing if they don't read their engineering textbook or if they don't write the critical-thinking essay. it's another when it starts to affect them. they know it's wrong for AI to broad-spectrum deny insurance claims, but they swear their use of AI is different.

there's a strange desire to sort of divorce real-world AI malpractice over "personal use". for example, is it moral to use AI to write your cover letters? cover letters are essentially only templates, and besides: AI is going to be reading your job app, so isn't it kind of fair?

i recently found out that people use AI as a romantic or sexual partner. it seems like teenagers particularly enjoy this connection, and this is one of those "sticky" moments as a teacher. honestly - you can roast me for this - but if it was an actually-safe AI, i think teenagers exploring their sexuality with a fake partner is amazing. it prevents them from making permanent mistakes, it can teach them about their bodies and their desires, and it can help their confidence. but the problem is that it's not safe. there isn't a well-educated, sensitive AI specifically to help teens explore their hormones. it's just internet-fed cycle. who knows what they're learning. who knows what misinformation they're getting.

the most common pushback i get involves therapy. none of us have access to the therapist of our dreams - it's expensive, elusive, and involves an annoying amount of insurance claims. someone once asked me: are you going to be mad when AI saves someone's life?

therapists are not just trained on the book, they're trained on patient management and helping you see things you don't see yourself. part of it will involve discomfort. i don't know that AI is ever going to be able to analyze the words you feed it and answer with a mind towards the "whole person" writing those words. but also - if it keeps/kept you alive, i'm not a purist. i've done terrible things to myself when i was at rock bottom. in an emergency, we kind of forgive the seatbelt for leaving bruises. it's just that chat shouldn't be your only form of self-care and recovery.

and i worry that the influence chat has is expanding. more and more i see people use chat for the smallest, most easily-navigated situations. and i can't like, make you worry about that in your own life. i often think about how easy it was for social media to take over all my time - how i can't have a tiktok because i spend hours on it. i don't want that to happen with chat. i want to enjoy thinking. i want to enjoy writing. i want to be here. i've already really been struggling to put the phone down. this feels like another way to get you to pick the phone up.

the other day, i was frustrated by a book i was reading. it's far in the series and is about a character i resent. i googled if i had to read it, or if it was one of those "in between" books that don't actually affect the plot (you know, one of those ".5" books). someone said something that really stuck with me - theoretically you're reading this series for enjoyment, so while you don't actually have to read it, one would assume you want to read it.

i am watching a generation of people learn they don't have to read the thing in their hand. and it is kind of a strange sort of doom that comes over me: i read because it's genuinely fun. i learn because even though it's hard, it feels good. i try because it makes me happy to try. and i'm watching a generation of people all lay down and say: but i don't want to try.

[heyimkana]

A compilation of Sung Jinwoo being a soft, gentle, protective, warmhearted gentleman 😌

(Eng Dub because Aleks' gentle voice is unmatched)

[iwatcheditbegin]

I know i’ve said it before. But this discourse about the ethics regarding taylor swift being a billionaire are so disingenuous. She doesn’t have a makeup line, clothing line, brand endorsements.

The bulk of her income is entirely from her own talent as a musician. She has not exploited anyone. She’s also not even close to being a cash billionaire when you look at the numbers it’s like half of that ( bc it’s hard to become a billionaire without shady shit) . Taylor is known to pay her employees well. By percentage what she gives away to charity and compensates her team with is unheard of. She gave 10% of her net worth away in bonuses to everyone who worked on her tour. That’s just what we know of.

I’m not even saying this as a fan, but you cannot look at someone like her and how she moves and compare that to other billionaires and oligarchs.

I’m all for wealthy people paying their fair share. I hate capitalism and the current system but I do think she’s a good example of doing the best to be ethical within the current system

[truuskn]

Spotlight: Jazz is peak Prowl being able to comfort Jazz even though Jazz doesn't want to open up about how he's feeling and Prowl completely respects that

i love their dynamic so much here and in "all hail megatron", it's such a shame that their connection ended up being completely forgotten in the rest of idw series... reading "optimus prime" and coming across that one frame, observing what we have had and lost because the authors couldn't keep in mind how and who they were writing... it actually hurts

you guys. you guys! why are you doing this to us. why is it so hard for you to keep track on your story!! why do we have to see their relationship... fall apart?? without a decent look at it?? somewhere out there, in the background?? we're just left with the fact that they are over or maybe never even were there in the first place

prowl and jazz had so much potential at some point of idw history. the way how well they worked together despite all the difficulties, how sincerely prowl supported jazz even though he remained very closed off and aloof the whole time, how he really tried to be a good loyal friend, respected jazz's personal boundaries, didn't push, didn't go too far with his concern, didn't except anything in return and was just there to help... a rare bright moment for this version of my poor boy :'D

there were so many opportunities to develop this further, to show how they could exist in the new cybertronian future for which they had gone through so much hardship, how could they fight all the problems that were coming down on them, together, exactly as it was on earth. but, alas, we have to accept that they were quickly brushed aside and forgotten. a little time passes and they become strangers. forever. their entire bond is just erased. because that's how idw works with their characters...

[sorcererkiller]

oh you hate gojo? thats so #quirky of you. do you want an award. should we call gege.

[blueper-saiyan]

Guess who spent way too long editing this screenshot of Super to the correct heights

Before

After

[dejablonde]

I'm pretty sure there's only two types of bassists in this world

- quiet, probably dorky man with long hair (coin flip on whether he plays only 4 notes or approximately ALL the notes)

- the hottest woman you've ever seen in your life

[lightbluesleeper]

Knight and a reaper 🗡️🪦

[lurking-loaf]

Daycare Attendantian Paper Pal

Day 2 of DCA Promptober - paper pals inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man

This was supposed to have been done traditionally since I tend to be slightly faster at traditional art, but after doing the rough mockup I got intimidated and just did it digitally. The background of the final piece is a scan of the construction paper I was originally going to use.

The presentation and content of the text is inspired by the notes on da Vinci's drawing, just mashed up with the daycare segment in Help Wanted 2. You can see where I gave up and just freestyled parts to get it done. For those curious about what it says, here is the text:

Sun, the daycare attendant, says that the necessary materials to make paper pals in arts and crafts are as follows, that 8 folds make a paper strip, 4 paper strips make the limbs, 2 plates conjoined make a pal, 1 + 2 = orange, 2 + 4 = green, 1 + 4 = purple and these materials make a buddy who will be your friend forever and ever and ever. If you put your left leg in, you put your left leg out, you put your left leg in and you shake it all about, you follow the instructions and make it look like that, you’ll earn your artistic license. I couldn't think of anything to put here The length of one limb will be equal to the combined height of the head and body of the pal. Below the chin you will put a bow tie or buttons. Above the head you will have two ears and possibly a top hat. Two eyes will be placed below the ears. Buttons are not eyes. A beak or muzzle or smile goes below the eyes. Combining all the paint together makes brown, so you need to wash the brush when switching colors. You’ll hurt your eyes if you work in the dark so let’s hustle-and-a-bustle. Also don’t shoot the rubber darts at the attendant or you’ll be put in time out.

[sasanka-27]

30 days left! 🧮🚒

[moongothic]

You know I'll be first to point out if/when Crocodile does a little Luffyism, so let's take a moment to appreciate it when Luffy does a little Crocodile-ism;

Like Luffy may be a silly lil goofball, but as he's said many times himself, he's always serious (in combat). And so Fujitora laughing at Luffy right in his face, when they're in battle and Luffy is completely dead serious... Yeah, the way he takes it like an insult gives Crocodile

[whiteboardartstudios]

I SAID I WAS GOING TO DRAW THAT CAR SO HERE WE ARE (I hope you enjoy this is the stupidest thing I've drawn in months /affectionate)

(I put the image descriptions in the Alt text this time because there's so many images. If it doesn't work please tell me and I'll yeet them in the actual post!!)

happy finale of Wild Life everybody! :D

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Rage Form

[blueskittlesart]

is detcon actually good

no <3 hope this helps

[the-shifting-long]

one fascinating thing about the Princesses is how often they echo the mindset that motivates the Shifting Mound.

Shifty/Felina is someone who is convinced that she is what she is, that the totality of her being is something that cannot be changed or denied. There is no compromise, in part because there is nothing to compromise-she simply is, you simply are, and this is how things are.

Communicating with her using words pre and post awakening is difficult-words are difficult for her. They never quite weave into what she wishes to say. She often resorts to flowery metaphors, unable to use imprecise and unnuanced language to say the things she wants to say. When frustrated by the player or by this issue of communication, she often falls back on how there is no constant, there is no center, everything exists in relation to everything it isn't and vice versa, "nothing" is a concept that exists because there's "something", and how can we even begin to talk about the inherently contradictory, multifaceted aspects of our existence when language cannot account for it?

Precisely because she dislikes words, and feels she has to fall back on metaphor for them to have any meaning, she values action more than anything-more specifically, she values conflicts. She values the ins and outs, the victories and defeats, things ending and breaking only to be reborn. This also ties into the Shifting Mound as a force of entropy, change, and death-she is what she is, viewing death and fear and pain and change as necessary parts of the world, and what's needed to improve yourself.

She loves it so much, loves the player so much, finds it so romantic, that she often refers to it as a dance. Conflict as music. Something beautiful and timeless to be adored and made over and over and over again in a billion different styles across a billion different times and places.

This is all basic Shifting Mound analysis, and it's important for establishing a baseline of Who She Is (without getting into what her Heart versions say, and why there's incongruence there-that's a different post! we can definitely go deeper) Because...every single one of her vessels reflects one or more of these aspects of Felina.

The Damsel line is all about TSM's connection and adoration of the player, how she loves the player even at their very worst and comes up with the most loving poems for the most horrifying things. Even when killed, she decides to return the favor with a smile and with your hand in hers. Damsel's deconstruction refers to the end of the world as "unleashing unceasing entropy upon all creation", Happily Ever After wants nothing more than to leave and dance, and even wears TSM's crown and takes similar poses to the dance Felina has with the player in the Leave ending.

Prisoner is once again about the failure of words, being able to communicate without them, or find hidden meanings. So much of Cage involves both Princess and Voices having literal understandings of the situation, and twisting it for their own ends, along with the natural fall into conflict-and that conflict being beautiful. Drowned Grey is beyond words, instead letting her own corpse's appearance and blank stare speak for her. She's also got this idea of destruction as something necessary-she's perfectly fine, even happy, being nothing but a head and losing her body completely. When that doesn't work, the cabin breaks down on its own, and its destruction is unambiguously a good thing.

Razor's a blatantly more meta route where you manifest a knife for your enemy to kill you with. Razor in both forms is about going through an endless stream of trials until you are about to embrace godhood, either being pushed into another very romantic conflict-the ebb and flow-or rising about it to break her against yourself. It's a beautiful parallel to Shifty herself, this unstoppable force that will never change, and where the relationship only changes because you're able to rise against it.

The Nightmare is about how she simply is what she is, and she can't change that. Fear and death and horror are necessary things to keep the world running. Noteably, Nightmare doesn't want to end the world so much as "hold it in her hands and squeeze." Nightmare doesn't see bringing death and destruction and most importantly, fear as an ending, but a new beginning, and an inevitable part of her nature, just like her fully-awakened self.

Spectre is one of the routes that plays a lot with perception-you think she's dead, so she is, and in Princess and the Dragon, she is both dead and alive until the metaphorical box is opened by an outside observer, schrodinger's cat style. Like the Shifting Mound, she personally chooses to see the best in the player until proven otherwise, and even then, is inclined to embrace violence as a natural part of their relationship if pushed down Wraith or the Stenciled version of Princess and the Dragon. Shifty, Damsel, and Spectre want nothing more than to be with you.

And Tower wants nothing more than to be with you, too...as a goddess while you sit by her side as a pet, or at best, a priest. The Tower princesses are arguably the ones that get closest to godhood, to being what the Shifting Mound and therefore all of the Princesses are. They're held back by their inability to treat the player as an equal, and there's definitely an argument to made for Felina's own arrogance and assumption that she can never be wrong, so you must concede to her. Tower and Apotheosis in particular are delighted by the player's acts of resistance, much in the same way the Shifting Mound gets excited when you're able to successfully resist her. In terms of personality, I'd argue this line shares TSM's general attitude and behavior the most.*

*Tower-Fury is different from the rest of her line in a lot of ways, such as actively disliking the player's resistance, but keeps the divine arrogance even when she believes it's been denied to her, and is genuinely upset it has been much in the same way a certain pre-awakened someone doesn't take kindly to the Oblivion paths.

The Adversary line, similarly to Tower and Razor, once more involves that core belief of conflict between the two of you specifically leading to greater and greater heights. If the Tower reflects TSM's overall attitude, Advy is a reflection of what TSM tries to get at with metaphor-Adversary in all of her forms finds no use in words, only purpose in action, but will still literally cry from joy if this action is compared to a song written in blood. Both Eye of the Needle and Advy-Fury share this trait, with Advy-Fury deriding words as things that "aren't music. They aren't dance. They aren't feeling." TSM shuts down arguments that nitpick her language much in the same way the Adversaries are uninterested in language period, while also using the same language Of song and dance and music. And, while ambiguous, you could say the Leave ending, the endless joy of being with TSM as the world dies and is reborn over and over, presents a similar dynamic to the end of Adversary, where the two of you fight each other over and over with such fervent passion death itself no longer sits on your shoulders...

Stranger's so meta and so obviously a mini-Shifty, it almost feels like a waste to talk about how she's Shifty. A billion realities colliding into one, parts of them dead, parts that don't fit...even pre-awakened TSM says she's in the shape of her, but is unable to hold everything she is.

Witch brings our favorite dance metaphor back right alongside stories about love, change, and growth. While the Witch herself is a wretched little thing, in her own words, she contains so much potential to become something beyond that. Witch, Nightmare, and Razor are all some of the more playful sides of TSM. I feel like things get really interesting in Witch's chapter 3s, ESPECIALLY the Wild.

That's one where you and the princess are literally merged together, right where she believes you belong, and are so, so close to getting everything she wants before the nature of the construct and TSM kick in and the walls close. I can't do a playthrough where I intend to leave with TSM without getting the Networked Wild as a vessel-it just feels that important to Felina as a character, to see what her pre-awakened self describes as a literal shadow of herself, a much more vulnerable version, and for her to be right there...while Tower/Apo feels closest in terms of godhood and attitude, and Stranger feels closet in terms of what she physically is and experiences, Wild feels as though she's the most similar to TSM's inner heart and feelings, right down to the buried parts of herself that still want to get violent.

And then there's Beast/Den. You've probably heard this one from Nightmare and Razor before, get ready to here it from the lion's mouth this time: I am what I am, fledgling. There is no reasoning with that. Adversary says she's beyond words while still happy to use them-that's more than fine, TSM loves poetry despite (or perhaps because?) of her frustrations with language. Den literally gets to the point where she's beyond words. This is a princess who doesn't care for the pretenses that she's a normal, human, mortal being anymore, a princess who embraces everything she is and wants, and who will always be happy to show you exactly what she means...through biting you biting you biting you biting you biting you saving you from a collapsing tunnel biting you <3 Once more we see that repeating motif of merging with the princess, being one with her. Once more we see how badly the Shifting Mound wants to be with us, by any means possible, through the lens of her vessels.

Anyways I think it's really neat how these Princesses are all full-fledged and deep, nuanced characters in and of itself while still contributing to the gestalt of another woman who is made of all of them, and helping to inform her characterization as much as their own. It's like Slay the Princess is insanely well-written and good or something.