#i do not care if my livelihood depends on it

[drdemonprince]

Anon who yearns after his boss here with a follow up.

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time and effort to form such a detailed reply and to include your followers, I really appreciate it!

I’d like to elaborate on what I meant when I said it would have no impact on my job. I do volunteer work, so I am not financially dependent on this job, and my boss unfortunately leaves the company in a month and I would probably wait until then to make any sort of move. So no matter how this plays out, it will pose no risk to my livelihood.

To answer your question, this is a pretty common dynamic for me. For some reason I have been in a lot of work/school/etc. settings where an attractive older man sees potential in me, I start working extra hard because of it and he starts giving me lots of attention and we fall into a really intense mentor/mentee relationship. This dynamic is so hot to me that I just end up in top of my class or employee of the month or whatever from being fueled by pure lust lol. Nothing compares. But I’ve never managed to take it to the next level because I either chicken out or play it too straight forward, which doesn't work like you said.

As for what you said about straight men looking for attention from queer men to fuel their ego, that is a very real possibility. He hides his insecurity well by being a jokester, but he's obviously a sensitive guy. It wouldn't surprise me if this is more about his ego than about attraction.

Him not viewing me as a guy is also a possibility, but I don't care too much. I get so horny that I lose any sense of self lol. He does treat me like a man though. I work at the furniture department of a second hand store and he never underestimates me to be able to lift something heavy or assemble something. He also compliments me all the time on getting stronger and handier, and all the progress I’m making.

Then on the other hand, he treats me with a certain gentleness and intimacy that I don't see him portray to my other male coworkers. We’re able to confide in eachother and get vulnerable. He tells me secrets no one else knows, like how he'll be leaving the company soon.

There's all these little moments throughout the day, like we'll be assembling a bed together and he jokes about how it has a certain eroticism to it, or how it turns him on when we work well together lol. When he sees me implement something he taught me, he's beaming at me with the biggest smile. We also have this running gag where I pretend to be his boss and tell him what to do, and he's always very obedient which is hot but also shows that he trusts me.

I love your idea about meeting up outside of work, because that's exactly what I was planning lol! He's really into photography and I asked him if he wanted to meet up sometime to show me the ropes, and he very enthusiastically agreed! So if I were to make any sort of move, it would be then.

Anyway, I’m really curious to see what you and your followers think now with all this extra information.

JESUS CHRIST ANON THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

this is only a volunteer position?? he's leaving in a month?? he compliments you on getting stronger??? and says that assembling a bed together has a certain intimacy to it???

waht the fuck dog. my only concern now is that he's being weird and unprofessional af with volunteers. but no concern for you. you're clearly creaming your drawers for it. i say play ball.

you made this sound more forbidden than it actually was because that's exciting to you, you little minx. i see you. you've gotten us all involved in your erotic game, now you can go enjoy it.

let's re run the stats on this

[bloomingbluebell]

don't mind me i just got angry at the job i quit 2 years ago again

[yerdad]

Hi! Know I've been inactive for a bit and that probably isn't gonna change! I have other stuff to say but it'll be in the tags lol

[vickyvicarious]

"For your mother's sake."

It hits so hard, on multiple levels. First, what this might mean for her. It's her final effort, the most impactful thing she says after religion, superstition, outright pleading on her knees and crying all fail. She knows that she can't stop him from going, but at the very least she will try her best to protect him as much as she can. She places the crucifix around his neck herself, doesn't just hand it to him.

Did she lose a child to Dracula in the past? Is she seeing echoes of her own son in Jonathan's face? Or perhaps there have been brave young men who tried to fight back against him, who deliberately went to the castle and never returned. Maybe Jonathan is the first person she's met who is actually trying to go there, and while she knows it can only end in his death, the idea of letting anyone go willingly to that evil place is more than she can bear. She's giving up a piece of her own protection. The Count has been sending letters to her husband; he was the one who suggested Jonathan stay here. He knows of her. If she shows any resistance it could mean greater danger for herself, and giving Jonathan her crucifix means losing a powerful totem of self-protection. If he actually listened to her warning, she can probably expect a terrible fate of her own; maybe even just giving him the crucifix alone would be enough to ensure that. But again, whether he reminds her of her own lost son or just because he doesn't know what he's getting himself into, she can't bear to do nothing. She places herself in the role of his mother here. "For my sake," she's saying, "let me do what little I can to save you. Please."

Jonathan is an orphan. We don't know the circumstances of his childhood, but it's possible that he never even knew his mother. (It's my headcanon.) Even if he did, she has been gone for a long time now. And yet these are the words he can't argue with in the end. He was already taking her seriously, and trying to treat her with respect. Her warnings were obviously distressing to him, but there's no way he can actually turn back now. His livelihood depends on this trip, he has no actual evidence to justify leaving, and he also wants so badly to live up to Mr. Hawkins' trust in him. He is already "thinking of his father" (or the closest he has) when he says he has to go to the castle. And yet, the care and fear and love this woman is showing for him hits so hard. I wonder if he is thinking of his actual mother when he accepts the crucifix. Whether the concept of her or an actual memory... Or maybe he too is placing her in the role of his mother here. Maybe, in keeping the crucifix (and not just with him, but around his neck where she placed it, even as he rides away) he is saying yes to that implicit request as well. "I'll let you care for me. I'll accept it gratefully." It's the first motherly care he has probably felt in many long years.

In this book, children are placed in terrible danger again and again, and most of the time they can't be saved. Parents and parental figures are equally doomed, leaving our heroes all orphaned in a sense, unable to rely on any greater source of wisdom or comfort. They have to take things into their own hands and deal with the problem alone, despite still being caught up in grief for what they've lost - a kind of coming of age in that sense. There's even a literal version of this happening with both Arthur and Jonathan (and Mina) specifically, when their father figures die and leave them with sudden new responsibilities. And of course, the inheritances from these father figures help in distinct and immensely useful ways, even as they remain absent from the story throughout. They haunt the margins at best until death steals them away completely, and their illnesses tend to serve to divide our heroes from one another when they needed to be united sooner. I personally don't count van Helsing as a father figure really, but if you do then he is the only one who manages to be around and be directly helpful (and even then, he's unable to save Lucy), even though all the fathers we hear from are loved and loving. But we do actually meet a few mothers, and they are usually unable to alter the story despite being more present. Their efforts to save their children are misdirected and only bring about their own death as well, in the end. Lucy's mother seems to mean well but everything she does directly makes everything harder; the mother at the castle later tries to avenge her child possibly against the wrong person, and in any case is unable to succeed. But here, the innkeeper's wife with her crucifix manages what no other mother does. Even though she assumes this to be another wasted effort (in fact, she can't bear to remain in the room with him afterwards; re: Dracula did such a good job with the hopelessness in her voice when she says the 'mother's sake' line), her assistance helps Jonathan to survive. His 'inheritance' from this momentary mother-figure isn't just the physical crucifix, though that is useful (and also the only inheritance a mother leaves for a child throughout the book, even when it would be expected and easy and make complete sense to do so, ahem). It's also the first and the most knowledgeable and the most effective aid given to a 'child' throughout the entire book.

[scribbledghost]

Have a 500 word blurb that's been sitting in my drafts forever. I was going to add onto it at some point, but honestly the more I look at it, the more I like it the way it is. Summary: Simon has a bit of a chat with his neighbor after she's had a tough day at work.

The sun is dangerously low in the sky when she finally pulls into the drive one autumn evening.

Simon watches from his porch as she leaves her car, walking up to her house like she’s got the world on her shoulders.

He knows that walk - he’s made it several times himself. And he’s watched her make it just as many.

He also knows it’s only a matter of time before she walks over to him.

“Cuppa?” he asks when she approaches a half hour later.

“Please.”

It’s quiet, the way she sits in the chair next to him. He brings her a warm cup of tea to match the one he’s been nursing and waits for her to take that first sip and sigh as she allows herself to relax.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“...I don’t know,” she answers. “Don’t really know how, I guess. Don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t think about what to say,” Simon advises. “Just say it.”

She goes quiet again, taking several more sips of her drink before she speaks again.

“Work’s gone to shit and I can’t escape it.”

“Been there,” he says. “How’s it gone to shit?”

“Just… overwhelmed. Too much work, too little time. Stretched too thin, and my job is the primary culprit.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose as she closes her eyes and furrows her brows. 

“And it’s not like I can just not do my job,” she says. “It needs to be done, one way or another. And I’m the only one who knows how to do it. At least right now.”

Simon is quiet for a moment.

“Then quit.”

“Excuse me?” she asks, removing her hand from the bridge of her nose.

“Quit,” he repeats. “Take some time off. I’ll help you out with your bills until you find something better.”

“Simon,” she says, in a tone he knows well.

It’s a warning.

He means it when he offers to help. He’d trim himself down to a shoestring budget if he had to - he’s survived on far less than what he’s got to work with now that he’s been able to bank his pension after his discharge. 

But he knows she’d never go for it. She’s too proud, too independent, too stubborn. Too much like him in that respect. Too unwilling to depend on someone else that heavily for her livelihood. 

So he shrugs and takes another sip of his tea.

“Offer’s always there.”

Again, he means it. She could come to him tomorrow and tell him she’s quit and he’d have no problem setting up a joint bank account and getting her access to it. He’d have no problem helping her as long as she needed.

Hell, he knows he’d let her never work another day in her life if she wanted. He’d care for her. Provide for her. He’d let her sit and never lift another finger. 

But that’s not who she is.

He thinks he’d like her a little less if it was.

[pikahlua]

Thoughts on the official translation of 405?

Yeah, thoughts abound.

1. Is the official translation of the final line in chapter 405 accurate? No.

2. Regardless, some people think it's inaccurate in really blatant ways that it actually is not. For example, some people think the official translation is changing some explicitly used pronouns around. If there's EVER anything about Japanese that isn't completely clear, it's what the pronouns should be--because the vast majority of them are implied.

3. Re: the "yeah yeah" line, I can conceive of a delivery of the line that does not sound disrespectful. That doesn't mean that's how the translator meant it, and this translator does have a habit of translating Katsuki's rude language with a certain *VIBE* that I don't always agree with--but that doesn't change the fact that Katsuki does speak very rudely and the translator clearly tries to capture that in the way they seem to think is best.

4. It's quite a leap to claim that this official translation is inaccurate due to deliberate malice, which I see a lot of people doing. From what I can tell, the translator just didn't realize the final line is a callback to chapter 322. Without that context, yeah, I can see how it'd be difficult to fully understand what's being said there, because enough of the words are vague or implied that it'd be confusing what Katsuki's talking about without that realization. Katsuki doesn't say "I (ore)" in the line, he says "kocchi (this/here)," which depending on the context can mean "I, we, us over here on this side (of the line, of the argument)." He also doesn't say "Izuku/Deku/that nerd" specifically, he says "aitsu (that guy over there)" with the kanji reading as "One For All." Without the context of chapter 322, it could easily read like "we'll wipe the floor with you where those One For All guys couldn't."

5. Building off #4, we need to be a little more self-aware as fans. When you are a big fan of something, you're gonna be more likely to remember specific lines and notice callbacks and be keyed into the little details. First of all, not everyone is capable of that, especially with respect to a long 405-chapter-and-counting manga. This line is referencing something that the translator hasn't necessarily seen in over two years. Should the translator have to comb back through the entire manga every week just to be safe? Is that really feasible? Of course I'd love for the official translation to be as accurate as possible, but when you're translating something on a weekly basis that isn't even finished yet, it's just a fact that there will be times you miss things. You don't always have the luxury of time to go back and check for things you've missed that need to be tied together. I've messed up lines in my translations before too. Please keep in mind this is the translator's JOB, not necessarily their PASSION. They're likely translating multiple projects at the same time for a meager paycheck. They've got a lot of stuff to remember from various projects at the same time, and they're gonna miss stuff on occasion. Did the translator "not care" in this case? I think it's far more likely the translator cares enough, but if they're not in the fandom they're not gonna care more than the fans nor should we expect them to.

The proper response is not to ATTACK THE TRANSLATOR'S LIVELIHOOD like I see MANY people doing, holy crap.

Translating is often a thankless job. No one writes Viz telling them how good of a job the translator is doing when they get 99% of the translations right. The most obsessive fans often jump on mistakes as if those mistakes are personal attacks. But we're complaining about 1 or 2 lines out of the whole chapter. The rest was pretty good. That's the case for most chapters. It's hard to justify claiming malice when the translator far more often than not gets it right. But goodness, attacking the translator is not going to endear you to anyone who matters. If the translation is something you truly care about and you want to foster nontoxic fandom spaces and have good relationships between the fandom and the producers, a more proper response would be something like:

"Hey Viz, I think the translator missed this key bit of context which could have helped him with this line's translation. I love Horikoshi's work and want the best for it, and I think the translator cares about doing a good job. Would you please let the translator know about this and have him look into it for the official print tankoban release in English?"

The more you alienate and dogpile the translator, the less they're gonna care about doing a good job.

[shortpplfedup]

Anatomy of a Scene An abdication

Step By Step, Episode 10 Director: Tee Bundit Sintanaparadee Writers: Tan Ekarin Mungmee, Anu Pawich Amnajkasem, Pan Phanita Loetwatthanaphongchai Cast: Ben Bunyapol Likhitamnuayporn (Pat) and Man Trisanu Soranun (Jeng)

I can't let it go, this feeling that the progression from unease to frustration to alarm engendered by this episode is exactly how Tee wanted us to feel, and this scene is the reason I can't let it go. Because after 9 episodes of Jeng doing his best to be The Responsible Adult, he completely abdicates responsibility in this scene. Jeng has been batted about by all the expectations of him and now that he has found some happy solace and a place to rest, he is pretty much unwilling to pick back up the burden of his responsibilities, at the worst possible moment for that. Because in starting a relationship with Pat...Pat who is 10 years younger than him, Pat who works in his family company, Pat who is really just starting his career, Pat who works directly under him, Pat who doesn't come from money and whose livelihood depends on being able to earn a salary, Pat who is in an extremely vulnerable position for all these reasons...in starting that relationship, he needed to assume some responsibility. If nothing else, the responsibility to acknowledge the issues and to discuss and decide together how to handle them. That's where we are in this scene. Pat is now openly asking him to take responsibility for what they've gotten into. Pat's saying things have become untenable. Pat's not asking him to solve the problem for him, but to at least work with him on a plan.

And Jeng bottles it. Spectacularly. First he tries to distract Pat, appealing to his body, using sex to sidestep the issue.

That doesn't work.

Next, he tries to cajole Pat, appealing to his emotions. We can't take a break, I'll miss you too much.

That doesn't work either.

Next he tries to placate Pat, appealing to his brain, proposing a series of unworkable options that don't actually solve the problem. We can just stay away from each other at work. I can find us a secret safehouse. I'll just quit.

Pat demolishes those one by one.

And finally, Jeng just abdicates. He stops trying to appeal to Pat at all. I don't want to talk about this. He lays his head on Pat's chest in a gesture of surrender. He's not dealing with this. He's not taking responsibility.

And Pat just can't understand that, because Jeng is the responsibility guy. He holds this man he's learning to care for, and he looks at him, and he doesn't get it. Because he doesn't actually know Jeng yet, the deepest parts, the parts that are bone weary and utterly fed up of taking responsibility. By refusing to even discuss it, Jeng has put the burden of responsibility on Pat, because this isn't something that can wait for Jeng. Pat's life is falling apart RIGHT NOW, and Jeng has abdicated responsibility for that in his eyes, he's leaving him alone to face the wolves. And Pat's face tells me that he's confused, upset and angry about that.

I LOVE THIS. I LOVE THAT JENG GETS TO BE A PERSON WHO IS MAKING THE WORST DECISIONS RIGHT NOW INSTEAD OF A PARAGON OF VIRTUE. I LOVE THAT HE'S JUST A MAN NOT A COLLECTION OF 'GREEN FLAGS'. I am very personally enjoying Jeng's fall from the pedestal, because I think it's necessary for Pat to see him as imperfect, to see him weak, to see his flaws. Because no one can truly love a god.

At this point, I don't know at all if this show is going to stick the landing. I see a possible path, a couple possible paths to that. I see other paths where it collapses under the weight of all its ideas. But I'm not yet done with this tale. I keep running through my head Tee's admonition ahead of the show that this is not a romance story, but a story with a romance in it. We keep saying 'BL' but what if this is...not?

[tangibletechnomancy]

One big point where I find people talking past each other in the AI art debate is that in art, there are a lot of things that aren't illegal - and shouldn't be - but are rude.

It's not illegal to use a sample of someone's copyrighted material in a sufficiently transformative way, and it should never become so. I could photomanipulate an image of Mickey Mouse into a landscape if I wanted and sell it as a print and not even Disney could stop me. It never has been illegal to do this. It never SHOULD be. If it was, we'd start seeing a ton of SLAPP suits over vaguely similar poses because...hey, guess what, referencing is using someone's copyrighted material in a transformative way. We all recognize the idea of trying to copyright a pose or sue someone for using a similar color palette to you or for looking at your art as inspiration as patently absurd - so much so that it's regularly brought up as a bad-faith argument in other copyright discussions! - but imagine if someone could. Disney sure as hell would - imagine no longer being able to write about public domain fairy tales because you publicly mentioned you liked the Disney movie about the same fairy tale once. That is what you're opening the door for when you try to manage the dataset ethics issue by copyright law.

However, on the other side...it's still really fucking rude to use someone's work in a transformative way outside of the bounds of 1) what is broadly socially permitted, and 2) what that artist requests.

Even though it would be decidedly not illegal for me to go and copy-paste a single pixel from a dozen other people's work into a canvas of my own and make my own piece out of it using only the scale, copy-paste, and smudge tools, it still has the potential to be extremely rude depending on who I'm taking it from and why. I'd love to do a piece like this to open a dialogue on how transformative a piece must be to no longer constitute "stealing", but I'm not going to sample those pixels from small-time illustrators who are already scared for what sampling could do to their livelihoods as a "ha ha~ I took your wo-ork and you ca-an't stop me~" because that would be incredibly fucking rude, well beyond the level of emotional impact needed to make the statement.

Image synthesis is, unquestionably, transformative enough to constitute fair use under current copyright law, and any amendment to the law that would make it not so opens the door to far more harm than it would ever prevent - but, as it transitions from being a fun scientific novelty to an actual useful product, it becomes rude at best to ignore artists' wishes in model training. In fact, it becomes rude on a level that may be best managed with privacy laws, since, let's face it, there are a lot of entities out there that not only don't CARE about not being extremely rude, but REVEL in being jackasses because the law can't stop them (looking at you, Unstable Diffusion).

[writingquestionsanswered]

Good day! I saw a couple of your posts discussing what stakes are and why you need them, but I'm feeling a bit lost on the subject.

Finding stakes for individual points in the story feels pretty easy, eg: "if I don't kill this dragon then it will destroy my entire hometown, I need to kill it" in scenes like this, I find it somewhat easy to find what's at stake. However, should a story have one or more continuous stake? My story is more "slice of life" with fantasy/action elements with my character going on adventures and stumbling upon the hypothetical dragon and the stake I mentioned before, so the story has these stakes sprinkled in, but that's it.

So my question is, how would one go to find the longterm stake for a story? Revenge, finding a cure and such is easy, but what about more "relaxed" stories?

Finding Overall Stakes in a Story

It really depends on how your story is structured...

When we talk about overall stakes, we're usually talking about the inciting incident, or more specifically: once the inciting incident occurs, what's at stake that leads the protagonist to get involved?

Even if you want a more relaxed, slice of life type story, you still need some sort of inciting incident... what happens that leads the character to start going on these adventures in the first place? For example...

Inciting incident: dragon attacks the village What's at stake: if dragon isn't found, it may attack again Response: protagonist will find dragon and slay it

Inciting incident: family member sick, dragon scales are cure What's at stake: family member will get sicker if cure isn't given Response: protagonist will find dragon and get scales for cure

Inciting incident: protagonist fails magical schooling What's at stake: reputation, livelihood, able to care for loved one Response: will prove worth by finding mythical dragon And you can combine ideas, too... for example, you could do something like:

Inciting incident: family member sick, mountain flower is cure What's at stake: family member will get sicker if cure isn't given Response: protagonist will quest for cure flower in mountains Discovery: dangerous dragon lurking in mountains near flower field New stakes: flower; village safety New response: must slay dragon to get flower for cure and protect village

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[arosspeaksnonsense]

So... I had a like, one shot fic type story idea

I probs won't be able to write it since I require full focus/dedication/attention to something when i want it to come into fruition (which is already difficult as is) and also since I have too much going on in my head and I want to do all of it, but instead I find myself doing nothing all day please god help me idk what this is called (my guess is laziness)

BUT anyways, onto the story idea

You know how ink's vials and I guess livelihood depends entirely on the creators/fandom? (Ok I guess not ENTIRE but his vials do depend on it, which is the things that essentially makes him alive.)

Well, since the fandom is not very active as it was when it was like, 2016-2017 (not saying its dead)

What if the fandom, just, dies? I mean duh its inevitable and Ink is silently pleading that the last creators hopefully won't leave but he knows its inevitable, no matter how hard he tries to make them stay, some of them already starting to give up.

The others notice ink's change in behavior and ink tells them the entire the thing and how he has only a few more time left to be alive I guess.

The others obviously distraught about this, but ink reassures them its fine, but the others weren't convinced

And then they find ink maybe sobbing or terrified as he tells them that the creators all left and are all gone and that he's probably going to go soon too.

This makes the others panic and desperately asks ink if there is another way for his vials to work, in which he sadly answers no.

they then dedicate the next few days into making sure ink is enjoying every second of the very little time he has left.

As they slowly looses all his colors one by one, eventually he looses all of them completely, which leaves them being the same emotionless, soulless skeleton he started as before.

Everyone is left in distraught and sadness

All his friends all sobbed and cried, some silently and/or internally crying, as their once lively, creative and cheerful friend, now nothing more than an empty shell of what he once were.

A hollow husk, with an emotionless and empty expression.

A painful reminder hit all of them, that they will never get that face to smile ever again. the same face that used to grin and laugh all the time.

The cheerful smile that he let out as he pranks and greets others, the lively motivations he loved giving to everyone.

The Laughs and snorts he gave out whenever he got someone in a prank, or from a joke not many understand, if any one did at all. And how when he becomes too flustered, or when too much euphoria and happiness comes flooding his feelings, he will starting to float in the air and continuously go up until the euphoria ends and they eventually go back down.

His Lips(?) Now closed and sealed shut

No sign of a tone or a voice to speak

The hands that used to paint with such freedom and care, the hands that used to make such magnificent and beautiful paintings, that gorgeously and perfectly replicate reality as if though it was reality itself. The fingers that used to dance around the flute as it made music, the hands that sew not only fabrics of clothing but also the fabrics of reality.

Gone is the passion in his hands that once were, the hands that moved freely, stuck in place.

His feet that loved to dance and move wherever it goes, exposed out to the world, lacking of any visible footwear, lacking any care where it stepped and what it was on, representing freedom and free of chains.

Both now rigid and unmoving.

His eyes, oh dear his eyes. The eyes that used to express themselves so much. So expressive that it almost made you forget he lacked the very base of every being, a soul. The eyes that so greatly showed its differing and unique shapes and colors that expressed whatever emotion they were feeling.

Now reduced into an empty and pitiful circles of white, indicating emotionless and lifelessness, no more is the eyes that burst with colors and shape, only a blank stare is what remains.

He was so empty.

It terrified and saddened everyone.

The Multiverse Was filled with sobs and cries, Silence in some

The Multiverse was crying and mourning its guardian.

Dream, Distraught, knew what he had to do.

He had only known about ink's dads when Dream had been frantically looking for Ink as he had seemingly Disappeared, only to find said skeleton in the garden with a Gaster, this one had wings.

He has watched and approached carefully, but was stopped by a loud yelled by the short skeleton

He didn't know how to respond but he only walked closer, the expression on the gaster seemed..pleasantly surprised.

Not long after, dream had found out about how he isn't the only gaster in the house but two were sharing it, and how said two are married and fathers to his short friend

It was a pleasant surprise to dream

But...this surprise..

Will not be so pleasant.

As Dream was about to grab and carry Ink, The hands that intertwined on eachother, that hands being of Inks and Errors

Speaking of the glitch, Hes...probably not going to be well after this, after all besides blue, Ink was the only one that really took the time and Effort to Understand and Befriend Error, they had a very close relationship.

Error had not let go of Ink's Hand ever since the news of his depleting life. His haphephobia suddenly gone during doing so, (or is it?? I can't tell.) But now, he doesn't seem to react, only tightening his grip and continuing to look and stare into nothingness, finally Dream spoke

"Error..?, can you..let go?? Of Ink, I feel like his father's need to see this."

"...why can't they just..come here..."

" I'm afraid Aster cannot step outside of their AU"

"...fine. But I'll with you."

"Of course."

Dream opened a portal, he slowly walks through with error, who's carrying ink bridal style.

Aster and Top has not spoken over the past few days, worry littered their mind, as the news of their little star burning itself out soon had reached their non existant ears.

They spent Time with their little star, they made sure he enjoyed and had fun every second of the time they had left with him.

Eye bags shows prominent under their eyes, they hear a knock at the door, their eyes grows surprised, wishfully hoping their little hat had come to visit them again

Aster stands up and walked towards the door, a smile on his face, as he opens the door, his smile drops,

He sees the three Skeletons, and he sees especially the star that had burnt out.

Aster simply stares and does not respond, his eyes widened.

His hands slowly reaches for Ink

And Error though hesitant, give Ink to Aster.

Aster, felt like he couldn't breathe, the little star that always shined bright, so much so it didn't seem like they were ever going to die down, and yet here he is, no longer shining, his smile and laughs and snorts gone forever.

As he holds ink, he holds his hands, tears starts to flow down his face, he remembers when he held those small hands, guide them through the dirt, when Aster was teaching ink about gardening, when Aster saw the glimmer in his eyes (oh god, he will never get to see that ever again will he?) When he was watching Aster show him around the Garden, offering to show him how to grow beautiful flowers. He so excitedly followed every step so cautiously, contradicting Aster's Expectation of many mess up.

As he held into ink's tiny hands, the hands that he teached to learn many things, that he teached to not used his power so much.

He cried, he cried for ink, he cried for his child, his baby, his star.

And behind Aster, walks Top.

Eyes widened, eyes filled with tears.

There he saw his son, the little outcode that slithered their way into his life and affection, on the arms of his beloved, dead and empty,

Memories flashed as Top slowly made his way to his family. The tiny sans that laughed, smiled and cheered everyone around him, The tiny sans that was so tiny, Top's hat almost covered over half of their face, the tiny face that loved to tell stories and show paintings to their parents. His son, Ink, Dead and Empty in the Arms of his Husband.

It hit them, Ink is an outcode, he never belonged to a Universe, not in any AU, they can't just reset and reverse this like with aster or with any other sans, he truly and utterly gone.

The screams and cries of the Two Fathers, The Guardian of the Positivity, and the God of Destruction could be heard and felt throughout the entire Multiverse.

The Multiverse will never be the same.

But, at least Ink died happily with family, friends that cared for him, that stayed with him no matter his ways, his condition.

That will never forget him.

And to him it is enough.

The Multiverse Felt Empty.

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Hi, I'm a troubled INFJ asking on how to find an answer for a dilemma I'm having w my family members. I don't truly hate, but I lack affection for my father and sister; caring for them doesn't bring me comfort.

I grew up in a poor family. From a young age, I witnessed my father indulging in gambling and abusing my mother. Our conversations at home were often filled with yelling and swearing. My mother, despite her kindness and sacrifice, couldn't restrain my father's behavior (I believe my mom is ISFJ). We endured many nights of fear and tears as my father gambled away our livelihood. My father never cared about our education or well-being; his selfish pursuits always came first. He never provided for us financially, spending all his earnings on gambling and accumulating debt.

My sister dropped out of school early and never held a stable job. She is stubborn and refuses to listen to advice. Despite my mother's efforts to support her, my sister remains dependent and directionless. As for me, I finally completed university and secured a stable job despite tons of obstacles that could have made me give up halfway. I contribute financially to support my family, paying off debts and even purchasing land and building a house for my sister. However, the lack of love and warmth in my family has left me feeling lonely and disconnected.

I fear marrying someone like my father and becoming trapped in a cycle of misery. At home, I fulfill my responsibilities but keep my distance emotionally. I provide for my family's needs, but I find myself only caring for my mother, not my father or sister. I wonder if I'm selfish or afraid of responsibility for feeling this way. How do I find an answer to this question myself?

---------------------

Growing up in a poor family isn't the issue. The real issue is that you grew up in an abusive environment and thus haven't learned what healthy relationships should look like.

What exactly do you mean when you use the word "responsibility"? Okay, common sense dictates that you are responsible for yourself and the choices you make. But are you responsible for your father or sister and the choices they have made? Do you have a responsibility to fix their mistakes and compensate for their bad behavior? Are you solely responsible for keeping the family together when half of the members don't care?

Yes, it's important to be a responsible person if you want to feel like you have good moral character. However, taking on more responsibility than is reasonable for a single person to shoulder is a serious problem in several ways:

1) It is damaging to your well-being. Responsibility comes with stress, and stress has a deleterious effect on both physical and mental health. Taking on the responsibilities of others compounds stress dramatically. Your capacity to handle stress is finite, which means that you will eventually feel burn-out or experience a mental breakdown or lash out destructively (Se grip).

2) It makes you ripe for mistreatment. Lack of healthy boundaries is a common symptom of Fe overindulgence in INFJs, i.e., it is a problem that needs to be remedied as part of your type development. Taking responsibility for someone else's decisions means that their problems become your problems. If you allow this to happen again and again, you are broadcasting to the world that you are an easy target for manipulation and exploitation. All they have to do is activate your guilt and you'll take care of whatever they throw at you. You'll become a doormat at best and a victim at worst.

3) It rewards other people's bad behavior. Facing up to negative consequences is essential for human learning and improvement. When you take responsibility that should rightfully belong to someone else, you are essentially shielding them from the consequences of their behavior. When there is always someone else to clean up messes for them, what incentive do they have to clean it up themselves? If anything, they are incentivized to make even bigger messes. This makes you complicit in their bad behavior because you are enabling it. When you or your mother are excessively "supportive", you might actually be making this unhealthy family dynamic worse.

Your question implies that you have a duty to always be caring and loving to everyone in your family no matter what. Why do you hold this belief? Do you come from a culture that tells you family is everything and going against them is always a betrayal? There's nothing I can say to help if this is truly what you want to believe.

A healthy family should have a sense of equality and equity. Every member of the family should contribute a fair share. Every member of the family should care enough to only take what is needed (as opposed to take advantage of kindness). Every member of the family should get enough love and support.

When one member of the family behaves in a way that is harmful to the other members, they no longer deserve the privileges of membership. Social "responsibility" shouldn't be one-sided. A relationship is like a social contract where both parties agree to terms and conditions that aim to keep the relationship healthy and thriving. When one party intentionally breaks the contract over and over again, you no longer owe them the duty of carrying out your portion of the contract. Is it reasonable to force yourself to like/love someone who has repeatedly shown that they don't like/love you? Wouldn't this amount to torturing yourself?

Perhaps you think it makes you a bad person for turning on family. Nobody is saying that you have to do bad things to your father and sister or treat them cruelly. The point being made here is that you have a right to be treated with respect and you deserve care as well. And when people don't treat you with respect and care, you have a right to protect yourself from their harmful behavior by pulling away from them physically and emotionally. In other words, you have a right to your personal space, you have a right to set rules of social engagement, and you have a right to end any interaction/relationship that hurts you. Having healthy boundaries means being assertive in advocating for your own needs and well-being.

If you don't learn to set healthy boundaries in your family, this problem is very likely to carry over into your friendships and romantic relationships. Do you want this feeling of loneliness to come up again and again? If not, what you need to do is learn to seek love from the right sources. Family or not, do not hope or beg for a person to reciprocate your love when they have shown you that they are not capable of love. This is part of what it means to have self-respect.

[l-a-l-o-u]

do you support ai art?

that's a tough one to answer. sorry in advance for the wall of text.

when i first started seeing ai-generated images, they were very abstract things. we all remember the gandalf and saruman prancing on the beach pictures. they were almost like impressionism, and they had a very ethereal and innocent look about them. a lot of us loved those pictures and saw something that a lot of human minds couldn't create, something new and worth something. i love looking at art that looks like nothing i've seen before, it always makes me feel wonder in a new type of way. ai-generated art was a good thing.

then the ai-generated pictures got much more precise, and suddenly we realized they were being fed hundreds of artists' pieces without permission, recreating something similar and calling it their own. people became horrified, and i was too! we heard about people losing their job as background artists on animated productions to use ai-generated images instead. we saw testimonies of heartbroken artists who had their lovingly created art stolen and taken advantage of. we saw people being accused of making ai-generated art when theirs was completely genuine. ai-generated art became a bad thing.

i've worked in the animation industry. right now, i work at an animation school, specifically for 2D animation. i care a lot about the future of my friends in the industry (and mine, if i go back to it), and about all the students i help throughout the years. i want them to find jobs, and that was already hard for a lot of them before the ai-generated images poked their heads into our world.

i'm not very good at explaining nuanced point of view (this is also my second language) but i'll do my best. i think that ai-generated art is a lot of things at once. it's dangerous to artists' livelihoods, but it can be a useful tool. it's a fascinating technological breakthrough, but it's being used unethically by some people. i think the tools themselves are kind of a neutral thing, it really depends on what we do with it.

every time i see ai-generated art i eye it suspiciously, and i wonder "was this made ethically?" and "is this hurting someone?". but a lot of it also makes me think "wow, cool concept, that inspires me to create". that last thought has to count for something, right? i'm an artist myself, and i spend a lot more time looking at art than making art - it's what fuels me. i like to imagine a future where we can incorporate ai-generation tools into production pipelines in a useful way while keeping human employees involved. i see it as a powerful brainstorming tool. it can be a starting point, something that a human artist can take and bring to the next level. it can be something to put on the moodboard. something to lower the workload, which is a good thing, imo. i've worked in video games, i've made short films, and let me tell you, ai-generated art could've been useful to cut down a bit of pre-production time to focus on some other steps i wanted to put more time into. there just needs to be a structure to how it's used.

like i said before, i work in a school. the language teachers are all very worried about ChatGPT and company enabling cheating; people are constantly talking about it at my workplace. i won't get into text ais (one thing at a time today) but the situation is similar in many ways. we had a conference a few months ago about it, given by a special committee that's been monitoring ai technology for years now and looking for solutions on how to deal with it. they strongly suggest to work alongside AIs, not outlaw it - we need to adapt to it, and control how it's used. teach people how to use it responsibly, create resources and guidelines, stay up to date with this constantly evolving technology and advocate for regulation. and that lines up pretty well with my view of it at the moment.

here's my current point of view: ai-generated art by itself is not unethical, but it can easily be. i think images generated by ai, if shared publicly, NEED a disclaimer to point out that they were ai-generated. they should ONLY be fed images that are either public domain, or have obtained permission from their original author. there should also be a list of images that fed the ai that's available somewhere. cite your sources! we were able to establish that for literature, so we can do it for ai, i think.

oh and for the record, i think it's completely stupid to replace any creative position with an ai. that's just greedy bullshit. ai-generated content is great and all, but it'll never have soul! it can't replace a person with lived experiences, opinions and feelings. that's the entire fucking point of art!!

the situation is constantly evolving. i'm at the point where i'm cautious of it, but trying to let it into my life under certain conditions. i'm cautiously sharing ai pictures on my blog; sometimes i change my mind and delete them. i tell my coworkers to consider ways to incorporate them into schoolwork, but to think it over carefully. i'm not interested in generating images myself at the moment because i want to see what happens next, and i'd rather be further removed from it until i can be more solid in my opinion, but i'm sure i'll try it out eventually.

anyway, to anybody interested in the topic, i recommend two things: be open-minded, but be careful. and listen to a lot of different opinions! this is the kind of thing that's very complicated and nuanced (i still have a lot more to say about it, i didn't even get into the whole philosophy of art, but im already freaking out at how much i wrote on the Discourse Site) so i suggest looking at it from many different angles to form your own opinion. that's what i'm doing! my opinion isn't finished forming yet, we'll see what happens next.

[basu-shokikita]

Kloktober 2023 Day 17

Give someone a brand new look

Okay, I've had the idea for this one for quite a while!! Thank you Kloktober for giving me the excuse to write it.

With that said, please enjoy Toki giving Skwisgaar a brutal makeover~

“Ams you dones yet?” Skwisgaar asked, starting to get tired.

“No ways.” He heard Toki say. “Ams just getting startsteds.”

“Toke, ‘aves been heres for hoursk or twenties minutes.” Skwisgaar lowered his shoulders. “What ams you even doings?”

“Just shut ups and lets me works!” Toki told him off, though judging from the tone of his voice, he wasn’t angry.

Resigned, Skwisgaar reclined his back against the chair and kept strumming his guitar aimlessly. He was pretty sure he had been here all morning already, or at least it felt like it.

He was minding his business at the breakfast table when Toki ran up to him, telling him he needed him for something. Not quite believing the urgency Toki claimed there was, Skwisgaar followed him nevertheless, moderately curious.

When they reached Toki’s room, Toki had finally confessed he wanted to give him ‘a brutals make overs’ but he couldn’t say it in front of the rest because they would get jealous and would want one too. 

Skwisgaar had raised his eyebrow. “Amsnt makeovers for peoples to look bettors? I don’t needs one.” He frowned, preemptively offended by whatever Toki was trying to imply. “Your musk stash howevers-”

“But it ams goings to be totallies brutal!” Toki insisted, closing the distance between them with one step. “Please?” He stared at Skwisgaar with sad puppy eyes, way too close for comfort. “It wills be funs, Skwisgaar!”

Skwisgaar really hated when Toki looked at him like that, like his entire livelihood depended on this particular whim of his. “Eugh…” Fortunately for Toki, when it came matters unrelated to music, Skwisgaar was very easy to convince. “Fines.” He said, hoping he wouldn’t regret this.

…And here he was, not even allowed to open his eyes because Toki insisted on it being a surprise. Not like he could see himself with a mirror anyway, but Toki was being really stubborn about it. On the bright side, it was helping Skwisgaar practice his playing with eyes closed. He never knew when being able to play Dethklok’s entire discography with his eyes closed would come in hand. 

“Aw!” He whined when Toki pulled on his hair violently and without warning. 

Instead of apologizing, Toki scolded him instead. “Oh, you big babies!” Just as abruptly, he tugged a handful of hair from the lower part of Skwisgaar’s head

“What on Odin’s name ams you doingks?!” Skwisgaar frowned, almost opening his eyes out of annoyance.

“Ams givings you a brans new hairstyles!” Toki said, like the question was fucking stupid. “No mores of dat borings middle parteds hairs. You ams going to be a new Skwisgaar’s from now on!”

“I don’t wants to be a news-” His sentence was cut short by another pull. “Aw!” He moaned in pain. “Toki!”

“Why don’ts you tries takings a nap?” Toki sounded exasperated by now.

“Why don’ts you tries being nicers to my goldens mane?” Skwisgaar shot back. Toki didn’t reply, though he was more careful from his movements afterwards. Grumbling, Skwisgaar settled against the chair and started counting guitars. He was past a billions krillions when one of the guitars grew gigantic and swallowed him whole.

“Skwisgaar…” Something tapped his cheek and he slowly blinked his way out of dozing off.

“Eugh?” He managed, with a hoarse voice.

Toki was smiling at him. “Ams done.” He said and gave him a hand mirror. 

Quite disoriented still, Skwisgaar looked at himself in it and almost didn’t recognize the person staring back. 

His hair was tied into messy space buns, though one was visibly higher than the other and his part was made into a crooked zigzag. His lips were teal, a smudge on the corner of his mouth, shining with silver highlights. His eyelids, on the other hand, were hot pink and sort of uneven. Glittery purple blush adorned his cheeks and when Skwisgaar turned his head, he spotted holographic star stickers on the sides of his face. 

“Eugh…” Was the only thing he managed to say.

“You ams a space metal princes now!” Toki explained proudly and shoved his bear plush into Skwisgaar’s free hand. “And Deaddy Bears ams your princess whats you gots to save by killing aliens with the powers of metal!” He smiled at him. “You likes it?”

“Eugh…” Skwisgaar glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked like a lady. “Toki, dis ams…”

“Yes?” Toki nodded with expectation.

Skwisgaar grimaced, hoping his expression would be telling enough. “You knows…”

Clearly, Toki did not know because he kept waiting for him to say something. Skwisgaar noticed his fingers were stained with purple and teal, hands sparkly from the glitter. Next to him, the bed was full of make-up of a wide variety of colors: lipstick, eyeshadow, powder, mascara, lip gloss, stickers, etc. And also, a lot of drawings of the space guy he was supposed to be. Something about it tugged at his heartstrings, despite his better judgement. 

He sighed. “It ams pretties cool, I guess.”

Toki beamed at him, almost insufferably so. “Ams going to takes a picktures.” He said, grabbing the polaroid on his bed. “Says cheese!”

“Wait, Tok-”

The camera made a clicking sound and the photography came out of it soon after. A delighted Toki showed him the picture. “Amsnt it cools?” He asked.

Somehow, Toki had caught him in the split-second right before his expression twisted into concern and he tried futilely to reach for the camera. Instead, it almost seemed like a glamour shot of Skwisgaar’s new look. 

He raised his eyebrows with surprise. “Hey, dat amsnt so bads.”

Toki let out a chuckle, eyes glued to the photo. “Rights?”

Smiling fondly at him, Skwisgaar momentarily forgot what they were talking about. “Ja, it looks good.”

[persnicketypomelo]

What about writing for the Sherlock fandom ? Moriarty would definetely be interesting. Or something about King Arthur, Lancelot, or the James Bond movies?

Those are just suggestions, of course !!

obsession, kidnap

Yandere Moriarty Headcanons

Let us be clear, Moriarty, though observant, has the social-emotional intelligence of a toddler

What he wants, he gets, regardless of the consequences to others, and when he tires of his toys, he doesn't hesitant to discard them

He cares not for good nor evil, only his own whims

To catch his attention in a way that doesn't wind up in your death, you must impress him in some way

Either by interfering in his criminal network, or making a name for yourself in some way, you attract his attention in a way he cannot ignore

If you prove a nuisance to his business, he will either be impressed, or annoyed and send a hitman out for you

When you manage to best his goons, then he is definitely at least amused

You're not completely incompetent, and pose somewhat of a threat to his livelihood--and not many people are capable of that

He wants to see what makes you tick and how to get under your skin

Moriarty would use the people you love against you, as bait, and he expects a good show to save them on your part

He is not caring, and the minute he feels you become too bland he is not afraid to dispose of you

I think, however, with time, his feelings grow more intense until he believes you’re simply too entertaining to get rid of, but he is so prone to changing his mind that you can never quite know...

He doesn’t feel threatened or jealous of others around you—after all--he is rich enough to hire people that keep an eye on you

They report to him your every action of every day, and should someone lay a hand on you…he has ways of making people disappear

Depending on whether Moriarty feels you are an intellectual match for himself, he might not see you even as a person, really

If he considers your intellect to be significantly beneath him, then he will consider you more as a pet

I see possibilities of him both kidnapping you and allowing you to roam free (albeit the ever present thorn of his existence in your side)

Should he kidnap you, he would allow you to escape, and then repeat the cycle over again, each time with more improvements to your security, watching you improve each time

It provides him light entertainment--akin to trash television--to see what you learn and how you adapt each time

If he doesn't kidnap you, it's because he sees no merit in doing so

Your antics amuse him, and confined, you are not capable of entertaining him

Even if he decides not to kidnap you, he will engrain himself into your life and delight in your frustration over your inability to do anything about it

However, this game of chase between the two of you is destructive, and will eventually end in one of your demises

For your own sake, I hope you can lock him away or kill him once and for all

Otherwise you might suffer an outcome worse than death at his hands

I don't feel like this was my best work, but I'm not sure how to improve it either :(

[a-little-revolution]

Please discontinue fantasy "dwarves"

"Dwarves", such as Tolkien or Dungeons and Dragons, are based off of Germanic folklore and Norse mythology; they are mountain dwelling peoples associated with mining, crafting, wisdom and axe wielding. Little people or "Dwarfs", are persons with dwarfism. The disability has existed long before the folklore, and influenced it through centuries of discrimination and slavery.

I get a lot of questions on here surrounding "dwarves" and the space they take up in the fantasy genre, and my take on it has gone unchanged.

I strongly discourage fantasy writers from including the made up race of "dwarves" in their world building. Their existence creates confusion surrounding the disability (after all, I've probably answered more questions about the made up race than I have on real dwarfism) and the lore was developed alongside the mystification of slaves.

If you're looking to include characters with actual dwarfism in your work, fantasy or otherwise, consider the following:

Do not base your dwarf characters off "dwarves". Stray entirely from the mythology, giving them new culture, character design, livelihood, etc. that humanizes them within your world and interweaves them in the community they're in. Learn the proper proportions and accommodations for the disability, which will depend on what type of dwarfism your character/characters have.

Avoid segregating your dwarf and able bodied characters. Make interabled communities. It will allow you to avoid othering and mystification, and towns made up of only little people have not only been overdone, but are a wink to early 90s m*dget villages. This is not to say that communities of little people cannot exist, simply that it must be done with care and with purpose.

Humanize, empathize, normalize. Use your writing as an opportunity for positive representation, or to point out the struggles that little people face in the real world. Do your research!

*

[lol-jackles]

(Li 1) I revisited a former favorite tag of mine, the tag "jaawy" at the tumblr blog likestarsonearthj2. After years of shock at JA's true face, I wanted to see for myself how his real horrible self was obvious but I couldn't see it in his pics & gifs under the tag (short for Jensen Ackles Always Watching You, the blogger's tag for when JA is looking at JP). And... it's like a completely different person! Was he "on" (acting like he cared abt JP I mean) nonstop? BTS, onstage? I just... wow.

I've always said the J2's codependent-ish friendship came first, and the (platonic) Wincest came afterwards. Writers write what they see in front of them. It's why I don't blame Tinhatters for thinking they’re in a relationship or J2 shippers for shipping them.

Jared was 22 when he was suddenly a lead of a show and responsible for the livelihood of 300 people (150 crewmen plus their families) to pay their rent and their kids’ colleges.  I would be surprise if Jared didn't turn to Jensen for support and became dependent on him to some degree to quell his anxiety.  Except people are not medicine and eventually Jared would realize that.

Jared might feel that he owes Jensen because he convinced Jared not to quit in season 3 or 4 due to mental health issues. If Jared had broke his contract before the show was syndicated (and why Kripke was "losing sleep"), then he would have been blacklisted by furious producers for costing them lucrative licensing deals because shows rarely survive without their lead actor. Jared publicly credited Jensen for convincing him not to leave and now Jared is a lead on another successful show, so Jared’s success is in part due to Jensen even though Jensen was looking out for himself at the time.

Jensen needs Jared to stay with Supernatural not only to keep the cash cow going, but to benefit from Jared's work ethics and business acumen. As the "Taker" in their codependent relationship, Jensen relied on Jared to assume or soften the negative consequences for his actions as well as compensate for his under-functioning.    Jared the "Giver" was a people-pleaser and cleans up the messes other people have made, lie or make excuses and pretend things are OK when they’re not.  Givers like Jared don't empower, instead they enable and make things worse.

Jensen knew 2 years before the series finale that Jared was leaving SPN, and from his pov, Jared has been leaving him for 2 years. In my experience with acquaintances who are Takers, they do not feel good enough for their Giver, and becomes resentful because they feel the Givers undermines their sense of competence.  Then the Takers tries to take the "mature" route by avoiding texting or talking to their Giver while feverishly working on themselves or their jobs.  in Jensen’s case, the prequel spinoff project.  Jensen planning a prequel spinoff without Jared’s knowledge is his twisted way of being “good enough” for Jared. 

At least that's my take based on witnessing some real life emeshed and codependents folks.