#i think it's even longer than my null analysis

[worldwhampion]

APOLLO NMS IS AUTISTIC-CODED 1/2

here's the google doc for much better reading! (also contains a small epilogue)

Let's look at their physical characteristics first. 

1. Stimming

Everyone who’s seen Apollo at a holo terminus knows the thing they do with their fingers: a repetitive movement that never ceases. They are literally STIMMING! For those who don’t know, stimming (aka self-stimulating behavior) involves engaging in repetitive movements, which helps with improving concentration and alleviating anxiety, and often it is done unconsciously. Now don’t tell me that’s just their idle animation. They could’ve chosen any other thing for them to do that does not straight up look like hand flapping, one of the most prevalent stims out there - as well as not making it repetitive and constant.

2. Footing (toe walking)

Another characteristic is a small, but very special detail: their footing.  

(picture credit to @speci-society - they were the first to point this out! annotations by me)

Their ‘heels’ are off the ground, and the two plates which do make contact with the ground are more like shoe soles - think of tiptoeing while wearing slippers. This is very reminiscent of toe walking, another trait associated with autism. The name is pretty straightforward: walking on toes without the heels touching the ground, which is thought to be due to sensory processing and motor issues.

3. Sensory processing issues

Interestingly, Apollo's body is synthetic - meaning that they cannot sense the world around them through touch. In terms of physical sensitivity, they must be quite detached from the world. Usually when talking about sensory processing issues, it is about an overload of senses to the point of discomfort. Though in Apollo's case, I think it is rather the opposite of that; their senses are void. Because well, There’s no way you could possibly have nerves in metal. They’d have to rely on something else entirely in order to sense every time they come into contact with an object (including their footfalls on solid ground). Likely they have other means of sensing things - different from the usual organic way. I’m not sure how their body exactly works, but since they still possess an organic brain, neuroplasticity must’ve done loads to it so that they could properly adjust to their body. Can’t imagine how the first days must’ve been like for them.

4. Motor issues

And possibly, they may still have issues in controlling their mechanical limbs (motor issues) despite the neuroplasticity - or rather, carrying out complex tasks with them - especially their hands, they don’t look dexterous at all but rather very cumbersome. As well as their arms and shoulders, all seem to be very inflexible. In my opinion, Apollo is (borderline) disabled, as they likely do not have the same capabilities as an abled person.

5. No facial expressions

They have no ‘face’ - so no facial expressions either. They also can’t make eye contact. Autistics are known to struggle with facial expressions - and especially eye contact - in conversations. I’m not sure whether it’s a blessing or not for Apollo to be unable to make eye contact with anyone, because that’s just about the most uncomfortable thing to do (for me at least), and yet it’s so weirdly important in face-to-face communication at the same time. To physically express emotions must be quite hard for them, therefore they likely have to compensate through body language. A notable one is a certain tendency to tilt their head: “as the hologram recedes, Apollo's head turns to the side ever so slightly, as if sighing, saddened.” Due to them having no facial expressions, I think it could be pretty hard for anyone to tell if they’re listening to them or not. I am saying this out of my own personal experience. Okay story time! When I was younger it was kind of unclear to others whether I was paying attention to them or not due to my lack of eye contact. This led to me finding an alternative to that: head nodding! I tend to nod my head along as people talk to me. This way it’s clear to people that I am in fact listening without having to directly make eye contact with them. Perhaps Apollo does a similar thing to indicate that they’re paying attention. 

---

Pt. 1 < pt.2

[mentally-ill-for-bes]

Blue Eye Samurai Analysis Episode 2

I published this post half-finished and I don't even remember when I did it, sorry everybody!! If you're reading this, the analysis is already complete, talking about the whole episode.

Thank you all for the reposts and likes!!

You can read the analysis of the first episode here.

The episode starts with the Four Fangs searching for Mizu at the petition of Heichi, however; what I like from this episode is:

Ringo, the episode serves to show the characteristics of the character, he wants to be great, he's kind and funny but mostly, he knows he's useful. It's not like he wants to be useful, he knows he's, the only person who has to see it too is Mizu.

And Mizu isn't even setting him aside because she thinks he's useless, she does it because he's kind, kind, and friendly enough to distract her from her purpose. That's why Ringo won't seek what he wants at her side.

I wonder if in these first moments between them Mizu sees Ringo's friendliness as a weakness, of the way she hides her own feelings from all the people while Ringo wears his heart on his sleeve. But the fact they're different doesn't mean Ringo is strongless than her, in the end:

"My whole life has been a battle"

Just like hers.

When Akemi and Taigen are shown, they are both in a yellowish and warm ambient, contrasting that Ringo and Mizu are both in the snow, cold and blueish.

The scene gives us more about Akemi and Taigen's character and their current priorities:

"— Why didn't he just kill me?

— The Gods have shown you a longer path

— Ugh

— You still have me, we'll be married-

— Your father will never allow it now.

— I can convince my father

— And have everyone to mock me?"

While Akemi's priority is marrying (since finally, her father allowed it), for Taigen marriage isn't enough. He's losing the status and prestige he's gained by his own hand, he was the son of a poor fisherman to the champion of the Dojo and fiancé of a princess; any kind of honor that will come with marrying her will be null, because as Taigen as Akemi's love for each other comes from the opportunity they offer to the other.

For Taigen, Akemi is some kind of "prize", he came from being no one to being someone good enough to deserve the love of a princess, as Akemi's father said, his rise reminded him of his own.

While for Akemi, I guess Taigen offers an opportunity to be in control of (at least) her marriage, he's someone she already knows, when she talks to him, she never lilts her voice since he's not in a situation of power as her father is; if she married to a lord, she would have to live with him, while if Taigen married with her, is he the one changing his home for hers (which also adds ro Taigen's estatus). In some way, with Taigen being poorer and Akemi having a royalty status, the power he could have on her is lesser than the one a lord would have being her husband where she loses power for being a women despiste being a princess.

But even when she doesn't lilt her voice to Taigen, she does have sex for him as a way of returning him the power he lost in his duel with Mizu. Also, I guess that in some way, consuming the "marriage" would also be a way to make Taigen stay in a moment where he refuses to marry due to what others will think of him.

The fact that in the sex is she who takes the initiative, basically serving him, not enjoying it, and narrating something that serves his sole fantasies; will make a clear contrast with the next sex scenes where Akemi is involved, where instead of being the one who serves, it's the men serving her, the men talking to her.

"I can see it now. You challenge him.

And like a dog, he comes running.

He faces you.

An onryo. His demon eyes.

But your courage drives him back like a squall against the sea.

You unsheathe your magnificent sword.

He lunges at you, but his sword is no match for yours.

You strike with your blade.

You draw his blood.

His eyes are like two angry waves in a storm.

They try to suck you in, but you're too strong.

You thrust your sword into him again.

And again. And again.

A final cut, you feel the hot spray of blood.

Glory!"

The whole recitation, besides having a clear gay sex background with all the swords stuff. It's also useful to keep relating Mizu with water "drives him back like a squall against the sea", and "his eyes like two angry waves in a storm" and it also relates Taigen with getting lost in it "they try to suck you in, but you're too strong" which defines pretty well Taigen's obsession with getting a duel with Mizu.

But this scene will start Akemi's arc; after saying this Taigen goes away, she loses the power she's gained over her life and fights to get that back.

Going back to Mizu and Ringo, they're walking through a cliff.

At first, I thought Mizu was being way too optimistic here, planning to kill a whole army and Frowler in one day. But considering she's already killed Violet, I wonder if she indeed killed him in 1 day (ending up mortally wounded).

When they try getting a boat, everybody is focused on drinking due to the Hadaka Matsuri. All the scenes establish how different Mizu is from the rest of Japanese society, blinded for her own revenge; probably, but still outcasting of it, while everybody drinks, everybody's happy, she never drinks, and she never smiles in this episode; besides this being a characteristic of the character, I think it's also how the show is constantly reaffirming how Mizu's doesn't entirely belong to Japanese society due to her identity of a mixed-person; just as Mizu won't entirely belong to English society in season 2.

For Mizu, there's no shame in making a home except if she's the one doing a home. As it's said in the first episode during her prayer, she lost direction in what, we'll know in episode 5; making a home. Mizu's constantly putting aside Ringo from getting closer to her, not because she considers him useless or something, but because she won't open her heart and affections to somebody who can betray her ever again. Not when this will cause her pain and will distract her from his purpose, when it's her purpose the only stable thing in her life.

In other matters, we're presented to Heiji Shindo and the white man he protects:

In episode 1, the four white men are presented surrounded by blue, here Frowley's color palette is red/orange, opposite to blue, his coat is red, his hair is orange, and even the paint he does is filled with red.

It's not just contrary to the first shot of the white men, but also to the whole Mizu's, her hair is black, his is orange; her clothes are blue, his are red, she's smaller and thin, he's taller and much bigger. While the demon Mizu's features are related to blue, the white man in person is related to red. He's not close to her, he's not even similar to her, but they're both considered demons.

But there's a difference in why they're both demons, while Mizu is one for the color of her eyes, Frowler is one for his violence, for his hunger for destruction and power, his brutality. While the reason of Mizu is considered a demon is blue, her eyes, the reason Frowler is considered one is red, like the blood he spills, like the fire that will keep following him for the rest of the season.

So, while our first shot of Mizu is in the snow, cold; the first shot of his enemy is at the side of the fire, with a corpse at his side.

While it is shown the story about the broken sword made by Mizu, some phrases about sword-making are dropped.

"Your fire" Until this moment Mizu's has been water, but she's also fire, just as she said in episode one, she has an ember, but isn't an ember a glowing wood in a dying fire?

What will see through the season is her ember becoming the greatest of fires.

But for now, let's focus on sword-making.

Through the season, both swords made by Mizu will break, as Swordfather says:

"The yaki-ire is when metal is reborn,

and the soul enters the sword.

All must be pure for the sword to be pure.

The metal, the maker, the one to wield it."

It's clearly explained, that the sword doesn't break because Mizu's a woman or because she isn't pure; it breaks because it was made for an assassin who lied to both of them. Later, Mizu's blue sword breaks, not because it was made by her hand, but because of the change in her soul.

"A soul like that is drowned in blood.

There is no stopping them.

They will always find their broken blade.

We can only mind our own soul, Mizu."

After this memory and a cold water bath, Mizu can cut a whole tree.

Because water is her peace, her "safe place" To put it into simpler terms, she's at peace with the water she's; she goes to water to cure herself after the duel with Taigen, and she goes to water when she wants calm and re-focus; she doesn't need to come in terms with water, she'll need to come in terms with the fire inside her, the fire that she ignores.

First, he's incredibly delusional and I find it hilarious. Second, he does it because he sees Mizu cutting a tree and he wants to put himself at the same level as she. But he isn't, Mizu's better than him and his arc goes through learning from her and improving his beliefs and point of view by meeting her. By admiting he can learn from her.

In a quick change, we see Akumi again being surrendered with golden lights, dressed in red and warm colors, the show just keeps reaffirming her as red and golden.

When she's presented to the lords to see the arranged marriage:

Akemi's dad has already been dressed in the same yellow and purple the lords are. For Akemi, they both mean the same, men who will make her lose her autonomy and freedom. Same as her father.

Blaking her teeth is so traumatic for her because it represents how much autonomy over herself she's losing, Taigen should black her teeth like a norm for being a bride, but with Shougon's son, she blackes her teeth as a way to please him, as even her teeth are for his enjoyment.

The Lord smiling with all his white teeth at the same time the ladies smile with their black teeth just reaffirm for Akemi the loss of power and domain women have over their own life. While Lords can do whatever they want with teeth.

And, the first time Akemi is under blue lights is in this scene.

When she's finally under the snow, under blue lights is in the moment where she lost it, she lost hope, and she's in an arranged marriage with someone she doesn't know. This is so opposite to her whole identity, which is golden lights and warm ambient, now she's in the cold, outside her domain and the things she knows and it's related to. I guess in some way she's thrown to the cold, a thing that looked unknown to her until now.

And the moment when she decides she'll run away is when she's again under golden light, in her domain, but under the water; just like Mizu.

When she's running away, she abandons the red kimono for a purple one, purple is closer to blue in the color wheel.

In other news, the Four Fangs find Mizu and:

Parallel my beloved! In episode one as in episode two Mizu is being persecuted, while in the first one, she gets cornered on a cliff resulting in Taigen saying "Go ahead. Just jump" In episode two she indeed jumps to the cliff. Using it as a strength.

Another thing I want to point up is that all the fights of Mizu are generally surrounded by red or yellow, opposite colors to her characteristic blue, in the Shindo Dojo the uniforms were yellow and all the ambient was illuminated by yellow lights; with the Four Fangs the fights occur during sunset, the sea literally looks like blood.

But water is water, and Mizu at the end is water, looking blue or red, she's water. As she's some fire at the same time. Japanese and white, water and fire, and red and blue, both exist at the same time.

In the town, Ringo is fighting for the sticks that the priestess throws, and, as Mizu, it's in the water where they can be reborn. Sure, under the hope of getting their fondest wishes, but it's still just as Mizu, getting in the water every time she needs to focus on getting her fondest wish, to kill the four white men.

She doesn't entirely fit in Japanese society, not like everyone else, but that doesn't mean she's entirely and totally different. Just like any mixed person, one never entirely fits but that doesn't mean there aren't places of meeting between one and the culture.

[sullustangin]

So ridiculous question: Did Valkorion ever come out while Eva and Theron were having sex?

This made me laugh out loud! Thanks for the larf; I've needed it due to IRL stuff. <3

Ok, so, the short answer is NO. Valky is repulsed by Theron and tends to go mope in his prison in Eva's head whenever our favorite spy shows up. He wants NOTHING to do with her private life. Theron is icky to him, and he'd rather gargle razor blades and iodine than get an eyeful.

~~

The slightly longer answer in my universe: I imagine that Valkorion screwed up when he picked Eva to be his host. At the time, a Force User made sense, but he's done that before -- booooring. Plus there's no crueler way to further fuck up your not-favorite son than to create a vessel that can kick his ass -- and can't even use the Force naturally. Smugglers are greedy and weak-minded -- this will be easy.

Valkorion didn't anticipate that the vessel could not only hold him but trap him. He thought he could just take up residence, upgrade Eva's arsenal and give her Force abilities, then take the Throne back. No biggie, even if Arcann did chuck her in a freezer for five years. ....but then Valkorion found that he couldn't just take control. He couldn't do what he did on Ziost.

Is he weaker? Is she stronger than Jedi Masters (at least the Hero of Tython in Act 2 and the Sixth Line)? In my universe, it's a bit of both.

Valkorion picked the most stubborn, Force-null, immune-to-manipulation criminal in the galaxy. This is known in the game since we see at least 2 instances (one on Tatooine and one in an FP) where the Smuggler laughs off an attempt to influence them, much to the Sith's consternation. Combine that with the loss of power that the Emperor had when the Valkrion body was slain; I don't think all of the Emperor's power went to the Outlander in a 1:1 transfer.

Valky lost something when he died, and Eva is particularly resistant to the Force. She can tossed around by it, like any visible object, but her own presence in it isn't particularly strong. I've headcanoned that Force Users can't just sense her Life Force, reach out, and grab her; Miraluka have trouble perceiving her and extensive cyborgs like Arn (another headcanon of mine). Direct line of sight in the same room? Yes, she can be acted upon, but it's not as easy as it could be. Force Users also can't do stuff like Force Choke her across a commlink, like Vader does. Eva is difficult to act upon, if that makes sense. Valkorion can talk to her, but it takes a lot of effort; this is why he's sometimes there, sometimes not.

We see in KotFE several instances where Valkorion exerts himself to save the Outlander's life -- because it saves his life. I imagine that he does exhaust himself in these expenditures, which causes him to go silent for much of the six months between KotFE and KotET. As much as Eva is stuck with Valkorion in her head, Valkorion is equally unable to leave, and he is NOT HAPPY about Eva's lifestyle overall.

Valkorion is not going to waste his energy and make himself want to drink bleach by interrupting sexy time. Also, if he was going to do a body hijack prior to the Throne, the last person he'd do it in front of would be Theron. Theron may be an inferior being for lacking the Force, but he is perceptive. It's a combination of Theron being brilliant at analysis and observation (spy and operations manager), but also the love factor. I do imagine Valkorion loved Senya at some point, and people in love notice their partner -how they move, what they do when they're in a mood, etc. Valkorion is just smart enough to know Theron would catch on fast if Eva wasn't herself. He was human, once, after all.

[sharans-math-science-dump]

Some notes on mathematics, & why I like it

Mathematics can be very fun. Mathematics classes can be very boring. (Not a slight on you, mathematics teachers) But I’ve really got to admit that I’ve become more, not less involved in mathematics now that I’m no longer in school, and looking up mathematics on my own.

Mathematics as it is in university - real mathematics, as opposed to the computations we did in school, is much more interesting, if a little more slippery. There’s a greater focus on the framework instead of what problems you can do with it, and there’s a lot of attempting to grasp a particular set of theorems, seeing how they build on each other. It’s different from how it was in school, doing a whole lot of work without any understanding as to why I’m doing so. Looking at mathematics in terms of proofs and structures is much more interesting, and it honestly goes better with me than it was in school. It’s gotten me very motivated to try to understand things that are honestly way beyond my current paygrade - category theory might be the worst offender, but also real analysis and mathematical logic.

I’m a very scattered learner, and I certainly am attracted to concepts more than problems. It was like that even in school, reading Ian Stewart in-between classes, reading his Concepts of Modern Mathematics, for semi-rigorous treatments of abstract algebra, group theory, topology, non-Euclidean geometries, transfinite numbers (i.e aleph-null, the cardinality of the reals) and real analysis. It’s the effort to go beyond, to try to really grasp something that’s beyond me, with some sort of tenacity, that I think 

[fourangers]

Hi Fourangers,

First of all, I love your blog so much. It's like going through a history back when Naruto Manga chapters were released weekly and your reviews were so Golden, Hilarious and spot-on. Am a new fan though (especially an SNS fan), I just got into this fandom only this year. I don't know if you'll answer my ask, but I just wanted to try and ask you few questions and I pray that you might answer me....

1. Since you've written in a post that you were active in the eastern part of the fandom, How was chapter 698 received in Japan? Because this is the chapter I inherently realized they both love each other. Yeah, I was too late but somehow whenever they interact with each other in previous chapters I always find them to be 'Weird' for just to be friends. Chapter 698 is just blatantly obvious that they love each other. Considering Homophobia and Shounen genre, I have no idea how it was perceived over there back then in 2014.

2. Which scene made you to ship SNS?

3. As an SNS'er how do you feel about the ending, where everyone was married off when they were just 19 just to make some shitty sequel??? As a new fan, I felt betrayed and It would've been perfect if they had stopped at chapter 699, leaving an open ending.

4. How do you face with the accusation about Naruto and Sasuke as brothers and we, SNS'ers are Incest shippers??? I don't care about that Indra and Ashura thing. But Naruto himself told he considers Sasuke as his Brother couple of times. And in Chapter 699, Sasuke acknowledged, 'He finally understood what it meant'.... It's the only thing that confuses me and I don't even have an answer!!! Plus, Kishi himself gave an interview that he based Sasuke on his Brother... I really wonder how he gave such an interview when he literally made them wear necklaces with each other's faces.

5. How was Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality perceived in the fandom back then??? Man!! Kishimoto just made lot of comic reliefs on their sexuality by making Sasuke on Sai jutsu, Naruto not interested in Icha Icha but making Reverse Harem no Jutsu, Naruto was angry when Konohamaru made Boy on Boy jutsu whereas he had no problem with him doing it. LOL. And all those homoerotic posters. What do you think about their sexuality, personally??

6. Why did Kishi had to develop their bond as Soulmates with some unintentional or intentional romantic undertones, if he was eventually going to pair them up with girls??? He easily could've gave many such romantic tropes to other girls and keep the bond between N and S as purely friendship or brothers. It still would've made sense.

7. Final one, Was Naruto really Nosebleeding when Kurama made a joke about Sasuke's kiss in Chapter 572???? We had a lot of heated discussion with other shippers where they claim that it was just a splotch of snot.

Sorry for the lengthy ask....... I am so eager to know your answers and I don't want to spam your ask box by sending multiple asks.

Thanks 😊😊😊

Hey yo! Welcome new SNS fan! I'm so glad that you joined us and I'll try to answer as best as I can. I'm not very active here on tumblr (except browsing lol) but your ask was such a delight to read.

1. I honestly don't remember. I think I didn't follow the japanese boards until the eventual 699-700 disaster. People were craving for reactions and I was curious about it too lol. And well...it's been years, I doubt I'll be able to find the reactions from that time. Imo, most readers don't care much about pairings, they just wanted to read about power-ups and abilities and the basic Naruto Vs Sasuke. Though there are some backhanded jokes about how gay Naruto is for Sasuke.

2. Hah. It's going to be very anti-climatic but it was when Naruto and Sakura were eating in Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto just used Rasenshuriken against Kakuzu and he busted his arm. Sakura was healing his arm and her attention was focused on Naruto. I used to be a NaruSaku shipper so I thought "Oh hey! This is the moment that Naruto would have a candid romantic moment!" But nope. He talked about Sasuke. And I was already getting suspicious about Sasuke's feelings towards Naruto ya know? And the whole "SASUKE IS MIINEEEEEE" in Orochimaru's lair. It was that moment I thought "you only have Sasuke in your head don't you, Naruto?" and started shipping SNS.

3. Hooo boy was I surprised when it was suddenly revealed that they had the basic heteronormative, boring marriage with bunch of clones of themselves. Everyone thought that it was almost like a bad fanfiction come true and some thought that it was fake. It was a pandemonium lolololol. I also thought that it was too lame to be true and lo and behold, when it came true I was floored. And then whenever Kishimoto threw new material, I got insanely pissed off because S*arada and B*ruto becoming pairing material is ok because they are a girl and a boy, and then they paralleled with Naruto and Sasuke which are only FRIENDS because they are both men. ARGH. Open ending was what Kishimoto planned from the very beginning but wrote a sequel to earn more money.

In that aspect, I made peace with it because of the whole anime/manga industry. I learned that, as a mangaka, you don't earn a lot of money with selling books, but rather with merchandise and profiting with sales right. And that guy have a family to raise, have two kids (which is hilarious about how B*ruto movie is his self-insert story), he needs a steady income. Also, I read reports about how anime studios are so poor and animators don't receive a decent income not to mention they are overstaffed and tired, and B*ruto is a good money cow for them to earn money so they can invest later on other anime they have more passion about it. So even though I hate this story with a strength of thousands suns, they are putting meal on people's tables and making them pay rents. I'm ok.

4. Lemme roll my eyes because in the Last movie they said that Hinata is related to Kaguya and so is the Uzumaki and Uchiha clan so they are all related woo hoo. But in the aspect of brothers because reincarnations bla bla bla, didn't Naruto himself said that he's no longer that brother, he's himself? Hmm...I gotta re-read it. One day. Maybe. lol. But I'm sure that he said "Sasuke is not my brother but I'm sure we'll understand well as friends" so there. Honestly, there are a lot of interviews out there and a lot of them are fake, so I'd always take the interviews with a grain of salt lololol. I do know from artbooks that Kishimoto wanted to create Sasuke as a rival-esque character and that was it. As he was developing Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, since he liked the whole yin-yang concept, whenever he wrote Naruto's story, Sasuke's was developed at the same time as his shadow.

5. I can tell from Naruto Forums (I used to participate back in that day) MOST of the non-shippers thought it was gay as hell, but you know...it was a relic of that time. While they thought it was gay, they didn't put too much thought about you know? Because it was shounen, and we knew that it was a joke that it couldn't be taken seriously. Of course, in the SNS fandom, we did make more analysis and there were a lot of instance when Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality was questioned. Some other non-shippers also thought that Naruto was totes gay for Sasuke (including a IRL friend).

Imo, Naruto is definitely bisexual in my view. Sasuke I think he's asexual or gay. He's attracted to Naruto, but mostly because of his connection to him, not because of his physical attributes, so yeah...asexual. Or Pansexual. Sasuke is more complicated lmao. Imo, Naruto could be pansexual too, come to think about it. Yeah, I guess both being pansexual can be valid.

6. He developed Naruto and Sasuke being soulmates from the very beginning, that was proven in his comments in artbooks and in the manga. He probably created with the intention of making it purely platonic, going beyond physical ties. Then he shot himself on the foot by drawing Naruto thinking about Sasuke on bed, talking about how Sasuke is cool, meanwhile Sasuke waxing poetic about how Naruto saved him. What gives? Lol. Yeah, I think he got too enamored writing their relationship that he didn't have time to write romantic ones. What I noticed that Sakura's popularity never was really high, so I could see some editors putting their fingers all over it and making her less relevant. Also, Kishimoto didn't know how to handle her, so when she got her time to shine was the whole fake confession disaster. Coupled with Kishimoto sexism and, in his words (Kurenai's flashback), women are useful to spout more babies, women was never really relevant in his story, unfortunately. Even Kaguya who was technically the big bad boss, was never really fleshed out in comparison to Madara. So the null het romantic moments it's not because he wanted to elevate SNS moments, it's more about how he's incompetent about it. It's either Hinata slowly elevating to a relevant status because forced interaction (Pain's sacrifice and Neji's death) or Sakura being obligated to be pining over Sasuke because she's a girl. It's even more painful to see that, if we ignore B*ruto, both girls are shown to be just talking with their kids and dusting shelves, basically being housewives, even though thorough the story (especially Sakura) it was implied that both of them have much more potential than being their husband accessories.

7. It was a splotch of snot. I can confirm myself lol. Whenever the chapter is out and fans would scan it to scanlate it, the editor usually would amp up contrast to max. So usually the lines get much more thicker than usual, when you read the official release which gets straight from the source, you can notice how the lines are more delicate.

Oh lol...but then we also have a lot of controversy about translating style. THAT one is a whole new can of worms to open.

Man I had fun answering your questions! Please send more :P

[codenamewitcher]

I just want y’all to know that this first started out as a post on how Sylvie’s character arc didn’t add up but as I got further into this it turned into an analysis of everything that has happened so far (episode four has yet to release) and how I would love how Sylvie comes about the TVA and her hatred for them.

Before I get into how I would love her arc to happen, I am going to talk about the TVA and how time works in the MCU real quick to understand why I would love things to go these ways and why I hope that the inconsistencies with Sylvie, Loki, and the TVA don’t just become a huge plot hole. I’m also placing a read more because it’s a lot that I’m going to be talking about.

So for starters, we know that the TVA stresses that they have to move quickly in removing a the variant and resetting the nexus event before it crosses the red line and can no longer be reset creating a multiverse. We also know that time works differently at the TVA (its a null time zone in the comics) and from Thor: Ragnarok we know that time can move differently on other planets (i.e. Loki falling from the Bifrost seconds before Thor did but still spending weeks on Sakaar before Thor arrives even though they fell from it seconds apart).

However, from what we have seen in the four times the TVA arrives at an nexus event, it appears they have anywhere from minutes to maybe even a few hours to reset the branch before its too late, but it does have to happen within the day the event took place. We can assume this as we first see them catch the L1130 Loki Variant in the same day he broke from the Scared Timeline (we can’t say for sure how long it was on Earth before the TVA arrested him as we don’t know how long he was laying in the desert for but it was long enough for the native people surrounding where he landed in Gobi Desert to arrive). The second time, is in 1549 France and it seems like the TVA arrived minutes or seconds after that nexus event happened as the child with the candy from the future was still at the church. We see the very same thing happen at the 1858 Salina and 1985 Wisconsin nexus events where the TVA arrives minutes after the event or within the same time of day on the same day of the event. 

Now why am I mentioning all of this, well because the events that happened in Sylvie's life compared to Loki’s life are similar but very different compared to what, how, and when it took place in his. 

They are similar in the since that they both are adopted, both are children of Laufey, both are experts in magic welding, both are originally named Loki, and both wear similar clothing and headdresses. But that’s so far where the similarities end, they appear to be the same person but had different upbringings. 

Sylvie grew up without knowing her adoptive mother, her adopted mother either died or left early in her life, and she grew up knowing that she was adopted as well. 

Meanwhile Loki didn’t find out that he was adopted until much later in his life and he had a very close relationship with his adoptive mother who was very involved in his life and also didn’t die until much later in his life as well. 

These time differences in when Sylvie and Loki experience these things in their life are large as things happened earlier in Sylvie’s life and they happened later on in Loki’s life. 

Their personalities are even similar and but different at the same time because you can see that Loki doesn’t really plan on how he’s going to get to his end goal, he kinda just goes with the flow while Sylvie plans this shit in detail. Also Sylvie seems to be more serious about things while Loki jokes around and isn’t so serious (now this is what we have learned about Sylvie in episode three so far).

Now where I’m getting with this is, the TVA shows that the order of events in Loki’s life is what is supposed to happen in the Scared Timeline and not the order of events in Sylvie’s. 

Now a nexus event could’ve been created by Sylvie’s adoptive parents telling her she was adopted earlier and her mother dying or going away earlier than what was supposed to happen, but the way that Sylvie talks about her life is that she grew up with this knowledge. And so far its consistent that the TVA needs to show up within minutes, hours, or within the same day the nexus event took place in. And even if Sylvie grew up on another planet other than Asgard or even on Asgard where time can move differently than on Earth it wouldn’t make much of a difference as the TVA needs to show up close in time to when the nexus event happened and not years later where Sylvie would grow up with this knowledge which would cause a multiverse event. 

Now when I started this, it was to point out how Sylvie didn’t really seem like a Loki Variant due to the large time gaps in how key moments in Loki’s life happened happened later on than in Sylvie’s. At first I was thinking that Sylvie and Loki are connected some way but she may not be a Loki Variant, like she could’ve been from another universe, one that was destroyed by the Time-Keepers because at the time of the multiversal war, we don’t now how far into the future those six timelines were. Loki is a thousand years old or close to it, so those timelines could have already been that advanced and we could have 6 different versions of Loki’s that lived different lives but are still similar enough be like “Hey, that’s a Loki.” But as I got further into this analysis, I realized that was a reach, it could still happen, but its the most unlikely to me out of the theories I came up with.

My second theory was that Sylvie was caught by the TVA as a male version of Loki as they refer to her as “he”, but the moment she escaped, she changed into and became Sylvie. However that still doesn’t fully explain the differences in the order of events in her life compared to Loki’s.

Now my third theory and one of two on how I would love to see Sylvie’s back story play out. So what if when Sylvie’s mother died/left earlier in her life, she was told about being adopted within that same time frame. At first I thought, what if the TVA arrested her, but another thing I’ve noticed with the TVA and responding to nexus events is that the TVA only arrests the variant and not someone effected by the variant’s decisions as they didn’t arrest the child from 1549 France, the festival goers of 1985 Wisconsin, or the Gobi Desert natives in 2012, they solely went after the variant in each of those cases. So now there’s the possibility that Sylvie witnessed her parents (or parent) getting arrested by the TVA and that branch got reset. She could have escaped the reset somehow and is now seeking vengeance for her family, and could explain the “This isn’t about you.” line from the end of episode two.

My fourth theory and the second one I would love to see happen with Sylvie’s back story play is that somehow she ended up working for the TVA, got her memories suppressed like the other agents/hunters, and then ultimately found out about the memory suppression. This would explain how she doesn’t have very many memories of her mother just “blips of a dream” as she says in episode three without her mother dying or disappearing while she was at a young age and this will still allow for the order of events to play out how they should be in Sylvie’s life according to the Scared Timeline. And to explain how the topic of being told about her adoption by her parents could still happen with this, 2012 Loki asked Sylvie if they told her about the adoption, she says yes and then asks Loki the same question and his response is, “No. I mean, they did, eventually”. We know that Loki in the Scared Timeline eventually accepts his adoption and being an Odinson so Sylvie could’ve very well accepted this rather it was in the Scared Timeline or during her years of plotting the take down of the TVA.

But anyways these are just some thoughts I’ve had, my process of these thoughts and understanding this world, and my hope that they don’t let this be a huge plot hole because it has so much potential and shouldn’t be ignored. I know that this is a lot, its literally a weeks worth of thoughts I’ve had since the third episode, but thanks for staying this long for my spill if you did or if any of you did.

[f-nodragonart]

Vertebrate Wings, PART 2: Membranes and Feathers

Return to main post + TOC >>HERE<<

Membranes and Feathers TOC

  Membranes

  Feather Arrangement

  Feather Layering

  Feather Shape

  Combinations

Membranes

A common question I see in relation to bat-like (and sometimes pterosaur-like) wings: Can a creature fly if the wing membrane only attaches to the armpit of the wing? Can massive wings make up for the lack of membrane?

Short answer: No.

Long answer in the form of a numbered list of problems with these sorts of wings:

 1)      Wing membranes (and feathers) need to SUPPORT and STABILIZE the whole animal’s body in the air. Without membrane attached along the length of the body, the torso is left to dangle limply and awkwardly below the wing shoulders. This couldn’t work because:

    a.      As I explain in more detail in the Full-body Integration section, flight is a ~primarily~ horizontal affair (the obvious exception being hoverers, but I cover this in the Flight section). A limply-hanging body would increase drag and air resistance to an absurd degree compared to the typical streamlined body position of a flying bird or bat. While flight is primarily driven by the wings, it really is a full-body affair.

    b.      The weight of the ENTIRE creature would be localized to the wing shoulder, which would make for excruciatingly painful flight at the VERY least. The membrane helps distribute the weight of the body over a wider surface area so that no one centralized point is pulling too much weight. (again, hovering flight is an exception to this, but this is largely due to the tiny body weight of a typical hoverer)

 2)      ~Generally~ evolution is lazy. The theoretical length of the wings necessary to make up for the lack of membrane would use up a ridiculous amount of energy—energy that evolution isn’t likely to waste. Especially considering that the length of these theoretical wings would have to be accomplished through lengthened fingers, which are more complicated and use up more developmental energy than simple membrane extension.

 3)      These lengthened wings would theoretically be freakin’ MASSIVE to make up for the lack of membrane. I can only imagine they’d be too heavy and/or too long to realistically function. They’d more likely drag uselessly along the ground as the animal attempted to use too-long muscles and tendons to lift them up.

 4)      “The creature wouldn’t be able to flap their wings when flying. Wings act like a lever; the less wing membrane you have close to the body, the further out lift and air resistance act on them and the more force you need for each wingbeat. If you attach wing membrane at the armpit, then so much force would be needed that the dragon would have difficulty moving them on ground, never mind during flight. Adding more arm strength to overcome it is not an option because there’s only so much muscle you can add without running into many more problems,” thank you Rahjital~

This all applies to feathered wings as well—bodies need support during flight, and these sorts of feathered wings aren’t gonna provide any.

The back edge isn’t the only important part of the membrane—the front edge is highly important as well! This section of the membrane is known as the propatagium.

It provides a smooth, sloping curvature to the front edge of the wing (something the bare arms could not provide on their own), and helps stabilize the position of the wing through the tendon connecting the shoulder and wrist (or thumb/pteroid, depending on the wing).

This structure is present in ALL vertebrate wings—bats, pterosaurs, and yes, even birds.

It’s simply not very apparent in birds because this membrane is covered by feathers. Remember kids, bird arms aren’t rounded noodles—it’s the propatagium that gives bird wings their smooth outline!

Bats wings have hair-thin muscles across their membranes to help tense and otherwise manipulate the wing shape as needed. I actually had a hard time finding good diagrams of these muscles, sans this one EXCELLENT reference for the muscles and major veins (+skeleton) via edited versions SammyTorres drew of photo of a museum reference.

(had to cut it off to preserve image quality, but u can see the original reference photo at the link)

As for pterosaur wings, there’s still debate over how exactly the membranes were structured, but there is at least agreement on the existence of multiple layers of actinofibrils embedded in the membrane. As quoted from exdraghunt, “Pterosaur wings were stiffened with unique fibers called “actinofibrals”. These fibers can be thought of as being like the wooden battens of a paper fan, or the quills of bird’s feathers. They allowed the wing to spread out to full span, or to fold up tightly against the body, while keeping the membrane stiff enough for flight. These fibers became shorter and less regular closer to the body, so that the membrane closer to the body of the animal had more flexibility compared to the parts out at the wingtip. The fibers start out perpendicular to the arm, and shift to parallel with the wing finger out at the wingtip.”

(via)

This made pterosaur membranes much stiffer than bat membranes, but still more flexible than bird feathers in terms of delicate maneuvering and camber-control.

Also, here’s a cool diagram dissecting the layers of pterosaur membrane~

Feather Arrangement

The first thing we need to get straight here is that the main flight feathers of a wing—the remiges (singular: remex)—sprout EXCLUSIVELY from the “hand” and lower arm sections of the skeleton.

The shoulder may be the source of thrust in the wing, but the “hand” and lower arm are the actual “paddle” used to beat against the air. As we can see in the below diagram, the tertiaries (which are embedded in the FLESH of the upper arm, NOT the bone) simply fill in the space left between the remiges and the main body.

In my own research (of Googling reference photos), I’ve found that the secondary remiges tend to gradually decrease in length closer to the elbow, tapering down until the tertials are able to fill in the gaps. This may not necessarily be true for all wings, but this is the trend I’ve picked up on.

idk what the deal is, but there are almost zero references for the underside of a bird wing, so I took the liberty of making my own reference, traced/edited from these photos of crow wings. (“edited” in that I emphasized a few feather bits that aren’t quite as “pronounced” on actual crow wings, but were drawn in for the sake of illustrating their general position. the axillaries, for example, were referenced from plovers.)

The coverts (when it comes to flight) exist to smooth out the transition from arm to remex, covering the entire arm/hand section and then some.

It’s important to note that the lesser/median primary coverts DO EXIST on the dorsal side of the wing, they’re just reduced compared to the much longer greater primary coverts, so the lesser/median coverts are usually covered by the alula (this is another detail I emphasized/edited in the above ref—the lesser/median primary dorsal-side coverts aren’t actually visible with the current position of the alula on a crow wing). I don’t have references for why the feathers in this section are sized/arranged in this manner, but I think it may be due to the presence of the alula. Either way, you can usually get away with not including the lesser/median primary coverts in most wings/positions, but it is important to know they exist for those special occasions they do make an appearance.

(via^)

The alula is the section of feathers that sprouts from the “thumb” of the underlying skeleton (this can be seen in the remex skeletal of the wing I posted higher up), and helps to increase lift by smoothing out air flow over the primaries. The feathers of the alula are situated on the topside on the wing, over the primary coverts and under the secondary coverts.

As a side note, the wing reference I drew is just a BASIC guide to feather arrangement. Depending on the shape and flight style of the wing, the feather “sections” can vary quite a lot, as can be seen below.

The reference I drew is just a guide to help you identify these sections of feathers in other wings more easily, even if they look quite a bit different than the wing I drew.

Feather Layering

Now for the information I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for—the detail that artists the world over struggle desperately with: feather layering.

I could just tell you all that the LEADING edge of the remiges is seen on the TOPSIDE/DORSAL view, while the TRAILING edge of the remiges is seen on the UNDERSIDE/VENTRAL view, and that will be correct.

(via^)

HOWEVER, I find that I much more easily retain design information if I know WHY a particular structure is designed that way in the first place. So, here I leave you a very informative analysis of remex arrangement and how it effects flight.

While I do highly suggest watching the whole video—especially for the helpful animations—I understand that it's a long sit with dry delivery, so the main takeaway is this:

Remiges are arranged as they are in order to minimize drag on the upstroke by allowing air to filter through the feathers and under the body, thereby pushing the body up in the process.

If the remiges were theoretically arranged opposite from this, they would filter air AWAY from the body on the upstroke, thereby sucking the body down and rendering the thrust on the downstroke null.

Now, it’s important to keep in mind that this reasoning applies more strictly to the remiges compared to the other feathers. While it’s incredibly important for the remiges to be in proper arrangement, the coverts are a little more lenient, considering they just smooth out the wing. The median/greater coverts do follow the arrangement of the remiges per which side of the wing they sprout from (and lesser coverts are layered in a more-or-less “shingles” pattern), but real-life coverts tend to be a lot messier than “ideal” coverts.

Covert arrangement (particularly that of lesser/medians) can be “goofed” a little without too much problem; It’s remex arrangement that can make or break flight.

Also note how this feather layering effects the layering of wing “sections” when the wing folds up (which will be discussed in more detail in the Positions section).

Feather Shape

Feather shape is also a critical factor in wing design (and even full-body design), BUT to tackle shape, we must first understand some basic feather anatomy.

There are quite a few bits here that I’m not rly gonna get into (mostly because I myself understand feathers more in the greater scheme of a wing/body than individually), but it is important to note a few specific features, here.

The shaft is the base upon which the barbs sprout from, and where the feather itself connects to the body via the calamus(quill). Note that the barbs (at least in the pennaceous portion) ALWAYS sprout from the shaft at an outward angle. They do NOT point at a 90 degree angle straight out from the shaft, nor point backwards towards the quill, but FORWARDS towards the feather tip. This is most likely a mechanism for both reducing drag and creating a more stable interlocking of barbs.

The pennaceous portion is what’s visible to the open air, so the barbs must be designed to handle what is required, such as a relative stability/stiffness for the remiges of the wings, a drag-resistant design for feathers of the body, etc. etc.

The plumaceous portion is typically hidden beneath other feathers, so isn’t necessary to draw in most designs. It’s just important to know about the fluffy plumaceous bits that exist underneath for those occasions that the feathers are lifted apart.

*note-- not all feathers have an afterfeather/shaft as shown in the first diagram-- this is most common to grouse, and is kind of like having extra down.

This is just a basic rundown of feather anatomy I’d reason to be useful to artists, but if you’d like a more in-depth discussion of feathers, I suggest this page.

Now knowing this basic feather anatomy, we can look at the diverse shapes and forms feathers can take. As has been shown in the feather types above, feathers can vary quite a lot depending on their purpose. The primary remiges, in fact, have a unique set of anatomical terms to help describe the shapes they can take.

(via^)

It’s important to note, here, that at least part of the reason that the primary remiges in particular are so diversely shaped is due their being the “flight manipulation” feathers of the wings. While coverts smooth out the wing and secondary remiges provide ample surface area, it’s the primary remiges that really determine a bird’s particular style of flight (I’ll get into some of these basic flight types more in the Flight section).

It’s also important to note that the “drag direction” for any feather—remex or otherwise—is essential in planning their shape (it’s just much easier to identify in remiges). See how the barbs on the leading side of these primary remiges is much shorter than the barbs on the trailing side?

(via^)

This is because the leading side, as can be assumed, must meet air resistance head-on, so the shorter barbs provide a stiffer, more stable surface to push against oncoming air currents. The trailing side, on the other hand, provides the main surface area of the feather, so the barbs can be longer.

This asymmetrical balance of barb length changes depending on where the feather is on the wing, so it’s no surprise that the primary remex barb lengths are much more asymmetrical compared to the secondary remex barb lengths, since these barbs don’t directly push against the air on either side of the feather.

(via^)

Though keep in mind that the shafts still “lean” more towards the leading edge here, so as to properly tilt against the air on the upstroke.

This feather diversity doesn’t just apply to different feather types—even the exact same feathers of the exact same basic type can vary DRASTICALLY when compared between different species. Just look at the differences between the above wood duck primary remiges and the primary remiges of a sharp-skinned hawk below.

(via^)

Thus, when designing the feathers (particularly the remiges/rectrices) of a creature, you need to understand the creature’s specific form of flight, and the purpose of certain sets of feathers.

(The USFWS Feather Atlas provides EXCELLENT scans of the remiges and rectrices (main tail feathers) of TONS of different bird species, if you’d like to see more scans like these.)

Combinations

Combination feather/membrane wings are somewhat popular, and while they���re improbable I wouldn’t say they’re impossible. Improbable, because evolution would likely choose one or the other for a full wing (taking into account the energy available during development, as we’ve discussed). Or, at the very least, make the feather bits more fur-like than the rounded, complicated designs of typical coverts.

The only impossible combo-wings I could think of are webbed wings that have ALL the wing feathers—remiges included. Remiges are meant EXCLUSIVELY for flight—if the wing already has a membrane (a membrane which takes up much more energy to build than feathers), then there’s no need for additional remiges. In fact, these lengthy feathers would detract from what makes the bat wing so practical—its ability to “collapse” and otherwise bend and stretch in precise movements. Remiges would only block the bat wings’ ability to properly bend.

Not to mention, these feathers would break up the smooth/streamlined quality of these wings if they were to reach that far out over the membrane. Think about it—bird wings only have one layer of remiges, creating one smooth surface, and bats only have one layer of webbing, also creating a single smooth surface. Webbed wings with remiges on BOTH sides (or even on ONE side) would create multiple surfaces that would somehow need to lay flat against each other (but likely wouldn’t due to their nature). And that isn’t even to mention that remiges need a stable bone base to properly attach to, which the bat wrist/hand couldn’t provide, considering it already must support the fingers themselves, let alone primary remiges.

Covert feathers, on the other hand, are mainly there to create a smooth transition from the front edge of the wing to the remiges (and are embedded in flesh rather than bone). Thus, I could see their potential use in bat-like wings for the same reason, so long as they aren’t large enough to interfere with membrane/finger flexibility.

-Mod Spiral

[365days365movies]

March 2, 2021: The Last Unicorn  (Part 2)

Ready to get back to The Last Land Narwhal!

Forgot to mention narwhals in my last post. For the record, that’s a tooth, not a horn, and nobody knows for sure what it’s for. It seems to have functions in defense against predators, communication, environmental analysis, and of course, sexual selection. That last one is the leadng theory for purpose of the tusk.

But yeah, these guys are the unicorns of the sea, so I should’ve mentioned them. OK, back to The Last Unicorn! Part 1 of the Recap is right here!

Recap (2/2)

The journey continues anew, in the right direction this time, and the three head to King Haggard’s castle to find the Red Bull and the other Unicorns. And they find it soon enough, as a bright red light envelops the castle that night. And that light is, of course, the Red Bull.

Well, it’s out of my system...I think. I think. But OK, the real Red Bull, then.

Yeah, this thing is a scarlet MONSTER, and it really does quite monstrous. Molly asks the doubting Schmendrick to do something, and tells him that he has the ability to use magic,, even though he doubts it. With the Bull chasing the Unicorn, Schmendrick tries to do something to stop the chase. And, uh...he succeeds.

Yeah, whoops. Looks like Schmednrick turned her into the worst thing in the world: a human girl! NOOOOOOOOOO! Yeah, everybody (except for Schmendrick) freaks out about this, ESPECIALLY the Unicorn. Now in a mortal body, she’s starting to lose it. However, Schmendrick is right in that this is a pretty decent body.

But yeah, no, the Unicorn is NOT HAPPY about this development. However, Schmendrick does convince her that this is the best way to get into the kingdom of Haggard to find the other Unicorns. They give her the name “Lady Amalthea”, and they indeed get access to the castle.

They go to meet King Haggard (Christopher Lee), whom it turns out is an old, shriveled man who seeks only happiness. He only keeps things around him that make him happy. Molly, clever as she is, convinces Haggard that he has need of a new magician, as his current one clearly does not make him happy.

Seems that Haggard agrees, and pretty much immediately fires his current magician, Mabruk (Paul Frees), who’s none too pleased by this development. He begins to exact his vengeance, until stopped by the magic still within the Unicorn. Mabruk tells Haggard that he has “invited doom through his front door”, and leaves without another word.

The Unicorn, now as “Amalthea”, also quickly unnerves Haggard, as he can’t see his reflection in her eyes, which understandably freaks him out. However, with the help of his son Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges), he quickly calms down and tells the three that they can come and go as they please. And the group settles in, as Lir and “Amalthea” bond.

Lir’s pretty quickly smitten with her, and tries very hard to prove himself a worthy escort and partner, through slaying monsters and becoming a hero. However, she never even speaks to him, seeming cruel to him. He tells this to Molly, and Molly goes to speak with “Amalthea”. However...Amalthea appears to be losing her memory and identity as a Unicorn. Well, fuck.

This is revealed through the song “Now That I’m a Woman”, sing by Mia Farrow herself. And...yeah, she’s not a great singer. Honestly, she’s a pretty poor singer, and it definitely shows. Hell, in the soundtrack, they actually replaced her voice with someone else. And...yeah, that doesn’t surprise me at all.

Molly assures Amalthea that Schmendrick will find a way to speak with the Red Bull, but Amalthea pretty heartlessly writes him off and mocks him as the King’s clown, which Molly rightfully tells her off for. Yeah, Molly’s the best character. The cat named...The Cat (Paul Frees) agrees!

Oh, yeah, there’s a cat with a peg-leg and an eyepatch that speaks with a pirate accent. What? You’ve never seen a pirate cat before? Come on, they’re super-common...I guess. Anyway, the cat tells Molly that soon the Unicorn will become Amalthea, a human woman. Oh, yeah, cats see through magic and lies, including the fact that Amalthea is the Unicorn. It’s common knowledge.

Amalthea, meanwhile, is having dreams of her life as a Unicorn from earlier in the movie. She wakes up, and Lir comes to speak with her. She is quite tired, and is always dreaming of this life, asleep or awake. Lit wants to help her, and she asks for a way to wipe away these dreams. As Amalthea becomes more human, she also grows to love Lir.

Lir serenades her with a song, called “That’s All I’ve Got to Say”. And Jeff Bridges...is also not a singer. Yeah, he’s not the worst, but he’s DEFINITELY not great. Sorry, Jeff, I love ya, but this definitely isn’t your strong point. Fun fact, though, Art Garfunkel apparently covered this song. And it’s...A LOT FUCKING BETTER. Seriously, check it out right here, it’s not bad! And actually, Leighton Meester and Scott Grimes also did a pretty great cover, which is right here, if you’re curious! Sorry, Jeff. You just aren’t my favorite singer.

Anyway, as the two fall in love, Schmendrick tries to solve a riddle passed down by the cat, regarding a clock with the answers. At the same time, Haggard speaks to Amalthea on the parapet, as he reveals that only one thing has ever made him happy. But before he reveals it, he states that he knows who Amalthea actually is.

And that’s when he shows her the one thing that makes him happy: unicorns. The Red Bull, a fire elemental, drove them into the sea so that the King could always see them from this castle on the shore. He commanded the Red Bull to catch them for him, as he had never been as happy as the first time he saw them in the woods. So, in other words...he turned them into NARWHALS, THE UNICORNS OF THE SEEEEEEEEA!

However, it would seem that Amalthea is a little bit too far gone at this point. Haggard notices this when he can see his reflection in her eyes this time, and she believes him mad. Yeah, Amalthea’s taking over, and the Unicorn is starting to fade. Well, shit, now what?

Schmendrick may have an answer to that, as he’s started to solve the riddle, which involves getting a skull to talk or some such thing. I think I missed some of the specifics, because this movie has...a LOT of talking. Like, fuck me, dude, it’s not a long movie, but the amount of talking makes it feel that way. Anyway, the Skull, called...the Skull (René Auberjonois), guards the Red Bull’s lair, and they have to convince the Skull to let them in. Schmendrick does so by bribing the Skull with wine, because apparently he’s a recovering alcoholic. And they trick him with literally an empty bottle. Powerful placebo effect, baby.

As they get to the clock, the Skull realizes that Amalthea is a The Last Unicorn, and raises the alarm to Haggard as they make their way through the clock to the Red Bull’s lair. They make it through, and Lir is also there at the same time. Weird. On the outside, Haggard destroys the clock, trapping the four within.

While in there, Amalthea confesses her love for Lir, and wishes to remain a human, rather than turn back into a Unicorn. However, Lir understands the truth of who and what she is, even if he does still love her. Molly believes she should stay as a human, for the sake of her love, while Schmendrick notes that she must become a unicorn again. However, that’s all made pretty goddamn moot when the Red Bull shows up.

Schmendrick finally gets his shit together, and the magic speaks through him to turn Amalthea back into the Unicorn. The Bull still chases after them, and begins to drive the Unicorn into the sea. Lit attempts to save her, and is nearly killed by the Null in the process.

At the last second, the Last Unicorn rallies against the Red Bull, attacking and driving it into the sea...with the rest of the Land Narwhals.

And with that, the rest of the Unicorns return to the land, and Amalthea is no longer the Last Unicorn. With their stampede, Haggard’s castle by the sea crumbles, and Haggard himself plummets to his death.

As they run off, Amalthea returns, and revives Lir from the dead. Amalthea says that she remembers Lir, and then...fucks off to the woods, I guess. Lir says goodbye to Schmendrick and Molly, who pledge their love for each other in the process. Schmendrick says goodbye to Amalthea, who asks if it makes him happy to be a true wizard now.

Amalthea notes that she’s afraid to go back, as she is the only Unicorn to ever know regret. Schmendrick apologizes for this, but she asks for no apologies. She rides off into the moonset, and into the credits.

And that’s The Last Unicorn! And it was...interesting. I say that a lot, I know, but I’m gonna have to percolate on this one. See you tomorrow for the Review!

[webuyhousesfastllc]

Selling Your House Fast using the “Subject To” Method

By: The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC

Why would anyone want to sell their home via subject to financing? Aren’t their major risks associated with such undertaken? What if the buyer flakes and defaults on the note? This situation alone would be enough to deter any homeowner from selling their home in such a way as relying on another stranger to pay their mortgage. Worst of all, your credit score would take a significant hit alongside many other financial hardships. On the contrary, everything could also, too, go as planned with the mortgage getting paid down and your credit score gradually increasing.

Today, most FSBO’s shy away from such creative deal structuring due to one major issue, LACK OF KNOWLEDGE!

That’s right! A recent poll taken by The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC had determined this issue among a survey selection of 50 FSBO’s who were either currently selling or planning to sell their homes very soon. The survey showed us that out of the 50 FSBO’s, on a professional critique level, 42 within the sample of 50 would have benefited more from a subject to deal than a traditional one-time closing. Out of the 50 FSBO’s 48 had no idea what it was and why it is used.

Why would a homeowner sell their home via subject to their existing mortgage?

Let’s start with the real-life story of Peggy Labate of Massachusetts. Peggy had lost her job Do tour company going to economic trouble. She then began facing the possibility of her home going into foreclosure, Putting her in a particularly dire financial situation. Peggy owed a total of $74,000 on her note for her home. This put her at an astonishing $12,000 in the hole.

She had an investor interested in a property, however, He did not actually have the full $74,000 needed for the sake of purchasing the property. Instead, the two of them worked out a compromise that would work for everyone. The compromise consisted of the following: He would purchase the property in such a way that he was subject to the existing mortgage payments per month. If agreed upon, Peggy will no longer have the monthly payment mortgage burden because the investor will be taking over her payments. Peggy then was able to make the sale work and avoid a disastrous credit hit by foreclosure. She barely had any money for food for that week, nevermind a mortgage payment. She was also able to sell the home within 2-3 business days following the agreement. YES! It was that easy.

In other parts of the country subject to the existing mortgage now has become quite popular among for sale by owners. Especially in post Covid era, selling subject to deals have increasingly spread. Especially in areas where unemployment has increased drastically.

Furthermore, most people don’t have the time in today’s world to even market the property by themselves. Additionally, they are not adapt to marketing, interviewing potential buyers, and credit analysis as Massachusetts license representatives are trained for. But why pay commission when you can simply pass your mortgage bill over to a investor who will take over the payments as well as put some money on the sellers pocket.

Another example was Hank. Hank was upside down on his mortgage because he bought right before the 2008 crash. The homes value dropped significantly but was able to almost break even in 2021. Let's look at Hanks predicament below

Home cost 2005: $320,000.00

Mortgage note: $335,000.00

POST CRASH

Home cost 2009: $245,000.00

Mortgage note Current 2009: $315,500.00

Present 2021

Home cost 2021: $285,500

Current note Balance: $295,000

Since Hank lost his job due to the COVID-19 virus, he is now finding it hard to pay for every day expenses and his mortgage. Therefore he’s in a little predicament. A friend of his told him “to suck it up and pay up to $10,000 and be done with it already”, but Hank doesn't have the $10,000 to come out of pocket. Plus, Hank is thinking “who actually sells a home to lose money?”. The plot thickens as the days go by and his bills pile up he is now three months behind on his mortgage and his banks are calling leaving messages on his voicemail. His monthly mortgage PITI is at $1,250.00. Thus, on top of all the other bills, as well as the $10,000 he will need to pay out-of-pocket if he wanted to sell, he is now behind approximately three months and four days owing a whopping $4,200.00 (includes late payments). The home is getting close to breaking even, and he has pre-permitted lot space to extend the square footage of his home. He was told by an investor he could add another 1000 to 1500 sqft to his home. Although costs would range anywhere between $68,000 to $80,000, it would bring his home value from $285,000 to $390,000. Additionally, if he were to add another a bathroom and a half in this addition, the after renovations value would be anywhere between $415,000 to $425,000. Unfortunately, Hank did not have the funds, which would probably be anywhere between $110-$120,000 to do such work, even though the value add would be $200,000 to $215,000. What is Hank going to do.

Hank is definitely stressed out!

Hank is now slipping into foreclosure and is getting unrealistic to almost cruel advice. Until one day he found an ad in his local paper from The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC.

Hank called The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC and told him his predicament. Hank began his conversation by saying, “ Look, I know you can’t help me in my situation but maybe you can give me some advice?”, the investor from The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC laughed and calmly said “ Well hello, my name is Gary, Whats yours?”. Hank forgetting his manners backed up his excitement and said with a sigh, “My apologies, Hank here”. The caller than asked Hank to fill him in on what’s going on. At the end of the conversation, the investor asked to visit the property and take a look at the permits that were once pulled by Hank that he never utilized back before the crash.

Although the permits had become null and void, the investor knew the area very well as well as the permitting process for building additions. The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC are constantly scrutinizing and investigating the housing market and its bylaws. At the end of the walkthrough the investor suprised Hank with a deal that almost had him fall to the ground. The deal, according to Hank was pure genius.

The deal looked like this:

First, Hank will transfer title to the property over to the Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC.

Instead of paying out of pocket, the investor offered him $20,000 cash in pocket for the transfer of title.

The Mass Home Buyers LLC would bring an additional $6,000.00 for closing expenses incurred and pay up the missed payments of $4,500.00 to the bank.

The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC would then own the home, however, Hank would need to leave his mortgage untouched and in place.

To lessen Hank’s anxiety, Hank and the investor called his lender on a three-way call to explain the transaction. Strangely, the lender knew the investor by the first name. Hank knew he was dealing with professionals. The investor kindly told the lender about Hanks's situation and that he offered him the title in exchange for paying off the back payments as well as take over his note as-is. The lender said, “ Ok, Gary, so you want to subject to the existing note and make payments on Mr. Hanks 30 year fixed?” The investor replied, “yes, Sir.” The lender asked, “ok, that's fine; when do you think it will transfer or be paid in full?” The investor said calmly, “I don’t know now; however, you will be the first to know when we do so.” The lender stated, “fair enough- ok, we are good, no static on this end.” Hank had heard about the dreaded due on sale clauses and was just relieved. Besides, the investor boldly asked the lender to keep the mortgage under Hank's name; however, cancel his insurance for a tenant-buyer who can be vetted additionally by the lender will be taking over. Hanks's problems were swiftly Disappearing. How does this subject to thing work anyhow?

Finally the closing date has come and looked like this.

Purchase: $25,000 transfer of deed w/ subject to $290,000 fixed 30 year mortgage payments.

Hank has money for first and last for a apartment and got his job back. Also, his credit was soaring because of all the additional payoffs by the tenant-buyer the Mass Home Buyers LLC had moved in.

Investors side

Current mortgage: $1,250 per month

The Mass Home Buyers Lease Option Payments by tenant buyer: $1,900.00 ( the areas rental median is $2,500) Cash Flow $650.00

The tenant-buyer was a carpenter who pulled a new permit and added over 1600 SF of home and an in-law and two full baths. The home soared from $290,000 to $480,000.00

After cash-out refinances, the tenant-buyer will be able to reflip, and the Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC will make over $235,000 within 1.5 years. Not bad for one deal.

Hank no longer is upside down and in debt. He also has money in the bank. The tenant-buyer has an affordable investment he will inevitably reflip. The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC made a healthy profit for saving Hank's credit from annihilation while providing inventory to one of many tenant buyers. Talk about a win/win/win heh? Subject to deal structuring is highly beneficial for sellers who are in situations like Hank, but also if they need to sell in a hurry due to a strict timeline that cannot wait for a realtor to research, market, interview, negotiate, and inevitably, sell their home.

Subject to candidates usually have three main scenarios in common:

They are facing foreclosure and/or exceptionally behind on payments

They want to repair their credit score and what better than a real estate solutions company paying their tab under their name on a monthly basis for an extended amount of time. As the buyer pays on the mortgage, the previous owner of which the note is named under, is being paid consistently. Sometimes even double paid due to the buyers motivation to pay down the balance in preparation of either a resell or a cash out finance situation.

They need to move very quickly and do not have the time to A) remote manage a realtor on the property which can result in miscommunication and other issues B) Has a new job that begins relatively soon that is out-of-state. C) A or B, however, has a significant amount of mortgage left to pay. and D) Is negative on their note and does not want to come out of pocket to pay the difference. The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC not only assists those in selling their upside-down notes but will also. Reward the seller for transferring the title. What would you rather do?

The moral of the story is, long as you’re dealing with professionals and people who know how to market with structure and don’t hide things from anybody, make deals such as a subject to or any other Creative Financial matter that much more beneficial for all. As of today, the Massachusetts homebuyers not only helps people in need like Hank but also work with retail homebuyers because they structure their deals in a way that gives both the seller what they need in regards to pricing at the same time, create a good investment for their company. REMEMBER THIS: THE SELLER OF A PROPERTY MUST ALWAYS HAVE A MORTGAGE OR ANY ALTERNATE LIEN AGAINST THE HOME TO CONDUCT A SUBJECT TO DEAL. IF THEY DON'T HAVE ANY PAYMENTS AGAINST THE HOME THAN IT WOULD BE KNOWN AS SELLER FINANCING.

[girlobsessed21]

The 100 6x07 analysis - putting the mind at ease

I absolutely loved this episode, the attention to detail, the explanations, the tone, and pacing. It was definitely my favorite of the season so far. And, climbing the charts to the best of the series but you’d have to work really hard to top a The 100 finale. This season is shaping up to be the best, the stories they’re exploring, the sci-fi content, the unpredictability, everything is top notch. Well done Jason and the writers, are you good friends with Elon Musk?

Ready to take a trip down memory lane, buckle up, it’s a long ride, ready, let’s go! I’m breaking this up into Clarke’s encounters with her ghosts since it takes place solely in her mind. It’s fitting for Clarke to wake up in her prison cell given that she’s literally trapped in her subconscious. Also, if I had to picture the inside of it, I’d see drawings everywhere too.

The safe space - daddy’s arms

To me, it seems like the images and voices she encounters first are those she’s lost except for her child. Finn, Wells, Lexa, and of course her father. When Clarke realizes she’s dead, she’s glad her fight is finally over but regrets not being able to say goodbye. To Madi and mom. I’ve seen some people upset that she didn’t include Bellamy, that’s because she did greet him in a certain way when she apologized and told him he was her family.

Now, the weather is a direct product of her mood. When she encounters Jake, the sun is bright in a place she was once happy. Then, the thunder starts when she gets upset. I would have liked it to be Jake himself letting her in on the heartbeat and the fact that she’s alive but he’s only a figment of her imagination. Meaning it’s the way she would have wanted it too. 

I imagine this scene as the life Clarke pictured living. Content, with her father alive and Madi going to school while she draws and farms.

A.L.I.E to the rescue

Those words make no sense. Funny how she instantly transforms into Wanheda in the presence of the AI. I had some other theories on why Clarke survived and then I watched a Youtube video by the Theorizer before the episode aired which explained this fact and it made complete sense. A.L.I.E saved Clarke.

How does this work? I found an article in Techworld that explains it as follows: “At its most basic form, neural lace is an ultra-thin mesh that can be implanted in the skull, forming a collection of electrodes capable of monitoring brain function. It creates an interface between the brain and the machine.

To insert neural lace, a tiny needle containing the rolled up mesh is placed inside the skull and the mesh is injected. As the mesh leaves the needle it unravels, spanning the brain.”

To remove the neuro mesh from Clarke’s brain, they would have to EMP her. In other words, remove Josephine from the brain, drain the last of the neuro mesh and re-insert the body-snatcher.

Furthermore, I’d like to touch on the subject of there is no joy without pain. Believing this is tragical. Sure, life does include unpleasant bumps and hurdles but joy can certainly exist without pain. A glimpse into her trampled heart.

Then, A.L.I.E tells her the painful memories aren’t present. This boggles me somewhat because like I’ve said her most prominent drawings are those she’s lost. Isn’t that painful enough? Is that why she moved on to Mount Weather and the fighting pit or is there something even more agonizing than those? Something Josephine encounters by herself later?

Encountering the parasite

So, Josephine describes why both minds cannot survive simultaneously. I’m not a neurosurgeon but I gathered that the brain does not have the capacity to maintain both, which will lead to cerebral hemorrhaging and a stroke.  

A power struggle between two badass female characters is always a delight to watch. Clarke Griffin is not someone you wanna mess with, told ya! The hypocrisy in Josie calling Clarke selfish and dumb is amusing. Check the mirror, sweetie.

She’s not stupid in the literal sense, obviously, she only overestimates her own causes and abilities. But the “when I tell you not to think of an elephant, what do you think about” move is smart. Unfortunately for her, our blonde hero is one step ahead.

Unlike the prime princess, who lives in a peaceful castle on a moon, Clarke has fought her fair share of battles and easily kicks ass in a physical fight. Just as she thinks she’s won, the parasite shows up again with the news that she can’t die in the mind space. Dramatic sigh.

On being haunted by Bloodreina

“Even your projections hate you, Clarke.” In episode two we already see that she is her own worst enemy. She hates herself more than anyone for the things she’s had to do. 

1) Letting the bomb drop on TonDC

2) Stealing the bunker while Octavia fought for it

3) Leaving Bellamy to die in the fighting pits

Oh and now we learn why we don’t see Bellamy. He’s the one person she cannot face. In 6x04 she acknowledged leaving him to die is her deepest regret. In 6x01 she tells him he kept her sane during the six years alone. Clearly, she’d rather go up against Bloodreina, a controversial monster, than him. Why is that?

Bellamy has forgiven you, Clarke. Go ahead and forgive yourself.

Mount Weather

The place responsible for creating Wanheda. Now, it’s common knowledge that Clarke blames herself for what happened to Mia and Jasper. But seeing her question the godly decisions to save those she loves is heartbreaking. Yes, she’s made some bad choices in the past but this shows just how remorseful and compassionate Clarke truly is. War made her a monster, though that’s not who she is, at all. At least it led to the realization that she’s still in control of her own mind.

Finn’s death and Jasper’s cage

Sneaky, Clarke. Hiding the memory in one of the places you’ll never wish to revisit. But sadly, Josephine doesn’t mind exploring the place where you had to mercy kill Finn or dig into Jasper.

As if it’s not bad enough that the devil lures her to the last place she’ll want to see, she uses the one self-loathing thing about Clarke to manipulate her into giving up. Amusing how the final turning point is learning that Bellamy’s willing to sacrifice her for saving everyone else. Is it the comprehension that Bellamy no longer cares that causes her surrender or the fact that it’s the only way to save her people? A bit of both I assume.

The lock sequence was awesome - 0100. “You forgot about Bellamy and Raven - 0102. There’s only 6 of the 102 left now if I’m right. Seeing her cry in Lexa’s throne though, was so, so sad. 

They definitely saved the best for last with Monty

I cannot express my gratitude for this unexpected return enough. I’ve had some terrible Monty, Harper and Jasper depression hours over the last week and this made my day. So, Mr. Cockroach Murphy, this is not what Monty would have wanted. Letting them get away with killing innocent people for immortality does not fall within the definition of doing better. 

If only Clarke knew how much Madi needs her right now. She’s trudging on dangerous ground and could use some serious motherly guidance.

Who better to light the way to victory than the man who saved humanity? Six seasons and his death down the line and he’s still picking locks. Hate to be the one to say this, but Raven, Monty is purer than you are. 

Applause for using Josephine’s own tactics against her by controlling her through the no-go-zone.

Crossing the sociopath's threshold

That door looks so much like a blissful suburban family home over Christmas, which I’m sure Josephine had back on earth before her tragedy. Oh, and the library is amazing, I must say. I imagine my own mind looking much the same, I love books.

But in that perfect little head, the most horrific things are hidden. Why are the primes so afraid of dying? Is it only power and narcissism that causes Josephine to resort to oblation?

Clarke learns that she offered the nulls to the trees, hence banning them from their society because they hinder the nightbloodline. But Isaac, Kaylee’s lover, gave them to Gabriel to build an army, instead. I’m certain Clarke will use this info in the future.

Gabriel loved Josephine once, I’m sure we’ll still get to this story but I can’t wait to see the face-off between the two. His last host was already 95 at the time of the memory, meaning now, six years later, he’s 101. Which is why I assume he can only exist within the anomaly where time is altered. And like I’ve said many times before the trio in the woods will turn out to be Sanctum’s saviors.

But we also see the good side of Josephine, the person she once was. PTSD probably morphed her into becoming a sociopath and the mind-drives enhanced the trauma. I feel bad for what happened to her but it does not by any means justify the person she’s become.

Why is she looking to Bellamy when she says, “I know how to kill her once and for all.” Did she see the memory of Clarke telling Roan, “I’ll do anything, I’ll stop fighting. Just, please, don’t kill him?”

Bellamy Blake, you genius

I knew it, I called it. Bellamy was the first to figure out that Josie’s not Clarke and of course the first to deduce that she’s still alive. That was some big soulmate energy right there!!! Thank you for being a big ol’ nerd and paying attention in Earth Skills.

That smile, a stark contrast to the tears that rolled last week. His princess is not gone and he’ll swim the Atlantic to bring her back. He’s gonna reel in everyone’s help on this project but be careful Bell, Josephine does not go down easy.

Just a side note. I appreciate Miller and his standoffishness in this scene since no-one seemed to mourn her last week.

One last thing, I may have been wrong about Abby, she might know something and it’s possible that’s she’s planning on taking Russel’s body for Kane. An eye-for-an-eye?

That’s all folks. As usual, you’re welcome to disagree with me. I love hearing I’m wrong and why.

[iamjjmmma]

"Number All My Bones: There and Back and There Again" Part 1 Chapter 9

Beginning: https://bit.ly/2NtGPgu Previous: https://bit.ly/2IEbN6R Next: https://bit.ly/2NwyLLR I take a few seconds to ask Betty what’s wrong with her and if there is anything I could get her to make her feel better, but she doesn’t respond. Of course, my fatherly instincts then kick in, fearing the worst, but as soon as I’m over there, I hear the snoring and the instincts back off in lieu of relief, and I pulled the blankets over her. She smiled, and it was then that I was reminded, if for a second, what I wanted as a father. But something’s troubling. It was a little bit of everything about her, I suppose. Her hair had a pink streak on the tips, not containing any hair dye (which I had found out a few hours ago, of course, by chemical analysis). She breathed, and she breathed quick, like a lab dog or a German shepherd in the cop shows Undyne loves to watch. And each and every time I looked at her, she… sent a chill through me. And she still sends a chill through me each and every time I think of her. But that didn’t make any sense. I was a scientist; I wasn’t supposed to believe in any premonitions, any superstitions, anything that would make my college students be up to their arms in laughter. So I laughed at myself, although the laugh was strange, traveling down my arms instead of up and giving me another chill. Research. Research is the way to calm down these superstitions. A few paragraphs in, and I’ll already be put to rest. It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again. I took out the human-monster history book I was working on. It was riveting enough to keep me sitting on the chair, but not quite glued, and just boring enough for me to put it down every so often. Since it was in a different language, the language monsters would often use before English took over by storm, the book posed no shortage of difficulty, and it took an hour to read each chapter. The first was a foreword, signed with what must be someone’s insignia, but looks for all the world like whoever wrote this spilled his jar of ink on it. This was one of the things that sent a chill down me, and I realized I couldn’t find any respite from it other than turning the page. The first chapter, complete with illuminated manuscripts that pointed it to somewhere around the 13th century, detailed a history between Agate and Copper Lightvale, each of them fighting through the throne in the throes of siblinghood. While it didn’t appear so… the ruling was harmonious to a fault… they were in fact fighting about one conflict, one issue that seemed to tear the both of them apart. Each night after they finished their duties, they would argue behind closed doors as if they were the most sadistic, abusive couple that ever was about whether or not the monsters should continue to be sealed down Mt. Ebott (a common political issue back then). While Copper would sneak out almost every night to try and make some progress on destroying the barrier, Agate would always catch him, screaming to him about keeping the peace. I shuddered. More often that not, reality is often more enthralling than fiction. It continued on like this until one night when Agate caught Copper, she accused him of committing treason. Copper told her that this was impossible, since both of them were ruling the throne, and Agate wasted no time following her instincts and challenging her brother for the throne. The agreement was that if Copper won, Agate would exile herself and let her brother carry out his agenda, the opposite happening if Agate won. Since Agate was the more clever one, she knew that either way, she would have the upper hand. The battle lasted for days, each and every thousands of words lasting for a day, turning into a siege as factions formed for and against Copper Lightvale, forming into armies and transforming the somewhat simple conflict into an all-out war. The monsters at the barrier were nearly forgotten, and soon, most of the soldiers didn’t know what they were fighting for other than their own lives, as does happen in so many of the wars I’ve been studying. But Agate and Copper worked tirelessly to make sure the goals engraved themselves into their minds. After years, thanks to Copper’s Determination and the Determination that encompassed the majority of his army, Copper eventually managed to confront Agate herself, and quickly bested her. According to the agreement, she exiled herself, and thanks to the humiliation of having lost, she could no longer fight using her Bravery magic, her SOUL rendering null and void. She spent years roaming the island, performing studies and the worst of experiments on all sorts of inhabitants, attempting to find something more powerful than Determination. One day, when discovering a young boy who had killed dozens of other boys his age and believed by the villagers to be possessed by a demon, she found it. After taking in the boy to her home, the villagers grateful for having gotten rid of him, she conducted more experiments on the boy that left him furious and more vengeful than ever before. With these experiments, she found that somehow, in some way, the boy’s SOUL had been changed. Tragically, thanks to her, the boy died of sheer neglect. Her research ground to a halt, and she became despondent until one night, she constructed a boat made from wood in a clearing away from where the rest of the villagers were and, using the courses she had taken on astronomy before her exile, steered her way back to one of her good friends. He hid her and smuggled her to a library, as primitive as it was, and she spent weeks studying and studying. To Copper’s great surprise and dismay, Agate returned with a power called… called…called... and a genuine ink spill did happen, I suppose. I couldn’t see the word after it. I shone all types of lights on it, used some gentle chemicals to try to remove it, but all I managed to do was to change the ink spill from black to a slightly purplish substance. I could heard Betty stirring back and forth, back and forth, and when she got up and asked me what was happening, there was a deep gurgle in her voice. Fearing the worst, I flew back to the couch with her, and getting the stethoscope, I started ruling out the possibilities. Pneumonia… no. Bronchitis… no; there was no coughing. And there was no injury, either; I ruled that out when I first began. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that it was only laryngitis, telling her to go back to sleep and not use her voice any more than she had to before returning to my work. The book’s text lunged at me again. With this power, Agate managed to deplete Copper’s power, much to his army’s dismay, and Copper passed on within the hour. Agate’s armies regained their momentum faster than anyone could have imagined at the time, and in a few hours, they managed to nearly wipe out Copper’s army. While the kingdom did fall into disrepair because of the destruction the battle caused, Agate promised to establish reforms across the kingdom to restore it and build it up until it was even grander than it was first there. She also sought to improve literacy, although those goals weren’t quite outlined. The citizens highly appreciated her, and she was held banquets nearly every half week. During one of those banquets, however, she developed a sharp pain in her chest. After consulting with the same friend who guided her to the library, they realized the pain was due to her SOUL not being able to cope with its change from Bravery to its final trait. Knowing her time was running short, she fled to a clearing nearby and, entrusting the kingdom’s rule to a distant cousin, performed her final spell. In actuality, this was probably a pain-reducing spell. However, according to legend, she sacrificed her SOUL to create a creature that has long been described as the most destructive and ravenous being imaginable, whose sole purpose was to ensure that monsters and humans never lived in peace. But such creature has never been found, and the legend was most likely established by early Christian cults in order to encourage obedience among children. According to this legend, the SOUL trait of this monster was pink, and this trait was aptly named “Fear”. Everything inside of me stopped, and I could feel my heart exploding inside of my throat. Fear? Fear?! This is only a legend, don’t get yourself worked up- fear?! Everything inside me jumped back into gear, the thoughts battering in my head at such a pace that I don’t pay attention. And I don’t waste any time. I try not to waste any time in general, but now I spring from my seat, speedwalking over to where Betty was. But by the time I made my way to the living room, the couch was empty. The front door was open. And a chill punched its way indoors. All the way down my arms.

[vroenis]

Part 2

This is part 1.

It turns out reflecting over my whole life is going to be a daily affair. It doesn’t really feel that different. Also I don’t know when it started.

- When a domestic interaction induces stress, my immediate response is to reduce external signs of my presence in that space. I look for objects that indicate my presence and remove them. I am an extremely tidy person, but things like shoes etc., I’ll withdraw them from a common area i.e., foyer, and put them in the most invisible place possible such as in a bedroom wardrobe.

I’ve been doing this for a long time. I also do this socially. When I read friction or difficulty between myself and others, I withdraw from them, even when it’s one-sided on my behalf. I wait for them to demonstrate to me that they want my company, which leads to

- I’m confused as to why people don’t demonstrate that they’re desirous of my company enough, even if obvious and understandable logistics prevent it.

I appreciate that as an autistic person, I spend a lot of time in self-observation, so I may have quite literal timers running on how often I’ve been communicating with the various people in my life. For neurotypicals, I assume much of this is allegedly natural, whatever that means, so if it isn’t, I don’t know what’s happening. I’m left to assume I’m not welcome. If I’m not welcome, I’m abandoned.

- There are people in my life who have had greater awareness of my health states than others and for a longer period of time, who have nevertheless behaved in manners that I can only describe as controlling, manipulative and abusive.

Today is the day I’ve realised this and I don’t know what to do about it. They hold positions of immense power in communities. I don’t need retribution, that’s not something I’m ever interesting in, but knowing something means reconciling it and never unknowing it. They won’t acknowledge it, won’t recognise it, will absolutely deny it, will be deft and intelligent at disarming and gaslighting, and I suspect may have for a long time been subtle in what they communicate to others in shared social circles about who I am and behaviours I exhibit. This is the first time I’ve ever spoken about these things. Until now, I’ve thought of these people only in good faith. The sinking feeling I have is that their behaviours have for a long time affected others and will continue to into the future. And I don’t know what to do about that.

- I keep thinking back on things I’ve done and now that I understand myself and autism, I know exactly how I fucked-up and I wish I could go back and explain to everyone I ever met why I did the things I did and how I wouldn’t do the same things again.

Over time my self-observation and self behavioural analysis has taken over so much of my time and energy spend, not only on the present i.e., what I do in the present right now, but on reflection and how I’ve made mistakes in the past and even things I’d taken for granted; interactions from the past I may not have ever rostered for assessment. My entire life would have had a myriad of different trajectories had I been aware of ASD. The earlier I’d had awareness, the more things may have changed. I did mention this before with regards to bipolar, as in I’ve had my bipolar diagnosis for longer hence more awareness, more education, more management, but now with autism and neurotypical/neurodivergent behaviour I keep going back thru my entire life or events and interactions keep coming to me - my mind brings them to me for assessment as if to say “so what about this, then?” - not in a malicious way, either, I genuinely enjoy it, it feels like the action comes from a place of curiosity because I genuinely want to know. So many things that hadn’t made sense or had baffled me or were incongruous in my life are beginning to connect and make sense and it’s simultaneously pleasing but also sorrowful to have happen.

I don’t ever seek to alleviate myself of my accountability, I would never seek to say something wasn’t my fault as if to treat my autism as this thing that’s somehow separate from myself. I’m still me. I still did what I did. I just wish I could explain it to people and apologise to them because I’m still so so sorry and no matter who they are, even if I still don’t like them, every human deserves respect and dignity. Outside of the fact that so many things are so difficult for me to navigate in this life, regardless - I still don’t want to harm other people.

- Showers are surreal and wonderful instances of suspension and isolation.

There are few activities that can suspend time but a shower seems to be one of them. Being enveloped in heat, moisture and constant, sustained sound is immensely pleasing. I enjoy clarity of thought in which I can meditate, pursue linear, parallel, multi-dimensional, scattered or nebulous meandering thought-spaces, or simply be in suspended null-space and simply hear and feel. There are the actions of washing, including those times that are wash days for my hair, and then the rest of the time is simple state of being. I can’t simply treat a shower as brutal utility. I have few moments of peace left in my life, let me have this one.

- Oddly either I don’t stim as often or only in specific circumstances, or in specific ways, or I’ve been admonished so often by others that I’ve clamped/suppressed it so hard I can’t do it any more. Nevertheless, when other people keep making human noises all together at the same time, I become distressed.

This is a different statement to the human noises of people doing their shopping at the grocery store/supermarket. These situations are more specific to perhaps being in a room together attempting to focus on something specific or driving in a car. It’s difficult for me to be specific because in certain contexts, a cacophony of speech and noise is not only understandable and acceptable but totally fine and encouraged as in, I will encourage and induce it and I’m totally fine. Some  specific board games would be good examples and I love them and enjoy them. This would make it understandably difficult for the neurotypicals around me to try and understand under which circumstances I might need calm and peacefulness given I’m not always a quiet person, altho perhaps my own behaviour at the time might assist in telegraphing that. In some situations, people seem *to me* to begin emitting strange and unrelated noise that is difficult for me to reconcile and my response is distress. This is likely due to the lack of ability in psychoacoustic filtering. Neurotypicals can remove/ignore sounds, or have some or all of it have a reduced effect on them. I can’t speak for all ASD people but I’ve never been able to do this. All audio stimulus arrives and is processed with equal importance at all times. To loop back to the music and advertising at the supermarket, this is why I have to remove the music and advertising that plays at the supermarket, because it’s so godawful and I can’t bear it and I *can’t not hear it* and I *can’t ignore* it.

- Most neurotypicals don’t know that many of their behaviours induce stress to neurodiverse people. I don’t know how to educate them directly.

This is an edit so I hope I can get this in before too many people miss it. Some people are really receptive to learning about something and making an attempt to modifying their behaviour, others are less so, especially the elderly which for some of us at our age, means our parents. The other challenge is depending on our stress levels, it can be extremely difficult to communicate in a way that is conducive to others hearing it what our needs are. I should stop speaking in the collective and speak in the individual/personal. Unfortunately when I’m distressed and people around me ask “what’s wrong?”, that’s probably the worst time for me to tell you what I need i.e., that something you and/or everyone present is doing something that’s causing me distress. I know and understand that no-one is intentionally doing anything to cause me stress, but neurotypicals tend to take it personally.

Often NT’s first response when we tell them something they’re doing is causing stress is to get offended and say

“I didn’t mean to do this to you”

and we didn’t say you did - that’s not the point. The point is it’s distressing anyway. It’s a bit like an industrial jackhammer down the street. It doesn’t mean to offend me either, it’s a machine. It’s still battering my ears, tho. (I usually don’t mind industrial jackhammers, by the way).

This is why I’ve generally not ever said anything about anything that distresses me my whole life, I’ve just suppressed my reactions and endured it.

I’ve been suppressing and carrying so much my whole life and I think doing that has been taking it’s toll and I don’t know what the long-term consequences of that are. It’s beginning to leak, now, at my age, and I can’t really do it any longer, because I’m tired. I need the people around me to understand and help me cope.

- Only this week, in May of 2021, am I learning that Tumblr is actually a wonderful place and resource for neurodiverse people.

I will always adore and respect the rebloggers, I love you all. I’ll never be someone who reblogs endless content but I’m so happy to see people doing this, it’s a way to keep content alive, keep it distributed and keep it visible - don’t ever stop. But what I have found is that the autism tag has a high volume of people actively writing about their experiences, whether it’s their encounters with the medical industry, the process of diagnosis, social stigma, daily interaction, challenges or triumphs. All of it is important - all of it - the memes, the writing, the twitter screencaps, the push against the bad orgs and systemic misunderstanding, it’s been heart-warming to go exploring. While I write wholly on my PC, I tend to go exploring on my phone and I’ve saved started to save a few hilarious memes, but also really touching and meaningful images that mean so much because they capture so perfectly what our lives can be like.

We might be strewn across the globe, separated by kilometres and miles, we may never meet in person, and we may be very different people and personality types with broadly different artistic and cultural tastes from a myriad of different backgrounds, but in this we are united and we have this common understanding. 

So far this week if I have two good things, it’s showers and Autism Tumblr.

[data-analytical]

Data Analysis - Week 4 - Statistical Interactions

This is probably the most interesting week so far. It highlights just how easy it can be to make complete conclusions based upon incomplete data. At work, last week, I was shown a chart (Developer v. tickets completed), implying how some people worked a lot harder than others. I'd just completed watching week 4 videos, so moderating variables were fresh in my mind. "Where's data for how many hours each developer actually worked? How do we know how hard each ticket was? According to the chart, our best developer did the least work. He does the hardest tickets and spends most of his days (when he is not in meetings or managing the team!), helping the other developers. A few moderating variables would likely help paint an entirely different picture...

I'm a little disappointed, doing this assignment. Over the past 8 weeks, I've become pretty familiar with the GapMinder data. It isn't bad, but there's not a lot of smoking guns in it. Most of the variables are too dissimilar to have strong relationships. A moderating variable has even less chance of showing an influence. That said, this is about the process. I'm not trying to prove anything per se, only that statistical analysis will allow me to do so.

Here goes...

I did an ANOVA analysis looking at Population Density (Low/Medium/High) compared to Life Expectancy.

Hypothesis: Population/Longevity

H0 - There is no relationship between population density and life expectancy.

Ha - The NULL hypothesis is disproven.

My explanatory variable is UrbanPercent. This is categorical. My Response variable is lifeExpectancy - also categorical.

Here is my code...

Results...

The results suggest there is a significant relationship between population density and life expectancy. With a P value of <.0001, we can reject the null hypothesis. This MIGHT suggest that the more dense the population, the longer you live. Whilst this MIGHT be true, I can think of examples where it is not the case at all. Shanty towns surrounding big cities, for example, have high crime, little to no health care and terrible sanitary conditions. I seriously doubt that people in these dwellings enjoy a particularly high life-span. Adding even more population will likely make matters worse!

A little Moderation...

I suspect that there are a number of factors that are associated with denser populations that could also influence longevity. Well-developed cities may have better medical facilities, for example. Certainly people in the city proper, will have access to better hospitals. Also, people that live in cities tend to enjoy higher incomes. Perhaps income has a moderating effect on my original hypothesis?

To make this relatively simple, I've categorized my income data into Low/Medium/High Income levels. This is probably not ideal, but it simplifies the results somewhat. Here's the code...

The code produced some potentially interesting results. Here are a the ANOVA moderating results, based upon High, Medium and Low income...

Both High and Low Incomes seem to have significant p values (<.0001, 0.0053) with Medium scoring 0.6791. I believe that this suggests that income influences the relation between Urban Population and Life Expectancy, where people tend to earn either the least amount of money or the most. If you live in a shanty town AND are poor, you certainly will suffer a shorter life expectancy, compared to someone who lives in a city and has wealth, perhaps to pay for better food and medication.

[duckbeater]

KNIGHTS TROPICANA

I finally edited this to my satisfaction. It’s another I shared with Peter, who needs to send me more drawings (only when he has drawn something to his satisfaction!). I would say this is a short story more than it’s an essay, which means I’ve fictionalized 12% of it and barely changed the names.

—

A LOT OF THE MEN IN MY LIFE were undergoing strife of one variety or another. Hardly any of it professional. Shawn wanted a job in New York to keep tabs on his boyfriend, Bryan, who lived in Manhattan. They had the usual arrangement with caveats: while apart, they should enjoy sex with whomever they pleased, so long as it was never penetrative. Shawn lived in Chicago (a few neighborhoods from me), so he really had no way of policing their policy, no way of knowing for certain who was letting whom put what where. The normal jealousies creeped up. “People get drunk and caught up in the moment” was his suspicion, which deepened and blossomed. He often texted “am I crazy” before settling into hours of emotional, retrospective analysis. I was putting my counseling hat on a lot for the boys, which is pretty rich, when you think about it. It was like flirting. I assumed the outcome would be the same if I were flirting (sex), but it was much more work (and the outcome ended up being endearment and confusion). I put Kahlúa in my morning coffee and sort of buckled in for the ride.

Is paranoid an emotion? I googled that. For Shawn’s part, he was never having sex with anyone else. For Bryan’s part, he was always having sex. He loved Shawn, and when they spent long weekends together was slavishly devoted to his boyfriend’s every exquisite need. They illustrated this by sending me numerous blowjob Snaps and some clinically erotic Instagram stories. (I’m not sure why they hopped apps.) I was a cut-rate participant/observer, sending weak congratulations on their every orgasm. Weak but “deeply felt,” as the critics say. If I wasn’t in a grocery store getting these images, or at dinner with friends, or at my desk on a Tuesday morning, I might reply back with something saucier by way of encouragement. Playing Switch, numb in Hyrule, vaguely aware of Link’s swimmer’s physique under his cute climbing gear—then a bzzz. And then—twenty or so minutes of elating distraction while a dominating Shawn glazed a whimpering Bryan in mucilaginous ropes of semen. The epilogue to these displays? An eye crimped shut with cum.

Exhibiting couples are always checking in with each other, with their audience, with themselves. “Do you like that?” begets “Do you want this?” begets “Do you need it?” (I really needed it.) Yet rather than heightening sensations, the teleplay of desire squanders them by mangling the ordinary human rhythms of love and sex. The wait on replies alone (as I texted back, as I replayed videos, as I waited for future queries and titillations), was enough to distend all attraction to a gray space of null waiting—the erotic equivalence of a DMV. This was not satisfaction deferred, like edging; this was the bureaucracy of our devices, mandating thrills on a piecemeal hold, to give us time to wipe the lube off our palms before holding our phones again. (My phone was disgusting. Assume all phones are disgusting.) For Shawn and Bryan’s sex shows (I don’t know what else to call them), I settled into a holding pattern, with the fly of my jeans undone, a quickened pulse, and eventually... a hand on the TV remote. (Look: This was during Peak TV. I could be immersed in their most intense, most intimate moments, and also catch up on The Good Place. Besides, I wasn’t sure who else was a part of these broadcasts, who else was among my competitors [could I also follow them on Instagram?], and “the sex wasn’t the main thing anyway.”)

The sex, apparently, wasn’t the main thing, anyway. They wanted to grow old together, explained Bryan. They wanted kids, they wanted property, they wanted grandchildren. As their schedules permitted, they connected on life-affirming business trips—to Atlanta, to Reno, to Austin—while accruing the kinds of expenses that signify serious investment and total commitment. They shared a sensibility (a brand alignment) that showed through even in their most coordinated and winsome posts: a bright “togetherness” captured by strangers competently photographing them in an iPhone X’s portrait mode. Big smiles over barbecue. Shirts off in front of a Route 66 sign. Sometimes the faked focal length is annoyingly apparent, but never for them. The depth of their strife was commensurate with the strength of their devotion. It was enviable, its earnestness. “I love making Shawn laugh—I love hearing his laugh,” confided Bryan, once, back when we still Facetimed. I felt same.

At drinks with Shawn one night, a similar desire arose in me, the desire to fill him with glee—to draw out his rich, low, wagging laugh, with his hand on my thigh. I realized I wanted to be radiant at the exact moment of realizing I was subsisting—had been subsisting for months—on radiance’s shadow. I didn’t want to be the faint part of the moon illuminated by Shawn and Bryan’s earthshine, I didn’t even want to be the stupid, pockmarked, rinky-dink moon. Fuck the earth. Fuck the moon. I wanted to be the sun. I wanted a magnetic field for miles. I wanted to be white-hot charming, and focused, like a laser beam. I wanted to pierce Shawn with longing, ravaging his soul with a kind of diamond-tip precision. It would be like firing a flare gun, igniting our fates. It would be like some other flame- or light-related simile. I didn't mind feeling out of control for once, lusting like a mad man, impervious to restraint or decorum or good sense. He had illustrated, over a year of very triple-X texts, that we had no respect for good sense, at all. And, at last, there were no screens between us. Here I was, commuting three hours every day (my strife was professional), watching other passions on screens for three more hours, wondering if I could just have a small taste of that, a whiff, and here was the object of that manifestation, that torment and temptation. He grazed my knee with his knee. He broke off a piece of grilled cheese sandwich and fed it to me. I casually declined a second feeding.

Who is Shawn? He is two heads taller, plays tennis, keeps a trim beard, has curly short hair and white (but not bleach-white) buckteeth. A copy-writer for a very prominent ad agency. Actually the thing I want to describe isn’t physical, it’s cultural: he reads very straight (gauche to say this), and flirting with him in public, in crowded bars, felt like the gauche victory of seducing a straight man. We want our prizes won fair. I wanted to win a grand prize. I’ve seduced maybe one straight man? God. It felt really, really grand.

Because Shawn does improv comedy, he actually read me jokes that night, pulling up one and then another from a folder in his phone. These were spec headlines he’d written for The Onion (where I know the head writer) and some Vimeo-hosted productions for his agency portfolio. None of them made me laugh but that did not make him stop, because I kept my face warm and alert, and because I was quick to ask questions, questions that intimated close scrutiny—and also because my face is handsome. (I don’t know the preconditions. My face, however, is handsome.) At least I didn’t have to critique this one. He was a gentleman. What helped was that I had consumed a double whiskey before he met me at the bar and had volunteered double shots shortly after his arrival, and then nursed a strong cocktail thereafter. He asked me how my playwriting was going and I was happy to report that I was no longer a playwright, not even a pretend playwright! I was just a normal communications lackey for an emergent fintech company, building PowerPoint presentations that lowered company morale.

Did we have intimacy? I felt near blackout by dinner’s end, but then, I often felt near blackout that season, gripping the present as though it were a cliff’s edge. (The surf below sounded exciting. I could drop down there.) Déjà vu permeated our exchange. Even the grilled cheesed feeding felt prêt-à-porter. Batting his hand away from the second morsel, I remember thinking, “Why does dating suck this much? Why does getting to know anyone feel so hellish?” I recalled that I knew, in fact, Shawn intimately: the crimped thick purple veins of his dick, striations below his ass cheeks, his preference for boxers over briefs; I knew that he liked to humiliate his lover, and often called Bryan, during their love-making, repellently misogynist names. We had the kind of internetty intimacy that checks a lot of porn search engine boxes. It was entirely performative and it was entirely contained within the hidden folder of photos in our phones. We got along swimmingly in part because the absolute worst of ourselves had already been revealed. He was a narcissist. I was an idiot. But all of this information existed on axes of desire—was warped by that desire—and so wasn’t very truthful. (Maybe, I mean, “accurate.”) He wanted a lover close-by. He wanted to live with Bryan, to live with his soulmate. He needed me to confirm that soulmates were real. I needed him to confirm that the entire concept of a “soulmate” was a byproduct of dental insurance, a strong core, the Hallmark Channel, inside jokes, whatever. Sitting next to him at the bar, pummeled near-silent by his stand-up routine, I thought about the difficulty of getting anyone to love us for who we are, let alone loving us for our very worst selves. Shawn was so often his very worst self. Soulmates, in that case, must be real. I marveled at this drunken conclusion before succumbing to intense, silent sadness.

Shawn walked me partway home before sweeping me up, away, above—into the kiss of a lifetime. I’ve described to friends that I felt, momentarily, as though he were licking my eyeballs, touching every part of me with his lips and his tongue. I scrubbed his hair with my hands: wiry tight curls, perfectly coiffed, fragrant with product and softened, I think, by sleep. He pressed a steady erection against my hip and held my hand to his boner, so I could feel the arrow-tip shape of his cock head. We breathed sourly against the other’s neck. He whispered in a hoarse drag into the conch of my ear, “What’s your friend’s email at The Onion?”

[fedorasaurus]

Pokémon Character Analysis: Aether President Lusamine

I haven’t yet finished playing Pokémon Moon (between my 3DS’s poor battery life and having to level up my party considerably to stand a chance against these last couple of battles, I haven’t felt super motivated lately), but I recently got through the climax of the story, and I have a couple of thoughts.

Obviously, this involves discussing some major spoilers, so I’ll see you guys below the pagebreak!

—

Let’s jump right into it: I love that Lusamine was the real villain. I love it even if I did see the twist coming early on (Guzma and his Team Skull goons are just ridiculous thugs; if anything, it just shows that Alola is such a peaceful country that even common street punks are enough to stress locals out). Sure, Guzma is a bully who has a lot of emotional hurt and an aggressive idea about how to help the kids in his community, but it was Lusamine who had the wealth and the power and the oh-so-offputting motherliness to make an evil scheme become a reality.

Here’s what I love about her as a villain: she isn’t in this for money and power like Giovanni, or for manipulative control/domination like Ghetsis, or even for anything as grandiose as changing the structure of the planet/reality as we know it (in the case of Teams Aqua, Magma, and Galactic). Lusamine as a villain is more of… a self-help book’s suggestion to “surround yourself with people and things that make you happy,” to an extreme and therefore toxic degree. She doesn’t want to outright change the world or control and steal from its people for personal gain, but she IS willing to abandon her children for creatures that she perceives as “more beautiful,” and in a way, that is far more villainous. She is motivated by love for the Ultra Beasts and a lack of love for her own family.

Skull Boss Guzma becomes nothing more than hired muscle to help Lusamine further her plans, and she doesn’t give a damn how much the already-troubled guy suffers in the Ultra Dimension as a result.

Combine that with the shady experiments that the Aether Foundation was involved with (Type: Null comes to mind, which is not only a creepy non-name for a pokémon, but the jarring chimera-like appearance of the thing looks like it doesn’t even belong in this series–or anywhere), and it’s a wonder that Lillie had the heart to… maybe not forgive her mother’s actions, but at least be willing/determined to help Lusamine and give her another chance.

While I strongly connect with this theme of giving bad people an opportunity to redeem themselves, I have to say that Gladion’s anger is ENTIRELY justified. How DARE their mother treat them like her pretty little possessions? How DARE his sister leave him behind to face the full force of Lusamine’s anger and disgust over Lillie disobeying and stealing from the Aether Foundation? And how, after all that, does Lillie have the guts to come back with the intention of HELPING their mother? Screw Lusamine, let her live in her alternate dimension with her weird alien monsters that make her happy, where she can’t do anything to hurt anyone on our plane of existence.

It’s a valid thought born from valid emotions, and it’s why I respect Lillie so much for being able to not only overcome her pain, but to turn it into something good, for herself, for her brother, and for her mother. I don’t see so much an anger from Lillie as I do a confidence to stand her ground and speak her mind, to basically tell her parent that “despite your authority over me, what you are doing is wrong. I want you to understand that and I want you to do better. I have changed and I know you can too.”

I don’t know if I’m reading into it too much, but I have so many emotions about this family.

That said, I think the execution of the climactic scene could have been a little more involved. This whole end part of the game feels less complete than the rest of it, as though they were approaching a deadline and just threw together whatever they had by the last minute. Alola’s “Victory Road” is small and easy to traverse, and similarly, the Ultra Dimension that the story spent so much time hyping ended up just being a long creepy tunnel as a means to a final battle with Lusamine (who sports a freaky eldritch-horror-like design––a nice touch!). I think they could have included a bit more content to make the payoff satisfying, is all.

Don’t just have Lusamine tell us that she came here to be surrounded by beautiful things, show us an otherworldly fortress guarded by monsters that defy explanation. Give us a taste of the terror that Guzma experienced when the creatures entered his body. Give us a chance to really explore the Ultra Beast homeworld. Giratina’s Reverse World from Platinum Version comes to mind, and while I also thought that segment was disappointingly brief, it at least gave the player a chance to solve a few puzzles and navigate through phantom plants and upside-down waterfalls before the final showdown. I guess I had hoped that Lusamine’s little pocket of alternate-dimension weirdness would be like that but longer.

I should reiterate now that my criticism about the final encounter with Lusamine doesn’t take away from my feelings about her as a character. GameFreak did an amazing job with this one. Plus, how cool is it to finally have a female pokèvillain!

[caplofan]

The Unreasonable Importance of Data Preparation in 2020

The Unreasonable Importance of Data Preparation in 2020

In a world focused on buzzword-driven models and algorithms, you’d be forgiven for forgetting about the unreasonable importance of data preparation and quality: your models are only as good as the data you feed them.

This is the garbage in, garbage out principle: flawed data going in leads to flawed results, algorithms, and business decisions. If a self-driving car’s decision-making algorithm is trained on data of traffic collected during the day, you wouldn’t put it on the roads at night.

To take it a step further, if such an algorithm is trained in an environment with cars driven by humans, how can you expect it to perform well on roads with other self-driving cars?

Beyond the autonomous driving example described, the “garbage in” side of the equation can take many forms—for example, incorrectly entered data, poorly packaged data, and data collected incorrectly, more of which we’ll address below.

When executives ask me how to approach an AI transformation, I show them Monica Rogati’s AI Hierarchy of Needs, which has AI at the top, and everything is built upon the foundation of data (Rogati is a data science and AI advisor, former VP of data at Jawbone, and former LinkedIn data scientist):

AI Hierarchy of Needs 2020

Image courtesy of Monica Rogati, used with permission.

Why is high-quality and accessible data foundational?

If you’re basing business decisions on dashboards or the results of online experiments, you need to have the right data.

On the machine learning side, we are entering what Andrei Karpathy, director of AI at Tesla, dubs the Software 2.0 era, a new paradigm for software where machine learning and AI require less focus on writing code and more on configuring, selecting inputs, and iterating through data to create higher level models that learn from the data we give them.

In this new world, data has become a first-class citizen, where computation becomes increasingly probabilistic and programs no longer do the same thing each time they run.

The model and the data specification become more important than the code.

Collecting the right data requires a principled approach that is a function of your business question.

Data collected for one purpose can have limited use for other questions.

The assumed value of data is a myth leading to inflated valuations of start-ups capturing said data. John Myles White, data scientist and engineering manager at Facebook, wrote:

The biggest risk I see with data science projects is that analyzing data per se is generally a bad thing.

Generating data with a pre-specified analysis plan and running that analysis is good. Re-analyzing existing data is often very bad.”

John is drawing attention to thinking carefully about what you hope to get out of the data, what question you hope to answer, what biases may exist, and what you need to correct before jumping in with an analysis[1].

With the right mindset, you can get a lot out of analyzing existing data—for example, descriptive data is often quite useful for early-stage companies[2].

Not too long ago, “save everything” was a common maxim in tech; you never knew if you might need the data. However, attempting to repurpose pre-existing data can muddy the water by shifting the semantics from why the data was collected to the question you hope to answer. In particular, determining causation from correlation can be difficult.

For example, a pre-existing correlation pulled from an organization’s database should be tested in a new experiment and not assumed to imply causation[3], instead of this commonly encountered pattern in tech:

A large fraction of users that do X do Z Z is good Let’s get everybody to do X

Correlation in existing data is evidence for causation that then needs to be verified by collecting more data.

The same challenge plagues scientific research. Take the case of Brian Wansink, former head of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, who stepped down after a Cornell faculty review reported he “committed academic misconduct in his research and scholarship, including misreporting of research data, problematic statistical techniques [and] failure to properly document and preserve research results.” One of his more egregious errors was to continually test already collected data for new hypotheses until one stuck, after his initial hypothesis failed[4]. NPR put it well: “the gold standard of scientific studies is to make a single hypothesis, gather data to test it, and analyze the results to see if it holds up. By Wansink’s own admission in the blog post, that’s not what happened in his lab.” He continually tried to fit new hypotheses unrelated to why he collected the data until he got a null hypothesis with an acceptable p-value—a perversion of the scientific method.

Data professionals spend an inordinate amount on time cleaning, repairing, and preparing data

Before you even think about sophisticated modeling, state-of-the-art machine learning, and AI, you need to make sure your data is ready for analysis—this is the realm of data preparation. You may picture data scientists building machine learning models all day, but the common trope that they spend 80% of their time on data preparation is closer to the truth.

common trope that data scientists spend 80% of their time on data preparation 2020

This is old news in many ways, but it’s old news that still plagues us: a recent O’Reilly survey found that lack of data or data quality issues was one of the main bottlenecks for further AI adoption for companies at the AI evaluation stage and was the main bottleneck for companies with mature AI practices.

Good quality datasets are all alike, but every low-quality dataset is low-quality in its own way[5]. Data can be low-quality if:

It doesn’t fit your question or its collection wasn’t carefully considered; It’s erroneous (it may say “cicago” for a location), inconsistent (it may say “cicago” in one place and “Chicago” in another), or missing; It’s good data but packaged in an atrocious way—e.g., it’s stored across a range of siloed databases in an organization; It requires human labeling to be useful (such as manually labeling emails as “spam” or “not” for a spam detection algorithm).

This definition of low-quality data defines quality as a function of how much work is required to get the data into an analysis-ready form. Look at the responses to my tweet for data quality nightmares that modern data professionals grapple with.

The importance of automating data preparation

Most of the conversation around AI automation involves automating machine learning models, a field known as AutoML.

This is important: consider how many modern models need to operate at scale and in real time (such as Google’s search engine and the relevant tweets that Twitter surfaces in your feed). We also need to be talking about automation of all steps in the data science workflow/pipeline, including those at the start. Why is it important to automate data preparation?

It occupies an inordinate amount of time for data professionals. Data drudgery automation in the era of data smog will free data scientists up for doing more interesting, creative work (such as modeling or interfacing with business questions and insights). “76% of data scientists view data preparation as the least enjoyable part of their work,” according to a CrowdFlower survey.

A series of subjective data preparation micro-decisions can bias your analysis. For example, one analyst may throw out data with missing values, another may infer the missing values. For more on how micro-decisions in analysis can impact results, I recommend Many Analysts, One Data Set: Making Transparent How Variations in Analytic Choices Affect Results[6] (note that the analytical micro-decisions in this study are not only data preparation decisions).

Automating data preparation won’t necessarily remove such bias, but it will make it systematic, discoverable, auditable, unit-testable, and correctable. Model results will then be less reliant on individuals making hundreds of micro-decisions.

An added benefit is that the work will be reproducible and robust, in the sense that somebody else (say, in another department) can reproduce the analysis and get the same results[7];

For the increasing number of real-time algorithms in production, humans need to be taken out of the loop at runtime as much as possible (and perhaps be kept in the loop more as algorithmic managers): when you use Siri to make a reservation on OpenTable by asking for a table for four at a nearby Italian restaurant tonight, there’s a speech-to-text model, a geographic search model, and a restaurant-matching model, all working together in real time.

No data analysts/scientists work on this data pipeline as everything must happen in real time, requiring an automated data preparation and data quality workflow (e.g., to resolve if I say “eye-talian” instead of “it-atian”).

The third point above speaks more generally to the need for automation around all parts of the data science workflow. This need will grow as smart devices, IoT, voice assistants, drones, and augmented and virtual reality become more prevalent.

Automation represents a specific case of democratization, making data skills easily accessible for the broader population. Democratization involves both education (which I focus on in my work at DataCamp) and developing tools that many people can use.

Understanding the importance of general automation and democratization of all parts of the DS/ML/AI workflow, it’s important to recognize that we’ve done pretty well at democratizing data collection and gathering, modeling[8], and data reporting[9], but what remains stubbornly difficult is the whole process of preparing the data.

Modern tools for automating data cleaning and data preparation

We’re seeing the emergence of modern tools for automated data cleaning and preparation, such as HoloClean and Snorkel coming from Christopher Ré’s group at Stanford.

HoloClean decouples the task of data cleaning into error detection (such as recognizing that the location “cicago” is erroneous) and repairing erroneous data (such as changing “cicago” to “Chicago”), and formalizes the fact that “data cleaning is a statistical learning and inference problem.”

All data analysis and data science work is a combination of data, assumptions, and prior knowledge. So when you’re missing data or have “low-quality data,” you use assumptions, statistics, and inference to repair your data.

HoloClean performs this automatically in a principled, statistical manner. All the user needs to do is “to specify high-level assertions that capture their domain expertise with respect to invariants that the input data needs to satisfy. No other supervision is required!”

The HoloClean team also has a system for automating the “building and managing [of] training datasets without manual labeling” called Snorkel. Having correctly labeled data is a key part of preparing data to build machine learning models[10].

As more and more data is generated, manually labeling it is unfeasible.

Snorkel provides a way to automate labeling, using a modern paradigm called data programming, in which users are able to “inject domain information [or heuristics] into machine learning models in higher level, higher bandwidth ways than manually labeling thousands or millions of individual data points.”

Researchers at Google AI have adapted Snorkel to label data at industrial/web scale and demonstrated its utility in three scenarios: topic classification, product classification, and real-time event classification.

Snorkel doesn’t stop at data labeling. It also allows you to automate two other key aspects of data preparation:

Data augmentation—that is, creating more labeled data. Consider an image recognition problem in which you are trying to detect cars in photos for your self-driving car algorithm.

Classically, you’ll need at least several thousand labeled photos for your training dataset. If you don’t have enough training data and it’s too expensive to manually collect and label more data, you can create more by rotating and reflecting your images.

Discovery of critical data subsets—for example, figuring out which subsets of your data really help to distinguish spam from non-spam.

These are two of many current examples of the augmented data preparation revolution, which includes products from IBM and DataRobot.

The future of data tooling and data preparation as a cultural challenge

So what does the future hold? In a world with an increasing number of models and algorithms in production, learning from large amounts of real-time streaming data, we need both education and tooling/products for domain experts to build, interact with, and audit the relevant data pipelines.

We’ve seen a lot of headway made in democratizing and automating data collection and building models. Just look at the emergence of drag-and-drop tools for machine learning workflows coming out of Google and Microsoft.

As we saw from the recent O’Reilly survey, data preparation and cleaning still take up a lot of time that data professionals don’t enjoy. For this reason, it’s exciting that we’re now starting to see headway in automated tooling for data cleaning and preparation. It will be interesting to see how this space grows and how the tools are adopted.

A bright future would see data preparation and data quality as first-class citizens in the data workflow, alongside machine learning, deep learning, and AI. Dealing with incorrect or missing data is unglamorous but necessary work.

It’s easy to justify working with data that’s obviously wrong; the only real surprise is the amount of time it takes. Understanding how to manage more subtle problems with data, such as data that reflects and perpetuates historical biases (for example, real estate redlining) is a more difficult organizational challenge.

This will require honest, open conversations in any organization around what data workflows actually look like.

The fact that business leaders are focused on predictive models and deep learning while data workers spend most of their time on data preparation is a cultural challenge, not a technical one. If this part of the data flow pipeline is going to be solved in the future, everybody needs to acknowledge and understand the challenge.

Original Source: The unreasonable importance of data preparation

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