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olderthannetfic · 6 months

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/746553097204203521/the-fandom-hates-women-response-to-lack-of-ff

The "fandom hates women" part of it comes from the fact that fandom as an entity just doesn't watch the kind of media that draws femslash, even if it ticks all of the boxes of things those very same people say they like. There are so many times I've watched a show that I've seen mega-popular Tumblr posts wishing existed, and then the fandom is so, so small comparatively and often in general. There have been superheroes, vampire/supernatural shows, fantasy shows, movies, books, the list goes on, that feel like they were generated out of Tumblr's desires for ideal fandom media, and everyone knows they're never going to attract anywhere near the same attention for fandom and fanworks because the common denominator just tends to be that if there isn't a full ensemble of attractive men to ship either with each other or with the women, fandom's not interested.

So it's not about prioritizing women in that sense, it's about people witnessing hypocrisy over and over again the second a show doesn't have a mostly-male ensemble. The people who are in these fandoms are frustrated that good faith attempts to get people interested are met with every excuse in the book that all eventually boils down to "I don't like watching stuff with women in it as much as I like watching stuff with men in it." And if that's how people feel about it... sometimes the conclusions are going to turn into the more uncharitable take of "fandom hates women."

Maybe, but whenever I see a "fandom hates women" reblog of my stuff, one or two reblogs further down the chain I get an overt TERF. I just had to go block several people today, in fact.

The first person to reblog with a comment like that is usually subtle, but their friends and friends of friends are not. The rhetoric that very quickly starts is the fandom equivalent of that "All the butches are becoming trans men! We're losing lesbians!" stuff.

Here's the thing: I've been in ten billion fandoms that were so awesome and fit fandom's supposed tastes to a T and yet no amount of promoting them could get anyone to try the canon. This goes for canons that are all men or all white men or all majority ethnicity men or whatever else.

The default state of media is to not engender a big fic fandom.

I agree that the rare outliers mostly follow certain patterns, but we extrapolate too far when we say that a lack of those patterns is why a fandom is small.

A fandom is small because that's the near-universal default.

Yes, a small slice of fandom consists of guilt-ridden queer fujoshi who say they want more f/f but don't make much of a move to make that happen. I tend to run into that a lot because of my own tastes and having friends who share those tastes.

Far more of fandom is people talking generally about how representation matters without saying they would personally join these fandoms if they existed.

Neither group is large enough to be the real reason some woman-heavy canon fails to take off to HP levels.

The real reason is not hypocrisy but the fact that most things don't take off like that. Most things without massive, massive audiences especially don't take off like that. And the very few things that do are flukes and don't actually predict that another similar thing will take off in the future.

Go to AO3's tag search. Search for all canonical fandom tags. Sort by uses and descending order.

Right now, I get 64,390 tags.

The first page, 50 tags, goes from HP with 497,845 works to the Thor movies with 59,266 works. By page 6, we're below 10 thousand works.

By the end of page 10, we're down to Labyrinth with 3,906.

Somewhere in the top 500 AO3 fandom tags (many of which are just franchise metatags for each other), we go all the way from megafandoms to medium size and down to relatively modest ones.

That's not a lot of room for a big f/f-heavy fandom given the trends in mainstream media and that mainstream media is where most really big fandoms come from.

I also notice that you're conflating a lack of desire to watch something that's primarily about women with a lack of desire to watch something that includes women.

There are tons of fans who want something more like The Mummy with a leading man and leading woman they love.

Granted, that's not me and that's not a lot of my fujoshi/slasher audience, but it's extraordinarily common. I know plenty of people who don't like canons that are only dudes, but since they also don't like canons that are only ladies and they don't ship f/f, this gets spun into "fandom hates women".

Let me be clear:

Conflating "lesbians" and "women" is a radfem position.

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kaylinalexanderbooks · 4 months

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OC questionnaire

Thanks to @elsie-writes here, @mysticstarlightduck here, @riverkaplan here, and @somethingclevermahogony here!

My previous questionnaires:

Robbie, Gwen, Maddie, Noelle, Jedi, and Kelsey here.

Carmen, George, Akash, Sam, Lexi, and Ash here.

Gabriel, Carla, Parker, Rose, Alex, and Ewan here.

Liam, Hye-Jin, Wendy, Wade, Issa, and CJ here.

Below the cut I will do: Teo, Niri, Jazlyn, Anathi!

#1- Teo

Do you believe in the paranormal?

“Sis, my boyfriend literally can heal a broken arm in seconds. You would not believe the shit I've seen Parker do just because Wade can heal him. Oh yeah, and Parker literally is an airbender. How can I not? If a vampire walked into the school I wouldn't blink.”

What oddly-specific T-shirt would you wear?

“This shirt that says ‘born to shit, forced to wipe,’ I want it so much you don't understand.”

Do you usually cry at sad moments or happy moments or both?

“Definitely sad moments. I mean, I would not put it past me to cry when happy, but I can't make it through sad movies, man. Not at all.”

#2- Niri

Where is your favorite place in the world?

“I have an easy answer to this. Carla and George have a quiet room in their house. I can go there if I feel too overwhelmed or if I want to be alone for a bit. The room also has good lighting. I like it if someone joins me, though usually just a few people at the same time. Otherwise my reason for going into the room is ruined. [He smiles slightly.] I like everyone in the Aequales. Although there is a lot of people.”

What food do you hate the most?

“I dislike pasta. Pasta is not bad. It tastes good. But the texture really bothers me. I cannot eat spaghetti.”

Do you like watching sunsets or sunrises?

“Yes. I 100-percent love sunsets and sunrises. I am an artist. Maybe that's the reason. I feel inspired. New day, too.”

#3- Jazlyn

If you could only wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?

“I would wear a tank top and shorts, easily. Why? Well, I think it would be fun, definitely make me stick out among the modest Utahns I'm forced to interact with. But also they show off how good of shape I'm in. And girl, I'm in good shape. It's hard to find pants for me, since I'm mostly legs. So why not show them off? I'd probably wear cute sandals, the necklace Ewan gave me, and my gorgeous hoop earrings.”

Who's the person you trust more than anyone else in the world?

“Obviously, Ewan. He is the kindest person I know. He would never do anything wrong.”

What's your dream job?

“I would actually find sales fun. I plan to get a marketing degree when I go to college next year. It seems fun to convince people what to buy.”

More Jazlyn: OC interview

#4- Anathi

Who in this world do you trust most, and why?

“... I guess Tyler. Kinda by default. He actually listens to me. Always kept promises, too. I relied on him for many reasons.”

What was your favorite place in the world when you were young

“The park. Where I could hang out with other kids. Before my powers kicked in.”

What is your favorite memory?

“When Tyler and I first met, we talked for hours. I would like to experience that feeling again.”

I haven't written for Anathi yet so this was probably only okay. Shorter responses are intentional tho

Your questions:

Tagging @writernopal @aziz-reads @mk-writes-stuff @romances-not-tragedies @little-peril-stories

@evilgabe29 @maggiekwest @chauceryfairytales @pluppsauthor @willtheweaver

@winterandwords @melpomene-grey @i-can-even-burn-salad @mysticstarlightduck @talesofsorrowandofruin

+ ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO DO THIS

How do you make decisions? Long deliberation, or impulse? Logic or emotions?

What is the best thing that could happen within five minutes after waking up? Does it signal that the entire day will be good?

Is there anything that you find difficult that you feel should be easy?

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy

#the secret portal #teaspoon #tsp #my ocs #oc tag game #oc questionnaire #writing tag game #teo nguyen #niri shyaka #jazlyn nyambura #anathi makeba #writers of tumblr #writers on tumblr #writing community #writing on tumblr #writeblr #writeblr community

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ronaldofandom · 2 years

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Wish I could be like you

My first rambheem fic - a short drabble.

No warnings. This is mostly Bheem soothing & comforting Ram :)

.......................................................

Ram was constantly amazed by Akhtar’s ability to find joy in little things. He was incapable of being sad for more than 5 mins. And it was impossible to remain sad around him. To see the unbridled joy on his face while chasing after a goat or eating biryani was so refreshing. But it also wrecked him at times because no matter what, he wasn’t capable of being so carefree and immersing himself in this child-like joy, even when he was around Akhtar. This ate away at him, a little to begin with, but more and more now as he spent more time in Akhtar’s company.

One day, when they were star gazing on Akhtar’s rooftop, lying down on thin sheets in the pleasant summer night breeze, Ram couldn’t help himself from broaching this subject.

‘Akhtar, can I ask you something?’

‘Of course, Anna. What is it?

‘How do you manage to be so happy and cheerful all the time?’ Ram just blurted it out.

Akhtar turned towards him slowly, a small smile appearing on his face. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I…isn’t it obvious what I mean? I have hardly seen you not cheerful or happy or beaming. It’s your natural state. Even if you move away from that briefly, you resort to your default setting quickly. You always seem to find the positives in life, no matter what happens with you or around you. Not just that, you can even uplift the mood of those around you without any conscious effort; by just being you. How Akhtar, just how?’

Akhtar’s smile widened, and he looked fondly at Ram. ‘Anna, you give me far too much credit. I am not some bundle of joy.’

Ram stared at him for a good ten seconds, speechless, wondering how much he could share at that moment. If only he could say what Akhtar had done for him or why Ram was not capable of being like him.

‘I don’t know whether you are being modest or you are just downright silly.’ Ram stated, and Akhtar grinned widely.

‘Because you are very much a bundle of joy. To those who know you. To even strangers. And not just humans; I even see animals react to you fondly. From what I know, they only do that with truly pure and kind, and pleasant souls. You are that and a lot more.’ Akhtar slowly extended his hand towards Ram’s, silently urging him to go on. It was very rare for his Anna to express his feelings like this, and Akhtar wanted to hear every word.

‘Like that day when we traveled on your bike for hours to visit the puppet show you were so excited to watch. But we couldn’t enter since we reached late and the tickets were sold out. You pouted for a total of 5 seconds, then proceeded to enjoy the fair outside. You found a silver lining even then. Had it been me in your place, I would have sulked for hours and would have ruined our trip back. But not you. You bounced back immediately. It’s so amazing.’ Ram kept rambling. His conscious brain hadn’t realized how Akhtar was gently caressing his hand, but his subconscious self was silently drawing comfort and assurance from the gesture.

‘Look at the effect you have on others. Take me, for example. Believe me, when I say this - all this is not my natural behavior Akhtar. I don’t go on casual strolls or treks. I don’t do star gazing. I don’t visit the markets and fairs for fun. I don’t eat five times a day just coz I feel like it. I don’t chase after goats and squirrels and rabbits. I don’t go to others’ houses for lunches and dinners. What I am with you - sometimes I don’t recognize that person. Because I haven’t been that person for ages. Since forever. I have so many things to worry about, to think about, and to plan about. So many responsibilities. But it’s like my mind is bereft of all these thoughts and worries when you show up at my doorstep. How do you do this? I don’t understand how this is even possible.’ Ram drew in a huge breath, finally finishing his rant. It was only now that he looked down to see their entwined hands.

‘Hmmm, that was something.’ Akhtar continued to smile at him.

‘It’s very simple, Anna. I don’t really have a secret to my happiness. I just feel that life is actually very straightforward. We make it complicated by overthinking. There are some things in life you can control. And the rest are in the hands of the universe. What you can control, you should try your best there. Even if you don’t get the desired result, you will still be at peace if you know you have given your best shot. The other things, which you can’t control, what’s the point of worrying over them or sulking over them? Like that day at the puppet show, we reached before time, but other people had come even sooner. We couldn’t possibly anticipate that; it was just something that was not meant to be. So why get upset over it? Instead, we got to enjoy the fair, which we wouldn’t have gotten the time for had we attended the puppet show. And maybe the fair was more enjoyable than the show, so the universe guided us towards that.’ Akhtar went on, all the while gazing into Ram’s eyes. Ram was transfixed, holding on to every word.

‘Happiness is a choice, Anna. Being cheerful is a state of mind. Things will never go fully according to plan. There will always be things not going your way. But if those things are not in your control, then that’s how the universe intended them to be. It is god’s wish, and we should just accept it and deal with it. Of course, god only helps those who help themselves, so we should always have persistence, grit, and determination. But in most cases, we need to surrender to the will of the universe and accept our fate, even when it may feel that the universe is conspiring against us. Because god does have a plan for everyone. The more you resist, the more you stay in denial - the more sad, unfulfilled, and lonely you will feel. Acceptance is the first step towards happiness.’

Ram felt like he was in a therapy session. Each word was reaching straight to his heart and soul. Actually, no therapist could have done this for him. Only someone who is a beautiful human being (like his Akhtar) and who genuinely cared for him (like his Akhtar) could reach him like this.

‘Let’s take tonight as an example. You said you have a lot of responsibilities and worries. Well, guess what? I do too. But I know that right now, at this moment, there is nothing else that I can do to further my objectives. So I choose to enjoy the divinity of Mother Nature and soak in this beautiful night. Anna, remember you told me about the planets and solar systems and galaxies? And you said that all other planets are inhabitable, from what scientists have been able to discover so far. And even if there is a tiny bit of change in the atmospheric balance, Earth will collapse, and all mass will evaporate. Think about it - isn’t it something we should be immensely grateful for? That nature settled us on the only place where humans would survive and thrive. And not just that, it is maintaining a fine balance to keep us alive. We are all creations of nature and will dissolve in it. That, for me, is amazing. It is something I am always mindful of and thankful for. As should everyone. As should you, Anna.’

‘I know people have a lot of fears and insecurities. I am not for a moment saying that they are trivial and they shouldn’t bother us. Some are worried about being alone for the rest of their lives. Some have financial limitations. Some have health issues. One should try his best to claw out of one’s miseries. Like a broken record, though, I will repeat that we need to make our peace with some of these things and not fight them. You can’t fight the universe or your destiny - some things are just not meant to be. Let go in those cases - it will give you an immense sense of peace, freedom, and empowerment. Accept your flaws, accept your circumstances, and work for your objectives but please stop to enjoy the little things in life. Don't be so hard on yourself. Don’t let life pass you by.’

Ram hadn’t realized when his eyes had welled up. He guessed it was when there was a mention of loneliness - that was his biggest fear - being alone for the rest of his life. And worse, losing a loved one again. Which is why he never let anyone close to his heart.

Akhtar had struck a chord so deep that Ram’s emotions had flooded out in tears. The moment Akhtar realized, he jumped up and sat beside Ram, slowly wiping his tears and caressing his cheeks. He could sense that Ram had suffered from great pain, something he wasn’t ready to talk about, so he didn’t probe him on that. He just wanted to be there for him, providing whatever little comfort he could. Silent tears kept escaping Ram for a bit, and Akhtar comforted him through it all. For a change, though, his tears were mixed with hope. Maybe all was not lost. Maybe whatever happened with him was some twisted plan of the universe, but with a silver lining at the end. Maybe he could love again. Maybe he could feel things again and even be at peace. Maybe he could have a happy ending after all…

.............................................................................

That was my first attempt at Rambheem - look forward to your thoughts, as always :)

I was feeling a bit down and started writing this with the idea of Bheem comforting Ram, and ended up drawing comfort from their conversation. My Bheem works magic in real life also!!!

@irisesforyoureyes @rambheem-is-real @thewinchestergirl1208 @eremin0109 @eenadu-varthalu @rorapostsbl @anyavaramyr @yehsahihai @voidsteffy @budugu @burningsheepcrown @chaotic-moonlight @alien-chicken-baby @rasnak2 @darlingletshurttonight @fadedscarlets @foxglovedforest @jeonmahi1864 @kafkaesquebestie @hufhkbgg @how-is-it-in-london @idk-abt-life @hissterical-nyaan @maraudersbitchesassemble @fangirlshrewt97 @juhiiiiii @justmeand-myinsight @kalavathi @mikabilis @seherie @rambheemisgoated @rosayounan @jrntrtitties @obsessedtoafault @rambheemlove @jjwolfesworld @alikokinav @iam-siriuslysher-lokid @bromance-minus-the-b @ramcharantitties @dumdaradumdaradum @lovingperfectionwonderland @the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see @annieginny @komurambheemudo @chaanv @ssabriel @sally-for-sally @stanleykubricks @stuckyandlarrystuff @bitchy-bi-trash @milla984 @ronaldofandom @daphneofhastings

#rrr #bheem #ram #rambheem #tarak #charan #jr ntr #charak #angst #love #bheemjenny #jenny

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emelkae · 1 year

Note

for the tech asks (hehe) 3 for Sharpe and Claw and 14 for all the War Machines

From this ask game

3. Do they use nicknames for their contacts or do they list contacts by full name?

Sharpe's phone names for Claw were:

Claw

Nuisance

Mother Hen

Sergeant Wannabe - after the events of a prequel scene I'm brainstorming

Something vulgar in response to some of Claw's names for him

and then back to Claw

Claw's names for Sharpe evolved like this:

Sharpeye

Sharpe

Walking Target - as a retaliation for being called a Nuisance

Baby Chick - when he noticed Sharpe put him in his phone as Mother Hen

Scaredy - he put that one in after he started pranking Sharpe during battles

Splinters - since he kept getting shot out of trees

Soldier - it stayed as Soldier for a long time

14. You’ve just stumbled across their tumblr blog! Describe it.

Circuit: Uses Tumblr as a sort of repository. Despite his minimalistic theme, his posts are long-winded and riddled with links to sources. He loves to hunt down misinformative posts and correct them, not in a mean way but in an attempt to stop the spread of misinformation. People start tagging him in things to ask him if they're true, basically using him as a search engine - which he loves.

Sharpe: An empty blog with a default pfp. It's gotten him on a few block lists, but that doesn't deter him from lurking.

Lug: Loads of cute animal pictures interspersed with gifs of wrestling matches. He'll also reblog any indie musical artist trying to get their start. He gained a lot of followers and popularity during the shanty trend after he posted videos of himself singing, getting Mobo to help him stitch Tiktok duet videos together. He has lots of friendly interactions with his fan base.

Claw: He reblogs things the other War Machines post, but he rarely makes posts of his own. Really only uses Tumblr to see what the others are up to.

Mobo: He runs a fandom blog, a faceless YouTube channel, and a Tiktok, and he's actually really good at juggling them all. He posts long video essays about fan theories for scifi shows, using obscure lore and behind-the-scenes facts to back himself up. His knowledge of SEO and his occasionally coarse way of speaking have earned him a modest following.

#not me putting way too much effort into imagining what the robot boys' Tumblr blogs would look like #thanks for the ask!#me.#avrablake #ask game

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authorsebooks · 5 months

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The Secret Benefits of Fractionalized Private Money Lending: A Wise Investing Decision.

Finding investing options that offer both security and profitability is a never-ending endeavor. Fractionalized private money lending stands out as a financial innovation in the midst of this chase, providing investors with a means to diversify their portfolios and earn significant profits. But what is fractionalized private money lending, and why is it something that investors ought to think about?

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The possibility of stable and alluring profits is one of the main benefits of fractionalized private money lending. Fractionalized lending, in contrast to conventional investing routes that could produce modest gains, frequently offers higher interest rates, giving investors a consistent flow of revenue. Furthermore, compared to other types of investments, these loans have fewer default risks because they are usually asset-backed and have a short term.

Moreover, fractionalized private money lending provides investors with a degree of transparency and control that is frequently absent from traditional investment channels. The flexibility to choose which real estate projects to support gives investors the chance to customize their investment plans to fit their tastes and risk tolerance. Investor confidence and trust are also increased by the regular updates investors receive on the performance of their assets.

The potential of fractionalized private money lending to give investors access to a hitherto unattainable asset class is another attractive feature. Real estate has long been sought after by investors due to its reputation for producing significant riches. However, many have refrained from entering this profitable sector because to the significant barriers to entry, which include large cash requirements and property management experience. By getting over these restrictions, fractionalized financing enables investors to engage in real estate ventures with smaller initial outlays and no responsibility for property management.

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Fractionalized private money lending is a strong solution that is worth taking into consideration as investors want to diversify their holdings and optimize returns in a constantly changing financial environment. It's a sensible option for investors who want to step up their investing strategies because of its potential for excellent returns, control and transparency, accessibility to real estate investments, and positive societal impact.

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jcmarchi · 6 months

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Accelerating Large Language Model Inference: Techniques for Efficient Deployment

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/accelerating-large-language-model-inference-techniques-for-efficient-deployment/

Accelerating Large Language Model Inference: Techniques for Efficient Deployment

Large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4, LLaMA, and PaLM are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with natural language processing. However, deploying these massive models to production environments presents significant challenges in terms of computational requirements, memory usage, latency, and cost. As LLMs continue to grow larger and more capable, optimizing their inference performance is critical for real-world applications.

In this technical deep dive, we’ll explore cutting-edge techniques for accelerating LLM inference, enabling faster response times, higher throughput, and more efficient utilization of hardware resources. We’ll cover methods ranging from numerical precision techniques and novel attention mechanisms to architectural innovations tailored explicitly for efficient text generation.

Let’s start by understanding why LLM inference is so challenging compared to traditional NLP models.

The Inference Challenge with Large Language Models

Before the advent of LLMs, natural language processing relied on smaller models focused on specific tasks like text classification, named entity recognition, and sentiment analysis. While still computationally intensive, these models could be deployed on modest hardware and followed relatively straightforward inference processes.

LLMs, on the other hand, represent a paradigm shift. These models are trained on vast datasets using billions of parameters, enabling them to perform a wide range of language tasks with remarkable proficiency. However, this power comes at a cost – dramatically increased computational demands during both training and inference.

One key challenge is the autoregressive nature of text generation with LLMs. To produce human-like text, these models predict one token (word or subword) at a time, with each new token depending on the previously generated output. This sequential dependency prevents efficient parallelization and results in computational requirements that scale polynomially with sequence length.

Additionally, LLMs often require long input sequences (prompts) to establish the necessary context for high-quality text generation. Longer input lengths demand more memory to store intermediate states and attention matrices, further straining hardware resources.

With these unique challenges, traditional optimization techniques like quantization and static computation graphs can fall short, struggling to maintain LLM performance while delivering meaningful speedups. Let’s dive into some of the key strategies tailored explicitly for accelerating LLM inference.

Numerical Precision Techniques

From 32-Bit to 16-Bit Precision

One avenue for accelerating LLM inference is to leverage reduced numerical precision for model weights and activations. Modern deep learning frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow typically employ 32-bit floating-point (FP32) precision by default. However, research has shown that LLMs can often maintain high accuracy even when operating at lower precisions, such as 16-bit (FP16), 8-bit integers (INT8), or even 4-bit integers (INT4).

Reducing numerical precision offers several benefits:

Reduced Memory Footprint: Lower precision representations require less memory, allowing larger models or batch sizes to fit within the same hardware constraints.

Faster Computation: Many modern CPUs and GPUs provide specialized instructions and hardware acceleration for lower precision arithmetic, enabling significant speedups.

Improved Energy Efficiency: With smaller memory requirements and faster computations, lower precision inference can translate into reduced energy consumption – a crucial advantage for edge and mobile deployments.

While powerful, numerical precision techniques do introduce some accuracy loss compared to FP32 operation. The key is carefully evaluating this trade-off between computational gains and potential performance degradation for your specific use case.

There are two main approaches to quantization with LLMs:

Post-Training Quantization (PTQ): In this method, an LLM is first trained using standard FP32 precision. After training, the model weights are quantized (converted) to a lower precision format like INT8 or INT4. PTQ is straightforward to implement but can lead to greater accuracy drops.

Quantization-Aware Training (QAT): With QAT, the quantization process is simulated during the training phase itself. This allows the model to learn to compensate for quantization errors, minimizing accuracy degradation when the final quantized model is deployed. QAT is more involved but often yields better results compared to PTQ.

For practical application, one might leverage pre-quantized models available on platforms like Hugging Face, which hosts a variety of models optimized through different quantization methods. For instance, if a model quantized using Auto-GPTQ is desired, users can easily load it using Hugging Face’s transformers library. Additionally, to quantize a model, tools like AutoGPTQ can be utilized, which integrate seamlessly with existing libraries to compress the model efficiently.

Here is an example of loading a pre-quantized Llama-2-7b model using the Hugging Face transformers library:

from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer model_id = "TheBloke/Llama-2-7b-Chat-GPTQ" tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_id) model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained(model_id) And for custom quantization, one might follow these steps using the AutoGPTQ toolkit: from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer, GPTQConfig model_id = "llama-2-7b-original" tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_id) quantization_config = GPTQConfig(bits=4, dataset="your-dataset", tokenizer=tokenizer) model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained(model_id, quantization_config=quantization_config)

Remember that quantization might necessitate post-quantization fine-tuning or prompt engineering to maintain model quality. For new quantization, you can contribute back to the community by pushing your quantized models to platforms like Hugging Face.

Always ensure to balance between model size, computational requirements, and performance when selecting the quantization strategy for your specific use case.

The Flash Attention Algorithm

The multi-head attention mechanism is a core component of transformer-based LLMs, enabling the model to capture long-range dependencies and contextualized representations. However, this attention operation is computationally inefficient for autoregressive text generation, as it requires recomputing many of the same values for each new token.

The Flash Attention algorithm, introduced in the FlashAttention paper, provides a more memory-efficient and parallelization-friendly approach to the attention operation. Instead of recomputing attention values for each token, Flash Attention caches and reuses intermediate key/value matrices, avoiding redundant calculations.

This optimization not only reduces computational overhead but also improves memory access patterns, leading to better utilization of GPU memory bandwidth and parallelism.

While the details of Flash Attention are quite involved, the high-level idea is to decompose the attention operation into two phases:

Prefix Sum Embedding: This phase computes and caches key/value embeddings for all input tokens, enabling efficient reuse during generation.

Causal Attention: The actual attention operation, now optimized to leverage the cached key/value embeddings from the first phase.

By separating these phases, Flash Attention can take advantage of highly parallel GPU operations, significantly accelerating the attention bottleneck in LLM inference.

Here’s a brief, conceptual illustration of implementing Flash Attention with an LLM:

from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM import torch from flash_attention import flash_attention # Load an LLM like OctoCoder model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("bigcode/octocoder") # Sample system prompt that guides the model towards being a better coding assistant system_prompt = """... (system prompt details) ...""" # Preparing a longer input with the system prompt long_prompt = system_prompt + "Question: Please write a function in Python that transforms bytes to Gigabytes." # Converting the model for Flash Attention optimization model.to_bettertransformer() # Running the model with Flash Attention start_time = time.time() with torch.backends.cuda.sdp_kernel(enable_flash=True): result = model.generate(long_prompt, max_new_tokens=60) print(f"Generated in time.time() - start_time seconds.")

While Flash Attention offers impressive performance gains, it works within the existing transformer architecture. To fully unleash the potential of accelerated LLM inference, we need to explore architectural innovations tailored specifically for this task.

Pruning LLMs

Pruning LLMs is a technique to reduce model size while maintaining functionality. It uses a data-dependent estimator for weight importance based on Hessian matrix approximations. In pruning, less important weight groups are removed, then the model is fine-tuned to recover accuracy. The LLM-Pruner package offers scripts for pruning with various strategies supported. Pruning includes discovering dependencies, estimating group contributions, and a recovery stage involving brief post-training.

Here’s a simplified Python code example demonstrating the use of LLM-Pruner for a LLaMa model:

from transformers import AutoModelForSequenceClassification from pruning import LLMPruner # Load pre-trained LLaMa model model = AutoModelForSequenceClassification.from_pretrained("llama-base") # Initialize the pruner with desired configuration pruner = LLMPruner( model, pruning_ratio=0.25, block_mlp_layers=(4, 30), block_attention_layers=(4, 30), pruner_type='taylor' ) # Execute pruning pruned_model = pruner.prune() # Fine-tune the pruned model pruned_model.fine_tune(training_data)

This code sketch represents loading a pre-trained LLaMa model, setting up the pruner with specific configurations (like which layers to prune and the type of pruner), executing the pruning process, and finally, fine-tuning the pruned model.

Note that for an actual implementation, you would need to fill in details like the specific model name, paths to the data, and additional parameters for the fine-tuning process. Also, be aware that this code is a conceptual representation, and actual syntax may vary depending on the library and versions used.

Architectural Innovations for Efficient Text Generation

The transformer architecture, while highly effective for language modeling tasks, was designed as a general-purpose sequence-to-sequence model. When deploying LLMs for text generation tasks with long input contexts, researchers have found that more specialized architectures can significantly improve inference efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Here are some of the key architectural innovations enabling faster LLM inference:

Alibi: The Alibi architecture, introduced in the PAL-Instruction paper, separates the modeling of long input context from the text generation process itself. It uses a compressed representation of the input context (the “alibi”) to initialize the generation process, avoiding the need to process the full input sequence repeatedly during autoregressive generation.

Rotary Embeddings: Instead of using standard positional embeddings, the rotary embedding technique employs rotation matrices to encode positional information more efficiently. This approach has been shown to improve performance and enable processing of longer input sequences.

Multi-Query Attention (MQA): In traditional attention, each output token attends to the entire input sequence, resulting in redundant computation. MQA reformulates the attention operation to share computations across multiple output tokens, reducing overall complexity.

Multiquery attention

Grouped-Query-Attention (GQA): Building upon MQA, GQA groups output tokens into clusters and computes attention jointly for each cluster. This approach further reduces computational requirements while maintaining high-quality text generation.

While still in active research and development, these architectural innovations have demonstrated impressive speedups for LLM inference tasks, especially when combined with techniques like Flash Attention and numerical precision optimization.

Real-World Deployment Considerations

Beyond the core algorithms and architectures, there are several practical considerations and trade-offs to navigate when deploying LLMs to production environments:

Hardware Acceleration: While CPUs can handle LLM inference, GPUs and other accelerators like Google’s TPUs are essential for achieving high throughput and low latency. Choosing the right hardware and optimizing memory usage is crucial.

Batching and Parallelism: To fully leverage hardware parallelism, strategies like batched inference (processing multiple inputs simultaneously) and model parallelism (distributing an LLM across multiple devices) can significantly boost throughput.

Quantization vs. Quality Trade-Off: The degree of quantization (8-bit, 4-bit, etc.) will directly impact inference speed and memory usage, but also affects output quality. This trade-off must be carefully evaluated for each use case.

Model Distillation: An alternative to quantization, model distillation techniques can compress large LLMs into smaller, more efficient student models while retaining high accuracy.

Caching and Optimized Runtimes: Optimized deep learning runtimes like NVIDIA’s TensorRT and frameworks designed for LLM serving (e.g., MosaicML’s Composable Inference Suite) can provide significant performance boosts through techniques like operator fusion, kernel optimization, and intelligent caching strategies.

The path to optimal LLM deployment often involves combining multiple techniques while carefully considering the specific requirements of your application, infrastructure constraints, and performance targets.

Conclusion

As large language models continue their rapid evolution, accelerating their inference performance is becoming increasingly crucial for enabling real-world applications and democratizing access to these powerful AI capabilities.

In this technical guide, we explored cutting-edge techniques spanning numerical precision optimization, novel attention algorithms like Flash Attention, and architectural innovations tailored for efficient text generation. While each approach offers its own advantages, the true power often lies in combining multiple strategies while navigating the intricate trade-offs between speed, memory usage, and output quality.

Looking ahead, we can expect continued research and development in this domain, fueled by the insatiable demand for more capable and accessible LLMs. From hardware acceleration and model compression to entirely new architectures, the quest for efficient LLM inference remains an exciting frontier in the world of natural language processing and artificial intelligence.

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financing007 · 1 year

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What is Microcredit – Definition, Types and How it Works

Overview of microcredit and its significance

Microcredit, a revolutionary financial concept, extends its impact far beyond traditional banking. At its core, microcredit aims to uplift individuals, particularly those in underserved communities, by providing them with access to modest loans. These loans, often minimal in value, empower budding entrepreneurs, mostly women, to establish or expand small businesses, fostering economic self-sufficiency. The significance of microcredit lies not only in its financial assistance but also in its potential to break the cycle of poverty, promote gender equality, and fuel local economic growth. By bridging the gap between financial institutions and marginalized individuals, microcredit redefines the realm of possibilities, creating a pathway towards empowerment and inclusive development.

The role of microcredit in financial inclusion and poverty alleviation is paramount. Microcredit acts as a potent tool to extend financial services to those who have traditionally been excluded from mainstream banking due to lack of collateral or formal credit history. By offering small loans to individuals and communities with limited access to financial resources, microcredit enables them to start small businesses, generate income, and improve their living standards. This empowerment not only reduces dependency on informal moneylenders but also contributes to poverty alleviation by creating sustainable livelihoods. Moreover, microcredit often targets women, recognizing their potential to drive economic growth and social progress. As microcredit bridges the financial gap and promotes entrepreneurship at the grassroots level, it plays a pivotal role in fostering economic inclusion and uplifting disadvantaged communities.

Explaining microcredit as small-scale financial assistance

Microcredit operates as a lifeline of small-scale financial assistance that brings economic possibilities within reach for individuals who would otherwise be excluded from conventional banking systems. It revolves around extending modest loans, often without requiring extensive collateral or credit history, to those who lack access to formal financial services. These loans act as catalysts, enabling recipients to initiate micro-enterprises, pursue vocational training, or address immediate financial needs. The beauty of microcredit lies in its adaptability and accessibility, aligning with the diverse aspirations and circumstances of its beneficiaries.

Central to the concept of microcredit is its focus on low-income individuals and aspiring entrepreneurs. Microcredit institutions recognize that economic opportunities should not be confined by financial constraints. By specifically targeting those who lack the resources to secure conventional loans, microcredit creates a direct avenue for upward mobility. It empowers individuals to harness their skills, talents, and aspirations to create sustainable businesses that contribute to local economies. This inclusive approach fosters a sense of ownership and self-reliance among borrowers, gradually uplifting communities and promoting equitable growth.

Types of Microcredit

Group-based Microcredit :- Epitomized by the Grameen Bank model, introduces a collaborative approach to financial empowerment. Originating from the visionary efforts of Muhammad Yunus, this innovative concept recognizes the strength of collective responsibility in propelling economic progress. In this model, borrowers form small groups, where members act as both peers and guarantors for each other's loans. This setup fosters a sense of community and mutual support, while also reducing default risks. The Grameen Bank model's success lies not only in providing access to funds but also in nurturing a spirit of entrepreneurship and camaraderie, resulting in improved livelihoods and transformed social dynamics.

Individual microcredit :- Individual microcredit is a tailored approach to financial empowerment, catering to the unique aspirations and needs of individual borrowers. Unlike group-based models, individual microcredit extends loans to borrowers without the need for collective guarantees. This allows for more personalized financial solutions, enabling borrowers to pursue ventures that align with their skills and goals. Individual microcredit recognizes the diverse spectrum of entrepreneurship, providing resources for small-scale businesses, vocational training, and even basic needs. By offering autonomy and flexibility, this model fosters self-reliance and encourages borrowers to unleash their potential, ultimately contributing to local economic growth and self-sustainable development.

Agricultural Microcredit :- Agricultural microcredit is a pivotal tool in cultivating rural prosperity by providing financial assistance to farmers and agriculturists. This specialized form of microcredit recognizes the crucial role of agriculture in economies and livelihoods. It aims to address the unique challenges faced by those engaged in farming, offering loans for crop cultivation, livestock rearing, and equipment purchase. By extending credit to enhance agricultural productivity, this model enables farmers to invest in their land, improve yields, and increase income. Agricultural microcredit not only bolsters food security but also uplifts rural communities, fostering sustainable agricultural practices, reducing poverty, and contributing to the overall well-being of farming households.

The Process of Microcredit

The process of microcredit involves a structured approach to ensure effective utilization of funds and borrower empowerment:

1. Application and Assessment of Borrowers

Borrowers initiate the process by submitting loan applications, detailing their financial needs and intended use of funds. Microcredit institutions meticulously evaluate these applications, considering factors like income, creditworthiness, and the proposed business venture. This assessment aims to ascertain the feasibility of the borrower's plans and the ability to repay the loan. Additionally, some institutions emphasize financial education, equipping borrowers with essential knowledge to manage funds responsibly.

2. Loan Disbursement and Terms

Once borrowers are approved, microcredit institutions disburse the loans, often in small amounts tailored to the borrower's needs. The terms of the loan, including interest rates, repayment schedule, and any associated fees, are clearly communicated. Transparent terms ensure borrowers understand their financial obligations and can plan repayment effectively. Loans may be disbursed directly or through community-led mechanisms, depending on the model adopted.

3. Repayment and Recycling of Funds

Repayment begins according to the agreed-upon schedule. Microcredit Institutions often incorporate flexible repayment options aligned with borrowers' cash flows, which can vary due to seasonal income patterns. As borrowers repay their loans, the funds are recycled within the microcredit system. Repayments contribute to replenishing the available pool of funds, allowing more individuals to benefit from microcredit. This sustainable practice ensures a continuous cycle of lending and borrowing, creating a positive impact on borrowers' lives and the community as a whole.

The process of microcredit underscores the importance of financial literacy, responsible borrowing, and collaborative efforts to empower individuals and promote economic growth.

Impact of Microcredit

Microcredit's impact on empowering women and marginalized communities is undeniable. In societies where traditional norms may restrict women's economic participation, microcredit provides a transformative avenue. By gaining access to financial resources, women can launch their businesses, gain independence, and contribute to their families' well-being. This empowerment extends beyond financial realms, fostering self-confidence, decision-making abilities, and leadership skills. As women thrive economically, their status within their families and communities often elevates, catalyzing a positive cycle of change. Moreover, microcredit's targeted approach towards marginalized groups ensures that those often left on the fringes of development have the opportunity to break free from the cycle of poverty. It levels the playing field, granting them access to resources and the means to shape their destinies, ultimately creating more equitable societies.

The impact of microcredit extends beyond individual empowerment, permeating into local development. As borrowers launch businesses and invest in their communities, a ripple effect of economic growth occurs. These small-scale enterprises contribute to job creation, enhance local markets, and stimulate economic activity. Microcredit's focus on sustainability encourages borrowers to make environmentally conscious choices, fostering responsible practices that benefit both their businesses and the ecosystem. Additionally, as microcredit institutions often operate within the same communities they serve, they become hubs of knowledge, offering financial education, training, and technical assistance. This leads to enhanced skills, better business practices, and improved overall development. Through this intricate interplay of economic empowerment and local development, microcredit shapes the path towards vibrant, resilient communities.

Challenges and Criticisms Regarding High Interest Rates and Potential Debt Traps One significant challenge and criticism surrounding microcredit revolve around the issue of high interest rates and the potential for borrowers to fall into debt traps. While microcredit aims to provide access to finance for underserved populations, some microfinance institutions operate with interest rates that can be comparatively high due to the inherent risks involved and the costs of administering small loans. This can create a burden for borrowers, especially in situations where the terms are not fully understood or where borrowers lack the financial literacy to manage their debts effectively. In some cases, borrowers may take multiple loans to repay existing ones, leading to a cycle of indebtedness commonly referred to as a debt trap. To ensure the positive impact of microcredit, it is imperative for microfinance institutions to strike a balance between maintaining their financial sustainability and safeguarding borrowers from over-indebtedness, while also providing comprehensive financial education and support to borrowers.

Challenges and Criticisms Regarding creating Sustainable Livelihoods and Local Development Challenges and Criticisms regarding creating sustainable livelihoods and local development through microcredit primarily revolve around ensuring the long-term viability of the initiatives. One criticism is that while microcredit can jumpstart small businesses and generate income, the absence of broader infrastructural support and market linkages may limit the sustained growth of these enterprises. Additionally, the impact of microcredit on local development can be affected by external factors such as economic fluctuations, changing market demands, and even political instability. Critics argue that without comprehensive community development strategies, the effects of microcredit may remain localized, failing to contribute significantly to broader economic transformation. To address these challenges, microcredit programs should collaborate with local authorities and institutions, focus on skill-building and capacity enhancement, and foster linkages to larger markets. A holistic approach that combines microcredit with complementary interventions can lead to more robust and enduring local development outcomes. Conclusion

In conclusion, the concept of microcredit embodies a powerful force for change, transcending traditional financial models to empower individuals, families, and communities. Its impact goes beyond the realm of economic transactions, touching lives, fostering entrepreneurship, and igniting hope. As we've seen through the lens of "Mpower Credcure" and other microcredit institutions, this approach has the potential to create a symphony of transformation, lifting the marginalized, nurturing businesses, and nurturing sustainable livelihoods. The ripple effects of microcredit reverberate through gender equality, poverty reduction, and local development, painting a picture of inclusive economies that resonate with shared prosperity. The journey of microcredit is far from complete; it beckons for further exploration, innovation, and collaboration to unlock its full potential as a catalyst for building societies where every individual's aspirations can be realized, echoing the ethos of empowerment that "Mpower Credcure" and similar entities stand for.

#business loan company list #need financer for business #best business loan bank in india #Loan for New Company #apply for instant personal loan #personal loan quick approval #best personal loan offer #housing loan procedure #best home loan provider in india

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webmeridian · 2 years

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Success Story: Know-How Luis Created a Better Shopping Experience With Magento Upgrade from 2.3.x to 2.4.2

The article was initially published in WebMeridian blog.

One of Europe’s top video monitor and driving assistance systems producers is LUIS Technology GmbH.

Our customer is a German manufacturer that provides products to the following sectors:

logistics

municipal

agricultural

construction

passenger transport and long-distance transport

camping

cars

nautical

They focus on wireless reversing systems, turning assistants, 360° systems, cameras, monitors, and other cutting-edge staff for safe vehicle drivers working.

Client’s Challenges With Upgrading Magento Version

In a nutshell, the WebMeridian team’s main emphasis was upgrading Magento from version 2.2.6 to version 2.4.2 using customised and non-customised modules and delivering it to production.

What You Can Learn From This Story: Magento 2.4 Upgrade Steps and Tips

Your online store needs to upgrade to Magento. You should regularly improve your site if you want to boost your online sales.

The most recent Magento 2.4.2 version offers noteworthy improvements and new features like:

Improved purchase approvals

Reduced time-to-market

Enhanced shopfront performance

API performance has been improved.

Administration reaction time is now faster.

Enhanced the default search engine

Remote storage options are supported.

Reach out to us to learn more about Magento maintenance services to keep your eShop current if you are currently on an outdated platform and wish to benefit from Magento 2.

How to Upgrade Magento to 2.4

Review the extensive Magento 2.4 Upgrade Guide from Adobe first.

Verify sure you are utilising Magento 2.4-compatible versions by looking at your technological stack.

List all of the modules you’re using.

If you haven’t already, make sure to record any modifications you make.

Run the update a few times during dry runs in a modest environment.

After completing your initial local upgrade, you need to know which parts are performing well and which need to be improved.

Continue updating and testing locally as you rework any code.

Once everything appears to be in order locally, deploy the new code into an integration environment and have your QA team test it.

Customisation and Post-Migration Issues Solving

Post-Migration Support. The last step is to integrate your purchase history and client information so that you may seamlessly switch from the old site to the new site.

It takes time to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2. Usually, it takes three months. Naturally, this time limit may be extended if the site is challenging or highly personalised, especially if you encounter difficulties.

There are no error-free migration initiatives. Anything that can go wrong will if Murphy’s law is true. We may still attempt to stop it by taking action.

Our Point of View| Post Migration Challenges

Let’s examine the most common Magento 2 post-migration issues and how to address them in order to reduce technical difficulties and extra costs.

Many Unexpected Problems Might Arise After the Migration and Threaten the Stability of the Website

During the first week of the following go-live, the project delivery, SEO, UX, and data layer core teams continue to keep an eye on the website. Experts work closely with the client to guarantee that back-end operations are easy and that company indicators stay stable.

The Magento 1 Theme Is Incompatible With Magento 2

When you upgrade to Magento 2, you cannot keep your current theme. You’ll need to find a new one. To be more specific in my response, you will need to redo all of the shopfront modifications you made.

The Customisation That is Present in Magento 1 Must Be Re-written for Magento 2

Because Magento 1 and Magento 2 code is typically compatible, using the Code Migration Tool is one of the simplest methods to migrate your extensions and custom code. Even though it cannot guarantee error-free migration, it significantly speeds up the process.

A Website’s Speed May Drop if It Is Not Properly Optimised, Which Might Harm Its Organic Performance

A website may become slower and less trustworthy if it is not optimised because of huge graphics, shoddy scripting, too many plugins, and a bloated database. Site speed is another crucial element affecting a website’s natural success.

Migration Might Hurt Organic Traffic if It Is Not Handled Properly From the SEO Perspective

A website will comply with all best practices after a successful SEO migration, and the authority and ranking of the previous site will be carried over to the new one. URL mapping is among the most crucial elements of website transfer. Redirects must be set up in order to aid visitors and search engines in navigating the new site. When there are URL redirects, search engines will be aware of attributing page authority from backlinks, for example, to the new site.

New Integrations

Any CRM, ERP, or payment gateways that you have already integrated with your Magento will need to be redone. However, Magento 2 offers more default built-in connectors and supports more complex APIs. Suppliers also provide pre-made solutions for various integrations, necessitating just the configuration of an API Key and API Secret for a secure connection.

Don’t Forget to Upgrade to PHP 8

Your website utilises a particular version of the programming language called PHP. And it’s simple: New versions get support and enhancements, while older ones progressively fade away.

Furthermore, newer versions function more effectively, and most new programming solutions will probably be built on the most recent versions without backward compatibility with older versions.

In conclusion, you should use one of the supported PHP versions, if not the most recent one, for both performance and security.

If you are not using the most recent version, there are several risks that your store might be susceptible to cyber threats.

Just a handful of the PHP issues that might be problematic are:

directory transversal,

memory corruption,

DoS,

information gain,

code execution,

bypass,

overflow,

SQL injection,

HTTP response splitting,

and other security flaws

Therefore, choosing one of the supported PHP versions would be wise if you are not using the most recent version.

Open to learning more? Explore our latest article about how to upgrade to PHP8 properly.

The Solution — The Core Part of Our Companies’ Synergy

The whole scope of the WebMeridian team’s work includes the following:

Magento Upgrading to the latest version

Updating of all modules installed on the project

Development of custom modules for the new version of the website

Installing modules

HTML coding

Development of the product configurator

Quality assurance during the entire development and deployment process

Results

By upgrading Magento to the most recent version, you may benefit from the newest technology and provide your consumers with a better shopping experience. Your digital commerce firm will grow faster, and new doors will open as a result. The most recent Magento 2.4.2 version offers noteworthy improvements and new features like:

Improved purchase approvals

Reduced time-to-market

Enhanced shopfront performance

API performance has been improved.

Administration reaction time is now faster.

Enhanced the default search engine

Remote storage options are supported.

Final Words

It is normal to find the upgrading inconvenient and to feel overburdened by the entire process. You will receive complete support from WebMeridian while you upgrade to Magento 2.4. We would be happy to assess your needs and organisational requirements and provide a plan to satisfy them. Instead of delaying until it’s too late, we advise that you start the procedure as soon as you can.

#magento migration #magento migration services #magento #magento development company #magento developers

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nahasnature · 2 years

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Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare

#Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare mod

#Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare mods

#Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare tv

They needs to be rewriten with ACTUAL research of what they do and how they supposed to do it Reshade and SweetFX (even it suffers from tones of useless shaders with wrong implementation of configuration, but less) just bloated by broken shaders like this. Shader contributors should be more responsible for what they do and should not trow in every fancy shader they found wiithout real understanding of it. In almost every game and not option to turn all of this off and use correct colors instead. This gives people bad taste for graphics, and when hell lot of skyrim and gtav owners flooding internets with "cool looking" shots of crap with ruined colors, marketing devisions of companies takes thatĪs trend and pushing it to development division (sometime devs doing this dumb thing on their own) and then we get crap like lens flares, lens dirtt, 50 shades of grey, vignette and totally messed up colors but most of them just packed in as some fancy effects that wrongly implemented, does not serve their purpose and simply ruining colors.īut ofcourse internet kids turning all that crap on and thinking that 50 shades of grey they get in result are uber realistic graphics and super cool shaders that makes their bad looking game kinda "good".Īnd they dont really know what good is, as well as people who implemented such shaders in reshade disribution, people just trust that fancy shader is making something good by default.

#Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare tv

Mosto of those shaders supposed to solve color problem like banding, incorrect gamma, some of them adapted for tv with color range 16-235 and supposed to operate in that mode, other not supposed to be applied to RGBĪnd intended to be used with other color spaces. If you think you’ve found a bug please report it by leaving a comment or sending me a pm.Īll credits to Boris Vorontsov (ENBSeries) and CeeJay (SweetFX).Ĭlick on the PERMS button above to view permissions.Does anyone think this is desired and good looking result?īlacks and white are totally destroyed and whole picture is desaturated and dimmed as hell, this is not how filmic tonemap results should look, this is how /archives/75Īnd thats just one example of many - HPD, Watchdog tonemap (which is also form of filmic tonemap) are ruined, Reinhard applied to RGB instead of only luminance, Skyrim tonemap totally broken, spherical and so on The following effects do not work and using them may fail silently or throw compiler errors:Īny configuration that uses the depth buffer, for example: #define Ascii_input_image 2 // 1 = Color buffer, 2 = Depth buffer. Some effects are not currently working (see below). configs and all shader code) are untouched and behave exactly as they would under ReShade ĮNBSeries detects file changes and automatically updates while game is running I only wrote a new Sweet.fx file to integrate SweetFX’s shader library into ENBSeries Īll other files (eg. Same way you’ve always done it, by editing/replacing SweetFX_settings.txt Verify that EnablePostPassShader is checked and switch the technique to SweetFX on the parameters window. Launch the game and open ENBSeries menu (default shortcut is Shift+Enter) Open enbeffectpostpass.fx and add the following at the end: #include “Sweet.fx”

#Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare mod

How to add SweetFX functionality to an existing ENBSeries install:Ĭopy Sweet.fx file and SweetFX folder from this mod into folder where enbeffectpostpass.fx is located (usually at the game’s root or inside enbseries folder) toggles effect on/off and opens ENBSeries menu. (OPTIONAL) Configure enblocal.ini to suit your system Performance hit is low (between 1-3 fps) on my modest rig (GTX 670).Ĭopy the files from this mod into game folder ĭownload ENBSeries for Fallout 4 v0.287 and copy d3d11.dll and d3dcompiler_46e.dll into game folder Shadows are deeper but never crushed and highlights vibrant but not washed out. It’s essentially vanilla with enhanced contrast, slight color treatment and a bit of grain/vignette. The included preset is rather simple and constrained. Best of all, it doesn’t change the HUD and it’s captured by Steam screenshots!

#Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare mods

Can be used to improve the deployment of visual mods that use both libraries and may also help those who (like myself) have experienced poor performance using ReShade. This is both my personal preset and a resource for modders.Īllows the use of most SweetFX 2.0 filters from within the ENBSeries environment without the need for additional injectors.

#Skyrim sweetfx for lens flare

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mielmoto · 2 years

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𝑇𝑅𝐴𝐼𝑇𝑆 & 𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑅𝐴𝐶𝑇𝐸𝑅𝐼𝑆𝑇𝐼𝐶𝑆

repost & tag away !

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

honey would probably default to using words like ‘bisexual’ or stuff in conversation when it was the easiest possible alternative, but really she doesn’t see the point in pinning a specific word on it most of the time— she’s just interested in whoever, whenever, and that goes for romantic and sexual attraction. she does, at points, use the word “sapphic” in some conversations, mostly to reaffirm that, yes, she is interested in femme-presenting people, and even has a slight preference toward them. but also just because she thinks the flag is neat.

‘swearing’ is not a negative trait, get outta here

various ‘disorders’ highlighted for ADHD because, let’s be honest, it affects a lot of fields and is a pretty complex neurodevelopmental disorder, so any single tag wouldn’t quite fit.

i didn’t highlight ‘attempted to kill someone’ because i’d say it’s generally something honey would avoid but... y’know, use your discretion where verses would obviously lean otherwise (game verses like genshin, fire emblem, etc.)

#about.#details.#dash games.

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onecornerface · 2 years

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Against “drugs are bad”

“Drugs are bad” is propaganda.

Of course, there are many causal connections between many types of drug use and many types of health problems, including severe or fatal health problems. However, the “drugs are bad” notion is fundamentally inadequate to capture this complex reality. And this is, to a large degree, by design.

The dangers of drugs are hugely variable—highly sensitive to the type of drug, the manner of drug use, the social and economic contexts of drug use, and the physiology and mental health of the person. In all these ways, using drugs is a lot like having sex, driving automobiles, or engaging in sports. Relatively few people will unironically buy into notions like “sex is bad,” “automobiles are bad,” or “sports are bad.” These are blatantly ridiculous. Why hold “drugs” to a different standard than these other complex and variable activities?

(Even most religious puritans don’t think all sex is bad. Their screwed up views of sex are more complex than this. Also, there is a recent wave of anti-car sentiment [which I think is overdue for serious debate], but still not much tendency to condemn automobiles in anything like the sweeping way in which “drugs” have been condemned.)

“Drugs are bad” is a propaganda tool designed to short-circuit people’s ability or willingness to think critically and compassionately about difficult and complicated issues of risks and trade-offs. The idea is designed to make it seem okay for us to respond in invasive and coercive ways to other people who may have a diverse range of different values in how they make decisions about the risks and trade-offs in their own lives.

One of many giveaways here is that alcohol is arbitrarily defined as “not a drug” in many contexts—this is a flagrantly indefensible double standard. In theory, it is possible to come up with some rationally debatable grounds for treating alcohol differently than other drugs, or to bite some bullets and treat alcohol the same way. However, almost nobody does this, ever. Our society overwhelmingly treats alcohol exceptionalism as the default stance, even though it is obviously an extraordinary claim that should be required to carry a huge burden of proof.

This all goes to show that “drugs are bad” is a tool of cultural chauvinism whose message is, arbitrarily, that *some* people’s risk-taking activities are valuable and normal, while *other* people’s risk-taking activities are illegitimate and disgusting.

(I’m not sure how many people were saying “drugs are bad” in these exact words prior to the South Park meme. But the idea “drugs are bad” was long embodied in the idea that people should “say no to drugs” and that we should wage a “war on drugs,” etc. As an aside, I note that the US federal government largely stopped using the “war on drugs” terminology about 10 years ago, but this rhetorical shift was accompanied by only very modest policy shifts.)

The “drugs are bad” notion is largely designed to make it seem okay when the police and courts engage in lethal or life-ruining violence against millions of people of color, poor people, homeless people, and mentally ill or disabled people—as well as to deport and demonize millions of immigrants, lock up millions of citizens, spend billions of dollars to burn down farmers’ fields in South America, and to preserve a bigger and worse version of the prohibitionist policy that everyone knows already failed in the 1930s.

Of course, even if drugs were bad, these policies would be unjustified for many obvious reasons. On most topics, we recognize that even when X is bad, it is a further substantive question how public policy should respond to X-- and it is widely recognized that many kinds of public responses to bad things are unreasonable and unjust.

But the “drugs are bad” idea is still fundamentally a key component of a broader network of propaganda and ideology that fools people into justifying cruelty and idiocy, while dishonestly pretending to give them something like simple health advice. This is what “drugs are bad” really amounts to.

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vgprintads · 4 years

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And that’s a wrap!

Here we are... on the final page.

When I started this Tumblr back in 2013, I didn’t think there would be ‘room’ on the Internet for another video game blog. Another opinion to be drowned out by the masses; another “content curator” to fall down the cracks.

Surprisingly, it turns out that there is always an interest for video games and related media, even in the saturated ‘market’ of this niche of media commentators. Almost 29,000 denizens displayed an interest in what I had to offer, and I’m certain at least 2/3 of them weren’t bots. Seeing some posts get a modest amount of popularity for striking a nostalgic chord did make me feel that I was doing something right and for awhile I was thinking I would never stop doing this.

But times change. So do attitudes.

At the start of 2020 you may remember that I took a month off to recoup: to distance myself from online life for awhile. To get away from the drama and the comparisons that I have adopted as being a cultural norm. At the time, I had become burned out from digging up daily content and getting it ready for the week. When I came back, I knew that it was time to wind things down: almost everything I shared this year came from the draft folder with almost nothing special between them. After years of putting pressure on myself to take things a couple steps further with my finds (subtle links between games; monthly themes) I feel I had begun to phone in what had gone from a hobby to a data entry job that I didn’t get paid for.

And I’m going to miss it. But things aren’t how they were when I first started.

Which brings me to the world of social media as a whole, starting with Tumblr. Simply put, this place is the last of a dying breed and I don’t think it has much longer. The microblog with loose restrictions and a traditional blog format with the benefit of easier exposure. It was nice for awhile. But on top of the infamous adult ban and poor enforcement of it, the architecture is falling apart and I wouldn’t be surprised if the remaining staff at headquarters is a skeleton crew of bored techies and some suits pushing it all into Internet Hospice. It’s a shame, because as we know the other social media giants have evolved into nasty, unscrupulous little blights on civilization that are only tolerated by anyone who needs to hustle their craft.

Meanwhile, there’s my changing attitude towards... well, everything. I’ve been depressed long before I came here and that has evolved into bitterness, resentment, and even budding misanthropy. To spare you the rabbit hole of a emotion-driven rant, I’ll just say that I’ve defaulted back to the “why bother” state of mind that allows me to deflect responsibilities that I deem unnecessary, but now with far more nihilism. Or to put it another way, I need to sort a lot of things out. For that I need to cut myself away from what I have been doing and really find myself.

None of this is out of hatred for those who follow this blog or find its themes fascinating. You all did nothing wrong. Nothing will be deleted and will be here for your enjoyment for as long as the lights stay on at Tumblr HQ. I just burnt myself out big time and have collapsed into an emotional black hole.

There’s just.... so much stuff going on in my head these days. Things I can’t unlearn or unsee. For now, that requires more attention.

This has all been a bummer, I know. Some of you even expressed how much it sucks that another good Tumblr is closing down. Some off-site expressed how much niche blogs like this one make their days. I have even considered reviving this concept down the line once I feel comfortable doing so, but likely as a more traditional blog. So stay tuned! Maybe they’ll be an announcement one day!

But until that day comes, if it ever does, I wish for anyone who can give to support The Internet Archive and RetroMags, whose passionate archivists helped keep this project going and made finding daily updates easier. Additionally, for one last time, I’d like to advertise TangoBunny’s adult gaming zine TangoPunk, which I have humored contributing to.

Finally, to close all this out...

Thank You.

Thank you for accompanying me on this adventure for the past 7 years. For the responses, exposure, and feelings of purpose. For giving me the opportunity to learn so much about gaming culture.

Thank You.

Now go have fun, but be safe. Game on, but never forget the sweat and tears behind the media we consume. And never gaze into the abyss unless you absolutely understand the consequences.

In the name of Harman... ~Paulrus-Keaton?

#news #thank you so much for a'playing my game #isn't this where...

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the27percent · 2 years

Text

FIRST MEETINGS MEME A meme for first meetings and introduction threads, aka a ‘What you will notice about my muse first’ cheat sheet. Repost, don’t reblog. Bold what applies. Fill in details. (Please do not remove the credit + blank meme link.) credit + blank meme.

GENERAL APPEARANCE

Sex: Masculine. Feminine. Non-Binary. Details: Although often assumed to be somewhat feminine presenting, Atieno tends to present in a pretty androgynous way - always a little in between. There’s a certain sharpness and shapeliness to their form that kind of slides, and eludes being placed in any category.

Race: cosmic entity, dark matter embodiment, void entity of some kind.

Complexion: depends - if in space there’s a heavier dark blue overlay to their complexion in their ‘humanoid-like’ form, sometimes they come across as an odd meld of black, blue and a really reach dark brown. Certain times they have a more dark brown with dark blue underlays and swirls. The swirls in varying shades of blue, black and white still remain. But the difference in appearance depends on whether they are trying to look a little human or not. If so - you see more of the dark brown. If not - that dark brown is still present but the dark blue is even more obvious.

Height:ranges from 6′ at their shortest to... whatever. It tends to shift to match where they are around.

Body Type: Endomorph. Mesomorph. Ectomorph.

Body Build: Small. Medium. Athletic. Muscular. Soft. Curvy. Voluptuous. Details: Atieno has a tall, lithe kind of form. There is muscle to their appearance in a way that makes them look more like a runner, swimmer. Noticeable curves at the hips and legs. Relatively modest bust but that’s neither hear nor there really.

Body Hair: None. Shaves/Waxes. Trims/Grooms. Untamed. Color: n/a. Details: doesn’t really have body hair like at all.

Head Hair: None. Buzzed. Short. Medium. Long. Very Long. Asymmetrical Cut. Color: n/a. Details: Shifts between what kind of hair style they appear in - often seen in dark blue and black locs or breads. Sharp bobs. Have been spotted in a buzz cut from time to time. Have worn mohawks too. So.. it just varies quite often. But likely upon meeting them you would see them in dark blue, black locs.

Eye color: Completely blacked out eyes. Sometimes you will see white irises in their eyes so one can tell that they are looking exactly at you or someone else.

Scars: n/a

FASHION

Fashion Style: Vintage. Traditional. Casual. Artsy. Vibrant. Geeky/Nerdy. Tomboy. Sporty. Trendy. Preppy. Girly. Bohemian. Elegant. Formal. Grunge. Punk. Rocker. Gothic. Other: While they have the capacity to glam up in suits and dresses for specific occasions, more often than not - Atieno will be seen in a leather jacket, fishnets, books, jean-like things. Goth-Punk vibes on an everyday basis.

Color Palette: Black Blue, Dark, dark Purple, White, Silver

Typical Clothing: define home. If they are casual at some place, sure they could wear loose fitting t-shirts and shorts/pants around. But when home is the cosmos, they’ll just dissipate entirely, clothing be damned.

Piercings: appears to have piercings in their eyebrow, lip and multiple in ears. (a part of their preferred humanoid form)

Tattoos: n/a. they have underlying swirls and details on them, but those are not tattoos, those just a part of them.

Other Information: does like a nice scarf, cloak on a regular basis though.

EXPRESSION

General Facial Expression: pretty neutral, observant. Sometimes there’s an amused grin if something absurd is happening. But they tend to be pretty hard to read initially. Relaxed in a distant kind of way.

Default Body Language: Attentive but casual, somewhat expressive in the way their body response and the looks that they give overall

General Movements: very smooth and elegant movements but in a very casual way. As if this is just how they are and there’s nothing really specific about them (despite that obviously not being true). Occasionally sharp and sudden gestures if needed for emphasis.

NOTABLE FOR RP

Presence: Atieno can be pretty casual but in a way where people don’t really approach them first. Not unless that person is also alone and removed from their surroundings. In that case, they can be quietly personable. They give off the impression that they carry a lot on their ‘mind’. Somewhat awkward when someone approaches them out of the blue - they can remain collected but it’s weird. They’re weird.

Appearance: Atieno does have a cool, very well-put together kind of sense of self and presentation. So their appearance is something that someone will glance over and see out of the corner of your eye. A combination of sharp and smooth features, lightly rounded nose, soft, plump lips. Often appears in black or dark blue lipstick

Scent: There’s not a scent to them that can be found anywhere. They smell like the stars, like space, like the utter vastness that they are. It’s oddly pleasant on them - but it is a distinct smell that marks them out as someone to keep an eye on.

Voice Description: Atieno has a somewhat low tone to their voice. It’s quiet at first but builds as they talk more. Sometimes when upset, or just trying to mess around with someone they will have more of a dissonant sharpness to their voice. It’s oddly warm, but not warm in a way that humans would really recognize it as such. But it is warm and resonant.

Accent: yes / no Details:Not really. I mean they are aware of all kinds of languages and am able to speak them. But the accent that comes through isn’t from being somewhere else on any given place. If there is an accent, it’s incredibly difficult to place due to just how they speak.

Speech Mannerisms: Atieno can be a little bit formal with their language. But more and more over time there’s a casualness in the way that they speak. They don’t use slang a lot but they will use something from a location that they are in as deemed appropriate. They do curse some, it’s one of those things they’ll slip in like it’s nothing. Because it is nothing to them.

#info

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pi-cat000 · 3 years

Text

BNHA: something sad (Grief)

Summary: The last time Katsuki sees Izuku alive the other boy is rushing to save him. A ‘the Sludge Villain incident gone wrong’ AU.

Characters: Katsuki Bakugo

Fandom: My Hero Academia

WARNINGS: Major Character death, swearing, heavy angst. destructive behaviour.

(Additional part here)

(Grief- Katsuki self reflects and visits Izuku’s grave)

Katsuki knows he has a volatile personality, probably inherited it from his mum, and enough attitude that he has steamrolled his way through life without much difficulty. Things annoyed him easily and he got irritable at the drop of a hat. He has enough self-awareness to recognise that as a flaw, even if he had never seen it as much of a problem.

There was a difference between irritation and anger. Deku had always made him angry, inducing a burning hot sensation that ate at his insides. Now Deku was gone and he couldn't turn any of it off. It was like the world was suck behind a filthy pane of glass that he couldn’t smash through no matter how hard he tried.

Katsuki watches the head of his Kamui Woods figurine bend at an odd angle as the plastic began to superheat, having been exposed to a string of minor blasts. He had been slowly working his way through his figurine collection as both quirk training and to take the edge off his anger. Melting this figurine was particularly cathartic.

“Perhaps we should look into getting you some new hobbies.”

Katsuki shifts his focus to glare at his father who stands at his bedroom door, an expression of worry pulling at his features. No surprises there, worry was his father’s default response to anything Katsuki did these days.

“Not interested.”

“Something to get you out of the apartment,” his father continues to which Katsuki narrows his eyes. He wouldn’t be in the apartment if he had any say in it. Both his parents know this.

“Some physical activity where you’ll be able to let loose without having to worry about property damage. I have a colleague whose brother runs a kickboxing studio. I can make arrangements for you to spend time…”

“I said, I’m not interested,” he grumbles, returning to his current distraction.

“Well, I want you to think about it,” his dad instructs, “It would do you a lot of good and it’s something you’re passionate about….”

The figurine Katsuki is holding begins to blacken, colours melting away under his tiny, controlled bursts. There is an unhappy sigh from his father and the sound of footsteps retreating down the hall. He growls and the figurine explodes with a small Bang. Melted plastic is flung across his walls and floor.

He knows what his dad is trying to do…

How many times had he begged his parents for better training opportunities, for karate or boxing lessons, only to be denied due to money restraints? Outside of a few judo lessons he had received as a birthday gift from Inko one year, any combat training he did he had been self-taught.

Now he’s no longer interested, his parents are practically threatening him with extracurricular activities.

It’s fucking annoying is what it is.

He reaches for another figurine only to find that he has none left aside from his limited edition All Might collection. He lets out an angry breath, trying to rid himself of his restless irritation. It doesn’t work, and he ends up standing so he can pace back and forth, listening to the pop, pop, focusing on his tingling skin as sparks run up and down his arms. It keeps him distracted for all of two seconds.

Usually, he would be at the library studying, or going on long runs and working on his physical conditioning. Sometimes, he would meet up with a few of the loser-extras from school and they would visit an arcade. Recently, he had taken to wandering through the streets around his neighbourhood, waiting for something to piss him off enough that his mind would white-out in pure rage and could forget reality for a few seconds. Obviously, that had become a lot harder after several run-ins with the local police had had him all but permanently grounded outside of school hours.

This is what he wanted… he remains himself. His plan to piss people off enough that he received some iota of punishment was working like a charm so, of course, it sucked. He hated it, but then, he hated all the alternatives as well so what did any of it matter.

Katsuki ends up with his ear pressed against the door, listening for activity in the living room, waiting for an opportunity to make a break for it. He needs to be careful because Aunt Inko is visiting and the last thing he wants is to see her stupid, sympathetic smile.

When it sounds like the coast is clear, he creeps out, stealing down the hall. Muffled voices from the kitchen are all the encouragement he needs to beeline for the door and slip out before anyone can spot him. He’ll be in trouble for this later. He’s counting on it.

The hot summer air is a welcome change from the chill of air conditioning. There is the loud buzz of cicadas, chirping away in the sticky heat. He picks a direction and walks, not caring that he is wearing the sweatpants and the black singlet he had slept in. If someone has a problem with his presentation, he is more than willing to throw down.

Unfortunately, the relief being out of the apartment brings is short-lived. Today, a feeling of discomfort follows after him which has nothing to do with the heat. A bubbling frustration that bites at his heels as he stalks the streets. It is that feeling he has come to associate with times when all his rage burns away, leaving him numb.

He doesn’t plan to stop at the florists, he just sort of does.

He turns suddenly into the store before he can properly process what he is doing. The chime on the glass door rings and the sickly-sweet smell of the store has his nose wrinkling. Before he can chicken out and retreat, he walks to the counter.

“How much?” He snaps at the older lady in overalls manning the register, pointing at the nearest bunch of white flowers. He has no idea what type they are but that wasn’t the point wasn't it?

“Ah,” The woman squints at him, taken back “That depends how many you want?”

“I don’t care” He smacks the few yen he has on the counter, “However many that’ll get me. Don’t rip me off.”

The woman nods slowly, “Do you just want these specifically? You don’t want to add some more colour to the bouquet? White is a bit of a dower colour.”

“Whatever is cheapest…just make it quick.” He is already regretting coming in.

The woman hums, pulling out a roll of paper, beginning to place and wrap the flowers Katsuki had pointed to.

“Who are they for if I may ask?”

“No.”

“Oh? A special friend maybe,” She begins to tease.

“He’s dead,” he snaps abruptly, “and he’s not my friend. Just give me the damn flowers.” Why did people always make this shit more difficult than it needed to be?

The old hag is silent after that, awkwardly finalising his purchase which ends up being an assortment of white flowers with a few smaller yellow and red ones scattered between. It almost looks pretty and it is sickly-sweet smelling, just like the store.

He tries no to think about his destination as he walks with renewed deliberation. He doesn’t think about it right up until he is practically walking into the low stone wall nearest the gate. The shock of seeing the place has him freezing in place, breath catching. The last time he had been here had been during the funeral.

There are lines of thin, tightly packed, gave markers, rising horizontally on sets on uneven steps. There is barely room for people to pass between them on the narrow, flagstone path. Trees are scattered throughout the space, providing patches of uneven shade. The noise of the cicadas is louder here, almost oppressive in its throbbing hum. For a moment, all he wants to do is walk up to the nearest stone and blow it all sky high. Then he would be sure to flatten every marker in the place until the land was a barren waste. That would get him arrested for sure. The thought passes quickly, and his eyes slide away from the cemetery to his flowers. They don’t look nearly as nice now he has almost strangled them with an unintentionally tight grip.

He breaths out, resisting the urge to set something on fire. Slowly, he walks up the steps, passing the small temple at the entrance. Deku is buried further in, his stone modest in size when compared to the others.

“Deku…” He grows out a greeting when he arrives and it gets caught in his throat. The stone, obviously, does not respond.

Before he can accidentally blow them up, he carefully places the flowers next to the small pile already adorning the small stone. There are more offerings than he expects to be there. He recognises a few of the names from school. One larger bunch looks especially expensive and elaborate, monopolising most of the limited surface space.

‘From Yagi Toshinori’ the card attached reads. Katsuki doesn’t recognise the name.

He doesn’t know why he’s surprised, he didn’t know shit about Deku other than their shared ambition to be a hero.

“Deku…” Why the fuck is he having trouble talking, “You’re...” He stops.

“You’re a fucking moron,” he manages to spit.

“I didn’t need you to save me.” The anger is burning so hot that its almost unbearable. Pop, pop, his hands fizzle. “I didn’t want your help.”

BANG! He makes sure the explosion is directed away from the stone and up into the sky. The small shock wave it produces rustles the flowers and nearby trees. All the cicadas stop chirping at once, plunging the area into an eerie quiet. His legs feel shaky and he is practically vibrating with anger.

“What did you think a quirkless idiot could have done!”

Save his pathetic life while the real Heroes watch him suffocate from the side-lines? His brain supplies an answer. It was all a big joke wasn’t it? The bastards had all watched Deku die. That was what a Hero did apparently, wait for backup while someone died because it was safer for them. Safer for the Hero.

His legs give way and he falls to his knees, curling his hands into fists, jaw locking up. Finally, the haze of anger falls away and his mind quietens. Everything was painfully clear now. People didn’t care when Katsuki yelled, swore, and hurt other kids, because his quirk was amazing, making him amazing. What a joke. If he hadn’t had his quirk, then the Slime Bastard would have had nothing to work with, and Deku might still be alive.

“I’m…I’m fucking sorry okay." He had always treated Deku like shit and he doesn’t think, if their positions had been reversed…he doesn’t think that he would have even thought about saving someone like himself.

The truth stings. He slams his fist into the flagstone next to him and he watches it crack.

"I’m sorry…”

He was lucky…that’s all he was… He wasn’t special… he was just an average human with a good work ethic and a garbage personality who just happened to have a powerful quirk.

He wasn’t a hero…well, not one like Deku had tried to be…like Deku had been…

He didn’t even want to be a hero...not anymore...He doesn’t know what he wants.

“Damnit…” the words have no heat behind them. The explosive rage that had been burning continuously in his chest for the last week simmers, snuffing out like a candle. There is a hole where his anger had eaten away at something fundamentally him, leaving empty space.

Katsuki leans forward, letting his head thump against the stone.

#bnha #bnha fanfic #boku no academia #my hero academia #katsuki bakugō #major character death #Sludge Villain incident gone wrong #angst #all the angst #coarse language #swearing #anger and grief #visiting graves #katuski has a sad time #something sad au #fanfiction

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collapsedsquid · 3 years

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The Wall Street and IMF are equally responsible for helping the Argentine addiction to debt. In the 1990s, Wall Street hyped Argentina as a success story, encouraged the country to issue bonds and sold them in the international financial market. Argentina was one of the biggest bond issuers in the world during the period 1997-99. At a time when Argentina’s indebtedness was mounting in the late 1990s, the Wall Street bankers lauded the country as a paragon of the developing world and poured money in, lulling the government into complacency.

The Wall Street firms whose analysts peddled optimistic reports were generally the same ones collecting fees from bringing Argentine government bonds to market—a business that generated nearly $1 billion for big securities houses during the period 1991–2001.

A little over a year before Argentina’s default, J P Morgan, the firm that brought more Argentine bonds to market than any other, sent clients a report taking issue with pessimists worried that the country was destined for bankruptcy. The report’s title was “Argentina’s debt dynamics: Much ado about not so much.”. The basic thrust of that report was that fixing the fiscal problem was essential but that a modest adjustment would enable the country to avert default.

In March 2001 another Morgan report said: “The government’s capacity to service its debt this year is not in question...We believe that the fears of abandoning convertibility are overdone and point out that devaluation is not a policy option due to the limited benefits.”

Need to send Lebanon a crack team of Argentinian economists to fix their problems, they’ll be up on their feet selling thousand-year bonds in no time.

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hellomynameisbisexual · 4 years

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The Experiences of Bisexual People

Balsam and Mohr (2007) determined that when compared to lesbian and gay individuals, bisexual people tended to show increased identity confusion, to feel a lesser sense of community, and to disclose their bisexuality (come out) less frequently. They credited the identity confusion primarily to a dearth of visible bisexual role models and the social pressures to claim an identity that falls within the gay/straight binary [2].

Bisexual individuals sometimes fluctuate in the language they use to self-identify, often in light of the sex of their partner at a given point, but the vast majority of research has found bisexuality or some other form of non-monosexuality to be stable in nature [2], [3].

Bisexuals may refrain from coming out to avoid the stigma, and often find that others simply assume that they are straight or gay based on the sex of their partner or partners [4], [5], [6]. In particular, bisexual individuals who have opposite/other sex partners are often invisible as sexual minorities, as heterosexuality tends to be the cultural assumption of default [2], [5], [6].

Internalized Biphobia

The internalized belief that bisexuality is somehow lesser or something of which one should be ashamed is often called internalized biphobia, in the vein of previous research on internalized racism and homophobia [5], [7].

Internalized homophobia has been shown to have many mental health implications, including anxiety, low self-esteem, shame, depression, substance use, and suicidality [8].

Although the research on internalized biphobia is newer, similar results have been presented.

Bisexual Mental Health

Lewis, Derlega, Brown, Rose, and Henson (2009) summarized the varied findings in bisexual mental health during the past 15+ years of research on the subject.

Common themes of distress and social support challenges arose across all of the works to date, which they referred to as “sexual minority stress” (p. 971). Lewis et al. (2009) found that, while bisexuals are less frequently the victims of antigay violence (often due to their invisibility as members of the LGBT community; see also See & Hunt, 2011), they often suffer from greater orientation-related stress than their lesbian/gay counterparts do [9], [10].

Both Lewis et al. and Bostwick (2012) found modest results suggesting an increase in depression in bisexuals as compared to lesbians/gays (both established a history of support for increased depression in lesbians/gays compared to heterosexuals). In both cases, the researchers asserted the belief that greater significance would come with larger sample sizes (bisexual subsample of 78, Lewis et al., 2009 [9]; bisexual subsample of 47, Bostwick, 2012 [11]).

In addition to depression, research has revealed a number of other experiences that are heightened in or unique to bisexuals when compared to heterosexual and homosexual populations. Sarno and Wright (2013) found that bisexuals experience “the microaggression Alien in Own Land” (p. 69); that is, the assumption by others that the subject is straight more often than lesbians/gays, and as a result experienced significantly greater identity confusion [12].

Stonewall research also found that bisexuals suffered insidious assumptions and microaggressions at work such as “the frequent conception of bisexuality as a ‘failure to choose,’ [leading] to bisexual people being stereotyped as indecisive and disorganized” (as cited in See & Hunt, 2011, p. 292), which could directly impact the potential for professional advancement. However, being closeted at work has been found to decrease work satisfaction and performance [10].

A frequent finding in the research on opinions about bisexuals (including several of the studies previously referenced) is a pervasive belief that bisexuals are inherently promiscuous or unfaithful [7], [13]. Hoang, Holloway, and Mendoza (2011), in a study with 99 bisexual women, sought to explore whether there was validity to the stereotypes, and, if so, under what conditions.

Their findings revealed that internalized biphobia, in addition to hindering bisexual identity congruence, pride, and acceptance, increased the likelihood of infidelity. Statistically, their participants reported significantly higher numbers of relationships with males than females, which the researchers credited to social pressures to conform to heteronormativity [7].

Interestingly enough, the bulk of the infidelity that was committed tended to be while the women were in relationships with men, “which challenges the stereotype that bisexual women inevitably cheat on their lesbian partners, with men” (Hoang et al., 2011, p. 34).

Essentially, it is the external and subsequently internalized biphobia that helps bring hurtful stereotypes and expectations to fruition.

The Challenges and Concerns of Bisexual People

One of the concerns regarding bisexual health is the lack of awareness in the mental and medical health communities about what bisexuals actually need [10]. (See our earlier post, 5 Ways to Support Your LGBQ & Gender Non-Conforming Clients in Session.)

Bisexual health concerns may differ from those of heterosexuals and homosexuals, as they and their providers need to be informed about how to maintain sexual health with partners of various sexes.

“Samantha” reported that the doctor at her undergraduate university, in response to hearing that Samantha identified as bisexual, gave her a puzzled look and responded, “So, um, do you need condoms or not?” Samantha also complained that several therapists she had seen had also seemed confused at best, and disbelieving and passively negating, at worst, about her bisexuality.

Bisexuality is difficult to define, is often ostracized by both heterosexual and homosexual communities, and, as a result, is often accompanied by increased mental health concerns.

Many bisexual individuals seek to find support within the gay and lesbian community only to be turned away based on distrust and stereotypes.

Such rejection can lead to a bevy of negative implications that would best be mitigated by a structured community of their own. These concerns are sometimes compounded by ill-informed or uninformed mental and medical health practitioners.

While it is not possible to force widespread abandonment of antibisexual sentiments, improvements in mental and physical health understanding can go a long way toward improving the wellbeing of bisexuals as a group.

This article was adapted from “Rust Revisited: An Update on Lesbians’ Opinions and the Implications for Bisexual Women” by Wesh, 2014.

This article was originally published on April 19, 2016.

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