#they've always had investment issues

[ontargetmadders]

I still haven't got my last paycheck and redundancy package from my previous employers and it's nearly been a month now since I officially left! What I fucking joke!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

“If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing”

20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with Chris Anderson, who was then the editor in chief of Wired. I'd publicly noted my disappointment with glowing Wired reviews of DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM:

https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html

I replied in public, telling him that he'd misunderstood. This wasn't an issue of ideological purity – it was about good reviewing practice. Wired was telling readers to buy a product because it had features x, y and z, but at any time in the future, without warning, without recourse, the vendor could switch off any of those features:

https://memex.craphound.com/2004/12/29/cory-responds-to-wired-editor-on-drm/

I proposed that all Wired endorsements for DRM-encumbered products should come with this disclaimer:

WARNING: THIS DEVICE’S FEATURES ARE SUBJECT TO REVOCATION WITHOUT NOTICE, ACCORDING TO TERMS SET OUT IN SECRET NEGOTIATIONS. YOUR INVESTMENT IS CONTINGENT ON THE GOODWILL OF THE WORLD’S MOST PARANOID, TECHNOPHOBIC ENTERTAINMENT EXECS. THIS DEVICE AND DEVICES LIKE IT ARE TYPICALLY USED TO CHARGE YOU FOR THINGS YOU USED TO GET FOR FREE — BE SURE TO FACTOR IN THE PRICE OF BUYING ALL YOUR MEDIA OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AT NO TIME IN HISTORY HAS ANY ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY GOTTEN A SWEET DEAL LIKE THIS FROM THE ELECTRONICS PEOPLE, BUT THIS TIME THEY’RE GETTING A TOTAL WALK. HERE, PUT THIS IN YOUR MOUTH, IT’LL MUFFLE YOUR WHIMPERS.

Wired didn't take me up on this suggestion.

But I was right. The ability to change features, prices, and availability of things you've already paid for is a powerful temptation to corporations. Inkjet printers were always a sleazy business, but once these printers got directly connected to the internet, companies like HP started pushing out "security updates" that modified your printer to make it reject the third-party ink you'd paid for:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

Now, this scam wouldn't work if you could just put things back the way they were before the "update," which is where the DRM comes in. A thicket of IP laws make reverse-engineering DRM-encumbered products into a felony. Combine always-on network access with indiscriminate criminalization of user modification, and the enshittification will follow, as surely as night follows day.

This is the root of all the right to repair shenanigans. Sure, companies withhold access to diagnostic codes and parts, but codes can be extracted and parts can be cloned. The real teeth in blocking repair comes from the law, not the tech. The company that makes McDonald's wildly unreliable McFlurry machines makes a fortune charging franchisees to fix these eternally broken appliances. When a third party threatened this racket by reverse-engineering the DRM that blocked independent repair, they got buried in legal threats:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/20/euthanize-rentier-enablers/#cold-war

Everybody loves this racket. In Poland, a team of security researchers at the OhMyHack conference just presented their teardown of the anti-repair features in NEWAG Impuls locomotives. NEWAG boobytrapped their trains to try and detect if they've been independently serviced, and to respond to any unauthorized repairs by bricking themselves:

https://mamot.fr/@q3k@hackerspace.pl/111528162905209453

Poland is part of the EU, meaning that they are required to uphold the provisions of the 2001 EU Copyright Directive, including Article 6, which bans this kind of reverse-engineering. The researchers are planning to present their work again at the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg this month – Germany is also a party to the EUCD. The threat to researchers from presenting this work is real – but so is the threat to conferences that host them:

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/researchers-face-legal-threats-over-sdmi-hack/

20 years ago, Chris Anderson told me that it was unrealistic to expect tech companies to refuse demands for DRM from the entertainment companies whose media they hoped to play. My argument – then and now – was that any tech company that sells you a gadget that can have its features revoked is defrauding you. You're paying for x, y and z – and if they are contractually required to remove x and y on demand, they are selling you something that you can't rely on, without making that clear to you.

But it's worse than that. When a tech company designs a device for remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrades, they invite both external and internal parties to demand those downgrades. Like Pavel Chekov says, a phaser on the bridge in Act I is going to go off by Act III. Selling a product that can be remotely, irreversibly, nonconsensually downgraded inevitably results in the worst person at the product-planning meeting proposing to do so. The fact that there are no penalties for doing so makes it impossible for the better people in that meeting to win the ensuing argument, leading to the moral injury of seeing a product you care about reduced to a pile of shit:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/25/moral-injury/#enshittification

But even if everyone at that table is a swell egg who wouldn't dream of enshittifying the product, the existence of a remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrade feature makes the product vulnerable to external actors who will demand that it be used. Back in 2022, Adobe informed its customers that it had lost its deal to include Pantone colors in Photoshop, Illustrator and other "software as a service" packages. As a result, users would now have to start paying a monthly fee to see their own, completed images. Fail to pay the fee and all the Pantone-coded pixels in your artwork would just show up as black:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/28/fade-to-black/#trust-the-process

Adobe blamed this on Pantone, and there was lots of speculation about what had happened. Had Pantone jacked up its price to Adobe, so Adobe passed the price on to its users in the hopes of embarrassing Pantone? Who knows? Who can know? That's the point: you invested in Photoshop, you spent money and time creating images with it, but you have no way to know whether or how you'll be able to access those images in the future. Those terms can change at any time, and if you don't like it, you can go fuck yourself.

These companies are all run by CEOs who got their MBAs at Darth Vader University, where the first lesson is "I have altered the deal, pray I don't alter it further." Adobe chose to design its software so it would be vulnerable to this kind of demand, and then its customers paid for that choice. Sure, Pantone are dicks, but this is Adobe's fault. They stuck a KICK ME sign to your back, and Pantone obliged.

This keeps happening and it's gonna keep happening. Last week, Playstation owners who'd bought (or "bought") Warner TV shows got messages telling them that Warner had walked away from its deal to sell videos through the Playstation store, and so all the videos they'd paid for were going to be deleted forever. They wouldn't even get refunds (to be clear, refunds would also be bullshit – when I was a bookseller, I didn't get to break into your house and steal the books I'd sold you, not even if I left some cash on your kitchen table).

Sure, Warner is an unbelievably shitty company run by the single most guillotineable executive in all of Southern California, the loathsome David Zaslav, who oversaw the merger of Warner with Discovery. Zaslav is the creep who figured out that he could make more money cancelling completed movies and TV shows and taking a tax writeoff than he stood to make by releasing them:

https://aftermath.site/there-is-no-piracy-without-ownership

Imagine putting years of your life into making a program – showing up on set at 5AM and leaving your kids to get their own breakfast, performing stunts that could maim or kill you, working 16-hour days during the acute phase of the covid pandemic and driving home in the night, only to have this absolute turd of a man delete the program before anyone could see it, forever, to get a minor tax advantage. Talk about moral injury!

But without Sony's complicity in designing a remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrade feature into the Playstation, Zaslav's war on art and creative workers would be limited to material that hadn't been released yet. Thanks to Sony's awful choices, David Zaslav can break into your house, steal your movies – and he doesn't even have to leave a twenty on your kitchen table.

The point here – the point I made 20 years ago to Chris Anderson – is that this is the foreseeable, inevitable result of designing devices for remote, irreversible, nonconsensual downgrades. Anyone who was paying attention should have figured that out in the GW Bush administration. Anyone who does this today? Absolute flaming garbage.

Sure, Zaslav deserves to be staked out over an anthill and slathered in high-fructose corn syrup. But save the next anthill for the Sony exec who shipped a product that would let Zaslav come into your home and rob you. That piece of shit knew what they were doing and they did it anyway. Fuck them. Sideways. With a brick.

Meanwhile, the studios keep making the case for stealing movies rather than paying for them. As Tyler James Hill wrote: "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing":

https://bsky.app/profile/tylerjameshill.bsky.social/post/3kflw2lvam42n

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/08/playstationed/#tyler-james-hill

Image: Alan Levine (modified) https://pxhere.com/en/photo/218986

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[homunculus-argument]

I was born and raised American, but with everything that's happened over the past few years I've been considering moving to another country. but I don't know if this is just "the grass is greener". Not sure if this really fits with your blog, but as someone from Europe what's your attitude towards living in the US?

I've visited there a handful of times and most of my thoughts are "damn bitch, y'all really live like this?" People in Finland like to complain about the climate, the taxes, and how stingy the welfare systems are (if you currently rely on them) or how costly they are (if you're currently not relying on them), but honestly most of the time that's because people are used to having it so good, or don't really have a perspective of how bad everyone would be doing without the infrastructure that everything runs on.

Sure, nowhere is perfect, and there's always room for improvement, but honestly the people I've met in the US only really seem to think that their system is good because they've never been anywhere else and don't know any better.

Mostly it's stuff that you'd never think about if you hadn't been to both places, like being able to trust that tap water is drinkable or that you can safely walk/bike to wherever you need to go. The US really doesn't have the kind of ability to just hang out in public places, just walking to the town and sitting on benches. Having public parks and libraries isn't really the same if you can't just walk there, and you genuinely need a car to go anywhere.

I moan and lament a lot about how the winters here are hard to endure - at the darkest time of the year the sun rises at 9 and sets before 5 pm - but I wouldn't move from here just because of that, mainly because of how reliably everything is structured here. Sure, it's all run with funds from relatively high taxes, but that is a self-feeding loop on its own. The tax-paying workforce isn't a disposable resource that's wrung dry once and tossed out when it's broken, but even when you're just another cog in the machine, you're one that's maintained, not replaced if broken.

I had a lot of breakdowns when I was younger, largely due to depression and other mental issues I had due to the undiagnosed ADHD. When I started breaking down at work in my old factory job, they couldn't just fire me on the spot because of the workers' union fought tooth and nail to make sure that you can't throw people out for getting sick, and mental illness is treated no different from other health issues. I was allowed to take two years off work in order to study into a career I thought would fit me better. That didn't turn out well either, but I was still allowed to bounce back and forth between odd jobs, sick leave, and studying - all on government pensions during the spots when I wasn't working a wage - until I found the right diagnosis, the right medications, and the right job.

It's not a hyperbole to say that I owe my life to the ample and studry social welfare systems that Finland has in place. Sure, you're just another brick in the wall, a cog in the machine, but if you keep breaking down, it takes a long time until they completely give up on you if you can somehow make them believe that you're trying, because it's cheaper for the tax system to figure out how to make you fit into the machine than just toss you out. A human being is an expensive investment and if getting you to the right job, education, diagnosis, medication or even arranged housing is what it takes to get your ass back into the workforce, they'll at least try.

I'm perfectly happy to pay the taxes here to fund the system that helped me onto my feet when I was in no condition to function, and to support the people who never do recover, find their place, or be able to support themselves on their own. And I can live with the peace of mind that even if I fall apart again, that safety net is still there. It's brutal, pragmatic, and regards your health and welfare as a means to an end - to get you working and paying taxes again - but they still do prioritise your welfare. Cogs are cheaper to maintain than replace.

[takerfoxx]

I'm so fucking confused what did the Rock do

It's a very long and complicated tale, but the short version, the Rock recently joined the board of directors for TKO (WWE's parent company) and SEEMINGLY (as we don't know the full behind the scenes story just yet) used his clout to push himself into the Wrestlemania main event, challenging his sort of cousin Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship and pushing aside Cody Rhodes, the guy that was supposed to be Roman's challenger, and thereby sabotaging a two-year story that everyone was invested in right when it was about to see it's conclusion. And people are pissed about it.

That's the short version. Here is the loooooonnnnnggggg version.

WWE has been plagued by a number of issues over the years (not the least being that it's been run by an actual rapist for the last four decades), but the two relevant issues is a tendency to rely on past their prime stars of yesterday at the expense of building new stars for today, and when they do want to build a new star, they have a bad habit of shoving their chosen golden boy down everyone's throat to everyone else's detriment in a nakedly inauthentic manner until the fans get sick of them (see: Ultimate Warrior, John Cena, and, most recently, Roman Reigns, who will become important later). Needless to say, they've had a lot of trouble getting the crowd behind what is known as the White Meat Babyface, or primary good guy.

The Rock started off as the latter, being introduced as Rocky Maivia, who was a wholesome good boy who was just so happy to be here. People saw through it and booed the fuck out of him. In rare case of the WWE actually listening and responding, they turned Rocky heel and let him vent his frustrations at the fans, which let everyone know that, holy shit, this guy is actually insanely charismatic and probably the best trash talker in the business! Thus, the Rock was born.

However, while he certainly earned his accolades during his heyday, his returns since haven't been so universally admired (see previous note about the WWE pushing the stars of yesterday). One instance about ten years ago involves him main eventing Wrestlemania against John Cena over CM Punk, who was the reigning WWE Champion at the time, and was quite annoyed. Okay, the Rock vs. John Cena could be excused on account of being that much of a dream match, but then they had CM Punk end his year long title run to the Rock so he and Cena could main event again, this time with the title on the line. This was one of the many issues that reportedly led to CM Punk walking out a few months later.

Now, let's move away from the Rock for a bit and talk about Roman Reigns, who was another example of the WWE ramming their chosen golden boy down everyone's throat. Like the Rock, he is part of the venerated Anoa'i Family, who are practically wrestling royalty with how many superstars they've produced (though they're not actually related by blood, but that doesn't matter, as those who marry or are adopted in are still considered full members of the clan).

Roman began as part of the massively popular trio known as the Shield, alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. And during their two year run, the Shield were kind of incredibly awesome. Three badasses closer than brothers just wrecking a path of destruction against all those who stood in their way, a perfect combination of violence and genuine comradery...right until Seth Rollins betrayed the group and they all became single stars.

Now, despite the WWE having high hopes for all three, Roman was clearly the anointed heir, despite being the least experienced of the three. Unfortunately, they went about this by making him essentially a John Cena clone. Smelling another corporate babyface about to be shoved down their throats, the fans turned on him and turned on him HARD, making him the most loathed face in wrestling for years despite always being treated by the company as a beloved hero. Finally, the decision was made to turn Roman Reigns heel, unleashing his dark side and turning him into the Tribal Chief, a sadistic and manipulative monster who's held an iron grip on the title for literally years. Needless to say, it has been a massive improvement, and he is now quite awesome (though people are sick of how long he's been champion, but that's neither here nor there).

Anyway, heel Roman has been champion for basically forever at this point, and it's been a question of who will eventually be the one to dethrone him, because whoever it is automatically becomes the biggest star in the business. And given what an accomplishment that is, there really can be no place it can happen other than the main event of Wrestlemania.

Enter Cody Rhodes.

Like Roman and the Rock, Cody also comes from a prestigious wrestling family. Cody is the son of the late, great Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream. And this pedigree has weighed heavily on him, both in and out of storyline.

Now, unlike his plain-looking and tubby father, Cody looks like he was grown in a lab to become the perfect WWE wrestler. Movie star looks, an absolutely ripped body, and physical charisma for days. Despite this, his first WWE run didn't go how he wanted. While he saw a fair amount of success, he never seemed to break out of the midcard and was eventually saddled with the loathed Stardust gimmick, which he absolutely hated, and after realizing that things weren't going to change, he decided to bet on himself and leave the WWE to prove everyone wrong.

This ended up working beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

To say that Cody was successful post WWE would be a gross understatement. Rebranding himself as the American Nightmare, Cody became the opposite of everything his father was, dressing in snappy suits and carrying himself in an arrogant, sadistic manner. He worked for a number of places, from TNA to Ring of Honor to New Japan, and saw massive success, winning multiple titles across multiple promotions and building himself as a force to be reckoned with. He was also the impetus for the historically significant All In event, in which a number of wrestlers from a number of different promotions banded together to put on the first non-WWE show to have over ten thousand people in attendance in over twenty years, which eventually led to the creation of AEW, which Cody was an intrinsic part of as well. Needless to say, Cody was cooking.

Unfortunately, his own way of doing things didn't mesh well with the AEW audience, and they turned on him pretty hard after a year or two. Eventually he left to return to the WWE, and a lot of people questioned if he was making a mistake, given how he was treated the last time.

However, his gamble had paid off. His worth had been proved, and now WWE was all in (pun intended) on Cody Rhodes. In contrast to the volatile AEW crowd, the WWE fans welcomed the prodigal son back with open arms. And surprising all cynics (including myself), this love continued strong even after the novelty of Cody Rhodes back wore off, probably bolstered by how carefully his storylines were plotted, some truly killer performances in the ring, and the respect garner by him being an absolutely fucking champ and wrestling Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match despite having a horribly torn pec.

Finally, the WWE had a White Meat babyface that the fans universally accepted and wanted to see more of, and they were going to capitalize. He won the Royal Rumble to rapturous applause and entered in a program with Roman Reigns to challenge him for his title at Wrestlemania. And unlike other challengers, he actually seemed like a credible threat. Much was made about how his father had also challenged for the same title but could never capture it, so he wanted to do what his father couldn't and finish the story. People were behind Cody all the way, and the time seemed right for Roman to finally fall and a new top star to be crowned.

And then Cody lost. Roman cheated, and Cody lost.

Needless to say, people were pissed. However, others said that maybe this was leading to a rematch at the following year's Wrestlemania, making his eventual victory all the sweeter. Certainly, WWE still seemed behind Cody, as he spent the next year in several high profile feuds that kept him looking strong, including going over Brock Lesnar of all people. And again, the fans remained behind him, when in past cases they would have turned on the guy by now. Believe me, this hadn't happened in a very long time.

But not all was well. There were rumbles that the Rock might be queuing up for a return one of these days, possibly to finally face Roman Reigns in another dream match to settle who the true Tribal Chief of the Anoa's family. People had been wanting that match for years, but for it to happen now, upsetting Cody's chance to finally finish his story? Well, that was the worst possible time. However, these rumors seemed to be nothing more than that. Just rumors.

And then CM Punk came back.

Now, Punk is a whole can of worms all in himself, and could easily fill a full post of his own. But the important thing is that he and Cody are very much dark reflections of each other, especially in how both were screwed over by WWE during their first runs, left under dark circumstances, and returned to the fans' adoration. And they both coveted that Wrestlemania main event.

In fact, during an awesome promo battle between the two, Punk specifically pointed out that he intended to do to Cody what the Rock had done to him ten years ago: be that bigger star who came back after not being around for a long time and take that Wrestlemania main event away. And sure enough, during the Royal Rumble, the final two in the ring were CM Punk and Cody Rhodes.

And Cody won. The first man in years to win back to back Rumbles. He singled out Roman Reigns as his target, cementing their Wrestlemania rematch. As for Punk, he had a main event of his own, as he was apparently scheduled to face Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Title at night 1 of Wrestlemania. It seemed that both of the prodigal sons were getting their wish!

And then CM Punk got hurt really bad and had to pull out of Wrestlemania.

Well, that sucks, but it shouldn't upset plans too badly. Seth could just wrestle someone else, and Cody's two year story could proceed like everyone wanted.

Well, we all know what happened next.

Yup. It happened. The Rock, likely with the backing of his new position on the TKO's board, had pushed himself into Cody's spot, while Cody (as it appears) will be replacing Punk to take on Seth Rollins instead. A two year story, flushed down the drain. Punk's words had turned out to be prophetic.

And while the fans were cheering in that video, once the buzz had worn off and people realized what had happened, that's when things got nasty. Over the last few days, people have turned on the Rock and turned on him HARD. Rocky sucks chants fill WWE events, #wewantcody trends for days, videos of the Rock get booed, and (unfortunately) even members of his family have gotten caught in the crossfire. People are NOT happy about this direction. Cody is their guy, and right when his story was going to be completed, right when Roman was going to be dethroned by the guy that everyone wanted to see beat him, this happens.

Plus, since then reports have been swirling that this decision was made by the TKO board, not WWE, with the Rock specifically pushing for it to "Save Wrestlemania." Which hasn't exactly warmed people to the idea.

Which is really funny, because the last time Roman Reigns and the Rock shared a ring together, it was in the middle of Roman's disastrous babyface run where the fans hated him, especially in Philadelphia, a city noted for its rebellious fans, and the WWE sent the Rock out to help Roman in hopes of changing their minds.

It didn't work.

And where is Wrestlemania this year? Oh right, Philadelphia.

This is going to be...interesting, to say the least.

[burr-ell]

With respect to the previous reblog—I sped up almost all of the Otohan combat to 1.5 and only put it back to normal when Sam started FCG's last turn. And it's not that I can't be invested in climactic combat or even really difficult climactic combat! I watched the fights with Ripley, Thordak, Raishan, Vecna, the Iron Shepherds, Uk'otoa, and Vespin Chloras, some of them multiple times, and I was invested the entire way through.

But here's the thing: I do not currently play DnD, and prior to watching CR I knew very little about the mechanics. I learned with the cast as I was watching C1, and as the show went on I paid more and more attention because I could see how the mechanics of combat interacted with the story. When there's a moment where the crunch of combat powerfully reflects a character's arc? That hits, even as someone with little personal knowledge of the PHB. I am not, however, invested in just watching three hours of combat for its own sake...and Otohan's build feels like combat for its own sake.

Obviously the cast is really invested in the story; it's their characters and they're the ones making the choices and rolling the dice. They've been doing this together for over a decade, and they're really impressed by the raw power of Otohan's build. But as a viewer? This simply is not fun to watch. I mean, there are some great moments for the Hells—all of Orym's nat 20s, Fearne using the power of Rau'shan and deliberately casting Blight through touch, Chetney's last words—but I don't know anything about Otohan. I don't know why she's here. I don't know what her motives are. I don't know why exactly she's so OP—"Legend of the Peaks" is just set dressing to me because none of the characters care about the Apex War and Matt has never forced the issue.

Like, sure, they're an exaltant Ruidusborn, but...okay? Why do they get legendary actions and resistances? Where'd their goofyass lil Lands End backpack even come from? Why are they here? No one can do a swagless villain monologue like Ludinus; no one can evade child support like Liliana. But who cares about Otohan, as a character and not just the scary hero-killer? That role in the story could be occupied by any well-built level 20 melee combatant and the narrative wouldn't miss anything.

Without all of the necessary development to get me invested, this just seems like she's OP just to make her "hardcore" or whatever—and Matt's never made a villain like that, so I know this could have been portrayed better and simply wasn't. As it stands, she's had more presence in the stupid Moon Moms fanon (which seems to have been found dead on Ruidus anyway) than she has in the actual canon of the show. I'm always happy when a villain dies, but in this case, it's just good riddance.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

wibta if i told someone to work on their attitude? 🍎👏

i'll keep this as short as i can and preface it with everyone in the mentioned discord server is 18-25 years old and we're mostly kind of terminally online lol . also warning for a brief mention of internalized ableism

anyway. i'm part of a discord server and for the most part we're all very good friends or at least we get along well enough to coexist. a few months ago, someone new joined and at first we got along fine, but we had a disagreement and its made me (and others) realize there are some uncomfortable behaviors from this person

if topic they enjoy comes up and someone gets a little bit of information wrong, they spiral and "yell" about it. they're very harsh in a "this is basic information, i'm right about this, how do you not know this" way. not everyone is as invested in that interest, so basic info to them isn't basic info to us, we've tried to tell them this. instead of explaining calmly, we get a "uuuhmmmmmm actually" kind of message before freaking out on us

they always seem to be playing devil's advocate, too. they've had contradictory opinions on things because they always take the opposite side of the person leading the discussion. in the span of a weak they complained about ppl having internalized ableism & prejudices toward autistic ppl, then said "lol i hate being autistic i wish i was normal"

when they ask for personal advice, they act like the advice given is unprompted. they don't seem to want to be helped at all? they're also a serial avoider when they have disagreements with others, they'll text everyone except the person they take issue with and when asked to talk directly to someone by one of the moderators, they just refuse

several times they've been very insensitive to other people's mental health, cultures, interests, etc., while being hypersensitive abt their own and i'm considering asking them to step back to work through their issues

i get that no one is perfect, but people are actively avoiding them and i don't want to see them isolated/hurt when they could just reflect on their behaviour and take steps to be less hostile and miserable toward their so-called friends. i also don't want to see the server die out either bc otherwise we have a good gang yk :/

anyway wibta and what would y'all do

[azure-cherie]

Pac : your next love partner ♡︎

Hii how are you doing, this pile would be focusing on your next love partner, take what resonates and leave the rest , likes , reblogs and feedbacks are really appreciated, enjoy 💖

Pile 1:

୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮｡୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮

Your next love partner is someone emotionally intelligent, a friend a lover , they've been through a lot but because of this they have a kindled heart , could be into sports or swimming or something that requires body movement, they're a charmer , you will look at them and feel a tinge of excitement, although as soon as you start talking to them in a romantic way you will be all in , i think this relationship will last for a long time , they will teach you how to have fun in daily life , food/cafe dates with you , studying together, friends to lovers plotline , they're admire a lot , a lot of people look upto them because they have achieved something the others haven't, could be somewhat proud about their achievements, your person is dependable , reliable , could be too headstrong at times , values comfort and luxury in life , they will help in the re-establishment of peace in your life , a new pathway, you will heal with them , this is a connection written, i get something about healing with touch , they will be your safe space , you could talk about your family issues or how you feel about your goals and ambitions with them , they will always be a shoulder you can lean on .

Song : Salvatore by Lana del rey.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

Pile 2:

୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮｡୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮

Your next love partner is someone who is kinda chaotic or you could say artistic, they do a lot of things or have multiple sources of income, they light up the room , sunshine energy, life's been a little chaotic for them recently but they're dealing with it , they're very romantic and very much into showcasing their talents, they're kind of a dreamer so they need a grounded person , maybe that's why this union will be happening they will really like how intelligent and focused you are , they will learn so much from you , however their quick nature may turn into the relationship being short lived, you could meet this person through family, friends or in a social gathering, you will instantly see their beautiful energy radiating and really admire them , they will help you in awakening your intuition, feeling your emotions, healing your heart chakra , if you are to reach a goal of yours they will be cheering on you , they are your greatest supporter . However the relationship might have some issues about misunderstandings so make sure you clear them and not run away if you really want this to be a long term thing.

Song : Sweet Boi by Chevy

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

Pile 3:

୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮｡୨୧ ˻˳˯ₑ*॰¨̮

This pile has either been single for a long time or the person coming in is a person coming back into your life , probably an ex , a person you knew when you were younger , either you or this person had put their pursuits regarding romance away because you or they wanted to focus on your goals in life , the cause of this is could be a confusing, abusive relationship, mental pressure, psychological abuse , im so sorry for the person who went through this , it was really hard , something about backstabbing, criticism, this could be about the past relationship or the connection with you could also be this way , it feels like a cycle of karma tbh . However the relationship if it's healthy will feel like a wish fulfilment, as if you're in cloud 9 on top of the world , a relationship like the sun and the moon , are you into manifestation this person could be the one whom you have manifested, okay okay there's some real deal for some people, some of you might move together, invest in a company, power couple vibes , the sexual attraction is very strong as well. You're their inspiration ,their strength, their muse . They will spoil you , you won't feel the lack . The time period of the relationship depends on both of you however i sense a lifetime love for some.

Song : Exist for love by Aurora

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡

Thank you so much for reading 💖

[utilitycaster]

You have such a way of articulating things I’ve been vaguely feeling into intelligent coherent statements. Would you care to elaborate on the way that how Laudna+Imogen “went canon” was a curse?

Hey anon,

Thank you! So this is the thing: obviously I tend towards a fairly critical and snarky demeanor, but like, the best way to put it is in the context of the impending Nein show. I, and most of the people I chat with who are also not feeling Imogen and Laudna's relationship, are not of the "if that PURPLE FLOATY HOMEWRECKER SKANK SHOWS UP I will EXPLODE and SCREAM and DIE" or "fjorester divorce" or pretending Yasha doesn't exist persuasion re: this relationship (or for that matter the WELL if Percy dies after 70 years of marriage to Vex and then she's with Keyleth for the rest of her life WE WIN type of person either). Like, honestly, there was a post advocating for a breakup, but I think it included within it an argument that they reunite after some time apart, and that's kind of the mood. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. There's no ship war to be had. I don't dislike the ship because of competition or some fundamental dislike of the characters, and I honestly would like to be able to like it, and the path for it to not suck would have been immensely simple. That path even still exists, though with every week it grows narrow and less smooth and far more awkward, but I think it will require a pretty serious out of game conversation that as far as I know hasn't happen, and I am not holding my breath given the lack of movement.

That's why it's a curse: the generic form of this curse would be "may your ship become canon prematurely, with with only one person really invested, and that person not actually prepared for it or expecting it, and may it have virtually no moments and exist in a very plot-heavy work where it is almost certainly going to be largely out of focus, after the groundwork when things were quieter was never laid, and may it be so close to being good but consistently miss the opportunities for that to happen."

Just to recap the issues, stripping away all the past snark:

It's never really felt like these were two people who had been best friends for two years. They've always felt like friends of circumstance - like people you meet the first week of college and kind of go around with so as not to be alone, or the only other person your age on your street. Because they were both extremely lonely they clung to each other...but they really don't actually connect with each other much in conversation other than just kind of blandly repeating how much they mean to each other and never showing it. They have no real boundaries or limits with each other, likely because of that fear of being alone, but they aren't exploring that in a Heavenly Creatures or Thoroughbreds kind of way either. There's virtually no sense of history - no inside jokes, no shared experiences prior to Zhudanna except for one throwaway line that, like many of their interactions, fell flat. Like...I don't actually think that it's bad to aim for a platonic female friendship and end up with an F/F ship but like. Beau and Jester had a great platonic female friendship that happened to also include Beau's brief crush. Imogen and Laudna didn't even sell me on them being friends, let alone lovers. They have always felt like oddly clingy roommates. Their respective interactions with quite literally every other PC - few of which I find romantic and many of which I find explicitly not romantic - all feel like they have more depth. Orym is explicitly not attracted to either of them and they've both had more meaningful and honest moments with him. Pun unintended but they both felt infinitely more alive during the party split when they couldn't just go to their dull gray comfort zone of each others' meaningless repetitive affirmations.

Zooming into that lack of boundaries and conflict, there's no arc. Once characters get together often the conflict resolves, but there needs to be a build to that point, and we simply don't have that. The two points where this could have happened were: the gnarlrock fight, had it actually played out, could have led to a deepening of the relationship and some honestly and character development but due to what I am again interpreting as fear of losing the other to the point of never addressing any of these points of friction, it just resumed the status quo. Similarly, as I mentioned, Laura flat out said she went in expecting to be rejected. I think that story would have won me over. I think that if Laudna had rejected her, and Imogen had to grapple with that (and, by extension, Laudna's justified anger and trauma from the Team Issylra didn't disappear into thin air) and they spend some time actually figuring out who they are as individuals and Laudna lets herself be more than a validation machine who pushes her emotions down, and then eventually they come back around to each other? I'd be unbelievably on board. And you can go back, to my posts and others, in which we were pretty harsh on the fanon cottage cheese (yes, I am going to try to make this happen) version but said "I trust Laura and Marisha to do this in a way that is interesting" and then they straight-up didn't.

Obviously this has the potential to change - I even think the next episode is finally a case of maybe bringing all the Delilah stuff to a much needed head which in turn might introduce something into the relationship - but man it's been a whole lot of nothing since they kissed. I think Laura's initiated every single conversation, as mentioned Laudna can't even reciprocate 5 minutes of dancing on a ghost pirate ship without wandering off, and they didn't even bother to take watch together.

Something I keep going back to, and which ties into the above, is Brennan Lee Mulligan's whole discussion of how important character creation is to story. The thing is, these characters were created as close friends. Why does this feel so lacking? Like...why do Kima and Allura, two NPCs, feel like they have more weight? Why did the platonic relationship of Molly and Yasha, for which Ashley wasn't even present, feel like it actually was a friendship of 8 months? Sam and Liam came up with an entire system of grifts! Why is literally the only detail we have from the time between leaving Gelvaan and the time arriving in Jrusar is that at some point Imogen and Laudna saw someone with nipple tassles, and that came up once, like 60 episodes ago? Why are people so frequently sold on say, Loquatius/Laerryn, which had less than 24 hours of gameplay over a single night in-game? Why does every single Circle of Needle and Thread member relationship feel more real? Why were Aabria and Travis able to convincingly play ex-lovers in a handful of episodes despite Aabria deliberately surprising him? Like...I am not saying preparation wasn't done, because it very well might have been, but it's not coming through at all and plenty of other people have managed to get across an existing friendship or relationship in a fraction of the time, within the same campaign, so it's not that the plot is moving too fast for it. And again, if prep wasn't done, or if it's not coming across, that's really fixable, but it hasn't been fixed. I think of the 4SD episode where, five or six episodes later, Marisha and Laura still hadn't talked about the relationship and it's like...yeah. We can tell. Literally a two hour trip to a cafe would fix this but god I don't think there's been one.

Anyway, obviously this was an incredibly popular ship, but it's honestly slowed down noticeably since going canon because...it's not that great, and there's not much content in canon. I think a big appeal of the ship was the anticipation and the fanon and now that it's canon...I suspect a lot of people are quietly realizing that actually yeah this is kind of all it is, at least for now, and something is going to have to happen to bring about a change.

And I hope so too - I joke about being a hater, and I am very much a critic...but this really is the realization of that post about being more of a dismayer than a hater. Laura's past two ships are probably my favorites, and Beauyasha is high up there, and even as Vaxleth isn't really up my alley it's sweet and it makes sense and has a lot of great moments. It really would not take a lot of work to make this ship good or at least okay and not...nothingness, but it does take some, and I haven't seen it.

[fushiglow]

Then I guess you're a better person than me, Gojo!!

Because I hate Gege Akutami and I'm *very* angry on your behalf 😃 I’m (sort of) kidding but damn... thoughts on 236 below the cut!!

I held off posting earlier because I felt like going scorched earth on everything jjk. I took some time to clear up some of the translations I wasn't sure about and let the reality sink in, and now I'm ready to talk about this chapter rationally lol.

Firstly, I wanna say that my issue with this chapter isn’t Gojo dying or even the way that he died. I always knew that Gojo dying was likely, but here?? Now???? I've spent all day turning it over in my mind and trying to make it work, but it just won't.

I think Gojo's 'delusion' (daydream? afterlife?) is really beautiful in isolation. Some of the dialogue is really touching and I think it'll benefit from the emotional impact delivered by the full translations. The problem is what follows.

After 235, people were nervous that Gojo hadn't actually won yet. I waited to see what some trusted translators thought of the editor's comment before deciding it was a conclusive win for Gojo, and what I read reassured me that the win would remain intact even if he died at some point over the course of December 24.

In the past couple of chapters, we were told that Sukuna was 'nervous' for the first time in 1000 years and he thought Hollow Purple at close range would be fatal. At the end of 235, Sukuna is looking pretty terrible while Gojo looks fresh as a daisy after fighting in inspiring, inventive ways throughout.

So to find out that, actually, he *hasn't* won and he's been killed by getting cut in half offscreen feels like shock value for the sake of shock value. There have been a few 'shock factor' moments during this fight and they've always bothered me a little, but I could excuse them for the sake of hype building in a weekly manga. However, I never anticipated anything on this level and I'm genuinely so disappointed.

I think this long-awaited fight ending this way cheapens Gojo's character *and* Sukuna's character (and Kashimo's character for that matter!), and ultimately makes the entire thing feel meaningless. 'Meaning' is the thread that has run through Gojo's entire arc, tying him back to Suguru as he sought to build a better world. I always felt certain that Gojo's life and death would have meaning, even if it ended tragically, but I just can't find the meaning in this. I think I understand what Gege was trying to do, but he really didn't sell it for me.

There’s nothing worse than when a story makes you feel stupid for getting invested, and that’s how I’m feeling right now. I find myself wondering, what was the point in bringing Gojo back at all??? Keep him in the box and very little changes in the story, unless it transpires that Gojo 'weakening' Sukuna for the students was his grand purpose after all which... really??

Even worse, I *always* said if it was between Gojo and the students, I wanted Gojo to die. Since 212, getting Megumi back has been my number one priority, but 236 has achieved what I previously thought impossible. I literally don't even want Megumi to come back anymore, because I just can't imagine how he could live with himself after 'killing' Tsumiki and Gojo. It seems kinder for him to die with Sukuna and I *never* thought I would say that.

I'm feeling like a real clown for the meta I posted after 235. I want to take it down because I was so certain that Gojo had won, but I won't because I don't believe my reading of Gojo's character was wrong. I just think my expectations were too high, even though I tried hard to temper them. Even so, telling Megumi about Toji being left to Shoko? Gojo losing and leaving his students to clean up the mess again?? Gojo not even *mentioning* his students in his dying daydream???

It all just feels wrong. Gojo has been turned into nothing more than a plot device at the absolute last second, and maybe it's on me for ever expecting that he would be anything more than that in a series where he isn't the main character, but why bother writing Hidden Inventory then? Why bother getting us invested in this man's story at all?

Right now, I'm feeling like I don't even want to watch tomorrow's episode, but I am interested to see whether Gege can pull this arc off in the long term. I've seen people talking about resurrection theories because of the enlightenment hints and, while I do see the vision, I think Gojo's acceptance of his death and letting go of his regrets can also be read as enlightenment as he escapes the mortal coil once and for all.

Gojo's dying bloody smile shows he's at least happy in his final moments, so my feeling is that Gojo is truly dead and gone. I really want to trust that Gege will make this work, but damn. This is a tragedy.

(Although, if Gojo actually is at peace in death, maybe that's the reason Gege will bring him back. He'll *never* let that man be happy, I swear.)

To end on a positive note, the SatoSugu crumbs were beautiful and teenage Gojo's facial expressions were wonderful. I'm crying again just thinking about the contrast of that last adorable smile with his blank expression on the next page.

I'm dropping all my canonverse WIPs and working exclusively on AU fics for the foreseeable future 😤 I'm gonna give Gojo all the happy endings he deserves!!!

(fuck. poor poor shoko.)

[nico-esoterica]

How BTS Manifests Success With Astrology🪄

I have a hypothesis people w/ hard aspects to Neptune find it more difficult to believe in themselves (but I need more evidence). But I find this true for my clients.

For example - BTS's group chart has an exact square between their Neptune in their (4H) and Ascendant. On its own, it means that they suffer between distinguishing who (they) are vs the identity that's expected from them. Politically, we also know SK use them as a way to exert soft power.

For an individual, this would translate to them wanting to fulfill ideals they picked up at home they struggle to achieve. But an exact supportive trine from their (12H) Scorpio Saturn says they'll meet them through being shrewd and calculated using 'invisible' resources. That's their grounding and helps if they cement the belief that they're an underdog. Marketing wise, this worked to their advantage. This can also come in the form of tactical investments from large but quiet and unseen entities.

But the separating square with their (7H) Gemini Mars can lead to their energies lacking clear direction or hitting plateaus because of getting lost in the process of planning and executions being inspired but convoluted. We witnessed this with BTS's concepts, world building, and branding identity becoming enmeshed as a clever business strategy. With the duality of Gemini, especially because they're a (7H) stellium, it also says that they're triple prone to shape shifting to mirror the opinions of others, especially if it benefits them, at the expense of their integrity. The ruler of their house of fans and fandom (11H Libra ~ 8H Venus) forms a separating but powerful trine to that Neptune. Their income and obligations to others is well fed by the lack of a clear boundary with their consumers. That Neptune forms the heart of their grand water trine. Water allows the flow of all things for better or worse.

To Manifest, I've mentioned self-belief being essential, but I imagine that they had/have issues with imposter syndrome and self-concept problems. Even though manifesting for them may be accelerated once the first hurdle is overcome, they'd have anxieties over thinking everything will eventually go up in smoke if they reveal they're individuals. And, via the issues that come with Neptune, breaking the facade and daring to be the messy individuals they've always been.

[unlikelyjapan]

s2e1 rewatch notes

I had some wine tonight, but by the grace of God I had the wherewithal to wait a few hours to post my notes:

The forcefulness of Fak telling Carmy "It's a facelift AND a gut" is obviously needling us about how the character development on the show is going to roll, to varying degrees. The fact that Carmy is the one to be dismissive about the statement is foreshadowing I guess?

The same foreshadowing goes with Richie & Carmy - "I've got no purpose" and "you're going to wake up and drop my ass" fears are inverted between them by the end of the season.

Marcus and Sydney have honest heat/tenderness/tension in the first episode as she checks in on his mom - her own mother issues make it super awkward as the interaction closes, but it gives me more understanding as to why Marcus erupted as badly as he did in Ep10 (not like it was excusable, just relatable) - he's in a vulnerable state where her inquiries could definitely feel like overt cues.

Cicero totally looks like he knows what's happening between Carmy and Syd as they bicker during the pitch for more cash - Oliver Platt can play a smart (smug) motherfucker like no other, and I'm weirdly attracted to that.

Cicero was really ready/itching to tell them "the story of complete and utter failure" when Carmy cuts him off with the spontaneous '18-months to pay-out" deal during the same pitch. Knowing the Gonzalez/Bartman story was at the ready in episode 1 - and that, instead, we got Claire'd - is going to haunt my dreams for a while.

Syd asking Tina if she wanted to be her sous felt like the first time she was earnestly asking another woman to have a connection with her, and that earnestness was rewarded threefold *tears*

I love Ebra's consistent tenderness with Marcus so much - I hope they explore that bond more in season 3, as they've always been so gentle together. You can tell Ebra is very invested in Marcus' future, even though it's so divergent from the path he sees for himself at his stage in life.

Syd really needs Carmy to take the lead at the lockers when she says "Uh....what are you going to do?" - she lacks the emotional bandwidth to deal with the ambiguousness of "I have no idea", even though it's such a loaded statement coming from Carmy. He also says "I have no idea" to Claire in the next episode, when she asks "how's your life been, Berzatto?" but, of course, Claire DOES have the bandwidth/game to respond.

The exact lyrics when Sydney walks away from the lockers are talking about "transcendental blues" - I am deceased now.

Furthermore, the fact that the episode (at the point where they've constructed the new 3-month opening plan) is the first time we actually hear the lines from Refused's "New Noise" punctuate an episode with "Can I scream? Good frames won't save bad paintings" - ugh.

Afterthought:

Do you think any of anti-hero character development on the show echoes back to "The Adventures of Augie March" by Saul Bellow? I haven't read it in ages, but it's the most Chicago story ever, and Storer is SO REFERENTIAL about anything literary/cinematic to do with the city that I thought.....maybe kinda.

[uroboros-if]

Im sure this has already been asked, but which RO does the mcs fathers like best? and what would be their favorite and least favorite thing about each of them?

Hi Anon! There's been a similar ask, but I feel that it is now outdated, as they've evolved in characterization in my mind!

A very long answer, as this has both their opinions on the ROs in general, and how they feel about the ROs being with the MC because I misread your ask first and answered that question instead! 💕😭

SALVATORE.

NERO generally somewhat does not like Salvatore, but that's actually quite flattering, as Nero very much dislikes most people. They treat their child nicely; it's only that he feels Salvatore is an extension of Ellera, and that is not an exaggeration. He knows Salvatore would do anything she asks, and for that, they have wildly different ideologies. Being in a relationship with them, he would be both surprised and unsurprised. Salvatore has always been kind to you, unlike the rest of the deities, but they have always been held back by the many expectations placed on them. He does not imagine Ellera would be happy with this union, and admittedly, he's not thrilled about having to share another connection with her, either. He treats them cautiously, but he is not unfriendly; rather, he is wary of what may come from this.

Likes: They've always been nice to you.

Dislikes: Ellera.

RAFAELE is on the same wavelength as Salvatore! They both have a love for mortals, and whenever they have a chance to speak, they would happily gush about them with each other. They both love to be busy, too, so they're pretty much best work friends! They're both too busy to find time to spend time together, though, and Rafaele pretty much invests all of his time and energy into you and Nero when he does find leisure time. If he finds out you're with them, he would be thrilled. He sees this as an opportunity, not only for Nero and Ellera to reconcile, but also to get MC accepted! Oh, and of course he is happy that MC is with someone who sees them just the way he sees their child. Salvatore reminds him of himself; someone who's willing to give others a chance, in spite of their reputation. They've always had such a charitable opinion of MC.

Likes: Reminds him of himself.

Dislikes: Conscious of other people's opinions, which spells trouble for MC, but this issue may have gotten better by the time you're together.

LUCIEL.

NERO enjoys a tentative friendship with them. As they are both reserved and unwilling to involve themselves too deeply with divine affairs, they have mutual respect for each other, and are probably each other's only friends. Nero does not make friends easily, and neither does Luciel, so this friendship is miraculous. If you are with Luciel, however... admittedly, he would be somewhat unhappy. He does not doubt they would make for a wonderful partner, someone who is kind and patient, but—oh, it's too weird to think of being (tentative) friends with them now! Nero has always been a proponent of giving MC freedom, but he's always been secretly protective of them, too, as one of the few people he holds dear. Now that Luciel, his friend, is taking MC from him, it almost feels like... betrayal. Who knew Luciel would be the one to take MC from him? Maybe he should have, though—you two are a natural fit for each other, working together.

Likes: Patient and gentle.

Dislikes: Traitor.

RAFAELE thinks Luciel is the nicest person ever! It's hard to find people who understand and appreciate his child, so he's happy to find an ally amid a sea of dissent. Moreover, Luciel has always put him at ease, as boisterous as he can be. It makes him happy and peaceful, almost the same way Nero can. So being in a relationship with MC is great! They already know Luciel's character, so they already trust them. Oh, and it's so sweet how they both run Lucidio together, working in harmony in a slice of heaven... he'd sigh dreamily at that. He thinks you two are practically made for each other!

Likes: A great listener!

Dislikes: Can be emotionally distant.

CIOCANA.

NERO respects Ciocana, as they are both loners and hardly like to be held down by Ellera's strict rules. They both can be quite cynical, but they are still motivated by their wishes to aid mortals. However, Ciocana thinks humans are quite interesting, while Nero thinks they are worthy of living, as all living things are—though he does not hold them in the highest regard. If only because he does not favor much at all, anyway. In a relationship with them, hypocritically, he's wary of them. Of course he is similar to them, but that is all the more reason to be suspicious of them. If Ciocana is anything like him, MC would have to dedicate a lot of emotional investment to get anything meaningful from Ciocana, and from experience... it would also be painful for MC to experience even more alienation due to their union, as he has seen for Rafaele. Rafaele has always loved socializing, and it has gotten much better with time, but being with Nero does not make forming friendships easy.

Likes: Clever, witty, and shares similar ideologies.

Dislikes: They remind him of himself.

RAFAELE would be wary. He's usually quite understanding of people like Ciocana, as someone who's in a union with a brooder like your father, but Ciocana's presence is unsettling to him. Like his husband, they possess great kindness within; of course, they are both charming and intelligent as well. Yet unlike Nero, there is... something strange about them. He's warned you against them, and now you bring them to him and Nero. He wants to be supportive and open; he knows how hard he fought to have others understand what he and Nero had. Yet it will take time to be completely comfortable with them, if only because he worries so much for you, and would not want to see you fall into the wrong hands. You are his most precious cargo, and he's unwilling to let you go to anyone less than fitting in his eyes. Once he warms up to them, he will be in full support of you.

Likes: He thinks they are kind inside.

Dislikes: He has an odd feeling about them.

ALESSI.

NERO initially does not think of Alessi, but once he knows of them throughout the course of the plot... he will think that they are doing the right thing. I'll refrain from elaborating for spoilers. As for being with them, he would be unhappy with this. Mortals are best left to their devices; mixing deities and mortals together have never worked. This comes from someone who works closely with mortals. He looks after them, but he will never go so far as to trespass on the sacred, unspoken rule that a union between mortal and deity would only lead to heartbreak and despair. Alessi is but mortal flesh and bone, and you will never die. He does not want to subject you to an eternity of loneliness, and deities are... quite stubborn, by design. They do not move on so easily.

Likes: Down-to-earth and responsible.

Dislikes: They are mortal.

RAFAELE also did not know of Alessi, but as the plot unfolds... he will think that they are doing the wrong thing. I'll refrain from elaborating for spoilers. He would be similarly unhappy as Nero. He would try to plead with you to rethink your decision! Though he often delights in reading and hearing of forbidden romances, this is not fiction for MC. The pain of being a deity is everlasting and on-going, and he does not want to add to your burdens as it is, pining for someone who you will outlast by centuries, perhaps milennias. He knows he would for Nero; he does not want this for you. Moreover, consorting with someone who wishes for the divinity to collapse is...

Likes: Super handy and cool mortal stuff.

Dislikes: They are comitting treason.

༺═──────────────

I think this is a lot more developed and polished than my previous answer for them, as I was still tentative on the character of both the ROs and fathers. Of course, this is still up for evolution—and that's so exciting! It just goes to show how far this IF has come!

Thank you so much for a lovely ask! 💕💕

[nerdyunicorns101]

I sometimes look back at the first poster of TGAMM and thought the ghost character would be a traditional comedically grumpy ghost character and we would have another fun albeit unspectacular silly cartoon for kids.

Little did we know that the ghost character would spark some fascinating look into how childhood trauma can lead to aggressive cries for help. Don’t you just love it when your expectations are shatteringly subverted?!

AGREED.

(There will be spoilers for the most recent Season 2 episodes going forward as I talk about this, be warned).

I knew something was off about Scratch the moment he was introduced to us, specifically the fact he was so alone. I just thought it would never get addressed because of how the series was so focused on the story told in Season 1, with the Flow and the Chairman and all that crap. I thought his past was, well, in the past, and the show was only focused on the present. It was there for fans to fantasize and wonder about, but it would never actually come to light what he went through.

When we got the synopsis for A Soda To Remember, I was nervous. I wanted to know what would happen, but at the same time, I wanted the show to stay in the present. But the way the writers have been discussing all of the things that happened when Scratch was alive is making me so invested into it all. There was a time when I was first watching the series that I lowkey didn't really want to see what Scratch looked like as a human, and now, I'm literally FEASTING off of the one glimpse we saw of him in All In The Mind. The writers said we'd find out how he died, and I could never be more hyped (and scared for what we're going to find out, of course).

One think I appreciate in kids shows like these is how the writers are never afraid to address real-world issues and topics. Take the Home episode from Season 1 (yes I'm too lazy to write out it's full name but it's episode 18) as an example. Now here we have Scratch, who 100% has anxiety or other mental disorders that have all been from childhood trauma. (Now, before you go out and say "oh but a friend moving away isn't trauma" ummmmm ever consider why he has no biological family???? lol). He's repressed his feelings so deep inside of him because he's scared to confront this PTSD he has. You can still tell he has some sort of mental attachment to things that've happened in the past, hence why he was staying inside of the attic of Adia's old house before the McGees moved in, but he's trying his best to ignore it. And the catch is: it's not working. That's why things are "bubbling up to the surface", as they've been calling it. From the get-go, Scratch has always had a problem with hiding things from people. In Season 1, you could tell he didn't want to tell Molly about how dangerous their friendship was. He told her about things in Scratch the Surface/Friend Off, but you could tell he was doing it in a way where Molly wouldn't see the issue as much of a problem, when in reality it was a massive problem that Scratch was trying to deal with all on his own. And in episodes like the Turnip Twist, that problem of hiding what was happening was really hard for him to do. All of it is starting to make sense now - he's hiding everything. All because of what's happened in his past and the fact that he's too scared to confront his emotions.

I cannot wait to see what the rest of the season. I want my ghost boy to find closure. He deserves it 🙏

[askagamedev]

Hello! I have a question that I've always pondered. Why do certain franchises like Pokemon and The Sims have no serious competitors or at the very least never had a serious breakthrough competitor? on the internet; I've always seen very loud complaints from fans who say that the games have gotten worse overtime so naturally I wonder why a competitor has never been able to swoop in and grab a foothold. Is it because these games are hard to replicate in reality or something more that I'm missing?

Major genre leaders are really hard to unseat once they've gotten going. There are a few major reasons for this.

First, every major genre leader has an incredible amount of momentum going forward. Any competitor that is entering the space can't just compete with what Pokemon, the Sims, Call of Duty, or League of Legends launched with, because that's not what those players are playing. They're playing the latest update with the latest features and all of the expansion content for that title to date. A Pokemon competitor is competing against all nine generations of pokemon, all of the game systems, all of the lore, all of the entrenched goodwill and memories players have from growing up with the brand. This means any competitor must launch ready to compete with the current state of the genre leader - and that can often be decades of combined developer hours.

Second, the genre leader has a huge amount of player data at their disposal - they know what their players like, what they want, and they have the tools and years of developer experience to build the kind of content that they know their players will engage with. These hard-obtained data from actual players are much more actionable than the market research for a game no one has ever seriously played (or paid for) before.

Third, it isn't enough just to match the genre leader - any new competitor must be significantly better to draw users away. Humans are very conservative by nature and they don't like trying new things. It's the biggest reason why sequels sell far better than new IP - people are scared of the possibility of not liking it, so they stick with things they know they like. Any new offering must be so much better that the difference overcomes the comfort of the player base. That's a mighty tall order.

The result of all of this is that any attempt to wrest leadership away from the current leader is an enormously expensive undertaking that has no real means of recouping that investment until launch. It's a huge gamble with extremely long odds. As such, it's very difficult persuading people with money that such an endeavor could successfully dethrone an existing major genre leader like the Sims or Pokemon. These are all major reasons why Twitter users stay on Twitter, Facebook users stay on Facebook, iPhone users stick with iPhones, and so on - despite all of the other issues that have arisen with them, the offered alternatives are just not appealing enough to overcome the need to make that switch. Instead, most competitors don't try to become the leader but instead aim to carve out their own sustainable niche within the space. That's a much easier ask.

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[buddiebeginz]

you know, the way people are acting like Tommy is the second coming of gay Jesus is actually making me hate him as a character. (Which isn't fair but it's how I'm feeling.) They're acting like he's this well established character when he's had what six episodes across the run of the show. For me it just shows, despite what they've said for years, it was never about telling a good love story. It was never about getting to see a slow burn done with two queer characters where they and the relationship was treated with the same care as the hetero slow burns. It very much feels like it's exactly what M/M shippers have been accused of for years, just wanting to watch two guys kiss.

I don't personally hate Tommy but I have issues with him both from how he was in previous seasons and some stuff he's done since he's been back. The show has this problem where it thinks that if a character has been gone for a bit and they come back and everyone is cool with them then it's fine. They did it with Taylor and also kind of did it with Buck and Chim's parents to some extent. They never really hold characters accountable for their actions. Like with Taylor we should have gotten some kind of scene when she and Buck were together where she says to him or to Bobby hey I'm sorry I was so focused on getting the story that I didn't care about saving your life. But we never had that.

Similarly with Tommy I think we should have gotten a scene with him and Chim and Hen where he said look I was struggling back then I'm sorry I was a dick. And I know they basically made it seem like he made friends with them all before he left the 118 but it would just be nice if 911 would have their characters acknowledge mistreatment more.

I honestly feel like the show and fandom try and hold Buck and Eddie to higher standards than they do to everyone else. Like I can't tell you the amount of posts I saw after Chim punched Buck where people were defending Chim yet we never a scene with Chim apologizing. Also I've seen tons of posts about how wrong Buck was on the basketball court or how wrong Eddie was in the grocery store but they never go as hard at other characters when they mess up. And back to Tommy I've only seen a handful of people even call out what he did on the date. Making that joke about closets when he knew Buck was on his first date with a guy and not out and just really panicking in that moment. I just found it really crass of him on top of him just kind of ditching Buck like he should have at least made sure he got home alright.

I'm happy that we finally got Buck's bi awakening storyline and I'm okay with that being with T*mmy even if I'm not crazy about him. My biggest issue is with B/T shippers and how insufferable some of them have been. Talking about how Buddie doesn't matter and how B/T should be endgame when they've barely known one another makes me want to scream. And it's mostly coming from former Buddie shippers.

And you're right some of these people are really proving the whole fetishizing queer couples argument correct (and I'm not saying this about everyone who likes B/T) but I think for some they just like that it's two hot guys making out and it doesn't really matter who it is. Which I hate to even say that because any time I've liked any queer couple I've had people say that stuff to me when it's always been because I've been invested in the storyline. But there isn't even any storyline yet to be invested in with B/T they kissed once and went on 1 1/2 dates and some people are talking about them getting married at some point >_<

Sorry for the long rant anon. Thanks for the message btw. ❤️Message anytime.

[beevean]

brutally honest opinions on sonadow sonamy and whispangle 🙂

bro :P

Sonadow: I should like it. I know I should. It's a very typical rival ship, and a relatively civil one too. But I just find it so boring, sorry 😭 I can't get invested in their relationship at all, let alone see the spark of attraction. I think the issue is that I see Shadow as his own character first, and Sonic's rival as... fifth? I don't like him as Sonic's mirror at all, I prefer other rivals. <- result of playing ShTH before SA2, probably

Another nitpick I have is that usually this kind of shonen rival ship hinges on some kind of obsession, or seeing the other one as special in some way - something like "only I can defeat you". Sonadow... really doesn't have this. Shadow is just one of Sonic's allies. Shadow was mildly intrigued by Sonic in SA2 and Heroes but then he got used to him. I'm really not sure what they're supposed to see in each other.

Fandom behavior, of course, doesn't help - Sonadow is immensely popular, inescapable, and extremely prone to fanonization. Ever since I was a kid I hated how Sonadow almost always meant "seme Shadow/uke Sonic", and from what I've seen, the terminology has changed but the "interpretation" hardly did.

Back in the day I liked He Is My Master a lot, though. Hugely recommend it to modern audiences. It helps that it was a deliberate parody and breaking of the stereotypes of the time :P

Sonamy: I have a bit of a Wildly Inconsistent™ relationship with this one lol. I went from loving it as a kid, to distancing myself by the time Generations rolled in, to accepting it in a different form. I think it has the potential to either be a very interesting take on such a basic premise, or recipe for utter mangling of characterization to fit the characters into prepackaged molds. Solution: I don't engage with the fandom :P

The only version of Sonamy I like is one where the two are very close friends, engage in well meaning banter, and travel and fight together. The relationship should all be about fun, and trust, and appreciating how far they've come together. Despite how basic it looks, I reject the "settling down and having kids" scenario.

Perhaps I'm cheating :P but I think Sonamy can be cute without sacrificing their personalities that have IMO interesting similarities and parallels.

Whispangle: at its core, it's a very cliché "shy girl/bubbly girl" ship, not my thing but it could have worked out nicely. The scene where Whisper opened up about her past with Tangle and she offered her support, showing emotional intelligence despite her antics, is honestly nice.

It could have worked out nicely. Then IDW proceeded to shit on Whisper at every moment, turning Tangle into an utter insensitive dumbass who blurted out the name of her bestie's dead comrades for literal cool points and she got away with a "oopsie daisy" while Whisper had to profusely apologize for daring to still have PTSD over it. And I didn't forget how then the Duo fiasco ended with Whisper being artificially humiliated just so that Tangle could hug her, give me a break. Terrible. Whisper deserves a better friend.