#which i can see being the worst answer for an artist to get

[tennessoui]

hello kit! this is dethberrie (art sideblog). i saw you mentioned undercover / little mouse obi-wan in your tags 👀 ( also thank you for reblogging my art!!!! I had no idea you'd see it lol ) would you mind providing reference pics / describe how you envision undercover!obi-wan vs little mouse!obi-wan? is there a notable difference in clothing style 👀👀👀

hello @dethberrie !!! an amazing anon pointed your art out to me and it was an instant reblog!! thank you so much for the anakin playmaker art you've made - it is beyond fantastic and i really mean that - i'm obsessed <3

as for the tag i put about a little mouse/a little undercover obi-wan, ugh what a good question

im really not an artist so i'm about to give you theeee most unhelpful info ever but like. it's all vibes for me right

like, writing playmaker obi-wan, i really see him in three different ways:

detective obi-wan - probably in a very clean and pressed uniform with his hair neat if too long for regulation (which i imagine is short) - the definition of bright-eyed and bushy tailed, eager and desperate to prove himself to the force and to his father

undercover obi-wan - obviously not in a uniform. phase one of undercover obi-wan is him in street clothes he thinks are passable enough, dark colors, a bit ragged, worn through - maybe his serving uniform from his very brief stint at the strip club where he meets anakin's men. then phase two of undercover obi-wan is him in the clothes mob boss anakin provides for him and that's short and tight for meetings, maybe something generally more appropriate for around the kids but it's excessive, sheer, pretty....the important distinction here though is obi-wan wears it like it's a costume because he's undercover. he looks stiff, he looks uncomfortable, it's not something he chose and he wears it like that

little mouse obi-wan - this is the boy who chooses to come back to anakin after escaping him and while he's not wearing everything anakin provides, he's definitely relaxing into his role as designated mob wife. he definitely gives himself more coverage when allowed (aka the moments when anakin doesn't want obi-wan's father to see the cuff marks on his wrists) but in general little mouse!obi-wan is just...no longer wearing his clothes like they're a costume. he's accepted them and his place - for the most part. who knows if his hair is long or short at any given moment - it depends on how much anakin has pissed him off recently. there is probably also a fur coat involved lol

[txttletale]

Ok so, let's assume there are 2 steps on how to deal with AI, which are:

give up on luddite dead end pursuits of turning back the clock to more indivualized production

put energy into productive working class organizing

Could you please elaborate who is even trying to do that thing you mention in step 1? Those in denial? I have yet to see anyone, all I see is people being upset and thus hating it, which is a natural reaction to having your art be stolen. Give it time, people need time to process this change.

And regarding your step 2, that's gonna happen either way? I mean, what choice do artists have? Same as all tech that those in power want to push, ai is gonna persist, it's inevitable, as is artists trying to adapt.

I genuinely see no sense in posts advocating for ai, like, it doesn't need that, it's doing good without you guys, it has a pr team working tirelessly trying to integrate it daily. What are tumblr users who advocate for it trying to accomplish here? Make artists hate it less? As an artist whose art got stolen, even if I do manage to successfully adapt, I will not stop hating ai and those behind it? Like, what's the purpose here 😭 Sorry this got kind of long

i mean i don't consider myself an 'advocate' for 'ai art'. generative visual art is an artform i personally have little interest in making. i think if openai went bankrupt tomorrow it would be awesome and very funny. you are making a classic mistake, which is to assume that every issue is like a splatoon splatfest with two clearly defined teams. i point out that the things that people frothed up into anti-AI hysteria say are at best untrue and at worst deeply reactionary, pushing right-wing social views about art or right-wing economic views about copyright because i think those things are bad.

i don't bother making posts pointing out that, like, @ApeHODL69Doge on twitter who thinks every movie will be ai generated by 2026 is moron because, very simply, i don't exist in a social environment where i run into that kind of guy or anyone who doesn't think that kind of guy is a moron, and also because liberals can and have done a pretty great job comprehensively debunking that type of guy's nonsense arguments and empty tech hype.

this does not apply to me but many users on tumblr who "advocate for AI art" are literally just defending themselves against vicious ableist harassment mobs who think it's okay to tell a disabled person their disablity isn't real or they should draw with their mouth or they're just whiny because they used the funny picture machine, so i think what those people might be trying to accomplish is to stop getting harassed, and i think that's a pretty admirable goal

my personal goal is to encourage people to think more critically about new technologies and understand that where these new technologies immiserate them it is because of the social structures and economic system under which that technology is deployed, not because of an evil devil curse lurking in the technology itself. hopefully this answers some of your confusion.

[perpetualprocrastinationisme]

Is Ty in Denial Over Livvy?

Artist: Charlie Bowater

I think it's worth noting that what Ty is currently experiencing re: Livvy is not grief but denial. - Cassie Answering Asks on Tumblr

I think this really points to what one of the biggest points of tension in the TWP series is going to be: the denial that Ty might be in over Livvy. This is how Cassie answered a question about why Kit left without saying goodbye to the Blackthorns in QOAAD. But is Ty really in denial? That's what I'm trying to ascertain by analyzing the passages below.

PS. If you do find a ghost, treat it kindly. I don’t think all ghosts mind being ghosts, as long as people are nice to them.

So this is how Ty ended a letter to Emma and Julian in SOBH. I feel like this shows us that to Ty, the real reason that someone may not like being a ghost is that they're ignored and not treated well. So the answer to the issue with Livvy is just to treat her the best he possibly can, to always be there for her. (Also, just to say this, Ty is one of the most sincerely kind characters in the whole TSC universe if you really examine scenes that include him. So, I also just think this quote stems from who Ty is at heart). But is simply treating Livvy well enough? Does that meet her needs? We see Livvy's perspective in GOTSM here:

There was so little to feel. For months now she had been less than a shadow at Ty's heels. Oh, why couldn't Livvy do the same? Why was she the only one who could not return and take up her life again?

While I do think that being kind to ghosts like Livvy or Rupert is important, the primary injustice here is that Livvy gets to be almost human, just without the parts that make life most worth living. Here we see that she continuously feels this sense of unfairness, why does everybody else get to live their lives except for her? Why is there so little for her to feel?

Here's another of Ty's perspectives on Livvy's resurrection:

She said a lot of reassuring things. But it still gave me a cold feeling, which I think is my body telling my brain that I’m afraid. If Julian and Emma found out about Livvy, they wouldn’t just be angry. They’d feel like they had to do something, like lay her to rest. People don’t think ghosts can be happy, but Livvy is happy. She helps me with work and she tells me advice for Anush (he has a crush on Rayan’s sister Nasha) and when we’re alone we play games or I read to her. She can’t do everything but why would being all the way dead be better? Everyone calls it “rest” but no one really knows, do they?

I feel like with Ty we consistently see this idea that Livvy being a ghost is better than nothing. In QOAAD when Kit tells him that he doesn't think Livvy would want to be resurrected Ty tells him that he doesn't think Livvy would want to be dead either. To me, this isn't rooted in Ty selfishly wanting Livvy back. On the contrary, I feel like Ty sees it this way because Livvy has always been there for him, making life better. So, for Ty, what if this is his way of making Livvy's life better? After all, wouldn't being a ghost that can still see be on Earth be better than the nothingness of death? Here's another of Livvy's perspectives to compare it to:

The sun was rising, and she tried to feel its warmth - something other than its brightness. To warm herself. What she would have given to feel that wet velvet crust of the top layer of sand under her feet, to feel the cold grittiness of the sand underneath change in temperature as the warmth of her human feet soaked away. To scream herself hoarse, knowing that no one would hear over the roar of the surf. She squatted and tried with ever particle of herself to pick up a piece of beach glass. But it was a useless endeavor. She had no more effect on the world than a fragment of dream.

I believe this scene really showcases one of the two worst parts about Livvy becoming a ghost: her ability to take action. When looking at Livvy's character in the first two books it is evident that she wants to take care of people and be able to have an effect on people. In Lord of Shadows we see her say this:

"I realized something," she said. "I want to be like you, Jules. Not this second, not right now, but someday. I want to take care of people, other Shadowhunters, people who need me. I want to run an Institute."

And I do realize that Livvy can still help people and have a powerful effect on the world as a ghost, I mean she's already found useful information about the Cohort and TWP isn't even here yet. She's just not able to help people in the way I think she feels called to do. Livvy very much seems like a hands-on, people's person. As a ghost she can't be that. She can't run an Institute, she can't even pick things up. You can very much see that she feels useless in GOTSM. But I think we see the thing she struggles with the most in these excerpts:

You can see ghosts but you cannot see me. Not when I come to sit by you while you sleep. Not when I am in the movements of the shadows across the lawn, or the twitch of a curtain. You cannot hear me, even though I am speaking to you because I have things I need to tell you.

It was wonderful to see how settled in Helen and Aline were, but it was also all extremely unfair, Livvy felt. Everyone else got to come home. Mark. Helen. Even Ty would come home someday. But she would never truly be home again.

Family is the most important thing to all of the Blackthorns, it seems like they base almost all of their actions around each other. I think what tortures Livvy is being able to see this family she loves so much but never being able to interact with them again except for Ty. Never getting to be a big and little sister. It's a vital part of Livvy's life that she has lost for the time being.

I want to say this though, I think it may be easy to look at all of these scenes and immediately say that Ty is in denial about Livvy's true situation and feelings, but I don't think that is true. Look at this scene:

Ty said, "I'm so sorry, Livvy." "For what?" she said. "For doing this to you," he said.

I think Ty realizes what all Livvy is missing, for the most part. I think it also really hurts him. He just feels that what she does have is better than what she could have in death.

All of these scenes also beg this question, would Livvy feel like this if she figures out the ins and outs of being a ghost or if she could show herself to her entire family? Like, when she actually sees the power she has for good in her current state as a ghost? I ask because of this scene:

"Oh, Ty," she said. "I would have done it for you. It isn't a thing that should be done, but I would have done it anyway. And so we would be in just the same mess we're in now. Besides, I think I'm getting the hand of this ghost thing."

Conclusion: I feel like Ty may have been in denial in the beginning but I don't think he is anymore. I also think that Livvy will have an easier time as a ghost as things progress in TWP. I also feel like Livvy has the potential to be a huge force for good, a protector, in TWP and I sincerely hope that happens. However, I do think this will be a major point of tension between Ty and other characters in TWP, especially Kit. I feel that many of them, especially the older Blackthorn siblings, will want to help Livvy be released into the afterlife instead of staying as a ghost. I think the finale of the entire series will reveal the fate of Livvy: whether she can stay as a ghost, has to be released into the afterlife, or gets to come back fully human.

Edit: By not being in denial, I mean that I think Ty understands that he did wrong and regrets resurrecting Livvy. The issue is that he doesn’t regret it enough to talk to Magnus or one of his siblings to try to either release Livvy or bring her back fully. To figure out the best way forward with Livvy, is what I guess I’m trying to say. And also, while I think Livvy could be a force for good and could acclimate to being a ghost, I also think there’s just as good a chance that she could go into one of her more volatile states. This would lead to some really awful stuff happening and could even be the crux of Ty and Kit’s plot in TWP.

Also, sorry for the ridiculously long post, it felt kind of like a really poorly written essay. I hope it was coherent and that you enjoyed it though :) Here's some beautiful Kit and Ty art for the road.

Artist: @camisala01-art

[genericpuff]

I'm not sure if you've answered this question before but what were some of the things that made you interested in Lore Olympus in the past and at what point did you lose interest?

I adored the art in the beginning, and just like, the really warm-feeling romance that just had me feeling so giddy reading it. There were some red flags in the beginning like the age gap, but I kinda fell for the same mindset of "well they're gods so what does it matter" (obviously I can't in good faith use that argument anymore because if the age gap didn't matter then it either wouldn't exist or wouldn't be brought up in the first place lmao but it took me a while to realize that).

Now, to be fair, LO was also one of my first introductions to webtoons as a format, prior to that I had read mostly manga and left-to-right indie webcomics (i.e. comics that were hosted on their own site) and I was still in the early years of my own development as a writer and artist (I still feel like I'm early in that development tbh) so of course there were undoubtedly a lot of obvious flaws that went over my head (and I was younger and inexperienced so I wasn't as critical of what media I was watching / reading as I am now) but that's been half the fun of catching them now - it's given me a lot more perspective and helped me hone my own skills in my writing by analyzing what's wrong with LO and brainstorming on how those problems can be avoided.

But then there was the Act of Wrath plotline and I was completely sold on it being gold. Anyone who's read my original work knows how much of a SUCKER I am for "dark alter ego" plotlines, I eat that shit up like junk food. But what I like about the dark alter ego tropes is when they're used to explore the subconscious, question one's morals and true identity, etc. That was what I was hoping for and expecting with the AoW plotline in LO - that her "dark self" was gonna be a reflection of how she felt "held back" by her circumstances in the Mortal Realm, and her wrath being something she could use for retribution (in a "do no harm but take no shit" kinda way). Especially with how naive and innocent she was in the beginning, I loved the idea of her slowly coming to terms with her "darker" side and learning not to suppress her emotions until they had nowhere else to go and exploded (which was how I interpreted the AoW).

So when it didn't do that, or even explore an ounce of nuance regarding her relationship with her wrath, I was very disappointed to say the least. When Eris was revealed to be the one who "blessed" her with wrath, that was when the rose colored glasses started to fall off and I realized "wait, does Rachel not have an actual plan for this whole Kore vs. Persephone thing???" And now her wrath is literally just there to... give her the power to bully people?? It just feels so disheartening to see such potential squandered.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna chastise a story if it doesn't go exactly where I want it to go, there would be no fun in that anyways (and that's what fanfiction is for lmao). But when a story is leaving very interesting but connectable breadcrumbs that are VERY clearly leading you somewhere and then just... doesn't, that's when it's disappointing and unsatisfying. LO feels like a "creator vs. the reader" story in the worst way possible, where it's constantly leaving breadcrumbs, getting pissed when the audience "figures it out", so then it overcorrects and tries to "subvert" itself to keep the readers "on their toes"... but the problem is that all it really does is punish the readers for paying attention and investing themselves in the story by giving them a worse story. It's like Rachel's getting mad at people for figuring out a story that she's writing and hinting towards.

And this has been going on for YEARS now, it's like a Shepard tone where it sounds like it keeps getting higher and higher in pitch but then doesn't actually resolve so your brain is just scrambling trying to figure out what in the world it could be "building up to".

There's nothing. It's not building up to anything. It's just constantly putting down new plot threads that are slightly altered versions of previous plot threads and expecting you to keep following along while it makes a mess of itself. It feels like you're going somewhere but you're actually still just running in place. It's just Rachel never learning how to progress past the middle school writing level of "and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened". Not only is it disorganized writing, but it's just... it's so boring. Nothing's exciting or interesting anymore when it keeps distracting itself with shiny new plotlines and characters that never get resolved.

It's like when you were a kid and thought "man , when I grow up, I'm gonna eat nothing but chocolate cake and ice cream every day forever!" and then you get older and you realize you were being silly because eating nothing but chocolate cake and ice cream every day 1.) isn't good for you and doesn't feel good, and 2.) the appeal and novelty of it wears off if you can have it any time you want, it doesn't feel as special anymore as it did when you were a kid and having those things was a treat.

To compare this back to LO, none of its "reveals" feel like treats anymore, they feel like just another half-assed attempt to keep people interested. It's clickbait.

And don't get me wrong, you CAN totally subvert the breadcrumbs you put down for your audience and go in a completely different direction than where the audience was expecting, but it takes a shitload of skill and thought to do it well. Attack on Titan is one of the best recent examples of a story appearing to completely throw out its original script halfway through, only for that script to actually still be relevant in a very complex and thought out way. Especially when there ARE hints towards the big "twist" that make you go back and rewatch it and realize "WAIT, THEY'VE BEEN GIVING US THE ANSWERS ALL THIS TIME?!?!"

(it would be TWO MORE FUCKING SEASONS before this ending would make sense, that's fucking GENIUS foreshadowing and in the CREDITS SEQUENCE LIKE ?? IT'S SO BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT HOLY SHIT-)

Evidently Rachel does not have that skill and is not willing to put in that thought; maybe she could some day, but I don't think she's learning it on the job as well as she thinks she is.

And it's disappointing as fuck because it could have been so much better than this. Rachel is literally the only one getting in her own way of LO being something truly great.

[red-velvet-0w0]

INTRO POST

Im just a silly little person with an ocean obsession who lives in your phone.

My names are Erin/Eris/Eve/Jess/Red (Erin or Eris is preferred, but I'm fine with any of them)

She/They preferred, but you can call me anything so long as it is NOT he/him (on the same note, if you call me man/dude/bro/guy I will flood your house)

Im a minor (17 years old), and am trans and a Massive Lesbian

proud Californian 😎🇺🇸🦅 (or at least as proud as you can be of california because dear god this state and this country is an absolute joke but hey its better than florida right? at least is some aspects?) (/j /lh)

If you're a terf, a homophobe, or a pedophile: go away please okay? Otherwise pretty much anybody is welcome here so long as you arent hurting anybody

Im an artist, animator, and a game designer (i have a youtube and an itch.io page but neither of them have much on them) (im uh. not quite as good at finishing projects as i am at starting them)

I have an alt account @red-gamedev-0w0 which is where i post about games im working on.

my DMs, asks, and anons are always open if you wanna be silly, and honestly it really makes my day when i get a message. only rules are no anon hate (if you send me any anon hate i will either just delete the message or mock you, you wont actualy make me feel sad so dont bother) and no being horny (unless we know each other and thats how we interact, or unless you send me a message saying "hey im going to say something that might be horny to you if youre comfortable" as a heads up)

I have a silly little OC universe, please please please please please ask me to infodump to you about them please I am begging you.

I AM VERY STRONGLY AGAINST AI ART. (and just. generative AI in general) (yes that includes chat gpt and character AI)

I am... incredibly normal about the ocean. I have healthy and reasonable emotions I feel when i think about it. dont question why "erins ocean posting" is one of my most used tags its totaly healthy trust me (is it a religious thing? a sexual thing? a gender thing? you will literaly never know)

The fandoms im in are: Tiger Tiger, Aurora Webcomic, The Mechanisms, Life Series, Hermitcraft, Mineraft, Terraria, Hollow Knight, Celeste, Hades, Camp Here And There, Murder Drones, The Magnus Podcasts, Epic the Musical, Hello From the Hallowoods, Witherburn After School News, Dont Hug Me Im Scared, The Locked Tomb, Hatchetfield, Centaurworld, Amphibia, Epithet Erased, Kid Vampire, and Bigtop Burger (+ a few more but those are the ones you'll see the most of) (Red means highly likely to post about it, purlple means very unlikely to post about it often)

#1 Killers fan (their best album is Sams Town and the best song is Bones and thats a fact)

I really, really hate Dantes Inferno and the Sierpinski triangle

Id love to be friends, enemies, or really anything in between if you let me.

Tags I use (in case you want to block them):

#erins cryptic ramblings (generic tag)

#erins ocean posting (for ocean related posts)

#axe and erins dnd bullshit (for when im talking about dnd with one of my mutuals)

#the forever day (my OCs)

#erin answers asks (self explanitory)

#erin talks about life /#erin complains about life (also self explanitory)

#erins tumblr ad saga (my compilation of all the worst ads this hellsite has to offer)

#erins coding adventures (for whenever im posting about making a game)

And that’s about it!

Nice to meet you!

[averagemrfox]

2 for the ask game for each member of team RWBY!!!!!

Alright I’m home from work and have had time to think

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

First of all this goes for every single one of them and my individual answers might overlap with this we’ll see. I love how much they’ve all grown and persevered! They’ve been through so fucking much both together as a team and separately and have come out on the other side of it. They were kids!! They made bunk beds and had food fights and were starting to figure out the types of people they wanted to be and then got thrust into Remnant’s Worst Divorce™️ and throughout all of it have only grown closer as a team (not friends family!!) and still have hope that they can make the world a better place (Keep moving forward!!!) (They all need therapy tho fr)

Ruby: she’s perfect just the way she is!! This is supposed to be about the canon things I love about these character but god do I want Ruby to see herself as an individual separate from Summer. I think she’s getting there after her talk with the blacksmith. She’s just so accepting of people without hesitation. Penny is a robot? Don’t care new best friend. Little is a talking mouse? Don’t care new best friend pt 2. I’m sure there’s other examples but she’s always so ready to just let people be who they are and I wish she’d give herself that same grace

She’s also just a giant fucking nerd. About weapons about comics about video games

Weiss: 🗣️🗣️I DONT KNOW WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHO I AM. I AM THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF A HERO AND THE CHILD OF A VILLAIN. I AM A CITIZEN OF A FALLEN KINGDOM AND AN HEIR TO NOTHING. I WILL NOT BE DEFINED BY MY NAME BECAUSE I WILL BE THE ONE TO DEFINE IT. I AM WEISS SCHNEE AND I AM A HUNTRESS🗣️🗣️

Also I love that she’s canonically a fairly well known (at least in atlas) singer. Now I’m not sure she’d do that by choice based on what we saw in v4 but it’s super cool that that This Life is Mine is canon to remnant because of that. Also Jacques made her sing and she was like alright bet and then roasted him in song on stage in front of all those people and we don’t talk about that enough I think

Blake: I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud

Blake tells Sun she joined the white fang 5 years ago in v2. She was TWELVE she was a BABY!! If I had to give Blake a word the way she gives others a word it would be conviction. She never gives up on what she believes in. And she does her best to support others in doing the same, in v7 she tried to encourage ironwood and in v9 she tried to encourage Ruby poor girl got shut down both times but she tried!!

I also love how Blake is canonically a good artist and would like to see more of that. crwby show us a drawing Blake made of Yang

These:

Yang: this girl can fit so much love in her god. She goes to any and every length to protect the people she loves even if it’s to her own detriment (which someone really needs to have a conversation with her about) the Yellow Trailer tells us straight away that there’s more to her than meets the eye and yet there are people who fell into that trap anyway and criticize her character for “not being fun anymore” as if that isn’t the point!!

She’s so confident and cocky until a pretty girl Blake flirts with her I love the disaster lesbian representation.

She punched god in the tiddies!!! And she’d do it again I bet! Maybe we’ll see her punch one or both of the Brothers next I’d like that

This:

[pommpuriinn]

𖥻 ִ ۫ ּ 𓏲 ، ݃♟❜ 𓈈 AIRPORTS ARE NO FUN

joohyung makes airports her catwalk but doesn’t mean flashing light and the space around her closing in don’t cause her anxiety

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ joohyung has multiple viral moments with her airport fashion which most likely causes the fashion tends to go around in korea here a few fashion moments…

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ y2k fur moment. Joohyung wore this outfit with leg warmers and a chunky shoe along with her chanel sunglasses blocking all the bright lights

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ the all vivienne westwood look. It was Joohyung’s solo fashion schedule and she was going to attend one of her favorite fashion artist vivienne show and meet her

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ all white fuzzy set. This look was a way more lay back comfortable compared to her previous ones

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ masculine airport fit. Joohyung showed her masculine side with this outfit definitely her black headphones and sunglasses gave the outfit bonus points. Along with having her hair in a claw clip really showed everyone how small her face shape is

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ of course those are only a few examples, but airports aren’t always fun for Joohyung it’s a place that causes her anxiety to spiral

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ many fans show up and the second they across the cross walk and enter the airport the fans start going crazy along with the journalists there

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ unfortunately Joohyung has many instances where people are just flat out rude to her and rude to the people around them that don’t want to be in the whole chaos 

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ this happens so much that Joohyung stopped counting after the fifth time which is fans pushing Joohyung away from a member just so they can be next to them instead of Joohyung

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ the members have expressed many times how they don’t want to see their noona or anyone else get hurt by being pushed

˖࣪،̲Ꮺ this instance was one of the worst Joohyung has ever experienced it gave Joohyung a panic attack and scared everyone. It started the same people rushing around them, taking pictures, and trying to hand gifts to any member

࣪،̲Ꮺ until suddenly the space around them became smaller and smaller. Joohyung started tripping since she started bumping into her members along with security

࣪،̲Ꮺ all Joohyung remembers is Soobin barely getting a grip on her hand, people yelling, and bright lights before falling down. Joohyung only heard a buzzing sound in her ears as she tuck her head into her arms. She didn’t want to get up especially with feeling people looking down at her

࣪،̲Ꮺ tears were running down her face, Joohyung was crying in silence. “Noona!” Taehyun frantically called. “Please move away, please.” Yeonjun pleaded at the crowd surrounding them. The other three members went to slowly pick Joohyung up Beomgyu took his bucket hat off his head and securely placed it onto Joohyung’s head to hide her face. Soobin and Kai quickly got Joohyung’s things off the floor before following all the members closely

࣪،̲Ꮺ it was probably the worst thing she has ever experienced because Joohyung was restless the whole plane ride and would get little panic attacks throughout the flight until they got into their hotel rooms

࣪،̲Ꮺ another bad moment was when a female journalist was disrespecting Joohyung right in front of her and through an article that was released the following day

࣪،̲Ꮺ as the group was riding the escalator there was cameras and journalists asking them regular questions until a female journalist started asking uncomfortable questions towards Joohyung. “Joohyung-ssi shouldn’t you wear more modest clothing?” Joohyung looked down at her white little tank top paired with a maxi skirt. “I’m perfectly fine, thank you.” Joohyung gave her a fake smile

࣪،̲Ꮺ “with being an female idol shouldn’t you have pure skin?” The journalist was looking at her tattoos. “To each their own.” Joohyung was getting irritated by the minute, but still answer politely

࣪،̲Ꮺ “I also wanted to ask isn’t it unprofessional to date within-“

“Miss please attention you might fall back.” Beomgyu got in front of Joohyung to not only end the conversation short, but to also stop the journalists from asking clear targeting questions to his Jooie

࣪،̲Ꮺ the next day the journalist wrote how rude Joohyung was towards her and how Joohyung has no respect for herself with the way she carries herself. Moas immediately came to Joohyung’s defense and got the article down along with an apology from the journalist herself

[morbiderotica]

Please write a jealous/needy Xavier who has been pining after Reader for a long time and finally tells her how he feels after seeing her flirting with Tyler. All the angst and fluff please!!!

─ ★ r u mine? … gn!reader

It was odd to have a crypt full of outcasts and a seeming normie but with it being Wednesday's birthday and all, no one could really pass up the opportunity. "Oh, stop, you're too funny." You giggle overwhelmingly loud at a barely funny joke that Tyler made. Xavier rolled his eyes, scoffing at your unbelievable behavior. He walked out of the crypt, returning to his dorm.

You noticed his disappearance and went to find him. It wasn't like Xavier to just walk away from a party without telling anyone. You didn't see him loitering outside the crypt so you assumed he went to his dorm. Normally, you would've gone to go check, but it would have been rude to leave now. You hurried back into the crypt and returned to the fun.

─ ★

It's been a few days since the party and Xavier seemed to be ignoring you. It was unlike him to behave like this. Whenever he would see you in the hallway he would avert himself to another direction. He wouldn't even sit with you at lunch anymore. But the worst part of it all is that he wouldn't even acknowledge you when you did get close enough to talk to him.

It was really starting to bum you out. You loved Xavier with all your heart. It pained you to have to go so long without talking to him. Life was so boring and... meaningless. You really missed him.

"Enough is enough." You thought before deciding to corner Xavier. There's nowhere he can go if you surprise him. You walked through the creppy woods to the shed where he would most likely be. You didn't bother knocking, knowing he just wouldn't answer.

"Y/N?" He asked taking his headphones off. "What the hell?" You whine, not sounding as tough or coherent as you wanted to. He furrowed his brows. "You've been ignoring me all week, ever since Wednesday's party." You said and he didn't say anything. He only went back to painting silently. You scoffed and walked up to him and grabbed the paint from his hands.

"Listen to me!" You beg and he couldn't seem less interested in what you were saying. "You're being mean, Xavier." You pout and he almost breaks. "I'm being mean? You're ridiculous." He spat and snatched the paint back. "I didn't do anything to you." You plainly state, sure you're in the right.

He smiled uneasily and licked his teeth. "I'm done talking to you." He shook his head, returning to his painting. "Well, I'm not done talking to you." You replied. "I haven't done anything." You stammered. "And even if I have, you're punishing me without reason!" You cry. "I have a reason." He calmly spoke which really pissed you off. How was he acting like you weren't ready to burst into tears right in front of him?

"Then tell me!" You plead. He stays quiet, ignoring every aspect of you. "Fine. Be an asshole." "I'm not the asshole." His words were calculated, only saying words that he know would get under your skin. He wanted to fight. "You can't be serious right now!  I can't even-" "Shut up." He disgustedly urged.

You didn't dare to speak. He'd never told you to shut up in that tone before. Always in a playful or sarcastic manner. "You don't know anything. Just stop talking. You're embarrassing yourself." You looked down, feeling the redness take up your face.

He noticed this small action, instantly wishing he could take the words back. Nevertheless, he continued the painting. "You know this hurts, right?" You sniffled while holding back tears. "No, don't say that. Get out." You couldn't tell if he was upset or angry. You held your ground and stood still watching the carefully plastered facial expressions that appeared on the tortured artist's face.

"You don't get to come in here and tell me that I'm an asshole when you're torturing me!" He yelled when you didn't leave. "Torturing you? You're the one torturing me! You barely even look in my direction anymore!" You cry out. "Why should I? Just so I can be reminded that... that you don't fucking care about me?" He stammered.

"Of course, I care about you, Xavier!" You tried to give him any sort of comfort. "But never in the way you care about him." He took a deep breath, fighting back the tears. "Him? Who's him?" You ask. "Don't play dumb." He chuckled uneasily. "I'm not?" You argued.

"You know, Tyler, your little boy toy!" He angrily snapped. "Him and his unfunny jokes that you seem to think are fucking hilarious!" He continued. "Tyler's not my boy toy. What are you even saying?" You ask, somewhat offended.

"You're all over him." "I am not!" You retort. "You are! I can't stand it anymore!" He yelled. "Why do you even care?" You laugh, anger taking up your body. "Because I'm in love with you!" He admitted.

You were both silent. It was like the calm after the storm. Neither of you knew what to say. Both out of breath, anger instantly disintegrating. "I didn't-" "You're in love with me?" You questioned. "My mind drowns in the possibility of you and me." He hesitantly added.

You didn't know what to say. You didn't know what to think. "Why didn't you tell me?" You rushed over to him, hugging him. He was confused. Was he hugging you because you felt pitiful for him or because you returned his ardent feelings? "It's not something I would like to admit." He answered.

You pulled away from the hug and looked him in the eyes. A smile formed on your face. He tilted his head in confusion. "Why are you smiling?" He asked. "I'm in love with you too."

[commando-rogers]

I know little ol me does not get much traction on this site and I’ve been reblogging PLENTY about the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes, but I keep seeing people confused about this online and irl so I just want to say:

As of now, the unions have NOT asked us to stop watching content. You can (and should!) keep watching and streaming your favorite shows and movies.

Now, I’m not a member of either union (though I hope to join SAG in the coming years if I get lucky, and maybe WGA is in my future if I get off my butt and write!) so I am not an authority on this, nor do I have all of the information. I could be mistaken on some of this, so those with more knowledge feel free to correct me! But I do know for a fact that the unions have not asked us to boycott watching shows.

The purpose of these strikes is to stop providing LABOR to the AMPTP (the gross weird mafia-like conglomeration of studios such as Netflix, Warner Bros, the like), not to stop watching.

Part of the issue with the proposed contracts from studios is the fairness of residuals (money paid to a writer/actor when their work is aired on TV, released on DVD, sold to a network, etc.). If already-aired shows and movies continue doing well, these workers keep getting paid (at least a little, they’re not getting paid for their jobs while striking but the studios cannot withhold residuals). (Of course, it’s messier with streaming services, which is another thing being advocated for in these contracts.)

So keep streaming movies and shows! Keep tuning in on TV if any of you still have cable! Go see Barbenheimer or anything you’d like to see at the theater! Support the art! This is a labor strike, not a consumer boycott. Not only might it help with residuals, but it shows the studios that there is still a demand for content. People are still watching their movies and shows, they still want to pay their subscriptions, and the studios are proverbially shooting themselves in the knee by withholding future content. That’s why this strike will work, that’s why WGA and SAG-AFTRA refuse to back down until their demands are met.

ESPECIALLY with shows that are coming out! Good Omens is one of my favorite shows, and season 2 drops on July 28th. Neil Gaiman, the writer, is very active on tumblr if you’d like to go check out his blog, and he’s being incredibly gracious and helpful answering questions about the strike. And he said the BEST thing we can do for the show is WATCH it. Watch in one sitting! Watch it on loop! We need to demonstrate demand, or the studios will cancel shows, which means artists out of work.

Of course, should the unions come out with a statement and ask us to stop watching, do it. However, that is not currently their wish, nor is it a rule of the strike.

(A note: if you’re like me and hoping to become an actor or writer in the future, this is NOT the time to get your big break. Studios are gonna come looking for nonunion talent to keep productions going. They are exploiting us and our desperation. If you scab and perform labor for a struck company during this strike, you WILL be blacklisted from ever joining the union in the future. Aspiring actors, that featured background gig is not worth kissing your hopes of a SAG card goodbye. Same goes for writers. You may see some SAG work continuing, that is being done under special agreements with the union, for SPECIFIC exceptions. Do your research on every casting call. Do not scab, these union members are fighting for OUR futures in this industry! The worst thing you can do is hurt them and throw your future away.)

Check out the WGA’s website and SAG-AFTRA’s website for more info on strike rules, and things you can do to help. If you want to make a financial difference, the best thing you can do is donate to strike funds. Go to this link and under Strike Assistance you’ll see a number of funds that are being used to help pay writers while out of work, AND to help pay the crew members who are also out of work because of the strike! Worker solidarity! Here is a link to emergency funds for SAG-AFTRA members.

If you’re in NYC or LA, stop by the picket lines! Even non-members are welcome to march, and a great way to help is to show up and hand out water bottles, food, anything you’re willing to donate and help make the picketers’ day just a little easier. And here’s a link to the LA chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. They have information on strike funds, as well as a fund specifically to help buy snacks for picketers! It’s summer, and both NYC and LA are miserable to be marching in the sun all day.

The other way the unions say we can help is by speaking up and voicing your support on social media. An anonymous studio exec told Dateline “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.” They said the quiet part out loud. You can look up the salaries of these studio execs. It’s tens and hundreds of millions. Then go look up what each union is asking for in their contracts. It’s a drop in the studios’ bucket, but they’re refusing to budge, and they’re showing their complete lack of humanity.

tl;dr: you can and should keep watching shows and movies during the strikes, unless we are told otherwise by the unions. There are other great ways to help! These unions are a huge driving force of American economy, and hopefully these strikes will help garner support for a larger labor movement for all workers to get fair pay.

Thanks for tuning in to my accidentally very lengthy post. But I hope this helps clear up confusion. Share this info with your friends, and voice your support loudly! And for the love of god DO NOT CROSS PICKET LINES!

[fedoraspooky]

Okay Spooky, if you don't mind random questions- what's your favourite Disney movie?

Oh I don't mind at all! I'm actually quite tickled to get one out of the blue like this. nwn

But yes! Answer! Uh, well... Honestly a lot of the ones in the 80s and 90s hold a bit of sentimental value to me due to the fact that my dad worked on them. I would always leave the tape running through the credits until I spotted his name. ;w; In fact, on the DvD for Treasure Planet, if you go to the special features you can actually see him in the making of featurette, where they're asking him about how he sculpted the cyborg parts for John Silver! But, er, yes- favorites!

I would say, it's kind of a toss up between two-

I LOVE The Great Mouse Detective. It encapsulates a lot of stuff I like about that era of Disney, and I do enjoy me a good detective story. The animation is smooth and full of character, and has that rough-lined charm of the xerox era, and the backgrounds? Absolutely gorgeous. The story is fun and full of great comedic moments and also moments that downright terrified me as a kid (That Fidget jumpscare and everything leading up to it still gives me the heebie jeebies). But most of all, I love the characters and the dynamics between all of them, especially whatever Basil and Ratigan have going on. Dear lord. Really not surprising this movie ended up being part of my big list of inspos when writing Kilroy. XD

Second movie- and I know some people don't count it as Disney but to hell with it, it was in kingdom hearts so it darn well counts in my book- The Nightmare Before Christmas. GOD, this movie. When it first came out, I couldn't make it past the opening song because I was scared of the clown with the tearaway face. I shit you not. BUT once I was past that, it quickly became an obsession in my little kid mind. My mom actually showed me a PHOTO she has of me from when I was still in my single digits of age, in which apparently I had taken a black permanent marker to my face to draw rings around my eyes and lines on my mouth so I could look like Jack Skellington. My mom still has it framed in her living room to this day. XD But yes, I sang all the songs, I drew Jack and Sally and Zero all over whatever paper I could get my hands on, and I even made a christmas ornament of Jack's head out of sculpey that we put on the tree every year since. It was probably a huge reason that I became such a huge Halloween and spooky-things lover. And even to this day, it resonates a LOT with me as a movie about someone who is just experiencing the WORST artistic burnout. That's really what this movie is about, I've written a whole-ass essay of a post once rambling about Jack's Lament as a song because of the feels it gave me (i tried to find it but idk if i deleted it during a scare of tumblr copyright striking blogs for music a long while back or if tumblr's blog search function is just poop, either is possible).

Anyway I've talked your ear off long enough, my apologies for the long post but sadly that is what happens when you get me talking about stuff I like. <XD ; Every time I say I won't, but then I become this:

[vynegar]

Analysis: Which other NXX member it would be most painful for them to see Rosa choose instead of them

Tl;dr

Luke → Artem

Artem → Marius

Vyn → Marius

Marius → Artem

(it was actually an artemsweep until the last minute but we’ll get there)

I really wanted to be able to answer this question with a perfect 1:1 assignment where each member shows up once as the worst option for another, but I just couldn't get it to work. Mostly because of Luke; I don't think he'd be the most painful option for any of the members to see, since there's really no way you can compete with the childhood-friend-reunion AND he's a secret agent who's dying. I feel like the others would have to accept that, since they'd have no chance. He’s also the person who would stay the most aloof during the early (i.e. first year of the game) squabbles among NXX for Rosa’s attention, which separates him out as seeming more secure in his relationship with Rosa because everyone knows how important they are to each other.

Luke → Artem

The same feeling of separation that makes him an impossible choice for the others also made it a bit difficult to decide who it’d be hardest for him to see Rosa with. He’s very much his own biggest obstacle when it comes to them getting together, and the way he’s been concealing his feelings for about a decade makes it feel like he’d already be halfway resigned to Rosa being with someone else. His struggles when it comes to Rosa are so internalized that the pain of seeing the other NXX members just pales in comparison.

Vyn and Marius might worry him because of the danger that their status brings (where is the Luke reaction to hearing Rosa got kidnapped in Unconcealable!!), but sticking with the prompt of what would hurt the most to see, I would go with Artem. Since Artem was also someone who hid his feelings for a long time and tried to care for her from a distance, I think seeing Artem and Rosa together might make Luke think what could have been possible for him, and regret that he hadn't tried confessing. The game generally uses parallels between relationship dynamics to strike an emotional chord, so I think it’s fitting to choose the most similar relationship as the one that would hurt Luke the most.

Marius → Artem

As much as it pains me to not pick his ultimate petty-frenemy-teacher for Marius, I kept forcing myself to stick with the prompt and go from there. The important thing was what would “hurt” the most, so I decided to reason out who would strike the insecurities of each character the hardest. I also tried to think about any recurring themes in the storyline of each character, and that led me to Artem for Marius.

One of Marius’s biggest struggles is balancing the many facets of his life and personality. In Rosa, he’s found someone who not only accepts every face that he has, but also gives him space to take off the masks and truly be himself. Rosa was even instrumental in preventing him from sacrificing his artistic identity Z, so her support for him seems even more powerful and unique. If Rosa ended up with Artem, Marius would be losing that special presence in his life to someone who’s as straightforward and uncomplicated as they come. I think seeing that happen could make Marius question once again how feasible it is for him to keep every aspect of his identity, or at least whether he could find a partner who could handle it.

Another reason why Rosa is important to Marius is that he’s always longed for someone brave enough to face every adventure head-on with him. Marius is the one who most readily accepts Rosa taking the lead on things, their interactions and investigations feel the most like they’re on equal footing, and over and over Marius sees that she can hold her own in each part of his life, business, artistic, or personal. If Rosa were to be with Artem though, they would be partners in an even truer sense because of their shared profession in upholding the law, and that’s a connection that Marius could never have with her.

Artem → Marius

When I started thinking about this question, Artem was the only one I was certain of, and even when I was stumped on the others, I didn't want to give up on this post because I HAD to speak my truth re: Artem → Marius.

I know Artem and Vyn's prickly relationship is so memorable, but since I defined the question as "which person would it hurt to see the most", I had to pick Marius. Yes, Vyn would probably annoy Artem the most, but seeing Rosa with Marius would bring up all those doubts about him not being romantic, exciting, interesting enough for her. Marius is charming and trendy and youthful and perfect for hitting Artem’s insecurity of being awkward and inexperienced.

Vyn → Marius

Up until a few days ago, I actually had Artem down for Vyn (ARTEMSWEEP!!). Then when I decided I really wanted to consider this a meta and try to base it on analysis of canon, I thought over it, once again focusing on insecurities and any recurring themes in the card stories, and went back to Marius.

There are many similarities between Vyn and Marius, but many of the major struggles Vyn might have in the relationship are things that Marius doesn’t have to deal with or is too well-adjusted to be troubled by.

Marius enjoys a high social status on par with Vyn's, but he's free of the kinds of oppressive traditions and customs that caused Vyn to leave his home country. Despite the tragedy and difficulties they've experienced, Marius also has a genuinely loving and supportive family, who also have/had loving and committed relationships. Maybe partially as a result from these factors, Marius is still a relatively optimistic and idealistic person, even while being steeped in the cutthroat world of business. Vyn on the other hand has an extremely strained relationship with his family to the point that he struggles with the idea of it, has mostly seen romance in how it ruined his father, and has become cynical after growing up amongst cruelty and ridicule.

In addition, a major theme of Vyn's second year of cards has been the building desire that he has for Rosa, and his fear of it overwhelming him. Marius is similarly proactive in his romantic pursuit of Rosa, and one of the more forward LIs when it comes to seduction, but fearing that that desire might consume and destroy them isn’t one of the obstacles in Marius’s stories. This could be seen as another issue of Vyn’s that Marius is able to effortlessly keep in check. (I consider this more of a secondary point though, since it could just as easily be a point for Artem and his glacially-paced relationship of two dense bricks. (My other reason for picking Artem would have been too OOC, which is why we couldn’t have the Artemsweep, rip.))

--

Anyway thanks for reading and feel free to let me know if there are any choices you really agree or disagree with! There’s such a gap in canon with the way we never see other the other NXX members when we’re on a certain LI’s route, so things like this are interesting to think about.

*Bonus: if the question was “who would it piss them off the most to see Rosa with?”, it would ABSOLUTELY be a vynsweep with vyn → artem. no there is no reasoning for this it’s just something you feel with your gut

[bookish-karina]

OC Questionnaire Tag

thank you so much for tagging me @wyked-ao3 , @katenewmanwrites , @willtheweaver , @drchenquill , @paeliae-occasionally ,

@a-cosmic-elf , @gioiaalbanoart

I'll answer these for Maeve from Your Average Fangirl :)

my questions:

1. have you ever wanted to stab someone?

Definitely, I mean, you can't expect someone not to get irritated to the point of imagining the other person's death... right?

2. what's your worst memory?

unsure...

3. what are you hoping to avoid?

Being the center of attention. It terrifies me because I always worry about what others think of me. It's also something I'm working on.

4. do you believe your biggest dream is attainable?

I believe almost anything is attainable if you're willing to put in the work for it.

5. if you could erase any memory, what would you choose to forget?

unsure...

6. what do you see/feel when you look in the mirror?

I see someone who's scared to be herself because she'd rather be likable than her own person.

7. how do you think others perceive you?

I think others perceive me as timid, if not quite shy to begin with. I tend to hide in the shadows, so it's easy for others to believe that I'm truly outspoken. However, once they get to know me, they realize I'm my own person and am full of ideas and opinions at times.

8. what is one food you will not eat?

I will not eat sushi. I believe all food should be cooked to an extent to be edible and simply don't have the desire to try it.

9. what was the craziest thing you did as a child?

The craziest thing I did as a child was believe I could talk to animals. I would spend all day conversing with any animal I saw and believed that they were responding in some way (tail wags, head shakes, chirps, etc).

10. what is your favorite memory?

My favorite memory is riding on an airplane for the first time. There's something freeing about being so high in the sky.

11. is there an animal you are scared of?

I'm scared of spiders. I'm not sure why, but they just gross me out.

12. if you could choose between being able to sing or dance like a professional, which would you choose and why?

I would choose to sing like a professional, as I've always wondered what it would be like to perform on stage in front of a lot of people.

13. who is your favorite person? why?

I don't think I can pick one! I have many favorite people, but not sure if I could decide my favorite favorite.

14. would you rather say something in 50 words or 200 words?

I would rather say something in 50 words, as I think using a smaller amount of words forces us to be more concise in our explanations.

15. would you rather work outside or inside?

I would rather work outside. I enjoy being in the presence of nature and soaking up the sun rays.

16. if money, time, and space were no object, what would be your dream pet?

my dream pet would be an otter. they're so cute!

17. are there season where you're from? what's your favorite and why?

Yes, there are all four seasons where I’m from! My favorite has to be fall/autumn. I enjoy the coolness of the weather and the colors when the leaves change.

18. when you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an artist. I enjoyed drawing but wasn't any good at it.

19. something that you regret?

Letting myself fall in love too quickly.

20. last time you kissed someone?

Romantically? Last year, before my boyfriend broke up with me.

21. favorite animal?

my favorite animal is probably a tie between a snow leopard and a panda!

gently tagging @aintgonnatakethis @romances-not-tragedies @taranorma + an open tag

your questions:

what's your favorite color? why?

if you could only take one person with you to an abandoned island, who would it be?

weapon of choice?

[rweoutofthewoods]

Hello Mere!!! hope you're having a wonderful day or night. so what i wanted to ask you was how do you come up with those gorgeous names (Tennessee baby, Anti-hero, Youngblood, Every Omen in the Valley, Worst case kid, 27 club etc). ik that some of them has a direct connection to your concept of fics but still if its not bothersome can you give me an advice on how to name your fanfictions????

Sending you all the chocolates in the world🍫

Hello! Great to see you as always <3

The answer is 20% vibes and 80% song lyrics. anti-hero, Youngblood, and Worst Case Kid are all stolen directly from song titles. Every Omen in the Valley was inspired by the line in Bad Omens by 5sos: "Can't help the way I keep ignoring every omen" and I called it Every Omen in the early drafts and added "in the valley" on a whim because I was like IDK CALIFORNIA??

Tennessee Baby was because I was listening to a song by an artist I won't name now because I refuse to support, and there was some line about baby something. the whole Tennessee thing... it was "Tennessee Darling" at first because the whole regulus being kind of the golden child of an old rich family in the area and like "the darling" so to speak but it wasn't as sexy. So Tennessee Baby was born and this is one of my favorite titles actually.

When in doubt, I go for one word titles 😭 (prey, antithesis, antipathy, solstice, noble... I over did that a lot and don't even get me started on the "anti" thing, I've run out of good words that start with it now...)

So idk how good my advice would be, since I usually pull from music. But even if you don't want to use a lyric, if you have a playlist or certain vibes you can think about those songs and try to create something that encapsulates that vibe. And you can pull from your writing too, like my newest fic Saltwater & Cigarettes, the title comes from a scene in the fic. And at first it was stupidly named "fake it till you break it" which was uncreative and a little on the nose 😭

Anyway, I'm sorry!!! I wish this was more helpful but I stg my answer to most writing things is just... vibes.

Mwah!

[gwynndolin]

So I don't really agree with you but I also don't really know what your stance is. So I'm curious, given we can GENERALLY agree that the current state of AI art is hurting artists in at least some ways, do you think there is a solution at all? This Pandora's box isn't being closed again now that mega corporates are on it, but surely there's some legal thing we can do to curtail the worst of it (such as opt in databases with a payment for doing so, or something)

I feel like mitigation is an extremely slippery slope, especially in regards to something as "intangible" as art. I think a lot of the proposed solutions like tighter restrictions on IP laws are actually actively bad and would only serve to hurt the people they claim to protect and you would still see ai art anyway (which people don't like to even see apparently).

I don't disagree that there shouldn't be attempts to limit the scope of the sort of programs; and the idea of opt in databases is probably the kindest option though the problem herein lies, "what if someone uploads works they don't own", and you would have to have some rigorous vetting process that wouldn't be perfect at all and you kind of just go back to the very basics of protecting against art theft. I think it would be really funny if the only way you could submit art to those databases was through an embedded paint-like app on their site. Then we could start worrying about art forgery into AI training. It would be like, multitrack drifting but for moral dilemmas.

To answer your question, do I think there's a solution? Uhhhhhhhhhhh....... Probably not one anyone would like. Like I've said before, the gnarled roots of this problem lies within current societies perspective on art as whole, and as long as people stand to make money off of art they're gonna do everything in their power to make sure that they can keep doing that. And I don't trust our politicians to really believe in the Pure and Beautiful Sanctity that non generated art holds enough to work to build a solution that perfectly protects people like you and I. I think eventually we'll get to the point where AI programs aren't obviously stealing art from google or something, but I think that will lead them to developing some more dubiously legal way of training ai art.

Again, not saying we shouldn't at least try to do something I just think we should be careful.

[brian-in-finance]

Instagram

GIVING CREDIT

Saluting the behind the scenes talent making movie magic

Rob Youngson is a unit stills photographer for film and television. He's captured images for Belfast, A Haunting in Venice, The Great Escaper, Heanstopper St and Atlanta S3. He also shoots stills for posters. 'An effective still image has to communicate a lot in a single moment. An onlooker should know the tone, the genre and who stars in the production within a few seconds. It should leave them with a question: what happens? The answer to which is always, to go and see the film. It's the visual equivalent of a hook in pop music.'

How would you describe your job in simple terms?

I work with the cast and crew to capture striking still images during filming - without being a distraction or affecting the schedule.

I work with the publicist to ensure I get the images needed to publicise the film. I also capture behind-the-scenes images, which highlight the collaborative process and anything unique about the production. I may work with the props department to take period-accurate portraits for set dressing.

I've also consulted actors on how to use old-fashioned prop cameras convincingly.

How did you get into set photography?

I trained and worked as a theatre lighting designer while photographing bands on the side. Then I discovered that this job existed through an article in Nikon Owner magazine.

It was an interview with Kimberley French (Brokeback Mountain, The Revenant). I knew straight away I had to do this. So I went to work at one of the rental companies that hires cameras and lenses to productions.

I cleaned the kit, loaded the trucks and got to know people in the industry. used any leave to work on short films and then went freelance. Early on, I assisted an established unit stills photographer on some studio shoots. He then recommended me for a job he couldn't take and that put my work in front of the right people to get hired again.

What's the biggest misconception about your job?

That still images are screen grabs from the film. This is a widespread misconception, even within the industry. It doesn't work for two reasons. The technical reason is that the common shooting frame rate of 24fps doesn't freeze motion enough for those screen grabs to be printed at billboard size.

The second and most important reason is artistic; what works well for a moving image doesn't necessarily make a strong still photograph. Another misconception is that actors are difficult to work with. They are usually lovely. Actors have to step into a vulnerable place while surrounded by noise and crew and kit. They have to keep going to that place again and again for different camera angles. Part of what makes a good unit stills photographer is respect for the acting process. Sometimes my job is knowing when to step away and allow the actors space to work.

What's been the most memorable moment on a film set?

Watching Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh make each other laugh on day one of shooting Belfast. We had all been in lockdown for so long, it felt like a new beginning. It felt like photographing love and hope and friendship.

What's the worst thing about your job?

Missing time with my family because I'm working away. Sometimes standing in a field on a night shoot, in February, in the snow, I start to question it. Those moments can feel tough. But a lot of the crew are in that same situation with you. Working on good scripts with nice people makes the time away from home, the long hours and driving, a lot easier.

What's the best thing about your job?

Knowing that my images help stories to find an audience. Stories that take years of hard work and hundreds of people to get told. On set, the best thing is being witness to incredible acting, from both legends and up-and-coming talent. Seeing what the Heartstopper cast are doing for LGBTQA* representation right now is special. I'm also currently working with two incredible young actors. I am so excited for more people to discover their storytelling potential.

If someone wants to do your job, what's the best route in?

Get on to set any way you can, in any role. Take photos across all genres of photography. Welcome honest feedback on your work. Don't sweat the kit you haven't got. You'll get hired for your eye and how well you get on with people, not what's in your bag. The necessity to work on low/no-budget jobs early in your career is a barrier to many, especially as a lot of opportunities centre around expensive cities. Screenskills and BAFTA have resources for helping bridge that gap - seek those out. Go and see as much art and as many films as you can.

Remember… (most memorable moment on a film set) Watching Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh make each other laugh on day one of shooting Belfast. We had all been in lockdown for so long, it felt like a new beginning. It felt like photographing love and hope and friendship. — Rob Youngson

[autisticwriterblog]

9 10 30 for music asks

I think we can all tell where this is going. 😂Yes, to the surprise of literally nobody who follows me, these are all by Poets of the Fall, so i don't feel the need to add the name of the artist after each song.

9: A song that makes you happy

Can You Hear Me - A lot of Poets songs make me happy, so this was a hard choice. But I went with this one because I rambled only two days ago about how much I adore this song's music video. The music video is an explicit show of diversity, including LGBTQ+ representation, and ends with a message that says 'compassion is the answer'. It really makes me smile.

This is my favourite verse.

There's yet life in these words I speak for peace of mind and our release, And you can have what you want if you want it like you need to breathe, like you need to breathe, like you need to breathe Embrace reality

10: A song that makes you sad

CW: self-harm mention

Save Me - This song is a cry for help. The narrator wants to be saved because he's self-destructing even though he thinks he doesn't deserve love.

Save me I'm my own worst enemy Running headlong to the wall cos I want my freebie Save me You're the only out I see N' I need your love the most when I least deserve it

The first time I heard the lyric "Should I open my wrist again" I nearly cried. It hit too close to home as someone who has scars on my wrist. Although the song still has hope, because like I said, it's about someone asking to be saved.

30: A song that reminds you of yourself

Standstill - This song's lyrics really speak to me. They're about things being shit in the past, but it's okay because they're going to get better. These lyrics especially remind me of my past self and my shitty mental state:

You didn't see how your pain Became your refrain

Whilst these ones remind me of how much better my life has become in the last couple of years. My mental health is manageable, I'm dealing with fewer self-esteem and body image issues, and I honestly think I'm happy some of the time. Which I couldn't imagine when I was a teenager.

But it's alright if you fall You just get up, just go on Never mind the hurt, even if you burn Cos it's all, gonna be so much better The moment your true self's shining through

MUSIC ASKS these are actually pretty fucking hard but why not