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lhs3020b · 15 days

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The Fallout TV show

So, you may remember the days before my social energy-level suddenly collapsed, back in early 2022, and never really recovered? The days when I used to post regularly with idle speculation on media, video games, books and other things? Apparently tonight we're taking one for memory lane on all that.

I just saw the first two episodes of the Fallout TV show, and I have some thoughts…

First, a small surprise: it's actually good. It's a thing. In 2024. Which is enjoyable. Yes, I know, I know, I know. It shows the crisis in popular entertainment that I'm surprised by this. (It's the same feeling, actually, as when Baldur's Gate 3 came out and my socks were blown off by the unexpected experience of properly falling in love with a thing again.)

(By the way? From now on I'm going to call the show FoTV, on the same principle as Fo3 or Fo4 or FNV, just because I can't be bothered to type "Fallout TV show" over and over again.)

Also, somewhat-related to the above, FoTV is the best game adaptation I think I have ever seen. The world of the games is there, from props and set-pieces to the wasteland environment itself, even little nods to actual in-game mechanics. There are also lots of call-backs to the games themselves. For instance, FoTV's opening sequence was, to me, very reminiscent of the opening sections of Fo4, where the perfect suburbia is first set up, and then implodes in front of your horrified eyes, then is incinerated by a literal atomic bomb. The opening sequences of FoTV also do a good job of nailing the fact that while it's a future, it's not our future. It isn't spelled out directly, but we're shown it very smoothly through the mise-en-scène, whether it's news coming via an analogue radio, oldschool chemical-film cameras, or fashions that we just don't wear in our 2024, and so on.

And then Los Angeles gets nuked.

(I do have a small nitpick here. While I understand why the writers structured this scene the way they do, and it works narratively, nonetheless several characters are looking DIRECTLY at the first explosion when it happens. At the absolute minimum, they would have been blinded. More realistically, the radiant heat from the explosion - even at this distance! - would have given them extreme burns on exposed skin. And for that matter the UV component of the flashover would have given them an extreme case of sunburn. Also, the shockwave should actually have been a one-two-three punch - effectively-instantaneous light-flashover first, then the ground shaking as the speed of sound in rock is about three times faster than in the air, then the window getting smashed in by the airburst. Also, uh, they all cope unrealistically well with a storm of knife-sharp broken glass fragments being hurled into their faces.)

(You'll also note that I haven't said a single word about what the hard gamma rays might be doing to the cellular machinery inside their bodies. Actually, this I'm a bit less sure about - gamma rays do attenuate in air, at least somewhat, and also high-energy photons have a tendency just to go straight through people without actually stopping - our soft tissues, at least, semi-transparent to X-rays! -, so I suspect that at the distance the birthday party was from Ground Zero, you could possibly argue this one either way.)

Anyway. Moving on from all of that, before I feel a need to go and look up cumulative radiation-exposure tables or something, because this is supposed to be a Tumblr post, not a peer-reviewed academic paper.

Regarding Lucy's characterisation, I found it interesting how she flips from "sheltered and naive" to "unexpectedly competent". While she's lacking in knowledge of the world outside her vault, she's also clearly very adaptable and good at thinking on her feet. She figures out that the visitors from the other vault are actually Raiders without any direct help, and actually manages to get out of THAT room alive - all the more surprising when you realise she was up against someone who a) had the benefit of surprise, b) had prior experience with violence and killing and c) was also the person with weapons (at least at first). Lucy may be a bit of a cloud-cuckoolander in some ways, but she's not a pushover either. She's also clearly capable of taking initiative and acting on her own when she needs to, and she's also seemingly not averse to taking a third option if she thinks other people are in the wrong. (In particular, her decision to let herself out of the vault stands out here.) On the other hand, she also alternates these merits with getting easily-flustered and off-balance around other people, along with a tendency to telegraph her actions in a very overt manner. (There's a mildly-hilarious moment early on where you basically get to watch her flub her first speech-check.)

The Brotherhood of Steel are, unsurprisingly, back. So far there hasn't been any explanation for how they apparently recovered from the events of Fallout 2 or (possibly, depending on whatever the "canonical" ending is) the events of Fallout: New Vegas. They're also back in the arrogant/dickish mode of behaviour that they fall into very easily. They're also implied to be amoral in their own way - one interpretation of Maximus's trial scene is that he gets assigned to be Knight Titus's squire precisely because they do think he's the guilty party for the "boot-razor" incident, and the higher-ups actually like this bit of backstabbiness. (Perhaps they interpret it as ruthless determination, or a willingness to do "whatever is necessary for the mission". Or maybe they just think it's funny to kick him a little bit upstairs, just so they can see what happens next.)

(As far as I could tell, the narrative and the evidence-in-the-text are coy about whether he's actually guilty concerning Initiate Dane. Personally, I suspect Max isn't the guilty party - given that he had the bunk next to the victim, it would be the dumbest crime imaginable if he was. It's also clear that he has enemies amongst the other aspirants who might be willing to frame him. But who knows? And less favourable interpretations of the events definitely exist.)

While it's subtle, some of the Brotherhood's flaws are also on display here. Remember the overconfident Knights who got themselves blown up by the Boomers in FNV? Knight Titus shows a lot of that sort of behaviour too. Going AWOL in the middle of the mission to do some big game hunting, because he was "bored"? Yeah, arrogance and overconfidence there! Also he displays some real stupidity with his treatment of Maximus, being extremely rude to him and blaming Max for his own failures while he's also too injured to stand up, and there are no independent witnesses present. You'd think anyone who's a wasteland native would know to be extra careful when there's no backup or support! And to add extra sauce to the stupidity, this after he had Max remove his helmet!

The narrative doesn't make it quite clear whether Max either gave Titus a quick headshot, or just stood there until the internal bleeding or whatever ran its course, but it seems clear enough what happened there. And honestly, it's hard to hold it against Max given that Titus was both an incompetent and a dickhead. (Though, one subtlety - as I recall, we don't ever see Titus's body, so I wouldn't be totally surprised if he reappears at some point.)

Somewhat related to the Brotherhood stuff, I was also interested to see how the writers handled what we might call the power armour question. Basically, it's depicted as being, well, powerful, but it's also clear that Max doesn't really know what he's doing, so his T-60 doesn't turn into any kind of Disk One Nuke. (As the Ghoul puts it, "you should've read the manual" after Max gets his leg stuck after landing on a surface that couldn't take his weight.)

As for the Ghoul and what his agenda is, at two episodes in, it's hard to say, and there's not enough evidence to even begin to speculate. However, one detail I did notice was that Lucy's father seems distinctly unsurprised (if horrified) by the break-in to the Vault. Also, while I couldn't entirely sure, he seemed to recognise Moldaver and doesn't seem particularly-surprised to see her there. Moldaver's comment to Lucy - "you look just like your mother" - also seems to confirm that she has some prior history with Lucy's family.

Then there's the vault attack itself. For the Wasteland, the survival-rate among the residents its actually rather high. The Raiders could very easily have exterminated them … and they don't. "Restraint" and "mercy" are not qualities we associate with Raiders, so this is an interesting turn of events. (The "hostages and bomb" scene in particular had a bit of a dog-and-pony-show sense to it - notably, the delay on the bomb is long enough for the hostage vault-dwellers to make an escape, almost as if it was never really intended to kill them in the first place.) There also seemed to be a suggestion that Moldaver wanted them to stay inside the vault, which is interesting for its implications.

Anyway, I look forward to the chance to see future episodes. This has proved to be the most interesting TV experience in some time.

#Fallout #the tv show #LHS reacts #idle speculation #also #hi #I'm not dead!

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bluenpinkcastle · 7 months

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LEGO and Gender Play Roles

(this is a VERY long post) I saw an article today on social media by Tips & Bricks about LEGO gendered play. The article focused on a little bit of research done by the LEGO Group about how girls and boys play. (Tips & Bricks was also kind enough to make sure to mention not everyone falls into those gender binary constructs but that the research done only includes those two groups). articles (there's a third article about LEGO and gender and play that's not on their website yet): https://www.tipsandbricks.co.uk/post/1960-discussion-lego-gender-1-marketing https://www.tipsandbricks.co.uk/post/1975-discussion-lego-gender-2-colours I have a LOT of thoughts about this topic. I'm going to start with some observations of my own, as a 40+ year old woman who has been building LEGO castles most of my life. I'm a member of several LEGO online social media groups. One of which is the Brick Knights Alliance. As of this post (03 October 2023), there 44.5k members within this group. I think it's pretty safe to say that most of the posts I see and most of the comments are men. Another group is the Ladies' LEGO Lounge, with 21.4k members. The last group is the Women's Brick Initiative Members with 907.

Somewhere in early May 2022, I heard rumors about the new LEGO castle supposed to be released in the summer of 2022. I remember being SO. EXCITED. about this. I instantly posted to the group, hoping that others would be just as excited to talk about the new castle. Instead, I found myself besieged by trolls. I can't find the post anymore which means either I deleted it so I wouldn't have to see people's horrible comments anymore or the admins deleted it as a "confrontational" post. But I keenly remember the disgust from some of the men over the LEGO Group bowing to "woke libtards" and how women couldn't be warriors, knights, or most definitely not queens. It was a really rough and unpleasant series of comments. On 18 June 2022, I posted about the first officially revealed pictures for set 10305: the Lion Knights' Castle, set to arrive on shelves 01 August 2022. My caption was simple and 416 people within the group liked or loved my post and seven people commented with their own versions of excitement. On 31 October 2022, I posted a picture of some of the knights I intended to populate with my Pink Castle Defense at BrickCon 2023. I used four of the bright light blue "Avatar" horses and put wings on them to be Pegasi. Most of the torsos for my warriors were the pink crown knights from the Collectible Minifigure series 24, but a few were other medium blue knights. 114 people liked or loved that post. One of the 14 comments said the blue pegasi were Avatar animals, not horses. And it's that kind of lack of imagination which just makes me sad most of the time. And now we're caught up with mostly present day. On 08 September 2023, I posted a picture of my Pink Castle Defense as it was displayed at BrickCon 2023 in Bellevue, Washington. The Pink Castle Defense is simply the Lion Knights' Castle made out of mostly dark pink LEGO with other bright colors. I posted this exact same picture in three different online social media places. My caption read: "BrickCon 2023 in Bellevue, Washington! It's been about eight months of ordering parts, digging for parts, and generally working to build this, but it was absolutely worth it! This is the LEGO 10305 Lion Knights' Castle built in dark pink on a butter yellow moat, with an all-women army defending the castle against the invading skeletons. This is my first ever LEGO display." The Brick Knights Alliance: 41 like/love/wow and two comments, which said: "Finally. No ugly gray. Where's Evilyn and Skeletor?" and "Are the skeletons male?" The Ladies LEGO Lounge: 50 like/love and 40 comments, all extremely supportive. As an example, the Lion Knights' Castle (10305) from August 2022 featured a warrior queen and half the minifigures had lipstick (clearing showing they are women). HALF of the knights and warriors in the castle are women! I was extremely excited about this. But then I witnessed a significant number of men in the castle groups complaining about this. Then I had to witness the castle's LEGO queen get murdered violently in most of the castle fandoms so that "A Proper Ruler" (read: male king) could reclaim his rightful throne. The latest Tips & Bricks gender discussion topic involved the different LEGO play for girls and boys. One of the comments even stated how there's so much research done on the way girls play but no one ever talks about how boys play, which tends to continue to put the responsibility on girls and women. In my own experience, I have noticed that most of the males in the LEGO spaces I occupy are constantly putting their castles at war with the other factions, while the women are definitely focused on the story and the details of world-building. But really. How much of the way genders play is caused by the very marketing which enforces the societal norms of how genders play?

#lego castles #lego #lego blue and pink castles #lego castle #lego gendered play

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stry-someone-to-remember-you · 1 year

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Didn't have much for you today. Concept Art!!!

So I thought I'd share a color sheet I did back in early November 2022 when I finally came to a conclusion of Dave's final look.... this isnt the Final Look, but the first sketch of what became his final look.

I made this in November on my phone. I was playing around with character colors then.

Also...

This post is my confirmation....

Dave's name is for the comic.

DEWEY

*Hands shaking*

*Breaths in...*

*Breath Out

BREATH IN!!!

Now...

I have something I've been needing to admit for a while now.

It's not bad....

But...

It's about the story....

It's still coming out 😅😅😅(soon actually)...

Dont worry about that....

So what's up?

I want to make sure I've told you... This Comic is officially ONLY inspired by Henry Stickmin.

This comics been 3 years in the making, along with the novel that I write along side this... and 6 months in, back in 2021 around May, when I literally found out Google docs has a character limit which all my notes and writings by then exceed.... I came to a hard choice. With how hard I've been working on this, do I make it original or keep it fanbased?

It was a long thought. But... after 1 1/2 years going back and forth, over this time I let several people I've known for years look at it. Many who are trusted... and they all without knowing my dilemma gave me the same advice "Make it Inpsired, cause I want to see this published" (talking about the novel and little comic stuff they saw).

By this last summer, around when my surgery and emergency happened I made my decisions after on of the last people asked to see it and told me the exact same words.

After several gave me the advice. I decided, what my gut was telling me six 6months in was this needed to be it's own work. I already was changing so much and... honeslty it's the best decision I made for the comic.

Starting August the comic and the novel have grown immensely (as though a short work break also halted it, it hadn't grown more then several pages since tranferijg from google doc). I already planned on changing the art *hense the few pics I posted with faces not exactly proportional, early concepts from the early days of changes already being made). The comic will be made more manga human style. But that's not to say their wont be an occasional non human entities about.🤪😏😉😉😉

I couldn't thank the people people who all told me to go a different t direction or even all you still supporting me and those who supported me since the start. I HOPE YOU STAY AREPUBD FOR THE COMIC STILL... with this know . I hope it's cool to still post the old art work. And if it's okay with you since this was completely inspired by Henry Stickmin, I still hope to post in the fandom. Comic updates and such.

How will You Know Who People, Places or Things Are?

I'll make changes clear, especially when asked.

I had to make these for copyright reasons, including characters and such. But most should have something about them that makes it clear who they are or were in the original game.

I will say the direction while headed the same way... their are definetly story lines as a original work I didn't plan on or at least wasnt headed towards, or used as some inside joke that was a red herring to make you guys think maybe I was headed a direction to throw people off. But with the changes made even that has become a actual plot and no longer is a joke hint.

But all elements from codes, secret languages, mysteries, and the overall story have remained. They've like everything else just grown from what they were. So have the characters. Some character aspects and personalities may have slightly changed but otherwise their still I hope going to be enjoyable to you guys and you can see who they were inspired by.

Wait CODES (SPILL THE COFFEE!!!😱😱😱 WWWHHHAAAAAAAAATTT!!!)

Yep😉😏😊 Its a secret I've been keeping a long time. You can look back at my oldest posts on the S.T.R.Y page give you a hint if you look far enough of codes being a thing.

How are you using them???

WAIT is this...😶😉😏 Like that

TWINS OREGON MYSTERY Show with a certain evil force Type Deal???

😏😏😏

Ding... ding... ding...

we have a winner. WInner Winner Chicken Diner...! However, the types of codes used may change up so keep a look out. You don't know the lengths I'll go even in the fan art... to hide secrets (mahaha!!!)

Phew you dont know How Nervous I am Admitting this...

I'M SUPER NERVOUS!!!

But hey that's the fun if it.😊😊😊 Right???😅

This post is along time coming.

I've made different ones, but I honestly get so nervous about this. Admiting it's just inspired fandom piece but not a fancomic. One that Hope's to become a novel and thus I had to make changes in order to have no issues with copyrights.

Theirs things that allude to game events. But they dont happen the same more like the idea of the evtns is there but they rent the same events.

Just the idea of something that you can pinpoint, like Oh this is a reference to that experience in game. But it's a completely different tale, different journey with several new characters and characters similar to those you love while being their own. However, if asked I will confirm if a character is fully inspired by a HS Character or are their own entity.

Alot of characters from in game I used aren't often seen characters anyways. But I still dont want to fringe on copyright. Some may have a single name similar. But it's rare. In some characters I kept like an Initial the same. But names came ot have meaning in the story, so I can't promise for how many this remains true as names changed a few times before locking in as they are now.

EX.

I admit Ruperts name I still haven't changed but the rest of his name is changed. It's just I got in the habit of saying Rupi or Rup depending on the character talking and I got to attached to it...if I have to change it maybe I'll go for Ruberto... Or Something that way. But I like rupi especially as Rupi used to be a form of money, the name... in the old story this held some importance.... so it's something that changed while the rest of the character remained. In other words they have human apperances as previously stated and because this was original those who had hair I couldn't give their old hair styles. It was hard but I found stuff I liked for everyone. Oddly enough it worked out cause funny envy RHMs hair I had in mind was a nightmare to draw. I wasnt looking forward to drawing it, but I coukdnt find other ways I liked ti. This allowed me to go a completely new direction. (HE'S still a Red Head)

It's also why I've been so careful with what I post Admiting this has been one of the hardest things for me.

I hope you guys still will still strick around and enjoy what I will bring. It's still a fan work being inspired. It's just the names won't be what you expect. And the world though similar isn't the same.

Will all the favs show:

YES!!!

Yes favorite characters will show, most of the mains have a character of somesort that who they are is greatly inspired by them..

Henry-The character whose this stories Henry Character, DOES HAVE POWERS SIMILAR to the game... Powersare important to the story.... But I did have to make rules and differences so they arent a copy of them..

Because of this, I will have characters that Allude to all the favorites (Also same favorite ships... Copperright is part of this story... just they are the same while they arent... their names arent the same nor are their features but one still has brown hair the other red. And yes they run a "Mysterious Clan" of Thieves that a branch fo the Government called the BATs (Battalion Against Terrorism) goes particularly after.

Sadly,

There are characters who didn't make it in, I intended to have everyone as a fan work earlier. But its a lot of work, then there were the original characters since the "Main Main" character would have different people she'd run into as her story was going on kn the background of the game, and long after... It just even when a fan work didnt make sense to have all characters. My least favorite cut was not having Policeman Panza in it. I really wanted to fit him in... it just didnt work out.

WILL asks still be a thing???

YES!!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!!

How????

Simple, I will still be making short comics on occassion that aren't part of the weekly updated ones. And this is where characters can still have interactions. I'm considering using the simplified more Stickminverse version of the characters, kinda also so the comic never loses its inspirations and where it got its start from.

SO Asks, Anon Magic Fun, all that will still be a a part of it. Just not within the main comic. But maybe some things still will occure in comic we'll see. It's literally up in the air situation.

Do familiar places still show up???

Confidently YES!!!

Bats has alot of meaning like Batsh@t crazy. You chat be just anyone to be in that chain if service. Most civilians dont even know it exists.😏😏😏 why is that???

What are the GOV'T must a new form, their own branch of armed forces. As stated above Battalion Against Terrorism.

But the people who are recruited also, aren't the easiest to work with, often are the ones who'd ahve been sent home. But if they ahve potential often they're recruited for a league that need those who dont have a normal mind of a soldier to go up against the GENTS...

GE TS, I'll explain another time what they stand for. As theres some spoiler territory I dont want to get into.

The Wall, shows in a new prison form (the design I came up with looks like a creepy medieval Boss level prison)😬😬😬😬

It's a name people dont want to evoke I fear of disappearing. Even those who work there arent safe... or gaure teeded sanity. You either disapear or you dont come out the same.

It's called 'The Grave Pits'

It's even nastier then the name may sound. It's not someplace you want to work or be prisoner.

Lastly,

CCC

Exists as, CAC or CATCA. I don't want to say the name fully now. I think I did in a prior post. But if I ddint I want to lime GENTS acronym keep the meaning secret. Otherwise, whoops of I ddi say it in a prior post.😅😅😅

Actually all of these decisions most civilians dont knwo about or believe are TALL Tales.... WHY IS THAT????

You'll have to find out in the story.

(Yes unlike HS world most of these places arent known by the greater populace and most are sworn to secrecy about them. The only widely known somewhat confirmed real is Grave Pits. Only die to the state that Anyone Employee or Prisoner goes in they dont come out!) Theres more going on in its depths if you care to dig.😈😈😈

All the usual sites as described will be seen but obviously dont have the same look and while a similar function dont serve under the same reasoning eaxactly... Just in new ways.

Towns and cities, are another thing that obviously changed and the direction I'm going, I decided to make completely new landscapes. Do we start in a desert town/city with a corrections facility/jail Yes.... but the surroundings even the layout of the Jail is different. Has different functions, etc.

Is there a city with hinted mob activy.

DDOUBLE YES!!!😊😊😊 That I couldn't pass up... But the cities different. It also services a new purpose and focus then in game for the story. It's become something totally different then the site of a museum. Obviously Dewey, as you can tell is originally Dave Panpa and will still be a Sevurity guard. He just doesn't have the same events happen. And while a Museum lime that in the game, will play a small roll. It's not going to be the same purpose it held in the game. Nor the main place of his work. Thus the whole purpose of teh city is completely changed...... and as stated there's a prison like The Wall (*cough* the Wall seems tame in comparison when this place is introduced *cough*😅😙🎶🎶 Had nightmares after writting its first introduction. It wont be the giant of heart when things occure there.)

Like I said everything will show, you can easily see what was inspired by. But in order to be its own work it holds a lot of it own location, sites, stories and such.

It's really exciting. And I do hope everyone stays with me for it.

I've just been so nervous admiting this. I need to finally say it all clearly.

So is ths another blah.... blah.... blue BORING Convolutedly llloooooooooooooooooooooonnnggg Worded Super wordy Post???

😊😅😅😅 LOL, You definetly spotted my bad habit.

<<<Maybe I should thi I of having a moderator to help!!!😅😅😅>>>

BUT Nope,...

I BRING YOU

Timeline UPDATES: PROGRESS AND POSTS TO COME!!!

I will in the next few days post the Valentines art (my hours are still off after taking care of my grandma and being up at graveyard shifts from dusk to dawn in that order with her... So I admit my bearing on time for the next few weeks may be askew and off)....😅😅😅

Once I have that, I'm going to have for the Five main characters a little sneak surprise art that shouldn't take more then two weeks to have all of them out if all goes well.. just like a little teaser reveal of them.

Then within a week or two following that (due to Holidays East and Mothers Day occuring by these times I'm also giving leeway fo three qeeks)

Then I'll post the five main characters profiles, maybe a height chart if I get around to it.

After then. I should be Posting my Henry Stickmin Art from original concepts of characters ect when it was a fan comic exclusively... and/or Comic art periodically at least once a week. Or at least some form of an update.

AM I STILL MAKING HENRY STICKMIN ART??? Yes

I will admit, I'm still making Henry Stickmin art. I still have a few Animatics that have either been in the works or planned for a while. (When you have a song that inspires you... you cant help it... you know what I mean)😊😉 So I'm still Making Henry Stickmin Art. I can promise you that. Some are big projects.

Also dont forget S.T.R.Y wasn't my First Planned HS comic. I still plan to work more on the first comic I had. I just am focused on this one. But have looked at in, as mentioned in a late last year update and I like what I had. I just have more work to do on it.

But this is FAR FRON THE END oF me MAKING HENRY STICKMIN COMICS AND WORK.... So if that's what you want.... My main blog will be the place for it.😊😉💗🤩😍

RELEASE DATE???

I've done a rough estimate. And long as everything goes well I should have some form of the comic out to you by the the next several months. I can't gaurentee if that's 2-or six months. Again I periodically help take care of family members and am currently job hunting. I just know it will be soon.

As shown concept for a later scene was made a while back in rough sketch form and posted a progress in February about it.

That shows how far this is coming.

I am doing something different. I'm treating the comic like a novel, so I plan to long as I get a job soon and have the first ten chapters where I want them see if I can get professional beta readers (and if theres such thing as an editor and beta readers for a web comic). And also I hope to get an editor. If you notice I even when tedious miss mistakes in words and grammar (mostly cause I'm using my janky phone and not my laptop) and am constantly editing thanks to it l, as I'm a perfectionist. I know that can't happen in posted work. So I kinda need that for myself. I know its gunna cost money to hire. And I want to see if there are ones in the industry who would work with a weekly webcomic format.

What are the comic plans???

Currently, the plan I have in place after doing research is going to be to have the first 10 chapters done before the first chapters are posted. Posting three the first day and from then on once a week.

I say I want the first ten done. As the last three years have allowed me to know my schedule and with a job that demanded alot of me prior I have a better feeling of that type of work and what it will take to get this done. This will allow me to stay ahead and not have to many breaks between.

If there are Holidays then I will jump to a fun mini comic episode rather then post a regular post. Cause I think it's nice to have a break fun one. Even if the middle of the story.

The comic will contain a MULTITUDE of arcs. Be warned small details may become important later. (There are small details hidden in my Dave Panpa pic that have not changed in the comic... as are early post tags have some strange wording???)🤪🤪🤪

[Honeslty, good luck deciphering those codes from my old posts. SADLY, I lost my personal notes of a key for them. I've looked high and low on my devices and where I would save them. I seriously, Can't find them anywhere. Honestly, if you crack those codes I did leave let me know. I'm glad it happened since it allowed me to find a new way to save these for the future]

The Story so far is split into what I've been calling when talking about the comic 3 ACTS and when talking Novel 3 BOOKS

SO to say the least it's a big story. But it's worth it. It's a journey and I have fun writting it. It's all planned out just haven't finished writting the whole thing. I have my outline and timeline of events locked in. So dont worry it's a work that knows where its headed. and what needs to happen to get to the end.

Lastly, I should Mention:

The DEEADED PATREON and Tumblr Pay:

WHAT OD I HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THEM????

Not now, but closer to the comic I have plans.

I've decided for myself since I can't put humor, lightheartedness or fun little stories like the end of some webcomics or even some animes after credits theres usually a simple fun little goofy comic.

I'll be having either a goofy comic or some mini comic based on some even in the story. These will use simplified versions of the characters. But they could appear like full versions. This is so whne I'm dealing with heavier topics, for me I cja find a place to get the edge off. And I feel this will be the incentive I will post there, along with early looks at the art. And some early access.

But otherwise I'm not blocking you guys from enjoying the comic. Because it deals with secrets. I'm not going to post the comic early, I'll give sneak peaks on there. But that's it, they won't give away that weeds codes or anything like that.

I want to make it a fair system.

I only have them started but not set up. I'm in no way obliging anyone to support me on those sites. I just want to qualm worries, and give the promise of what I'll be doing. I may eventually release those fun minuses on here.without the pay. But I can guarentee those will have long times between. And it's not a gaurentee yet. Like I said I'm trying ot work out a system so no one feels there missing out on some fun they can have here.

Are these minisodes the same asks the asks ans other fub???

No that will remain here. The ones that will be in there are purely ones I come up with for each episode. I'm thinking Peanuts stule strip tyle situation. So hey if that's your jam, I'll let you no more when I ahve the structure of these more planed out.

SO THOSE OF YOU WHO HATE MENTIOSN OF IT... Don't worry I'M ONLY MENTION IT TO PROMISE to you that I'm not LOCKING ANYTHING from you guys. So I can be completely clear to you what up. Or why I ahve that up. I'm still learning my need tooz for it. Only thing normal people wont see is something I'll do only for paid. But again you wont miss out on the main fun. As that comic will be me releasing steam and being free and just comedic. Again it doesnt mean that I won't release those eventually to you guys. So you will get all the same content you can enjoy on here as there in a sense... theres absolutely not when I have them ready will there be any obligation to support me by paying to enjoy my content. I've lived litterally with no money to my name even when working, I know how it can be and the struggle. So seriously I dont want to make anyone ever uncomfortable. Which is why I'm making my last note here. To clarify everything to you guys.

I just wanted to tell you more on that situation. The funds would go towards way of living and/or if I manage to get someone to at least help edit of not the comic at least the script and paid beta readers... then it may go toward that. WHILE I hope my job when I get a new one will better cover living expenses... AGAIN THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS OPEN YET. ITS STILL BEING WORKED ON.. Dont worry...

ABSOLUTELY NO PRESSURE to pay... IM MAKING this last part of trh post... TO MAKE THAT ABSOLUTLY CLEAR. I DONT WNAT ANYONE EVER PRESSURED INTO ANYTHING!!!

~~~~~

With that always hard to talk about later topic lut of the way...😅😅😅😅

I do really hope you enjoy it.

And I hope those of you on either blog stay with me for it. And continue to enjoy this awesome journey together. Cause I'm excited for what's to come and hope you are too.

It took alot finally admitting this out loud.

I appreciate and love all of you for all your support!!!

💗💗💗 THANKS FOR READING!!!💗💗💗

Have an incredible day everyone!!!💗💗💗

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keys2thefalcon · 1 year

Text

Lost and Found

This is my contribution to the 2022 Han/Leia Trick or Treat Prompt-a-Thon. @hanleiacelebration I've always wanted to write something about a seance so a BIG thank you to the moderators for this prompt!

Prompt: Treat/seance/Force ghosts

(Also, posted on AO3)

Lost and Found

She didn’t know why he had come. He spent almost the entire trip over claiming he knew all the tricks. He worked with scammers as a kid and nothing got past him.

“People will believe anything when they’re desperate.”

Luke said it was something that he wanted to do. He didn’t sound irritated. He was used to Han’s grumbling and didn’t take any of it as a personal insult. Insisted there was no harm in trying and maybe something would come of it.

“Yeah, something will come of it all right. But nothing good for you.” Han barely looked at them as he spoke. He was scanning the streets as they walked. Making sure every being kept their distance. “Used to pick the pockets of the poor saps caught up the mystic.”

Leia didn’t react as well as Luke. She argued with Han, telling him he wasn’t needed on this excursion. They were fine on their own. She was there to support Luke and Han’s negativity wasn’t going to help anyone.

The fight then slipped into a back and forth, spoken in harsh whispers so they didn’t attract too much attention. He stuck close to her side, occasionally leaning down to emphasize his point. Thinking anyone could reach the dearly departed, as he put it, was bunk. Questioning if she was gullible enough to fall for it.

“I don’t know!” She said that louder than intended. Luke turned around to check on her and she nodded to let him know she was fine. “But not knowing isn’t the same as not true.”

She noticed Han’s eyes moving between her and Luke, noting their quick exchange.

“Thought you’d have more sense, Princess.” He put a hand on her back to steer her around some debris on the street. “There’s plenty of truth but it’s what you see in front of you. No mystery. Anyone tells you they can see beyond this is looking in your wallet and that’s it.”

He was such an ass. She hated his I’ve seen some shit, Princess routine. She knew he’d had a hard life and she couldn’t imagine what his childhood was like but that was because he didn’t reveal anything. Just occasionally dropped lines like I used to pick pockets while street psychics scammed the grief-stricken. He thought he was being enigmatic but he was fucking annoying.

“Why is it so impossible for you to consider there might be more to this universe than what you see?” She kept her voice regulated, trying not to sound too angry. But her diction, every syllable capped with a crisp click of her tongue, gave her away. “Your inability to see beyond your own severe limitations should surprise me. However, there’s very little about you that is surprising.”

“Listen, Sweetheart.” He was so close their arms brushed against each other as they walked. “Some of us don’t got the time to wonder about the other realms. We got enough trouble getting through this one.”

“And some of us prefer to believe that not everyone is lost. Whatever realm they may or may not be in.”

She saw the flash in his eyes. The regret. Knowing he went too far. But he didn’t say anything. Didn’t apologize. So she didn’t feel the need to start playing nice either.

“Though I could stand it if a few others managed to get lost.”

“Guys.” Luke stopped short in front of them and turned around. “I really don’t need either of you to come with me.”

Leia felt her cheeks flush red. She hated it when Luke acted like the responsible adult. She hated it even more that he felt the need to act like that around her and Han a lot lately. To be fair, though, she had been more stressed than usual as they prepared to move to a base on Hoth. A planet that promised isolation but also hypothermia.

“I’m doing this because Dobbs said this woman had a lot of Force talk in her reading. Maybe she can contact my father or Ben. Maybe it’s a scam, But I want to try and I don’t need this energy going in.”

“I’m sorry.” See? She could apologize. Even if she wasn’t the one causing the problem. “I’m here to support you.”

They all started moving again. She felt certain Han would mock her saying I’m here to support you so she didn’t look at him. She could ignore plenty if she had to.

The shop smelled strongly of incense and herbs that Leia didn’t recognize. The shelves were crowded with stones and crystals. Tinctures promising good health and a calm mind. Luke talked to the young woman behind the counter, who then slipped through a curtain into the back, as Leia walked around the store.

Han stayed near the door, getting a sense of the room. She knew he was assessing exits and places to hide if blasters started firing. He took stock of everyone there, if they were carrying weapons, if they were also taking stock of him.

She realized how often she relied on Han to perform this task. She could focus on other things while he ensured they had an escape route when everything went to hell. He drove her insane much of the time but they were a good team.

The young woman stepped back into the shop and waved a hand toward them.

“She said all of you should come back.”

Luke shrugged, smiling at her and Han before passing through the curtain. He had forgotten they were irritating him. He had already moved on. Han held a hand out, indicating she should go first. His hand went to his blaster as he followed.

She didn’t know what she expected from a storefront psychic, or medium, or whatever she called herself, but Leia didn’t guess she would look like a grandmother pulled from her kitchen duties. The older woman was short and plump and wore a headscarf covering her grey hair. She took off her apron, placing it on the back of her chair, as she sat down at the table. Luke sat across from her and Leia took a chair a little to the side. Han, once again, stayed close to the door, leaning up against the wall.

Luke was about to speak but the woman held up a hand indicating silence. She closed her eyes and remained perfectly still. They all ignored Han’s snicker. When the woman’s eyes shot open again, Leia almost jumped.

“Much has come into the room with you.” She didn’t look at any of them but kept her gaze toward the ceiling. “Many voices and spirits cling to you.”

Leia took a deep breath to stifle her own snicker. This was perhaps more than she expected. She glanced at Luke to see his reaction. He was almost squirming in his chair, anxious to speak.

“Your aura is strong.” She nodded at Luke this time then turned to Leia. “And yours.”

It was Alderaan. She carried that shadow with her everywhere she went. And all the beings lost during the Rebellion. Beings she essentially sent to their death. She lowered her eyes because she didn’t want to risk the woman looking at her directly.

But she felt eyes on her. Turned back to see Han watching her. His gaze was soft, concerned, and she gave him the smallest of nods.

“Do you have any questions?” The woman placed her hands palm down on the table in front of her. Kept her eyes closed and head tilted back. “Anything you want to ask the spirit world?”

“I’m wondering about my father.” The words spilled out of Luke’s mouth in a rush. “Is it possible to contact him? He should be… He should be easy to contact.”

He glanced quickly at Leia. They had a long conversation before leaving the ship about him not mentioning the Force until the woman did.

“Your father?” She opened her eyes to stare at Luke. “No. He’s not here.”

“Oh, okay.” Luke shifted in his chair again. “There’s also a friend I was wondering about.”

“No.” Her voice was sharp. “They’re not here. It’s not time.”

“Not time for what?” Luke looked at Leia then back at the woman. “To talk to them?”

“What do you want?” The woman looked behind Luke. Locked eyes with Han. “Why are you here?”

Han didn’t move an inch, didn’t look surprised or startled that she was addressing him directly, but Leia knew that look. He was ready to spring.

“Just watching out for a friend.”

Leia thought the woman gave a small smile, an almost challenge accepted expression, before closing her eyes again.

There was a sudden chill in the room. Leia suspected a vent was opened, something to provide more atmosphere for the reading. She hated that Han might be right about this one. It seemed very unlikely they would encounter a genuine window to dead Jedi or loved ones here. Not that she would admit it, of course. She would never give the Captain that satisfaction. Besides she wanted Luke to find what he needed and knew that might include unconventional means. Han simply wanted to prove himself right.

Leia jumped at the sound of a loud rap. They all did. Strangely, though, she noticed they all looked in different directions. Like they all heard a different point of origin. The woman remained perfectly still, eyes closed, hands on table.

“She’s here.”

“Who?” Luke’s hands were on his knees. He was listening, waiting for a signal.

A second rap sounded.

“She never left.”

“Left where? Left who?”

Leia noticed the slight smile again. Wondered if the woman knew she was being closely observed or assumed they were too busy reacting to the raps and looking around the room.

Another rap, louder, from the opposite side. The woman definitely smiled with that one. Nodded.

“It took her some time to find you. You were lost for some time.”

Luke looked at Leia with wide eyes. She shrugged in reply, admitting she had no idea.

A series of raps followed. They were moving around the room. She couldn’t interpret a pattern, the volume was up and down. They sounded like someone checking a wall, knocking and listening for a hollow or solid sound.

The room was getting chillier. Leia realized there was no breeze so no vent. It was coming in from all sides.

“You move around too much.” The woman laughed. “But a mother will always find you.”

“Mother?” Luke sat up straighter. “My mother was a Jedi, too?”

The woman scowled, still refusing to open her eyes.

“Not everything is about the Force, boy.” She moved her hands over the table in circles. “Already told you they said you aren’t ready yet.”

“For the Force? But I’ve already started training.”

“Luke!” Leia hissed. He was excited, and confused, but he needed to be careful. They didn’t know if this woman reported anything to the Imperials.

There was something else in the room. Someone. Leia was sure if it. She remembered when she was about four and a great-uncle died. The family had gathered for the funeral and Leia was surprised when her uncle sat down beside her. Her parents said he was gone, never coming back, but there he was smiling at her.

Tell everyone I am okay, Little Leia. He looked younger than the last time she saw him. Happier. They will believe it if it comes from you.

When she told her mother, Breha said it was an honor he appeared to her and she shouldn’t be afraid. She wasn’t. It was a warm experience, welcoming, and she was disappointed that he never visited her again. No one else did either. And after a few years she forgot all about it. Until now.

“You need patience.” The woman was irritated by Luke’s distractions. “Your time will come.”

“But my mother is here? Can you ask her name?”

The rapping found its rhythm. A beat that bounced from one side to the other. Whatever was in the room stopped beside Leia. Whoever. She needed to admit it was a person. Or was at one point. She could sense a shape, human, standing next to her.

Whoever it was leaned in. Leia felt a breath she knew wasn’t there. A hand brushed down her cheek and along her jaw.

“She’s curious about you.”

Leia felt the hand graze past her shoulder and down her upper arm. Despite the temperature in the room, the touch was warm.

“How are you doing this?”

The woman grinned, assuming Leia was talking to her.

“Spirits need a vessel.” Her hands were still moving in circles on the table top. “It’s not about being Force-sensitive. It’s not the energy that surrounds us.” Leia realized the woman’s hands were moving in time with the knocking. “Specific beings want to make contact and they can’t do it on their own.”

Leia didn’t know why but she wasn’t afraid. She knew this being, entity, spirit, meant no harm. Knew it was somehow trying to introduce itself. She tried focusing her eyes, hoping the spirit would materialize. She wanted to see a face. Make eye contact. The spirit wasn’t familiar—she knew it wasn’t Breha—but also not a stranger. If it was Luke’s mother, maybe that was the connection. Perhaps she recognized Luke in it.

“She thinks you should cut your hair.” The woman laughed like she and the spirit shared a good joke. “She remembers it when you were young. It was lighter. Soft.”

Leia reached out and took Luke’s hand. She wondered if Luke could feel the spirit, too. He never met his mother but maybe he remembered that ghostly touch through his hair when he was little. She had vague memories of her own birth mother, a feeling of intense love and sadness, and it was possible Luke remembered something similar.

“She’s sorry.” The woman’s head fell back. “She’s sorry that she left you with him.”

The rapping increased and Leia sensed a rising panic around her. The woman let out a low moan. Guttural and pain filled.

“She didn’t know.” The woman’s hands moved faster across the tabletop. “It was already too late. She couldn’t do anything.”

Leia looked at Luke when he squeezed her hand and he mouthed, what’s happening. She didn’t acknowledge his question, turning back to the woman. Ten minutes ago she would’ve been hard-pressed to admit any of this was real and now she wished she knew some way to sooth a restless spirit.

Nothing in the room changed. The holos on the wall stayed in place. The woman’s apron still hung from the back of a chair. But Leia could sense things swirling around her.

“She tried to contact you but you couldn’t hear.” The woman was speaking quickly. Leia could see her eyes moving, darting from side to side, behind closed lids. “You wouldn’t listen. Then she lost you.”

Leia thought she heard another voice, a muffled moan or crying. She didn’t know if it was coming from the woman or inside her own head.

“It’s okay.” It was a whisper. Barely a breath passing Leia’s lips. She didn’t know where to direct her voice and hoped the spirit could hear her. “Everything is okay. I swear. He’s okay.”

For a brief second, Leia thought the wind was knocked out of her. A warmth, like stepping into sunlight from the shade, passed through her body. A rush from back to front. It was exhilarating and slightly scary. She thought she could smell a perfume, or maybe it was spices. She let out her breath, slowly, not wanting to lose the sensation too quickly.

She turned quickly to look at Luke, who was craning his neck from one side to the other. He was trying to catch whatever had passed by.

“You see her, too.”

The woman’s eyes were open and she was staring at Han. She had a look of pride and triumph. His eyes were locked on something behind the woman. When he realized everyone in the room was looking at him, he shook his head and growled.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know.” The woman stopped moving her hands. The knocking ceased. “She wants you to listen.”

“This is bullshit.” He was trying to not look behind the woman but couldn’t resist, though Leia felt certain the spirit was gone. “Don’t know what you’re up to but this is bullshit.”

“You said.” The woman leaned back in her chair.

Han turned to Leia. His eyes were searching, wanting to know what she experienced, maybe trying to validate or understand what just happened. When he saw her and Luke’s hands still clasped together his eyes went dark. He pushed himself off the wall and pointed at the woman.

“You’re just throwing shit at people and hoping something sticks.”

“I don’t know.” Luke turned in his chair to look at him as Leia pulled her hand back. “Some of that felt very specific.”

“Great! The farm boy’s now an expert in seances, too.”

“C’mon, you have to admit…”

“She’s messing with your head. Knows you’re desperate for info so deflects to something else. Probably about to reel you back in with a message from your father any second now.”

“Han, I felt something, too.” She was trying to be gentle because she knew he was upset.

“Oh, yeah? What exactly were you feeling, Sweetheart? Getting some haunted house scares so you can snuggle with your boyfriend?”

She jumped up and spun toward him. “This is what I get for trying to be nice.”

“Not sure where the being nice to me part fits in but I’m done here.”

He was gone, the door swinging shut behind him, and Luke and Leia were left staring at each other, confused by everything that had just happened.

“I’m still going to charge you for the full half-hour.” The woman stood up. She straightened the scarf on her head with both hands. “You can pay my granddaughter on your way out.”

She picked her apron up and disappeared through another door.

He was waiting for them outside. Even though he was angry, maybe embarrassed, Han refused to leave them in a neighborhood he considered dangerous. He watched her approach, trying for a neutral expression but couldn’t completely hide his hurt.

“Luke’s paying.”

She knew he wasn’t mad at her but he was angry. Confused and stuck.

“I could feel her in there.” She stood close in front of him. Told herself they needed to make room on the crowded street. She didn’t want to be overheard. “Your mother.”

He looked down at her and didn’t break his gaze. Didn’t speak. Didn’t call the woman a fraud again. Or accuse Leia of being gullible.

“I could feel her close. I swear she touched my cheek.”

Han listened to her. Knew she had no reason to lie. She wasn’t trying to trick him. He shifted his gaze to her hands, then neck and ears, taking her in inch-by-inch. He grazed the back of his hand down her cheek and along her jaw barely making contact, following the same pattern as the ghostly entity.

She wanted to ask him if he had seen it happen. If his mother had done the same thing to him. But she couldn’t. She didn’t have the breath to push the words out as his hand moved along her neck and shoulder, down her arm. The smallest of smiles raised the corners of his mouth and Leia felt that stepping into sunlight warmth throughout her body again.

“So, what did you think?”

Luke was suddenly beside them. He was ready to talk it all out. Go through every detail.

“I’m not sure what to think.” She stepped away from Han. Felt her cheeks flush again. “It was lot to take in.”

“We need to get moving.” Han nodded down the street. “We’re easy targets just standing here.”

This time, it was her and Luke in front as Han walked a few paces behind. She nodded politely as Luke talked but her mind was elsewhere. Wondering how many other spirits might be keeping pace with them as they walked. Knowing Han was watching her every move. Remembering the warmth of his touch along her arm. An entity she had yet to identify.

#hanleiatrickortreat2022 #Han Solo #Leia Organa #han x leia #hanleia

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leqclerc · 1 year

Note

how are you dealing with

The rest of your ask didn't go through 😭 So I'm not 100% sure what you meant here, but if you don't mind, I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to have a little rant about the race and Ferrari in general.

Realistically I know it's far too soon to already definitively say this season is a write-off, however, I will be honest... it's not looking good for camp Ferrari so far. I will say that the positives to take away from this weekend were 1. Charles's pace and performance (including that start which, as I had kind of expected tbh, put him P2 right out of the gate), 2. planning ahead regarding strategy and listening to Charles's input (he said after the race that he believes it was the right move and that it paid off), 3. so far so good on the strategy and pit stop front, although it's still early days and I'm fully aware we might see mistakes creep in.

As for everything else... 🙃 First immediate red flag appeared this morning already when we found out that Ferrari had switched out not one but two elements in Charles's car (energy store and control electronics) apparently as a precaution... only to suffer a (presumed) electronics failure anyway. The reports coming out post-race seem to point towards it being an electronics failure as opposed to a PU failure. Ferrari's obviously going to have to investigate between now and Jeddah - on one hand I'm hearing the elements they initially replaced may still be usable, and on the other there are rumours that he might have to take a penalty as early as Jeddah should they opt for a new, different set of elements altogether. So I guess for now we just......wait.

Then there's the pace/tyre deg issue. The Red Bulls were untouchable in race pace, but that was expected. Still, it looked like (and Charles later admitted himself) a comfortable podium finish for Charles. At one point Charles was told that the deg for hards is less extreme than expected and that he was doing a good job managing them. But... then I saw tyre deg comparison graphics floating around Twitter which made it seem like Ferrari was one of the worst when it came to tyre deg in this race, comparable to Mercedes. And we saw that Carlos was no match for Fernando even before that lockup with the pace/tyre deg combo. So I guess Charles was doing such a good job that it outwardly masked Ferrari's weaknesses as least partially??? But obviously with him DNFing with seventeen laps still to go it's difficult to tell how the rest of his race would've gone; he could've come under pressure from Fernando too.

Idk to me it's just discouraging that Ferrari apparently threw in the towel early on 2022 to go develop this car... and this is the result. It's not exactly an ideal title challenger, not in terms of race pace, or tyre deg, or reliability. I had a feeling that 2022 was their optimal chance to properly challenge for the title, and that they should grab that opportunity with both hands because it's only a matter of time before a third force joins the fight, and I was right. Of course everyone was expecting Mercedes to be that third force and not Aston, although Merc are still clearly unsatisfied with finishing fifth and seventh, even though the car, in its initial form, seems to be an improvement over last year's already. We've seen them react and bring upgrades that do push the car forward in terms of development (and play the political game when they see a clear benefit, like with the technical directive), so I'm absolutely expecting them to be in the mix, possibly even sooner than later. Ferrari, on the other hand, are kind of notorious for bringing a strong package and then actually regressing with their upgrades and developments, struggling with reliability as the season goes on, etc.

They're already in a way less comfortable situation than they were this time last year, and they're juggling a lot at the same time. Dealing with several issues simultaneously has never been their strong suit. We're hearing that the upgrades they're planning to bring soon should help with the balance, which should help with the deg and should help them recover some pace, and while that sounds promising, it's like Charles said... it doesn't matter where they are pace-wise if reliability prevents them from finishing races. So I'm really hoping we get some clarity on what went wrong and what they're doing to solve that.

#replies #anonymous #long post

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canonicallyobserving911 · 2 years

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Eddie Diaz: Encourages people when he sees them struggling

July 2–9, 2022: Getting to know Buck & Eddie week

This post includes a detailed character study on Eddie to illustrate how he encourages people when he sees them struggling.

Eddie has encouraged a lot of people at the 118 since he first started working there. He listens to them while they are talking, assesses the situation and after everyone else has left the room or when he can talk to the person who needs to be encouraged alone, he has a conversation with them. There have been several instances of him encouraging others in CANON but since he encourages others often, only 5 of those instances have been included below. Let’s review 5 of the times when Eddie has encouraged someone within his found family when they were struggling.

Chimney was struggling after his half-brother Albert arrived in L.A. in 3x11 “Seize the Day” because he had issues with his father and he felt like Albert received the benefit of living and growing up with their father but he didn’t. Eddie invited Chimney, Maddie and Buck to his home for a gathering and Chimney asked Eddie, “Do you ever think it’s weird that we spend fifty something hours a week together and we still hang out?” Eddie said, “No. What’s that saying? You got the family you were born into and the one you choose. Well, that’s what the 118 is. The family we chose”. Eddie encouraged Chimney with his words about choosing family because Chimney could have chosen to accept Albert as his brother or reject him. He chose to accept Albert as his brother.

In 3x13 “Pinned” Chimney was chatting with Hen and Eddie while they were in the locker room about his relationship with Maddie. Hen asked him if he loved her and he said he cared about her. After more conversation, he finally admitted that he loved her but he wasn’t sure if she felt the same way. Buck entered the room and told them Captain Reynolds (who was the interim captain while Bobby was out) was ready to do a line up. Right after Buck and Hen left, Eddie turned around and told Chimney, “Hey, I get taking things slow. But tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone. So if you love her, tell her”. Chimney took Eddie’s advice and told Maddie he loved her.

Buck was struggling after Eddie was shot by a sniper in 4x14 “Survivors” because he felt like it would have been better for Christopher if he had been shot instead of Eddie. Since Eddie had just woken up from his coma, he wasn’t able to stop Buck from blaming himself. To encourage Buck, when Eddie was about to be discharged from the hospital, he told him about his will. He told Buck that he named him to be Christopher’s legal guardian and when Buck asked him why it took him more than a year to tell him about it, Eddie replied, “Because Evan. You came in here the other day and you said it would have been better if you were the one who had been shot. You act like you’re expendable, but you’re wrong”. He wanted Buck to stop blaming himself, to understand that his life matters and that he was valuable (read blog post: “Buck & Eddie: The Will & Legal Guardianship” to learn more about Eddie’s will).

May was struggling with her decision to forgo attending college and remain at the 9-1-1 dispatch center or to accept her place at USC and start as a freshman during the fall semester in 5x15 “FOMO”. She had another conversation with Eddie after they watched a fake social media influencer’s latest video which caused May to say, “I guess it took a near death experience for her to appreciate her actual life”. Eddie saw that she was thinking about something which caused him to ask her “Are you ok?” and she started to explain her reasons for applying to work at dispatch. It was after Athena had been attacked in 3x17 “Powerless” and May thought she could help keep her safe. Eddie told her “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to protect your family” but May continued by saying before Athena had been attacked, she had a whole plan for her life that she feels like she was missing out on. Then Eddie said, “Trauma often causes us to turn inwards” and they both laughed at how profound Eddie sounded. Eddie then said, “I guess therapy’s rubbing off on me. Look. You hid in a place you knew, where you could feel safe, keep your family safe. I understand the motivation.” She asked, “Does that make me a coward?” and he said, “I don’t think cowards usually ask that question”. Not long after their conversation, May decided to attend college in the fall. While Eddie’s encouraging words may not have been the only deciding factor for her to make a final decision, they did help her see things from the perspective of someone outside of her immediate family.

Eddie went to visit Bobby at his home in 5x18 “Starting Over” after Buck told him that Bobby had been struggling with guilt for hiring Jonah, the paramedic who killed Claudette in 5x16 “May Day”. Eddie said, “Jonah wasn’t your fault” and Bobby said, “Eddie!”. Then Eddie said, “Look. I spent the last few months trying to put away a lot of things from my past and move on. What I’ve learned is you can’t carry someone else’s weight. It will take you under”. Bobby responded, “I’m the captain. My responsibility as your…” and Eddie interrupted him with “as your team? He was on the 118 for what a few weeks? You barely knew him. You think you missed something. All the other cities, other houses. Everybody missed something”. Bobby replied, “This happened on my watch. He killed Claudette and who knows how many others”. Eddie said, “Because he thought he was a god. But he’s not. Neither are you. You’re not all knowing and all-seeing Bobby. You’re just a good man”. Bobby said, “I’m not! I am not.” Eddie then said, “You saved my life and my son’s. So whatever responsibility you take for Jonah, you make sure you take some credit for me. You earned it”. After Eddie left, Bobby went into the kitchen and poured out a bottle of alcohol he had purchased to drink (read blog post: “5 conversations Eddie could've had with his father but didn't” to learn more about conversations Eddie has had with Bobby).

Eddie’s encouraging words helped Chimney, Buck, May and Bobby regarding their individual situations but the truth is Eddie usually encourages anyone that he sees struggling. Prior to Eddie going to therapy, his issue was he rarely applied that type of encouragement to himself or to his own situations. In the past, he had the tendency to carry around all the things that burdened him until he exploded. He’s talking to Frank now and things for Eddie seem to be getting better. Will he continue to encourage people he sees struggling while applying some of those words to his own situations in season 6? Only TPTB know the answer to that question.

#buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #may grant #chimney han #bobby nash #911onfox #911 on fox #911 fox #911 season 5 #911 s6 #911 meta #911 speculation #911 s5 #911 spoilers #911 #eddie diaz is BAE #eddie diaz character study 911

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mwolf0epsilon · 1 year

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I posted 6,763 times in 2022

That's 638 more posts than 2021!

875 posts created (13%)

5,888 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@british-hero

@gaeasun

@lost-on-kamino

@laz-laz-ace-pilot

I tagged 6,295 of my posts in 2022

Only 7% of my posts had no tags

#star wars - 4,023 posts

#the clone wars - 3,057 posts

#captain rex - 514 posts

#funny - 460 posts

#humor - 460 posts

#rex - 455 posts

#clone ocs - 433 posts

#commander cody - 412 posts

#the bad batch - 397 posts

#arc trooper fives - 391 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#but end up causing a massive problem instead because they didn't consider the fact clones name themselves after either animals or concepts?

My Top Posts in 2022:

I've seen a lot of people headcanon that Echo would have his iconic handprint tattooed on his chest after joining the Bad Batch, but I personally think if he got a tattoo that's not gonna be visible, it wouldn't be his one link to the 501st. If anything he'd want to display the handprint proudly like he had in the past.

After thinking hard about it, I finally decided on a tattoo that felt in line with Echo's personality specifically. Something personal that mostly stays hidden away but that he knows is there and is comforting to him.

Fives's Rishi Eel design is thusly tattooed on his back, and painted over his spinal cybernetic implants. That way he can, in a way, always have his closest brother watching his back. Even from beyond the grave.

350 notes - Posted April 9, 2022

Saudade: A deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for something or someone that one cares for and/or loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never be had again.

As much as the Coruscant Guard may have become Dogma's found family, a part of him will always long for his 501st brothers. Especially a certain clone with a teardrop tattoo...

Tulpa may not be Tup, but he sure reminds Dogma a lot of his lost twin... The renegade rookie will make sure his ad'ika grows up to be happy and free.

353 notes - Posted February 22, 2022

The other day I was looking at some screenshots from the Umbara Arc because I was trying to get a lay of the land, so to speak, as I wanted to write about Lich's experiences prior to finding his way back to a now fallen Republic and rising Empire... And three specific frames caught my attention due to very small details.

The first one is when Krell threatens Fives with his lightsaber.

Lightsabers are plasma conduits. They can slice and cauterise at the same time. Using them to threaten someone into compliance like this is a promise to use them rather than a bluff.

Even with his armour on, Fives can likely feel the heat of the blade against his neck and shoulder. This is more than enough reason to go from mild apprehension around Krell to full on distrusting him, because the clones know the Jedi only use their lightsabers when they need to. And only against what they perceive as hostiles that are unwilling to negotiate surrender.

Krell using his lightsaber to threaten someone was an immediate red flag, and Fives knew it.

The second screenshot that caught my attention was when Rex was holding Krell at gunpoint to execute him.

See the full post

548 notes - Posted May 14, 2022

Commander Fox on his way to get some caf!

A discussion on discord ended with this lovely image that I had to materialise into the digital plane. Sometimes you just gotta shred it on a board while wearing an animal onesie and severely sleep deprived.

729 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Sometimes I think about how Kix had a near mental breakdown in Umbara due to the stress of trying to keep his brothers alive, only to realise he can't do anything to save them.

I also think about how we saw Rex collapse in near tears after he realises Krell tricked the clones into killing each other, just because he could. How, after Umbara, his next destination was Kadavo...

I think about how Dogma went against his own beliefs due to betrayal, and subsequently went into a state of shock because of the weight of the situation he suddenly found himself in. How Rex nodding at him in approval and respect was likely the last kindness anyone ever extended to him.

I think of Slick acting out violently against both Jedi and clones alike, working into the hands of the Separatists because he didn't feel like there was any other escape against the chains he suddenly saw around his neck and wrists.

I think about how Fives struggled uselessly against circumstances well outside his control when it came to protecting his brothers from certain doom, knowing fully well that he had very likely never gotten over the loss of Echo, and that he'd taken it upon himself to be a protector at the expense of his own relatively short life.

I think of Jesse in the aftermath of Maul's invasive mind probing, of how weak and vulnerable he sounded when talking to Rex because he felt like a failure in that very moment. How he was struggling against the chip when Rex was practically begging him to spare Ahsoka and that maybe, just maybe, had he not been captured by Maul his mental shields would have been strong enough to resist like his captain had...

I think of how Echo who was blown up, tortured, abused, left to look like a shell of his former self that he barely recognises, and who's struggling but pushing forward despite having lost almost everything and everyone he once knew and loved. How it's very likely that he'll eventually die never coming to terms with what happened to himself, and that he'll always feel like less than a man because it's how others treat him.

I think of Wolffe, years after Order 66, struggling with intense fear, guilt, and paranoia, trying to keep his only remaining family safe and accidentally hurting them and others in the process, because he's stuck living in a past that's yet to be explored but that we can assume is crushing him. Wolffe who is, without a doubt, a shadow of the former commander that had served proudly besides his Jedi. Who had always been and always will be a survivor of terrible things.

I think of Gregor who's suffered head injuries at least thrice, got blown up and been left with mental health issues, and who was still very willing to extend his aid and kindness to those around him because he took what he got and accepted it with a smile and a defiant spark to the very end...

I think about all these and more. And it makes me wish the clones had had better than what they ended up with...

1,029 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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ladyazulina · 11 months

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Mimi: Wip Page

Status: Drafting (#4) [Hiatus]. Genres: Mystery, Mental Health, Overcoming. Project started: 06 | 06 | 2021 (apparently). Current word count: 24.4k [33.7k in the Spanish version]. Trigger Warnings: Abusive and Violent Environment, Panic and Anxiety Attacks, Intrusive and Suicidal Thoughts, Self-Harm, Depression, Car Accident (detailed mention), Death and Mourning, Loss of a Loved One, Suicide Attempts.

Title: Mimi

Subtitle: Surviving Dreams

Author: Lady Azulina

Synopsis

Mimi Milan doesn't have normal dreams, instead, she can dream with people she knows and discover their true faces, without filters. This is how she knows that no one is to be trusted because everyone always has ulterior motives, even her family.

But her dreams also have a dark secret. If she gets injured in them, her injuries remain on her body when she awakens and she has to deal with them regardless of severity.

When her dreams start to turn violent, can Mimi find a safe way out?

Writing Process

How it all started?

I have no idea.

No! For real. I know why it started, but how? I’m not really sure.

Okay, then.

WHY it all started?

I needed an outlet for all the toxic thoughts I was having, to overcome some bad habits to be free to work on my mental health (though I didn't know that part was coming at that moment), and I saw that an author –I don't even remember who was– said that their writing was a healing process.

And I thought, "Why can't be the same for me?".

It has been years since then, considering that I started the very first draft in March 2021, according to the date of the document I have.

[I need a parenthesis here to let you all know that my year starts on December 20th and finishes on December 19th, I don't track my years with the world year (like, 2023 right now) but my year (24 right now), so in my registers there will be two Decembers, one at the end of the year that goes from the 1st to the 19th, and the other starting the next year on the 20th and until the 31st.

Instead of using the world year (like 2021 before), I will be using my year (22 in that case), but I will do my best to also put the world date so we're on the same page 💙.]

I also found that the very first register (before then I just tracked some lousy, approximated words, and just since, like, three months prior) is from March 11, 2021, of 545 words. After that, it seems I started writing regularly (more on than off) since April (18.4k words, 12.5k in May, 11.8k in June, 26.5k in July, 2k in August, 9.5k in September, and 8.5k in December).

The details of the second draft say that I started it in December 2021, so pretty sure that 8.5k are from it. There is also proof that I started posting the story on Wattpad and Inkspired, I don't know which version (seems logical that the first one but who knows), in the same month.

During my 23 (December 20, 2021 - December 19, 2022), the monthly word count was like: 2.3k in December 2021, 7.6k in February, 6.8k in March, 5.7k in April, 8k in May, 2.2k in June, 4.9k in August, 8.7k in September, 15.3k in October, 19.7k in November, and 53 words in December. If it seems like this year I wrote way lower, it was because I was not only writing on Mimi and my word count limit suffered a decline due to my health. It's still pretty limited, but I continue writing anyway.

I also started the third draft in May 2022.

I have seen a lot of writers recommending finishing earlier drafts before going to the next, but, eh, I take recommendations with a grain of salt. I felt I had to stop where I did, so for that there are three unfinished drafts before I finally started having a neat process register.

Before starting the next (and current) draft, I did an outline, in October 2022 exactly (that was the 15.3k words). It contains twenty chapters with four major points each. It's not tight, I can add and remove, divide them at will, but that was everything I was able to think about, based on what I knew of the story from the three previous drafts, at that moment.

Then, in November 2022, with the NaNoWriMo main event, I started the fourth draft, with the started words that I shared above.

Now, in my year 24 (December 20, 2022 - December 19, 2023), the word count is going like: 3.7k in December 2022, 11.5k in January, 18.4k in February, 15.9k in March, and updating monthly.

As I told a bit earlier, I'm having a better, neat process register of my writing. I'm also devoted to this story as my main project until I finish it, but all those words aren't entirely for the main story; I'm also counting extra scenes, outside activities (like the ones from Tumblr), and whatever I add to my Details (worldbuilding, characters, etc) document.

Drafting Progress: around 23%.

Writing Schedule

What is this?

As I told above, the outline contains twenty (20) chapters with four (4) major points each, which are eighty (80) scenes, but as the writing goes on, I have been dividing some major points into a few more scenes, actually having eighty-eight (88) scenes and counting. Not really knowing my writing flow, I decided to try a weekly approach and see how it went, so I scheduled one scene a week starting on January 1st, 2023.

As I started the fourth draft right away in November, the first six weeks went by revising and editing the first six scenes. Then, the real work started.

To today day (May 15th, 2023), I got behind twice in my own schedule: in the 3rd Chapter, 2nd Major Point (scenes 16 and 17) for five days, and in the 4th Chapter, 2nd Major Point (scenes 21 and 22) for thirty-seven days (still counting).

Below you will be able to see the schedule, the original one had the last scene finishing on July 13th, 2024, but I changed the dates due to the last delay.

Schedule, Time Spent and Word Count

Working on: Chapter 4, Major Point 2 [22]

Scene with most words: Chapter 1, Major Point 3 [6]

Scene with fewer words: Chapter 1, Major Point 3 [5]

Scene that took the longest time: Chapter 3, Major Point 2 [16 - 17]

Scene that took the shorter time: Chapter 2, Major Point 1 [8]

Extra details, like chapters information and characters sheets, in the page.

Posting individual character sheets soon.

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mimelord1 · 2 years

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KitchenAid Mixer Flash Deal: Save $110 During the Amazon October Prime Day 2022 Sale

KitchenAid Mixer Flash Deal: Save $110 During the Amazon October Prime Day 2022 Sale https://ift.tt/iUolx9L If you’re not set on your purchase, check out these rave reviews. KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer Reviews A longtime fan of the product said, “I had my previous mixer for 22 years. It still works. When I saw the yellow I just had to have it. Let me tell you I love it!” Another explained, “I’ve been using KitchenAid products for years now and to be frank, have not been dissatisfied with one of them. The 5 Quart Artisan 325 volt model being reviewed here is no exception. We have quite a few friends and relatives who use this same model and without exception all are delighted with this machine. It is dependable, reliable, mixes well and we personally have had no problems with ours whatsoever. It does the job we pay it to do and does it well. Our mixer goes through very frequent and heavy duty use.” Another customer shared, “I purchased this 5-qt. KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer in December 2006. Eleven years and eight months later, mine is still going strong. Then and now, it is performing at top speeds as if brand new.” “Anyone who cooks or bakes knows about KitchenAid mixers. This is a replacement for a 30+ year old model that finally died after mixing batches of bread dough several times a week. If this model works and lasts half as well as the old one, it will outlast me,” a shopper insisted. An Amazon customer recalled, “I’ve been wanting a kitchenaid stand mixer for a very looooong time. Over 10 years. I finally got one and i am over the moon. It is everything its hyped up to be and just in time. Late last year i was diagnosed with spinal stenosis so making bread and cooking was something that was hard on me. Having the kitchen aid allowed me to do what i love by being my helper. I live in Hawaii and recently acquired the shave ice attachment. I can now enjoy shave ice everyday and frozen Mai Tais. Staycation Dream. It’s worth your hard earned money if you love being in the kitchen!” A shopper raved, “I never could talk myself into spending so much for a mixer. I now have time to make bread and do all the baking I have always wanted to do. I have used this mixer for EVERYTHING!!!! I even mash my potatoes in it!!!! Worth every penny!!!!! I found a stand mixer pizza dough recipe that is the best I have ever eaten. Looking at accessories!!!!!!!” If you’re looking for more great finds, check out this mini Keurig that’s on sale for just $50. The post KitchenAid Mixer Flash Deal: Save $110 During the Amazon October Prime Day 2022 Sale first appeared on Suave Media. Tags and categories: Uncategorized via WordPress https://ift.tt/uzX74VP October 12, 2022 at 05:54PM

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preservmarvel · 2 years

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A research project about preservation and the Marvel fandom

Hi! My name is Shirley Chan, and I am a PhD student at Lund University in Sweden. My study focuses on the digital traces produced by online communities on social media platforms, with specific emphasis on fandoms and what type of challenges it entails for preservation.

What does preservation mean related to online fan communities?

Challenges in preserving digital information arise as content is easy to distribute and edit, containing textual, visual, and moving media. It also characterises social media sites, which leads to difficulties in documenting the original context of the content. Due to the dynamic nature of digital information and social media sites, social and cultural expressions risk becoming inaccessible soon, for example, the cultural practices found in the multiple online fan communities. In recent years, there have also been discussions concerning preserving information created on social media, highlighting legal and user-privacy concerns. At the same time, the extensive documentation of users in the form of social media data has received more attention publicly and in research. How can the user-generated content and user data produced by social media be understood from a preservation perspective? What challenges do these types of information bring?

As a previous participant in fan communities, I think fan culture is crucial to document as it shows multiple ways to engage with culture. Still, foremost, it highlights the creativity and sense of community arising from being a fan. Therefore, I would like to study communities on Tumblr and Reddit surrounding the Marvel franchise to see how communities within the same fandom look on different platforms. Furthermore, it can help me identify the challenges of preserving community content on different structured social media platforms.

I choose to study communities surrounding the Marvel franchise to do this study. I wanted to learn more about communities I had not participated in when starting this project. Thus, I found the community surrounding Marvel here on Tumblr interesting since there is a lot of activity and content produced. My personal connection with the Marvel universe is via the MCU franchise, primarily the movies (the first Marvel movie I saw was GotG!). However, I have been quite selective with what releases to watch until this project. When starting this project back in the fall of 2020, I decided to watch all the marvel movies and series in release order to understand the topics discussed in the Marvel communities. I would say that I got pretty immersed in the Marvel universe after watching all the movies and series that have been released so far (it took a couple of months). I am very excited about the upcoming releases during phase four!

How is material collected?

During the second half of 2021 and the first half of 2022, I conducted field observations and 15 interviews with several participants of the Marvel community here on Tumblr, offering great insights into the community’s activities and how Tumblr is understood and utilised by its users. The material collection will move further onto primarily focusing on observing while interacting with the community. I would like to continue participating in the postings in marvel-related tags such as “Marvel” or “MCU”, joining your discussions while observing them and taking field notes. I plan to wrap up the fieldwork at the end of May 2022.

The field notes are safely stored on Lund University’s servers and pseudonymised, which entails removing any personal information linked to the participants’ physical identities and/or usernames.

Participation is voluntary! You are welcome to message me here on Tumblr if you have any questions or want to opt-out of the project entirely - any information connected to you and your activities on Tumblr will not be included in the collected material. There is a longer description of my thesis project via my Lund University website if you want to read more: https://www.kultur.lu.se/en/person/ShirleyChan/

Thanks in advance!

#marvel #marvel comics #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #fandom #research project #digital preservation #digital archives #community archives

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emilieautumnarchives · 2 years

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Stark Raving Sane: Am I Quitting Social Media?

Archived from EAOnline, March 25th, 2022. Posted March 24, 2022.

Well, am I?

Before I answer that, allow me to state that, last December, something wonderful happened:

I was randomly locked out of Instagram.

If this has ever happened to you, then you are aware that there is no customer service to be gotten in touch with—no one whom to beg for help—and people with infinitely greater celebrity than myself have found the same. It took weeks and finally finding someone on the inside who knew someone else on the inside to get back in.

But I’m not being facetious when I say that it was wonderful, because I learned a great deal. I was doing some pretty fabulous things that I had hoped to share with you during those weeks, embarking upon a journey I had hoped to bring you along for. And I couldn’t. And not only did the world not even slow down, but I found myself realizing three things:

1) I hadn’t felt free to share with you anything personal, because social media is not a safe place to do that (it isn’t a safe place to do anything, but you’ll know what I mean). And yet, my entire career, my original and incredibly special relationship with you, was built upon my getting very personal indeed. In fact, if you didn’t already know me, if you hadn’t read my book, if you hadn’t studied my lyrics, the most you would have learned about me on these platforms in recent years at least is that I like Phantom, parenthesis, and pith. You wouldn’t even know that I was bipolar, which to many, including myself, may not matter at all, but for people newly diagnosed who are struggling to find anyone in the world who is not only like them but has managed to turn that diagnosis into a superpower, it really, really matters. Ask me how I know (thank you, Carrie Fisher!).

2) Of course, though I’ve posted nothing personal, I have posted many things that were at least meaningful—new music, recordings in progress, Asylum Oracle readings—things that I thought were the most interesting I could possibly offer, but the vast majority of my “followers” never even saw those posts. If the algorithms decided (and they did) that content which didn’t feature a close-up of my face wasn’t going to interest you, then they didn’t serve it to you. So what was the point?

3) I didn’t “own” my relationship with my audience. Instagram did. If they locked me out of my account, I was powerless to communicate with you. If they didn’t want to show you that I had released a new song, then you wouldn’t know that I had released a new song. I recognized that my own newsletter was a far more reliable way to keep in touch with you, and then it occurred to me...

Take the Asylum Newsletter, where I have several thousand more readers than I do social media “followers” anyway, but put it online, make it better, deeper, more personal, more educational, more useful, more helpful, and more entertaining.

“Oh,” gasped I. “I think they call that a blog.”

So, here we are, dear Ratties! You may have noticed that I’ve had all Twitter content deleted—I never went there anyway, and neither did most of you. I’ve kept my username of course because if I cancelled my account, it would be used to some ungodly end by someone else.

Next, I took to Facebook, easily the most violent of the platforms, very likely because of the “groups” feature which leads to a legitimately frightening gang mentality. I made a final post, telling anyone who cared that I would not longer be updating that account (I never went there either). Again, I’m keeping the account up so that nobody feels compelled to usurp it. I’d feel self-important thinking this would happen if the reason that I am “therealemilieautumn” and “emilieautumnofficial” on FB to begin with weren’t that someone had already taken my name by the time I got there—the same is the case on Instagram.

Regarding Instagram, that account is still active, as of today anyway. Will I keep it? For a while longer perhaps, if it feels truly healthy. However, I am changing my approach to the platform:

I won’t count on IG to tell you what I’d most like for you to know. What is most precious to me will be posted here, where you alone get to decide what you want to read, because, frankly, it’s time to take our dignity back, all of us.If you would like me to email you personally when a new post goes live, I’d be delighted! Subscribe BELOW and let’s take our relationship to the next level. I think it’s time.

And, truly, Plague Rats, this is so much better...I’m not a selfie girl. I’m not a brief caption girl (I spend more time editing my posts down to fit into the allowed character limit than I do actually writing the posts). I’m not an influencer—I don’t make money there, I don’t need the attention, I don’t have an ego that needs boosting or tearing down. You and I, we are so far beyond all that juvenility.

I love to teach, to share, to ponder, to experiment, and to learn. I’d like to do that here, with you, if you’d like to join me.

Of course, I would be disingenuous not to acknowledge the temptation to waste this space indulging in my ever-so-strong opinions on topics like why Wikipedia shouldn’t exist, what the punishment for rape really ought to be, and why Kickstarter is a terrible idea, but I’m not going to indulge. I don’t have time—not in this day, and not in this life.

If I’m going to take time away from making art to be posting things online, and inviting your time and valued presence, they had better be inspirational, educational, enlightening, thought-provoking, or at least highly entertaining. The rest is rubbish, isn’t it?

Now, let’s have some fun…

#emilie autumn #regretting getting rid of her forum journals since 2014 #lol #stark raving sane #blog #blogs #2022

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potteresque-ire · 3 years

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This is a response to @rainbowsky ‘s questions about BJYX, as the original post got too long for reblogging (I hope this is okay!). 1) Should we be worried about GG and DD being outed? I often think about what it’s like to be in the closet and I know how it feels to need to be SEEN. But I also understand the reasons why that might not be an option for them. Still, I worry about them being involuntarily outed. There are so many antis after them.

2) What would you speculate is the likelihood of this ever happening, and what might be the consequences if it happened?Is leaving an option for them, even as a distant goal years from now?

3)Does their fame and popularity hold any protective power in the situation (i.e. if they were to come out or be outed, would public opinion about what might happen to them have any impact on the outcome given the nature of the regime)? To what degree would that depend on how much money they are still able to make for interested parties?

My response is under the cut, as it got long, as usual ~

@rainbowsky, you’re among the first BXGs I followed! I’d like to thank you for your insightful posts as well!

Your questions ~ I don’t think I’m qualified to speculate because I’m still a very new turtle and also because of the volatility as well as inconsistencies of China’s sociopolitical policies. I do have a better sense of China’s politics than most international fans, but I also don’t live there and the only way to truly understand how things work at the ground level in a non-transparent country like China is to be there.

(For example, China has officially banned Christmas celebrations for the last several years, but as we saw last week, commercials remain very “Christmas-sy” and Chinese fans happily said Merry Christmas to each other. It takes someone who lives inside to know where to draw the line — what is permitted by the state and what isn’t — when the line shifts and adjusts accordingly.)

Here’re my thoughts, as of today (2020/12/31): if the perpetrator is only some segment of the fandom and the purpose is merely to knock them off the popularity pedestal, outing isn’t a particularly effective way to do so. Homosexuality, being a highly regulated subject in Chinese news and social media, is likely to mean limit transmission of the accusations. The accuser also has to run to risk of being banned themselves first. Also, with BJYX + ZSWW + LSFY being the sizes they are, the people who will most consider turning against gg and dd, ie, the solo fans, have probably already heard something. Some will leave, but the news won’t be a bombshell to them.

The next possibility is if a legal case becomes possible, ie. if China suddenly outlaws homosexuality. This scenario may seem the most dire on the surface but is also one that I least worry about, because with China’s judiciary system being very biased to those in power, if someone wants to frame gg and dd, they do not need to use sexuality as the accusation and subject themselves to the same restrictions as mentioned above. Tax evasion, as @peekbackstage has mentioned with the actress Fan Bing Bing, is far easier, because it tends the turn the audience against the defendant: these stars are making so much money and yet they’re not contributing their share! And as long as the accusers have sufficient power — remembering that commercial and political power are married in the country — the accuser can make up any evidence to suit their needs for any crime.

The third possibility is what I see as the worst case scenario: that the government decides they don’t want their major stars / entertainment industry to be *perceived* as queer — whether the stars are officially out doesn’t matter — and signals the media and commercial companies to stop using any “suspect” star altogether. (Chinese term: 封殺). This is the case of career murder without blood — laws aren’t changed; all the fans will hear are rumours confirmed by nobody. I see this as a possibility because of the Xi regime’s view of The Ideal Men , and my admittedly limited experience with dealing with older generations of Chinese, who I’ve found tend to confuse perceived femininity in men with queerness. I think, and this is only my opinion, that the sheer amount of adapted BL dramas in production (the so-called “dangai 耽改 101” phenomenon) and the heated discussions of them on Weibo will at some point trigger the government (which is made mostly of older generations Chinese). Even if gg and dd don’t do anything, should the government decide these adapted BL dramas, even after the elimination of their queer element, are “non mainstream socialist core values”, all the major people involved with the Untamed—arguably the classic and the drama whose success all these follow-ups are trying to imitate—can be cast as the culprit. If the same officials become aware of BJYX and if they’re somehow convinced that BJYXSZD, it can be easy be used as evidence of the bad influence these dramas can do—“they can turn people gay”—and it doesn’t help that according to reports, gg, at least, used to have a girlfriend.

Something more to consider: Gg and dd are also in a very special position now, in that not only are they immensely popular in China, no other native mainland Chinese stars have achieved this level of international fame with a native mainland Chinese production (ie, not a production from Hollywood, Hong Kong or Taiwan, or with a Kpop band). As such, they are likely subjected to high levels of scrutiny from the state. Depending on who’s in charge in the appropriate department, they may decide gg and dd have to be China’s image; they may have a set idea of what image it is and most likely, it won’t be queer. 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 are special times for China, image wise, both at home and abroad. 2021 is the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, and gg and dd are both starring in its propaganda productions (dd as a police in BAH and gg as an army officer in AT). CCTV, the state-controlled TV station, is already promoting these shows. So, for 2021, gg and dd are slated to not only be the faces of Chinese entertainment, but also the image of Chinese uniformed forces. If gg and dd come out or are outed, their allowing themselves to be being perceived as queer while donning uniforms will most likely to be viewed by the current regime as an embarrassment; a career murder, then, is an apt response to such transgression. 2022 is the year of Beijing’s Winter Olympics, so again, it’s the time where image matters.

You may have noticed a pattern, as I have as I write this up: them being outed is something to worry about, but also ... nothing more than anything else. If someone wants to tear gg and dd down — and there will be, given their massive commercial power right now and the increasing evidence that they’re working more like collaborators than competitors (ie, they aren’t about to tear each other down any time soon) — they do not need their sexuality as a reason.

(And if these accusers really want to use homosexuality as a reason, the unofficial BTS is, IMO, more than enough, as long as the accusers have sufficient power.)

Your other question ~ can gg and dd’s fame, popularity, and ability to draw consumers protect them? My (slightly) educated guess of the answer, then, is that it’s very much a double-edged sword. Indeed, the one major thing that may be going for these adapted BL dramas, and for those who come to superstardom to it — with gg and dd being the prime examples — is the economic health of China, which, by some reports that can no way be verified, are far worse than what has been reported. This is the thing about countries lack transparency; without reliable news, there’s no way to get the facts. Reports on China outside the country tend to be either propaganda or demonising / filled with conspiracy theories, and the truth is probably somewhere in between. If the reports of poor economy are true, the commercial sector — which, again, is tied to those with political power; ie the money made in the former goes into the pockets of the latter — desperately needs stars like gg and dd to move products (based on those recent consumer reports!) and with that, it will want to keep gg and dd and these dramas that can potentially make more gg and dd around. This *seems* to be what’s happening so far, with the the state-run media happy to show gg and dd’s dramas (when it should know, at least, that they got to the height of their fame playing lovers-not-lovers) and gg and dd’s sponsors not-so-subtly wooing the BJYX segment of fandom, so I’m tentatively optimistic. However, the current regime has also shown a willingness to sacrifice the economy for the sake of political ideology, so it’s not something to be taken for granted. (What’s going on in Hong Kong is a good example of that.)

(I always think, eat each candy like it can be the last one. With this regime, it can be. We can wake up tomorrow and gg and dd have to break up BJYX to protect the fans.)

(I always think, treasure, treasure, treasure. Ask for more dy and lz and Weibo posts, but never anymore from gg and dd when it comes to insights of their relationship, even without considering it’s actually their private lives and they’re under no obligation to share.)

(They’ve shared with us far more than enough.)

There’s really no precedence for us to predict the future of an outed gg and dd from, as far as I know. Confirmed queer stars in Chinese entertainment (those with sufficient followers to make news) have all been from Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries. The successful BL dramas before The Untamed — Addicted (2016) and The Guardian (2018) — didn’t have a real-person cp that truly took off. Addicted, a true BL drama (ie, it retained the queer elements), was banned before it finished its broadcast. The two actors were also banned from appearing together afterwards, and this “signal” from the government almost cost the two actors their career. Bai Yu from The Guardian, meanwhile, already had a girlfriend as he filmed, so there was never a Weibo supertopic dedicated to him and Zhu Yilong. gg and dd, along with their millions of turtles, are treading untrodden ground.

Something I should clarify ~ all the things I said above may sound very scary to international fans, but to those who live in the country, they understand it as the way things are, and they strategise and move accordingly. This is their way of life. What I wanted to say, in my first reblog, is that we who’re outside may not understand why they do things the way they do, why they don’t, for example, come out with all the candies they are spending so much effort to give out, but I do believe that gg and dd have a plan, not in the sense that they’re scheming or trying to trick anyone, but that they are moving things along at the pace necessary to meet the pre-requisites for the outcome they want. What this outcome is is anyone’s guess, mine being that they have the freedom to work together, not necessary in lover’s capacity — most of us are not required to perform our day jobs carrying our identity as so-and-so’s significant other and gg and dd shouldn’t be exceptions — but as colleagues, professionals and friends (lovers are friends).

To some international fans, this may sound implausible, ridiculous: why do they need a multi year campaign for something as simple as this? As working together again? And I suppose, all these words I’ve typed so far is my attempt to answer this question, to ease the … unease, the frustration of those who may not understand. True to its marxist root, perhaps, many things that are considered mindless, effortless tasks elsewhere somehow become battles, grand struggles of sorts in China. That sea of sea lights on the night of Tencent awards, for example? It was the result of gg’s fans fighting, strategising in real time to smuggle those LED banners in when they realised the venue had forbidden their entry. They wrapped the banners around their bodies under their underwear because they were patted down by security at the underwear level; they hid batteries in their shoes. They ran batteries from one zone in the stadium to another during the whole show for whose who only managed to smuggle in banners or batteries. They fought the security guards inside the stadium, who continued to snatch away their banners even after seeing they were merely support material for the idols. They fought and fought, despite their identities were recorded by their COVID pass and facial recognition. Many confessed they had no idea what gg was singing during the show; they were too busy. They were there, some paying scalpers > 10x the ticket price, just because they promised the sea of red would be there for gg when he returned. When some realised dd’s banners were confiscated in high numbers because his fans happened to have seats right by the strictest security, they improvised, found an image of a green block to show on their cell phones to make makeshift green support lights for dd. They used Weibo to spread this trick to fellow fans. All these trouble, all these effort, all these planning and scheming and sweat and tears — all for one night, one concert and they laughed about it, called it a wonderful day.

(There are many ways for lives to be hard.)

The very first thing gg and dd need to accomplish, therefore, isn’t to announce what they do in the bedroom—the very first thing they need, for their plan to come to fruition, is to stay on top of the industry. How can they be on the same stage for the yearly Tencent Awards if either of them fails to make VIP? What’s their negotiation chip for a future collaboration, when the current norm is against cps like them working together again, if they cannot draw enough viewers and consumers, or if they offend Tencent and other media companies by refusing to see to the needs of the other side (for example, the need to promote new dramas)? So far, the two of them have accomplished this in flying colours. The other thing they need right now, the way I see it, is for their fans to get along. I think part of the reason they’ve made BJYXSZD so easy to believe in and love, in addition to their very human need to be seen when their careers may be safer otherwise (yes, I think they know what they’re doing, the candies they’re throwing), is because they want their fans to unite, as they have united. To make sure something like 227 cannot happen again, or at least, if it does happen again, their fans cannot be used as an excuse, as scapegoats. And this union is happening — slowly, but it’s happening. The size of BJYX (>2.8 million as of now, on Weibo supertopic) is a powerful indicator; I also had a wonderful time reading the comments of gg’s solo fans who went to purchase dd’s new song. This is the part gg and dd need their fan’s help. This is the one of the fews things we, as overseas fans who have limited access to their products, can help.

Your final question — sorry, this is getting so long again — about leaving. Of course, it’s always up to the government and It’s impossible to say what can happen so far ahead. But my perception, right now at least, is that gg and dd have no intention to leave, no intention to sacrifice their career for their personal lives and vice versa. After all, this is a pair who has answered those A vs B choice questions with a straight-faced “I want both” and “so annoying” without a follow-up reply. They’re right to want both. I like them for wanting both. And maybe, with their intelligence, charisma and hardwork and ambition and personalities that seem to clash but somehow complements each other’s, they will figure out a way. Maybe they are, as the Chinese turtles call them, the Chosen Pair, and they will be the ones who’ll change the perception fo queer artists in China, and we’ll one day get a biography about them and laugh at the candies we get right, laugh harder at those candies we get totally wrong.

(Dd ~ I want your honest opinion, in your own words, on the ones we get wrong.)

(Gg ~ videos of your expressions while reading the crazy theories the first time will be very much appreciated. By me.)

It’s a good day to look forward to.

#bjyx #yizhan #pie metas

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anotheruserwithnoname · 2 years

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How poor fact-checking “killed off” Tom Baker...

Above: In an alternate universe, Richard Hurndall, Peter Davison, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and K9 filmed the prequel to Weekend at Bernie’s.... (read on to get the joke)

Editor note: The following was written in 2019 and for some reason I never posted it. Having rediscovered it today and in honour of Tom Baker’s 88th birthday (and I’m sure he’d appreciate the absurdity of the situation), I thought I’d post it with some updates, of course!

When I first saw The Five Doctors anniversary special around 1985-86, I found it a rather depressing affair as I had discovered not long before that Tom Baker was dead. I assumed that was why he wasn’t in any new footage in Five Doctors and why the rest of the Doctors had to pose with a Madame Tussaud’s wax figure of Tom for publicity shots, which I thought was kinda morbid. (Anyone who doesn’t know what Weekend at Bernie’s is may now go google for a moment...)

Excuse me, Saddleman? You do know that Tom Baker was certainly not dead in 1983; in fact he’s still very much with us in 2022 and even recording for Big Finish! He just turned 88, in fact!

Oh, of course I know that NOW. I even have an autographed copy of Big Finish interview CD, Tom Baker at 80. But in 1985-86 there was no Internet, and Doctor Who wasn’t really a thing in my part of Canada. I wasn’t a member of any fan clubs. Doctor Who books were rarities in the shops; you had to special order them through the stores (I once waited 6 months for a Target novelisation to arrive and I remember there were a couple bookstores gave up on trying to obtain any for me...). So I had to rely on reference books I encountered in libraries and stores.

Such as the one I flipped through in a collectables shop that was an encyclopedia of “character dolls” - a who’s who of actors and characters represented in dolls and action figures with entries explaining who these people are for the older collectors who might have had no idea who Mark Hamill was or why anyone should care that he played Luke Skywalker. Of course, as there were several dolls made of the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker was listed.

And the entry for Baker stated that he had died in New York City in 1982.

It seriously took me until the early 2010s to find out how this happened: an American actor by the name of Tom Baker (who had worked with Andy Warhol on some of his art films) died in September 1982. Obviously, whoever had written the toy-collectors’ book, and whoever was in charge of editing said book, never did a proper fact-check on this piece of information and assumed it was the same man.

As for my teenaged self back in 1985-86, who had no Internet, no access to UK media, limited access to any books related to Doctor Who outside the novelisations ... for at least 2 or 3 years, I legitimately proceeded on the assumption that, about a year after finishing his time on Who, Baker had died for whatever cause. I got on with life - these things happen, right? I didn’t even take note that Baker had made a guest appearance in 1983 or 84 in what was my favourite TV show at the time, Remington Steele. (I think I missed the episode as I didn’t have any memory of having seen Tom Baker in that show until I watched the episode on DVD decades later.)

Fast-forward to around 1988-ish and Nick Briggs’ Myth Makers interview video series was underway. By this time, there was growing local interest in Who in my part of the world (it was airing on a Canadian children’s network and more PBS stations piped into Canada on cable were showing it) and a local comic shop was stocking versions of Myth Makers videos put out by a US company in the NTSC format. Imagine my surprise and confusion when one of them ended up featuring ... Tom Baker! And it was a recent interview, not archived from the early 80s.

People talk about how the Internet spreads misinformation. To be frank, the pre-Internet era was just as bad. It also shows the importance of fact-checking and proofreading. I’ve tried to find that encyclopedia book for years, to see if they ever corrected their mistake. Much as I continually say I prefer permanent physical media over temporary digital files, the trade off is that permanent physical media is permanent. If I put a website together and I include wrong information (i.e. Tom Baker dying in 1982), I can correct the information immediately upon receiving a correction. But a book is forever and right now in some corner of some library or basement bookshelf lies a reference work with one whopper of an error!

#tom baker #fact checking #five doctors #from the draft vaults

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lokiondisneyplus · 3 years

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Prior to the pandemic, Frank Patterson would spend most days at the sprawling production facility, formerly known as Pinewood Atlanta Studios, that he runs outside of Atlanta. Then COVID-19 hit, and not even he was able to make his health and safety team's cut of essential on-site personnel.

"They were like, 'Frank, why are you here? You're setting a bad example,' " says the president and CEO of what is now Trilith Studios, the in-demand filming location known for hosting a suite of Marvel projects, including WandaVision and Avengers: Endgame.

Since Patterson took the reins in 2016, he's transformed the place from a set of soundstages to a full-fledged film community. After divesting from the Pinewood Group, Patterson led investments in new technologies and content companies, as well as expanded Trilith's footprint. The result is a 935-acre master development that includes the studio as well as a European-inspired town including homes, restaurants and schools that serve as a live-work community for the many creatives on the lot.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Patterson, 59, opened up about the most challenging aspect of COVID-era production, the studio's biggest concerns and whether he'll mandate vaccines.

You've had multiple projects in production during COVID-19. How has it been going?

We've been very fortunate. We had the first studio feature in the industry back to work in June. I can't say what it is, but they'll be finished soon. It was an intense amount of research and work to put together protocols, recognizing that the disaster version looks like an outbreak. None of that's happened. We've had enormously low numbers of positive tests. And we have a full lot: 3,200 people drove on today.

How much more expensive is it to make a film or show right now?

It's costing about 20 percent more money and 20 percent more time. Things are slower and clunkier and it's taking more space. But the good news is cast and crew are taking safety very seriously. I'm sure you heard the story of Tom Cruise getting upset at the crew for not following protocols [on Mission: Impossible 7]. I don't think that's common. What we have found is with the exception of the day player — they tend to test positive more than the average crewmember — people are taking care of themselves.

A year in, how do you feel you did with the COVID-19 protocols?

They're pretty routine now. We're not just making stuff up like we were in the very beginning.

Which of those do you expect to remain post-pandemic?

The washing hands and standing apart, that's how we keep from spreading these diseases and how we need to work. There's a heightened awareness for cleanliness. People used to drag themselves to work miserably sick because if you missed work, you were letting your team down. Well, that's changed. If you show up and you're sick, they're like, "Get out of here." That'll go forward.

Fellow Georgian Tyler Perry said when he was shooting his shows last summer, there was an elderly actress who didn’t feel comfortable coming on set given the risk, so they had to write her out of the scripts. Have you heard of anything like that happening on any of your productions?

Not leaving a show, but changing of schedules to accommodate people's tolerance for coming back to work. There's an, "OK, let's not shoot this right now because this actor is not quite ready to come back to work." They're pivoting and shooting other stuff first and coming back. That's happening across all the productions.

What are the biggest concerns that you hear from the studios now?

Everyone's overwhelmed with the need to get stuff made, but we aren't returning to the speed that we had and we're spending more dollars per frame captured in just the pure production. And it's not like people don't care because you always care when you're spending more money than you planned, but it’s a way a distant second to: Are we getting this stuff shot?

Are all the studios behind?

Nobody is meeting their goals. Just look at the Disney+ line-up, all the stuff that they want to put in place. Look at what Paramount is doing now with Paramount Plus. If you just look at these pipelines, this is the anxiety that everyone feels right now. And then, by the way, WandaVision's a hit, so you got to feed that beast, right? That’s the tension that you feel every day.

How much of that is not having enough physical space to film? Several production facilities, including yours, are fully booked.

It's not just about space. Yes, of course, we could use some more facilities, and we're putting in five more stages that will be ready by June. But that's only one small part. Even before COVID hit, there weren't enough people — I'm talking about crew, not to mention the storytellers — to meet the demand that Wall Street was pouring into the pipeline. There's a talent drain. With COVID, it's [only gotten worse].

Georgia opened sooner than other states. Did you field a lot of calls?

It was overwhelming. Guys were like, "Hey, we heard you guys figured it out." First of all, we didn't figure it out. We have a version and it's working. But there was a lot of attention on us. And we had the good fortune of not having to worry about what role our government leaders would play because they basically said, "We're going to let the industry figure it out." That's the good news. The bad news: It was on us to figure it out and take responsibility.

Are you getting involved in the vaccine rollout as you did testing?

No, we decided we would just keep our focus on the testing protocols. We have to make certain that we just take it all the way to the end — and we'll let [union, guild and association] leadership decide when that is and when those protocols can change. And then again, as an industry, we're going to have to decide what we want to carry forward and what we don't. That's the next phase, and the rate at which we're vaccinating may advance those conversations faster than I thought. I used to think [the protocols] were going to go into 2022. I don't know if that's the case anymore.

Have you had conversations about mandating the vaccine on sets?

We haven't. We know that when it comes to mandatory protocols, we'll have to work in collaboration with industry leadership. No one goes on our lot without a mask, for example. And that was a political thing. Fortunately, Governor Kemp said, "How can I help?" And we were like, "What would be helpful is if you wear a mask in public," and he said, "OK." So when a crewmember said, "It's my right [not to wear one]" or whatever, of course we can say, "This is private property, sorry," but what our security team said instead was, "Hey, listen, the governor's wearing a mask, and you should wear a mask to protect our industry." It was us taking a stand, but the stand was really only taken because the unions and guilds and associations agreed. We'll have to do the same thing with the vaccination.

You're building out a neighboring town for people to live. Is this the future of production facilities?

I don't think so. In some ways, what we're doing is what Mr. Disney did. The mill town is not a new concept. But if we didn't have a state with a reputation for being so business friendly, for having the tax incentives, for having the most traveled airport in the world, if those things didn't exist right there, believe me, we couldn't do this. I grew up in Hill Country outside of San Antonio, Texas. You cannot do this in San Antonio, Texas.

How many people are buying houses and apartments on the Trilith property?

We have 400 of the apartments built, 260 of them occupied. We’re at almost 300 homes now sold and 500 people in the town. We're working on our next set of 150 homes right now and starting our third micro village. The second micro village filled up like that (snaps fingers). We have 36 people on the waiting list. What’s happening — and this is a global trend — is that COVID has heightened our awareness of the benefits of this approach to working. The distributed workforce and the way for us to collaborate with these electronic tools is causing a lot of people to realize that they don't have to live in the town they thought they have to live in. So I think people thought it was going to be more like a second home, but they're actually staying here.

Every few years it seems there’s some controversial legislation in Georgia that pops up and Hollywood threatens a boycott, whether it’s an anti-LGBT or anti-abortion bill. Do you just assume it's going to pass?

These kinds of ebbs and flows of social discourse and its impact on the industry will never go away. Georgia is not immune to it. The film industry has been this wonderful beacon of possibility, and I do worry, given what's going on in our culture right now, that we as an industry could get caught sideways in this in some way that really dampens our ability to continue to have diverse views on the world.

Georgia's film incentives program has been criticized by some as an irresponsible use of taxpayer money. Do you see it being phased out or pared in the future?

This state is very proud of the fact that seven years in a row now it’s the number one state in the United States to do business. They saw the film industry as a way to really diversify its economy, to bring the creative class into the state. So they wrote this policy that was supported left and right, and that still is the case. I'm not a politician, but I'm on all of these committees, and what I noticed is they were so careful and specific about making it make business sense. It would be very difficult for anyone to turn it around now because it's just good, smart money — and you have both Democrats and Republicans looking at it. But in every session in every state always in the U.S., you will have people come up and write up some kind of legislation, "Let's get rid of tax incentives." It's just not going to happen. I would be really surprised.

But there were some changes to it recently, yes?

There were parts that we needed to improve on around auditing and how we manage the information and our relationship with all the productions. We needed to clean up some of the back of house stuff, so Representative Matt Dollar passed some amendments last session that are now going into effect that really helped clean up the whole process.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

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otherskinnersse24 · 3 years

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Module 4

Hello again! Welcome back to where I attempt to explain what I learned this week for class.

Assignment 1: This week we started by talking about the International Affective Picture System or the IAPS for short. IAPS tends to be about 956 photos that are meant to be rare or exciting scenes meant to elicit some kind of emotion. These pictures can range anywhere from household furniture, and landscapes to mutilated bodies and erotic nudes. Example of photos:

source for the pictures That was all I had to take from the Wikipedia article, but I still found it interesting. source (Yes I actually had to use information from Wikipedia)

We then moved on to talk about a secret mood manipulation experiment done on Facebook. This was done about January 2012, for one week, a group sought out permission to modify approximately 689,000 users feeds to see if they could manipulate peoples mood. This involved either showing people more positive things on their feed or more negative things on their feed and seeing whether or not the person themselves would contribute to the negativity or the positivity depending on what they saw on their feed.

This ended up being a decently controversial study because no one involved actually knew about it and did not have the chance to withdraw their results from the study.

For more information and my sources, check out this video and link! Video Source Article Source

Then we moved onto what I felt like was one of the more interesting parts, tickling rats for science. Yes, some rats like to be tickled. This part I found really interesting because you really don’t think about the fact that other mammals can be tickled, like we understand that humans can be but not mammals. There are ways to determine which rat would prefer to be tickled as well. For example, rats that are usually housed by themselves more often prefer to be tickled while rats that show more neurotic and anxious tendencies don’t enjoy it. What I also found interesting is that scientists have actually created a specific breed of rats that love to be tickled as well! Video Source Article Source

Other than our discussion posts that was it for our second assignment. I found this assignment fairly interesting especially about the Facebook study and the ability to tickle certain rats.

Assignment 2:

Read a bunch of other articles mentioning emotion detecting AI and what could be the benefits and risks to it as well. We also went to a website that helps us use some of the emotion detecting AI to see if it can determine what emotion we are depicting with our emotions.

For the first article, it was talking about having emotion detecting AI in vehicles. I found this interesting for several reasons one, I am not a person who is huge on having my face everywhere, like I don’t mind security camera’s but I feel like a camera with an AI in my car sounds a little sketchy to me. Especially when many people open their mail, look at their credit cards, and even look at their ID’s in their cars. This lead me to question what are they going to do with the video footage they get from this. What is interesting is the first article mentions that they’re even going to include microphones as well which leads me to be concerned about even more privacy violations. The European Union Law wants that ALL new cars should be equipped with driver monitoring by mid-2022. Source

Next we read an article that talks about the risks of using AI to interpret human emotion as well. I found this to be very interesting because it brought up points I had never though of, such as emotion may not be expressed the same way throughout other cultures, and depending on your ethnicity, the AI may tend to assign more negative emotions. Also, if left unattended for a long enough period of time, the AI can perpetuate stereotypes and assumptions at an unprecedented scale. But, at the same time overtime with more inputs and information over time there is a possibility of developing an unbiased AI. Source

The final article I will talk about (don’t worry, I’ll link the other 2) was about how facial expressions which is what the AI would most likely go off of don’t tell the whole story of emotions. Which is absolutely true, if you think back to some famous celebrities who committed suicide, they always seemed to be some of the happiest people. One of the most important things I wrote while reading this article (I possibly got it from the article but I don’t honestly remember) was “Not everyone who smiles is happy, not everyone who is happy smiles and most people who do not smile are not necessarily unhappy.” I feel like this is the best description of why emotion tracking AI might not work. Source

Can Emotion Sensing Wristbands Boost Well-Being? Smart Devices Can Detect Mood, Help Track and Manage Emotions - I unfortunately could not find a link to the article and I cannot share PDF’s on here (as far as I know).

One of the more interesting things we played with was Clmtrackr, which is an emotion tracking AI that uses your webcam (if available) to use your facial expressions to make a prediction on what you’re feeling.

Review Sheet:

Then of course we had the course review sheet which I will share which I feel like highlights some of the more important highlights from this weeks readings.

#psychology #biological basis of emotion #term project #assignment #project #college

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