Keep It Simple, Stupid is usually a pretty solid design principle and one that i love ignoring consistently and constantly. i must overcomplicate everything or i'll die.

Quackity: These past days I've been in many calls, and I'm not done yet. I've spoken to a lot of people and creators. I've read your comments and I'm well aware of what needs to be done to carry out this project. I want to tell you all, beforehand, that for me the team's well-being is fundamental. I'm very involved in this topic to sort it out and I want to make that very clear. I want to tell you something... I want to tell you all that the administrative staff responsible for so much harm to the project has been fired. Specifically, those who made decisions without my permission, affecting the administrative and financial area of the project. Consequently, after this, I was in charge of doing a financial analysis that's carrying out for the QSMP.

Guys, to be really honest, it was not going to last. Therefore, I've had to make deep drastic structural changes that have lead me to reduce the performance of the server down to the most essential, and this is in order to ensure the well being of everyone involved in it. Having said this, I want to give a very important update: I want to let you all know that the QSMP will have to slow down temporarily. This is to ensure this new structure adapts to the project, because it's a restructuring that's taking place. I'm letting you know, and I reiterate, there are no voluntary positions inside the QSMP.

At the moment, there will not be any more individual update accounts of all 5 existing languages in the project. In any case, during this transition, there's going to be a temporal absence of all Eggs and NPCs. I know these are difficult changes, and I repeat, it's temporary until we adjust to these new conditions that will improve the performance of this new structure that's being made from scratch, both in the administrative and financial part. I'd like to reintegrate people fro the QSMP as time goes by if a financial viability can be found for the project Taking advantage of this update to tell you guys that within the changes of the server as it is, creators will have full control of their lore and stories. The team will not intervene in the way that it was being done. Moreover, efforts will be made to change the competitive dynamics inside the game so as to ease up the game style for the creators. Like I'm saying, all of these changes, and more, are being carrying out to have the project as best as possible, and they're being done little by little. This is a whole new structure that will ensure the best continuity and experience for the creators, the community and the team behind.

Guys, I want to make very clear that this is restructuring process, and again, it's not a fast one. The server being open does not mean everything's perfect, I understand that very well. Conversations will keep taking place, communication will continue and the constant improvement of the project as well. I ask, please, for everyone's patience and understanding regarding all changes. Please do wait for official announcements since a lot of incomplete and incorrect information is being spread. I want to tell you all something- if you don't trust in these changes or have many doubts about it, and don't want to consume any more of the project's content, I understand 100%. I have a personal commitment with the QSMP and I will work until it functions in the way it is supposed to do.

Lastly, I want to let you know that it was being worked on for months on finalizing the integration of Korean creators to the QSMP. For that reason, tomorrow we will be welcoming the new Korean creators of the QSMP, of course, taking into account all the changes I've just mentioned. I hope you can give the new Korean members warm welcome to the project. And as you know, their schedules are earlier. For everyone who would like to watch, they will be joining at 11am Mexico time and at 9am US time. Basically, I wanted to give that update regarding everything that's being done within the project. Again, thank you for your patience and understanding- these are necessary changes and I'm glad they're being done now. And many more things will keep being adjusted.

via @QuackitySubs

girlbossing too close to the sun.

I'm so fucking mad

the earlier psychiatrist (stand-in at the facility) I saw for adhd halved my bupropion dose when she started me on methylphenidate, because she didn't want to have me on too much stimulants. ok.

then I asked for a dose increase on the methylphenidate, and had to see the current psychiatrist. she eliminated the bupropion entirely. I was hesitant about this and said as much.

predictably, this sucked, and I still don't think the methylphenidate is helping, so I was like, okay so never mind the ADHD treatment can I just go back to the way things were before.

she is only giving me the halved dose of bupropion back. for what reason??? I will not be on any additional stimulants??

she's like "oh we can always increase it later if necessary" and like. bitch we have already known for years what dose worked well for me. WHY do you want to spend time making my life worse to investigate a non-question

Small Tears of the Kingdom changes that could have done a lot

(at least according to me, the one singular flawed person writing this post)

In my desperate attempt to close off the Tears of the Kingdom season on my side of the internet (failing so far), I wanted to join the proposals of a couple of small restructurations/rewrites I've seen on my dashboard. These wouldn't change much of the game, but enough to boisten some of the themes and make the experience both more open and more streamlined. They try to ignore a lot of my own biases towards what I would have loved to see explored within the game and focus on what already exists (I said try). These changes are not only story-driven but also focus on quest design and narrative reward logic, which puzzled me even more than the story itself.

It's obviously not the end all be all of everything, there's a ton of small things that aren't fully adressed, etc.

Here are the 3 main tenants of this proposal:

We know about Fake Zelda by the end of the tutorial section. We see glimpses of her all the way, even though Rauru doesn't seem to be aware she's here, and most of our obstacles come from us trying to reach and save her. Then, by the end, she tries to kill us in the Temple of Time, and we realize she's fake and a lure (it could be a small mini boss, nothing too severe; just something to prove we understand combat). It could also be an earlier occasion to have Ganondorf shit-talk us using his creepy voice through her body, that could build up a better sense of rivalry going forward and make the betrayal of him using her body sting much more than it does in the current version.

Ganondorf, using Fake Zelda, tries to antagonizes each region of Hyrule towards their princess --and, the very important part, it works. The kingdom is splintering apart as he plans his return and his invasion. The goal in each region is not to vaguely solve the weird local problem, but, using the regional hero that knows and trusts Link, to prove that whatever is happening isn't Zelda's fault. This allows to build some sense of tension and stakes, makes us deeply empathize with an overwhelmed Zelda trying to step up as a leader in the aftermath of the Calamity and isn't here to defend herself (and then when we learn where she is and what she did it hurts so much more). The camp where Purah is could also double-down as the beating heart of Hyrule trying to reconnect with the suspicious regions suffering the turmoil isolated from each other.

The Dragon's Tears questline is overhauled, and that can happen in two simultaneous ways. Some of these memories remain Zelda's, but now only some of them, perhaps those who are connected to Zelda's decision to become a dragon without ever spilling it out (and could even focus more on her insecurities as a young ruler and her relationship to her ancestors), remain sprinkled into the land to reward those who want to understand more about her motivations. But now, each of the secret stones collected along the way also function as tears, and instead of being treated to another delicious serving or The Imprisoning War? The Demon King??? we get to discover a little bit more of the mystery. The way it could work is quite simple: the Sage introduces us briefly to their own perspective into the war outside of a voiced cutscene to give the writing more flexibility regarding what the player already did to avoid repetition ( :) :) ), and then plays a pre-determined cutscene in a linear fashion, which is one of Rauru's memories embedded within the secret stone and tells the story of the fall of his kingdom to Ganondorf. (also bonus: now Zelda's tears don't embody the entire kingdom anymore, which was very strange and never sat right with me)

So what we did is to separate the different stories while intertwining them: Zelda's struggles and sacrifice on one hand, Rauru's regrets and bitterness on the other (lololol sorry), and Ganondorf's attempt to break the kingdom apart --which would feed into both Zelda's anxieties and Rauru's long winded defeat. The bonus to this approach would also be to question Hyrule's legitimacy: the various races would then need to decide, after having actively questioned the young princess, that they actually still believe in Hyrule and a future they all get to live in together.

This would also give a little bit more teeth to Ganondorf's motivation, his deep envy for the power of Hyrule and the fact that his own people chose it over him, let alone everyone else. As for the Link's motivation, trying to have everyone see that Zelda is worth it and stop that evil force from shattering her image while also acknowledging the faults of the past could make the player invested in wanting to bring Zelda back down after everything she went through and all the sacrifices she made to prove herself a worthy ruler (Rauru's forcefulness in assimilating the realm under his banner even though he meant well being his actual character flaw that Mineru could eventually acknowledge, to give her something to do instead of... feeling bad for no clear reason!! Also just *give emotional weight* to that time she holds Rauru's hand again when she swears fealty to Link, this was so simple and obvious how was it not given the time it needed for us to care about what was lost!!! aaa)

Yes, it's still about the power of love and sacrifice over ruthless domination, but now characters have a little bit more agency and we feel a little less like they have a zonai knife under their throats the entire time forcing them to always be happy and enthusiastic about swearing fealty to the immortal kingdom. They find out about the past but get to redefine their future instead of falling over themselves in worship; literally using pieces and bits of the past in the form of zonai tech to rebuild their own kingdom and their future dreams. Together they are stronger; but because they all chose to believe in that mantra instead of having it being imposed by long dead kings and faceless ancestors expecting them to die for a war that shouldn't concern them.

(Also, obviously, the gerudo region has to reckon with the Demon King being particularly angry at them for betraying him, and them deciding to reject his rule a second time and embrace their own path, because in the original TotK Ganondorf being gerudo could be removed entirely without any consequence, which is pretty sad since it's basically an enormous part of what makes him compelling as a villain for a lot of people and keeps him from being a completely generic Nintendo stock villain!!)

And honestly? Beyond a couple of dialogue changes and slightly different setups and reasonings for Link to do certain things, especially in the various regional quests? Most of everything else could stay roughly the same. The bones are here! They're just arranged in a really weird way.

(except for Ganondorf surviving as a big bad dragon in the end through the sacrifice of his mind to immortality because that's just much more interesting than turning him into a supernova --but that's really a bonus honestly)

Sometimes I think there are certain parts of Wolf 359 that feel so familiar to me that I almost forget what they are like the first time round.

Like, I've just been thinking about how in the finale, after Minkowski gets shot, we don't hear any noise from her all through Cutter's gloating speech. We hear her gasp as the bullet hits and the show immediately cuts away to a different scene. Then when we rejoin the confrontation with Cutter, we don't hear Minkowski make any noise - not even a groan of pain or a laboured breath - for over a minute. And because it's an audio drama, this means that we don't have any direct indication of just how injured she is, of whether she's fully conscious, of whether she's even still alive. Lovelace's reactions can't tell us much while she's struggling against Cutter's control. And I wouldn't put it past Cutter to gloat to someone unconscious.

The first noise we do hear Minkowski make after being shot in the stomach - the first proof we have that she's still with us - is her gathering her strength and declaring "Renée Minkowski... and that is more than enough to kick your ass!", before punching Cutter. Which is always an incredibly powerful moment. But there's a particular power to it when it also serves as the reveal that Minkowski is still conscious and able to put up resistance. The moment when she asserts her ownership of her own identity feels almost like a moment of rising from the potentially-dead.

so i was talking to @oneireth this fine wednesday morning and we were discussing the stonehearts and the ipc in all its villainy but also the role dr ratio has in all this. i don't think we'll realise the ulterior motive behind his presence in penacony but i will be mildly disappointed if he was just damage control under the title of " technical consultant ". regardless , i think he will be present during the charmony festival or so my delusions lead me. but we also looked back to double indemnity and pinpointed a specific line that struck us both.

i think this was overlooked way too easily like : yes , dr ratio is a prominent figure in the guild and the ipc assigned him to penacony but this implies that he is up there with the higher echelons. the ipc is not exactly paranoid but i would wager that they are extremely tight with their personnel and access to information and resources. for veritas to be among these levels is significant.

as we discussed it could be the payment that allows the ipc to oversee and utilise his research which as we know has revolutionised various aspects across the galaxy. so , yes , ultimately this is a business transaction. but this also has me recalling the mission pertaining to calderon chadwick and how screwllum even alludes to how they are waiting for the next calderon. ever since that quest i couldn't help but steer eyes to veritas i mean he simply foots the bill. considering he successfully fired an anti — planetary weapon it just slots in too cleanly.

if anyone has a viable way to get him to leave the ipc , please share.

some before-and-after pictures of how I’ve been using AI generated images in my art lately 🤖

I share other artists’ concerns about the unethical nature of the theft going on in the training data of AI art algorithms, so I refuse to spend any money on them or to consider the images generated by them to be true art, but I’m curious to hear people’s thoughts on using it for reference and paint-over like this?

my hope is that with proper regulation and more ethical use, AI could be a beneficial tool to help artists - instead of a way that allows people to steal from us more easily.

Aro culture is wondering why people stalk their crushes like yeah it's fine to look at their Instagram or know their birthday but why do you know their schedule and how the hell do you remember the day that you two met like what-

hey that's... not necessarily stalking and as someone who has been stalked, please be careful about using that term incorrectly. it isn't uncommon for people to know the first time they met someone, especially if the event was memorable. it isn't uncommon to know someone's schedule if you know them. there's a difference between stalking and knowing personal details that can be learned by pattern-recognition or by having a good memory.

I don’t think I’ll ever be over the fact that Hitsugaya was, by virtue of Aizen’s letter, technically one of the primary/only suspects in Aizen’s murder and the overthrow of Soul Society. Because of the options, he has gotta be… one of the squarest (second only to Komamura, though at the time that guy had a BUCKET ON HIS HEAD). 

At the same time, though, Hitsugaya also manages to engage in only the MOST sus behavior.

Like, can you imagine the decadal Gotei audit. Some paper-pusher in 1st who was assigned to some other non-Aizen, non-ryoka project during the Soul Society arc gets put on the audit committee and he, like most of the Gotei, knows nothing about the ryoka invasion or the facts around the three captains’ “disappearances” some time ago (only as much as was reported in the SC). And he’s going through people’s personnel files and reading stuff like, what 🙃 the fuck,,,

Auditor: Do you have a connection to 5th Division Vice Captain Hinamori? Answer yes or no.

Hitsugaya: Yes.

Auditor: Describe the nature of that relationship.

Hitsugaya: We’re acquainted.

Auditor: Be more specific.

Hitsugaya: What are you getting at?

Auditor: Were you her arresting officer in August 2001?

Hitsugaya: Oh. Yes.

Auditor: And you assumed control of the 5th Division leadership shortly thereafter? What about 3rd Division Vice Captain Kira? You were his arresting officer as well?

Hitsugaya: Yes, though I’m not sure what that has to do—

Auditor: And SHORTLY THEREAFTER, did you not infiltrate the 3rd Division grounds and assault 3rd Captain Ichimaru?

Hitsugaya: “Infiltrate” is a little—

Auditor: We have third party eyewitness accounts stating that not only did you draw your sword, you released shikai, resulting in—

Hitsugaya: Resulting in nothing!

Auditor: AND IN A SUBSEQUENT ALTERCATION INVOLVING THIRD DIVISION VICE CAPTAIN, WERE YOU NOT 

SUSPICIOUSLY PRESENT FOR THE DETONATION AND DESTRUCTION OF A CIVILIAN BUILDING????

[Bleach e303]

lmao was at a small social event at a colleague's home. conversation turned to video games. i drop the name fire emblem. turns out two guys present know the franchise. one of them has played three houses but only crimson flower, he's firmly on the left but somehow also seems convinced she was the good one for abolishing the nobility (anti-establishment/monarchy/capitalism etc) and fighting 'the monsters' (he has never played another fe game and is unfamiliar with their stories so to him monsters = bad). i disagree with him (in a normal way bc otherwise he's a nice guy). another guy asks for my opinion on her and the writing in general. cue me info dumping abt this game for 15 mins looking generally deranged.

people online have a very warped idea of what is and is not common information among those who are not that online or online at all

I may be considering the crime of... Getting a business degree 🤢

mmmhmm yep! a great way to encourage people to read is by calling them stupid! that's awesome!

"autistic people deserve the autonomy to transition and make risky choices, same as anyone else" and "many autistic people struggle to understand their internal experiences, take things very literally, and need help to see nuanced perspectives — and those people deserve tailored care to help them make choices with the same level of understanding as a non autistic person" are two statements that can and do coexist. giving autistic people good care means acknowledging that our brains work differently and trying to work with that; not treating us exactly like neurotypical people and allowing us to trip over our disability in the process.

thinking about gawyn during the coup. upon first read i took min's pov of his behavior at face value and was like "oh no, he's being so scary and cold!" but going back i realized Oh.............Actually, He Is Incredibly Traumatized :(

Worry and fear filled his blue eyes, and his face was a mask of determination not to give in to them.

He was as tight as coiled steel, ready to burst out in any direction.

Most frightening to Min, with that blood-masked face and half-glazed eyes, with his body tensed almost to quivering and his hand upflung as if he had forgotten it, he never raised his voice or put any emotion into it. He only sounded tired, more tired than she had ever heard anyone sound in her life.

“If anything happens to them,” he said in that expressionless voice, “to Egwene or my sister, I will find you, wherever you hide, and I will make sure the same happens to you.” Abruptly he stalked a dozen paces away and stood with his arms folded, head down as if he could not bear to look at them any longer.

he was brittle, ready to shatter at the wrong blow.