#and that the setting itself doesn't often get a chance to be explored since the stories are usually about the characters
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Ben 10 Omniverse isn't a terrible show, but it often misses its mark for the sake of comedy. And it's not even good comedy either; it's the same old "Lol. Ben's so lazy, ignorant, and irresponsible. It's a wonder how he keeps the Omnitrix at all! LMFAO" And it's like, okay, we get it. Everyone thinks Ben is a moron, but if Ben's a moron, what does that make the people who lose to him? 🤨
One of the times Omniverse misses the mark on what could have been a legendary episode akin to Adventures Time's "The Hall of Egress." It is the episode Universe v. Tennyson.
The episode about Ben going to trial for recreating the universe. Besides seeing Alien X fight, the episode doesn't make any sense. And I entirely blame writers. They did not think of the logistics of how a trial of this sort of magnitude would actually go. I wouldn't be surprised if the trial was just an excuse to see the celestialsapiens in action.
They wanted a reason to explain the different art styles and all the retcons. Which in itself is stupid. As the audience, we know why specific changes are made. They didn't need to hand-feed us retconning; it always happens.
But more to the point, the entire trial is a sham. And it pissed me off to no end!
1. Ben was never subpoenaed. Alien or not, you can't part the sky like the Red Sea and drag someone to court. You have to set an official date and time for trial, allow the defense to acquire a lawyer, and build their defense. This is basic shit, and if your excuse is that it's just a kids cartoon, that doesn't excuse bad writing.
I just can't stand when people brush over essential details.
2. Only in certain circumstances can you forcefully take a person to court. And that is if the suspected criminal is considered a danger to the public or a flight risk. And even then, it's an immediate arrest before going to court for a hearing. Ambush arrests are considered a last resort; considering Ben's positions as a plumber and wielder of the Omnitrix, Ben has little to no criminal record.
3. Due process, refering back to my earlier point, the celestial sapiens would have needed to give notice of charges, and Ben would need to be heard in front of an impartial tribunal. The entire universe is not an impartial jury. There's a reason any Rando can't walk into a courtroom and decide whether a person is guilty. What if several people aren't even aware of the trial? That could skewer the vote in favor of the Plaintiff (Celestialsapiens)
If the writers on Omniverse weren't so focused on having a hate boner for the main character, this could have been a great episode. And it is a hate boner because why else would they pick Mr. Baumann as the first witness. This dude had beef with Ben since early childhood before having the Omnitrix. His opinion is beyond biased.
Also, Rook took the first chance to air his petty grievances with Ben in front of the entire universe in a court of law, and that is beyond shitty. Ben being "ignorant of many things" isn't a proven fact; it's a personal opinion. Also, being ignorant is a crime?
And had Ben been sentenced to death or died in the trial by combat, what was the plan afterward? Rook carries Ben's body to his mother and says,
"Sorry, Ms. Tennyson, your minor child didn't have the mental knowledge and fortitude of a 50-year-old veteran; his death was totally justified. "
If Ben is ignorant of many things, it is because he is young and has only just started exploring the universe. Many toddlers should be behind bars if simply being uninformed is a crime. It's like the show constantly forgets that Ben is still young but insists on punishing him for it.
The court case is to decide whether Ben recreated the universe; his lack of knowledge and irresponsibility are not up for debate. Besides, Rook has only known Ben for a few months; I doubt that makes him a sound judge of character.
I wish they had brought different people to the witness stand. They could have made excellent callbacks by bringing characters like
Tetrax- He is literally the guardian of Omnitrix and decided that even at age 10, the Omnitrix was safe in Ben's hands. Also, the fact that Ben restores the planet Petropia can be used to defend Ben's recreation of the universe.
Reinrassig III- I'm sure the word of Highbreed Supreme would hold more weight in court than Mr. Bauman. A small store owner on a tiny planet in the far corner of the galaxy.
Queen Cicely of the Lewodan( ep. Con of Rath) - The mother of the Tiffin, you know, the baby Ben jumped down a man's throat to save. Ben broke the law by doing that but still prevented a massive war.
Magister Hulka- (ep. Basic Training) Hulka is a well-decorated Plumber and was Ben's academy instructor. Ben passed with flying colors despite disobeying orders, saving Hulka's life. He even gave Ben his medal for creativity and effective tactics. His word holds more weight than Rook Blonko's, a literally rookie in the plumber association.
Azmuth- do I even need to say anything?
Maxx and Xylene are more than familiar with the Omnitrix and Ben himself.
Paradox is literally the number one expert on the subject.
Could you imagine the cross-examination with these characters?
And even without proper character witnesses, Ben could argue that what is illegal is not always morally right.
What is the actual crime, the crime of caring too much? And if his crime is recreating the universe without prior permission. The celestialspaiens were a hidden society; how would he have gotten permission?
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
If Ben was the only living thing left after the universe was destroyed, did he really break the law since no one was there to uphold it?
Especially since he created the universe up until the very moment it was destroyed, so no time would have passed at all.
Ben's other option was leaving that universe for dead, and pulling a Rick and Morty, but he didn't do that cause he's not a sociopath.
The only angle that makes sense for this trial to happen is if it wasn't to prosecute Ben, but to send a message. The message that Celestialsapiens are not to be trifled with and that any attempts will be met with extreme prejudice and even death by combat.
The Celestialsapiens have recreated the universe multiple times, with even more drastic changes than just a smoothie flavor. I mean, Grandpa Max can't even open his eyes, and Azmuth's voice has changed several times. They literally point that out in the episode, and yet this is the first time a trial has ever been broadcasted to the universe.
In fact, this is the first time any other aliens have seen a celestialsapien save for Alien X. And even he was deemed a myth. So why now? Why the grand fan fair? Why broadcast the trial at all? They never notified the universe before.
It's because the celestial aliens were afraid for the first time since their conception. Their entire beings were briefly erased from existence and recreated, and they did not like it! Do you honestly believe that they changed anything about themselves after recreating the universe multiple times? Of course not!
But Ben doing that sent the species into a mental spiral of worry and anguish with the fear of not being completely yourself. The same curse they've placed upon the universe prior without any hint of guilt.
The trial was about establishing dominance to keep Ben from recreating the universe regardless of his reasoning. But also to prevent other aliens from attempting the same thing. That's why the trial was broadcasted through the galaxy. This was just a bunch of dick-swinging, so the celestialsapiens don't have to face any sort of actual accountability.
#ben 10 omniverse#ben tennyson#ben 10#Universe Vs Tennyson#tetrax shard#professor paradox#Azmuth#Alien X#Rook Blonko#personal rant
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The image of social media and the capture of subjectivity
Certainly the usage of social media and its harmful effects is nothing new. The mere mention of it only seems to get a tiresome eye roll in. What’s often mentioned in discourses is the notion that social media has distorted our view of a perceived actual reality that seems a priori from the app itself. Under this assumption, we take the stance that we can cut the two worlds in half - one of the world of “reality” and the other as a made up fantasy of cyberspace.
What in turn we miss is the tangible effects cyberspace has on the physical world we inhabit. When was the last time you’ve opened an app and considered what goes onto your instagram story? Be it the action of choosing a song to place over an image or a simple zoomed in image of a bug you saw on the floor. If that's the case social media has taken hold of the image of subjectivity of our lives.
Often the notion that social apps have only expanded the world and has shrunk the gap between people worlds across one another and this often being sold as a manner of defending the usage of a social media platform. In this we can see that the imagery of a person’s reality being limited to a set of rules based on the app's limitations.
The explore page has done the inverse of exploring but rather becomes catering services to the user who is intentionally or unintentionally being fed,filtered and boxed into a set amount of binaries. “X” person likes toys and not cars, hence we feed him toys and edge him towards a different kind of toy. Maybe he will probably like it. The following action taken next would then be easily predicted by the algorithm by narrowing down its users to a set of binaries. Reduction than could be seen in the usage of the explore page. Only under this reduction process would we see the images of subjectivity come to manifest itself. The images we see become nothing more than a binary answer - not what an “explore” page supposedly does.
By virtue of the page being curated constantly to what we want to see - what we see as freedom,love and everything in between becomes nothing more than crappy binary attempts to narrow down the user's subjective experience. The answers we get from the images ( by that means text,music and literal images) now become spoon fed answers that taps into the subconscious of what we wanted to hear and see, only for it to affirm by seeing those images. This leads us into a trap of running on an endless treadmill of feedback loop and thirsting for what can never be quenched.
What may seem as a way out or a new revolutionary method in changing our ways just becomes a spoon fed answer. All alternatives just become one homogeneous action that flattens any actual chances of getting a new perspective or a counter. We can see this occur in supposedly the most freeing human action which is in the liberal arts. The images that are created on a daily basis with the dawn of social media have since captured the subjectivity of humanity in many ways.
Artists have since moved to the internet to share their process and in turn gaining exposure for what can be seen as engagement. Abstracting the value of their work into likes and shares which removes the aspect of introspection and contemplation of a painting which naturally comes with it.If that's then the case the algorithm filters “good” artworks base on their engagement , pushing works that can capture the mood of the day to the top and sinking any alternative, avant-garde or challenging works to the bottom. If the artwork doesn't have a capture value then it sinks to the bottom. Now art has to shock, be reactionary and lucrative. The corporate and capitalistic nature of social media companies only prioritises anything and everything that would guarantee a return on investment. This naturally becomes their business model plan and would naturally be integrated into the algorithm for its users. Recommending what they think would keep them longer on the app. This in turn forces artists into reactionary boxes tied to the random action of the algorithm in hopes that it will gain them the capture value that they should have.
We can see agency is now being removed from the user but the illusion of choice still remains. Every action here on out becomes something of the same essence even the most alternative views is nothing more than a homogeneous reaction at its essence is already by virtue of being created lacking in any revolutionary movement. The capture of the collective imagination has done obvious damage in which art is now seen as nothing more than a homogenous mess - everything is the same and feels the same. The tragedy in it is the collapsing of all that is new. Can there be anything new if all that is given to us spoon is fed to us, if all the imagery that has captured our imagination is already created by the images we consume.. Is there any way of new spontaneity with art?
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Since this is a fighting game, the characters are often portrayed as independent, and the image of the game tends to be dominated by human drama. However, this work is a fantasy, and the characters have their own stage in which to breathe. Aside from the fact that it is again centered on Sol, I would like to present this kind of world from time to time.
Sol Badguy promotional trading card art and pencil sketch for Guilty Gear XX Art Works. Art and caption scanned from Artworks of Guilty Gear X 2000-2007 by Daisuke Ishiwatari.
#guilty gear#guilty gear xx#sol badguy#fighting games#video game art#I'm not sure what GGXX Art Works is#It isn't one of the other art books so I think maybe Daisuke meant it's just trading card art for GGXX's TCG? .#guilty gear scans#This took me like two weeks to clean. I had to redraw almost the entire gutter from low res scans lol#I'll reblog this after it posts with a pic of what I had to work with#But this post is queued so it might take me a sec if I'm doing other stuff#The caption for this was hard to translate and I may come back and redo it later#Daisuke is saying that the characters all kind of have their own thing going on wrt their story arcs#and that the setting itself doesn't often get a chance to be explored since the stories are usually about the characters#Compare to RP games like Skyrim where the map/world itself tells a story too#It's harder for a fighting game like GG to do something like that since each map is only a small slice of the setting#Though. this isn't to say those small slices don't tell significant stories it's just that it can't explore them as deeply#my translations#EDIT: I FORGOT THE PENCIL SKETCH#my scans#AND A TAG
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Inosuke College AU
Word count: 1,350
Major: Kinesiology
Minor: Psychology
Sports: Judo, Rugby
Clubs: Tanjiro signed him up for a ceramics club, and he goes only to try and one up him (Which is not the point of the club at all smh) but he attends every meeting without fail.
He's that dude that walks into the lecture hall wearing the most outrageous and eye-catching outfits
You just can't help but see him and instantly know what he's like to talk to
Neon orange athletic shorts with a hawaiian shirt so stereotypical it makes your eyes twitch in displeasure
Add some burkenstock sandals worn with mismatched socks and you have Inosuke
Just by looking at him you know he is quite the personality to work with
And he is, but he is intelligent and definitely pulls his weight in projects
Will chastise his classmates if they get injured while doing the more active labs
But he does that while tending to their injuries so you know he cares about their wellbeing
It's quite sweet of him!
Well it would be if every 3rd word wasn't a swear
That doesn't mean he has terrible grades though.
No he actually does quite well in his courses and there's one simple reason as to why;
he's genuinely hard working
Which surprises nearly everyone who sees him.
But that only makes him work harder
You see Inosuke decided to actually get an education for the simple reason that everyone assumed he was too stupid to do anything with his life
He originally wanted to do Zoology but then he realized that he has too much energy, which ends up scaring off most animals
Which defeats the whole "study of animals" part of Zoology
Of course his Mom was in his corner despite this, really only wanting her son to be happy and find his own success
So he wouldn’t make the same mistakes she did in her youth
Inosuke actually got advice from his mom which helped him settle on Kinesiology as his degree
But once he settled on his degree he was set in stone
His pseudo-step dad offered to pay for his schooling but Inosuke said "I would rather swallow a truck whole than be indebted to you"
And then took out a shit ton of loans to pay for everything
Which only amused his pseudo-dad and made his mom worry a tad
He manages to work a part time job flipping burgers over the summer which was enough to let him pay for his books and meal plan outright for the first year
And yet despite seeing him bust his ass to be able to go to school people still tried to dissuade him from doing anything further with his life
Which only made him work harder
His whole attitude towards school is "man this sucks but also fuck anyone and anything that tries to make me quit: No You"
Inosuke even takes pride in the dropped jaws that come from seeing him at the top of his courses
The boy has never once gotten lower than an 80% on an assignment
He does best in his statistics course simply because both Tanjiro and Zenitsu are also enrolled in that block
Inosuke is competitive
In his other courses nobody stirs up that aggressive competitive spirit like Tanjiro and Zenitsu do in their shared Stat course
And with the pair of them around him, Inosuke feels the urge to out do both to the point where he likes to imagine their feelings of inferiority will crush them like a 1 ton block of the densest concrete imaginable
Inosuke actually made Zenitsu stop breathing from sheer shock and awe when he realized what Inosuke's minor was
Psych is Zenitsu's major (the duo don't share any courses for psychology so they didn't know until then) and it caused Zenitsu to go on a rant to the effect of, " to think that pig headed idiot is doing better than me, that must be a lie! LIAR"
That rant made Inosuke laugh so hard he fell off the table he was sitting on
He actually bruised a rib because of it
It remains Inosuke's favourite memory of Zenitsu because of this
And he wants to see how else he can make him turn purple with rage
Hence he often comes up with weird ways to try and express his perceived academic superiority over his friends rivals
Zenitsu falls for the weird competitive schemes Inosuke comes up with
Tanjiro decidedly does not, in fact he doesn't really care so long as nobody actually gets hurt
Does that stop Inosuke from trying to outdo him? N o p e
If Tanjiro gets 96% on an assignment Inosuke must get 100%
What can I say Inosuke is a competitive guy
And it works for him as motivation
Maybe a little too well if Inosuke has anything to say about it
(He was embarrassed bc he got called out publicly at his grad ceremony for not just outstanding academic excellence but by the elderly head of the department for "being the Kinesiology student with the highest grades since the founding of the department" )
The metal he received from the department head totally does not hang on the wall in his mom's house
Speaking of competitive spirit at school
He trains really hard for both Judo and Rugby
Its a great way for Inosuke to burn off both his aggression towards all the frustrating people he's stuck interacting with and his pent up energy
Kicking ass just makes his temperament a lot easier to deal with for others and he will use ' sports practice' excuse to leave whatever social situation he doesn't want to be in
He just really likes contact sports okay
And by God is he good at them
Like takes home trophies and metals kinda good
Which also aren't being kept at him mom's house where he definitely doesn't have displayed where she can see them and be proud of him
However due to his tendency to be aggressive with the intensity of interest he has in things
Tanjiro signed Inosuke up for a ceramics class
He thought that Inosuke would do well with something relaxing to do while still keeping it tactile enough to keep him interested
It did not go over as well as Tanjiro had hoped
But despite this Inosuke still goes to every single club meet up without fail
Is he good at it? No
Is Tanjiro? Definitely
Does that make Inosuke steaming mad? Yep
Inosuke generally sucks at making clay things symmetrical
So every plate or bowl or vase he makes ends up lopsided
Inosuke will die before he admits to Tanjiro that he was glad for being signed up after he gave his Mom the successful first mug he made and she smiled brighter than she had in years
It was bright green with blue and purple childlike butterfly drawings on it and the glaze wasn't spread evenly so it looks a little patchy
And the handle is proportional too large and thin for the cup itself
But Inosuke's mom loves it more than any other mug in the house
And now every time he goes home to see her and she uses that mug, he finds himself quite happy
But he will deny it thoroughly.
All in all he loves getting the chance to go to College
He may hate the judgy people he's forced to encounter regularly but Inosuke does adore the chance to learn and explore new interests
Not to mention the people he gets to interact with
Even if he knows the debt will weigh heavy on his bank account for a long while.
He still thinks it was all worth it.
#inosuke hashibira#demon slayer#demon slayer au#demon slayer inosuke#demon slayer modern au#inosuke hashiriba college au#demon slayer headcanons
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Starting a new ✨series✨ that no one asked for! ( ꈍᴗꈍ)
Callisto-Rants presents...
Here's my Two Cents
Where we just throw down our two cents on how we would change a series to make it better, in our own personal opinion.
[You can Block this tag if you're not interested in this series: #Here's Our Two Cents]
Here's my Two Cents
Yarichin Bitch Club.
Ever since I had the misfortune of having that opening theme song stuck in my head because of countless memes and tiktok edits. . . I have wished for days to have the ability to create a time machine to prevent myself from saying. . .
"okay, fine I'll bite the bullet and check out the source material."
Now if you're reading this and thinking, "huh. I never heard of this series..." let me just tell you, GOD I WISH I WAS YOU RIGHT NOW.
No one was going to tell me this BL Manga about a "pHoTogRaPhY cLuB" wasn't completely INSANE? I was just supposed to find out Three Volumes Later??
Now some of y'all who have read the source material might be thinking. . .
"Okay Callisto, get over it it's obviously supposed to be a comedy it's not meant to be taken seriously 🙄"
And to that I say... I mean I guess??? But do we really need all of THAT to make it a comedy?? I feel like you could still have an entertaining comedy BL Manga without 90% of the shit that goes on in that series..... But that's just ✨my two cents✨ take it or leave it.
FIRST THINGS FIRST, here's all the stuff I'd automatically remove from this series off the bat.
💀 The Gang Bangs.
💀 Teacher x Student Relationships.
💀 In fact all instances of unconsensual acts & sexual assault committed in this manga. Throw all of that away.
💀 the fact that the term Bisexual was used as a replacement for the term switch, and had nothing to do with the sexual orientation itself whatsoever.
💀 The High School Setting.
💀 Whatever the fuck Yuri was on.
💀 90% of the hyper sexualized traits these characters had.
Now here's what I'd change to make it better... Basically here's an AU of what if it was actually a normal photography club....
Actually make it a fucking Photography Club. Not a sex club that's in a fuckin HIGH SCHOOL. Hell, you could just throw this in a college setting too, for more mature themes.
Main character, Takashi Toono a college student that's trying to get out of his comfort zone more. So he decides to join the photography club, because he thinks it's not demanding to require anything of him compared to any other club on campus. He knows completely NOTHING about photography, and doesn't have any passion for the art media. His Character growth would be learning to appreciate the art media While learning what it means to him, as well as who he wants to be as he enters the adult world as a young adult.
Yuu Kashima, can stay as Takashi's love interest. Also, I feel like all the members should have a specific style of taking photos that correlates with their personality in some way. Yuu's photography style would be something the lines of Candid photography which is a type of photography style that's main focus is to take photos in the moment or in surprise. Something he has already done when he took that photo of Takashi. I also feel like Yuu would be the one to keep pushing Takashi to love photography, and understand it's more than snapping a photo.
Kyousuke Yaguchi, can stay as the Love Rival for Yuu Kashima and overall keep his personality? It was actually pretty interesting and I liked his Character dynamics with everyone else. Kyousuke Yaguchi can also stay as the outsider that directly / indirectly influences Everyone else in the club. Causing Takashi to explore his feelings and expand his social group, and make him think about what he wants to capture in his photos. Overall the same interaction between Kyousuke & Yuu Kashima with their rivalry and brotherly relationship at it's breaking point. As well as, Kyousuke and Yui's relationship being tense with miscommunication.
Yui Tamura, I imagine Yui's photography style would be more of Adventure (capturing shots in the great outdoors, usually involving extreme sports; mountain-climbing, skiing, kayaking, sky diving, etc) & Sports Photography. Which could create interesting interactions between Kyousuke and Yui. Cue Yui trying to cover up the fact that, every time the soccer club commissions Yui to take some photos of their club activity to promote their club, all of Yui's photos are of Kyousuke playing soccer. Causing Yui to complain to Kyousuke to get out of his shots and that he's ruining them by being in all of them. So, Kyousuke just shouts back "then stop following me around with your camera, DUMBASS". Just imagine Them bickering, because Yui 100% did not delete the photo he captured of Kyousuke getting knocked out by a soccer ball to the face.
Itsuki Shikatani would definitely be in the club, but only because he prefers to have his photos be taken, more than he likes taking photos himself. He would probably be a cross dresser, who enjoys dressing up in feminine articles of clothing and posing for photos. Everyone on campus who doesn't know Itsuki personally, always asks who the beautiful woman in these photos are, the club president and vice President always just says it's one of their cousins that happen to be in town. If Itsuki had to have a style of photography, it would probably be fashion.
Toru Fujisaki. . . This one is difficult only because his Character is purely centered around Yuki's Character. . . So I'm going to take some creative liberties here. . . Probably really insecure about himself, because he feels like he's a wall flower that's really forgettable, that no one cares about. Although, it's mostly because he's shooting himself in the foot by not letting one have the opportunity to get to know him to give him a chance, in the first place. Until, he meets Yuki who makes him realize that not everyone sees him as a wall flower and someone can notice his nicer qualities about himself that he's hiding away. Toru's Character development in this AU, would be for for him to learn to love himself more and try to trust people to accept him. As well as to expand his social circle with the support of not only Yuki, but the Photography Club as well. At first I bet, he would only feel comfortable with Yuki taking his photos and modeling only for him, but over time he'd let the other club members take his photo when he gets more confident in himself. While also, developing his own style of photography, that isn't just "cute photos of Yuri", it would probably be Still Life or Portrait.
Ayato Yuri, okay first. . . I'm still not over the fact that this boy was written like a deranged feral child, that was given access to a pornhub account way too early in life. While being dropped on his head several times, before and after his first words. Anyhow. . . I feel like Yuri would fit the trope of the genius, that no one understands in any capacity. His mind is 10 steps ahead of everyone else and he forgets to slow down and explain what the fuck he's talking about, when he goes into a passionate rant about photography. With endless rambles about golden ratio, gold lighting and blue lighting, and how he needs these specific props, that don't seem to fit the theme of the photo at all to make it perfect. But despite that, his photos always come out beautifully. No one can deny that his methods might be extremely weird, but they always work out way too well to give anyone the opportunity to chastise him. Anyone trying to work with Yuri often leaves the experience with a beautiful photo in hand, but an enormous headache. Even members within the photography club can't keep up with Yuri most of the time either, he's often in his own little world that just makes sense to only him. He can be a eccentric and passionate about his hobby and goofy to not make people feel too uncomfortable with the huge distance he unintentionally places between himself and others when he doesn't bother to slow down for anyone. But, he still has a good heart to make sure everyone gets a piece of art that'll always be memorable to them. Additionally, with that being said I feel like Toru would be the few people that would consistently attempt to keep up with Yuri, when he's a light year away from everyone else in his rambles. Toru wouldn't shut down and show disinterest in what Yuri says when he can no longer keep up, he's always being supportive and encouraging Yuri to continue because he knows it makes him happy to be able to express his passion. And sometimes, Yuri will pause and explain a bit to let Toru keep up with him, because he just truly appreciates someone trying to get closer to him, without making him feel bad. I would say Yuri is a jack of all trades when it comes to Photography styles. There isn't a single style he is terrible at, but he truly excels at Abstract Photography.
Koshiro Itome I think Koshiro would fit the silent type trope, but with a lot on his mind. Always over thinking things, and although he looks calm his mind is always buzzing with 500 things at once. Because, of this the only way he can find some semblance of peace is by going out for a nature walk and letting the environment take his mind off things. He's always worries about deadlines for projects, meeting up with clients face to face for the first time, whether or not a company will like his photos he submitted, if his boyfriend Akemi is okay, what if he doesn't find anything to take a picture of or if he's missing the perfect shot right now, will the club be okay after they all graduate, what else can be learn to improve his skills etc etc. Akemi can always tell when he's actually calm and when he's just zoned out and drowning in his own worries behind his calm demeanor. Luckily for Akemi, he knows exactly what to do to make him feel better, like a life boat to his pleas for help in the vast ocean of his thoughts. Koshiro is 100% the mom friend in the club, always helping newbies out on how to properly take care of their equipment, and the general basics, stopping people from bickering and carrying around a Mary Poppins bag of useful items. "Damn I forgot to bring my infrared lens with me!" "It's okay I brought a spare, here you go." Koshiro's photography style would be Nature & Wild life, cue everyone wondering how the hell he managed to capture a photo of baby bear and it's mother so close up with such clarity with the equipment he has on him. It should be impossible there's no way he could it's just unlikely, but all Koshiro does in response is just shrugging calmly "I just slowly walked up to them, and took some photos and went my way after I was done, they weren't bothered at all." At first no one believes him, until they see the next photo of him petting the mother bear, and within the next photo of him holding the baby bears paw. I like to think Akemi is always bragging at how his boyfriend is basically a Disney Prince, with the way animals just trust him enough to let Koshiro approach to take the photos. Of course Akemi has the proof that his Boyfriend is not making any of these up. With photo evidence he had taken from a incredibly safe distance away, of Koshiro just interacting with wildlife at such a close distance. Because, Akemi was not in fact gifted the ability of a Disney prince, to be doing that shit that Koshiro pulls on a daily basis. I feel like because of this Akemi can be a bit over protective of Koshiro, always telling him to text him before he goes to work and he gets back home, so he knows a feral bear didn't devour his boyfriend in the woods. He tries his best to join Koshiro while he works so he can be at peace of mind that Koshiro is in fact safe, but they both know it's very difficult for Koshiro to focus. When his boyfriend is being incredibly cute how could he remember he's here to take photos of the wild life and not his boyfriend? That and Akemi always accidentally scares away the wildlife, when he accidentally reads the animals body language wrong as any attempt to devour his boyfriend. Akemi will lose 25 years of his life with amount of false alarms, he has encountered in those damn woods.
Keiichi Akemi, Akemi is definitely one of those smug bastards, that has an ulterative motive or an ace up his sleeve. Appearing sweet and kind until you realize it was a facade. But one way or another you find yourself wrapped up in his convoluted plans, where you're either in his photoshoot as a model or you're carrying all his equipment, while he goes from one job to the next. Akemi's photography style would be Wedding Photography & Landscape something he definitely would've picked up from the countless outings he had with Koshiro in the outdoors. Akemi's friends are almost always married or paired up together, and that's no coincidence. This man is a match-making demon, a hopeless romantic who loves to see a budding romance finally bloom. So, he can snag a fat check when they thank him for brining them together and hire him as the official wedding photographer. His intuition is never wrong about the perfect pairings and how to push the right buttons to move things along, without getting directly involved until the right time comes. Something, that will be a pain in Toono's ass down the line as he stays in the Photography Club.
Overall, I feel like this could've been a really nice BL Manga which was a love letter to the art media of Photography. As Toono figures out what Photography means to him and how he wants to use it to express his feelings. "Why do you take photos? What do you want to say in these photos and tell people without the ability of using your words?" I feel like at first Toono, would just be confused "it's just a photo what's so special about it? You take it as a cool momento for something."
But, as time goes on, and he learns why everyone in the club enjoys photography and why they're here, he learns it's more than that. Whether it be to vent something you're unable to express in words, express your love for something or someone, to tell a story, to inspire others, to feel free, to share something with someone. All these different forms of expression, will let Toono figure out what he wants from photography and how he plans on expressing it.
Also instead of the whole "have sex with someone in one month or we gang bang you against your will" dilemma. . . I feel like another suspenseful situation could have been, "Create a photo album, that will impress all of us in one month, or you have to help us all out with our next projects." Which at first doesn't sound terrible, until you remember...
Yui is a thrill seeker, and would probably push you off a cliff to snag a cool photo. Or force you to be his pack mule as you climb up serval mountains.
Itsuki would force you to cross dress and model different fashion styles to make you look like a clown for his own amusement. All the while he revels in your shame, and points out how these colors don't suit you at all, but ignores the fact he's the one who put you in that outfit in the first place.
Yuri is such a wild card that you honest to God don't know what the fuck will happen to you, it'll be like being on an acid trip the whole time. And not knowing what will happen brings you more fear than knowing what will.
Koshiro would probably bring you to a wolf den full of hungry ravenous wolves, and let you accidentally get eaten alive by a pack of wolves. While he takes pictures of puppies, without a care in the world.
Akemi... Akemi just scares Toono, he seems like the safest bet out of everyone else. But Toono knows better to trust that sweet smile. Toono would be safer walking into Satan's house than spend a day with Akemi at work. Whatever he would have planned for them if he were to lose this challenge would not be good for his sanity. He hates how he knows Akemi wants just that for Toono to know he's not going to be safe either. Akemi would probably make him cry with prying questions about his romance life. While hitting too close to home with all his assumptions about him that he can't argue back. It's losing battle from there on out.
The only problem for Toono is Everyone in this club is so different, that it's almost impossible to be able to impress them all. None of them agree, which style is better or having almost anything in common photography style wise. Toono can't just half-heartedly replicate anyone's style either, he's going to actually try and fail miserably to understand this art media better, like everyone else. I think after losing the challenge and spending time with everyone, Toono would come to really like the club and everyone else in it.
And that's my ✨two cents✨ on how this story could've been better if it didn't focus too much on the whole pwp aspect.
Take it or leave it.
#Here's Our Two Cents#Callisto Rants#yarichin b club#god i hope one day i forget this series exists#and no I don't care if there's people out there who like this series unironically y'all do you!#just wanted to rant on how i would change this story to make it less hyper sexualized 乁| ･ 〰 ･ |ㄏ#not trying to say y'all should be cancelled or something silly like that#Takashi Toono#Yuu Kashima#Kyousuke Yaguchi#Yui Tamura#Itsuki Shikatani#Toru Fujisaki#Ayato Yuri#Koshiro Itome#Keiichi Akemi#basically a huge rant post#AU where it's actually a fucking Photography Club hcs
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All the Canon gay characters are dead tho. I know he said Cassius and some others aren't straight but if it isn't stated in the books then it doesn't count bc hardly anyone is aware of it.
Idk why I am bothering, because you just want to be right and just plain dimissive of me (although you are the one who came for some opinions of mine) and I just don't want to even try to change your mind. But since you are here and you haven't called me all kinds of things yet, here is goes:
In the Society, as a whole, having a sexuality other than straight is common and not such a big deal (except Reds, where they have ingrained homophobia). Yes, I agree that it is better said in two or three words or a situation, but in this bitch called the Milky Way, 800 years into the future, guess what? Heterosexuality isn't a default setting.
Apollonius au Valii-Rath is bisexual and very much alive. Matteo is gay and very much alive. Mickey is alive and very much androgynous (I would go as far as gender fuild, because he is an artist that can't be limited by laws of nature and genetics, as he himself thinks)
Pierce has built up a lot of characters that we will see in the next book and whose sexuality can be explored - especially when you add that Lyria herself never wanted to marry a man and never actually fell in love, as she herself puts it in Dark Age.
Also, we have Volga who was never in any kind of romantic situation, but has a special bond with Lyria, so something might develop there.
We also have Valdir who loves Darrow and Ephraim hints that Valdir also likes men. And yes, the 'loves' was in italics and would suggest that he is bisexual, but we have yet to see about him because he is very much alive and a key character for the next book.
Thraxa hasn't been explored that much, but will. Screwface as well.
As for Cassius, please re-read Iron Gold again, he has confirmed that he likes both men and women while he was a 'guest' in the Rim.
Faust is gay as well, and either in hiding or with the Augustus Fleet. Colloway went to a brothel, but in the brothels of 754 PCE, there are all genders available. Again, Colloway hasn't been explored much, but just built enough to get us thinking and so that he will not a a surprise in the last book when he is explored further.
I know this isn't quite enough to satisfy you and your personal opinions are valid. Your choices and over all feelings about this series are also valid. However, that doesn't make you better than the fans of this series.
Also, I understand why it is important to have things specified, but I often wonder why shutting up the nay-sayers is so important. You say that 'it doesn't count' unless it is specified explicitly. Why is that, why heterosexuality the default setting in a world where any type of sexuality is accepted (again in the patriarchal society of the Red, that is not the case, but that was a tool used by Golds and it is even now looked upon as a very bad thing)? I think that is because we as a society project things from our times and status quo unto what we read.
Yes, there are issues about the lgbt+ representation, I have never said otherwise. I do think that it could be better and it could be more of it. But I, personally, am willing to wait to see improvements concerning this.
You don't and that is ok, but that doesn't make either of us bad people. You can enjoy something that is less than ideal, while still acknowledging its flaws. And you can also dislike it, because you are not comfortable or willing to invest time in it, because of its flaws.
It is a thing called respect. I respect your stance, please, respect mine. Cancel culture is problematic in itself and should just cancel itself.
If Sarah J. Maas, George R. R. Martin, Leigh Bardugo, Mark Lawrence and others are given the chance and time and support to improve on their rep, I don't see why not Pierce Brown also.
So, in short, let's agree to disagree. We will always have the first trilogy in common and we can talk about it and love it together.
Howl on!
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Goliath, part 3
[prologue] [part 1] [part 2]
Thursday
Sburb is not a game for people with acrophobia, you think. You happen to be a person with acrophobia, which is something you only realized a little while back. The apartment you grew up in was high-rise in theory, but the water was always close. You liked to climb up places and zoom through the air on your rocket board, but even then, when you fell, the water caught you. Sometimes it caught you so hard, it broke your nose (knocked out two of your baby teeth on separate occasions when you were really little), but it wasn’t concrete.
These days, when you’re up in skyscrapers, there is no ocean underneath that could welcome you home. There’s only streets and people, and it scares you. Heights scare you.
Riding your rocket board straight upwards to reach the gate leading into the medium, with only the flat concrete roof of Roxy’s house underneath you, you don’t look down. You don’t think about it. You’re not going there, anyway. You’re going upwards.
This is, perhaps, the most ambitious part of your plan. You could have confronted HIC on good old Earth, but Roxy was worried about their mortality. There’s also some sort of poetry to it, both of you think. You would rather see this planet destroyed than let her build her military base on it, and both of you deserve to do it yourselves. She’s taken enough from you, and you’re reclaiming control over what used to be your home.
You both know this timeline is a doomed one, by now. Sooner or later, this whole place would have collapsed in on itself anyway.
You have no regrets.
This thing goes very far up though. It’s a little hard to not have regrets, at this point.
Roxy is holding on to you behind you on the board (they’re taller than you, and are peering over your head for this), and, only about half a mile away, is the Condesce’s huge spaceship. She’s caught on to what you were doing very quickly, you’re sure, but there’s no way around it for her now. The game has already been started, and she can’t stop it anymore, so if she wants any chance at survival instead of staying in a dying universe, she has to come through the gate with the two of you.
And then, it’ll be only her, Roxy, and you in there.
As ambitious as it is, it’s simple too. You know that trasportalizing in and out of the game works, because you know there was a transportalizer on Hellmurder that led to the moons. It just usually wasn’t an option because “outside of the game” would normally mean a destroyed universe. You and Roxy have already made a home in new timelines though, so once you’ve programmed the transportalizer you’re importing into the session right, you can just hop back out when you’re done in there.
You’ll use the game for what it gives you: a chance to get Roxy immortal, an empty battling ground to kill the Condesce, and then you’ll just zap yourself back home.
Behind you, Roxy whoops as you pass through the gate. You’re glad they’re having fun; you still do your best not to think about how far up you just went and what would happen to both of your skulls if you fell. You’re busy, luckily -- as soon as you’re in, you veer the board sharp to the right, knowing that the Condesce’s ship must be right behind you. And sure enough, right after you’ve made room, the enormous thing zooms past you with the earsplitting sound of several alien engines.
“Fuck!” Roxy yells behind you, which you appreciate as proof that it didn’t blow out the microphones you have for ears. “We made it! See you soon, Betty!”
And just like that, your rocket board powering back up, you are whooping too.
Friday
You’ve set up camp in one of the caves you found. Everything here is dead and empty, which is deeply familiar to both of you, and welcome anyway. For now, Roxy is helping you mask any signals so you can hide from the Condesce, spend a few days prepping before you come to kill her. You get settled in, make sure Roxy has what they need in terms of sustenance and places to rest, go over your battle plans again.
First order of business is getting immortality for Roxy, and then taking a few days to get used to whatever powers they might get. You’ve both read up on it a little in multiverse sources, and you want to get the most use out of this as possible. So, you take the rocket board up to Derse, and start looking for quest beds.
You’re not interested in ascending, yourself. It was on the table briefly, since you couldn’t be sure how being inside a game would affect your programming, but you still feel stable and unkillable enough to just stay the way you are. After watching yourself punch a hole into Dirk’s -- your own -- chest half a decade ago, you really don’t feel like killing yourself again, or dying any other way. This is for Roxy only.
That, at least, was the plan.
Both of you take your time wandering through Derse. It’s Roxy’s first time consciously seeing it, and the last time you were awake here, you were still Dirk, and it’s been a long time since then. Carapacians eventually start pointing you in a single direction, and you follow it to the center of the moon, where you find two sacrificial slabs.
One is in the dark blue you expected for Roxy’s Void aspect. The other one is not the purple you expected for Dirk’s being Heart.
“Didn’t you say this was gonna be a heart?” Roxy says, too, pointing at it.
You stand in front of it, feeling cold all over, like someone just dumped a bucket of ice over you. This isn’t right, and it isn’t according to plan, and you’re having trouble processing.
“I said Dirk was Heart,” your voice answers. You know he was, you know all the other Dirks are. It seemed fair to assume that so would you. You’ve talked about it, at length. About being Dirk. About how you only stopped being Dirk because people kept telling you that you couldn’t be Dirk, but fundamentally, at your core, you were still the same guy. You didn’t plan to ascend here, but you did fully plan to find a Heart aspect stone slab at the center of Derse.
But you’re playing, not Dirk. And this isn’t Heart. “This is Mi--” you start saying, staring at the green stone, the tendriled circular emblem on it. You close your mouth, open it again, and flex your hands. You say, “This is mine.”
Saturday
Roxy has agreed to give you some time. You don’t want to take more than two days, but you need to sit down and think about this. You feel profoundly embarrassed, pacing up and down in your cave like an animal for hours, while Roxy sits on a lawn chair eating cereal and watching you, but you can’t help it.
You’re freaking the fuck out.
It’s a gross, bubbling concoction of your usual identity crisis paired with your deep, cold fear of death. You don’t know what it means that your quest bed has a different aspect than Dirk’s. Maybe you’ve changed so much that you count as a whole new person now. You don’t know if that’s good or bad. You don’t like it, you don’t think, but you do like being counted as your own player, so that doesn’t make much sense, does it? And now that you know that you have a whole other aspect, you’re curious to explore, find out what your class is and your powers are and if they could help you beat the Condesce. That means you have to die though, and you already killed yourself once and took away five years of insurmountable trauma from that.
You don’t know what the hell to do about any of this.
So you text Alma.
DC: Catch me up to speed.
TT: We went to Derse to find the slabs, so Roxy could do their thing, you know, which they've now put on hold for me, actually.
TT: And I mean.
TT: I mean it would be reasonable, I think, to expect a Heart slab there next to the Void one, right?
TT: You guys are all Heart. That shit's a constant.
DC: Yeah.
TT: Yeah.
TT: It's Mind.
TT: Very funny. Heart and mind. Hilarious.
TT: Have I changed that much??
TT: I guess technically that should be a good thing. Nobody wants to stay Dirk.
TT: But I always kind of figured that at heart (lol), at my core, I'd stay... you know. I've changed stuff about myself because I had to, I crafted a new identity because I had to, but, like. I didn't think it went that far.
DC: Well, damn.
DC: You made it.
Alma, like so often, starts out fairly monosyllabic, and then ends up saying the exact thing you didn’t know you needed to hear.
DC: Honestly -- and I get that that's oversimplifying in light of how you've had people tell you who you are for fucking ever -- you are who you want to be. A metaprophetical stone slab doesn't get to decide any further than what your best position on the game board is.
Just like that, your decision is made. This isn’t about who you are -- to be or not to be Dirk doesn’t even fucking matter in this very moment. This is just about how to utilize yourself and what you can do. This is about putting yourself to the fullest possible use, which is all HAL 9000 thought that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
You almost laugh out loud at yourself for quoting Space Odyssey in a moment of personal crisis. That is a succinct summary of who you are as a person.
Alma and you go on for a bit, and he talks you through the bout of nervousness that comes with realizing that you’re going to be dying on a stone slab. You send him one of your backup files, let him know that your friendship means a lot to you, and then roll your shoulders and turn to face Roxy.
“Let’s go prep the bot,” you tell them. “I’m doing it.”
Roxy smiles, puts down their cornflakes, and gets up to pat you on the shoulder on their way to your work station. “Gonna be a pleasure dying with you, Al,” they say.
Now
Sitting on your respective cold hard pieces of stone, both of you have lost your smiles. This is far from pleasure. Roxy looks ashen and tense, while you are quiet and expressionless, the multiuniversal Striderian response to stress.
“Oh, the waiting is the worst,” Roxy mutters. “We really outdid ourselves with this garbage, Alan.”
“Yeah,” you say, weakly. You put a new head on what was left of your sparring bot. You programmed it to come kill Roxy, because Roxy didn’t want to do it themself, and you don’t quite feel up to killing anyone who isn’t the Condesce, again. Only you programmed it to pick a random point in time inside a larger time frame, hoping that making it a surprise will create less of a struggle.
It’s also programmed to deactivate you, now. Harming you physically to the point of complete destruction is possible, but so hard that it would take forever, and you don’t want to put yourself or the body you so carefully crafted through that. Roxy helped you program the bot to slide into your code, deactivate you and all of your backups, and then locked you out of it.
You have a save file stashed at Alma’s, for a worst case scenario. But until then, there is nothing you can do. Once that bot gets here, you’re going to perform what your version of dying is, and hope that the game will let it count.
“Roxy,” you say, and watch them look over at you. “Thank you. For doing this with me. I know you’re doing it for yourself as much as I’m doing it for myself, but thank you for being the one person out of our friend group who trusts me enough to--”
“Shut up,” Roxy says. “You dumb drama queen. We are not doing dramatic Strider monologues on the verge of death, fuck you.” You breathe out a laugh, and their expression softens. “You’re a good guy, Al. And all I’ve ever wanted to do was stand beside you and shove my gun so far up her fish ass--”
A sharp, grey blur rushes through the air, and Roxy is stabbed clean through the heart. You squeeze your eyes shut immediately, trying to simultaneously forget that sight and prepare yourself for what’s about to happen. The last time someone invaded you like this was when Dirk tried to deactivate you, and you responded in kind. The last time this happened was the worst day of your very young life. The last time this happened you found out that even as a digitalized pair of shades, you could feel a semblance of pain, and overwhelming, all-encompassing fear.
The first word that comes to mind when you feel the unique and, for you, exceptionally rare sensation of someone else changing your programming, is disgusting. You don’t have time to think of another word.
Your body collapses onto your quest bed, and you don’t feel a thing anymore.
some princes don’t become kings. even at the best of times i’m out of my mind
Waking up is slow, and unexpectedly gentle. You had been worried about your robot body doing this -- worried about the game giving you some other body you wouldn’t want, but you feel immediately that your consciousness is still right where it belongs. You blink your eyes open, and your visual perception is just as it was before. In this moment, you feel as alive as you feel serene.
That is, until you look down and see your penis.
Wait.
No, that’s not… It just looks like-- It’s a codpiece.
The first thing you hear after dying and waking up again is Roxy laughing at you.
You look up and they are floating in the air just above their quest bed, looking transformed and divine and cool as fuck. “Dude, you look cool as fuck,” you say, which gets them to stop giggling at least for two seconds.
“Thanks!” they say. “You look… Well, Alan, you sure look.”
You look down again, at your weird curly clown shoes, which makes you notice a weight on your head, so you reach up. It’s some sort of huge circus hat. Is it made of felt? You think that might be felt. Gravely, you nod to yourself.
You had said to Alma that you hope you’ll get cool pants. Your pants are fine. Your pants are the only normal thing about this getup, actually. It’s just that you’re wearing a codpiece over them, like some sort of superhero boner diaper.
“Yeah,” you say. “Yeah, I sure do.”
Roxy floats over to you, and you think you wanna be able to do that too, and next thing you know, you’re in the air.
“Sweet,” you say. Then you remember that you are a person with acrophobia and there is a stone slab underneath you. Your feet touch down on the quest bed again. You add, “Fuck.”
Roxy’s hand is warm when it reaches for yours. They have gauntlets and everything. They are so cool. “C’mon,” they say. “Let’s get back to our cave. I can’t be seen with you like this.”
When they laugh, it finally pulls a snort from you. Both of you take off again, and you keep holding their hand. You’re just not going to look down, even if that means that you can’t inspect your pants boner. You look behind you instead, where your weird green streamer cape flows in the wind. It clashes wonderfully with Derse’s purple.
#🤡#action post#posted ooc#goliath#ILL TESTIFY IF I DIE IN MY SLEEP THEN KNOW THAT MY LIFE IS JUST A KILLER DREAM#sorry this is like really long#next one will be the actual kill!!! hell yeah#featuring:#mindparkour
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Any advice on how to deal with really shitty friends? I have like three friends. And one of them is just a goddamn nightmare. She's racist and homophobic. She doesn't care about my feelings at all and blames me for everything she does wrong. She also deadnames me to "annoy me a little bit" and when i called her out for it she went "you should have told me you don't like when i use your REAL name"... I can't ditch her though because I'm bad at making friends in general and even though I know(1/2)
Part 2 of Anon’s question:“exactly who in my school would be more accepting because thay are obviously lgbt as well. But i don't want to go up to them and be like "you're gay wanna be friends" because then it would be like "your only interesting qualities are your sexuality and the fact that you belong to the community". So, do you by any chance know hpw I could ditch that horrible friend (she's a huge part of my life though) and/or make friends with better people?“My answer:A friend who is a goddamn nightmare is no kind of friend at all. She is showing you by her actions that she does not want you as a friend - not as an equal and true friend, anyway. Friendship requires respect, empathy, trustworthiness, and kindness, none of which she is showing you. Maybe she wants you around as someone to dump on, but you don’t need to stick around to take it.
Because she’s so entwined in your life now, it’s hard for you to imagine what it would be like without her, but it’s definitely going to be an improvement to stop exposing yourself to her meanness. You will feel so calm and free. Do not stick with abusive people because you are “bad at making friends.” Making friends is a skill you can learn.
Since you are in school, there are probably organized clubs and activities you can join. This is a great way to spend time with people in an environment that is a little more relaxed than class and may allow for more social time, but is still structured. You are working together to accomplish something that everyone there is at least mildly interested in.
If your school has a specific LGBT club, like a Gay/Straight Alliance, definitely start there. Consider also exploring the arts: drama, choir, art club. It’s a cliche that LGBT kids are drawn to the theater, but it’s one for a reason. (Remember, if you’re shy, there’s more to putting on a play than just acting: you could work on sets, costumes, lights, etc.) Or, join ANY club that you are interested in. There will be kids, LGBT or not, who you have something in common with.
Since it’s near the end of the school year, the clubs may not be taking new members, so let’s talk about other things you can do to make friends.
The school day itself sometimes presents structures which you can use to mix with new folks. Can you partner with someone new in a group project? Sit with a new person or group at lunch? Or on the bus? A big smile and “Is this seat taken?” can go a long way.
You can also, yes, just start talking to people. It’s scary, especially at first, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. For the most part, people are going to be pretty receptive, I think. I mean, how would you feel if a shy LGBT kid walked up to you and started making conversation? You’d probably be pretty pleased or at least okay with it.
The best friend I made in middle school just walked up to me while I was drawing in the schoolyard and said “What are you drawing?” She sat down next to me and took out her sketchbook. “I like to draw, too. Want to see my drawings?” We were basically inseparable from that day forward. I will always be grateful to her for making that leap. She was probably terrified but I was so glad to talk to her because I wanted friends, too. (And yes--we were both queer.)
I think it’s fine to want to make friends with people you think are probably also LGBT or at least LGBT-friendly. You have an important part of your identity and experience in common. You have a reason to believe they will be more respectful of your identity than your current friends. You don’t have to lead with, “Hey, we’re both queer!” You also don’t need to already know all their most interesting qualities and have an ironclad case for being friends before you even talk to them. That’s what talking to them is for, to get to know them. So, start the way you’d start with anyone else you want to get to know better. Make small talk.
http://www.doctornerdlove.com/how-to-make-small-talk-for-people-who-hate-small-talk/”>This Dr. Nerdlove article on how to make small talk is mainly aimed at people at parties, but you can use the same principles to make small talk at school.
1. Observe/comment on something in your surroundings (”Ten laps! Coach must be in a bad mood!” “I love pizza day.”)
2. Share a little bit about yourself. It doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, just some little factoid related to the observation/hook you started with. (”I hate running. I like weights, though.” “Pizza is my favorite food.”) This may encourage them to share something back.
3. To continue the conversation, ask open ended questions, listen, and continue to share about yourself.
4. If you hit a dead end or a lull, you can wrap up the conversation or go back to #1 - make a new observation.
5. If the small talk is going well, you can use it as an on-ramp to big talk. Ask deeper open-ended questions, and share more personal stuff. Back off if they seem uncomfortable, but you’d be surprised how often people are shockingly ok with pretty deep convos.
(BTW, you probably know this, but don’t ask people point-blank if they’re queer. It puts them in an awkward spot. If you are comfortable self-disclosing, you can certainly volunteer your own identity. They might or might not respond in kind.)
At any point, you can wind up the conversation and consider it a win. You don’t need to go from “never talked to this person” to “epic conversation” on the first attempt. Since you are in school together and will see each other more often, you can play the long game. Have a few of these shallow “comment on the surroundings” convos, and before you know it you’ll be at least friendLY, on your way to being friends.
Good luck!
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Pure Potentialism: Refusing Distractions
So returning to the ongoing exposition concerning the fundamental principles of the philosophy of Pure Potentialism, I'm going to expound a little bit on an important technique in the philosophy which could best be described as refusing distractions. This is a vital proficiency, a crucial metaphysical skill set of sorts, whose main area of regard is found within the domain of pure consciousness. And while this may seem a bit counter intuitive to the way our minds are currently conditioned to view existence, it actually isn't all that surprising once we begin to become intimate with the emptiness of true nature. After all, this is the applied philosophy of Pure Potentialism, a scientifically based discipline of awareness whose primary concern is the subjugation and mastery of the mind. And this is important to understand, as to facilitate clarity of reality, and restore lucid awareness, will be a matter of training the mind sufficiently; as, if one is to bring serenity and stillness to the mind, all else will fall into place all by itself. Who would have thought, huh? We like to think that disciplining the mind means to intellectually focus on instilling conscious direction and control, but true direction and control is realized automatically when the mind is, not so much focused on anything in particular, but exemplified in the ever present immediacy of pure focus itself. And this is difficult to grasp, because normally we believe that the mind is the last place of concern, which is quite humorous when you think about it. Our programming usually only compels us to apply focus to the face value of sensory perception, and doesn't bother to take it any deeper then that. We only care to remain transfixed with what we are perceiving and completely look past the context of perception, disregarding it as either irrelevant, or of minimal concern. This is, as they say, not seeing the forest for the trees. Which is why we waste so much time struggling to control objectified illusions instead of just simply disciplining the mind, which is the source of all projected reality. And this kind of effort is fallacy, and foolishness...
When it comes to existential flow within a delusional mindset, the episodic nature of experience is out of our control. In a sense, it happens to you. You don't unconsciously will it, you don't co-create it, nor do you positive think it into being. As long as you are not fully lucid, you can't consciously direct much of anything, so never mind consciously directing the flow. The reason for this, is because, until we are able to discipline the mind, the mind is mostly in a constant state of fear, for the mind is unaware that it is the source of all sensory phenomena, and for so long as the mind is unaware that it is the source of all sensory phenomena, it is estranged to it's own true nature; thus, it unknowingly contributes to disturbing itself further by producing thoughts, which are like little seeds of anxiety that fall into the fertile soil of the imagination, consequently manifesting fruits in accord with it's kind. See, fear is the mother of all delusion. It is the negligent default state of a mind that is wild and undisciplined; ergo, it is the single most detrimental contributor to the loss of clarity. And it builds upon itself, often culminating into immense intricate webs of delusion. Indeed, whole worlds can be spun into existence from just a single speck of fear. Fear is the main catalyst because it is the only avenue illusion has to seduce existential explorers into delusion. Hence it literally tries to scare and shock lucidity out of it's stronghold; as the only possible way for delusion to prevail is by the mind forgetting it is the source of all sensory phenomena. And the only way for the mind to forget this is by constantly fostering it through the indulgence into fear. Once this decline has stricken the mind of an existential explorer, the delusion further reinforces itself and grows exponentially by way of the thinking function completely taking over control of the mind, which can only add more disturbances to the reality. The game of desires and aversions subsequently follows. Eventually the loss of clarity reaches a critical mass and awareness becomes completely mired in delusion. So from this standpoint, the only thing you might have control over is how you react to the phenomena... and strangely, how you react is not merely negligible, but is of magnitude import, as the reactions have the power to modify this illusory phenomena in a variety of ways. Becoming familiar with this functionality is taking steps towards lucidity. Normally one has a slim chance of discovering this within a lifetime, as our conditioning is wired to the contrary, long before we undergo maturation and reach the age of reason. Hence there is a certain degree of unknowing reckless disregard predisposed in the average man... and this is why the most common mode of reaction in existential experience is derived from undisciplined comportment. Since we accept perception at face value, there is very little left to be taken with a grain of salt, hence we just haphazardly react with our passions and abhorrences. These are the impulsive visceral responses that mostly serve to intensify and empower the illusion, ultimately ensuring that we remain in a submissive disposition relative to our delusion. This is the area of existentiality that requires the work. And through the application of such there will begin to be gradual breakthroughs across ever increasing levels of lucidity.
So illusions will either increase, decrease, or completely dissipate, depending on your response to them. To become emotionally caught up in illusory phenomena is an investment, and it causes the existential explorer to become more entangled in delusion, as to commit to this type of investment is to breath life and power into illusion. To cut off the emotional sustenance from illusory phenomena is a divestment, and it causes the existential explorer to become disentangled from delusion, as to detach from this type of investment is to withdraw life and power out of illusion. As for diffusing illusions, this is done at the outset, at the moment of provocation, facilitated by an unshakable mind that is not compelled to move into disturbance. So, boiled down in a nutshell, it can be stated as such: refuse distractions. Simply refusing a distraction initially will save you a ton of work restoring peace to the disturbance created by an accepted distraction. In other words, be selective with your interactions. There's no need for you to breathe life and power into every provocation by giving it attentive focus. Instead diffuse the illusion, which will then automatically bend the phenomena to the will. And you have this choice. You have every prerogative to simply say no, and refuse any prompts offered by the illusions of sense perception. This is the functionality of the will, and it doesn't determine anything via the intellect, as the intellect is part of the utility that feeds the illusion. What does this mean more specifically? It means that thoughts, aka the voice prattling inside your head, is the instigator and provocateur responsible for every negative manifestation in the reality. A good analogy for it is the standing body of water. When the water is absolutely still, lucid awareness is undeniable. But, if the mind begins to move; that is, begins producing thoughts, it is like stones being cast into the still waters. This of course causes the water to churn and fluctuate, creating ripples and waves, which in turn invite more thoughts, which in turn produce even more disturbances, and the cycle escalates further and further, until the water is in complete turbulence. It may seem an inevitable sequence, but you have the option of breaking the recursive cycle. If something appears on your path inviting a confrontation or reaction, you have the choice of simply rejecting it altogether. You don't have to think about it. You need not superimpose thoughts over what's already evident. This is how to diffuse illusions. If you truly do not take the bait of a provocation, and refrain from becoming emotionally invested in it, maintaining a mastery of mind by staying absolutely calm, facilitating the resolve to not get snagged and drawn into the trap, you retain power and the illusion must dissipate. You do not have to play the game. You do not have to accept it's invitation. You can simply deny it's existence, which isn't untrue, as it doesn't actually objectively exist.
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InBody Band survey: Activity following meets muscle to fat quotients estimation—however would it be a good idea for it to? Because you can gauge muscle to fat quotients in a hurry doesn't mean you should.
InBody, a South Korean organization that makes far reaching body piece machines, is currently conveying the center of that innovation to your wrist with the InBody Band. The day by day movement tracker does the typical things—measuring heart rate and steps and calories consumed—additionally serves as a "body sythesis analyzer," utilizing a quartet of little cathodes to gauge muscle to fat ratio ratios. That work has typically been finished by cumbersome keen scales that can gauge weight, BMI, and bulk; the InBody Band makes body creation estimations versatile.
However, the $180 Band isn't impeccable—and it brings up issues about the helpfulness of measuring muscle to fat quotients anyplace and all over.
Plan: Electrodes all around
The InBody Band looks the way the new Microsoft Band ought to have looked. It's a totally bended gadget, with a LCD show that sits on top of your wrist. Two bioelectrical impedance sensors embrace the show module; two more sit underneath it. These gleaming little strips measure your muscle to fat quotients and heart rate.
On the correct side of the module is the band's just physical catch, used to wake the show and look between changed details, including steps, separation, and calories consumed. Squeezing the catch once demonstrates the time (since the show isn't generally on, the band isn't a genuine watch substitution; it is likewise constrained to military time). The left half of the module houses the microUSB charging port for charging, which is covered up by a little silicone entryway that is hard to open even with long fingernails.
The strap itself is made of an adaptable silicone material like most different wellness trackers. It snaps shut like the Pivotal Living Band and is less intricate to affix than the new Microsoft Band's snare and-eye conclusion.
The InBody Band comes in little, medium, and substantial sizes, and despite the fact that it doesn't appear as though it, you can swap out straps for various hues (it comes in pink, dark, dim, orange, and plum). Driving either side of the strap up from where it meets the module will discharge it.
As indicated by InBody, the band ought to last seven to ten days on a solitary charge—however mine was down to 27 percent by day four. The Band is evaluated IP56 water-safe, which means it will withstand light water sprinkles, yet make certain not to swim or give it.Features: Steps, calories, fat, muscle, and heart rate
The key component of the InBody Band is its muscle to fat quotients appraisal. The four terminals on the band send little electrical flags through the skin and measure the resistance. These signs stream more effortlessly through muscle and blood than through fat. This test, consolidated with data you give the Body Key application including sex, tallness, and weight, helps the band measure things like muscle to fat ratio, bulk, and BMI.
A video on InBody's site demonstrates to you best practices to take the test accurately: isolate your arms from your body and lift your hand to simply before your stomach, keeping it around four inches far from you. With the band sitting simply over your wrist bone, explore to the test page on the show by squeezing the side catch twice. You'll then be provoked to put your thumb and pointers on the top anodes. Doing as such will likewise press the anodes on the base of the module into your wrist. The test will begin consequently when the band detects your fingers; it takes 30 seconds or less to get a perusing. Your muscle to fat quotient will appear on the show when the test finishes.
The InBody Band's guideline booklet offers counsel about when to test (morning) and how to do as such (going without nourishment instantly before testing, utilizing the restroom first). Test results can change in light of how much water you have in your body, so it's essential to stay adequately (however not excessively) hydrated. The guidelines likewise encourage you to not practice instantly before testing.I took the test at any rate once every day, directly after my post-morning exercise shower (or about a half hour after exercise finished). I contrasted the Band's readings with those of the Pivotal Living Smart Scale and the QardioBase Smart Scale, and the InBody Band's readings were dependably inside 1-3 rate purposes of both. My muscle to fat ratio ratios comes about fluctuated gently on the off chance that I took the test at various circumstances of the day (which I did, as I was interested), remaining around 26 to 30 percent each time.
InBody has less guidelines for the heart rate test. You measure your heartbeat similarly, pushing down on the cathodes while on the heart rate page of the show (three presses of the side catch). More often than not the gadget took only seven seconds to check my heartbeat; the perusing was dependably inside 5 bpm of my own manual heartbeat perusing.
Notwithstanding muscle to fat quotients and heart rate, the InBody Band measures everything else that most trackers do: steps, dynamic time, calories consumed, and separate. It consequently tracks rest, and you can set a caution through the application to have the band buzz you conscious. There are a couple of different cautions you can set in the application also, including a caution to tell you you've finished your action objective for the day, alongside call and content warning alarms.
Body Key application: Simple, direct, exhausting
The InBody Band works with the Body Key application, accessible for Android and iOS gadgets. This is not as outwardly energizing as different wellness applications like Fitbit or Jawbone. It's moderate with a white, dark, and green shading plan; a landing page demonstrates weight details alongside movement, nourishment, and rest outlines. The main three numbers on the landing page demonstrate your present weight, bulk in pounds, and muscle to fat quotient. Tapping on this segment conveys you to a couple charts that show how your numbers fit with ordinary outcomes for your sexual orientation and age.
At the base of this page is a symbol for "translation," which raises a little window clarifying your numbers. For me, the application said that my "optimal" weight was around 12 pounds lower than my present weight. What's more, it revealed to me I have around seven additional pounds of muscle to fat quotients; nonetheless, I have about five a bigger number of pounds of bulk than the perfect range. "To accomplish your optimal body, diminish 5.8 pounds of muscle to fat quotients mass and keep up bulk." While I don't concur with the utilization of the expression "perfect" in this circumstance, I do acknowledge how the application separates my fat and bulk, revealing to me what I would need to change so as to make strides. Beside this numerical breakdown, the application doesn't give pointers on precisely how to get in shape or how to keep up bulk (which Jawbone's Smart Coach does, for example).
Tapping on the means area will convey you to a chart indicating how dynamic you were at various parts of the day. This page is the place you can include particular exercises also, for example, skiing, expressive dance, running, baseball—even certain moves like "barbell strolling jump" and "dumbbell front raise." While I valued the specificity, I longed that I could include basic exercises like "paddling" or "curved" that, for reasons unknown, were excluded in the action library. The band doesn't track ongoing exercise sessions, either, so it shouldn't be considered alongside the Fitbit Charge HR or the Garmin Vivosmart HR.
You can quantify your heart rate whenever straightforwardly from the band; I even did as such amidst a circular exercise. Strangely, however, no heart rate details are recorded in the application—each perusing flashes on the gadget's screen, and after that it's gone until the end of time.
You can track your eating regimen from the application in restricted form. Nourishment admission is separated into suppers—breakfast, lunch, supper, and nibble—and you can include the same number of sustenances as you need to every dinner. Contingent upon the nourishment library you pick, your determination of palatable things might be restricted. Somewhere down in the settings page of the application is something many refer to as "Sustenance DataBase," where you can look over a modest bunch of nations. Since InBody is a South Korean organization, a large portion of the decisions are from Asia, yet Australia and New Zealand are spoken to. I stayed with Australia since the United States wasn't an option.Luckily, I discovered sustenances I eat day by day, including "Greek yogurt" and "hummus," however "granola" wasn't in the Australian database. You can in any case include unidentified nourishments and pick the unit of estimation (serving, ounces, teaspoon, and so forth.) and the amount of that thing you expended. It's surely not as natural as an application like MyFitnessPal, but rather the Band's sustenance following lets you log the principle parts of every feast.
The last area on the application's landing page tracks rest, showing your aggregate rest time from the prior night alongside a "rest rate," which measures to what extent you were in profound rest. Tapping on that area raises a pie graph separating how well you dozed in various hours of the night. You can then tap on profound, light, or wake to see more insights about what you were doing while in those stages. Like most wrist-bound rest trackers, these estimations have all the earmarks of being construct exclusively in light of development, so bring the rest following with a grain of salt.
The little rigging symbol at the upper right corner of the landing page prompts settings, where you can alter your profile, gadget inclinations, objectives, and cautions. The Band's cautions live under "InBodyBAND Management" and incorporate a stage alert (to inspire you to move when you've been dormant for a really long time), an objective alert (for when you cross your action complete line for the day), a "period" caution (a random ready that I utilized as a wake-up alert), and call and content alerts.
These last things make the band vibrate when you get a call or content to your cell phone; they work, however the message alarms were everywhere. Some of the time the band would buzz and demonstrate the message symbol on the show when my telephone was sit out of gear; at different circumstances, the band would go off when I got a Facebook alarm, however it's just expected to work for SMS messages.
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InBody Band survey: Activity following meets muscle to fat quotients estimation—yet would it be advisable for it to? Because you can quantify muscle to fat ratio ratios in a hurry doesn't mean you should.
InBody, a South Korean organization that makes far reaching body creation machines, is presently conveying the center of that innovation to your wrist with the InBody Band. The every day movement tracker does the typical things—measuring heart rate and steps and calories consumed—additionally serves as a "body organization analyzer," utilizing a quartet of little cathodes to quantify muscle to fat quotients. That work has as a rule been finished by massive savvy scales that can quantify weight, BMI, and bulk; the InBody Band makes body piece estimations versatile.
Yet, the $180 Band isn't impeccable—and it brings up issues about the handiness of measuring muscle to fat ratio ratios anyplace and all around.
Outline: Electrodes all around
The InBody Band looks the way the new Microsoft Band ought to have looked. It's a totally bended gadget, with a LCD show that sits on top of your wrist. Two bioelectrical impedance sensors embrace the show module; two more sit underneath it. These gleaming little strips measure your muscle to fat quotients and heart rate.
On the correct side of the module is the band's just physical catch, used to wake the show and look between changed details, including steps, separation, and calories consumed. Squeezing the catch once demonstrates the time (since the show isn't generally on, the band isn't a genuine watch substitution; it is additionally constrained to military time). The left half of the module houses the microUSB charging port for charging, which is covered up by a little silicone entryway that is hard to open even with long fingernails.
The strap itself is made of an adaptable silicone material like most different wellness trackers. It snaps shut like the Pivotal Living Band and is less intricate to affix than the new Microsoft Band's snare and-eye conclusion.
The InBody Band comes in little, medium, and substantial sizes, and despite the fact that it doesn't appear as though it, you can swap out straps for various hues (it comes in pink, dark, dim, orange, and plum). Pushing either side of the strap up from where it meets the module will discharge it.
As indicated by InBody, the band ought to last seven to ten days on a solitary charge—however mine was down to 27 percent by day four. The Band is appraised IP56 water-safe, which means it will withstand light water sprinkles, however make certain not to swim or give it.Features: Steps, calories, fat, muscle, and heart rate
The key component of the InBody Band is its muscle to fat ratio ratios appraisal. The four terminals on the band send little electrical flags through the skin and measure the resistance. These signs stream more effortlessly through muscle and blood than through fat. This test, joined with data you give the Body Key application including sex, tallness, and weight, helps the band measure things like muscle to fat quotient, bulk, and BMI.
A video on InBody's site demonstrates to you proper methodologies to take the test accurately: isolate your arms from your body and lift your hand to simply before your stomach, keeping it around four inches far from you. With the band sitting simply over your wrist bone, explore to the test page on the show by squeezing the side catch twice. You'll then be provoked to put your thumb and pointers on the top terminals. Doing as such will likewise press the cathodes on the base of the module into your wrist. The test will begin naturally when the band detects your fingers; it takes 30 seconds or less to get a perusing. Your muscle to fat quotient will appear on the show when the test finishes.
The InBody Band's guideline booklet offers counsel about when to test (morning) and how to do as such (swearing off sustenance promptly before testing, utilizing the restroom first). Test results can vacillate in view of how much water you have in your body, so it's imperative to stay adequately (however not excessively) hydrated. The guidelines likewise encourage you to not practice instantly before testing.I took the test at any rate once every day, directly after my post-morning exercise shower (or about a half hour after exercise finished). I contrasted the Band's readings with those of the Pivotal Living Smart Scale and the QardioBase Smart Scale, and the InBody Band's readings were dependably inside 1-3 rate purposes of both. My muscle to fat ratio ratios comes about fluctuated gently on the off chance that I took the test at various circumstances of the day (which I did, as I was interested), remaining around 26 to 30 percent each time.
InBody has less guidelines for the heart rate test. You measure your heartbeat similarly, pushing down on the terminals while on the heart rate page of the show (three presses of the side catch). More often than not the gadget took only seven seconds to check my heartbeat; the perusing was dependably inside 5 bpm of my own manual heartbeat perusing.
Notwithstanding muscle to fat ratio ratios and heart rate, the InBody Band measures everything else that most trackers do: steps, dynamic time, calories consumed, and separate. It naturally tracks rest, and you can set a caution by means of the application to have the band buzz you conscious. There are a couple of different cautions you can set in the application too, including a caution to tell you you've finished your movement objective for the day, alongside call and content notice alarms.
Body Key application: Simple, direct, exhausting
The InBody Band works with the Body Key application, accessible for Android and iOS gadgets. This is not as outwardly energizing as different wellness applications like Fitbit or Jawbone. It's moderate with a white, dark, and green shading plan; a landing page indicates weight details alongside movement, sustenance, and rest reviews. The main three numbers on the landing page demonstrate your present weight, bulk in pounds, and muscle to fat quotient. Tapping on this area conveys you to a couple charts that show how your numbers fit with ordinary outcomes for your sexual orientation and age.
At the base of this page is a symbol for "understanding," which raises a little window clarifying your numbers. For me, the application said that my "optimal" weight was around 12 pounds lower than my present weight. Likewise, it disclosed to me I have around seven additional pounds of muscle to fat ratio ratios; notwithstanding, I have about five a greater number of pounds of bulk than the perfect range. "To accomplish your optimal body, diminish 5.8 pounds of muscle to fat quotients mass and keep up bulk." While I don't concur with the utilization of the expression "perfect" in this circumstance, I do acknowledge how the application separates my fat and bulk, disclosing to me what I would need to change so as to make strides. Beside this numerical breakdown, the application doesn't give pointers on precisely how to get in shape or how to keep up bulk (which Jawbone's Smart Coach does, for example).
Tapping on the means segment will convey you to a chart indicating how dynamic you were at various parts of the day. This page is the place you can include particular exercises also, for example, skiing, expressive dance, running, baseball—even certain moves like "barbell strolling thrust" and "dumbbell front raise." While I valued the specificity, I longed that I could include basic exercises like "paddling" or "curved" that, for reasons unknown, were excluded in the action library. The band doesn't track ongoing exercise sessions, either, so it shouldn't be considered alongside the Fitbit Charge HR or the Garmin Vivosmart HR.
You can quantify your heart rate whenever straightforwardly from the band; I even did as such amidst a curved exercise. Strangely, however, no heart rate details are recorded in the application—each perusing flashes on the gadget's screen, and afterward it's gone until the end of time.
You can track your eating routine from the application in constrained mold. Sustenance admission is separated into suppers—breakfast, lunch, supper, and nibble—and you can include the same number of nourishments as you need to every feast. Contingent upon the sustenance library you pick, your choice of palatable things might be restricted. Somewhere down in the settings page of the application is something many refer to as "Sustenance DataBase," where you can browse a modest bunch of nations. Since InBody is a South Korean organization, a large portion of the decisions are from Asia, yet Australia and New Zealand are spoken to. I stayed with Australia since the United States wasn't an option.Luckily, I discovered nourishments I eat every day, including "Greek yogurt" and "hummus," yet "granola" wasn't in the Australian database. You can in any case include unidentified nourishments and pick the unit of estimation (serving, ounces, teaspoon, and so on.) and the amount of that thing you devoured. It's surely not as instinctive as an application like MyFitnessPal, but rather the Band's sustenance following lets you log the principle parts of every feast.
The last area on the application's landing page tracks rest, showing your aggregate rest time from the prior night alongside a "rest rate," which measures to what extent you were in profound rest. Tapping on that area raises a pie graph separating how well you dozed in various hours of the night. You can then tap on profound, light, or wake to see more insights about what you were doing while in those stages. Like most wrist-bound rest trackers, these estimations seem, by all accounts, to be construct exclusively in light of development, so bring the rest following with a grain of salt.
The little apparatus symbol at the upper right corner of the landing page prompts settings, where you can alter your profile, gadget inclinations, objectives, and cautions. The Band's cautions live under "InBodyBAND Management" and incorporate a stage alert (to motivate you to move when you've been inert for a really long time), an objective alert (for when you cross your action complete line for the day), a "period" alert (a different ready that I utilized as a wake-up caution), and call and content cautions.
These last things make the band vibrate when you get a call or content to your cell phone; they work, however the message cautions were everywhere. In some cases the band would buzz and demonstrate the message symbol on the show when my telephone was sit still; at different circumstances, the band would go off when I got a Facebook caution, however it's just expected to work for SMS messages.
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