I am going to try and put this in as few words as possible, because my roommate and I spent an hour talking about this today; but there is truly nothing more incredible to me than human creativity.

Like, you’re telling me someone made this? You’re telling me this art came from someone’s own hand? You’re telling me this story came from someone’s mind? You’re telling me that someone as flawed and mortal and lost as me made this?

There is a beauty in math and in science, I am not here to argue that. But mathematics existed long before us. Science will exist long after us. And while the knowledge we have is a wonder, it is not ours. We did not make one and one equal two, we only learned and accepted that it did.

But our art is not universal. Our music was born through us. Our writing will die with us. And there is so much more beauty in knowing that we have made something. People have language and culture and poetry not because it was fact, but by our own whim and design.

This is something AI can never fulfill. An algorithm cannot create, it can only compile. A computer generated image has no link to us, to human emotion. To human flaw and struggle and passion.

Art is beautiful, and creation is the most powerful thing a person can do. Your stories, your art, hell, your fanfic and original characters, they exist not because of universal laws of math and physics, but because of your mind and skill; and if that isn’t the most amazing thing in the world, then what is?

Feeling conflicted about the cyberpunk thingy impulse is going for because like yeah it’s a great theme and I like the aesthetics a lot but what I really like most about cyberpunk is the themes of corporate alienation and/or transhumanism etc etc which I know will not be addressed at all and in fact it’s kind of stupid of me to expect that at all from a minecraft series. Does anyone else get that or just me

I can’t stop imagining a scene in your mermaid AU where Xara waves Ellie over. Ellie walks closer and crouches near the water, unsure of what to expect. And Xara proceeds to reach into the murky water in front of her and pull out the silliest little brindled madtom catfish ever and hold it up to Ellie like “look at what I have!”

awww absolutely!! mer!xara likes to show off her prized possessions to ellie. it’s her odd way of showing affection and building trust. and she also just never gets to show people anything she finds bc she never interacts with any humans so it’s very exciting when she meets ellie!

mavis is one of those prized possessions

truth be told if mavis was a catfish in this au xara might just eat her the first time she encounters her. she’s a wild animal after all. she eats fish 🤷 though i do love the idea of her being like “i like this one i’ll let it live”

however i am debating on how i wanna approach the concept of xara being able to transform herself and walk on land. so if i did ever incorporate mavis somehow, she might just be the same lil tortoiseshell cat that she is in the normal xaragaard au. that way she would have a better chance of being spared (again, xara is still a wild animal. she would probably have the temptation to strike, but would hold back cause wait a minute this creature isn’t familiar to my diet and it’s kinda cute)

xara might find a boat nearby with the name “mavis” on it and think you know what this slaps actually

i might just not have mavis involved in this au though cause it breaks my heart thinking about xara seeing her sweet baby as potential prey. maybe she’ll have a cameo appearance instead :)

my heart will never recover from them losing each other 🫠

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Ok this is a story I wasn’t sure if I should tell, but I feel like maybe it’s relevant given the way some westerners tend to distance the victims of these bombings and massacres from humanity. Back when I was in DSMP fandom I followed an artist named Rice (@ was ricetronaut). They were a Lebanese artist. They were pretty talented, if I remember right they mostly made art of like. Tommyinnit, Tubbo, Ranboo. That circle.

They’d been shot by military forces, and when I followed them they were posting about their recovery. Specifically, I think the post I followed them for was a silly post about what their nurse thought the DSMP characters names were based on their Minecraft skins. Rice was also an orphan, their parents had been killed in an air strike, leaving them alone. With no parents to support them, they had to work constantly. Alongside this, they were still dealing with PTSD from being shot, and trauma from losing their parents. It was extremely stressful.

Eventually they couldn’t deal with the stress and pain, and took their own life.

Rice was 13. This was in 2021.

I’m only making this post because I really need people, especially those of us privileged enough to be living in a country that’s not subjected to these things, to recognize that these people are all human. The people you’re watching die were human. The people you’re watching survive are human. They’re the same as you are, they’re not naturally stronger or more resilient, they’re not any more prepared to deal with this shit than you, sitting at home, are. Their trauma doesn’t exist in a vacuum. This person, Rice, was a child. They were a 13 year old Minecraft fanartist. There are so many stories like this.

The people you see experiencing these genocides aren’t numbers—They also aren’t superheros. They’re just people. When you see them suffering you need to understand that person is no different than you, your cousins, your siblings, your friends, your classmates, the person you saw crossing the street yesterday. Remember that.

Here’s some poems Rice wrote.

wrestling is so weird. like. these aren’t real people. but they ARE real people. but they’re not. sometimes they use their real names, sometimes they act like themselves, but they’re still CHARACTERS, despite using the same name and acting like themselves and generally just being a person. but then you have people that act like they’re demons or gods or aliens and like. they’re considered just as normal and average and they’re just tossed into a ring with ppl that are Just Dudes, and sometimes the Just Dudes WIN!!!

sometimes it’s so hard to be like “hey this is a character, this isn’t a real person” when you see like. dante martin or jon moxley or toni storm or jamie hayter or somebody that’s just a Person. but then they go up against malakai black or danhausen or abadon or alien gimmick kris statlander and it’s like oh yeah, that’s right, this is all very much a story telling experience that’s being acted out for my entertainment and i LOVE that. i can’t get that kind of experience anywhere else. thats such a pro wrestling specific emotion to feel and i love it so much. kayfabe is so fun.

i’ve been a star wars fan my entire life and not once have i been inclined to ship obikin until i watched the obi wan kenobi series like wow they’re gay

spoilers for my fic!! kinda

after a lot of work jesse finally gets to show off his cabin 😌

I’m so confused about what happened to Sylvie when Loki was left at an empty TVA and the rest of the gang were sent back to the original timelines. Like Casey, B15, Mobius and OB were TVA employees kidnapped from their original timelines so they went back there. Loki and Sylvie were kidnapped from their timelines also, but they are different in that they never had their memories wiped, so maybe that’s why they didn’t go back to their original timelines, idk it doesn’t make much sense, but I can accept because it’s fiction and so like OB said it’s “not how but why” but then WHY wasn’t Sylvie left behind with Loki when everyone disappeared. She had a TemPad so did she just escape with it straight away?? Before or after Loki Time slipped?? Before doesn’t make sense because she would’ve offered him to escape with her before the place spaghettified, after doesn’t make sense either because in that case she would have seen him time slipping and therefore she wouldn’t have been surprised when he did it front of her at maccy ds.

When Loki explained to her that the others went back to their original timelines she was like “I know I was there” like what? How would being at the TVA when it all went to shit mean that she would know what happened to the others, Loki didn’t know until he literally met them all, like what exactly did Sylvie see happen to the others?? I’m so confused, I get that she doesn’t care much about the others, she only just met Casey and OB, she barely knows B15, she had a little bit of a bonding moment with Mobius last season but that was only one time. But Loki she actually cares about at least a bit, and we the audience are supposed to think that, and yes, her life of trauma has made her suppress caring for anyone (don’t get me wrong she openly cares for people on a large scale, she was upset when all those branches were destroyed, but it’s when it’s on a personal level is when she suppresses) and presenting as cold and distant BUT there’s a difference between being cold and distant and literally not seeming to give a fuck about what happed to Loki, she barely seemed relived when seeing him, you can argue she knew he was alive, but how did she know?? Like once Loki got the TemPad from OB he could find Sylvie, like he needed her for the temporal aura thing, but like he would of checked on her anyway even if he didn’t, why didn’t she check on him? But also if Slyvie and Loki are the great romance, why didn’t he try to retrieve Sylvie before Casey and B15, he knew that B15 and Casey were alive, because he saw them while time slipping, when he time slipped to where Sylvie was he was facing away from McDonald’s and probably wouldn’t have been able to process where he was, let alone know if Sylvie was ok. And if he did process where he was and therefore figure out that Sylvie had returned to McDonalds and was therefore ok, wouldn’t it have occurred to him that Sylvie was not like the others, she hadn’t returned to her original timeline (I’ve heard people say Slyvie doesn’t have a original timeline to go to, but she literally does, she was taken from Asgard as a child, if what happened to Mobius and co happened to her she would’ve been on Asgard or new Asgard, maybe broing it out with Thor, as branch timelines exist now, hers could too…) and if he knew she wasn’t on her original timeline and instead on her new timeline she choose for herself, he should’ve been able to work out that unlike the others she would remember him, so you think for that reason he’d want to see her asap but it’s like the two of them barely thought of each other.

Loki was focused on the TVA gang and she was focused on living her new life on the timeline, which is fine, but I just know that they’re gonna be end game which would be totally left field at this point. Even though I don’t ship Slyki their obviously was build up of their relationship in season 1 but then in season 2, Sylvie’s had a complete disregard for Loki and he has had an ever growing indifference to her, which is a complete 180 and a weird writing choice, but it’ll be another weird writing choice to 180 to reverse it all again and have them be end game at this point…

I've been listening to the Inkopolis Memorial Remix and I've been wondering why Octavio would make a remix dedicated to Inkopolis of all things story-wise.

Then I figured, What if Octavio and Callie both gained a better understanding of each others' worlds through one another?

Callie, despite having her brain remixed by the Octarian leader, found such a deep appreciation and understanding of Octarian culture and society that neither she or Marie could've ever fathomed a year earlier. And Octavio, despite his low view of Inklings, found a better appreciation for them through Callie (Probably reminds him of Craig when they were younger)

I like the idea that Callie willingly stayed underground with Octavio for a while to take a break from her career and personal issues in Inkopolis. She felt like she couldn’t really go to anyone when Cuttlefish, 3, and Marie were all busy and gone, so during a visit to Octo Valley, Octavio decided to take advantage of that fact. He convinced her to break him out through that temptation of escapism. And, impulsively, Callie accepted. She made more music collaborating with Turquoise October and gained a huge following while still being anonymous, something she couldn’t get in Inkopolis.

They both would obviously be really hesitant of trusting each other, being on two different sides of a finished-unfinished war, but Callie put it aside and didn’t think too hard about it. Eventually, they started to trust each other, maybe Octavio opened up about how it is trying to lead a deteriorating nation, or Callie starts reminiscing with him about playing with Marie as kids. Little things, y’know? At least until Octavio broke that trust with the introduction of the Hypnoshades.

Her relationship with Octavio might’ve been broken at that point, but he changed her whole view on him and Octarians as a whole. Octavio was similar, Callie brought a new groove to Octarian society, he saw her become a hit and bring joy to his people underground and maybe to him too. His negative views on inkling society I’d argue changed a lot because of Callie’s influence.

I figure the brainwashing planned from the beginning, but she still left a impact on him. Enough to get him to develop the Inkopolis Memorial Remix, which I think would be a very nice, bittersweet explanation.

I remember you saying that MAH would've been better as a short slasher, so are there any other books that you think would also have been improved if they were significantly shorter (like if they cut out a lot of filler chapters/scenes)? Or for that matter, are there books that you think would've been better if they were longer than the usual 16-18ish chapters that Choices usually does (to make the story feel better developed and less rushed)?

Bachelorette Party definitely would’ve been better as a mini book instead of a regular length one. And I’m really not sure why that wasn’t something they considered. There was no reason for it to go on as long as it did, especially because it was neither entertaining nor funny. It was just really stupid imo. Courtney was annoying as hell, and her smiling sprite was terrifying. And I couldn’t stand Aisha and that damn briefcase. IIRC, that was the main reason the story dragged on for so long. The best thing to come out of that book was Ash Tanaka, but I feel like people forget about him because he was unlucky enough to be a part of BP.

Witness and MTFL both had the issue of an unlikeable MC. But I feel like that issue wouldn’t have been so pronounced if both books were shorter as well. All Witness MC and Cassian did was screw and argue for like 25 chapters. And they literally had MTFL MC wait until the 100th damn chapter to decide who she wanted to be with. Not to mention that god-awful first person narration along the way.

I think this last one is controversial, but Immortal Desires was also far too long. It just dragged week after week because the first 9 or 10 chapters were the same thing over and over again. Hang out with Cas. Hang out with Gabe. Oh no, our Mom’s sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong so we have to stand trial in front of the council again! Rinse and repeat 🙄 If they hadn’t wasted so much time on all of that, the ending wouldn’t have been so rushed and awkward now that they’ve decided to make a book 2

So, I was thinking about Homestuck recently (always a bad idea, I know) and it occurred to me

I can tell you exactly why Homestuck^2 died.

And it’s not because of quality issues, or fan backlash, or internal politics (although, they probably played a part).

It’s because it’s combining the biggest problem of both fanfic and MSPA; absurdly long release breaks.

And that’s fine for a free webcomic with generally high production value, or a fan work made out of passion by a single person. But it’s not fine for something with a public Patreon, being made by hired employees, which occasionally is no more elaborate than a text document.

I hate being hyperfixated on fnaf lore and security breach like this shit actually sucks :(

sometimes I kinda wonder if yokoyama has like. some sort of weird personal grudge over majima or something for whatever reason. because it’s honestly really odd and sort of offputting to see a game’s director dislike a widely beloved long-time character who is almost-universally regarded as an icon in the franchise, so vocally to the extent of being rude about it right next to the character’s voice actor (who loves playing him and appreciates him as a character way more)

officially halfway through exquisite corpse. really enjoying it so far and it’s really striking me how despite it being kind of the hallmark of extreme horror, it bears little resemblance to modern extreme horror. there are graphic scenes, obviously, but there’s also like.. a lot of plot and scene setting and characterisation that’s very compelling. a lot of the current stuff is pretty plotless, and whilst not necessarily a bad thing it can definitely feel aimless.