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moonindoon · 2 months

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Cracking the Code: Manifesting Success with AI-Driven Marketing Strategies

As the domain of marketing technology continues to grow at a rapid pace and is driven by growth in artificial intelligence (AI) and personalization, marketers encounter exciting opportunities as well as daunting challenges. Adapting to these changes requires practical approaches that allow organizations to stay current, manage change effectively, and operate at scale.

In this article, we explore five practical tactics to help modern marketing teams adapt and thrive in this dynamic environment:

Embrace More 'Human' Customer Engagement Technology:

While chatbots have been around for decades, advancements in AI have significantly enhanced their capabilities. Today, AI-powered chatbots can engage with customers in a remarkably human-like manner, providing round-the-clock support and valuable insights.

Leveraging chatbots not only improves customer experience but also generates valuable data for outbound marketing initiatives. By analyzing customer queries and interactions, marketers can easily get valuable data that can enhance their marketing strategies.

Harness Customer Data Responsibly:

Customers willingly share personal information with companies, providing valuable insights into their preferences, behaviours, and sentiments. Marketers must mine this data responsibly and use it to deliver personalized experiences and targeted offers.

By leveraging predictive analytics and machine learning, marketers can analyze data faster and make informed decisions to enhance omnichannel marketing efforts.

Utilize Content Repurposing Tools:

Authentic content remains paramount in marketing, but creating content for various channels and platforms can be challenging. Content repurposing tools like Optimizely and Interaction Studio help marketers adapt long-form content into social media posts, videos, and other formats.

Expanding your content footprint not only enhances brand visibility but also allows for faster learning and adaptation to changing market dynamics.

Invest in Upskilling Your Team:

While AI-based tools offer significant automation potential, managing and mastering these technologies require skilled professionals. Marketers must invest in continuous learning and cross-functional collaboration to stay ahead.

Effective leadership and teamwork are essential for navigating the complexities of modern marketing. Encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration across teams fosters a culture of innovation and growth.

Embrace Transformational Opportunities:

As AI continues to reshape the marketing landscape, traditional metrics of success are being redefined. Marketers must embrace the transformative potential of AI and other emerging technologies to serve their customers better.

When evaluating new ideas and technologies, marketers should prioritize customer value and align them with their brand and company values. By focusing on solutions that genuinely benefit customers, marketers can drive meaningful impact and success.

In conclusion, navigating the ever-evolving domain of AI-driven marketing requires a blend of innovative strategies and steadfast principles. By embracing more human-centric engagement technologies, responsibly harnessing customer data, utilizing content repurposing tools, investing in team upskilling, and embracing transformational opportunities, modern marketing teams can position themselves for success. The key lies in adapting to change while remaining true to customer-centric values, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing solutions that genuinely benefit the audience. With these practical tactics in hand, marketers can not only thrive but also lead the way in shaping the future of marketing.

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randomnameless · 6 months

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What are the odds of, 20 years from now, IS releasing a 3 Houses remake but with:

most of the “uwu” moments removed

Edelgard being constantly and explicitly portrayed as a villain with characters calling her out on her actions

Massively reduced recruitment options

deeper worldbuilding for Almyra and Adrestia

Claude explicitly adressing that Almyra's just as much at fault for it's bad relations with Fodlan as the other way around and swearing to work to get them to stop pillaging and taking child slaves

TWISTD not being so story-breakingly OP

CF not existing at all, or at least being rewritten from the ground up and being fully finished instead of a glorified reskin of another route

Dimitri's friends, especially Dedue, supporting him and being important for his character development instead of just Byleth

Byleth being fully-voiced and having a very clearly-defined personality and beliefs, being an Avatar only in the fact that the player can choose a different name for them but otherwise being a normal FE protagonist

Rhea's S-support being erased from existence, along with her getting new supports with her family and friends and more plot relevance post-timeskip

Sothis' S-support also being erased, especially if CF still exists, and having her be rewritten so that she only gets her memory back right before fusing with Byleth, apologizing to her children for leaving them alone again but refusing to let Byleth die, staying unambiguously dead for the rest of the game

I highly doubt any of this will ever happen, mind, but if it did, 3H might just jump multiple spots into being one of the best FE games lol

Oh, anon :(

I'm afraid this will never happen lol

FE16's main appeal is the uwu factor, you have to feel bad for Supreme Leader who is sekritly the red emperor, even if she does red emperor things.

That's the basis on which FE16 was built, a lot of parasocial pandering towards Supreme Leader, which will make the player feel "sad uwus" when they will have to fight her, always wondering if they couldn't have picked her route instead.

(I say "sad uwus" and not "feel bad", because Fates made the player feel bad, by having characters react to Corn's choice, and Corn, in turn, reaction to all the salt and shit thrown at their face, as the result of their actions).

And while we could think FE16 is also a story meant to challenge the players, and have them realise they're interacting with biased narrators so it's up to them to find the truth and make their own opinion about the world - imo this reading, while a thousand times more interesting than "uwu be sad uwu" is, imo, not the one the devs prioritized, hence the constant supply of Hresvelg Grey.

As I ultimately came to realise (when nopes was released lol), no Fodlan game can circle around and ignore the uwu factor. Uwuing about Earl Grey and always being a carpet to some lord characters is part of Fodlan's DNA - the faves will always take precedence over the world/lore's coherence.

Clout wonders about Fodlan's isolationism and if it has any relationship with Seiros's tenets? No one, not even Hilda, will tell him that Fodlan might not like its neighbours because said neighbours are always trying to invade them (as she could speak for Almyra). Leonie and Claude wonder if they will get some sort of retribution for saying out loudly they don't believe everything good in the world comes from Sothis... when the Alliance is later revealed to be a place where no one really gives a fuck about religion, and when no line, on-screen, has been thrown around that could justify their doubt and worries (not even a random NPC dissing people for being students in the officer's academy even if they are not particularly religious).

Supreme Leader is another can of tea lol, but you get the meaning.

This is also why, I believe, we will never get WoH meaningful content (and not Epi wanting to use the power of friendship to help his genociding fwends!) because we can't uwu about it -

Much like every story centered on the Lions (even if AM got the Parley scene...), a plot hax has to happen to make you forget everything about the red emperor emperoring because now she's a puppet and nothing has ever been her fault and what is even agency and accountability ?

So we got the general "good old academy days" that Engage tried to push, and the recent Heroes alts -to avoid talking about post TS Fodlan, because IS doesn't want to talk about post TS Fodlan.

I mean, if you're not in FE16 with the various "Rhea maybe BaD bcs Nader raids Fodlan every monday to show everyone how large his penis is" and unable to meaningfuly interact with that world, all the "Crust System + IdEaLs" nonsense just sound like Ashnard's battle convo, and while Almedha still seems to be fond of him, she's the only one on Tellius who still has positive feelings about Ashnard as a person.

Tl:Dr : Fodlan's DNA is "Supreme Leader uwu" + "Rhea BaD" + "don't ever question the characters and nod when they say something ridiculous".

If you remove even one of those core principles, FE16 crumbles, so at that point, it wouldn't be a remake that would be released, anon, but an entire AU to the game.

#anon #replies #fodlan nonsense #fodlan AU #this will never happen lol #just like we cannot have a WoH centric piece because #if it spells out how misguided Supreme Leader is #you cannot uwu about her anymore #Still some people try but it's always in roundabout ways #like Engage JP Dimitri wanting to have a world where lizards and humans can live together as a family with Zelestia in their convo #Pat nuked part of it but it's still here - why would dimitri say this when he never raises this topic in his game?#ditto for the FEH's FB with Hegegard and Brave Supreme Leader #if you're not in Fodlan and try to interact with the FOdlan plot #the plot falls apart in 50 seconds

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kajmasterclass · 1 month

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youtube

#human-centric #How to Be a More Human Leader & Drive Organizational Success | Dr. Jennifer Nash | KAJ Masterclass In this insightful interview #leadership expert Dr. Jennifer Nash shares proven strategies for cultivating a approach to leadership. Discover how priorit #communication #and connection can unlock new levels of employee engagement and organizational performance #even in today's rapidly evolving work environments. Gain practical tips to help you lead with greater authenticity and effectiveness.#Youtube

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thesnadger · 2 years

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The Goncharov meme is such a fun little spotlight on how people view media. Like, fake academic analysis about a movie that doesn't exist. Cool. But that's only the first level.

Next you have posts recreating a modern tumblr audience "discovering" an older piece of media and engaging with it through the lens of fan culture. Particularly tumblr-specific fan culture. Particularly in a way that feels like it got its blueprint from Dracula Daily. (Shitposts and memes, intense love for the most prominent female character, reads of complex romantic dynamics between characters, etc.)

Then you get fake discourse about the fake fan response to a fake movie that are quietly complaining about real ways real people respond to real media. I.e., America-centric readings, shallow, shipping-based readings, fans lionizing a protagonist not meant to be admired, etc.

(My personal favorite are posts that recreate the experience of being told a piece of media is so gay, you guys, only to watch it and find it isn't even remotely, that fans who wanted queer subtext wrung blood from a stone and thoroughly misled you.)

I also like the extra-meta ones about "this obscure movie being recently re-discovered," fake film history about copyright battles or the original cut being suppressed, etc. And of course, Johnny fucking Truant is here to give his editorial take on it, as he should be.

Pale Fire, House of Leaves, Goncharov. Humanity is such that every now and then we need to get really invested in fake arguments about a piece of media that doesn't exist.

#goncharov #unreality

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headspace-hotel · 3 months

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i'm...thinking about writing a book?

I mean. I feel really silly at the thought because i'm not like a scientist or anything, i'm barely at the beginning of my knowledge journey, but...being a writer was what I always wanted to do. It's what I've been doing ever since I could remember. And I'm constantly, constantly just so full of things that I want to tell the whole world. I will have a realization or idea and think, oh my god. Everyone needs to know this. But I can't tell everyone. I'm not good at talking.

I'm good at writing. But I will sit down to write a post on my silly little blog and get so overwhelmed by the SCALE of everything I want to say.

I think I've already started to write a book. I think the space for these ideas to fill is already the size of a book and it will never have any smaller of a size, and no one else will come along to write the book, and no one else CAN write the book, and IT HAS TO BE WRITTEN.

I want to write about the ways of the plants, of course. I want to teach how to transplant and how to gather seeds and the properties of keystone species...but more importantly, I want to write about how to learn the ways of the plants. I want to promote the habit of insatiable curiosity and intense observation. I want to show everyone that everything everywhere is infinitely interesting and mysterious, and if you pay attention to the plants, they will teach you.

I want to write about Symbiosis. I want to write about how we are connected to every other thing, how we have our own ecological niche as Caretakers, and our own special adaptations of curiosity and love. I want to write about how the ecosystem needs us to participate in it, not to cut ourselves off from it, and how our powerful influence on ecosystems can be for good or for bad. We are not a disease. We are a Keystone Species.

I want to discourage this Euro-centric idea that sees humans as separate, and recommend more reading from indigenous points of view that understands ecosystems better and sees humans as participants in nature, engaging in a reciprocal symbiotic relationship. I want to speak against all this talk about removing humans from half of the Earth or reducing the human population, and show other people that despair and fear make you paralyzed and powerless, but hope is powerful.

The most important and powerful thing you can do for your ecosystem is to love it. It is necessary to have hope for the future—to learn to imagine a future of restoration and renewal, and to build community with other people working toward that future.

If we don't imagine a future for our ecosystems, imagine them boldly and audaciously in ways that feel crazy and impossible, those futures will not happen. But just the act of saying, "This WILL happen. We WILL be okay." gives you the strength and energy to fight and it gives you the creativity to come up with solutions you never could have thought of before.

And I feel I have to explain, how did I end up listening to plants? And how did the teachings become so important that I had to write about them? There's this black, swallowing abyss underpinning all of who I am, some intimation of a reality so terrible the human spirit breaks beneath it. I had a mental health crisis back in 2021 where I was pulled deep into that abyss, and when I started rescuing little plants and caring for them, I was basically re-learning how to be human.

I feel like I was seeking answers to "How am I supposed to live in this world?" in the natural world because the human world of poetry and books and articles and think-pieces had utterly failed me in that regard. I had taken multiple poetry classes where I had read all the best contemporary poems, and all the poets just wrote flat, plodding, blunt descriptions of their trauma and despair. Nothing is wrong with these topics, but the worst part was how these authors didn't even take themselves seriously; they had to be detached and ironic about their own pain, like a snarky dystopian novel hero who jokes casually about the horrific reality they live in so the reader knows that this reality is normal and unremarkable to them—and even more importantly, that the hero is ironic and cool instead of responding in a vulnerable, human way.

And speaking of dystopian novels...there were a lot of those! It was like all the visions of the future I had read were dystopian. Even I had been writing a dystopian novel. But I realized that I wasn't wise enough to tell that story yet. I didn't know why at first. But then, as I was reading everything people were writing about climate change, I began to realize.

I saw a lot of patterns between the way people wrote about climate change and the tendencies of self-harm and self-defeat that gnawed inside me. Suicide was something that I had never struggled against, but I understood that suicide was only the most striking manifestation of a self-annihilating way. Sometimes you feel like by hurting yourself, you are being transgressive, exercising autonomy against an absolute, crushing reality. It doesn't have to be physical hurt; it can just be deciding no one will like you and denying yourself love, or thinking "Well, there's no use hoping for anything good to happen."

This is how people talk about climate change. They fantasize about extreme, horrific scenarios and talk as if the Earth is already dead and destroyed, and they talk about humans hatefully and as if they were a disease, and then congratulate themselves for seeing how bad it REALLY is instead of being in denial. It is easy for people to get attached to this and even get mad when someone suggests there might be hope, simply because self-harm can be very psychologically reinforcing.

It is common to call these responses "climate grief." But as I came into this very simple and quiet yet profound encounter with Nature, she had an answer to this philosophy that was perfectly gentle and placid and yet caustic enough to strip paint:

"HOW CAN YOU WISH FOR THE STRENGTH TO GRIEVE THE EARTH, WHEN YOU WERE NEVER STRONG ENOUGH TO LOVE IT?"

I realized, with a breaking heart, that I had always hated and resented my back yard and my home town, because it was an ugly place that seemed to me "Already destroyed," and my soul ached for woods and wilderness.

It had taken me 20 years to fully admit my love of nature, because I felt like there was no point in acting upon it—everything would get destroyed anyway.

I had not been brave enough to love the woods across the road, the creeks and the hills, because they were so fragile in a world that didn't respect them, they could be destroyed by some housing development at any time. So I just accepted that it was already a lost cause.

But it was time to be brave enough—not to accept despair, but to choose hope.

To grow up, first we had to become strong and get rid of silly beliefs like hope and fairness and love. But now, we have to become even stronger and start believing in those things again.

#the ways of the plants #learning to imagine the future

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vexwerewolf · 26 days

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I’m suddenly getting swathes of Lancer hate across my feed… Has something happened in the fandom? “Union is ______ how could they paint them as even remotely good. They allow _____, and I hate the devs they are ______. The whole thing is just 40k with communist veneer”.

Like am I taking crazy pills…? I thought that all of the problems were literally like right there on the tin “we are a utopia in progress! We will obtain it by any means possible even if it means being everything we say we are not/fighting against. As the player you decide what is right. How much will you ignore for someone else’s idea of utopia?” Like doesn’t it mean all the tools to actually change are there and that is the HOPE aspect of all of this?

(Sorry if this in incoherent grammar is a weak point and I pulled something in my back simply standing up. Now I am sad and crook backed in spasmodic pain)

This isn't an argument I feel super enthusiastic about stepping into, because it gets the most annoying sort of people in your mentions eager to maliciously misrepresent what you say.

However, yeah, there are some pretty terrible readings of Union floating around. I'd invoke "media literacy" because think that a lot of this comes from people not really holistically engaging with the fictional future history of Lancer, but also from a sort of dogmatic purism that requires future societies to be flawless, else they're irredeemable.

It is important to note that ThirdComm is the direct descendant of two highly imperfect societies. FirstComm was formed as a response to the Three Great Traumas of discovering the Massif Vaults (and thus that they were the inheritors of a fallen world), the wars over the Massif Vaults, and the discovery of the lost colonies, all of which collectively showed humanity how close it had come to total extinction.

FirstComm decided that it had a responsibility to ensure that humanity never risked extinction again. It manifested this by trying to colonize every habitable planet it could find, pumping out ship after ship to seed the cosmos with as much human life as it possibly could. This led to problems when it encountered civilizations like the Karrakin Federation and the Aun, who had been carrying humanity's torch just fine by themselves, thank you very much.

SecComm was an Anthrochauvinist fascist state. The book defines it thusly:

We can see a lot of Anthrochauvinist historical romanticism in the mech naming schemes of Harrison Armory, SSC and IPS-N - the fact that Harrison Armory names its mechs after great military leaders of pre-Fall Earth history, IPS-N does the same with naval figures, and SSC uses the names of Earth animals. Even the GMS Everest is named for a mountain on Earth. It's very Cradle-centric.

Anthrochauvinism was, to be clear, largely just an excuse for colonialism and hegemony. Atrocities could easily be justified under by stating that whoever they're being committed against were a threat to the Continuance of Humanity - a term that SecComm got to define.

It's also at this point that we have to zoom in from broad sociopolitical points to address one very specific piece of history: the New Prosperity Agreement. This was signed to prevent the outbreak of a Second Union-Karrakin War, and mandated that the Karrakin Houses would maintain privileged levels of autonomy within Union, and that they would be granted colonial rights to the entire Dawnline Shore. This agreement, struck in 3007u, basically defines much of the current political situation today.

ThirdComm was a final and inevitable reaction to the atrocities, abuses and excesses of SecComm. The unspeakable horrors of Hercynia were the spark, but I need to stress how little Hercynia actually mattered in the larger Revolution - at the start of NRfaW, it's explicitly stated that almost nobody in the galaxy even knows where it is, let alone what happened there. The Revolution was a generalized response to SecComm's tyranny, with no single rallying cry.

The Revolution might also have failed entirely, but for a critical error by Harrison Armory: pissing off the Karrakin Trade Baronies. After getting kicked off Cradle, the Anthrochauvinist Party organised a fleet at Ras Shamra to try and retake Cradle. Simultaneously, however, they were attempting to secure protectorate agreements to steal worlds in the Dawnline Shore out from under the KTB. Putting these two together and making five, the KTB assumed that the fleet was pointed at Karrakis, and started the First Interest War.

The First Interest War initially favoured the KTB. They smashed the fleet above Ras Shamra and simultaneously conquered the moon of Creighton in the Dawnline Shore. However, they underestimated just how ruthless Harrison I was - he "retook" Creighton by relativistic bombardment, and then conquered four of the 12 worlds of the Dawnline Shore with mechanised chassis, a technology the KTB had not adopted and had no counter for.

To prevent further loss of life, Union was eventually forced to broker a peace agreement that saw Harrison I handing himself over to Union justice in return for Harrison Armory's continued sovereignty, and the KTB joining Union as a full member state.

So, with that historical context out of the way, let me get to the second part of this absurd essay I'm writing.

Third Committee Union isn't a civilization that arose from whole cloth. It's shaped by five thousand years of Union history, six thousand years of post-Fall history, and six thousand years of pre-Fall history before that. It is, ultimately, an extremely well-thought-out and well-worldbuilt fictional polity, in that all of its imperfections come from traceable root causes in its history.

Why does ThirdComm permit the abuses of the KTB? Because to stop them, it would likely have to go to war, and such a war would butcher billions. Worse, to do so, it would probably have to ally with Harrison Armory and make horrific concessions.

Why does ThirdComm permit the expansionism and cryptochauvinism of the Armory? Because to stop them, it would likely have to go to war, and such a war would butcher billions. Worse, to do so, it would probably have to ally with the KTB and make horrific concessions.

Nobody in CentComm likes that Harrison Armory are empire-building expansionists. Nobody in CentComm likes that the KTB has a hereditary nobility and enforces blockades against planets that rebel against it. The problem is that ThirdComm is, in historical terms, still relatively new. They've been around five hundred years, and compared to the 1600 years that SecComm was around and the 2800 years FirstComm existed for, that's not very much.

ThirdComm is attempting to decouple itself from the Cradle-first politics of its predecessor, and to amend the many, many atrocities committed in the name of Humanity. It is not easy to do any of these things. SecComm was defined almost entirely by the fact that if it didn't like what you were doing, it would send in the military as a first response. Every time ThirdComm chooses to do the same, its legitimacy erodes, because the mission of ThirdComm is to prove that diverse, vibrant and compassionate human civilization can exist without devolving into war and bloodshed. ThirdComm always tries diplomacy as a first response because if it doesn't, millions of people could die.

#lancer #lancer rpg #lancerrpg #lancer-rpg #union #lancer lore #lore #fictional history

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darantha · 1 year

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How to Spot AI images (Hopefully)

So, I did see GailyNovelry's excellent post on this (Link here), but saw that there also were some confusion and they were using a environment image as their example, so I thought I'd do a breakdown that was more character centric.

The key thing with AI images is that the program does not know what it is making. And, arguably, they thrive on that we are currently conditioned to not really look at things for too long before we hit that engagement button and/or just scroll onwards to whatever next the algorithm feeds us.

It's hard to fight that urge, I know, but if you just pause and look, you'll soon start spotting things that just do not make sense, and I don't just mean that the pretty booby elven fighter is sporting seven fingers on one hand. Those are the obvious things. I'll try to cover the general sort of artefacts that tend to tip me off to the fact that a image is generated rather than actually hand-made by someone making informed design decisions as opposed to trust what amounts to RNG. I think this is important as there's those who do not tag their images as AI generated, and try to scam people with commissions.

And, as the saying goes... The devil is in the details.

To start with I picked this image from deviantuser CeiEllem. At first glance, it looks... very impressive. Sharp looking elf lady with killer hair. 10/10 wish I could rock that haircolour.

But, it is AI generated. Aside from the general tell that is this hyper rendered, near photorealistic style that AI images often have, there's a lot of details that tips it off to just not having been made by a human who actually made the decisions.

Since AI is just working off patterns and not actual decisions, things like hair is a immediate giveaway that you're looking at a AI image.

(Deviantart users: daralyth, DavidZarn and lunayokai)

In all these three images you can see just how hair whisps off into weird nonsense shapes or even meld into the background or clothing. Because, again, the AI doesn't know what its doing, just working with shapes. Similarly, background elements that just stop and start randomly is a dead giveaway, like the tail in the first image.

As I've said, details is the key to spotting these images, and another giveaway is the sheer density of details that is just noise.

This is from users Rigtorok7, and the details are so noisy, absolutely miniscule in scale, and hypersharp, yet have no actual design to them. Artists imply details all the time. We don't render out every single nook and crevice, and since we actually know what we want the viewer to look at, we'll pull back and simplify things so you don't want to look at the big chunk of very noisy hair ornament or necklace instead of the face of the character.

For comparison, this is how it looks when I, personally, indulge in doing 'overdetailing' of something (because I am forever weak for painting jewelry).

BUT I want to stress that the key here isn't that detailing equals AI generated. The key is the lack of design choices IN the details. There's a lot of artists out there, and someone painting out all those nooks and crannies in something doesn't mean they are a AI user. This painting by Leighton is super detailed but you see the intent with all the details. You have a focus with the people in the boat and secondary read of the figure in the door, where the details are a lot more implied and less sharp.

AI can't do that, because AI isn't making any decisions.

I couldn't find any good example once I went looking, but if you're into fantasy art: look for people just holding weird 'swords'.

AI is rapidly evolving, so who knows how much this'll help in 3 months, but for now, this is how I spot things.

But, in the end, the biggest giveaway that someone is using an AI generator is that they've filled up page after page on deviantart/artstation/wherever in the past like... six to nine months, and often swing between wildly different styles. If you're unsure, look up the source of a image. Another clue can be generic 'untitled' or just 'elf lady' sort of titles, since someone uploading 30 images a week isn't going to make unique titles for each image.

Also, commissioners. ... you should ALWAYS get a sketch and progress image from a artist that you hire. My art directors would have my head on a plate if I didn't send them a rough sketch and progress shot before finalising the image.

#go forth #be free PSA post

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thydungeongal · 1 month

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Hey do you know any ttrpgs that take place in high fantasy worlds but aren't combat centric?

I've got a sprawling fantasy world or several I want to keep using for games but I want to step away from the combat-centric dungeon crawls of your dnd's and pathfinders for a bit and experience more of what's going on in the RPG space.

Sorry if you're not the right person to ask, you just feel like someone who might have opinions on the topic.

I have a few I could recommend!

First of all, Burning Wheel. Burning Wheel is an interesting game because it's a fantasy RPG with a very simple core system (d6 dice pool) with a bunch of systems built on top of it to the point where it's actually amazingly complex. Now, the default setting of Burning Wheel is very Tolkienistic. It assumes a medieval level of technology and a human-centric world, with elves, dwarves, and orcs filling the non-human side. It's a fascinating system but also a lot. What it does best is support characters with firm beliefs and ideals living according to those beliefs and ideals, and it can support high intrigue just as well as combat. (There is a combat system but it is almost better suited to duels instead of skirmishes.)

Mythras and RuneQuest are d100 fantasy RPGs, the former being basically a version of the latter but without the Glorantha license. Now, they are very trad RPGs and as such combat remains the one part of their systems they are most opinionated about, but both make combat into a very gritty and lethal affair to the point where engaging in combat without thinking is very much discouraged. They also have extremely detailed and fine-grained magic systems, as well as systems that encourage characters growing organically. And the system of Passions that mechanically reward characters acting according to their beliefs and building connections to the world. Now, Glorantha is one of the coolest fantasy settings on the planet, but if you've already got a setting of your own Mythras might be the better of the two.

Hmmm. I'm actually drawing a blank here. Oh, there's Free from the Yoke, which is a game based on Legacy: Life Among the Ruins, but set in a medieval fantasy setting where an alliance of noble houses has staged a revolution and freed their people from foreign rule. The game has some implied setting to it, with there apparently being some Slavic influences to the setting, but looking at it I think it could fit into almost any high fantasy setting with minimal modification. However, the gameplay loop will center around each player controlling a noble house, with two different levels of fiction (house level and character level, as they each also control an individual member of their own house), so it shouldn't be treated as a generic game.

#thydungeongal answers

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mostly-just-sasuke-blog · 2 months

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yeah Itachi's story is tragic. You know what would have made it more tragic? Imagine if after killing his family he found out that the entire coup was a lie. That there never was coup. Can you imagine how he would feel if that happened?

That's what itachi did to Sasuke.

Like Itachi, Sasuke also had to live with the knowledge that he killed his family. Like Itachi, Sasuke was manipulated and pushed into a corner to do it. But at least Itachi didn't have to live with finding out everything was a lie. Not that Itachi could live with what he did. Itachi took the cowards way out and used Sasuke to die. And then he just expected Sasuke to live with it. Itachi really took his pain, doubled it, and handed it to Sasuke. And Sasuke, who thought he'd finally be free to live his life with Itachi gone, now found out that not only was he not free, he was left holding an even bigger burden for his family. And Sasuke didn't have a way out. There wasn't a convenient younger brother to pawn it off to. Not that sasuke would have ever done what Itachi did to him to someone else.

You can argue trying to provoke Naruto into killing him at the bridge fight is similar. But the whole reason Sasuke did it is because he doesn't believe Naruto and the rest of team 7 actually care about him or his family. A belief reinforced by the fact that 2 of the three actually were trying to kill him. Also different is that Sasuke really was ready to engage in a real fight, he wasn't just trying to manipulate Naruto and put on a show. Sasuke has more integrity than Itachi and Sasuke values free will. That's the difference between Itachi and Sasuke. Itachi was an ego-centric Machiavellian who doesn't see his own hypocrisy, and Sasuke is a really good, decent person put through the worst circumstances you can imagine who is trying to hold onto his humanity.

#Some People actually say Itachi's life is worse than Sasuke's with a straight face #Actually claiming itachi has it worse than Sasuke's #No #Itachi's life isn't worse #you actually just identify with Itachi because he had more control and had to make a hard choice which you find cool #Sasuke's tragedy is much worse which is why so few people want to actually go through the trouble of empathizing with his character #The difference in scale between itachi's pain and Sasuke's is huge #Sasuke also had to live with killing his family #naruto #sasuke #uchiha sasuke #uchiha massacre #itachi #pro sasuke #anti itachi #Itachi is lucky Sasuke is a better person than him and didn't go through with killing Naruto

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metalheadsforblacklivesmatter · 10 months

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Cis Black woman killed because attacker thought she was trans

Earl reportedly referred to the victim as a male acting like a woman during the questioning, the affidavit said. He also shared that he and the victim engaged in their most recent conflict the day before the incident. Earl alleged that the victim pointed a firearm at him after the two exchanged words.

Obligatory image to humanize her

Her name was Michelle Dionne Peacock

Anti-trans hate crimes disproportionately effects Black women who don't fit the white euro-centric beauty standard.

-fae

#black lives matter #blm #black lives still matter #transphobia #say her name

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thesimblrofficedirectory · 9 months

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Welcome to The Simblr Office Directory

This blog is an archive of the submissions for the office-centric OC prompt posted by the light of Simblr, @kashisun.

Here you can browse all the amazing creations submitted by your fellow simblrs. Feel free to scroll to your delight or click one of the links under the cut to see who's on roster under (or over) a particular bureau or delegation.

Want to be added to the directory or confirm that you've been queued? Just include a link to your post in an ask off anon and it will be queued within 48 hours. Until we get through the backlog and can queue at a more leisurely pace, all ask submissions will receive a confirmation. You can always mention us, but we won't be able to provided confirmation for that method.

Leaving the company? If you'd like your post removed, just include a link to the post in an ask off anon and it will be removed. Sideblogs may require additional verification. Please allow, at most, 48 hours for the request to be honored. Removal requests will not be confirmed, only acted upon.

Every company's hierarchy is a little different. Designations for this directory are based on some of the companies I've worked for, but especially on the multi-media marketing company I work for now.

Bureaus and Their Delegations

Delegations with an * currently have low or no headcount (posted and queued). Excludes leadership.

Bureau of Client Engagement

Leadership

Billing*

Escalations*

Product Support*

Quality Assurance*

Sales*

Bureau of Compliance (Bureau-specific Internal Affairs and Auditing)

Leadership

Client Engagement*

Facilities*

Finance*

Human Resources*

Information and Technology*

Legal (General)

Legal (Leadership)

Marketing*

Bureau of Facilities

Leadership

Catering*

Environmental (Janitorial, HVAC, and Plumbing)*

Mechanical (Electrical, Elevators, Equipment Maintenance)*

Premise* (Grounds Maintenance and Real Estate)

Purchasing* (From pushpins to pallet jacks)

Security

Warehousing* (Shipping, Receiving, Mail room, and Inventory)

Bureau of Finance

Leadership

Accounting

Asset Management*

Investments*

Travel and Accommodations*

Vendor Relations*

Bureau of Human Resources

Leadership

Career Development (Internships and Internal Role Transitions)

Dependent Care*

Employee Activities Committee (Members are volunteers)

Employee Benefits*

Floating Delegates (Administration) (For profiles that list a nondescript secretary/admin/receptionist/assistant role)

Floating Delegates (General) (For profiles that do not list a position)

Floating Delegates (Leadership) (For profiles that list a nondescript managerial role)

Health Services*

Payroll*

Recruiting*

Training*

Union Relations*

Bureau of Information & Technology

Leadership

Data Security*

Infrastructure*

Public Relations

Research and Development*

Systems and Devices*

Telecommunications*

Bureau of Marketing

Leadership

Copy

Design

Planning and Implementation*

Board of Directors

Chief Officers

CEO - Chief Executive Officer/President

COO - Chief Operations Officer/Vice President

CCO - Chief Compliance Officer/Vice President

CFO - Chief Finance Officer/Vice President

CITO - Chief Information and Technology Officer/Vice President

CMO - Chief Marketing Officer/Vice President

Executive Administration* (Admins that report to chief officers)

#new simblr #the simblr office #thesimblroffice #pinned

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deepsuns · 2 months

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rambling headcanons (part 1?)

feyd-rautha centric / house harkonnen

literally just my personal thoughts while writing out my feyd-rautha fanfic. feel free to use my ideas with credit if you like ❤️ enjoy my ridiculously large extrapolation of Dune material that sounds like insanity

• the marks painted on feyd-rautha's skin are rectangles, or purposefully/artfully changed rectangles. rectangles are relative to the number four, which in some cultures references "death". i would equate it, in relation to the harkonnens, as being from Slavic mythology - the god Svetovid has four heads and is a god of abundance/war (in which the harkonnens are engaged in kanly with house atreides, making it a good metaphor for fanfics). additionally, the rectangle is the metaphor used upon anything meant for use in life: here, in the arena, feyd-rautha is being prepared for "use" by the Baron to display himself during his birthday and appease the masses. with the rectangles painted upon his chest signifying the number four, feyd-rautha is being prepared to bring death in abundance for house harkonnen. with svetovid having four heads, i would also suspect these heads are the following: the Baron, feyd-rautha, lady jessica, and paul, each to represent an aspect of house harkonnen unconsciously.

• touch is a sacred thing. intimacy (true intimacy, that is, such as vulnerability/affection/tenderness) is a sacred thing. the harkonnens do not indulge in casual touch, but the Baron blasphemes this aspect of his house practice by doing so casually towards feyd-rautha (and so have those before him). the servants do not touch feyd-rautha at all during the preparation hall scene, and are wearing gloves to apply the ink/paste. in addition, feyd-rautha is careful not to truly touch anyone outside of canon typical violence. also, there is a heavy chance of poison being present on skin as well.

• house harkonnen is a house that admires power and strength. by that thought, we can assume that margot fenring's remark in the books ("here is one that will not let himself go to fat") internally as she regards feyd-rautha, insinuates that the baron has willingly let himself go to fat after his illness but is still respected due to his wealth and power. by comparison, feyd-rautha is the perfect visual of an heir and everything that the baron is not and he does his best to mold him into a different shape.

• feyd-rautha engages in mithridatism, or the self administration of lethal poisons in non-lethal amounts. it would not be out of the realm of possibility that assassination attempts happen often in regards to house harkonnen, and poison is the most subtle way to do so, whether it is by skin on skin contact, proximity, through food or drink, or simply touching an object.

• in house harkonnen, masochism/sadomasochism would be a heavy coping method, alongside extreme versions of hypersexuality. such a violent and dangerous house is doomed to have those who cannot stomach it or are majorly human, and manipulates their tastes in childhood to that of the extremes rather than normality.

#feyd headcanon #feyd fanfiction #feyd #feyd rautha #dune part two #dune part 2 #dune movie #dune 2 #dune #house harkonnen

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detectiphoenix · 4 months

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A silly little Viravos-centric Pokemon AU where Viren is a Pokemon Professor, and Aaravos is a near-immortal Mythical Pokemon disguised as a human ~

I'll be tagging all art in this AU #phoenix's tdp pokemon au, so if the content bothers you, please block said tag! On the other hand, if you decide to make art/content of this AU, please use said tag 👀

Typed out tidbits underneath the cut!

AARAVOS, DARK/DRAGON MYTHICAL

Is "The Fallen Star"

Can appear as either his draconic Pokémon form or human - can also sprout horns and a tail if comfortable

Likes living as a human. Likes creating rumors about himself more

In his many years of life, has mastered fluent human Standard speak, but can also communicate telepathically

Horribly enamoured by the cute little Professor who thinks he's on top of the world

AMAYA HANSEN, GYM LEADER

Commands the easiest gym in the region, but boasts an impressive combat threat outside of gym battles

Celebrated for having extremely deep connections to her Pokémon

Favorite part about being a gym leader is giving new trainers their first badge

CALLUM ASPEN, POKÉMON TRAINER

Pokémon enthusiast!

Is very serious about his "catch-em-all" mission

Met Rayla when they were both trying to catch the same Pokémon

Acknowledges his last name is the name of the tree, and won't stop talking about his fate being to be a Pokémon Professor

CLAUDIA CYPRESS, POKÉMON TRAINER

Wanted to stay with her father to help him with his research, but he convinced her to stay with Soren for the time being

Determined to be a Pokémon Professor one day

An expert with her items and consumables

Cheers every time a trainer engages her in battle

EZRAN ASPEN, POKÉMON DAY CARE ASSISTANT

Is almost old enough to get his starter Pokémon, but isn't sure if he wants to be a trainer

Sneaks treats to all of the Pokémon under his watch

He thinks he's being sneaky, but everyone knows he's sneaking treats and no one says anything because all of the Pokémon adore him

HARROW ASPEN, POKÉMON CHAMPION

Defends his title with pride and a bright smile

Popular for his natural charisma, even outside of his region

His great-grandfather was a Pokémon Professor

Pip, a Talonflame he raised from a Fletchling, is his star fighter

JANAI COETZEE, ELITE FOUR

Despite being the newest member, is considered to be the most difficult challenge of the four

Often described as having a threatening aura during battle

After battle, however, her kind nature is clear

RAYLA COLLINS, POKÉMON TRAINER

Got the Pokémon

Determined to be the Champion one day

Wants to make her dads proud (they're already proud)

Began her journey saying she would only fight using stronger Pokémon to increase her chances at becoming the Champion, but gets extremely attached to every Pokémon she catches

RUNAAN COLLINS, RETIRED POKÉMON CHAMPION

Used to be the region's Champion, before retiring to spend more time with his husband and adopted daughter

Isn't that old, but has enough funds from his championship that he is able to live comfortably without a job

Still assists his husband, Ethari, with his Battle Items Shop

SOREN CYPRESS, POKÉMON TRAINER

The trainer that will run up to you and engage you in a Pokémon battle

Determined to be the Champion one day, or at least a cool gym leader in his home region

Very suspicious of that guy who keeps spending time with his father

Likes to travel across regions and bring his father Pokémon that don't appear in their home region

VIREN CYPRESS, POKÉMON PROFESSOR

Has spent the vast majority of his life researching "The Fallen Star"

Believes Aaravos to be a researcher as passionate as himself in the same field

Wants to be the first to discover "The Fallen Star", sees Aaravos as frustratingly intelligent competition

Needs reading glasses to read, but despises wearing them

Would have found "The Fallen Star" already, if not for an insufferably attractive individual's meddling

#the dragon prince #viravos #viren #aaravos #phoenix's tdp pokemon au #art #detectiphoenix

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tripleglitchwriting · 4 months

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Combustion (Part 1)

Soundwave (TFP) centric, gn human reader

CW: swearing, fearplay, calling a person ‘it’ (unintentionally)

Counting raindrops was not a particularly exciting or engaging activity, but it was enough to entertain you for the minute it took to get another bite on your fishing line. Sure fishing in the rain wasn’t the best idea, but it was better than stewing in boredom. Your house was close by anyway.

The river was always teeming with life- how could you ever ignore it, especially when it was raining? The smell of nature brought you back time and time again. And time and time again you found yourself sitting outside, sopping wet, counting raindrops, and trying to catch fish for no good reason. It wasn’t exactly the life you expected, but it’s the one you got, and that was okay with you.

Until it all came crumbling down when a giant fucking robot crashed into the lake.

—————

Despite Megatron’s best efforts, the ship was thrown into chaos. At first it was all going as planned- an ambush attack to destroy the Autobots once and for all. Soundwave managed to get a direct hit on one of their engines by tapping into the Nemesis’s defense systems, but it seemed the enemy had the same idea. As always, he stayed calm in situations like this, unsurprising the rest of the panic stricken crew.

Alarms blared as the ship’s main systems began to fail. Soundwave did everything he could to keep it running but to no avail. With a final order from his leader, the third in command was forced to abandon his post and into an escape pod.

He tried to ask what would become of Megatron, but the chaos didn’t allow for much information to get across to anyone, especially not with his oath of silence. Most of the pods were already gone, as well as Starscream who was specifically not given the order to leave.

He looked one last time at the Nemesis before entering the pod, hoping Megatron had a plan. Though, he always had a plan. All he could do now was trust in the mech he dedicated his life to. After all, what’s another disaster? He had survived much worse.

—————

The thing came out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere, it came out of the sky, but that didn’t narrow much down in your mind. You first realized something was wrong when you saw a plane flying by. Accept it wasn’t a plane, it was a big black machine from god knows where. It started out as a blip in the atmosphere but it quickly became evident that thing was going to land close, and you didn’t want to be there when it exploded or something.

You didn’t get too far. In fact, the mini earthquake it made when it hit the ground knocked you on your ass and almost into the river. Your fishing pole was long gone, as were the fish, that was evident by the fact that there was now a huge shiny jet black space object sitting smack dab in the center of the river. Now, as it seemed, getting rained on was the least of your worries.

You mumbled words of surprise and fear, made worse by the rumbling now radiating from the machine. It caused the river to ripple like a child trying to balance a full cup of water. Every other sound was either silenced or drowned out by the sudden movement. You tried to scoot back. You heard a click come from the thing, followed by the mechanical whirring of paneling removing itself from the shell, letting out a hiss of smoke.

Whatever this thing was it wasn’t something you were very interested in seeing the end result of. You tripped over your own mud soaked boots to get to a nearby tree, one big enough to at least conceal yourself behind. The panel continued to rise but you didn’t bother to look back and see it. Something inside you screamed to run and fast as you could to wherever you could, and you almost listened to it, but another click signified your time was cut short.

The tree was your best bet, and you were incredibly grateful to be there because something was moving inside that thing. Something big. It was as black as the pod it came from, but still accented by purple streaks along its frame. Slender arms and legs hobbled outside, sending river water crashing in waves along the bank. It was like nothing you’d ever seen before- more insane than anything you ever seriously imagined happening to you. A giant robot falling from the sky. Fantastic…

—————

Something went wrong. The pod should have slowed down during orbit, but instead it sent him hurtling down into an unknown planet’s atmosphere. Not ideal. Still, there was a war going on and he did not have the time to waste.

He seemed to have landed in a small stream surrounded by organic life. That’s what his scanners told him… right before they fizzled out and went offline. With no way to view the outside world he figured ejecting Lazerbeak would be the best course of action, but when he went to wake him up the drone didn’t respond. Only then did Soundwave start to feel a prick of fear. Maybe he was still having a hard time getting out of stasis lock, or he was out of energy after the crash.

Soundwave out a servo to his chasis and pushed those thoughts away. Right now he needed to contact the Nemesis and rejoin Megatron. With all the damage done to his pod he had no choice but to exit. He did so, though it seemed the stasis lock was still wearing off on him, or maybe he’d been damaged, because it took some effort to climb out of the vehicle.

Luckily his personal scanners were still online. It seemed this planet had precipitation in the form of water- not uncommon. Around him were various forms of organic flora, though from what he could tell no fauna. If there was sentient life here, it wasn’t very obvious. Just in case he flipped on heat seeking vision, curtesy of Shockwave, and did a one over on the area. No sign of anything… except a small figure hidden behind a large plant.

He strode toward it, not flinching at the grime that coated his pedes or the water sliding down his visor. The figure got a little smaller as he approached, curling in on itself. An interesting reaction, did it know he was there? Soundwave readjusted his vision to normal and placed a servo on the side of the plant’s trunk.

He peered over, revealing a small organic bundled up in a little ball. It was shivering. Could it be that it was trying to avoid the precipitate by huddling itself here? Well, if it was it wasn’t doing a very good job. Maybe Shockwave would enjoy a new test subject though. Soundwave should be back on the Nemesis soon as long as he could fix up his communication system.

Extending his tentacle like appendages, he carefully pushed the organic’s body open, causing it to squeak and try to escape. He quickly grabbed it before it could run. Its shaking intensified as well as its struggles, not that its weak struggling was a problem for Soundwave. He squeezed it a little, earning him another squeak, and it seemed to get the message. Smart.

Scanning the area again but finding nothing, he resigned to go back to the pod. There was nothing of use around from what he could see, he needed to fix Lazerbeak fast. Soundwave was the eyes and ears of the Deceptions, he couldn’t forget that. There was nothing left for him anywhere else.

Even so, in the disaster he found himself in, the little form in his claw brought some comfort to his spark. It was sort of endearing the way it started up its squirming again and refused to give up. It was nice to know a little thing that that could have so much spirit. Maybe this whole mess wouldn’t be so bad after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry this took a bit for me to get out! It’s been quite the week. For clarification, this fic takes place in the same universe as Ignition, but much farther away. I still haven’t come up with a same for the AU yet.

I don’t know when part 2 will be out, it really depends on how much time and energy I have. I’ve been wearing thin on creativity lately but I still have an idea on where I want to take this. That being said, I hope you enjoyed my story so far! Have a good day/night wherever you may be.

#transformers #transformers g/t #tripleglitchwrites #g/t #transformers first contact #gn human reader #gn reader #human reader #tfp soundwave #g/t fearplay #unintentional fearplay

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unexpectedly-haunted · 5 months

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fic rec list!

assorted hermitcraft + life series fic recommendations!

attempt thirty-three by bee_4: Joe Hills centric time loop fic. Also features Cleo, Scar, and Cub, and I love everyone's characterisation! Haunting and open ended, but still points of hope. Words: 13,617 Chapters: 1/1

To Sit in Hell with You by enemyofrome: Last Life treebark fic from Ren's POV. Focus on these two in the Shadow Alliance because man, those guys were really something else. Obsessed with the characterisation, have reread a reasonable amount. Words: 2,664 Chapters: 1/1

monsters nearby series by enemyofrome: Treebark series where the games are over but the Watchers aren't leaving Martyn alone- really fun exploration of supernatural impersonations and how that might impact your relationship with the real person. I'm not normal about these ones. Second work has a hopeful ending. Words: 13,856 Works: 2

Lifeline AU by SlashMagpie: Scifi/Fantasy AU about body-snatching aliens, also including the emptiness of space, magical worldbuilding, unreality and time travel. Main POV characters are Tango, Impulse + Pearl, but also includes much of the Hermitcraft ensemble + Skizz. Read the entire AU in one night and haven't been the same since, cannot recommend highly enough. Words: 299,349 Works: 6

Blood & Snow by SlashMagpie: Tango gets eaten by the dungeon, or close enough. Unsettling, visceral, and features possession! Has Scar, Bdubs, Cub, Etho, and Hypno POV. Words: 12,425 Chapters: 7/7

the sanctity of the mundane by crabbunch: Double Life SMP series with a fic exploring the relationships between each soul bounded pair. Found each work really fun and compelling, great variety in tone. Shoutout especially to this Cleo + Martyn! Words: 24,712 Works: 7

sculk blossom by crabbunch: Cub centric fic that works as both a character study and a look at his sculk corruption on Empires. Delighted by the horror and characterisation here! Words: 4,065 Chapters: 5/5

Deus Ex Machine by crabbunch: Bdubs POV, an existential/magical horror piece about the power of belief, storytelling, and godhood. Also some great Clethubs! Words: 13,449 Chapters: 8/16

Tangotek Evil Incorporated: Supervillain Tango and superhero Jimmy as arch nemeses. Comedy with a happy ending, and SO much fun to read. Words: 22,445 Chapters: 2/2

there are many downsides to being a marine biologist by donnerstag: Doc's marine biology gets complicated when the latest specimen turns out more human than expected: the siren he names Martyn. Really engaging and well-characterised fic, impossible to read and not end up invested in docmartyn. Trust me. Words: 74,006 Chapters: 27/27

a falling axe, a sharpened knife by sesquidpedalian: Double Life Cleo + Martyn relationship study, where soulmates also have a telepathic bond. Just really enjoyed this one! Words: 2,081 Chapters: 1/1

ectype by sesquidpedalian: Third Life AU where Martyn is there when Grian visits for enchantments. Really neat character study of two guys who aren't anything alike at all, definitely not. Words: 1,603 Chapters: 1/1

never our blood on this sand again by cosmicretribution: Scarian and treebark timeloop AU. Includes angst, the Timeloop Horrors, developing relationships, and great prose + characterisation! Words: 8,905 Works: 2

A Romance Route for the Doomed Villain?! by skelew: Treebark isekai AU where Martyn gets hit by a 2007 nissan micra and transported to a dating sim featuring the villainous Red King. Crack treated seriously, and a great parody fic that also happens to be genuinely compelling. Words: 5,012 Chapters: 1/1

feel free to add on recs in reblogs/comments! :D

#ghost post #long post #fic recommendation #fic recs #writing #trafficshipping #q

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imustbenuts · 1 year

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Malice, Malevolence, Maous.

Kegare, Shinto Buddhism and how it gets reflected in Japanese video game writing. (Fire Emblem and Zelda Botw/Totk centric)

Gonna blab on a very specific aspect of Japanese Shinto :D. This is not talked about often despite the sheer amount of stuff out there so here's me talking about it.

So. It often goes something like this. The Hero gets a powerful magical weapon at some point. They fight through the Big Bad's army of mooks while they may journey throughout the land. Eventually, they, or the weapon mcguffin gets powered up by a higher power, and at the climax, the Hero/es comes through to take down the evil big bad Demon King-esque malevolent monster/dragon/non-human out, thereby succeeding in saving the world.

Any of that sound familiar? It should, for anyone who has engaged with just about any Nintendo media from Mario to Fire Emblem to Breath of The Wild.

This big bad character archetype is also known as Maou, or the Demon King. 魔王 can also be translated into Sorcerer/Magic King, but the negative evilness associated with it is more apt. TvTropes even lists this as a trope (link)!

The why they are often times taken down this way though, kiiiind of lies within Shinto Buddhism. (And by extension many of other culture/religion's concept of 'ritual cleanliness', but for this post I'm ignoring them! Sorry!)

I'll switch gears a bit to culture/religious stuff and talk about Kegare under the cut.

I think everyone who has ever touched any Nintendo or Japanese related media has ran into the concept of 'kegare', or 'spiritual uncleanliness' multiple times without realizing it.

Kegare (穢れ or 汚れ) is the concept of 'spiritual dirtiness'.

Translated as 'pollution' or 'defilement', to be kegare'd is to be dirtied in some form, often times through action. Generally speaking, kegare is a negative energy typically generated upon contact with death, childbirth, disease and menstruation. But it can also come into state through particularly powerful, negative state of emotions such as hate, jealousy, guilt and anger as well. Note that Kegare isn't by itself a moral or judgemental concept, but rather a force of nature. Kegare is not sin, and therefore cannot be seen as such!

You can think of kegare as bad vibes, bad juju, or even miasma. They're very similar concepts.

With enough bad vibes (basically), a place, object, or a person can be polluted so hard that evil spirits might manifest and cause harm to both them and their surroundings. Hence why Japanese media loves depicting places with bad vibes like the hospitals to be full of yokais or ghosts looking to cause harm.

This is why characters who harbor ambitions of taking over the world are seen as Maous. It's why characters like Hegemon Husk!Edelgard, Grima, Ganon, Mr. Grizz all fit into this evil, ambitious, resentful, almost force-of-nature-like beings who brings with them death to the world. Because they aren't just bringing death with them, they're about to unleash the largest tsunami of bad vibes they can into the world too!

But, the state of kegare can be purified away. There are 2 main ways to do so. Misogi, and Harae.

Misogi (禊)

By standing under a waterfall or washing the body with water, kegare can purified. Notably though, one must be dressed in white during this ritual cleansing. This specific concept is known as Misogi, and you might have come across it in botw already:

In BoTW, Zelda attempts to purify herself in order to unlock the power of the Goddess. By visiting important spiritual places and washing herself in its water in white, she's performing Misogi.

In Fire Emblem Heroes, Naga will suggest this to Kiran, the Player Character:

But misogi isn't exactly why big bads get the holy weapon whacking treatment. If you have noticed, misogi affects only the willing individual taking part in ritual cleansing. The real reason is actually...

Harae (祓)

Harae can mean 2 things. To drive out, or, exorcise. Consenting or not, harae essentially drives out or purifies kegare in another person, place, or object through rituals.

Harae can involve ceremonies, song and dance, using a ritual cleansing tool(!) such as the onusha.

As an example of the former, Azura in Fire Emblem Fates essentially embodies the power of misogi through her association with waters and purification. Here, she tries to exorcise the evil inside of Garon. She is actually performing harae!

youtube

As an example of the latter, the cleansing tools.... Why, it should be sounding familiar now.

Be it the Falchion, Yato, Fire Emblem, Breidablik, The Creator Sword, the Master Sword, Ocarina of Time, The Twilight Bow, they all share 2 very similar traits:

Be powered up by the good juju power/light

Whack the big bad maou with it, sometimes unleashing light in the process

In this context that I'm presenting, they are all tools of purification/exorcism. Sit down and think about this. Think about all the Japanese JRPGs you've played so far and see how much this clicks.

The Hero gains a weapon/tool/relic, powers it up in some way or is inherently already powered, and then uses that to smack the big bad and win. Sometimes the tools can be the heroes themselves, but it is often the very similar song and dance (heh). Hell, you can even extend this beyond Fire Emblem and Zelda. Maybe even extend it to anime and manga, and you might find the same themes in places you don't expect.

It's kind of neat to think about. Essentially, the hero not just defeats the big bad, but kind of purifies them as well.

But! There's another reason why weapons are often the divine relics needed to deliver the finishing blow in video games, and why they are almost always associated with characters of authority.

The Imperial Regalia of Japan/ The Three Sacred Treasures

There exists 3 treasures which represents 3 primary virtues and are part of the enthronement ceremony in Japan. They have never been shown to the public to symbolize authority, so no one but the authority knows what they look like. The above image is just an artist's impression of what they might resemble. They exist, supposedly.

The Sword is known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the mirror as Yata no Kagami, and the jewel as Yasakani no Magatama. They represent Valour, Wisdom and Benevolence respectively. They are said to be brought into this world by Japanese gods, passed to the first emperor of Japan, Emperor Jimmu, who said to be a descendant of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.

Yep, this is also why Fire Emblem is always about noble blooded people with divine weapons.

Yep, these are also the original inspiration for the triforce in The Legend of Zelda.

I won't get into the details behind the Regalia's story in this post, it's too long! Linfamy has done a video about the Regalia if you're interested.

youtube

Hopefully this was interesting. Again, feel free to take the ideas here and read up on it externally. So many, many videos and posts and I've not seen people talk at all about this. Sadge.

But before I close off this post, there is a negative side to this kegare concept, in which real people are discriminated against in Japan. ...Remember the association with death for kegare? Yeah... Uhm, someone needs to take care of the dead in any society and butcher livestocks for food, so what happens to those people? ...Messed up things, actually. If you are interested to learn about this, feel free to check this video out (link). Warning: it's a huge downer of a video.

And I think I've spent enough time writing this! Ty for reading this far if you did! ❤️

#fire emblem #fire emblem heroes #legend of zelda #fire emblem engage #apologies if the tags over reach a bit #culture stuff

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