#i do have the benefit of critical thinking skills however | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

octuscle · 19 days

Text

How times are changing….

2024, The Russian Tea Room: Lunchtime with the Masters of the Universe. John and Richard were at the peak of their powers. The sky was the limit. Whatever money could buy, these two had it. And they had a lot of it. And as soon as Trump was back in power, there would be much, much more.

John: Good afternoon, Richard. It’s been too long since our last lunch.

Richard: Good afternoon, John. Yes, it has. How have you been?

John: Very well, thank you. Busy as always, but things are moving in the right direction. How about you and your family?

Richard: We’re doing well, thank you. My son, Alexander, has just received his acceptance letter from Yale.

John: That’s excellent news! Congratulations to Alexander and to you. Yale is a fantastic institution. He must be thrilled.

Richard: He certainly is. We are all extremely proud of him. Yale offers unparalleled opportunities and will undoubtedly shape his future in the best possible way.

John: Absolutely. With a Yale education, Alexander will be well-prepared for any challenges he faces. Have you thought about how the current political climate might affect his future prospects?

Richard: Yes, quite a bit. We’re hopeful that the new government will adopt more protectionist policies and take a stronger stance on immigration. These changes could significantly impact the economic landscape.

John: I agree. A more protectionist approach could provide substantial benefits to our domestic industries. If the government prioritizes national interests over international ones, we could see a thriving local market.

Richard: Exactly. Limiting immigration and focusing on domestic employment could create a more favorable environment for our economy. This would be particularly advantageous for someone like Alexander, who will have the skills and knowledge to navigate such a market.

John: With fewer immigrants, there could be more opportunities for domestic workers, potentially leading to higher wages and better job prospects for citizens. This aligns well with our economic goals.

Richard: Precisely. Alexander is considering majoring in economics with a focus on international trade and policy. If the government shifts towards protectionism and stricter immigration controls, his expertise will be highly valuable.

John: That’s a smart move. Understanding the implications of protectionist policies on trade and the economy will be crucial. He could be at the forefront of developing strategies that align with national interests.

Richard: We’re certainly encouraging him to build strong connections at Yale, particularly with professors and industry experts. These relationships will be invaluable as he navigates his career.

John: Networking is essential, especially in such a dynamic environment. With potential policy changes, those connections could provide critical insights and opportunities.

Richard: Absolutely. It's an exciting yet uncertain time. However, with the right preparation and strategic thinking, Alexander could thrive in this new landscape.

John: Have you considered the political approaches of other countries, like Russia? They have implemented stringent immigration policies and strong protectionist measures with notable success.

Richard: Yes, we have. Russia’s policies have indeed bolstered their national industries and maintained a tighter control over their labor market. Their approach offers valuable lessons on how to prioritize national over international interests.

John: Exactly. If our government could adopt some of those measures, it could significantly strengthen our domestic economy. Alexander’s timing couldn’t be better.

Richard: I completely agree. It’s a critical moment, and with the right guidance and education, I believe Alexander will navigate it successfully.

John: I have no doubt about that. He has a solid foundation and your support. The future looks very promising for him.

Richard: Thank you, John. That means a lot. Here’s to hoping the new government’s policies will pave the way for greater opportunities and a stronger economy.

John: Cheers to that, Richard. To Alexander’s success and the promising times ahead.

2027, Brownsville Social Welfare Office: Alex and Mike were destined to follow in their fathers' footsteps. Oil barons and investment banking gods. But things don't always turn out the way you want them to…

Alexander: Hey there, Mike. Ain’t seen you in a coon’s age. What’s got you waitin’ at the social office today?

Mike: Hey, Alex. Just tryin’ to get some more assistance. Amy’s knocked up again, so I gotta sort things out. What about you?

Alexander: Same ol' crap. Need to see if they can help me get some dentures. Got my teeth busted in a brawl last month. Ain't lookin' too pretty.

Mike: Dang, man. That’s rough. Sorry to hear it. How’s things otherwise?

Alexander: Not too hot. After the market took a dive, had to drop outta Yale. Now I’m bustin’ my hump as a day laborer for that agribusiness. You know, the one that got snatched up by that Russian fella?

Mike: Yup, I know the one. Same deal here. Never thought we’d end up like this. Six kids now and no real job. That crash sure did us in.

Alexander: Tell me ‘bout it. I was this close to finishin’ my degree. Now instead of workin' in finance, I’m haulin' corn and doin' grunt work. Feels like some kinda bad joke.

Mike: I hear ya. I was studyin' to be an engineer. Now, I’m just tryin’ to get by. And since the Russian took over, it’s been even worse. Cut our hours and benefits to the bone.

Alexander: Yeah, I noticed. They don’t give a rat’s ass 'bout us. Just squeezin' every penny they can. It’s tough.

Mike: Sure is. And with another mouth to feed, it’s stressin’ me out. Amy’s worryin’ herself sick, and I ain’t got a clue how we’ll make it.

Alexander: Wish there was a way outta this mess. What’re we supposed to do? Every time I think I’m gettin’ ahead, somethin’ knocks me back down.

Mike: Same here. Feels like we’re stuck in mud. I keep hopin’ things’ll get better, but it’s like we’re just spinnin' our wheels.

Alexander: Worst part is knowin’ we had so much potential, ya know? We were supposed to have these big careers, and now we’re just tryin’ to make it day by day.

Mike: Sometimes I low-key ponder the insane what ifs if the freaking crash hadn't ruined everything. Like, imagine where we'd be RN. Rolling in that sweet juicy success, probs. We'd be slaying life, swagging out and straight up crushing it. Just living our best lives and probably having our dicks in…

Alexander: Yo, bruh, like legit, we'd be in a whole different stratosphere if we weren't chilling at this social welfare spot right now. But hey, we gotta keep on keepin' on, for the youngins and for us too. And if that lil' monster in your pants is acting up, hit me up anytime, I got your back!

Mike: Yo, bro! I was seriously starting to think you were never gonna bring it up... My urges are off the charts, I'm dying for some primo bootay to slam once more.

Alexander: Yo, like seriously, I gotta wait for a freaking eternity, like thirteen freaking numbers long. Dude, in that never-ending time span, you might as well give me a good ol' romp and suck fest, ya feel me?

Mike: Oh man, like seriously, watch out, but like, make sure you don't end up with a bun in the oven, okay? 'Cause, like, I'm totally the supreme stud around here when it comes to spreading my seed, ya dig?

Alexander: Yo, quit yapping and just slide through already! I'm totally gonna take this wild risk, no cap! Let's get this party started, fam!

#male tf #reality change #ai image #stop trump

35 notes · View notes

asexualandalwaysshipping · 6 months

Text

All this discourse with Saltburn may or may not being an eat-the-rich movie takes me back to when people's main criticism of Parasite was that its writing failed by making the Kim family too unlikable.

If you ask me, I feel like if you went into either film thinking them as eat-the-rich films, then it does come off as bad writing. However, neither story works well as an eat-the-rich film because that was never the intention. Sure, class disparity and social inequality are both vital themes but the main point of the EtR genre is about taking down the system, which neither film even tries to accomplish.

Parasite is a criticism of modern capitalism. It was never about pitting the poor against the rich. Bong Joon-Ho said himself, "It's a comedy without clowns and a tragedy without villains." The Kim family aren't meant to be hailed as heroes, and nowhere in the writing does it come off like that. But you end up asking yourself how come this family, who is clearly very capable and skillful, are just barely surviving off the edge of poverty and has no choice but to resort to scamming an entire family just to make a livable wage. Keep in mind they were barely making a profit—the biggest change to their lifestyle was being able to afford slightly better food than usual. Why is it that the poor will go as far as to fight among themselves just to continue leeching of the wealthy? Who benefited aside from the Parks? You could argue that Mr. Kim stabbing Mr.Park in the end was his way of fighting the system, but the film ends with him stuck in the basement, feeding off the house itself, still contributing to the same system that placed him there. EtR would've been more about the negative effects that come from the Parks from hoarding so much wealth that could sustain three entire families, making them deserved of comeuppance. Parasite instead focuses on how it's the system that keeps these class divisions in place.

It's the same with Saltburn. Oliver Quick does, in his own way, challenge the system. But what people forget is that it's not even as though the system ever worked against Oliver—he grew up in an (upper) middle-class household and managed his way into a prestigious university. He may not have been in the 1%, but he was at least in a position where he could go the rest of his life being comfortable. He just got greedy. He wanted more. He wanted to be on the inside. Saltburn isn't a story where a person painstakingly makes his way up the social ladder after starting from nothing whilst making the rich succumb to their sins; there is no justice or vengeance taking place here. Just a single man who manipulated the system to get more than his fair shares, just like his predecessors of Saltburn did. If it was EtR, it would've shed more light on how the Catton family and their wealth do more harm than good, justifying Oliver's actions. And even though they're unlikable, the most harmful thing about them is their performative charity and willful ignorance of the real world. This doesn't mean Saltburn lacks in substance; it's a compelling narrative on obsession and hedonism which introduces an excellent anti-hero, it just doesn't work as an EtR story. And it isn't supposed to.

#Saltburn #Parasite #eat the rich #Bong joon ho #anti villains #film rant #critical analysis #emerald fennell

52 notes · View notes

medtech-mara · 9 months

Text

Welcome to my new series of posts about Cyberpunk RED source material! This time we will be putting the CYBER into the PUNK by discussing everything Cyberware.

Today, though we must start with the basics, I wanted to just show the catalog and let you go on our own way, but I felt it was best to open the discussion. I am willing to answer your questions should you have some in the event you want to roleplaying/write accordingly when Phantom Liberty releases.

Welcome to Blue Remedies Health Clinic, My name is Mara Sterling, and I will be your Ripperdoc today? Have you ever used a Ripperdoc before? I notice you don't have any cyberware at all? Nervous? Don't be! We'll go walk through this together.

What is Cyberware?

Cybertechnology can be purchased almost anywhere. Some of the medical procedures are simple: walk-in types of surgery with minor installations taking place in whatever shopping mall clinics(Bodyshoppe, Fashion/Fusion, and Parts N' Programs are three popular chain stores) still exist, or drop-in medical centers (Docs R Us™... or my clinic Blue Remedies Health Clinic in the Wellsprings) These installations are much like getting your ears pierced. You can even have upgrades and improvements plugged into the old hardware for the cost of the new parts, allowing you to start small (called "stripped" or "economy") and add as you go. It is IMPORTANT to note that you CANNOT install cyberware to a critical injury, it has to heal first.

Where can I get my Cyberware installed?

Any Ripper doc if you are brave enough... Joking aside.. Depending on what cyberware you are wanting to install, depends on where you'd likely go. Don't worry I can guide you through this process with telling you where you'd likely get this cybernetic installed. Mall: means you can literally get the installation done in any mall or street corner bio-mod shop; the equivalent of ear-piercing in the 1900s. There are not as many of these as there were in the 2020s. Clinic: means an actual Medtech in a medical surgery clinic. Most of the installation is automated, but it takes a skilled practitioner to use that gear. Most ripperdocs are at this level. Hospital: means the work requires major surgery and a Medtech capable of doing this kind of work. This also requires a full hospital or the nearest equivalent, which is relatively rare. *Benefits from multiple installations of the same cyberware do not stack unless otherwise noted

"I was thinking about getting a a Sigma frame like Panthera, OH or have a dart eye like Optic from Night Raid! That's so cool!"

Unfortunately, there are prerequisites for some cyberware. Rome wasn't built in a night nor was David Martinez, so you will need to build yourself up to such an upgrade as an exo-skeleton like the Sigma frame, but I can't recommend one enough.

How is there such a thing as too much Cyberware?

Besides the obvious answer if you want to see God under the boot of some Maxtac lapdog? then yes. There are limits on how many cyberware slots your body can have. There will be a display how many slots can be used per cyberware type.

Cyberware types? You mean there are more than 2? I thought it was just cyberlimbs or Kiroshis?

There are 8 types of cybernetics available to the open market. However, your Ripperdoc MAY or MAY NOT have special types of cyberware they've crafted themselves, it never hurts to ask. Currently Avaliable: Fashionware, Neuralware, Cyberoptics, Cyberaudio, Internal Body Cyberware, External Body Cyberware, Cyberlimbs, & Borgware (my personal favorite, but watch out!)

Cool, I've picked out what I wanted, lets get started?

Whoa, hold on, choombatta, you picked some heavy hitters there, do you think you can handle it? If you've recently suffered from major traumas, I like to suggest meeting with a therapist first, your humanity is something to treasure and you won't get very far without it... Well unless you are Adam Smasher, were you born with 0 empathy?

Humanity? Therapy? What's all this GONKED shit?

Each cybernetic you install will cost a bit of your humanity, you are giving up some of your human self in place of machine, that doesn't come free. Fortunate for you, therapy does wonders, it can often help you discern what is the psychosis speaking or you, but without it, I'm sure you won't last 6 months on the street before C-Swat comes for you. It's always recommended that if you install heavy cyberware to see your therapist after. It's also a good idea to see your therapist after any traumatic event that has happened to or if front of you. It's not just the cyberware that eat at your humanity.

Annnnnd that's all for this post! Next post we will start going over some actual cyberware, starting with a personal favorite, Fashionware! I really hope to see some of the work you guys make with the new DLC coming out, and armed with this new knowledge about cyberware and cyberpsychosis (soon™)

#Cyberpunk Red #Cyberpunk RED source material #Cyberpunk 2077 #CPR #CP2077 #Cybernectics #Cyberware #Cyberpunk #cyberpunk lore #worldbuilding

95 notes · View notes

ausetkmt · 11 months

Text

Newsweek: Ron DeSantis Accused of Being 'Pro-Slavery' Due to New Florida Curriculum

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is facing new criticism over his state's new curriculum for African-American history in which some say is "pro-slavery."

DeSantis, a Republican who is running for president in 2024, has made his embrace of right-wing social causes a cornerstone of his style of politics. He has decried "woke" education, signing into law requirements about how race can be taught in Florida schools as educators across the United States grapple with conservative efforts to limit discussions of diversity, including African American history, in public schools.

Advocates for more restrictive lessons on race have argued all sides of a political or historical debate should be presented in schools. Critics, however, are accusing DeSantis and other Republicans of attempting to erase the history of slavery, and that students should learn about this topic in its entirety.

This standard has sparked criticism from educational and civil rights leaders, who have accused Florida Republicans of seeking to whitewash the history of slavery.

Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, accused DeSantis of being "pro-slavery" over the educational policy.

"Please keep this simple: If you require schools to teach the 'personal benefits' of slavery you are pro-slavery. Ron DeSantis is pro-slavery," the Democratic lawmaker tweeted on Saturday.

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 22, 2023

DeSantis defended the standards when pressed by a reporter, saying that he "wasn't involved" in writing these standards, which were "not done politically."

"I think what they're doing, is I think that they're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a black smith, into doing things later in life," the Florida governor said. "But the reality is all of that is rooted in whatever is factual."

Newsweek reached out to DeSantis' office for comment via email.

Still, many others also condemned the new standards.

Will Hurd, a former congressman from Texas who is also running in the GOP 2024 presidential primary, tweeted on Friday, "Unfortunately, it has to be said – slavery wasn't a jobs program that taught beneficial skills. It was literally dehumanizing and subjugated people as property because they lacked any rights or freedoms."

Unfortunately, it has to be said – slavery wasn't a jobs program that taught beneficial skills. It was literally dehumanizing and subjugated people as property because they lacked any rights or freedoms.https://t.co/4JjIgeDhKX — Will Hurd (@WillHurd) July 21, 2023

Jaime Harrison, the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), slammed the policy as "disgusting."

"The much anticipated DeSantis reset: Teaching our kids that slavery had its benefits," he tweeted on Friday. "Disgusting."

Vice President Kamala Harris, during a speech at Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.'s 56th national convention in Indianapolis on Thursday, described the standards as an attempt to "gaslight us."

"Just yesterday, in the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefitted from slavery," she said. "They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us and we will not stand for it. We who share a collective experience in knowing we must honor history in our duty in the context of legacy. There is so much at stake in this moment."

#Ron DeSantis Accused of Being 'Pro-Slavery' Due to New Florida Curriculum #florida #desantis lies #gop #white supremacy #systemic racism #revisionist history of america #all lies #american history #Black Lives Matter #Black History Matters

114 notes · View notes

sapphic-agent · 9 months

Text

Let's Talk About the Sports Festival

*Note: this is a long one so strap in*

Oh boy, here we go.

I did touch briefly on this in my first ever post on here and I mentioned it a few other times. But I've got a few thoughts and I think this arc deserves a little exploration as it plays a crucial part in setting up our characters for the rest of the series.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Sports Festival overall. I think it does well for some characters, not so well for others. I'd like to take some time to break down how some characters benefit and how others don't and really evaluate the arc as a whole.

Uraraka

I think Uraraka's a great place to start. Now, in my Bakugou analysis I did say that I was unhappy with the match, mostly because it panders to Bakugou to make him seem better than he was. And I stand by that, the narrative was trying to shove a "positive trait" of his down our throats since all we had seen from him up to this point was all negative. It was Horikoshi's first attempt at subverting expectations, I think.

However, I actually do think this fight was good for Uraraka as a character.

Uraraka isn't the fastest or strongest or smartest in 1A and previous to this that was fine because being those things wasn't her goal. She wanted to be a rescue hero and provide for her parents, she didn't set out to be particularly ambitious like Izuku or Todoroki or her other classmates. However, this proved to be somewhat of a hinderance to her succeeding as we see in the Cavalry battle. She pairs up with Izuku because she needs to rely on him if she wants to stand a chance of winning. And because of that, she feels like she can't fend for herself.

I think pairing her up against Bakugou was a good thing. Not because he treated her with "respect" or as a serious opponent (because he didn't), but because it pushed her to her limits and forced her to think outside of the box. She refuses Izuku's help because she knows she can't use him as a crutch going forward so she devises her own plan. And even though she loses, she still gets to shine and prove herself (we'll get back to this point with a certain character later). It also acts as a hallmark for her character, that she has to really push herself if she wants to be able to stand with (or even against) her stronger classmates.

Now, whether or not this setup pays off later is for another post, but I think Uraraka is one of the only characters this arc really does justice.

Izuku

If I'm being honest, the Sports Festival is far from the worst arc in the series for our beloved main character.

The race was great, of course. Because he can't depend on his quirk like everyone else, Izuku has to put all his critical thinking skills and strategic prowess to the test. The race is actually one of my favorite parts of the show because a kid from the bottom of his class (at the time) rises above everyone else and absolutely no one (including us) saw it coming. He has a major disadvantage and still comes out on top. It really ties in well with All Might's advice to stand in front of everyone and say, "I am here."

Now, the Cavalry Battle is a different story. To be fair, I don't think it really hurts or helps Izuku's character all that much. He has to think on his feet and strategize carefully, but he already did that in the race. His leaderships skills aren't really displayed all that much either (it's present, but Bakugou, Todoroki, and Monoma take much more of the limelight here). They could have taken more time to develop this role for him, but it's nothing really major to complain about.

The tournament is a little different. Obviously, Izuku couldn't win because if he had it wouldn't have been realistic. But his fight with Shinsou shouldn't have happened. The only reason they're matched up is for Izuku to break out of his hold with One For All. It doesn't do anything for his character (I might even say it hinders it because Ojirou specifically told him what to do and he ignored it) and really only serves as Shinsou's introduction, which could have been done with any character.

(Bakugou should have gone up against Shinsou. It would have humbled him; he would have lost to an "extra," one of the very people he talked down to. It would have also taught him that having a strong quirk or a weak quirk isn't what makes a hero and that power isn't everything)

However, the Todoroki fight does do Izuku's character justice. Because Izuku has always put helping others over winning or being the best. It's what makes him a true hero. He still makes Todoroki work for it and gives his all in the fight, but he does it with the genuine intention of helping. And that's what it means to be a hero. If the race was showing off his skill, then the tournament was showing off his heart. Those are the two sides to being a hero after all.

(If only the pro heroes had any semblance of sense to realize that)

So overall I am split on if this arc is good for Izuku or not. It does well with some things, poor with others. However, I do think that if Horikoshi had kept a similar approach with him throughout the story, it would have done him a lot more justice.

(At least more than whatever Dark Deku was supposed to be)

Iida

I don't have much to say on him other than that I think it would have been beneficial to showcase his skills a little more. He's supposed to be the second most intelligent in 1A and he got fourth on the quirk apprehension test. It would have been nice to show him off a little more like they did with Todoroki and Bakugou.

However, I do understand that his performance in the Sports Festival is meant to take a backseat to what's going on in his personal life. And for the most part that is done pretty well. The tension build up his actually really good and it sets him up to shine in the Stain arc.

I also appreciate his approach towards Izuku. He respects him and sees him as a friend, but also knows that Izuku is still an adversary. It's a unique approach to rivalry in anime and also sets up his role in the Stain arc well.

So it's not a terrible arc for Iida, but it could have been better for him too.

Bakugou

I know, I know I don't want to either but let's just get through this okay?

Obviously above I said what I said about how he should have fought Shinsou. And I stand by that. The Sports Festival was the best way he could have been humbled and taught humility. Having Bakugou fight Shinsou and lose could have aided his redemption in the long run.

Now, one thing that bothers me about the Sports Festival is that it seems like the narrative constantly goes out of its way to make him look better. Oh, Bakugou meets his match from a student with a copying quirk who rightfully calls him out and catches him off guard? Let's have him overcome the (truthful) assumptions and beat him and still qualify even though he was completely focused on the wrong things. Oh, the crowd thinks Bakugou is being overly harsh on someone who clearly isn't on his level? Let's have Aizawa vehemently defend him and tell everyone he's showing her respect when he obviously isn't (and even doubles down after the fact). Oh, Todoroki has just embraced a part of his quirk that's more than enough to beat Bakugou? Nah, let's have Todoroki throw even though he just had an epiphany about how his power was his and not his father's.

You see where I'm going with this? No matter what, this arc absolutely bends over backwards to portray Bakugou in a positive light. Where our other characters lose, struggle, and get put through the wringer, Bakugou is handed a win (literally and figuratively) multiple times. It's part of what pushed me from genuinely enjoying the Sports Festival to somewhat disliking it.

Bakugou is never allowed to struggle unless everyone around him is struggling too, most of the time worse than he is. This is a pattern that persists throughout the series. And it started in this arc.

Todoroki

You know how I said that Uraraka was one of the characters that this arc did justice? Well, Todoroki was the other one.

His set up in the Sports Festival is fantastic. Before this arc, we knew he was important. He was strong, aloof, and the only one who could intimidate Bakugou. The way they ease us into his character is very well done from his little mannerisms to revealing his backstory.

I know most of us agree that he should have beat Bakugou. However, him winning or losing the final match never really mattered. What mattered is that he made peace with his quirk and his trauma. And through Izuku he opens himself up which not only leads to him being a loyal friend, but also makes him a better hero in the long run. He is undoubtedly the character that develops the most.

(It's also through Todoroki that we get a bit of world building. Endeavor is the first example of a corrupt hero we see and we're introduced to the concept of quirk marriages)

Unfortunately, like Uraraka, this setup doesn't pay off that well later, but again that's a story for another day.

Yaoyorozu

An unfortunate flipside of Todoroki is that Yaoyorozu's character goes through the opposite.

A pattern with Yaoyorozu is that Horikoshi seems to fluctuate between wanting to treat her as a serious character and going out of his way to screw her over. In the race, she's a victim of Mineta's perversions (there's also the cheerleading bit, but that happened to all the 1A girls so it doesn't pertain to just her; it's still shitty though). She's barely present in the Cavalry Battle, only serving as a support prop for Todoroki's team.

And then the tournament is the final nail in the coffin. Yaoyorozu before this was shown to be calm, collected, and intelligent. She also- by the Quirk Apprehension Test results- has the most control and prowess over her quirk in 1A. So it's odd that she lost to Tokoyami so easily.

Not to say that she necessarily should have won, but for her to not realize what Tokoyami was doing was out of character to say the least when she was shown to be very observant. And if Horikoshi was going to add this insecurity aspect to her character in the Sports Festival, she should have gotten more attention beforehand. At least then it would have made a bit of sense. But to give her this vaguely hinted emotional moment out of nowhere was... weird. She has barely any screen time and no growth or development to lead us into this point. And she barely gets any after this moment. There's almost no payoff or point to this.

(*cough* maybe focus less on Bakugou and give other characters a chance to shine *cough*)

Yaoyorozu might have been the character screwed over the most in this arc.

Shinsou

Wasted potential. Like I said before, having him take down Bakugou would have really hammered in how dangerous his quirk can be. It shows him as an actual threat. Having him get ringed out by Izuku in the first round doesn't do anything for anyone's character. It makes his entire introduction lackluster.

Final Thoughts

So yeah, those are my thoughts on the Sports Festival. Good for some characters, not so much for others. I always like to read fics where it gets rewritten because so much could have changed for the better. What do you guys think? Did I miss anything?

#mha critical #bnha critical #anti bakugou katsuki #sports festival arc #sports festival arc critical #long post #anti bakugou #anti bakugo katsuki #momo yaoyorozu deserves better

72 notes · View notes

familyabolisher · 10 months

Note

Apologies for bringing up a topic you've already discussed at length, but I've read through your posts on "anti-intellectualism" and completely agree with you on all counts. But I'm just now curious about how you'd define the increased culture of outright rejection of critical analysis (vague though the term is) as opposed to simple disinterest. Situations like people dismissing any deep analysis of systems, media, texts etc with "It's not that deep", or hostility towards fuller and in depth responses to statements (especially on social media with the ever prevalent "not reading that"), with the result often times being that anything requiring slight effort to engage with, or that isn't entertaining is dismissed completely.

Although I understand that these are just peoples reactions on the internet, and not systemic or material issues, I'd love to know your thoughts on how that cultural behaviour and trend could be classed, if not as anti-intellectualism.

(there are obviously a huge amount of external reasons (the attention economy, media, education etc) for people to react in that way, so I'm not blaming people personally, nor do I think everyone needs to go read Hegel and become a master critical thinker, but I do think it is a trend that has some damaging effects, especially as a response to any criticism of capitalism)

talked a little about it here—i guess i would ask what you're actually seeking to accomplish with the word "define," because there's no one explanation that can neatly account for every individual rejection of the practice of critical reading, and nor should we be seeking to find one. certainly 'anti-intellectualism' doesn't cut it, so i would just reiterate the point i made in the initial piece—how people feel about critical analysis, what their base skill level in critical analysis actually is, how that skill level is articulated, what their relationship is to the work or works in question & the respect with which they are willing to treat it are all highly contingent questions which cannot be easily explained away but instead merit thorough materialist investigation. ultimately as marxists we have to be materialists; our investigations should seek these material explanations, which means interrogating normative epistemes, education & academia, how we define "literacy" & its social use + social distribution, who benefits and who winds up disadvantaged. the "anti-intellectualism" position is broad enough to be near enough useless when it comes to articulating actionable responses; i also find it cruel.

also tbqh whilst i do get impatient when people don't "want" to engage with challenging narratives in ways that i find intellectually stimulating and would rather watch marvel film #47384 or whatever, i think it's good to take a policy of, like, blocking and moving on, curating your feed, and remembering that you don't + shouldn't have access to that person's relationship to the media landscape and the sorts of analytical tools that they may well only ever have encountered in a hostile educational setting, as well as working towards showing that engagement with "difficult" works is a) possible and b) fun and worthwhile. often people's reluctance to engage with works that have a (perceived) higher entry barrier (however ethically questionable that perception might be) simply comes from the fact that they lack/believe themselves to lack the right tools for engagement, and don't want to be made to feel "stupid" by not "getting" it—they preemptively go on the 'let people enjoy things'-esque defensive to counter this. the more candidly we talk about critical practices & the more digital airtime we give to less "mainstream" work, and the more space we give people to not understand things/to ask questions/to communicate and share ideas rather than participating in the big pissing contest of who can be the most Media Literate, the closer we get to resolving these sorts of tensions, imo.

#ask

120 notes · View notes

bemusedlybespectacled · 2 years

Note

Apologies for the off topic but would you have any tips on writing lawyers who arent just smarmy?

I DO INDEED.

Some negative traits for a lawyer character that aren't "smarmy asshole:"

Being gossipy. I have never, in my entire fucking life, met a lawyer who didn't like drama, and I am including myself in that. I know the exact details of at least three different affairs involving other attorneys in my area, all of which happened years before I started work. In law school I knew which professors had married students (and, in one case, divorced his wife who was also a professor at the same law school to marry a student), who was sleeping with whom, and who'd been kicked out for various infractions. This does extend to our clients, and we definitely will complain about them to other attorneys (within the bounds of not sharing confidential information).

On a similar note, being critical of other attorneys. So-and-so never files motions on time, or doesn't know the rules of evidence well enough to make objections, or can't write their way out of a paper bag.

Being competitive. This is more a thing with litigators, I think, but god does it feel good when you crush your opponent into the dirt. Law is an adversarial system with winners and losers, and it is so fun to be the winner. Even when you like the opponent, there's something innately satisfying when you destroy them with your superior skills.

Not knowing how other people operate. This can take a variety of forms. For some people, it's that "I have no idea if what I'm talking about is common knowledge or something only I know, so I need to explain it in detail" thing. For others, it can be "oh, not everyone thinks attempted murder is funny. Whoopsie." I had a conversation with a fellow attorney where I nodded along politely while he complained to me that representing landlords was no longer profitable for him, all the while thinking, "Does he....... does he not know that I do eviction defense?"

Being know-it-alls. I feel like this goes without saying, but quite a lot of lawyers are very confident in their knowledge and will be assholes about it. However, this doesn't stop them from...

Being perfectly average. The common idea about lawyers is that they're all Harvard-educated geniuses who know everything there is to know about everything. And I am here to tell you that lawyers are just as capable of being dumbasses as anyone else. I am incapable of doing math, and so are a lot of lawyers (the judge in the Alex Jones case kept joking about her inability to do math). When I was in law school editing the students' journal articles, I needed to give a remedial training on how to write essays because some people genuinely didn't fucking know how. And I'm not even getting into the guys who didn't know what sundown towns were.

On the flip side, some positive traits for a lawyer character:

Caring a lot. It is really, really common to burn out on law, either because your subject matter is depressing or your schedule is fucked or your clients just keep being in horrible situations that you can't help them in.

Being fucking nerds. About the law, about other interests like history or science, about fandom shit. I just found out that one of the public defenders here is taking his girlfriend (also a lawyer) to a con this week; he's easily 10+ years older than me and really good at oral arguments. I am mutuals on Tumblr with so many fucking lawyers. And that can include getting excited about weird shit, like me watching the Alex Jones trial the way other people watch sports events.

Having good social skills. Law is a service profession. Even in cases where your client isn't a human person (in-house counsel for a corporation, mergers & acquisitions, criminal prosecution where your client is The State), you are still providing a service and you are going to need to interact with the humans that benefit from that service, even if it's the complaining witness in a criminal case or the CEO of a company you work for. Attorneys with bad social skills – who are obstructionist to their opponents, or abuse their staff, or are bad with clients, or are smarmy assholes – are not liked in the profession, and being liked goes a long way with other attorneys. The number of times I've done things like call another attorney and said something like, "Hey, your client is violating the custody order, can you tell him to knock it off so I don't need to file something about it?" or "Why don't we both knock CPS out of this case and then do the adversarial thing when they're gone?" is... a lot.

In general:

Most lawyers are not making shitloads of money unless they are at very specific firms or doing extremely specific kinds of work. The majority of lawyers are basically middle class. So while the "rich asshole lawyer" stereotype exists for a reason, most lawyers aren't.

We have very strict ethical rules that we need to follow. Now, the ethical rules were implemented because people weren't being ethical on their own, but we do have them. If you want to be a nerd, go look up your local bar's sanctions page.

We specialize in different areas of law. Just like how an eye doctor might vaguely remember stuff about the endocrine system from medical school but probably doesn't know more than that, a criminal lawyer is probably not going to go into, say, wills & trusts. They can, but most people find their niche in an area they like.

There are other kinds of law than just corporate and criminal. Where is my seasons-long TV series about legal aid? Environmental prosecution? TAXES?

#writing #lawyers #lawblr #real lawblr #personal #askbox

1K notes · View notes

rosemxze · 8 months

Text

about the 10/19 update:

reminder: criticism is okay but do not be hateful, or send PB or anyone hate.

so, apparently a lot of players are really mad right now. the CN players pointed out PB's lack of transparency in their emergency maintenance notice. they pointed out that they were reducing store benefits while increasing exchange prices. to some players, they feel like PB is turning WHB into a cash cow.

additionally, allegedly some people have lost money from the shop passes where if you had previously made a purchase, you would have to pay again since PB had made adjustments to the rewards 😭 also they've also hidden the old levelling reward in shop passes according to this tweet. overall, it's super confusing so i'll just leave this topic as it is.

honestly, i do understand that PB needs to earn money to pay their employees but i think the way they package their bundles and paid gems are terrible and just doesn't seem to be worth the money.

for their 113+7 gems pack i can't even afford 1 lesser key, whereas for around the same amount of money i can spend it on arknights's monthly card which gives 11 pulls or genshin's welkin pass which gives 16 pulls.

so i just come to the simple conclusion that i'm going to stay f2p. it's just not worth it if i can spend it on a different game and get more. it's not a big deal for me as long as banners eventually get rerun ahahah

some were also upset about no maintenance compensation which i think is fair because the maintenance would usually have some sort of compensation in exchange for their player base not being able to play/grind during that time period. i feel like PB could have gave guilty gems, lesser keys, or solomon's tears. or even gold/books or jelly or any of the upgrade materials that is difficult to farm for right now. or even pies which is even more difficult to collect than tears atm.

there should also be compensation for those who have lost their money through this update :')

there were also some criticism regarding how they "fixed" the store instead of the bugs. not only that but more bugs appeared such as some units are now unable to be deployed after the update or how the secret shop's vortex will appear every time you log in but the shop itself never appears.

the more common topic at hand is the solomon tears. some players have argued that this is what you're supposed to expect when you are an f2p player. however, i would like to also argue that it shouldn't take months to fully max a single character— which includes promotion, skills (2 for most, 3 for L-tiers) and unholy board (for L-tiers).

reminder that this game is eventually going to have 80 casts (or more if they add the angels and humans like obey me has done) in the future. that is a lot of characters and they will each have different copies and versions of each of them in the future too.

using arknights as an example, that game is farmable for f2p players like myself. i never spent money on arknights but i was able to upgrade multiple characters much faster which is good for tower defense games where you need to strategise with different characters. albeit WHB is easier in that aspect of strategy, it still doesn't change how it is definitely a little more challenging in WHB to build characters.

though, i can also go on the other side and argue that perhaps PB didn't mean for us to speedrun the content either.

i'm personally okay with grinding and being patient as long as the event stages are reasonable and can be cleared without very high difficulties.

also i'm also personally okay if their gacha banners have a reasonable pacing and pity system. since that is my personal main concern as a gacha addict :p

though, seeing all the others' feedbacks also kind of influenced me a bit and made me skeptical of PB. this single update kind of made me look at them in a different light and not the positive kind 😅

but!! they still have another update on 10/25 so i guess we'll just have to see how that one goes. maybe there will be improvements? who knows. i'm just praying for the better because i do enjoy this game so far and want it to do well in the future too 🙏

reminder: again, it's okay to criticise and give feedback but please do not be malicious and hateful 🙇‍♀️

#rae rambles #whb updates #what in “hell” is bad?#what in hell is bad #whb

52 notes · View notes

cerealkillerfr · 7 days

Text

politics

disclamer: i am not american. this does not affect me, at least for now. this perhaps may decrease my following but my friends are in danger, and im drinking a beer, i dont give a shit at the moment

"Project 2025 is a strategic initiative aimed at transforming the US Army into a more lethal, agile, and adaptable fighting force by the year 2025. This ambitious plan encompasses a wide range of modernization efforts across all aspects of the Army, from its personnel and training to its equipment and technology. A key element of Project 2025 is the development and integration of advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous systems. These technologies are intended to enhance the Army's ability to collect and analyze information, conduct operations in complex environments, and engage adversaries effectively. The project also emphasizes the importance of network modernization and cyber security, recognizing the growing role of cyber warfare and the need for resilient and secure communication systems. In addition to technological advancements, Project 2025 prioritizes the development of human capital by focusing on training, education, and recruitment. The goal is to cultivate a workforce that is skilled, adaptable, and capable of operating effectively in a rapidly changing world. By combining these technological and human elements, Project 2025 aspires to create an Army that is prepared to meet the challenges of future conflicts and maintain its position as the premier military force in the world. " - Unknown name

I am not american. I will not say my views, whether republican, liberal, democrat or whatever views and titles there are

But i will simply say what i have heard and what i have read

Project 2025, a nefarious agenda cloaked in a veil of progress, looms over society, threatening to erode fundamental freedoms and plunge us into a dystopian nightmare. At its core is a sinister plot to restrict access to reproductive healthcare, stripping women of their control over their own bodies. Abortion, a fundamental human right, is deemed a heinous crime, with draconian punishments meted out to those who dare to seek or provide it. I do not doubt they will be going after birth control as well, which is also a human right.

Furthermore, Project 2025 viciously targets the LGBTQ+ community, attempting to erase their very existence. Marriage equality is revoked, and same-sex couples are denied the right to love, raise families, or live their lives openly. Hateful rhetoric spews from the highest offices, fostering an atmosphere of fear and persecution.

Education is also under attack, with curricula twisted to promote a narrow, intolerant worldview. Critical thinking and open discussion are stifled, replaced with indoctrination and propaganda. Young minds are poisoned with messages of hate and exclusion, shaping a generation destined for ignorance and intolerance.

The arts, once a bastion of free expression, are now subject to censorship. Artists who dare to challenge the status quo are silenced, their works banned or destroyed. Culture is homogenized and controlled, leaving no room for diversity or dissent.

Trump's tax cuts, primarily benefiting wealthy individuals and corporations, have been criticized for increasing the national debt and widening income inequality. Trump's administration has rolled back environmental regulations, including those addressing climate change and pollution control, drawing criticism from scientists and environmentalists.

Trump's immigration policies, such as the border wall and family separations, have been condemned as inhumane and ineffective, exacerbating tensions at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump's attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, were unsuccessful. However, his administration's actions, such as weakening the mandate and Medicaid expansion, have led to concerns about reduced healthcare access.

Trump's rhetoric and policies have been criticized for fueling racial tensions and promoting gender discrimination. The travel ban targeting majority-Muslim countries and the separation of families at the border have drawn accusations of racism and xenophobia.

Trump's presidency and the Republican Party's support of his policies have contributed to deep political polarization in the United States. His divisive rhetoric and inflammatory tweets have exacerbated existing divisions and made it harder to find common ground. Trump's attacks on the media, the judiciary, and law enforcement have raised concerns about the erosion of democratic institutions. His refusal to concede defeat in the 2020 election and his supporters' storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, have further undermined public trust in the electoral process.

This is what i have heard

I have women friends, gay friends, trans friends that live in america

I suggest not voting for trump, but lets be honest, thats been said a dozen timew, doesnt make it any less hwlpful of advice

your all off your heads (or perhaps faces) if ye think project 2025 is good

#trump 2024 #project 2025 #us politics #politics #journalism #opinion #criticism #controversy #boke #drunken dinger

11 notes · View notes

carnal-lnstinct · 1 year

Note

Friends with benefits Broly x Reader?

BROLY (DBS) X READER

☆☆ Content: ( au: post - super hero, friends with benefits, implied size difference, oral - male receiving ) ☆☆ Warning: ( M / 18+. MINORS DNI. explicit language )

☆☆ A/N: I can't believe I haven't written spicy broly since November, now he out here getting "foodie calls"

You don’t know how you got roped into this cycle of feeding saiyans. There was no obligation for you to do it like Bulma and Chi Chi, but it quickly became a regular thing and at least twice a month you had the three showing up at your home after training waiting to be fed. It all started with their new addition and your new mutual friend, Broly. You quickly became acquainted and whatever you chose to label your loose commitment, you grew more familiar with him than any other man you’ve known as “just a friend”. Regardless, you accepted this cook role for what it was if it meant you got to see more of Broly. Certainly, this was his excuse to see more of you. You even found yourself planning out meals for their next visit to flex your cooking skills.

There was a language of love in cooking for others who enjoyed it, and it shined in your determination to awe them for the next time. Delving into recipes from the common modern cuisine to some from your cultural background. Sometimes comparing your own meals to the others often made you hesitant to try bolder recipes, however. Bulma can produce high-quality and multi-course meals at the snap of her finger, enough to feed them for months at a time. And Chi Chi’s a virtuoso with creating unique, hearty, and delicious home cooking from scratch, able to use all her resources to satisfy the hungriest of warriors. They’ve also been doing this longer, you have to remind yourself.

But you’ve never gotten criticism from either one of the saiyans intending to bash your skills, only from how quickly certain portions can disappear without a ready refill from Vegeta and Goku.

Broly never complained, he accepted everything you could give him with quiet contentment and simply ate his share of the large portions. It’s hard not to notice when the other two are so vocal about wanting more, so you just made sure to give Broly a little extra here and there. A polite thanks is given in return when you refill his plate before it empties. You don’t know exactly where he came from, other than Goku describing it as “repugnant”, but it was nice to know that someone capable of such frightful powers still came with his manners. He may have been the biggest saiyan you’ve ever seen, but he was without a doubt the most soft-spoken and polite, an amusing change from Goku’s free-and-easy demeanor and Vegeta’s snobbish persona.

You used to think the sex would help bring Broly out of his shell (it did wonders for Vegeta’s personality), knowing he is locked in this mundane routine of physical and mental training, but it may have just made him more docile. Perhaps he mistook it as more training for his emotions. It did make it easier to talk about with him, at least.

You eventually left the three to finish chatting up about their day and finish up the last of the food, returning to the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes. The only downside to their company was being left alone to clean up the mess so you figured you’d get a headstart. You weren’t left alone for long, however, a sudden large hand on your shoulder almost jolting you out of your skin from Broly’s quiet approach. You laugh off your scare and quickly take notice of the timid, yet distressed frown in his features, realizing it was there before he accidentally surprised you. Did you miss something over their mealtime?

“Oh, hey. What’s the matter?” You asked, concerned about the reason behind this change from his normal demeanor. Based on what you did tune into from their chatting, you could think of one reason this may be. “Bad training session?”

“No.” Broly paused, then looked further disappointed by his answer. “Not…really.” He corrected. They couldn’t stop talking about Goku and Vegeta’s exhibition while they ate, but Broly and Goku sparred too. Along with its abrupt end, it never came up for conversation. Had he not almost lost control, maybe things would have ended differently today. He would have a nice story to share with you on his progress instead.

It was truly an experience to be on the spectator side of a fight for once and Broly was moved to try to emulate the other two saiyans’ ability to maintain their power as they fought, however he couldn't overlook his lack of dominance over his strength and be ashamed. Being unable to control his power even after a couple of years of training with Goku made him feel like he was missing something in his lessons. He's improved dramatically, but still so much is left to learn.

“Did you…lose focus again?” You asked, halting your cleaning entirely to look at him. Broly nods softly.

“Only for a moment.” He admitted. Even for just a brief instance of a slip-up where he caught himself, he wanted it to sound better than it was, how it made him feel. In search of that relief, you were more than receptive to his troubles and willing to help.

"Do you need help with ‘focusing’ again?" You inquired further, a sincere concern with a suggestive undertone he did not miss. In fact, he hoped for it. With nerves building in the base of his chest, Broly swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded at you again.

You smiled at him, charmed by his ability to say so much with his actions than words. And still so careful and shy about approaching you for your “help” after doing this a couple of times already. You quickly felt your insides come alive, motivated by the decadent impulses that would consume you from here on. Indulging saiyans is truly a delight you never thought you wanted until you had it.

Calmly drying your hands, you close the space between the two of you and hold up your hands invitingly. At the ready, Broly follows along. His larger hands press into yours where your fingers interlock. He watches you close your eyes and take a deep breath, doing the same.

“Where am I?” You asked him and you feel the little squeeze of his hands around yours.

“You’re here.” He says, his heart skipping a beat but another deep breath eases its rhythm. Your smile grows hearing him do so and you reopen your eyes to look up at him.

“Where are you?” You follow up, giving his hands a squeeze in return.

“Here..” Spoken gently, Broly opening his eyes, finding himself lulled to the familiar relaxed state of being with a floaty sensation, yet his senses were so keen and sparked by the body before him. Then his eyes locked onto yours and he allowed himself to fall into his urges. Giving in only to those that could desire the warmth of your body, all others drowned out in the placid state of his mind. A shade of pink rises in his tan cheeks remembering the acute sensations of you, leaning down to kiss your lips the way he learned. He moved more confidently than he has before, more controlled, which you appreciated.

It’s not exactly the place you want to do this, but you doubt the other two would be in a hurry to move after putting away all that food. Urgency was the key still as Broly would have to return to Lord Beerus’ planet after this. You freed one of your hands to cup his chin, basking in the sweet kisses heating up between you as he fills his hand with your face as well. Deepening the kiss. His unspoken neediness reared itself quickly when you found your backside bumped against the counter, bound in the small space with his body pressing closer to you. A mess waiting to happen if you knock over the stack of dishes. So you opt for something else.

His pelt brushes over your nose when you got on your knees in front of him, the mixed scent of his musk from training and the last time you cleaned it for him filling the air around your head. Alluring and rugged, you couldn’t help taking a moment to let it intoxicate you. Half of your face disappeared beneath his pelt as you kissed along the tent on his formfitting pants, feeling it flinch in return. Your eyes peer up at him, checking in. Broly is slightly hunched over to watch you, eyes darkened and face glowing with his desire.

"I'm here." He reassures you, encouraging you to continue for more. He sees your eyes smile back at him and it felt like his heart was flipping in his chest in anticipation of what was coming next. You pulled the purple fabric free of Ba’s ear and down the bulge before you, freeing his hard cock as it hung erect above your face.

The size of it never failed to impress you, the mere fullness of his girth and its strong length bearing its weight. One could easily be lost in staring at it just by how intense it looked and only the brave like yourself could find how sensitive it truly was. That had to be your favorite part. You give the exposed head a kiss before you grab him at the base of his length and rub your flattened tongue across the tip. Broly took in a sharp, deep breath once your lips wrapped around him, falling past his lips with the shaky heat from his chest. His eyes softened at the touch, fighting his instincts to close them so he can keep them on you. This was where he needed his control the most, when you trusted him to hold his focus. He’d bite his lip bloody and bury his nails into the palm of his hand before he would let himself hurt you.

But it felt so good, the warmth of your mouth wrapped around the head of his cock, suckling around the sensitive glans and working your way further down the length with your hand coming the opposite way. It sent a shiver all the way up his spine as he leaned his hips into you, his voice creeping out of his slacked jaw. You truly enjoyed the way your mouth felt opening up to his size. It was easier for now, but you knew the further this went the more trouble it would be to hold it in your mouth as you were, let alone slide it as deep as you could.

Broly came with a little trick you never seen before and made you curious if all saiyans did it, but as fully erect as he was, he was far from his true size. With a strong hand cupping the end of the counter and the other on the nearby wall, you feel him buck against your opened mouth and your eyes look up to him, relaxing your jaw so he would slip free. His cock twitches more excitedly, missing the sensation of you.

"I-I'm here…" Broly breathed heavily. Practically pleading in his lust for you to go on, licking the dryness from his lips.

He does let his eyes close this time when you draw him back past your lips and his head lulls back as a moral vocal groan leaves him. As you picked up your pace, you started to feel his girth swell, expanding your jaw to a more discomforting stretch and you knew he was about to cum. Your one hand and lips couldn’t quite meet in the middle any longer, so you brought your second to add to his pleasure. Slick with your saliva, you switched to pumping the swollen length while you continue to suck only on the sensitive head of his cock, motivated to keep this pace by the lively twitches under your ministrations.

#♚ ;; [ requests ]#broly x reader #broly imagine #dbs broly #dbz imagine #dbz fics #nsft #lemon #My writing

57 notes · View notes

mercurialic · 3 months

Text

*mario voice* itsa’ me, theo! i present to you a concoction of rambles dedicated to house yoon’s youngest successor, yoon ryeol. feel free to like annnnd i’ll come running your way to plot!

overview

yoon ryeol: youngest appointed to the vassal house, yoon. son of skillful artisans and antiquarians before his time. he is the last known nephew of the avatar, yuha.

a competent firebender. at least, to his knowledge. neither a prodigy or an inadequate wielder of his craft. at best, a proficient skill master. is currently pre-occupied with other habitual doings, as reaching near expertise-level isn’t of interest…. yet. 🤔 (?)

politics! known to be unbearably outspoken about his political alliance with house ozaki. never a blind follower of tepid leaders, of course not, but one must criticize its government against all that is unjust! house yi is dictated by an underdeveloped, young and cruel empire unfit for rule (to Him). thus, ryeol resents his aunt for assisting in yi sado’s succession.

remains indifferent (although positively-leaning) about his family’s business exporting/importing art and religious valuables. displays a lacking interest in pursuing related careers. instead, has taken an adventurous and theory-seeking journey with physics, which, came to be as a result of being a firebender.

(assumed) public image: the fool, the nut case, the outlier, the idiot, haphazard mad scientist and physicist in training. ryeol’s outwardly dedication to the fire nation’s past sociopolitical affairs is none other than dismissed as “stay-out-of-grown-folks-business, kid!”. he’s got a backbone and a voice so it’s up to him to use it, with his proximity to higher society for the disadvantaged!

background tw / fatshaming, emotional neglect

when lady yoon was informed that she had a bun in the oven, it was likely that confusion washed over her. like. whatdoyoumeani’mpregnantwithmyfourthkid. hence, ryeol being a mistake baby — neither planned or wanted. he was just there, slowly clawing into existence and, so, that was how he was born. no celebrations, no tears of joy — just, y’know, great. another yoon baby, i guess. a boy at that, too. now what? ohrightwe’retheyoonswealwayshaveresourcesforchildrearing. nowimagineifweweredestitute, oops! haha!

anywho! ryeol was a robust and a chunky kid. it threw both of his parents off, having been a chubby infant, toddler, and child well into his adolescence. you can call the excessive baby fat cute, or you can call him a tub of lard; either way, the kid has a thyroid problem (the culprit of being overweight all throughout childhood) which sends him in and out of healers all throughout his life. however, this hasn’t stopped him from frolicking and running around yuha island untiiiiiiil he gets shipped off to the royal fire nation academy.

during his time at the academy he hones both military-based combat and later, firebending. moreover, ryeol’s firebending manifested much later in life (mid to late teens, i think?) which lead to his family putting him somewhat.. on the back burner. and, well, being an annoyance (or chronically misunderstood? more about that below) for a child growing up in the court as well, but, that’s a whole other ordeal. lord and lady yoon have greater and more adept children to pay attention to, and it sure as hell isn’t yoon ryeol. at some point, he’s left to raise himself. he feels pathetic, the situation’s pathetic; you’re allowed to feel sorry for him. even if he knew from the start, his existence is a foil.

so, he did just enough to keep his performance afloat, was far from an ambitious overachiever, but never stooped so low to be behind his peers. training lead to a gradual weight loss for his thyroid health as advised by the healers, not for visual aesthetics. one’s appearance is a form of social capital/currency even in the era of yuha, so it’s very unfortunate that ryeol in his adulthood is receptive of sudden benefits because he looks a certain way (still has a whopping of low self-esteem insecurities tho). the benefits were there to begin with as a young lord to the house yoon, but… you know where i’m getting at.

by the time culmination season comes around, the newly gifted firebender no longer wanted to pursue the military. continuing the family business in art/historical/religious valuable as trade wasn’t his vibe either. rather.. the hypothesized and the unknown intrigues him! researching and dwelling into natural sciences concerning matter! energy and forces! motions and theoretical physics has never appealed to him more than ever — all thanks to his own subatomic findings — referring to firebending (wip: about how the hell that came to be btw)!!

hence! the young lord’s time dwelling from island to island, port to port, and city to city upon his personal journey for discoveries. ryeol wouldn’t have been a nomad if it weren’t for his observations, i can assure you. that is, after pursuing secondary education by studying (umbrella termed) natural sciences. then, narrowing down his education onto a focus of physics. however, ryeol’s academic wanderings are so far off, he’s even contemplating the universe and its laws (is the sun the center of the universe in year 62? beat u to it, galileo galilei!) — that he doesn’t know if or how he wants to narrow his analyzations… will he, or will he not? that is the question!

attributes, characteristics, philosophies

yoon ryeol can’t focus on a single task for too long. he buffers responses in his head when having formal, back-to-back conversations. his mannerisms is almost as though he’s replicating what it’s like to be human for the first time. social cues? he misses them. hyperboles? he takes them word for word — literally. he has organizational troubles, despises certain textures, and does not hate routine. yoon ryeol is on the spectrum (linked to his thyroid disease), but neurodivergent/autistic intricacies has not been recorded in medical scrolls. or if it has.. then it’s highly unspecified? — so nobody really knows what the hell is going on. that’s just his brain! he doesn’t know where he’s going and sometimes that’s alright! (i’m sure modern day historians and cognitive psychologists would LOVE you ryeol!)

a lifelong learner: this isn’t equated strictly to the world of academics! ryeol is a lifelong learner and pupil in every way possible. from what he could absorb emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually — whether about the lives of people, past civilizations, how artistry came to be, or the *jaden smith voice* socioeconomic state of the world, you name it!

although in my stats page for ryeol mentions his introverted mbti, i’d like to come out now and say that he’s a proud ambivert. takes him awhile to want to approach strangers, but, once that threshold of apprehension has been knocked down after revealing that he’s a weirdo.. then you’ve got a professional yapper in him! i’m afraid at his core, he truly loves to yap. you’re talking about one thing and he’s bringing up the next. like, okay. honestly. i’m not even gonna hold yall to it — bro do be stupid and acting thoughtlessly, so! that is that. you have been warned. he means well tho.

intensely unamused by his family’s generational wealth. ryeol is a little embarrassed that the yoons rose to riches as merchants, which is predominantly their entire estate — all business and networking. point is, ryeol feels like his nobility (or the importance of) could be denounced, in comparison to other noteworthy houses, if it weren’t without the wealth. he doesn’t have to fight for anything, material wise, or desire much for it to just come crashing onto his lap. you would think this would spoil him, but it bores ryeol to know he’s lived a life without the need to earn. i suppose this is why he’s ridiculously frugal, not that he doesn’t enjoy nice things, but… sometimes nice things don’t serve him much purpose. wealth does answer to financial stability, though. that, he likes. perhaps yoon ryeol is a hypocrite in his own right.

can’t keep a straight face: whether trying to bite down on a smile in an inappropriate situation (routinely has done this in the court as a boy growing up — he even laughed once, too) or be visually void of emotions. that being said, yoon ryeol has an innate partiality for mischief! he doesn’t listen to his elders, siblings, and ends up paying the price for his foolishness. and trust me, he’s paid the consequences for it all his life, and will continue to. from petty court doings to bickering and banter, it’s no wonder he is house yoon’s most reprimanded.

in dostoevsky’s terms, father of “the idiot” (myshkin you will always be famous — can you tell i’ve picked up some inspo?): yoon ryeol has to fuck around and find out. one way or the other, somehow; it’s in his blood! that’s probably why he’s so dedicated to his scientific findings which is essentially all about.. fucking around and finding out, tbh. the greatest discoveries are born from mistakes. errors. trial and errors!

possible connections

fair warning that i’m quite a plot heavy person so despite the general connections below, i’d love to flesh them out to the best of my ability!

general: best friend/confidant, childhood friends (have they parted? or stayed within each other’s circle?), enemies turned acquaintanceship, sparring partners, combat instructor, a wonky situationship, former classmates, an ex, someone that he absolutely despises because you’re entitled to your wrong political opinion.

1a. fellow nomads? travelers? educators? wanderers? where are you all? in search of someone even remotely interested in ryeol’s purposeful academic findings who embark on his journey all across yuha island and/or otherwise, gather! maybe he bribed you for a specific reason (utp upon plotting) or your muse joined out of their own accord.. will they get caught outside of grounds? will they not? either way, we’re heading west! or south!

2b. your muse is under the impression that ryeol has a crush on them. i mean, the signs seem like so? he always finds his way to be around you, he wants to share his endeavors and every little thought that passes his brain with you — surely, it seems like it, no? not quite. you’ve just created a safe space for him to not have to mask with 98.6% of the people he’s met because he thinks highly of you! oh, shit, you thought he wanted you — ? sorry! unless?

3c. ?? more to come .. or so that i hope ?? 😵‍💫

#rs.intro #let him cook now

11 notes · View notes

bit-b · 8 months

Text

AI *F*ART

------------------------------ Note: Please do not harass, intimidate, threaten or doxx the person being discussed here. Names and genders have been censored for this reason. No disagreement is worth hurting someone over. ------------------------------

I was typing out this as a reply to a specific person with some dubious takes. But I think it applies to everyone. So I’m gonna rework this and make it a tiny bit more general.

This all comes from someone who got upset by a post that was being critical about AI technology. They were clapping back at anyone clowning on tech-bros in the comments.

I admit that I was on the clowning side of things. And my points were more for comedic value, and not to make any solid arguments. But after getting replies from this person citing some flaws in my logic, I decided to play ball and listen to their side.

My main question I had for them was: “What are the benefits of using an AI to generate a base picture instead of having a human artist do all the work?”

Their response was:

1. It's thousands of times faster. 2. It's far higher quality than most artists are capable of producing. Even with the occasional fucked up hands that need to be edited.

------------------------------

Let’s cover the first one.

This person uses indie game devs as the base for their argument.

People tend to have a limited amount of time on their hands. And making a bunch of art from-scratch takes up a LOT of that time.

In all this time, a person will need to pay for food and shelter. So they’ll either need to have a lot of money, or will need to save up to be able to dedicate their time to the project.

Now, I also wanna add the option of working on the project in the background for as long as needed. Though, this method also has its own costs/benefits. The main drawback would be the MUCH longer time it would take to complete.

There’s also the option to bring other people on board. That said, everyone would have to operate under the expectation that no one is being compensated for their work unless a successful product is made. Everyone would have to be really passionate about the vision of the project for a scenario like this to work.

For an indie, I can see how using AI would be tempting.

However, what isn’t being accounted for is the original artists whose art was loaded into these AI models.

Their art represents decades of personal practice. Skills honed by passionate people that wanted to bring their visions to life. This is why work like theirs tends to be compensated for. Or at the very least, credited.

In a good number of cases, artists don’t want their finished work to be fed into an AI model.

With current AI ethics, original artists are usually not credited or compensated. And the images generated from these AI models get used for all manner of projects that the original artist didn’t consent to.

In cases described above, the indie devs would be effectively stealing the artists’ work, mashing it up a bunch, and reselling it to their customers. All without getting consent. And the artists would receive no financial compensation or credit for their work.

So if I’m interpreting this right, this person values the speed and efficiency of indie development over properly crediting and paying the artists that made these AI tools possible to begin with.

And this person, according to their own words, believes that giving artists the ability to use the tools counts as compensation. They believe artists should start using AI and stop complaining. “[Adapt to the times]”, more-or-less.

I don’t subscribe to ANY of the mentality here. To me, It’s basically a person demanding others do what they say. All because they wanna have a fun little toy that allows them to get away with not paying or crediting people.

------------------------------

Now, how ‘bout the second point.

“It’s far higher quality than most artists are capable of producing. Even with the occasional fucked up hands that need to be edited.”

I want to point out that art quality is a subjective thing. “High quality” boils down to people’s individual interpretations.

In my opinion, a lot of the AI images I’ve seen are extremely similar in color composition, have very repetitive layouts, and most contain plenty of the telltale flaws of AI generation (weird hands, text, plants, architecture, etc.).

AI images lack any kind of specific flavor that makes human-made art unique. With an art piece made by a person, you get stuff like unique lineart, quality shading, distinctive color palettes, dynamic poses, noteworthy or relevant emotions on faces. All-in-all, a more personal art piece. And a chance to work with a pretty cool person.

So to me, I don’t consider quality to be a solid reason to use AI-generated images. If anything, the opposite is true, and your quality is significantly hurt from using these tools.

As long as legal statutes aren’t set, no one can stop a person from using AI to generate assets for projects. However, using them is ethically dubious. It showcases the lack of quality and effort a person wants to put into their work. And it really reveals how a person ACTUALLY feels about what they’re selling.

------------------------------

Another point made had to do with open-source software.

This person noted how much open-source software has helped people. They stated that artists are being selfish for not allowing their work to be used when programmers have been contributing their code for free.

The difference is that when a programmer starts coding around someone's open-source code, there's an express knowledge that they're making something under an open-source license.

When a base set of code is made under an open-source license, it's dictated that other people can take that code and trade it around and modify it in whatever ways they want, as long as they ALSO operate under a similar or exact open-source license. It’s also usually required to link back to the original source.

Now, if an artist really wanted to, there’s nothing stopping them from creating art exclusively to feed it into AI models. Heck, someone could get a community of artists together with the goal of drawing art for the sole purpose of feeding it into AI. Everyone in that group could properly consent, and accept the terms of this kind of agreement.

Problem is, most AI initiatives aren’t set up like that. They collect art from all over the internet, generate new pictures out of them, and assume that the original artists will be cool with it. It’s actively taking the choice away from people. And stripping their names out in the process.

Open-source software has a reasonable setup that facilitates sharing and modifying for free. The legal groundwork for AI images do not. And until some proper ethics and legalese are put in place, AI image models will continue to hold a reputation for undercutting and undermining artists.

------------------------------

This person offered up a bunch of other options for artists to consider instead of only focusing on commissions. Stuff like:

Making a game and using their art as assets for it. Using an engine like Ren'Py, which is open-source.

This implies that artists are gonna wanna make games in the first place. Making games and making art are two different things. They have overlapping parts, but the interests are not the same.

Also, it’s not as simple as that. You still need to learn how to use a game engine. While it’s easier than starting from scratch, not everyone’s a whizz at coding and programming.

It would take time to learn. An artist can’t just swap skill sets at the drop of a hat. And they might spend all this time learning this new skill (one that isn’t even a passion of theirs) to end up having poor sales and failing in their new endeavors.

Learn to 3D model. AI can’t do that yet. And won’t for probably a decade. And if it does learn, then learn how to rig your models for VR games like VRChat.

Once again, there’s overlapping interests. But 3D modeling is not a simple skill to learn, and a lot of 2D artistic skills don’t translate over to 3D.

As someone who has made his own 3D model from scratch, I can tell you that it is NOT simple. And there’s mountains of tools and functions that you’re gonna need to learn to make 3D modeling a viable skill to profit off of.

And, wait. If AI learns to 3D model, this person’s next suggestion is to learn to rig models for VR?

Realistically, what’s stopping programmers from setting up the AI to automatically rig models? I know of a bunch of plugins for Blender that already exist that do that sort of thing. A tiny bit of human correction, and auto-rigging can be pretty easy.

------------------------------

So in summation: This person wants 2D artists to toss out a perfectly valuable skill they spent years perfecting, let an AI do it, and learn other artistic skills that they might not like, or aren’t adept for. All to make a bunch of non-artists happy? People who show little to no respect for the skill it takes to make art happen?

And the really delicious irony about all of this? They’re suggesting that artists should go learn new skills to survive new AI technologies, when THIS PERSON could practice what they preach and go learn new techniques that could improve their ability to draw.

Brush up on some skills that help with quality. Pick up tricks that improve output speed. Work on mastering the ability to draw EXACTLY the thing envisioned in your head.

The best part of doing it that way: you’re not screwing over a bunch of innocent people just to make a picture of an anime babe.

#ai #ai art #ai generated #ai image #ai artwork #artificial intelligence #art

22 notes · View notes

slayingfiction · 10 months

Text

Beta Readers

What is a beta reader and beta reading?

Beta readers are a test audience for authors’ new books. This could include friends, family, or someone in the book community. It does not require any type of training or professional education. Beta readers receive book copies before they get released in order to give feedback to the author about their novel. Beta reading is typically the stage after proofreading and right before publishing.

How do authors benefit from beta readers

Beta reading helps an author by getting feedback from their future audience before publishing so they can make desired changes to improve the reception of their novel. This can save them time and money by fixing problems prior to publishing that have been missed. It also helps build readership for when the book releases, because beta reader will be able to post reviews, enticing others to read the novel.

How can you benefit from beta reading?

There are many ways to benefit from being a beta reader. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest reasons:

Free books: First and foremost, you get free books! To be a beta reader, you must love reading, so this is typically the biggest reason people want to become beta readers. You can get a small reprieve from buying books and just get them for free! All you need to give in return is your opinion.

Sense of accomplishment: Beta reading is a very important job and can determine the failure or success of a novel. You get to be a part of the team that can make a difference in peoples’ lives. One book can make all the difference to both authors and readers alike. You get a sense of joy, pride and accomplishment by helping.

Compensation: Most beta readers will never make money from this, most taking on this responsibility for the two aforementioned reasons. However, that doesn’t mean sometimes you can’t receive financial compensation for your feedback. Those with a reputation for strong book reviews or have lots of experience in reading and giving feedback can certainly make a profit for this service. Making money from beta reading could be done with some of the following options:

Freelancing: Using freelance websites such as Upwork or Fiverr, you can market yourself as a beta reader and get jobs from people and companies offering compensation to beta readers.

Websites: Work with companies such as OnlineBookClub to get paid for your reviews of new upcoming books.

Market yourself in communities: You can market yourself as a beta reader for compensation when joining writing communities and establishing yourself as a prominent and professional beta reader within communities such as BookTok, Bookstagram, Goodreads, LinkedIn, and more. If you’re willing to put the effort in, this can come with some great rewards.

Your Brand: Being a beta reader for authors and companies can greatly enhance your brand or recognition in the book and writing communities if you decide you want to do this for a long time, want to add it to other services you offer, or become a novelist yourself in the future. Working in the community can do great things if you want to become established in the future.

How do I become an amazing beta reader?

Beta reading isn’t the most complicated of jobs, but it does take talent, skills, and knowledge to be a superstar beta reader. Here’s some ways to stand out against the crowd.

Read. Simple enough, right? It almost seems like common sense, but the truth is, the more you read, the better you get at understanding novel structures and elements. It also gives you great practice to work on your critical thinking and analyzing skills.

Choose books only from your favourite genres. Authors are looking for people who are in their targeted audience, because they are the ones who will have the best knowledge of that genre and relate it to other readings they have done. So don’t beta read a mystery novel if you mostly read romance novels.

Be knowledgeable of how books work. Plots, characters, world building, and more can all differ based on genre, so you want to know how these elements may be missing or lacking for this specific novel in order to give your best feedback.

Understand the author’s desired target audience so you can tailor your feedback to help them write for their readers. You will then be capable of analyzing the reading level and explicit scenes to determine if they should be fixed or left as-is.

Understand what kind of answers will best help the author perfect their novel. Try reviewing questions such as this: Questions to ask your alpha/beta readers. Understanding what authors are looking for will give you a better idea of how to be most useful and become critical to your community.

Don’t give your personal opinions. What you may like, or prefer, can greatly differ from what is useful to the author. Instead of saying you don’t like it, or how you would like to see it written or played out, tell them what elements are causing you to not enjoy the novel. Learn to understand your dislike of something due to problems in the work versus personal preference.

Be completely honest, but honesty never needs to be brutal. The novel you read in a day could have taken that author months or years to write, and it would be their whole life. Be gentle in your feedback, and always assure you tell them what they are doing well, not only the mistakes.

I am sorry for not posting anything lately. Recently I have been been working very hard at creating my own blog website that will include blog posts, mini writing courses, manuscript services, author of the month, and current read with a book review. I’m so excited for you all to see it when it gets up and running!

I hope everyone has a great week,

Happy Writing!

@cheerfulmelancholies Sorry it took so long to answer your question, I hope this helps at least a little! :)

#creative writing #writing community #writer #writeblr #novel writing #writing advice #fiction #writerscommunity #writing #tumblr writers #beta reader

20 notes · View notes

destinyc1020 · 5 months

Note

i will say something that frustrates me a bit, tom could dominate hollywood like Zendaya and timmy if he chooses too. he's got the skills, hes got the charisma, hes got the looks, and unlike Z who had to work her ass off for where she is today, he's got privilege. if he just go to the right events and make the right connections, and choose the right roles, he could dominate hollywood. of course with roles, there will be hits and misses. i love tom, huge fan of his. he did wonderful with spiderman and uncharted even though people were rooting against, but his charisma and talent won a lot of people over. kid's got potential he just doesnt use it. either because he doesnt want to or doesnt know how to. but it is frustrating as of right now because theres so much potential. the good thing about awards shows and these types of events is that he can meet and talk to some major players in hollywood, he just doesnt want to go, and i get why, he said why but doesnt change things. Timmy uses his star power, and though a bit pretentious and hungry for fame which i dislike, hes (for the most part/ he made poor decisions over the last month or 2) smart. he goes to events, he mingles with people, he chooses to work with powerful and big name directors and you've got to give him that at least. same with JE. and i hate JE literally. hes more pretentious and obnoxious, no charisma but him and his team are super smart. i will give them that at least.

Thanks for your honest thoughts and opinions Anon.

You know, I kind of hear this type of sentiment from many Tom stans quite a lot, and I'm wondering if possibly what's going on here is that SOME of Tom's stans sort of feel like he started off on such a great foot with his earlier indie career, and then with Spider-Man, but then now...Some may feel as though Tom is kind of lagging behind his peers, especially when they see other actors around his same age (even up-and-coming actors) seeming to be "eclipsing" Tom (Dom's favorite word lol 😅) in the Hollywood industry career department.

I can sort of see why SOME of Tom's stans who actually really do love him would like to see him having the same prestige, film roles, or perceived "hype" in Hollywood that they see other young actors getting in the industry.

With all of that said however... I think fans need to take a deep breath, take a step back, and keep in mind first and foremost that the level of fame that Tom has is NOT something that is easy for most people.

Tom was announced as being the next Spider-Man in 2015, and then he was first seen in "Captain America: Civil War" in 2016....then from there he went on to film his OWN solo Spidey film, "Spiderman: HOCO" in 2016....and then, a year later, he was thrust and catapulted into a level of fame that he had never experienced before after his film HOCO came out in 2017.

Tom's popularity and fame has only INCREASED since 2017. Most of that is due to Marvel and being in some of the most highest-grossing blockbuster films in the WORLD, and another part of that is due to Tom's general likability, friendliness, and charismatic nature that just seems to come naturally to him. 😊

I don't even think that fans can really compare Tom's fame level to lesser-known actors, or even to Timothee Chalamet, who JUST recently reached 19 Million followers on Instagram, whereas meanwhile, Tom has 66.3 Million followers on Instagram. I just don't think that's really fair.

Timothee has also had the added benefit of being able to sort of "fly under the radar" somewhat. While Timothee is yes, very popular, has a huge fanbase, and has critical acclaim with tons of award nominations and a few wins under his belt, he also has usually primarily stuck to mostly smaller, indie films throughout most of his career, so Timmy's fame has seen more of slightly gradual increase in fame level, as opposed to becoming WILDLY HUGE overnight, as was the case with Tom.

I've always said that if I were to ever become famous, I would rather be SEMI-famous, and still be able to live a somewhat normal life, do my work, go home, and have a pretty basic lifestyle, vs being MEGA-famous, barely being able to walk out of my front door without being papped or chased by fans, or always being asked for a picture (or sometimes not even asked), and having my life constantly up for discussion. And a "Private life"? What's that?? I would much prefer the former rather than the latter.

I don't think fans realize that fame (especially large amounts of it) can really mess with someone's head. While at the outset it might seem fun, exciting, addictive and even intoxicating at first, fans don't realize that later on down the line, this level of fame can make you feel suffocated after a while. 😔

Many actors (and celebrities just in general) have suffered from anxiety, loneliness, DEPRESSION, paranoia, and worthlessness just simply due to having to deal with massive amounts of fame, hate online, and the constant feeling of their lives being under a microscope. 😔

Based on what Tom (and his dad) has said, to me it almost seems as though he would rather try to live a more normal life, as opposed to getting even MORE increasingly famous. We have to remember that unlike some actors who may have always dreamed of acting or being famous, Tom was sort of thrown into acting due to being spotted by a talent scout. He ended up liking it and just stuck with it, but it's not like he was somebody who was dreaming of being an actor or being famous one day, like some others might.

Dom has even said recently on a podcast that he doesn't even worry about Tom's career in Hollywood... He worries MOST about whether or not his son will have the ability to live a somewhat normal LIFE. To me, that was very telling. 😔

Personally?? I think that overall Tom will be okay. But like you yourself even mentioned, we need to ask ourselves if continuing to be massively famous is something that Tom himself even wants?? 🤔 To me, it seems like Tom has other more important goals in his life that take more priority. Jmho.

While Tom I'm sure enjoys acting, and might even wish to direct films one day, I don't get the impression that he is particularly all that comfortable with the huge fame aspect of it. That can be somewhat daunting for anybody.

I think fans need to have some mercy and grace, and realize that Tom is doing just fine, and he will be okay. 😊 Like you mentioned, he has some privilege in Hollywood that not all people (especially woc) are afforded. I know fans only want Tom to be getting accolades because we all know and see his talent, his potential, and want certain roles for him, or for him to work with certain directors/actors, etc. But we have to ask ourselves: "What does TOM want?" 🤔

#sorry for the long dissertation #I'm trying to do better lol 😅#but some asks just warrant an essay lol

18 notes · View notes

t-allyitup · 4 months

Text

ed edd n eddy alphabet soup part ii anyone?

may be headed in the direction of a fic me thinks idk i'm just at a point where my brain is experiencing a creative outpouring in the form of ed edd n eddy content

[eddeddy specific i guess. let's see]

cw for substances, implied (but up to interpretation) traumatic events, child abuse/domestic violence mention, double d enjoying calculus

[also ... i may have mentioned this previously somewhere but i'm currently almost 2 years clean from dxm abuse & all drugs so PLEASE know that interactions with substances are not something that should be romanticized or promoted, i'm not trying to do that i just also have been in high school and as a teenager substances are something that exist]

[for purposes of me being me this story features the three ed's as seniors in high school, as well as rolf, kevin, and nazz. johnny & may kanker are juniors in high school, sarah & jimmy are sophomores, and eldest kankers have graduated hs]

[eddy's brother is in the can and staying there cuz i'm not about to deal with his ass sorry]

picking up from double d's brain alphabet soup...

- beginning

but that wasn't productive ruminating for the current task at hand, no.

no, the focus of his current endeavor, as he had been sorely forcing his near non-existent attention span back too, was familiarizing himself with the revision outline for the first calculus ii quiz of his last year of high school.

calculus had been relatively simple, the theoretical aspect of geometry soothingly absent from this branch of arithmetic, with many of the classic formula/solve/answer questions (however tedious the problems may be.) double d enjoyed problems with direct, proven answers, especially ones that would simply be labeled as correct or incorrect. knowing that without a doubt there was a proven, logical, factual answer for a problem was motivating and provided structure.

although he still received excellent markings in his literature classes, and had become especially gifted in theoretical analysis and research investigation, the concept of language left him feeling rather uncomfortable. while there were specific outlines, literary devices, and general frame of composition to guide him, a compelling and well-written piece of writing was largely subjective. personal opinions of the audience were essential to the response of the piece, and therefore effective criticism stemmed often from personal preference rather than execution.

ed, a third of double d’s nearly life-long trio of best friends, had surprisingly excelled in the areas of creative writing and storytelling in the past few years. while his spelling and grammar needed (and likely would always need) some work, his ability to reveal emotion in his writing was pleasantly shocking and impressive to both edd and eddy. double d had scanned ed’s last few impromptu creative writing assignments, and had beamed with pride at each one, offering only some minor suggestions each time that the other teen had taken with great appreciation and warmth. ed had also grown to become interested in cooking, and after nearly burning double d’s house to ash multiple times while trying to cook hot dog burgers, had gotten a strict warning that he'd better work on his scientific skills if he ever considered returning to double d's kitchen again. this had led to double d spending a few grueling hours explaining measurements and proper handling of equipment, but had ultimately paid off in the form of the trio enjoying a delicious ed-cooked meal nearly three times a week.

ed had also joined a d&d league, following a recommendation from a (long overdo) psychiatric assessment that ed had dyslexia and adhd, and would benefit from some time outside of his house. double d and eddy had understood that this was a nice way of the shrink telling ed's parents that their continued domestic violence mishaps and borderline abusive behavior towards their son had been resulting in cognitive decline, and that ed having a productive hobby and solid support system would hopefully be able to keep him stable and shield him from his parents further traumatizing him.

eddy was, to few of the cul-de-sac kid's surprise, quite gifted in the areas of communications, business, and physical education. following his brother’s arrest and eventual incarceration, eddy had been hitting the gym to try and kill off his festering anger and hurt from the abuse. he had made the junior varsity football team the first year, and was quickly promoted to varsity his sophomore year. eddy was still shorter than ed and double d, but was noticeably stronger and better ‘filled out.’ eddy had prided himself on his self-described 'total beefy hunk of a bod,' much to ed's howls of amusement and double d's eye roll of affection. while eddy worked tirelessly on his car, ranting about the 'idiotic lack of, if actually existent, formation strategy’ of the quarterback, double d had become increasingly aware of how eddy's personality had developed. it was clear that eddy had become more confident, in not only himself, but in his abilities. he also showed an impressive talent for pattern recognition, strategizing, and planning. this had been a major asset to their football team, who were mostly 6'2 boulders that had clearly only made the team for their size. of course, it was inevitable that eddy would always be the snarky little attention hog he was, but it was pretty clear to double d that eddy was also becoming observant and (though this may be a stretch) stabilized. he had also gotten tattoos, one of a dragon that matched with ed and a few for other reasons that double d hadn't been paying attention to due to his uncharacteristic staring in shock and (now identifiable) gay panic. eddy had developed an obsession with piercings, too. his ears, left eyebrow, right nostril, and tongue in specific were victims of this endevor, and although kevin had rolled his eyes and scoffed at the look, eddy looked incredible and had remained confident in his appearance.

in fact, it was jimmy, who had grown up more than anyone could imagine, who was the first to compliment eddy on his piercings. jimmy had taken up swimming and diving, as well as student government, and debate team with eddy. his voice was scratchy and soothing, and his ability to tear it up in the pool had astonished and overjoyed everyone. he had been returning to states for swim year after year since the 7th grade, and the legendary smile that had always been the focal feature of his face was now accompanied by a freckling of acne. his baja sweatshirts and acid wash jeans, along with a surprising choice of reebok shoes, had been proof of his own self-settling.

sarah had become distant, although physically present, halfway through freshman year. that october, a rumor had circulated about sarah that double d didn't even want to think about, especially after sarah had told him the truth about what had actually happened.

sarah stayed close to ed the next few years, the rare instance of a unmistakable clang of a sarah laugh present after a particularly goofy joke from jimmy or a swat at the hand of ed trying to steal a french fry was rare, but had become more common. the sound of her laugh was helpful for reminding them that she was healing, and that the blazing force of fire that lies inside, although flickering, hasn't gone out.

johnny had joined a d&d leauge with ed, and was unsurprisingly terrific at arts of all kinds. he had gotten lead roles in the last few student-led visual arts productions, twice as the main supporting character and once as the lead-joseph, in 'joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat.' in the summers, johnny had played baseball, and was playing varsity by junior year. plank remained lodged in his backpack, a comforting reminder that some things never change.

rolf had also become interested in musical theater, as well as baseball. during baseball season, rolf, johnny, and kevin would spend lots of time together, baseball having brought them back. kevin and rolf remained close year round, rolf supporting kevin during football season and kevin supporting rolf at his theater performances, although theater was ‘nerdy’ in his unwarranted opinion.

to everyone's immense surprise, nazz had joined a band. she had joined a rock-n-roll jazz band with marie kanker and rolf, as well as two other boys and the occasional sarah on backup vocals. nazz had also joined the d&d league, per request of ed, and had seemed to be enjoying that. in the summer she played softball, also with marie, and had spent a great portion of each season trying to convince sarah to play.

nazz had grown into someone that double d deeply admired. she was authorative, inclusive, open, and stood firm in herself and her beliefs. she hadn't been interested in showing off, focusing primarily on connection and including others. the other boys in his grade had teased her for her interest in make up and fashion, and nazz didn't care. she enjoyed ‘feminine’ things because they made her happy, just like shredding on her guitar and playing d&d and other typically ‘masculine’ things made her happy. she did what she wanted to do, and she had told double d that even if she was applying make up or learning how to kick start a car engine to impress someone, than what's so wrong with that? what's wrong with wanting to look nice for someone, or wanting to be able to help them? what's wrong with having pride in yourself?

double d had went home after that conversation and started crying. he couldn't stop, and he didn't understand why he had been crying in the first place. he wasn't much of a crier at all-in fact he hadn't cried in months-but when nazz had explained that to him, he supposed he realized how much he cared about her. he realized that the kind of growth it takes to reach that conclusion could only stem from something changing, and he realized that an inevitable and painful part of growth is change.

he had also realized that change triggered advancement, which triggered the discovery of philosophies like the one nazz lived by.

it had also come to mind that to develop such a welcoming and independent philosophy, nazz may have experienced something that was possibly quite traumatizing.

it was the same string of thoughts that double d had regarding the look on eddy’s face before they parted ways for the night. the humid july night buzzed with cicadas and secondhand smoke hung suspended under the artificial buzz of the street light near their houses. a roar of laughter from eddy followed by a the scheming, sly smirk, the kind where you try to stop your teeth from showing but it happens anyway, the light producing a halo effect upon his best friend and leaving double d in a glowy haze. the way eddy’s nose scrunches slightly with the smile and the way his deep, spruce blue eyes stare coyly at him before he takes a final drag of a blunt rolled in a way the should be considered a violation of the herb's personal rights. his eyes mischievous but distant as his lips and lungs kill the joint for good, the image of eddy flicking the discarded paper away and exhaling the smoke upwards. following this dramatic gesture, was what eddy had said to double d moments before he had said goodnight on that warm july evening.

'd, there's no point in me stayin’ after graduation. nothin’ left to stay for once you and lumpy leave for school. i'm leaving this shithole, one way or another.’

double d remembers that moment exactly. the moment that triggered everything to follow, the specific moment when he had realized that he was absolutely terrified of losing his best friend in a way that hadn't previously aligned with his stasis levels. he remembers eddy waving goodbye, calling something about ‘catching him later,’ and double d paced back home and locked himself in his room.

he thought of what nazz had said earlier that day when the older kids of rhe cul-de-sac had gathered at rolf's for table tennis and an excuse to finish a pack of twisted teas. that it isn't wrong to want. it was, in fact, a fundamental function of a sentient creatures existence, and that the external shame that people project on others for having desires in inherently hypocritical. nazz, with her laid back attitude and approachable demeanor, sharing the wisdom of a life once lived through self-criticism.

he thought of what eddy had said about leaving this place, one way or another, and it was then that double d let the pieces of his strained conscious unravel and descended into a fit of choking through tears.

it was becoming very obvious to that eddward that he was entering an entirely different plane of trouble.

- end

if i spelled something wrong no i didn't . gn

#ed edd n eddy #eene #cul de sac #eddeddy #this is my fic and im making nazz cool #joeys joints #get joed

7 notes · View notes