#so-much-so-that-I-had-a-lot-of-trouble-doing-this
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lukeoneil47.bsky.social
Then again it’s possible more moons is actually worse from a poet’s perspective. You have to allow for that.

Stasis amidst abundance of choice.

orbooks.com/catalog/we-h...
Perhaps it was inevitable that our poets would grow tired of our own antiquated moon. They had long since stripped it clean of metaphor. Can you imagine what poetry must be like on one of those science fiction planets where they have multiple moons? Or some kind of distinctive moon with more personality than ours? I can’t think of any space films where they focus on all that much poetry going on though. Everyone usually too busy shooting lasers and running from dinosaurs. Perhaps they just never get around to showing us that pocket of space life and there is always poetry being scribbled about the tidal waves of diamond sand and the stabbing shores of acidic oceans and purple carnivorous canopies and floating rock formations just off camera in every single world any of us has ever envisioned. Then again it’s possible more moons is actually worse from a poet’s perspective. You have to allow for that. Stasis amidst abundance of choice. Could be that the relative scarcity of moon for us is what animates the soul so to speak. No one had made it clear why they were doing this stunt in the first place. In the hopes that someone somewhere might find them much later on and have to contend with this untranslatable mess concerning what our most educated alcoholics were so morose about all the time? What we thought birds symbolized. All of the different names of trees we had come up with. The shapes of the shadows cast on the walls after divorce. Whether war is good or not. Either way it all seemed like a lot of trouble to go to for poems that no one was ever going to read. Not in a thousand years. They could have just published them the old fashioned way down here in a book.
October 21, 2025 at 9:47 PM
melodywisp.bsky.social
here is my practice summary on #PillowFort:
www.pillowfort.social/posts/6791659

i had a lot to say today. bottom line is, if i practice every day, i just know ill make gains in speed eventually. eventually. it just feels discouraging that this material im redoing is still challenging 😔 #StenoSky
for Anki, i made a short list of some words i had trouble with. that list is: under the circumstances: TPH*URBGS in the case: TPH*EBG too much: TAOFP what should: WHA*UGS provision: PROEUGZ after that, i began my dictation practice, starting with the 80 WPM class. im about 90/250 videos through the playlist now. it still makes sense to do these videos because even tho 80 is relatively slow now compared to 100, i still struggle with multisyllabic words at this speed, unlike with, say, 60. i added some words to my Anki deck. they are: autopsy: TAEPS circumference: SUR/K-PL/TPR-PBS audible: AOBL plausible: PHRAUBL I'll be lumping in 80 and 100 now, because there's not much more to say exclusively about 80, but there was (surprisingly) French and Latin words i had to write for both speeds. these words are: caveat: KAFB/KWRAUT emptor: EFPL/T-R venditor: SREPB/TKEU/T-R or SREPB/TKEUT/-R de facto: TK/TPABG/TOE de jure: TK/SKWR-R/AE feme sole: TPEPL/SOEL feme covert: TPEPL/KUFB/-RT actio: ABG/SHAOE/OE personam: PUR/SAUPB/-FP damnum: TKAPL/TPHUPL absque: AB/SKWAOE injuria: TPH/SKWRUR/AOE/AU i added several screenshots of text to my threads, as i sometimes do to add some variety to my microblogging efforts. i recommend taking a look, since some are informative on, like, the Latin and French. i didnt do the best on any of the Q&As or tests, but thats okay! im still learning. i try to keep in mind that ppl in steno school take anywhere between 2-5 years to finally reach certifiable speeds, and that's with an instructor and syllabus and everything! so me doing this by myself outside of school is gonna take as long as it takes. i also took it upon myself to... i guess the word would be subscribe? to use a legal terminology book. idk how im gonna fit that into my daily practice, but itll be great for vocabulary development if i write to it. anyway, thats it for today! tomorrow is another day to challenge myself! thanks for reading! 🥰
October 25, 2025 at 12:44 AM
askaubry.com
I doubt it's "inexperience" that women reject.
keep getting rejected and now I'm banned from a bar, what am I doing SO wrong? Need Advice Last year I asked out roughly 30 women irl. All of them rejected me and one reported me to HR and I got in a lot of trouble. Bare in mind I'm not even attracted to 90% of these women, I am starting at the bottom with women who I find super ugly. And just last night, I've been banned from this bar for "shooting my shot too many times" (manager's exact words even though it was only 6) and tinder has been useless. It's literally JUST inexperience that's the issue. Almost every woman I've met has picked up on my inexperience and said they don't want to be my teacher. Even had people tell me to give up forever because I'll never possibly catch up after all these years (and how all these failed attempts have probably ruined me). also tried joining a fitness group and after failing hard with a woman there, I got banned from that too. And I joined a movie group (thrown out.) The years before, I've been rejected about ten times a year so not as much as 2024, but it's still a lot. What else can I do to find a life partner?
May 4, 2025 at 9:47 PM
abisexualwriter.bsky.social
and from the second one. this one actually at least does specifically ask for an easy mode but it's still like a conversation starter. the author did nothing except say they would like more options in game rather than hitting walls. but someone who doesn't read beyond headlines wouldn't know that.
screenshots from the second article: Update: Since publishing this, there’s been some interesting conversation on Twitter and elsewhere. Below, I’m posting a Twitter thread from accessbility expert Ian Hamilton about accessibility, difficulty and how developers can think about these issues, as well as this article by game developer Garrick “Doc” Burford about his experience playing From Software titles as someone with a physical disability. Article continues below the tweet. @davethier “easy mode” is a really blunt instrument, there are other ways. To start with it is worth looking at what the designer’s intent is, what they want the players to experience. Many assume that From’s goal is to make games that require a high skill bar; that’s not true. — Ian Hamilton (@ianhamilton_) March 28, 2019 screenshots from the second article: My problem with these is that I don’t think I’d write any of these articles if I didn’t like them so much. There are other difficult games I won’t play, and whatever. But the difficulty is only one part of what defines these games for me, and honestly, it’s not the most important part. From Software has some of the best world building in the business and, I would argue, the best character design. Early on in Sekiro I had to sneak under a bridge, where I found this bizarre, misshapen hermit man that lunged at me with a wicked knife from underneath a broad straw hat. It was gross and strange, the sort of thing you can almost smell, the first glimpse I had had of the malformed underbelly of this world I had only taken my first steps into. That’s what I remember from Bloodborne more than anything: something about the lonely horrible way these characters move is so endlessly fascinating that I could watch them all day, and every time I see one I just need to see the rest. Lots of developers have attempted to imitate From’s style of aggressively spare storytelling that relies on opaque item descriptions and occasional short dialogue to build out worlds that seem so much larger than our own character’s comprehension, but only Hollow Knight ever came close to what makes these games special. screenshots from the second article: What’s particularly galling about Sekiro is that all other From Software games at least had a sort of safety valve to allow you to move past the game’s most difficult boss encounters with a little help by summoning other players into your game. Sekiro removes even that, and so if you run up against a brick wall, that’s it. Either beat your head against that wall or stop playing. It’s the lack of a summon mode that prevented me from sinking too much of my psyche in the game. I was able to beat the chained ogre without too much trouble–even without the fire thing–and so, I don’t know, maybe I could keep doing well in this game. But I do not like the idea of coming up against a boss that I can’t beat without a week of frustration, and so I can’t let myself get obsessed with this one. There’s a lot of talk about “respecting the player” when it comes to not including an easy mode, an idea that all players can and should play this game in this particular, punishing way. And yet I think the lack of an easy mode showcases the exact opposite. It shows an almost stunning lack of respect for players with the idea that they cannot be trusted with their own gameplay experience, that even those who want a challenging game would somehow be lured by the siren song of lower difficulties and destroy their own experience because they’re too impatient or immature to know what they actually want. The summoning system is a perfect example of this: I never used it once while playing Bloodborne, because I knew what experience I wanted. I didn’t get as into Dark Souls 3, and so I used it liberally.
October 3, 2025 at 8:03 PM
mouse.at.app.wafrn.net
trying out the wafrn app finally. drawing feature is a bit off on iOS, so this is all I managed #the-lines-don't-appear-near-where-you're-touching-the-screen #so-much-so-that-I-had-a-lot-of-trouble-doing-this #when-it's-fixed-I'll-try-to-paint-something-neat-with-it
doodle of a blushing mouse person
April 17, 2025 at 3:49 AM
timkellogg.me
instead of AGI we got.. gpt-4o withdrawal

unexpectedly (or maybe expectedly), users formed a psychological bond with 4o and ripping it away seems to have cut them deep

where to go from here?
Sam Altman @sama If you have been following the GPT-5 rollout, one thing you might be noticing is how much of an attachment some people have to specific Al models. It feels different and stronger than the kinds of attachment people have had to previous kinds of technology (and so suddenly deprecating old models that users depended on in their workflows was a mistake). This is something we've been closely tracking for the past year or so but still hasn't gotten much mainstream attention (other than when we released an update to GPT-4o that was too sycophantic). (This is just my current thinking, and not yet an official OpenAl position.) People have used technology including Al in self-destructive ways; if a user is in a mentally fragile state and prone to delusion, we do not want the Al to reinforce that. Most users can keep a clear line between reality and fiction or role-play, but a small percentage cannot. We value user freedom as a core principle, but we also feel responsible as a core principle, but we also feel responsible in how we introduce new technology with new risks. Encouraging delusion in a user that is having trouble telling the difference between reality and fiction is an extreme case and it's pretty clear what to do, but the concerns that worry me most are more subtle. There are going to be a lot of edge cases, and generally we plan to follow the principle of "treat adult users like adults" , which in some cases will include pushing back on users to ensure they are getting what they really want. A lot of people effectively use ChatGPT as a sort of therapist or life coach, even if they wouldn't describe it that way. This can be really good! A lot of people are getting value from it already today. If people are getting good advice, leveling up toward their own goals, and their life satisfaction is increasing over years, we will be proud of making something genuinely helpful, even if they use and rely on ChatGPT a lot. If, on the other hand, users have a relationship with ChatGPT where they think they feel better after talking but they're unknowingly nudged away from their making something genuinely helpful, even it they use and rely on ChatGPT a lot. If, on the other hand, users have a relationship with ChatGPT where they think they feel better after talking but they're unknowingly nudged away from their longer term well-being (however they define it), that's bad. It's also bad, for example, if a user wants to use ChatGPT less and feels like they cannot. I can imagine a future where a lot of people really trust ChatGPT's advice for their most important decisions. Although that could be great, it makes me uneasy. But I expect that it is coming to some degree, and soon billions of people may be talking to an Al in this way. So we (we as in society, but also we as in OpenAl) have to figure out how to make it a big net positive. There are several reasons I think we have a good shot at getting this right. We have much better tech to help us measure how we are doing than previous generations of technology had. For example, our product can talk to users to get a sense for how they are doing with their short-and long-term goals, we can explain sophisticated and nuanced issues to our models, and much more.
August 13, 2025 at 12:12 AM
lukeoneil47.bsky.social
Perhaps it was inevitable that our poets would at last grow tired of our own antiquated moon. They had long since stripped it clean of metaphor. Like the copper wiring of a derelict row house.
www.welcometohellworld.com/stripped-it-...
Moon blindness They were shooting poems into space. Tucking them into cozy little capsules inside of the rockets. This latest batch was supposed to head toward Jupiter’s moon Europa and then Saturn’s Titan they said. Perhaps it was inevitable that our poets would at last grow tired of our own antiquated moon. They had long since stripped it clean of metaphor. Like the copper wiring of a derelict row house. You see what I mean? Nothing left in the tank there. Can you imagine what poetry must be like on one of those science fiction planets where they have multiple moons? Or some kind of distinctive moon with more personality than ours. I can’t think of any space films where they focus on all that much poetry going on though. Everyone usually too busy shooting lasers and running from dinosaurs. But maybe they just never get around to showing us that quiet pocket of space life. Maybe there is always poetry being scribbled in the tidal waves of diamond sand and on the shores of acidic Then again it’s possible more moons is actually worse from a poet’s perspective. You have to allow for that. Stasis amidst abundance of choice. Could be that the relative scarcity of moon for us is what animates the soul down here so to speak. No one made it clear why they were doing this stunt in the first place. In the hopes that someone somewhere might find them much later on when we're all gone and get a glimpse into what our most educated alcoholics were so morose about all the time? What we thought birds were secretly up to. All of the different names for trees we had come up with. How a cigarette burns like something else. The shadows of divorce. Whether war was good or not. Either way it all seemed like a lot of trouble to go to for poems that no one was ever going to read. Not in a thousand years. You could have just published them the old fashioned way down here in a book.
August 30, 2024 at 3:18 PM
scratchbomb.bsky.social
“sabotage” also includes the actions of gov't workers asked to help law enforcement or austerity-minded officials grind down other people who choose to say "nope"
RECORDS CLERK ZEKE A long time ago, in the precomputerized days, I got a job with the records department of the Arizona Division of Motor Vehicles. I thought I'd be doing mindless filing from midnight to eight, but when I got there I ofund that I was sitting there looking up vehicle registration numbers for cops who were investigating people. I said "Oh Jesus, is this really what I want to do?" I couldn't afford to quit, I only had a hundred dollars, so I figured I could stand it for a while. Four or five days after I started, I get this one cop who calls up and gives me half a dozen phone numbers and says "Yeah, we got a pot party under observation and we're going to get these guys. Give me the information on them." I thought "Oh man!" and I just made up vehicle registration info: phony names and phony addresses for all of them. I never heard much more about it. The following week, a narcotics agent calls and identifies himself as such. I gave him phony information too. This friend of mine was working there and started doing the same thing. Narcs would call in occasionally, adn about seventy-five percent of the time we would give them bad information. This went on for about two and a half months, until we got work that detectives were coming around, talking to our supervisor. We called her the "peg woman", she was absolutely awful. We got called in and she said "Somebody is giving the police false information and we can't prove it's you, but if it happens again, we're going to fire everyone in the department." My friend and I had just gotten out of prison for dope dealing, and both of us were selling major quantities of pot at the time. I sort of felt like Jew helping run a concentration camp. So at that point we both decided to quit rather than start giving the cops correct information. Fortunately they were never able to pin it on us. WELFARE CASEWORKER SHAWN I worked in a large welfare department in Philadelphia. I had 300 cases and a lot of fucking paperwork. You don't work in social services because you care about money; you do it because you want to help people. A lot of people who work at the welfare office are pissed off because of their own powerlessness. Any ideas we came up with to help the office operate better would get thrown out right away. One time I went to my supervisor with the suggestion of translating an important sign into Russian, since the office was located in a Russian neighborhood. She couldn't make up her mind so I went and did it myself. Later, I got written up for it because I put it up without approval. This was a perfect example of the supervisor's attitudes/ I wasn't protective of the welfare system. I just treated it like I had access to this money that people needed. I used to give welfare away whether people were eligible or not. This saved me a lot of trouble because if you turned someone down, they'd bitch. We had access to the computer so it was really easy to add someone to the file. I would just overlook a few facts here and there. About six months after you enter someone into the computer system you will sometimes get information claiming the person was working while they were collecting welfare, or that they have a bank account. The caseworker is supposed to write the person up and start the system of prosecution. Fuck that. If the person wasn't an asshole and wasn't eligible for welfare, I'd go into the computer, delete their files and claim that no fraud existed. Then I'd write a narrative about how good the person was. In that way, I felt that I was helping people out.
May 1, 2025 at 2:44 PM
hokutoandy.bsky.social
"ElfQuest... is known as the first "American manga. ElfQuest was the first comic published in America to really show an influence from Japanese comics and anime. I had been kind of America's first Raging Otaku since I was 10 years old. I discovered anime through a film by Tezuka..."
- Wendy Pini
Elfquest (or ElfQuest) is a comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978,[1] and still owned by them. It is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. Several published volumes of prose fiction also share the same setting. Elfquest was one of the first comic book series to have a planned conclusion. Over the years Elfquest has been self-published by the Pinis through their own company Warp Graphics, then Marvel Comics,[1] then the Pinis again, more recently DC Comics, and, since 2013, Dark Horse Comics. What's amazing is that around 1977, there was also that brief Tolkien push for Marvel and DC, where they started doing lot of comics in that vein. However, for whatever reason, they didn't seem to go for ElfQuest. Why do you think Marvel and DC weren't interested in ElfQuest? It seemed that they just passed up this huge opportunity. WP: I think primarily because of the drawing style, because ElfQuest, we like to say, and others say too, is known as the first "American manga. ElfQuest was the first comic published in America to really show an influence from Japanese comics and anime. I had been kind of America's first Raging Otaku since I was 10 years old. I discovered anime through a film by Osamu Tezuka called Alakazam the Great. I was 10 years old when I saw it, and it completely changed my idea of how to draw, and I began to draw like that, and I began to look for any material that was from Japan. I got really interested in Japanese culture, and so when the opportunity to do ElfQuest arose, it seemed like a natural fit to draw these fantasy characters with large eyes and all the hair, which is the way most anime characters look. You know, it was just a natural fit. But I was also strongly influenced by Jack Kirby. WP: Going back to my Japanese anime and manga roots, since I was a young teenager, I have been reading stories about Japanese culture, where they don't have the same fear of death that we Westerners do, and they have no trouble killing off characters right and left in their stories, even their most fmous heroes, you can pretty much expect them to go. Tezuka was like a cruel God. When he was done with a character, they were gone. So I grew up on that kind of story. I loved the gravitas. I loved that the stakes were so high in a story, because you never knew if a character was going to make it out of the story. And I wanted people reading ElfQuest to have that edge of their seat feeling like when we take a character out, they're out. So I mean, what's going to happen here? The first death we confronted our fans with was One-Eye, and not even we could face that very well.
June 7, 2025 at 8:56 AM
askaubry.com
And there were dudes in her replies blaming her for "flirting" with other men...
r/AmlOverreacting u/its_emd. 2h AlO? My boyfriend beat the shi out of me over some text messages relationship Long story short, I gave him my phone so he could read a message my bestie sent me, and then he started going through it. He opened Facebook and saw that conversation. I really like Formula 1, and I only replied about that, I didn't even respond to the last message. I didn't mean anything bad or disrespectful by it. He got really angry, started choking me, hitting me, and calling me a whore. He said I shouldn't be replying to any men, that I'm keeping them on standby to sleep with them, all kinds of things. I think he completely overreacted. I told my mom and my brother what happened, and I left the house. But now I don't know if I'm the one who's overreacting bc my brother told me that he's right to be angry about me replying to other men. I don't think i was being disrespectful by just replying that. X Wilfri MarGoogle Lens español inglés Jun 28, 3:20 Wilfri replied to your story No way. Do you like F1? Jun 29. I love it MON, 5:01 AM Right now Verstappen. The best And I'm from Scuderia Ferrari but my God, it's hard to be a fan of them right now MON, 8:23 PM Wilfri answered you Right now Verstappen. The best Oh cool, who is your favorite driver and who is your favorite driver of all time! Messages and calls are now protected by end-to-end encryption. Only people in this chat can sten to, or share them. Learn more Dudududu Max Verstappen. I had my eye on the Haas team but, apparently, it doesn't have much of a future and as for Ferrari, Hamilton hasn't been able to adapt well to the team yet. Let's hope that with the new regulations in 2026 things will change MON, 5:01 AM ¿Son útiles estos resultados? No X Right now Verstappen. The best Texto traducido its_emd OP 2h My mother is begging me to let her call the police on him, and she wants to call him to let him know that she knows what he did to me. My brother says he's insecure, that I didn't do anything wrong, however he thinks that he's right to be angry about me replying to a another man its_emd OP 2h its_emd OP 2h Im 21. He's 36. I've been with him since I'm 19. I know that calling the police is the right option, but I'm really scared. In my country, when women speak up or go to the police, the man often ends up killing them or having them killed. He's very aggressive, and I'm afraid of what he might be capable of doing He made me cut off ALL of my friends. Friends I knew before him. All of them. He even made me quit my job. I don't go out. NOTHING. That's what I meant. 26 its_emd OP 2h Some people are wondering if this story is fake or real, Sadly, it's real. All this happened this morning. I left the house and now, after thinking a lot I decided to make this post :( this isn't the first time he reacts like that just because I reply to a message. To add to that, yesterday he spent the entire night drinking and started calling me at 2 a.m., asking me to come to his house to 'take care of him.' I have a lot of trouble sleeping and he knows that, but he still decided to wake me up and pressure me to leave my house and go to his. I did it just because I didn't want him to get angry, even though I was upset. I think he got angry because I was upset, and he used the messages as an excuse to hit me and take out his anger on me, especially because I didn't want to have sex with him or kiss him after last night and was clearly upset As sad as it sounds I'm kinda used to abusive relationships, my father was a very abusing man and now my boyfriend. So sometim
July 11, 2025 at 10:20 PM
jacklikesfilms.bsky.social
Screenshot 1 of 2 of my Letterbox review of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Score 4.5 out of 5. I went into this mostly looking forward to it a lot, but also with a little bit of trepidation, as I'd seen a lot of early reviews complaining about the length, pacing, and issues with the story (particularly the amount of exposition early on). Given they were bringing an iconic franchise to a close, that didn't seem too surprising, and I was worried it was going to spend too much time trying to figure out how to say goodbye to these fantastic characters. So it's with great relief then that I can say this hit ALL my buttons. I'm a huge fan of this franchise, with MI:2 being the only one I don't enjoy, and so I was sad to see it come to an end, but also excited to see how they'd bring it to a conclusion, and honestly, I've very few complaints. Screenshot 2 of 2 of my Letterbox review of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The story is a little convoluted, I must admit. I thought the idea of the Entity was a little silly in Dead Reckoning, much as I loved the film. It's no less silly here, but honestly, I can't really think of any other issues I had with it apart from Nick Offerman being clean-shaven. Man, come on, just don't. Thanks to the excellent cast, some very good writing outside of the aforementioned silliness and some relentlessly thrilling action, I had no trouble getting over that and just enjoying the ride. Although it's the longest entry yet, clocking in at not much short of three hours, the time just flew by. The characters are dealt with well, it's good-humoured when it needs to be without being overly comic. Cruise is doing what he does better than anyone else, and some of the set pieces are just unbelievable. I thought my heart was going to explode during the Sevastopol sequence, the claustrophobic tension was ramped up so high and the scene with the planes was mind-blowing. There are some nice nods to previous films without dipping too much into nostalgia for nostalgia's sake, and it had a return for a very minor character that I enjoyed more than I would've thought possible. People can say whatever they like about this, all I know is that I enjoyed every minute, and left the cinema thoroughly satisfied.
June 12, 2025 at 8:47 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
HEY GUESS WHAT I just finished the next chapter of Nothing Personal, at LAST! The chaos spies were in progress when my mum had her accident in early August and got all tangled up in the mayhem and the emotions around that.

Needs edits but planning on posting it sometime in the next week 👀
But Stede’s gaze slides away from him. “Frenchie, isn’t it? You’re Ed’s date tonight?” Frenchie scratches the back of his head, winces. “S’pose you could call it that.” “Huh,” Stede says, and oh, those eyes are interesting as they drag back to Ed. “Could you?” “Yeah,” Ed says. “You could.” He leans in close enough to brush his lips against Stede’s ear. “Already blew him in the limo, if you’re wondering.” He feels the muscle in Stede’s jaw tense as he slides his face away, only to find Mary standing right there beside Stede, wearing a tight smile. “This is cosy.” Mary folds her arms, body language no trouble to read. “And you are?” “This is Edward,” Stede says, with a dismissive wave. “A colleague. Former.” She appraises him, sharp, quick, reading him easily, and fuck, maybe Mary should’ve been the spy here. “Worked for the old man, too, did you?” “He’s an—what do you always call it, Ed? An interior redesigner.” His expression is so innocent that Ed gets absolutely slapped with a wave of heated desire, watching the guy lie like a bitch to his wife’s face, which probably says a lot about Ed, but fuck it. He is who he is. “He’s quite the expert at soft furnishings, actually,” Stede says, really pushing his luck. “Love a good soft furnishing,” Ed says, pushing back. “Love a fine fabric. Don’t mind a shag rug.” He punctuates that with the kind of smile, aimed at Mary, that’s melted lesser women. But she’s just staring at him stony faced. “Okay. Great.” She reaches out to Stede and manages to dig his arm out, gets his hand down and holds it stiffly. “We’re just going to go watch this movie if you’re done here.” “Why are you here?” Ed asks, before they can turn away. Stede’s brow lifts a little. “Annie invited me, actually. I’ve been doing some redesigning for them.” Redesigning in Annie’s hands usually means rearranging interiors over soft furnishings, and Ed finds his own face sliding helplessly toward surprise. Really? “And you?” Stede says, a little bitchily. “Ed,” Frenchie says. “Uh.” There’s noise behind them, but he’s almost done here. “Annie invited me, too,” Ed says, and the second it’s out of his mouth, he sees the truth of it. Fuckers. There’s no threat, is there? Annie’s just meddling, the way she loves to. “Stede,” Mary says, grabbing his arm. “Is that Richard Banes?” They both whip to look at the same time, and Frenchie gives an apologetic shrug. “Tried to tell you.” It is Ricky, wearing the most boring possible suit, plain black with a white shirt, probably cost as much as Ed’s house. Ed’s fingers reach subconsciously for the knife that’s jammed in his thigh holster, and he has to make an effort to pull them back. Can’t cut Banes’ throat on the red carpet, can he? That’d blow his cover a little. Fuck up his chances of evading the law. It’s fine. It’s fine, there’s a whole fucking cinema behind them and another few hours in which he can make a move. It doesn’t matter, though. None of it matters, because Banes has a side piece on his arm that everyone’s going batshit nuts over, all the cameras shouting for her attention. She looks phenomenal, to be fair. Legs for days, highest heels Ed’s seen in a long time. A dress that looks made of the night sky, tight, navy, covered in silver sparkles, skimming so high up her thighs that if she fucking sneezed he’d see whatever she is or isn’t wearing under there. It’s cut low, low, low in a crossed-over neckline, and her tits are pushed up, and the cap sleeves show off her toned arms. She’s got tumbling dark curls and tanned skin, and when Banes turns away from the cameras and makes space for her, that’s—that’s— “Archie!” the press are yelling, clued into her name now. “Archie, over here!” “Archie?” Stede says behind him, disbelieving. “Archie Archie?” That is actually Archie. That’s Archie, practically poured into that dress, every line of muscle on show, all her tatts wrapped around her skin like lace. She’s made up to the nines, and every breath Ed has ever taken in his life has been punched out of his body at the sight of her. “Who,” Mary says softly, dangerously, “is Archie?”
December 18, 2024 at 1:35 PM
ave.zone
This does not read like illiteracy to me.
Are you sure you're not infantializing grown adults making decisions for themselves?
When he started at Columbia as a sophomore this past September, he didn’t worry much about academics or his GPA. “Most assignments in college are not relevant,” he told me. “They’re hackable by AI, and I just had no interest in doing them.” Lee used AI to breeze through with minimal effort. When I asked him why he had gone through so much trouble to get to an Ivy League university only to off-load all of the learning to a robot, he said, “It’s the best place to meet your co-founder and your wife.” Sarah, a freshman at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, said she first used ChatGPT to cheat during the spring semester of her final year of high school. (Sarah’s name, like those of other current students in this article, has been changed for privacy.) After getting acquainted with the chatbot, Sarah used it for all her classes: Indigenous studies, law, English, and a “hippie farming class” called Green Industries. “My grades were amazing,” she said. “It changed my life.” Sarah continued to use AI when she started college this past fall. Why wouldn’t she? Rarely did she sit in class and not see other students’ laptops open to ChatGPT. Toward the end of the semester, she began to think she might be dependent on the website. She already considered herself addicted to TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit, where she writes under the username maybeimnotsmart. “I spend so much time on TikTok,” she said. “Hours and hours, until my eyes start hurting, which makes it hard to plan and do my schoolwork. With ChatGPT, I can write an essay in two hours that normally takes 12.” Once the chatbot had outlined Wendy’s essay, providing her with a list of topic sentences and bullet points of ideas, all she had to do was fill it in. Wendy delivered a tidy five-page paper at an acceptably tardy 10:17 a.m. When I asked her how she did on the assignment, she said she got a good grade. “I really like writing,” she said, sounding strangely nostalgic for her high-school English class — the last time she wrote an essay unassisted. “Honestly,” she continued, “I think there is beauty in trying to plan your essay. You learn a lot. You have to think, Oh, what can I write in this paragraph? Or What should my thesis be? ” But she’d rather get good grades. “An essay with ChatGPT, it’s like it just gives you straight up what you have to follow. You just don’t really have to think that much.”
May 8, 2025 at 12:18 AM
cryptidcodex.elseif.social
2/2
monitored and still on our best behaviour. It was honestly exhausting. There's honestly a lot here I'm probably glossing over because this was almost six years ago now. One of my biggest takeaways while in the program though: It was all superficial. It honestly infuriated me how many other kids needed that program just as much, if not more than me. They at least needed the scholarship money. But most teens, and especially neglected and impoverished teens, can't sit there and be a dancing monkey for a bunch of rich assholes while also struggling to survive. A lot of those kids had behavioral problems that would take years of therapy to fix, and it wasn't their fault. They deserved all the same opportunities I got, but they couldn't "behave themselves". Not to mention I was 100% being exploited, and the constant paranoia of being recognized and judged wherever I went was the biggest factor in why, as soon as I was out of the program, I didn't leave my house for the next two years. I had behavioral problems too, and I wasn't allowed to even be traumatized, let alone appropriately express it and heal from it, if it wasn't a tearful speech for the camera. If it didn't match their definition of "appropriate healing", it would get me in trouble. As soon as I disappeared from the spotlight, no one checked on me. No one supported me. No one asked how I was doing or offered to help with gas money or food. Not my mentors, not my so-called friends. So my next take away was that the connections formed through this respectability bullshit are inconsequential and replaceable. The only time I've heard from any of those people since is if they needed something from me. Business opportunity, needed me to write a piece for their publication, etc. My whole speech and the essays I wrote were about the ongoing abuse and poverty I was experiencing, but it only mattered when it made them money. Ultimately this is why I don't trust charities and not for profits, and this is why I don't believe in respectability. The best connections I've made both inside business and out have been ones where I can cuss in front of the person or make a morbid joke, and they at least shrug it off if not laugh. We're not monkeys in a circus, and I'm not performing for anyone thank you. My resume is shining and sparkly thanks to this experience, so I can afford to be picky. That and I know my rights as a worker and how to haggle. So I guess I'll give the charity that much. #antiendodni #bpdsafe #endosafe #proendo #sysmedsdni #aspdsafe #npdsafe #actuallyplural #pluralgang #system #respectabilityisbullshit
April 1, 2025 at 10:08 PM
greenbeangem.bsky.social
11 favorite scene I've written

From my Azem as Zodiark fic, I had a lot of fun with showing how things might be different, how my Azem would unintentionally temper the Convocation and people around her without realizing what it was doing

I should finish this tbh
He took his seat beside the empty Fourteenth, with Lahabrea on the other side. The Chamber of Fourteen had changed dramatically after the Sacrifice and the birth of their God. Now Zodiark was the one who ruled the Star, and Her Priests ruled in Her place. The others took their seats, arranged in their usual order. The doors opened and there were two surprising faces among those that entered. “Venat, Elidibus, be welcome.” Lahabrea's calm voice rang through the room. A group of thirteen others stood arrayed behind them, people of all walks of life, both Amaurotine and not, old friends mixed with those Emet-Selch did not know. Trouble comes on silken wings. He still did not understand Zodiark's words, but he was cautious about those who entered. The former Azem could be unpredictable. “I thank you for convening on such short notice.” Elidibus spoke, his eyes took in the much changed Chamber of Fourteen and his jaw tightened. “I was approached and petitioned by these resolute souls regarding the state of the Star and that of Zodiark.” “What concern could there be?” Loghrief’s voice carried over the room, calm and commanding. “The Star flourishes, the sun shines in the sky once more, the waters move and wind their ways through the grassy plains, the animals have revived under Her.” “The people are healthy, their spirits much revived, no sickness dwells upon the lands under Her grace.” Emmerololth's words were sincere and joyful.
January 27, 2025 at 2:36 PM
scazrelet.bsky.social
I'm still working out ways to simplify my digital work flow. I guess it would help if I didn't keep trying out new drawing programs.

Though I recently got a Tourbox on sale and man, I'd had no idea just how useful those things were. I'd have never thought it would effect my process so much.
And it's not just about what you can take away, either. Develop systems to make things easier on yourself.... and to guarantee that you're actually working. Try to make a routine that is well defined, with a specific order of events. This minimizes the natural inclination to goof off and waste time browsing websites or staring out the window. And do try to stick to it, otherwise you've just wasted the time you spent making it. It only works if you follow it. There is a story I read that goes a bit like this: A person had trouble getting out of bed. So they decided that they would, from then on, give themselves a five second count. And when that count ended they'd make themselves. get up. Of course there was no force making them do it but this person kept doing it because they needed it because it had to work, otherwise the spell would be broken and it would never work again. Routines are a lot like that. You stick with them because you need to keep the magic going. What this doesn't mean is cutting corners. Never compromise your art, your safety, or your quality of life in the pursuit of presumed efficiency. The time you supposedly save will only come back to bite you when you feel slogged down by failing health. stress or failing health. Efficiency is improving a process, not stripping pieces out of it.
October 25, 2024 at 9:38 PM
shriiimpyyowo.bsky.social
"...be in the adventure based on the trailer and teasers, but I guess it was my fault for assuming they were gonna give a thoughtful reason on why he didn't go. The reason was he just opted out- which I guess if Zooble can do it, anyone can! At least... To an extent. Caine literally DROPPED Zooble into the adventure even though they didn't want to. *DURING + AFTER ADVENTURE* -CAINE: Caine shenanigans, like always. I KNOW he can't process human emotions that well, but DUDE PLEASE. SHE JUST GOT HIT BY A TRUCK. SHE GOT TOLD WHEN SHE'S HAPPY SHE IS ANNOYING. READ HER FACE. READ THE ROOM. GOD DAMN!!!!!!! -POMNI: Pomni had a lot of interactions with NPCs, and they all were pretty unique and funny. I appreciate that she was trying to act normal towards most of the NPCs and doing her job... Even if it..." "... involved talking about Gloink reproduction... The scenes with her and Gummigoo were painful- both in a sad way and a secondhand embarrassment way. I GET what they were trying to do, but I tried my best to not skip through those scenes 😭. -JAX: As stated earlier, this episode was a little reveal of how Jax acts. He is still an ass, but in some parts he is casually talking to others. Like with Pomni, he asks her how she's doing- he is revealing he thinks about others. He was originally at the bottom of characters I like, and even though he still isn't a character I LIKE LIKE, I'm starting to warm up to him. -RAGATHA: High as a kite. And although i found the interactions between her and others funny, that part where she calls..." "...Gangle annoying really made my liking of her character wane a little bit. Gooseworx has said she says things to get out of trouble, so I already was expecting some of her niceness to be questionable. And her saying her raw thoughts like that (and then questioning if it was nice) was very... Troubling. I am curious about her episode even more now. What exactly is Ragatha's nature? -ZOOBLE: During the adventure, they were pretty chill. Had a valid reason for doing the adventure normally (despite being put their against their will). I noticed after Gangle walked off after being hurt by Ragatha, they looked very concerned for Gangle. And their concern with Ragatha getting home was notable aswell. The ending scene. Oh my GODDDDD. Abstragedy shippers going wild rn (/hj). I love seeing this side of Zooble, they..." "... genuinely have concern for others- they observe a lot (as revealed in the therapy session). For episodes 1 and 2, Zooble was on my bottom list of favorites (not as low as Jax), but ever since 3 and 4 they've climbed up to my tops. Oh my goodness I love how their character is developing. -GANGLE: Trying to keep shit together, but the people around her don't care. Pomni and Zooble were pretty much the only people in this adventure who kinda respected her. The scenes where she is losing it (and almost abstracting?) were genuinely heartbreaking to me. She deserves SO much better- and hopefully she does get the proper love and care she deserves. The ending where she is running through the parking lot, being free made me tear up..."
December 14, 2024 at 8:46 PM
seateacher.bsky.social
Conclusion, pt. 1: returning to the central thesis of his life, Dr. King would ask us to consider that love does not require us to like people, but rather love them, and how the consequences of hate impact the hater as much as the person hated.
And this is what Jesus means, I think, in this very passage when he says, “Love your enemy.” And it’s significant that he does not say, “Like your enemy.” Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it. Now for the few moments left, let us move from the practical how to the theoretical why. It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love. Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up, all but about seven have found themselves in the junkheap of destruction. It is because civilizations fail to have sense enough to dim the lights.8 And if somebody doesn’t have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in this world, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love. There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates. You just begin hating somebody, and you will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. For the person who hates, you can stand up and see a person and that person can be beautiful, and you will call them ugly. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater.
January 20, 2025 at 6:47 PM
uncle6.org
When you can basically make the same case you made in LJ 20 years ago
MOOD: sullen MUSIC: Squeeze, "Up The Junction"| I had half of this composed on Friday, and then, well, there was a manager with a corporate card down at the bar...I'm not in nearly as bad a mood now, but that could all change in a heartbeat, so I have left my annoyed tone in place for maximum emotional value. I'm just going to get this off my chest now, and since this is my LiveJournal you will listen to EVERY DAMN WORD I SAY! Or, you know, just scroll down. Ahem: 1) VOTE. It ain't much. The Electoral College was designed for a world where we took account of Indians not taxed and 3/5 of slaves, and where quite frankly the average person was if anything dumber than they are today. I know, tough to believe. And if you live in California or Alabama or similar, it may seem like a lot of trouble and effort for what is a foregone conclusion, which right there is an argument for doing away with the EC. However, your right to vote exists because there's blood in the soil in Boston and France and Shiloh and 16th Street, Birmingham, Alabama. So unless you are incarcerated or not a citizen, quit your whining and line up. And don't feed me the line about "well, if I don't vote, that makes a statement that they should have better candidates who are more responsive." Turnout has been dropping steadily for decades now. Do you honestly think the caliber of candidate is going up? Mondale? Dukakis? Steve Forbes? Morry Taylor? Ross Perot? Dennis Kuchi...Kuci... Where the fuck do they GET these people? If you don't involve yourself, if you leave the process to the syrup-drinkers and corn-shuckers and those...those..FLORIDIANS, then you'll keep getting what we have now. Which is a goddamn disaster area of an electoral process. (To my fine friends in New Hampshire and lowa and Florida, I don't mean you. All of you can breathe and think at the same time, far as I know, nothing personal. Just leave the political incompetence to Alabama; we're good at it, we're known for it, and quite frank… 3) YOU ARE VOTING FOR PRESIDENT. OF THE UNITED STATES. You are not electing a daddy, a husband, a drinking buddy, a father confessor, an American Idol, or your sorority rush chair for 2005. Your choice for President should be determined by how well you think the individual in question can discharge the duties specified in Article Il of the Constitution of the United States. This is not a reality show. This *is* reality. There is a big whopping fuck-off difference. Ruben Studdard is not walking through that door. Boston Rob is not walking through that door. Zora is not walking through that door. This is a serious office, and it should be decided on the basis of serious criteria. 4) VOTING AIN'T THERAPY. If it makes you feel better, if you can sleep through the night because you pulled the lever for the Greens, or the Libertarians, or the Socialist Worker's Party, or whomever, then fine. It's your vote. Do NOT think for one solitary second, however, that you made a difference. If you want Bush out of office, but Kerry's ideological purity is insufficient, then don't think you're sending any kind of message by voting for David Cobb, unless that message is "I'm so wrapped up in my own tie-dyed moral superiority that l'd rather live four more years with That Man in the White House." If your knees knock at the thought of a Masachusetts senator with his finger on the nuclear button, but you don't think Bush has shown adequate commitment to the Ten Commandments, you can vote for the Constitutionalist Party candidate (as endorsed by Judge Roy Moore), but all you're really saying is "I'd rather be right in my own mind and have my arch-enemy in the Oval Office." Listen to me: I'm not saying it's good, and I'm not saying it's fair, but we have a system designed for a two man race. IT IS WHAT IT IS. Is it the best? NO, but it's the best we got. Maybe someday, the One True American Moderate Party will rise up and everyone will vote for the One Great American Leader, and the donke…
October 25, 2024 at 6:58 PM
faranya.bsky.social
I remember looking at guides early on, and I had a lot of trouble with ones that tried to tell you "If it is like this, then do this" rather than explaining what it was you were doing in the first place. It's so much easier when you understand what, exactly, you are doing and why you need to do it.
November 30, 2024 at 11:54 AM
edzitron.com
I started writing something important to me tonight. Not really sure what it is, but I’ll share the end of it. Watching the tech industry do what it’s doing sickens me, and I want people to know why.
Nowhere along the line did anyone actually see an opportunity to sell people something they wanted or needed - Large Language Models were able to generate a lot of text or generate pictures, and that barely approximated a thing that society wanted or needed other than it was something that people used to be willing to pay more for and businesses had been vaguely interested in doing these things cheaper, usually by offshoring or underpaying contractors. The fact that three years later we still have trouble describing why these things exist is enough of a sign that the tech industry has no real interest in building artificial intelligence at all - because AI is, at least based on the time before ChatGPT, meant to be about doing stuff for us, which Large Language Models are pretty fucking poor at, because the idea of getting something “done for you” is that you’re outsourcing both the production and the quality control. In any case, it’s enough to make anyone feel crazy. Over the last decade we’ve watched - and while I’m talking about the tech industry, I think we can all say it’s been everywhere else too - the things we love get distanced from us so that somebody else can get unbelievably rich, the things we used to do easily made more difficult, confusing and/or expensive, and the ways we used to connect with people become increasingly abstracted and exploitative. I don’t know what to tell you about these people other than the fact that you should know that they are responsible for the world around you feeling like it’s in fucking ruins. I cannot give you a plan for the future, I cannot tell you what will fix things, but however things get fixed start with people knowing who these people are and what they have done. The reason I am so hard on my peers in the media is that it has never been more urgent that we hold these people accountable. Their ability to act both unburdened by regulation and true criticism has emboldened them to cause harm to billions of peop… Fighting back starts with the truth, said regularly, said boldly and clearly with emotion and sincerity. I don’t have other answers. I don’t have bold plans. I don’t know what to do, other than to explain how I feel, and if you feel the same, at the very least make you feel less afraid. If you ever need to talk, email me at ez@betteroffline.com. I don’t care. I have cracked myself open and spilled myself onto my podcast and newsletter for no reason other than the fact that I feel more alive doing so, and have become a stronger and happier person doing so. All this is possible thanks to technology, and while I have no plan, I know I feel more free and alive when I write and speak about this stuff. I write this knowing that speaking in this way feels “too much” or some other way of attacking me for experiencing emotion, and if you’re feeling that way reading this, look deep within yourself and see if you’re simply uncomfortable with somebody capable of feeling things. We die alone, but we choose whether we live that way. Remember that billions of us are suffering in the same way, and remember who to fucking thank for doing it to us.
June 5, 2025 at 6:07 AM
a-macaron.bsky.social
archiveofourown.org/works/645717...

Update!

#macaronoc
She made a face as she dismissed the thoughts and leaned her head back to look up at where C was sitting behind her. "Isn't there some other way I can do this? I can't, I don't know, use a rope and strangle him to slow him down or something?" Her teacher shook her head, seeming slightly amused, like a child had just asked her why they didn't simply fly home instead of taking the bus. "It's not gonna be very effective, seeing as how we don't actually need to breathe. Might annoy him pretty good, though, so definitely try it and tell me how it goes!" Evelyn rolled over to her stomach, dropping her chin into her hands. "How does that even work? I've heard him sigh a bunch and I mean, speaking, for one! You need air for that, right?" "He's sighing?" C and Susu paused the shoulder massage to exchange a look, then C continued without elaborating on that specific comment. "I'm not saying we don't ever use air. If we're using vocal cords, we'll use air, but that's not the only way we can speak, even disregarding telepathy. How to put this..." Susu offered something in her first language. Evelyn loved hearing it-it sounded like birdsong. C nodded. "Yeah, let's go with that. It's kind of like... I'm not in love with this analogy, but you know how people should Evelyn loved hearing it-it sounded like birdsong. C nodded. "Yeah, let's go with that. It's kind of like... I'm not in love with this analogy, but it's close enough. So you know how people should eat at least twice every twenty-four hours, right?" "Generally it's three times," Evelyn replied, thinking of hospital food and feeling queasy as she poked at the woven floor, avoiding C's eyes. "Three then. But you also know if a human doesn't eat, it's not going to kill them immediately. Do you get what I'm saying here?" C asked, digging her elbow into a specific spot in Susu's back. The other woman let out a content trilling noise then nodded, stretching her arms out with a satisfied smile. Evelyn looked up. "You breathe, but it's not a constant need, like it is for us?" "Bingo." C grinned as she gave her wife's shoulders a final squeeze. "You're a very good student, Evvie. So you can't drastically hurt us by cutting off our airflow anymore than I'd drastically hurt you by taking away your morning snack-well, if you still needed to eat like a normal human, that is." Her expression changed to one Evelyn couldn't quite read, with sharp eyes and a slight smile she thought felt a little ominous. "But if you ever catch Her expression changed to one Evelyn couldn't quite read, with sharp eyes and a slight smile she thought felt a little ominous. "But if you ever catch one of us gasping for air, or panting? It'll be because we're either exhausted or severely injured, and need as much energy as we can get in as fast a time as we can get it. Kinda like if a human's starving to death, only doing it in a much faster period of time." She snapped her fingers, and her pipe appeared in them. "In short? Breathing heavily means we're in real trouble. Or, ya know, enjoying ourselves a lot." "Ew," Evelyn said bluntly at the implication, wrinkling her nose. C's grin grew more mischievous as she took a long drag. "As for how exactly, well, if you want a lesson in demon anatomy, ask A. Be sure you phrase it just like that, though. Maybe you'll get a nice surprise instead." "Ew, again," Evelyn replied with an eyeroll as Susu elbowed her wife with a scolding look. The action only got her a quick forehead kiss. C did not seem capable of feeling shame.
May 22, 2025 at 12:24 AM
ericdotcom.com
I watched "I Don't Want To Be A Magical Girl" and it was really good, but wished the pipe gag was turned up a bit

Double tapping a downed opponent is being smart

Doing it after they beg for mercy is sending a message

#art #idwtbamg
Eclipse getting fucking merc'd by the lead pipe. I had trouble getting an angle that showed him being hit in the shins and also getting launched, so now he's getting hit in the stomach and magically his legs are broken too. She *is* a magical girl! Part 2: Aika completes the swing, sending Eclipse flying. I'm not a big fan of the send your enemy flying to a place where they can easily escape trope but, as we'll see, Aika is on top of the follow up. Part 3: Eclipse in excruciating pain. I know there's a lot of variables, but I'm curious whether we're looking at a fracture or a full on shattered bone here. How much damage is needed to make sure your enemy never gets up to fight another day? Part Finale: Eclipse raises his hand in a futile manner against Aika, unable to resist while she brings down the pipe on his already disabled legs. Jeez. Reading all this back, even I think it's too much. Oh well, it's already drawn.
March 2, 2025 at 5:18 AM
tantalusstudios.bsky.social
So generally it isn't a good idea to pre-release your scripts and all

But given the current social climate this was one part of the story seems like it should be told sooner than later. (and it was certainly going to much much later as far a story flow goes)
Paragraphs separated by pages -Dashes indicating each comic panel [Modern magic world Umbra "Umi" Storm has a particular transgender sigil (taking the place of conventional surgeries) which is sometimes frowned upon, being technically categorized as 'blood magic' due to the common practice of incorporating a small sample of blood from a donor to give a DNA template of the intended bodily changes This operation in particular has at this point only recently been standardized as a clinical procedure, some still seeing it as "backwater voodoo"] -Wide shot of a zoo entrance (Marvin's Magnificent Managory), people coming and going -Zoom in on sisters Celeste and Umi in line to go through a security scan -Umi gets nervous "Wait they're going to scan us?" holding a hand to her waist where her sigil is "You know scans don't always like... me." -"Well then they'll loose good buissiness and have me to contend with" Celeste smiles (guard has a 2-star Magi Baret badge) -Umi gets scanned -Guard glances at something blinking on his screen -"I'm sorry, no blood magic runes in the park" the guard says -"Actually" Celeste says stepping up "automutation, if set and stabilized, which your scans should validate, is an accepted and certefied rune. Exceptional to the wards and penalties of standard hemocraft" -The guard stares at her blankly -Celeste sighs -"It means this particular magic is safe and isn't an issue" "Well I'm afraid my instructions say" the guard says pulling out a book -"for the safety of the varied and unique species within, not to allow practitioners of blood magic in any form" The guard states -closing the book "Rules are rules" -"and as***les are as***les" Celeste retorts -"Come on Cici" Umi tugs at her, though clearly dejected "It's fine. We can just... go to the movies or something" -"It's b****hit is what it is!" -To the guard "Did you even hear the word 'exceptional' or 'stabalized'?" -speaking back to Umi "You've been looking forward to this all month. And for what?" -Celeste's hair and eyes starts to glow with a firey light, "for some hoity-toity money man (gesturing to a poster of Marvin) to decide my sister's validation and self-interest are a public menace to society!?" Back to the guard "Don't pretend that isn't what this is about!" -"Madam, I'm going to have to ask you to stand down" the guard says -"Stand down this" Celeste says, winding up to spit a small glob of flame. -Umi grabs her around the waist, teleporting them both back to their car in the parking lot -The firey glob then flies and sizzles somewhere offscreen -"It isn't him" Umi mumbles from below ofscreen, still holding her as Celeste looks down -Umi tearing up "He was just doing his job. You can't break contract, you lose rank that way*." Hugging tighter around her "you could also get in trouble for hurting him. I don't want this to come back around to your job. It probably would." "and besides, that's my job right?" she says, sitting back with down cast eyes "Pass through, invisible. Shadow in the night without a ripple in the pond." (Umbra usually specializes in stealth and infiltration contracts*) -Celeste gets a determined look -as Umi breaks into tears "You look at me, Umbra Solice Storm" Celeste says, kneeling to her level, holding her eyes -"you are the reassuring shade in a world blinded by too much light. A beautiful and humble beacon of stillness and respite. There may be those who don't see you, and all I can do is pity their loss, but don't you for a second think that means that their lives aren't blessed to have you in it" "You saw the gaurd's dilemma even though he seemed the issue. And my little stunt probably would have had consequences professionally. You got me out just before I was probably about to do something really stupid" "probably?" Umi asks with a laugh, wiping an eye "okay definitely. Very big problems" "Thanks, I... I think I'll be okay but I just need some time" she sniffs -Celeste kneels there next to the car, holding her sobbing sister [Reevaluation - Sepertate drawing of the guard at home in deep thought.] Textless montage elsewhere -Celeste relating events to her mom and dad over the phone as the are making some dinner -Dad talks to his coworkers -who talk to the boss -who decides to turn down their negotiations to supply technology for the park's new would-be impressive feature *See MAGI BARET Essentially a freelance adventurer guild type organization for security gigs or other dangerous-type work
May 28, 2025 at 1:10 AM