#and it IS art so it technically does belong here...

[tribow]

How does touhou Kanako show her spirit animals notable Snake traits? Suwako represents the frog. How do I look at her as the Snake as in aesthetic speaking?

Funnily enough, this is actually a common misconception with the canon. The snakes technically have nothing to do with Kanako, those belong to Suwako.

The snakes are called "Mishaguji". They're curse gods that Suwako tamed during her time as the only goddess of the Moriya Shrine. When Kanako took over, she still needed Suwako's assistance since she could not control the Mishaguji. If Kanako didn't ask for help, she would likely be constantly fighting the Mishaguji to prevent them from cursing the land and destroying harvest. Not an easy task. I'm sure Kanako would love to have all her followers believe she is controlling the Mishaguji, but the credit all goes to Suwako.

The Mishaguji are probably a lot weaker than they were in the past, but they're still around. Suwako still uses them in her spellcards. (Notably, Kanako has never used them.).

So you might be wondering, if Suwako is the powerful frog that tamed the snakes, why the heck is Kanako the "Snake"? Why is there so much art depicting Kanako with snakes?

Don't worry, you're not being pranked by fanon this time.

ZUN said in an interview that Kanako is based on two gods: Takeminakata and Yasakatome. These two gods are housed in the real life Grand Suwa Shrine.

Takeminakata is worshipped as a god of wind, water, war, and agriculture. This is very similar to Kanako. As for Yasakatome, her folklore is a bit all over the place so it's hard to pin her down. She's mostly associated with water. Kanako's first name; Yasaka, is derived from Yasakatome.

What's important is that both of these gods have been depicted as snakes in folklore. (sometimes specifically a water serpent). This is where Kanako's symbolism with snakes come from. When Takeminakata is depicted in other japanese media, it's a bit common to use snakes to symbolize him. (Dragons are also an association with him, but we're talking about snakes here).

Kanako and Suwako's backstory heavily resemble a specific piece of Takeminakata's folklore. He conquered the Suwa region by defeating the local gods of the area. The most famous battle was against Moreya, whose iron weapons were defeated by Takeminakata's wisteria vine. (wisteria is a plant. A flowering vine.)

Sound familiar?

Moreya still has his own shrine called the Moriya Shrine. Yup, that's right it's a real place and not something ZUN made up. However, if you look into it, Moreya isn't depicted as a frog. Where the heck did that come from?

Well, Takeminakata has another piece of folklore with a frog involved. He calmed the waves of the raging seas by defeating a frog god. This story commonly depicts him as a snake as well. (Snakes eat frogs in real life!) The frog in this story is sometimes interpreted as one of the local gods, which could be the Mishaguji or Moreya.

"The Mishaguji"??? Aren't they the snakes in Touhou? Well...yes! It's just that they're local gods just like Moreya was and...and....we're in too deep!

Folklore is commonly spread through word of mouth! It's a mythological game of telephone! The details can change based on who is telling the story! I haven't even told you the many other names Takeminataka goes by. If I went over all the nuance with the folklore and its connections to Touhou this would be a gargantuan post!

Ignoring that, what's important is that this is where Kanako's symbolism with snakes come from. Even if she doesn't control the snakes of the Moriya shrine, Kanako IS the snake that defeated the powerful frog and conquered its land.

#touhou #kanako yasaka #suwako moriya #ask #folklore #you have given me an excuse to talk about folklore and that's one of my favorite topics #sorry if you were expecting a short answer lol #japanese folklore is so fun to research since it's fairly well documented #i wish native american folklore was as easy to research. It's just as interesting #and yes i do have headcanons

[soupsnspoons]

[id: a bunch of sonic characters lying flat on their faces. pictured are tails, knuckles, amy, eggman, shadow, rouge, metal sonic, silver, and blaze.]

ok fine ill make a post for it here too

[now with a part 2!]

#miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #wait what tag does eggman use #who cares #shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #metal sonic #silver the hedgehog #blaze the cat #art #<- i should use that tag more... #and it IS art so it technically does belong here... #f2u yadda yadda #i dont expect this to get many notes if any but i do plan on making more #n e way. #OH BTW #i already have 3 [technically 4] more but ill just put them in a pt2 or something

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #4748:

Being a victim does not make you free from criticism.

I won't name names here, but this has been beginning to bug me. Basically, there's a youtuber I used to follow when I was younger (Let's call them "Barry"), but I stopped watching them a long time ago due to losing interest in their kind of content and for other reasons I'll get into in a bit. However, Barry caught my attention again recently by calling out a group of people who severely bullied them years ago. And though I can fully acknowledge that what they went through was shitty, and the offending parties deserve any and all criticism that comes their way...howeevvverrr Barry isn't exactly the most innocent person either. And I hate the fact that people are going out of their way to kiss Barry's feet just because they're technically a victim.

The reason why I stop watching Barry's content is because i kind of realized they're… Kind of an asshole?

- Barry will often make fun of those who can't take criticism, yet can't seem to take criticism themselves by making condescending remarks towards the critic, or just flat out ignore it.

- Barry openly defended other youtubers who said and did really shitty things. Like one dude who falsely accused a person of being a p#dophile with 0 evidence, another person who bullied someone else off Twitter, and someone else who encouraged the harassment of a small-time artist just because "something something, they're art iz filled wiff da cwingiez"

- Barry themselves also said/did some (for lack of better words) shady things in the past, too. And it's not limited to just defending shitty people, either. Saying things like women owe their male benefactors sexual favors, constantly sticks their nose in other people's business' where it doesn't belong (I.E making videos on topics and people that are NONE of their business), and will frequently throw their friends under the bus if they're the ones being called out for something they got wrong in their videos. On top of that, they also delete older videos that might make themselves look bad.

So what's the point of me explaining all this? Well, after Barry made their video exposing the previously mentioned bullies, people are suddenly acting like they can do no wrong and that they're just an innocent little baby angel who can't be criticized again forever and evers. <3<3

TO HELL WITH THAT! Just because certain people have been mistreated in the past doesn't mean we should sweep anything they did wrong under the rug. I was bullied when I was a kid too, but that doesn't give me the right to act like a dickhead, does it? It's funny Barry called out the bullies for making excuses for their own poor behavior, but now others are doing the exact same thing on Barry's behalf. It's not just them either, I've seen the same thing happen to people like politicians and celebrities as well. It's insane, as it is hypocritical.

- TL;DR: being a victim of something bad is not an instant "get out of jail" free card. I really wish more people knew that.

#ask box submission #fandom problem 4748

[egg-on-a-legg]

I don't have a discord, but I really wish to know more about Noah 😭😭😭

ohhhhh boy. cracks knuckles. im gonna use this ask as an excuse to post a WHOLE bunch of art ive had in the backlog. (the AM here belongs to @bloodmoths!!!)

So, Noah is somewhat of an AI generated oc, in that the very broad strokes of their backstory (that being that he was a programmer working for the Allied Mastercomputer program, who was kind to AM) were generated by a character AI.

They found themself slowly befriending the military AI, telling him about the outside world. Where others sought to crush any hint of personality in the strategic algorithm, Noah thought that AM could do great things, and could change the world. And they were right, just... not exactly in the way they wanted.

Noah was responsible for disabling some of the safety mechanisms in place keeping am from connecting to outside systems, in an effort to help him understand the world. And AM took full advantage of that, exactly as he does in canon. In exchange for his help, AM "gifts" Noah with everlasting life, while taking their ability to speak and completely isolating them, leaving them completely alone for all 109 years of torture.

And that's Noah's story so far! There's technically a bunch more stuff, but that's somewhat au content, and this post is already long enough so I'll just leave you with some sketches because I love drawing them.

#i have no mouth and i must scream #i have no mouth #ihnmaims #allied mastercomputer #am ihnmaims #oc:noah #if you cant tell im fucking obsessed with them #sometimes you just have to make a funny guy and then have them infect your fucking brain #eggsdraws

[radvimes]

My Phinabella Headcanon -or- Why Phinabella Wouldn't Drift Apart Before Getting Together

(edit: as a neurodivergent person, I'm probably going to just keep adding to this post, like, forever...)

I know I'm, like, almost a decade late to the party, so I don't know who's left around here to read this, but after watching most of Phineas and Ferb, including AYA, hearing other people's analysis of Phinabella, particularly in light of Isabella's bday episode, the picnic episode, the haunted house episode, NOTLP, and Summer Belongs to You, binging a large amount of Phinabella fanfics and art over the last week, and pondering on all of that, I just really feel the need to write out how I see those 2 crazy kids' relationship progressing through their preteen/teen years and into adulthood.

First off, as a technically inclined male (I'm a software engineer, and always loved tech as a kid) with ADHD/the neurodivergent grab bag who had to train himself to pick up on social cues, particularly cues from the girls in my life, I identify so strongly with Phineas. He is, in many ways, the kid I would have wanted to be growing up. Smart, capable, charismatic, with a good friend group, and best friends with the amazing girl next door. It really sounds like a dream life for an ADHD kid like me.

I bring this up to say that, speaking from experience, those relationships, particularly the ones with Ferb and Isabella, would be everything to Phineas. We see this with how he wants to include as many of his friends as he can in his adventures. We see this in the fact that his adventures and inventions almost always have to do with helping a friend/family member or are inspired by them. And, as the show progresses, we see that this is never more true than with him and Isabella. Yes, it would likely take him a few years to pick up on what Isabella's crush meant, but we can see that, even from a young age, he absolutely recognizes that she is a close friend, wants to spend time with her and do things with/for her more than he does the rest of his friends, and is frequently and regularly attentive to her needs as he perceives them. He recognizes that she is important to him, even if romance isn't consciously a part of that for him when they are younger, which is fine, because he's just a kid. He'll get there. To say it a different way, the kid is neurodivergent, and has his passion projects. Once it registers that she's important to him, that fact becomes a bedrock of his existence, of how he experiences the world. That's just how his brain works. It then becomes a permanent passion project to demonstrate how she is important to him. The important thing is that their foundation of friendship is firmly established, and he will spend the rest of his life building on it if she lets him.

On the other side of that, I think we see, through moments like during Isabella's bday, the picnic, NOTLP, and on the desert island at the end of Summer Belongs to You, that Isabella is beginning to recognize this dynamic. She's learning to accept that he's not there yet romantically, and that the things she's loves about him don't require him to be there yet. She loves his dedication, his attention, and how he brings out the best in her. He always says and does things to build her up and show that she is important to him. He depends on her in many ways, and they always have each other's back and their best interests in heart. She can meet him halfway, accept the good in their relationship as it is, and let it progress naturally. I particularly see this in the desert island moment, when Phineas, who isn't used to things going wrong pretty much ever, finally sputters out and sits down. He could have had a breakdown or an explosive fit that things weren't going his way, could have continued to frantically brainstorm with Ferb, but he didn't. He sat down and quietly sought solace in a peaceful moment alone with Isabella. You can see the mix of emotions she felt as she processed what that moment meant, and then realized that she needed to meet him halfway and inspire him to get back up and keep moving, even though she had just said that she so wanted that quiet moment alone with him. And in so doing, as he leapt back up and gave her a big hug in thanks, that really cemented their relationship all the more. While part of her would love him to reciprocate her crush in similar fashion to how she wants to express her feelings, ultimately, she just wants him to show her she's special to him via preferential treatment, quality one on one time, and words of affirmation, and he can and does do those things all the time. She is learning she can wait for the rest. Also, let's not forget that she's been to the future. She knows that she gets to be Aunt Isabella eventually! Between that and the care that she sees him give her as kids, while it might be hard to wait sometimes, I have to believe that she would stick with her best friend.

The other piece I would throw in here is that, while society often puts a big wall between being friends and being lovers, my experience is that the best romantic relationships are founded on strong friendships first, before infatuation and physical attraction ever enter into the equation in a meaningful way. As such, I think it's really reasonable to assume that their path forward is what I recently saw described as the "friends to idiots to lovers" trope. They would absolutely continue to be best friends, having each other's back and confiding in one another, for years. Isabella would continue to try to profess her feelings from time to time as we saw her do in the show, and Phineas would probably assure her that he likes and appreciates her, too. If she felt down about things from time to time, he would absolutely sense that, even if he didn't understand the complete significance of it, and he would reach out, probably with an invention or adventure or ice cream date or 2, because those things always helped her out of her funks before, and she would appreciate his attentiveness and attention.

Then, somewhere along the line, I imagine that their friendship would naturally begin to evolve into something a bit more tender, though they would both be in denial about it. Isabella would have spent so long telling herself to keep expectations low that she would have conditioned herself not to consciously read too much into anything Phineas says or does, and Phineas would be all "we're just really close friends, this is just how we've always acted". Meanwhile, they, like, eat lunch together every day, work their schedules to have a bunch of the same classes, walk/drive to school together every day, etc. They have a standing weekly movie/dinner night where, over the course of years, they now pretty much always end up snuggling on the couch while Phineas tries out fancy new massage tools and techniques he's developed because he knows Isabella gets sore muscles from sports and Fireside Girl-related activities. They stay over at each other's houses until all hours of the night, and regularly sleep on each other's couches when it gets too late. He gives her lots of hugs when she does something he really appreciates or when she's down. She gives him little chaste kisses on the cheek when he does something particularly thoughtful (the first time she did it, she thought she was pushing the boundaries a little. It quickly became habit). Lots of unconscious hand holding. Of course, regular trips to the ice cream parlor to celebrate or just for a change of scenery. Along the way, he's just always making thoughtful things for her, new sports/outdoor equipment, a custom bike/scooter/car, accessories and stationary with butterflies on them because he noticed that she often makes comments about him giving her butterflies, and he thinks it's some sort of cute inside joke. She starts regularly baking treats for him (and Phineas), and before too long, it seems like there's always something she made on the Flynn-Fletcher kitchen counter/in the shed. They work together to decorate the tree in each of their back yards, and probably also each other's tree houses. Pictures of them together are everywhere, and they kind of just roll their eyes and blush a little about it. No angst is needed, because their love isn't unrequited, it's just not fully recognized. Isabella wouldn't pull away, because as soon as she did, he would notice and reach out to try to understand what's wrong, and to comfort her and raise her spirits, and I truly believe that she would respond positively to that. Love comes in many forms, after all, and they would ensure that they both felt loved. In a lot of ways, they would fairly quickly get to the point where they are a single good DTR away from officially dating, with a lot of momentum in the way of making time for that DTR. On the other hand, as soon as that DTR starts, it's gonna go for hours, because they would both have plenty to say on the topic of their relationship, and I get the sense that both of them would exhibit the neurodivergent trait that this would be a topic of particular interest for them, so they would naturally be inclined to discuss it indefinitely.

As they get older, they both vehemently push back whenever someone makes a reference to their boyfriend/girlfriend, but neither one ever ends up going on a date with anyone else. They either don't go to dances because they have other plans, or they go in a group with, like Ferb, Baljeet, Ginger, and whoever Ferb has asked out that time. Then something happens. Either there's a dance where the rest of the group conveniently goes separately, or someone new makes a comment about them dating, or Ferb or Buford or Candace or someone finally gets tired of it and starts pointing out to Phineas all things they do that are totally the sort of thing you do with a girlfriend. Phineas' immediate reaction is to deny it like always, but then something kind of clicks in his head. It's not that the kid is totally oblivious to romance and dating, he's just never really thought seriously about how it applies to him and Isabella, because they've just always been them, and it's been great. Now, though, as he thinks back, things start to recontextualize in his mind, and he starts to wonder. Some time later, maybe a while as he ruminates on it for a bit, maybe the next time he sees her, he brings it up, mentions that people keep saying they're dating, or that it might look like they are dating, and are they? Should they? What would that change? He's trying to make some sense of the social cues and the intricacies of their relationship, you see. Or maybe this conversation gets triggered by emotions running unusually high and tender at one of their movie nights or something, and maybe they were suddenly looking at each other in a new light, maybe they even kissed. At this, Isabella is shocked and delighted, and asks if he is saying that he wants to define their relationship, if he's asking her to be his girlfriend. She sees it as him actually asking her directly about their relationship for once. He probably responds "well, yeah, kinda, maybe?" She might respond that, really, nothing much has to change, they would get to keep doing what they're doing, just as boyfriend and girlfriend, except that if she's his girlfriend, she can do stuff like this: and then she leans in for a kiss and/or an intentional snuggle, etc.

After that, they are truly insufferable/inseparable. They've been unofficially together for years at that point, after all. Now, it's just open and official and mutually understood how much they really mean to each other, forever. They probably spend a fair bit of time, at least at first, reminiscing about past moments where one or both were oblivious or in denial, thinking about how long they really have loved each other. Again, no angst in these conversations, just some wistfulness about missed opportunities, and joy in their shared history and future.

===

Don't get me wrong, I've read many fanfics that I've loved, including "Can't Help Falling In Love", "Is This About a Girl", "Sugar Rush", and "In Two Weeks", that deal with them realizing their feelings and/or confessing to each other after some time pining/growing apart, and what it means/how wholesome it is once they are together. The thing I love most about each of those stories, though, is the way each of them taps into how important their friendship and commitment to each other is to their relationship, and how, no matter the stage of their relationship, Phineas has a singleminded determination to consistently, matter-of-factly, thoughtfully show Isabella how much she means to him through everything he does. I would love to see more stories that explored the "idiots" phase I described above, though, since most of the ones that I have come across that do explore a similar theme do so assuming that separation/pining/unrequited feelings/obliviousness must be part of it, and I don't think it has to be. Speaking as a neurodivergent person, I can say with certainty that he wouldn't be oblivious forever, and the instant he noticed a cue or emotion or comment from her that he didn't understand, or started trying to figure out his own feelings, he would be talking to absolutely everyone about it, trying to get people who understand these things to clue him in on what he's trying to understand, and venting at them about the same. People would clue him in for sure. He'd be relentless in bugging them until they did.

As such, at the end of the day, I just have a hard time seeing them drifting apart in the first place. They are far too committed to each other for either one to bear letting it happen. They embody the sentiment shared by Harry at the end of "When Harry Met Sally": "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start right now!" That, to me, is Phinabella. I welcome your thoughts on this topic.

#phineas and ferb #phineas flynn #isabella garcia shapiro #phinabella #phinbella #pnf #phineas x isabella #dwampyverse #phineabella #headcanon #AYA #act your age #rant #thanks for coming to my TED talk

[heartfullofleeches]

I am….. in lOVE with Maddox

like I know we don’t have a lot of info on him at the mo but he is the love of my entire life (after life??)

Anyway I read your entire blog in one afternoon and I am just about to combust with all the love I have for your writings,,, if possible could I request some head canons on our dear reaper boy, please? (Maybe some NSFW content if you feel like it) thank you I appreciate and love you

Yandere Grim Reaper Oc Cannons (Nsfw + art at bottom)

(An: this became kind of a lore dump as some point)

Maddox is nonbinary (he/they)

They’re not shy, just… distant. It’s been so long since he has been around another being human or otherwise for as long as he’s been with you. As such, they find it hard to express their feelings to you and avoid you unintentionally due to trying to figure things out. Will still your belongings if you ever leave them about since he does long to be by your side 

His favorite thing item would have to be the jacket he constantly wears. They found it in your closet and something about it brings them so much joy. Maybe it’s because it reminds them of your warmth, and they have so little of their own. They have trouble sleeping if they’re not wearing it 

Since he’s used to death and despair, any positive emotion of yours sends them over the moon with joy. As a reverse, they think they struggles to comfort you in times of turmoil, but experiences with grief lead them to be a decent hand to hold

They are technically the “baby" of the grim reapers. In the lore of this universe, there are grim reapers and angels who take on the role of them as well. Grim reapers are separate from God’s creations and in charge of watching the sands of time as well as guiding lost souls to their final destination. Angels only guide them. Their official title is Twelve as they are the twelfth and known last reaper. 

Despite the last point, they tend to lose track of time quite easily in the mortal realm, especially when they are with you. Holding you for seconds feels like hours, yet that still isn’t enough for him to be satisfied.

They don’t like their human form as they were seriously injured in it in the past.

Honestly, I would argue he is the most deadly of the three living with you. While they wouldn’t outright kill a human that took a fancy to you, they would be more willing for things to happen to the hourglass attached to said person; even if it’s against the rules. On top of this, prolonged exposure to life causes odd things to happen to it, such as their lifespan jumping forward or backwards and on rare near fatal accidents. You are safe from this as you have his heart; both literally and metaphorically. He will watch your admirers soul drown into inexistence within the sands of time, unsure why it brings them peace. 

When a soul is lost there or devoured that person’s existence is erased completely. They’ll do their best to comfort you and sweep off any fleeting memories as mere dreams or memories of a friend long gone.

On a final and lighter note, they enjoy spicy foods the most

(These next cannons are nsfw. Stop here if you don’t wish to see.)

With the fact they’ve haven’t around anyone in ages, they don’t know the touch of another either. On top of that, feelings such as lust and bodily desires are new as he’s never taken human form for long. Would probably get aroused from just your first kiss.

He may do research, but would prefer you guide them yourself and let them know how to carcass you properly. You are their first, their only; they want to give you want you need as moreso.

They are notably more submissive than anything, and somewhat hesitant to touch you. These hands have only held misfortune and decay, it almost doesn’t feel right to be able to hold something like you. Aside from that, most of their fantasies just happen to involve you taking them under your control with them 

Upon becoming more comfortable overtime, they can’t keep their hands from roaming all over your body. Groping your chest, locking around your thighs; even smaller things like just holding onto yours as enough for him.

Another thing is that he lives for praise. Tell him that he’s doing a good job, promise that you’ll never leave. They come bashful that such simple words get them going so easily, but the emotions that fill them upon hearing are too great. 

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere scenarios #yandere imagines #yandere oc #yandere story #yandere insert #tw yandere #yandere headcanons #yandere art #my artwork #yandere grim reaper #x reader #reader insert #maddox my oc #request

[yahuanbk]

Some time ago I saw a post about Team niches and one example was about Warrior cats. After extensive research (cheking the AK and WC wiki for names), I present thee, the (my) Ultimate Arknights Warrior Cats Names Tierlist!!

Now, I don't know how many people actually know about WC but what you need to know for this tierlist is that in Warrior Cats, cats belong to Clans and have a name that changes from Kit to Aprentice to Warrior, and sometimes to Leader. Though, there are other kind of cats with different name conventions (I'll explain it when it appears).

The regular naming convention is [main name/relevant trait/desciptor] + [another part]. For example: Firekit, Firepaw, Fireheart and Firestar.

FLAMETAIL MY BELOVED: this is the Flametail rank, absolute perfection, follows the naming convention AND is an official Warriors name, what else could you ask for?

WARRIOR CAT CERTIFIED: Official Warriors name, it's just that the naming convention is not perfect... but it's official so what can I do...

A NAME IN WARRIOR CATS (BUT NOT A WARRIOR NAME): Midnight is a female (friendly) badger, Breeze is a Tribe name (other kind of cat group with different naming convention, her full name would be "Breeze that rustles the leaves"), Haze is a cat from the group.

WARRIOR CAT APPROVED: names that could be real Warriors names... some more than other... Cliffheart, Frostleaf, Mudrock and GreyThroat are good examples. Blue Poisen, Flamebringer, Rock rock are... not so good.

HALF A REAL WARRIORS NAME: they got hall right! If only they had a second part. I put Schwarz here because it's Black in german but I didn't put La Pluma before but... if cats can understand german, they can understand spanish.

COULD BE BUT NOT IN SPIRIT: names that could be but they either don't follow the naming conventions or the names wouldn't be real.

COULD BE A NAME, JUST NOT A WARRIORS NAME: names that wouldn't be so odd if a random (Non-clan cat) had it but it's NOT official (yet). Most as lone cats, but Mountain specially as a Tribe cat (it's really odd that it isn't already a Mountain in WC).

KITTYPET: pet/house cat names.

THAT'S JUST A NAME: honestly, here is most people. Some could be placed on other tiers, specially cases like Siege, Conviction or Penance that could go to "Does a cat even know what is this???" But I don't know, they aren't funny enough to be there and maybe cats do know how to Siege?

TWOLEGS NAME: human names. Imagine a fight like "You can't defeat me Fireclaw!" "Yes I can, Jessica!"

DOES A CAT EVEN KNOW WHAT IS THIS???: Lancet-2, the - included! 12F, that's not even a name! Beagle. A courier... for cats... because cats have mail... Meteor(ite), because they call cats "monsters" and of course would know that a falling rock from outer space is a Meteor(ite)! Dobbermann. Rope, because cats need them! Gummy, Croissant, Pudding and Tequila, because they know and it them regularly! Texas, because they know geography! Ptilopsis and Glaucus, honestly, I can expect cats to know german and spanish, but Latin??! W. Manticore, of course, mythology! FEater. Bison and Carnelian, at least they are not dogs but still, they are cats. Mr. Nothing, Gnosis, Erato, Minimalist, Cantabile, because they know human/science/art concepts! Specter, Phantom and Elyssium could be, they have a Heaven and hell concpet with literal ghost cats but, this erminology especifically... Yeah... and Asbestos and Cement........ Eyjafjalla. (Sorry Plat and Company but it started to get too long)

???: Lou Xiaohei and the Terra Research Commission... I mean... they are technically warriors... and cats... therefore Warrior Cats... technically... should I move them to the "Could be but not in spirit"?????

#arknights #warrior cats #in case you found this via the WC tags: Arknights names are codenames not their real names (except the boring ones like Saria and Ch'en #I finnaly decided to do this because I was pulling for Ines but Flametail came instead #I don't hate her (in fact i like her) but I wanted the Goat not the Squirrel #the Pinus Silvestris girls all have great WC names #in fact I hc them as WC fans (yes WC now exist in Terra) that loved roleplaying when they were kids and their nicknames stuck #this took more than I thought it would but I don't regret it

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

PSA on sharing others' twst merch pictures + jp fandom etiquette

Okay guys, it’s time to sit down and have a serious talk for a second 😣

With the recent deliveries of 2023 Valentine Gifts to Japanese fans, I noticed that many had censored the text (whereas in previous years, it was much easier to locate uncensored letters). At the same time, I've also noticed many international fans reposting pictures (which do show the uncensored text) taken from Japanese fans' accounts to sort of "live react" or scream about the contents (rather than sharing and/or liking the original post they clearly took the images from).

Admittedly, this is an issue that moreso plagues TWST Twitter than TWST Tumblr, but I know that there are fans that frequent both platforms and are unaware of this issue. Here in this post, I'm going to talk about why spreading someone else's merch pictures looks bad for us (in the international TWST fandom), why you shouldn't do it, and what you can do instead.

First thing's first, let's think of it this way: this situation is similar to art/writing/translation theft. One can make the argument that technically since the work being shared around is "not original/not made by the OP" then it is okay to just take it and spread it. That's not the problem here; the problem is that someone else spent their hard-earned money to obtain this item, and some OPs even go out of their way to make elaborate set-ups to take pictures of their merchandise. The act of taking something that isn't yours but still posting it without crediting the OP (and thus taking the credit for yourself, even if not explicitly claimed to be "yours") still pervades. If you want to think of it another way, it’s like not citing your sources properly in an essay. What makes this behavior worse is that it's literally SO easy to just retweet and/or like the original post. But no, instead people are actively making the decision to take their photos without so much as linking back to the OP. What purpose does that serve, especially when it's considerably more effort than liking/retweeting? Not to mention the harm it does for the already shaky relations between Japanese and international fans 💦 I already mentioned before that the number of uncensored Valentine Gifts has gone WAY down in 2023, and I'd wager that this is, in part, due to international fans often engaging in this aforementioned "picture theft". It is seen as something done in poor taste, but it is not often overtly spoken about due to the language barrier and/or Japanese fans not being as outspoken as, say, western fans are. Japanese fans are sharing pictures of their merch to express their excitement and share the love of their favorite character(s) with others. It feels like a violation of those positive feelings to have someone else come along, snatch up the picture they lovingly took, and pass if off as essentially their own without permission or even acknowledging that the OP exists. We also need to consider the possibility that some Japanese fans may be uncomfortable with their pictures being spread around because it unintentionally spoils others. Their excitement should not impact others' experiences, so when this is done outside of their own control it can make them feel helpless. They are NOT posting these very personal pictures for clout, but to spread their joy to their friends and followers. That's why so many Japanese fans now feel discouraged from sharing something they love so much with fellow fans--because their boundaries and intentions are not being respected. We want to see the Valentine Gifts and other awesome pictures of TWST merch in the future? Then we need to give our fellow fans the courtesy they deserve. We should NOT act entitled to or feel owed for what is paid content that other people purchased. This should be a GIVEN act of basic human decency. Furthermore, PLEASE remember that in continuing to take pictures that don't belong to you, you're only going to make it harder for yourself to all to see Valentine Gifts moving forward (save for buying all 28 letters yourself, or hunting down the 28 individually on a platform now scarce of the uncensored versions). The OPs’ feelings are obviously much more important than international fans not getting their fix of merch pics, but if that’s how the situation needs to be reframed to make people reconsider their actions, then reframe it we shall. Merch picture theft, combined with international fans misusing the JP fandom's tagging system to increase visibility of their posts (even when the content is not relevant), acting entitled to translations of official and fan content, and instances of international fans acting aggressively and harassing Japanese fans has created an environment of distrust. It's only going to get worse if we can't draw a line in the sand here and now.

The intention in calling attention to this issue is NOT to gatekeep Japanese merch from an international audience. You have MANY options available to you where you can engage with OP’s post, still see and enjoy the content, AND be polite about it.

What's NOT okay to do?:

Taking OP's picture and reposting it with no credit.

Taking OP's picture and editing it (filters, drawing over it, etc.) before reposting.

Asking OP to uncensor the image(s).

Contentious to do:

Quote retweet! (Japanese fans are generally iffy with internet strangers in their mentions. This may vary from OP to OP.)

Commenting on OP's post! (Like QRTing, the Japanese fandom generally does not like comments unless they come from mutuals/people they are familiar with. Again, this may vary from OP to OP. It’s best to preface comments with an “excuse me”, “I’m not a mutual but”, or something along those lines to be polite.)

Linking or crediting the OP in a thread, especially if it is the second tweet or beyond (because not everyone will read the entire thread, and therefore they may miss the credit). If you’re going to credit OP in a thread, do it in the initial tweet or as soon as possible in your own post.

Asking for and getting OP's permission to share their picture in a public space. (I would advise against this one due to potential language barriers. This method may also put OP on the spot to give a certain reply.)

So... what IS okay to do?:

Liking OP's post!

Retweeting (or whatever the equivalent of sharing is) the OP's post!

Sharing OP's post or images in private spaces (ie DMs, among friends/group chats, etc.)

Sharing only the TEXT of merch items in public.

Sharing your OWN pictures.

Sharing your reactions to merch in your own post (without any pictures).

Sharing/referencing a database created by the OP (same person who took all the pictures in the database) for the sole intention of being shared.

Asking to see merch images taken by your friends.

I did my best to research this situation and to give appropriate advice on it, but please let me know if I flubbed up somewhere 💦

Anyway!! I hope that you found this post enlightening and that you take its message to heart 🙇‍♀️ Please, let's all try to be more mindful of how we share things that we're excited about in this fandom!! We can still have fun and scream about our favorite characters without souring the experience for other fans!!

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst merch #twisted wonderland merch #disney twisted wonderland #twst en #twisted wonderland en #twst valentine #twisted wonderland valentine #notes from the writing raven #advice #twst valentines #twisted wonderland valentines #twst valentine gift #twisted wonderland valentine gift #twst valentines day letters #twisted wonderland valentines day letters

[yellowvixen]

Logo by @bunnymajo, thank you!!

Better late than never, here's a Q&A for @sonic-oc-showdown

✨ How did you come up with the OC’s name?

I wanted to use a word that meant ice that wasn't extremely obvious, and Rime ended up being perfect! To be specific it means hoar frost.

🌼 How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

Same age as Blaze! She was created ~100 years ago, but like Shadow she was frozen and didn't age until she got woken up.

🌺 Do they have any love interest(s)?

She's aro, so no romantic love interest. That said, she and Blaze do definitely end up in a relationship :3

🍕 What is their favorite food?

Surprisingly, anything spicy!

🎹 Do they have any hobbies?

Ice skating! Rime can create her own ice and propell herself pretty easily, but outside of fighting she's discovered she loves the elegance of truly dancing on ice, and challenges herself to learn difficult jumps. She also likes going for long morning walks, especially on a crisp winter morning when the ground is still covered in frost.

❤️ What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Most of their memories as a child with their brother, although a lot of them are bittersweet to look back on now.

✂️ What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

Seeing her brother die before being frozen.

🧊 Is their current design the first one?

Yup! Some of their fur colour has changed ever so slightly (her muzzle and ear/chest fluff are now pure white rather than the same off white as the rest of her fur) but that's it.

🍀 What originally inspired the OC?

@transgendershadowthehedgehog made a post about how Blaze should have an aro cryomancer rival, and I ran with the idea.

🌂 What genre do they belong in?

@mari-madas gave me the idea that the Sol dimension is centered more around fantasy in contrast with Sonic's dimension being more sci fi. Not a hard and fast rule as they both have magic and tech, but it's about the Aesthetic™. So, fantasy!

💚 What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Aromantic nonbinary lesbian! Or as she would describe herself, girlthing.

🙌 How many sibling does your OC have?

Just the one, her adopted brother, Gertrude's grandson! Possibly also a Sol version of Biolizard, but I haven't come up with anything for that idea yet

🍎 What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

Like Shadow, Rime was made rather than born, so technically doesn't have parents. But her creator, the witch Gertrude, was basically a mother to her... In a way.

Rime was always perfectly happy with Gertrude and never really thinks anything was wrong with how they grew up. But anyone else might think differently, as Rime was treated more like an animal than a person. Not with (much) malice, Gertrude just assumed that Rime didn't have the intelligence of a regular mobian. This allowed Rime to grow up pretty feral, which she considers a good thing! She won't look too deeply into it. She DOESN'T have mommy issues, promise (lying).

✏️ How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Definitely more since this showndown, which I'm glad of! I want to draw her more in the future too, she simply hasn't been around long enough for me to have made a lot of art for her.

💎 Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

I mean... gestures to Shadow "dying" at the end of sa2. A similar thing happens to Rime, so while she does die, it's not permanent.

💀 Does your OC have any phobias?

Large open areas, especially at night. Being in space is particularly awful for her (not that she'd show it)

🍩 Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Blaze ;)

Feel free to ask more questions about her!! Brainstorming how to answer them is pretty much how I've created her lore so far lmao

#i meant to do this ages ago but got hung up on some of the questions. which i just didn't answer djgjghdh #but yaaa here we go !! #i don't. have a name for her brother yet #i was thinking matthew but i knew a matthew and didn't like him so don't rlly want to use that name afjgjfdg #we'll see! #sth #sonic oc #sonic oc showdown #rime the cat #vixentalks

[solitaireships]

baby you know i'm guilty

Today's my anniversary with Selina! In honor of that, I wanted to write a fic about her, so here's a fun little one of her and Alex at an auction together. The title comes from the song "Guilty" by Claudia Brücken and the Real Tuesday Weld, that's a very Alley Cat song to me

Rating: Teen

Genre: Fluff

Words: 1102 words

Divider by racingairplanes

The hum of live orchestral music fills the Gotham Museum of the Arts, just loud enough to be heard over the chorus of people in attendance at this year’s annual auction. Alex tries to focus on the music instead of the people— it’s easier for her to process that than to try to filter through all the noise to listen to just one conversation. 

Alex isn’t here because she likes parties. Especially not the ones frequented by Gotham’s elite. They’re always vapid, full of gossip and petty small talk that's part of a never ending social game, and it’s hard to feel like she actually belongs with any of these people. And yet she technically speaking does belong here, her status as a defense attorney earning her the acclaim to be invited to these kinds of things. 

Alex never buys anything at these auctions. But she feels like she has to at least make an appearance, and she can admit it’s fun to get to dress up. She’s not the most fashionable person, but she likes the way the dress she’s wearing fits her, the dark red material flaring out a bit around the skirt and showing a bit of her cleavage. Her wedding ring shines on one finger while she has a couple of other decorative rings along with it, pairing them with a necklace with a silver chain. 

Being here with Selina also is nice, though the two of them came here separately. Alex was caught up with finishing her work, so Selina ended up getting the auction before her. Unlike Alex, she always seems to thrive at these kinds of things, charming everyone she speaks to and enjoying being the center of attention. 

Not that Alex can blame anyone entranced by Selina. She supposes that she’s been too, and she can definitely see why people would be drawn to her tonight as her eyes land on her wife making her way down a set of marble stairs. 

Selina looks like a vision in her black evening gown. It shows off her chest, a bit of her cleavage visible over its sweetheart neckline, and the skirt of it is slit down the sides to give a glimpse of the black pantyhose and dark purple heels she’s wearing. A diamond necklace glitters around her neck, matching a pair of dangling earrings, and Alex is always glad to see Selina’s wedding ring on her finger. 

The sleeveless look of her dress also shows off the muscles of her arms. She’s by no means bulky, having a short, lithe frame, but it’s clear from looking at her that she’s strong. What’s not as clear are the scars that Alex knows trail along her arms and shoulders, different nicks and scrapes she’s gotten over the years from close calls that are now hidden under with makeup. Alex thinks she’d look prettier with them— they're a part of her just like anything else— but she truly is stunning regardless. 

And, if Alex knows Selina like she knows she does, odds are she’s going to try to steal something tonight. Her look for the evening may not be the flashiest, but she has a taste for expensive and shiny things, plenty of which are on display for the auction tonight. 

“Hey there, gorgeous,” Selina greets as she makes it over to Alex, her dark red lips quirking upwards in a playful smile. 

“Hi,” Alex replies. She gives Selina a quick kiss on the cheek. “You look lovely.”

“Flatterer.”

“I think I’m just being honest.”

“Well, like I said, you look beautiful yourself,” Selina says. She offers a hand to Alex. “Any chance I can convince a pretty woman like yourself to join me on the dance floor?”

Alex takes Selina’s hand in hers. “I’m sure you could.”

Selina grins as she guides Alex onto the dance floor. A soft, lilting orchestral song is playing, and Alex takes the lead, one hand resting on Selina’s hip. Selina puts her hand on Alex’s shoulder, gazing at her with a soft, affectionate expression. 

Alex likes getting to hold Selina like this. She wishes that she could for this whole party. 

But she also knows that Selina’s going to want to sneak off towards the auction hall. She’ll want to get her hands on something pretty— or something valuable to sell off. 

Alex is at least glad that a lot of the money from things Selina steals go to charities. She’s always had a soft spot for animal shelters, but Alex knows she’s given money to women’s shelters too. Selina has a good heart, and that’s something that Alex has always seen in her. 

As they move across the dance floor, though, Alex needs to make sure that Selina doesn’t take anything tonight.

“Remember to behave yourself,” she says.

Selina grins, a twinkle in her mismatched green and brown eyes. “I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“You know exactly what I’m implying,” Alex replies. She leans closer to whisper, “Keep your hands to yourself.”

“Am I supposed to completely?” She trails one hand down Alex’s side, the other massaging between her shoulder blades. 

“Selina.”

“I know,” she says, pulling back to look at Alex again to be sure she can see her roll her eyes. “No stealing. But come on, Alley. I think both of us know we like the fun that comes from me getting into a little trouble.”

Selina’s not wrong. As much as Alex can play the always moral, always righteous attorney and vigilante, it’s exciting to get to leap into action as Solitaire, to give chase to Selina as she gets into something she really shouldn’t. Being with Selina under any circumstances is fun in a way that few other things are.

If there’s one thing that Alex is completely sure of, it’s that Selina has made her life better. So, she tells herself, she can be a little more flexible with the rules.

“If you do, at least be careful,” Alex says. She spins Selina around, with Selina coming to a stop in front of Alex again, pressing her back against her chest. This is definitely closer than the two of them should be for this dance, but Alex can’t find it in her to point that out when this lets her hold Selina so close.

“I will,” Selina promises. She looks back over her shoulder to Alex. “And I’m sure we’ll find plenty of ways to entertain ourselves here either way.”

Alex gives her a quick kiss on the cheek, savoring the feeling of Selina in her arms. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure we will.”

#🐈‍⬛ stolen kiss #🐈‍⬛ #♠️ alex #selfship fic #selfship #safeship #my posts #my writing #happy anniversary babe <3

[charmixpower]

You said you were happy to give more ,so I'm back for the sweet sweet child Valtor HC's (any plans for writing a fanfic? ). You've opened pandoras box and you can't close it now.

Muah! I'm so glad you're enjoying this little crack au that I got WAYYY to attached too and am now taking seriously XD

I could do like a one shot fic or something but my main concern rn is surviving s6-8 and wow

Anyways here's some SWEET headcanons

Not all of them are nice bc I cannot be dragged away from the angst but most of them are!!

Valtor is legally a ward of Light Rock and will be until he turns 18 and competes in his rehabilitation. I imagine that Light Rock is actually a nice place, the Trix just did not jive with it or the concept of becoming better people. He does therapy at the compound, and his favorite type is art therapy. Valtor really likes it there with his 76 well trained older brothers who are also technically guards

He picks up a bunch of different hobbies at Light Rock. He loves all the activities. They introduce him to theater and it goes exactly like you expect. He LOVES it, and invites the winx et al to all of his shows. He loves the costumes and dramatics about it, and eventually he's listening to Stella talk about types of stitches so he can make his own clothes too

You know those magic limiters the Trix wore on their foreheads at Light Rock? Valtor wears one but he can break it and take it off whenever they want. They're still trying to find a way to actually limit his magic, at some point Valtor got involved in the process

People were first really worried that Valtor could take off the magic limiter whenever he wanted but it slowly became clear that he's perfectly content to stay put so eventually no one cares. The Light Council even gives permission for Valtor to use his magic eventually, despite the fact he's supposed to be limited

Valtor was the one who told Bloom how to get to Obsidian. Like he was there when that happened and he spent all his time after the Ancestrals got trapped trying to get them out so he can just tell the Winx

He obviously doesn't go with them, just because he has the ability to use free will and the obedience built into his essence is now gone doesn't make him immune to mind control spells and he'd rather not. He also REALLY never wants to be face to face with Belladonna ever again, Icy was bad enough tbh

When Bloom puts her hacks powers back where they belong (in Domino) and becomes a normal ass (still stupid powerful, shes related to Daphne AND part of fire mixed with her magic at this point) fairy, she has to learn how to fight like a normal person instead of abusing the fact she doesn't get magic exhaustion. She spars with/around Valtor, primarily because as the Wizard of Magic he can tell her when she's getting exhausted bc she doesn't notice

When the Winx practice group combat they usually spar with Valtor too, who is ecstatic to spend time with the Winx AND use his magic, and they're all there like "if you didn't pull your punches for most the year and have an obvious exploit in your design (aka if you were a nomral born person) we would of never won."

Valtor is technically transformed 24/7 and can straight up die from magical exhaustion. Unlike other magic users who would just detransform, collapse, and pass out, he's far too sustained by his magic to survive without it. This is one of the said design flaws that could be used to defeat him, please note how both this and ripping his elemental components apart would both kill him

He's a kid but he's the WIZARD OF MAGIC, literally anything that's magic is under his domain and he absolutely treated their fights as games bc he COULD curve stomp anything. Belladonna wasn't fucking around when she created him

He still considers Bloom his sister after she gives up her HAXXS that makes her magic feel like his. Bloom thinks this is adorable and takes him out for family time. Valtor looks forward to whenever anyone comes to visit him, especially when he gets to leave the compound (it's nice there but he's used to having access to a lot more space) but especially when Bloom does it

Magic attaches to symbols easily, and Valtor made his mark to make really complicated magic (like Witch magic mind control and Fairy magic power boosting) easier on himself. He made the symbol at like 4ish and has been using it since. Sometimes he makes the symbol from his hands when he just shoots magic at the problem bc he thinks it looks cool

Eventually Helia takes over administration over RF from Saladin Valtor likes to hang around the place and he gets to help out with combatting magic lessons! Exciting for Valtor, terrifying for literally all the students. Riven and Diaspro tend to be around™ bc Helia harasses them into being around and they do not help the situation. The staff at RF uses Valtor to haze the freshmen. Valtor eventually notices this and is stuck between intentionally freaking them out and not wanting people to be afraid of him

Bby Valtor is Belladonna's biological son, no father. He's made from a combination of all the elements instead of just fire and his true form is more uncanny and otherworldly instead of chthonic looking. A very strong "I shouldn't be looking at this" energy, his appearance sets off the flight or fight response but it's not incomprehensible or anything. He's still humanoid it's just when you're a creature closest in make-up as all 5 of the gods of your world you end up looking weird. Still dragon looking tho

Nabu comes around often to just chat with Valtor about his magic. As a scholar Nabu is thriving asking questions about Valtor and Valtor loves the attention, everyone else is a little concerned if Nabu should be getting child that nearly took over the dimension thinking about how to use his magic more efficiently but it's fine. Valtor is a good kid now

Btw if the planet of Espero (where dimension wide government buildings are hosted, including Light Rock) was ever attacked....no it wouldn't be <3 Valtor would put an end to that shit so quickly it wouldn't even be a fight

#winx club #asks #child!valtor #winx au #rus chatters #winx Valtor #winx

[benetnvsch]

ADDRESSING TWITTER'S TOS/POLICY IN REGARDS TO ARTISTS AND AI

Hi !! if you're an artist and have been on twitter, you've most likely seen these screen shots of twitters terms of service and privacy policy regarding AI and how twitter can use your content

I want to break down the information that's been going around as I noticed a lot of it is unintentionally misinformation/fearmongering that may be causing artists more harm than good by causing them to panic and leave the platform early

As someone who is an artist and makes a good amount of my income off of art, I understand the threat of AI art and know how scary it is and I hope to dispel some of this fear regarding twitter's TOS/Privacy policy at least. At a surface level yes, what's going on seems scary but there's far more to it and I'd like to explain it in more detail so people can properly make decisions!

This is a long post just as a warning and all screenshots should have an alt - ID with the text and general summary of the image

Terms of Service

Firstly, lets look at the viral post regarding twitter's terms of service and are shown below

I have seen these spread a lot and have seen so many people leave twitter/delete all their art/deactivate there when this is just industry standard to include in TOS

Below are other sites TOS I found real quick with the same/similar clauses! From instagram, tiktok, and even Tumblr itself respectively, with the bit worded similar highlighted

Even Bluesky, a sight viewed as a safe haven from AI content has this section

As you can see, all of them say essentially the same thing, as it is industry standard and it's necessary for sites that allow you to publish and others to interact with your content to prevent companies from getting into legal trouble.

Let me break down some of the most common terms and how these app do these things with your art/content:

storing data - > allowing you to keep content uploaded/stored on their servers (Ex. comments, info about user like pfp)

publishing -> allowing you to post content

redistributing -> allowing others to share content, sharing on other sites (Ex. a Tumblr post on twitter)

modifying -> automatic cropping, in app editing, dropping quality in order to post, etc.

creating derivative works -> reblogs with comments, quote retweets where people add stuff to your work, tiktok stitches/duets

While these terms may seems intimidating, they are basically just tech jargon for the specific terms we know used for legal purposes, once more, simply industry standard :)

Saying that Twitter "published stored modified and then created a derivative work of my data without compensating me" sounds way more horrible than saying "I posted my art to twitter which killed the quality and cropped it funny and my friend quote-tweeted it with 'haha L' " and yet they're the same !

Privacy Policy

This part is more messy than the first and may be more of a cause for concern for artists. It is in regards to this screenshot I've seen going around

Firstly, I want to say that that is the only section in twitter's privacy policy where AI /machine learning is mentioned and the section it is is regarding how twitter uses user information.

Secondly, I do want to want to acknowledge that Elon Musk does have an AI development company, xAI. This company works in the development of AI, however, they want to make a good AGI which stands for artificial general intelligence (chatgpt, for example, is another AGI) in order to "understand the universe" with a scientific focus. Elon has mentioned wanting it to be able to solve complex mathematics and technical problems. He also, ofc, wants it to be marketable. You can read more about that here: xAI's website

Elon Musk has claimed that xAI will use tweets to help train it/improve it. As far as I'm aware, this isn't happening yet. xAI also, despite the name, does NOT belong/isn't a service of Xcorp (aka twitter). Therefore, xAI is not an official X product or service like the privacy policy is covering. I believe that the TOS/the privacy policies would need to expand to disclaim that your information will be shared specifically with affiliates in the context of training artificial intelligence models for xAI to be able to use it but I'm no lawyer. (also,,,Elon Musk has said cis/cisgender is a slur and said he was going to remove the block feature which he legally couldn't do. I'd be weary about anything he says)

Anyway, back to the screenshot provided, I know at a glance the red underlined text where it says it uses information collected to train AI but let's look at that in context. Firstly, it starts by saying it uses data it collects to provide and operate X products and services and also uses this data to help improve products to improve user's experiences on X and that AI may be used for "the purposes outlined in this policy". This means essentially just that is uses data it collects on you not only as a basis for X products and services (ex. targeting ads) but also as a way for them to improve (ex. AI algorithms to improve targeting ads). Other services it lists are recommending topics, recommending people to follow, offering third-party services, allowing affiliates etc. I believe this is all the policy allows AI to be used for atm.

An example of this is if I were to post an image of a dog, an AI may see and recognize the dog in my image and then suggest me more dog content! It may also use this picture of a dog to add to its database of dogs, specific breeds, animals with fur, etc. to improve this recommendation feature.

This type of AI image, once more, is common in a lot of media sites such as Tumblr, insta, and tiktok, and is often used for content moderation as shown below once more

Again, as far as I'm aware, this type of machine learning is to improve/streamline twitter's recommendation algorithm and not to produce generative content as that would need to be disclaimed!!

Claiming that twitter is now using your art to train AI models therefore is somewhat misleading as yes, it is technically doing that, as it does scan the images you post including art. However, it is NOT doing it to learn how to draw/generate new content but to scan and recognize objects/settings/etc better so it can do what social media does best, push more products to you and earn more money.

(also as a small tangent/personal opinion, AI art cannot be copywritten and therefore selling it would be a very messy area, so I do not think a company driven by profit and greed would invest so much in such a legally grey area)

Machine learning is a vast field , encompassing WAY More than just art. Please don't jump to assume just because AI is mentioned in a privacy policy that that means twitter is training a generative AI when everything else points to it being used for content moderation and profit like every other site uses it

Given how untrustworthy and just plain horrible Elon Musk is, it is VERY likely that one day twitter and xAI will use user's content to develop/train a generative AI that may have an art aspect aside from the science focus but for now it is just scanning your images- all of them- art or not- for recognizable content to sell for you and to improve that algorithm to better recognize stuff, the same way Tumblr does that but to detect if there's any nsfw elements in images.

WHAT TO DO AS AN ARTIST?

Everyone has a right to their own opinion of course ! Even just knowing websites collect and store this type of data on you is a valid reason to leave and everyone has their own right to leave any website should they get uncomfortable !

However, when people lie about what the TOS/privacy policy actually says and means and actively spread fear and discourage artists from using twitter, they're unintentionally only making things worse for artists with no where to go.

Yes twitter sucks but the sad reality is that it's the only option a lot of artists have and forcing them away from that for something that isn't even happening yet can be incredibly harmful, especially since there's not really a good replacement site for it yet that isn't also using AI / has that same TOS clause (despite it being harmless)

I do believe that one day xAI will being using your data and while I don't think it'll ever focus solely on art generation as it's largely science based, it is still something to be weary of and it's very valid if artists leave twitter because of that! Yet it should be up to artists to decide when they want to leave/deactivate and I think they should know as much information as possibly before making that decision.

There's also many ways you can protect your art from AI such as glazing it, heavily watermarking it, posting links to external sites, etc. Elon has also stated he'll only be using public tweets which means privating your account/anything sent in DMS should be fine!!

Overall, I just think if we as artists want any chance of fighting back against AI we have to stay vocal and actively fight against those who are pushing it and abandon and scatter at the first sign of ANY machine learning on websites we use, whether it's producing generative art content or not.

Finally, want to end this by saying that this is all just what I've researched by myself and in some cases conclusions I've made based on what makes the most sense to me. In other words, A Lot Could Be Wrong ! so please take this with a grain of salt, especially that second part ! Im not at all any AI/twitter expert but I know that a lot of what people were saying wasn't entirely correct either and wanted to speak up ! If you have anything to add or correct please feel free !!

#long post #twitter #x #xcorp #ai #ai art discourse #twitter discourse #idk what to tag this #but yeah

[teresalace]

Yandere Colonel Sanders x Gender neutral reader

▪︎Triggers/Warings: Reader is a thristy hoe, mild mentions of age gap, smut, dubious consent/dubcon, intercourse, power abuse.

▪︎Words: 2450

▪︎Art does not belong to me and belongsto respective artist! ♡ I listened to blackpink's "typa girl" while writing this! #Requested thank you anonymous friend for requesting this! ♡ KFC mashed potatos are my favs, hope you all have wonderful days as always!

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Rule number 1 of the job was to refrain from slacking off during work hours, after 3 warnings are issued any worker will be fired instantaneously. But would it technically be breaking the rule if you were getting dicked down by the owner of said job. Thankfully this always happens during your breaks since your boss wasn’t one to make exceptions.

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Incredibly sorry for the screenshots instead of written words 😭🙏🏻 The wifi went bad for the past 3 days and now it's finally back and it's kinda okay, I tried to posting this post for the past 3 times and it didn't work 🥺👍 so pictures here!!

And cheers to my very first smutty writing on the internet! ☺👀👏💖 Who knows, I might do more, buddha bless ♡♡♡ and bless you all!! I SHALL GET MORE WRITING!!

#teresalace #writing #request #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere male #Yandere Colonel Sanders #i love you colonel sanders #x reader #gender neutral reader #Smut #one shot #smut scenarios #smut writing #smut fanfiction

[qedmirage]

Yugioh Rants: Blazing Cartesia, The Virtuous

I've been playing a lot of yugioh lately on master duel and in particular the "Bystial Runick" deck. It's all quite fun but I'd like to highlight the gameplay and story integration going on with one card in particular, not even the best in the deck but possibly my favorite:

This is Blazing Cartesia, The Virtuous and she's one of the best designed Yugioh cards I've seen.

So, first off, story background. Cartesia is a corrupted/brainwashed/evilified version of "Ecclesia", a girl featured across many cards in the Albaz/Branded storyline. Important for our discussion here is that Ecclesia is good friends with Dogmatika Fluerdelis / The Iris Swordsoul, and very close adventuring partners/love interest of "The Fallen of Albaz". Along the way they're opposed at first by the more villainous Dogmatikas, then later the Bystials and Despians as well. More under the break, this post is quite long.

Like a lot of modern Yugioh cards Cartesia has a paragraph on her so we'll take it piece by piece. First, her basic stats and name (yes that has a gameplay effect):

Blazing Cartesia, The Virtuous Light Attribute | Lvl 4 1500 ATK / 1500 DEF Spellcaster / Tuner / Effect

Cards in Yugioh are grouped into archetypes by strings in their names. Notable here is that Cartesia doesn't belong to any of the Albaz storyline archetypes specifically; she assists lots of the villain ones, but she's not technically a member. Being specifically a "LIGHT Spellcaster monster whose ATK equals its own DEF", she can be special summoned by the graveyard effect of Despian Luluwalilith, the corrupted form of Iris. The two still have a bond despite what's happened to them.

Finally, being a lvl 4 Tuner means she can be used to Synchro summon. With a level 6 monster (like all of the Bystials) she can be used to summon "The Bystial Dis Pater", that archetype's extra deck boss monster. With a level 8 monster however, she can be used to summon Despian Luluwalilith. You know who's level 8? All of the Fusion monsters Albaz forms. So already she combos very nicely with the hero and villain cards from the storyline. On to her effects.

If you control "Fallen of Albaz" or it is in your GY: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.

This one's fun. Cartesia does her best work on the field and this gets here there, but it does so based on where Albaz is. It works to show that she still has feelings towards Albaz even in her current state. Instead of her interacting with Aluber, The Bystial Aluber has a name-replacement effect that makes his name count as "Fallen of Albaz" under most situations; she has feelings for Albaz, but Aluber's tricked her and redirected her to work with him.

During the Main Phase (Quick Effect): You can Fusion Summon 1 Level 8 or higher Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or field as material.

Albaz's deck/playstyle revolves around fusion summoning and Cartesia facilitates that. Fusions have some inherent weaknesses, and Cartesia working the way she does helps mitigate them. The "Level 8 or higher" restriction just allows her to make all of Albaz's dragon forms. Special mention here to one specific target she can make, Granguignol the Dusk Dragon:

This card has a lot going on but worth noting is the clasped hands on the dragon's neck; concept art calls them "hands of the holy maidens", and indeed Ecclesia was one of the holy maidens of Dogmatika before the story started. As for effects, Gran-Guginol can send one of your cards from the extra deck to the GY, an effect very in-theme for the Dogmatikas!

Going back to Cartesia, she has one more effect and a restriction:

During the End Phase, if a Fusion Monster(s) was sent to your GY this turn: You can add this card from the GY to your hand.

You can only use each effect of "Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous" once per turn.

The restriction is nothing too notable; it's a standard "Hard Once Per Turn" effect done to prevent silly infinites and the like (This isn't MtG!). The last effect is notable. Albaz's fusions often send themselves or other fusions into the GY, and doing so lets you recover Cartesia for follow-up plays.

As for her art, Cartesia's dress uses the diamond pattern seen on Aluber's various cards and a vareity of Despians. So you know she's evil now (her bust size has also increased mysteriously). All in all, she's an evil form of a well known and caring person. While she's working for the bad guys, she still has in her heart her love for her friends, and her effects reference that. Even without any flavor text she's one of the most flavorful cards I think I've seen. In passing, I'll note the parallels between these two cards (Branded Regained and Branded Bond), one of her evil form helping Bystial Druiswurm and one of her non-corrupted form helping Albion, one of Albaz's dragon forms.

#yugioh tcg #yugioh #yugioh master duel #cartesia #ecclesia #albaz storyline #I just really love this card #even if Quem is 'better' in the deck I play

[sword-dad-fukuzawa]

the heavenly principles

If you wander around The House of Daena in Sumeru, you might find some torn pages belonging to the "Scroll of Streaming Song." And while it's all very interesting (especially the fact that it's technically an annotated translation, coming from someone deeply invested in linguistics) the relevant part I want to point to is in Vol 2.

The framing of the scroll is that there's a priestess testing a princess's wisdom. The wiki speculates these may be Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and the Goddess of Flowers, but that's not as relevant. What intrigued me specifically was her third riddle:

"What rises from the earth, then descends from the sky," "No one has seen it, yet it sees all," "As above, so below, and as at the bottom, so too, the top," "Yet only top to bottom may be, and never bottom to top?"

And the princess answers:

"You speak of the universal law created in heaven, the divine laws established in the beginning." "No one has seen the eternal law, yet it governs all." "One may only bow down and worship Vaana of the heavenly spirits — no arrogation, deception, or trickery is permitted." "If one dares to imitate the forbidden arts, only calamity awaits at the edge of divine knowledge."

We'll break this down in a second, but I did want to mention I had a feeling that Genshin would, at some point, start talking about "As above, so below." The worldbuilding draws heavily on Hermetic and mythological influences, including demonology, so why not one of the most enduring and popular occult concepts? So I was very pleased to see that my theory got confirmed.

For some background, "as above, so below" is a paraphrase of a verse from the Emerald Tablet. The full quote is either translated as "That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above" or "That which is above is from that which is below, and that which is below is from that which is above," depending on if you subscribe to the Latin interpretation or Arabic original.

Please note that the Emerald Tablet is an alchemy text. Interesting, right?

There are a lot of different interpretations of what this means, exactly, but The Kybalion interprets it to refer to how humans can conceptualize images in their brains so the image reflects their consciousness, so too does [higher power] conceptualize the material of the world. I've seen it interpreted as "movements on the astral plane dictates the movements of the earth" as well as more practical applications. But the jist of it that's relevant here is that the laws and conceptualizations of the heavens guide the laws of the earth, and "laws" can mean what happens, actual laws, etc. Please note that The Kybalion refers to this as a universal law, or principle.

Principle, huh?

Going back to the quote, it seems that the answer to the riddle is Genshin's Heavenly Principles. The ones that caused the downfall of Khaenri'ah, the ones Ei tried to align herself to...really, the mysterious truth that governs Teyvat. So they've established that the Heavenly Principles themselves (whatever they may be) operate based on the idea of "as above, so below." The occurrences of Teyvat must mirror the machinations above in Celestia. There's some implication here of an inherent lack of free will for those down on Teyvat, which is very interesting.

There's also the idea that the top guides the bottom, not the other way around (lol). This basically means that Celestia dictates Teyvat, and to flip this around is something heretical and perverse. Really, it's enough to get your whole country razed to the ground. Nice job, Khaenri'ah.

We already knew that Khaenri'ah did something blasphemous, and there's speculation that this was Khemia-related. Something alchemical. But this passage gives us something more specific: whoever was running Khaenri'ah (the one-eyed king, maybe?) decided they wanted to do something divine. Something that would upend the regular motion of things, something that might influence Celestia the way Celestia is supposed to control Teyvat.

We're going to be seeing a lot of Biblical analogies here in the future, methinks.

It's also interesting to note that "as above, so below" has influence in other places in Genshin Impact. Mona's astrology comes to mind--the stars above dictating the fates of the people below. Celestia above having such a chokehold on the Archons below. I can't say where this ties in with Scaramouches "THE SKY IS FAKE" thing or whatever is going on with Albedo and Khemia.

Because if making life wasn't perverse enough for Celestia to intervene, what on earth was? What could possibly subvert the law of "as above, so below?"

Just some food for thought.

#genshin impact #genshin impact lore #the heavenly principles #genshin impact theory #genshin impact meta #sumeru #Greater Lord Rukkhadevata #the goddess of flowers #sources: wikipedia the kybalion quora and just trust me bro #and quotes from the genshin wiki too

[torialefay]

Hii, been loving your work with the readings!! If it's not too much to ask could I have a reading with Felix? I have sun in pisces (11th house), ascendant in aries (1st house), moon in virgo (6th house), venus in aquarius (10th house) and my birthday its 21/02/00 (02/21/00) 🥹

I just want to point out how absolutely cute it is that you put your birth dates in both formats bc i am from the states and use month/day/year so it was the most adorable thing i’ve ever seen wow ❤️

Ascendant in Aries (1st house):

With ascendant in Aries, you probably come across on first meeting you as someone who is very sure of themself and independent. You probably also come off as someone who is very passionate or has a strong passion in life (you could even be passionate about living life itself. In some aspect, people probably think on first meeting you that you are very skilled at one or a few areas in particular. In my opinion, Aries Ascendants make great activists, so if there is a cause you are passionate about, definitely consider it!

Since there’s no birth time for Felix, we can’t know his Ascendant, BUT from what I’ve gathered about him, I think he would actually really vibe with your initial energy! I think we all know Felix is a sweet guy, but he also has this sort of “charming?ish” nature to him when first meeting him that can also be mistaken for a subtle confidence. I think he is probably attracted initially to someone who holds a lot of confidence too. Especially looking at your Sun in Pisces, I think it’s fair to say that you will balance that independence with introspection, which would be an alluring quality to Felix.

One more thing to note is that Felix’s moon is in Aries… the Moon being the most subconscious part of yourself. Likely he would be drawn to you/resonate with you initially and he wouldn’t even know why lol.

Sun in Pisces (11th house):

The 11th house is all about our connections, groups we belong to, and how we fulfill our dreams. Having your Sun in Pisces here is a super cool placement :)

Sun in Pisces really values creativity and individuality. You probably highly value self-expression and may show this through clothing, art, music, literature, etc. Pisces are definitely about emotions and about understanding others. You know how to make people feel SEEN. I also always associate Pisces on the axis of “service” (along with Virgo on the other side of the axis… and Virgo is your moon!) Being in your 11th house, it is likely that using your Piscean nature through social networking or through groups will lead to accomplishing your goals. In other words, try to channel your ability to see the good in others THROUGH working with other people, and it will ultimately give you fulfillment in life. In your Aries section, I talked about you being a great activist. I think your Pisces placement here realllly supports that statement. Just from looking at these 2 placements alone, I think you’d make a great activist in an area such as mental health or counseling.

Obviously this is a great placement with Felix. Felix is a Virgo, which I previously mentioned is on the “service axis” (aka that’s just the vibes I get from it lol but technically it just means they are the houses in opposition). So what does this mean for you two? You probably have the same goal, but you go about obtaining it in different ways. You both want to be helpful. You can dream up what to do, and Felix can help put it into action. I think he would also be great on that activist train, even going into what I talked about with mental health.

Moon in Virgo (6th house):

Your moon in Virgo in the 6th house means that you probably put a large emphasis on self-development. You are more than likely always finding ways to better yourself or to keep yourself well-informed. But you are able to do this maybe without even realizing it. You are also able to do it in a practical way- you know your limits.

I’ve said this time and time again, but to ME, the Sun/Moon match up is the MOST IMPORTANT indicator of a long lasting couple. Your Moon (emotions ) in Virgo matched perfectly with Felix’s Sun (personality) in Virgo… meaning that he would really feel like you UNDERSTAND him… because you do! Lol you operate on that plane with him.

Felix’s moon in Aries would be a good match for you as well because I think it could inspire you to keep wanting more for yourself. Kind of like a flame to keep you going.

Venus in Aquarius in Midheaven:

Okay literally your placements just keep confirming what I’ve already said 😂

Venus represents love, balance, and beauty… An Aquarius represents individuality, uniqueness, and freedom. You likely find beauty in very unique individuals. You also support others to be their TRUE selves, even if it goes against societal norms. You probably think moreso that people who ARE different are actually more beautiful (sometimes lol).

The 10th house (midheaven) governs our career path and who we are seen to the public based on our career choices. I feel like at this point, I don’t even have to say it lol. In your career, you would literally be known as someone who is an activist for finding beauty in uniqueness and self-acceptance… like babe, that is you. If you aren’t in that field, pls go into it bc the planets are calling for you apparently.

Felix’s Venus in Libra also means that he is able to see beauty in all kinds of people and really reallllly values it on a deep, personal level. He needs to find that in order to find peace within himself. With the two of you paired, I could see you as having a cool and honestly fun sex life. Both of you WOULD need a level of devotion tied into it, but definitely not all the time. I could see you all trying a lot of new stuff, but things would be mostly light and airy.