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#are more general concepts i think about plenty already
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speaking of “what else is new” the eternal genre of Takes available online or off through any platform that go like “this hangup / issue people can have can impede the success of like, connection & relationships & other aspects of someone’s life” like oh groundbreaking insight, go on. & then the conclusion is just “And That’s Bad” generally through like, criticizing any hypothetical individuals in a “have you considered that that’s bad? have you considered stopping? why haven’t you? sounds like a lack of Individual Responsibility...and maybe...You Suck??” vein like oh, again, groundbreaking. and it’s fast easy & free [sense of righteousness] i guess b/c it’s like oh i’m just helping, are you saying it’s Good / Better to have to struggle with / be impeded by xyz issues hmm? and like “here i am up on the cross >:)” satisfaction if anyone’s disagreeing lol like not only am i correct but ppl Hate it so it’s gotta be cutting edge, rather than it’s like, this is the most basic, well-trodden ground possible here. people hear about the notion of Ableism, resent the idea this might be a complicated thing to engage with requiring effort (but will also complain that idk it’s not serious b/c oh alllll people want to do is unreasonably issue a list of frowned upon language. like yes that’s all that exists and it must be frivolous vs being if nothing else an exercise in asking someone to shift their perspective / framework around taken for granted ideas) and then be like “well enough is enough (hasn’t done anything) i think this has gone too far & have we considered that it sucks to be depressed?? what about the people Dealing with other people dealing with issues who are doing everything right by being Not Mentally Ill but burdened or punished by the mental illness of others. not Their responsibility” like yes if we keep this in the realm of Individual Responsibility Apolitical Vibing then we can just call it a day. what does anyone expect the “absolutely demolishing these hypothetical Complacent mentally ill people, one issue at a time until everyone learns they should strive to be normal” to accomplish here. like oh enough, nay, Too Much consideration of Supporting anyone out here. i think it’s time we turned to voicing Disapproval & even moral judgment condemnation of these hypothetical individuals. can’t argue with that unless, what, you Want people to have problems? you think it’s good and right to potentially harm other people / make interpersonal relationships more difficult??? sounds like someone has some growing up to do 9_9 lmfao like again. just visionary & groundbreaking insights which is why this approach has kept being continuously reinvented here & everywhere else this whole time. like how would this relevantly / helpfully apply to the Reality of anyone’s situation on any side of anything. vs like well at least some people will be mad about This one, good posting
#ppl going ''hmm what a hugely complex topic tied to all other aspects of our lives...which'd be Resolved if everyone had My Common Sense''#take it back on this site by a decade like ppl going ''trans people on tumblr are so unreasonable'' & ''tumblr's so Anti Recovery''#the catchphrase of like. idfk ''recovering'' to a state of being nt i guess. b/c that's The Way & how it works for absolutely everyone#like of course there's gonna be idk Takes abt how to hypothetically Support ppl's struggles that'd be deemed Mental Health Issues which are#in turn at least Potentially counterproductive / unfounded/misguided but like. well throw the whole matter out then right#forget everyone in turn having to struggle through ongoing efforts to support Other People in this realm & plenty of others; theoretically#just say it Sucks of people to make other people deal with / be negatively affected by their Issues & who could disagree? toxicity gang??#or even just the vague implication that if it's Extra Effort put on Normal People who are acting correctly then that's bad too#cue any ideas that like. if friends are too much effort in [pick any way you could interpret that] it's Bad#or really if they're Any effort it can be seen as bad. you Are a romcom protagonist & friends Are unconditional nonstop backup#i think if going ''have you considered that you suck'' at people hard enough would bestow w/e concept of perf Mental Health uponst them#then we'd've been all set by now...and does everyone really think that the like. call it mainstream ideas abt Good Relationships and/or#Good Communication are universal & objective & immutable & everyone agrees on those standards already right now#and like. A Post doesn't have to be something someone thinks applies to everyone / isn't abt their personal experiences but#the way plenty of shit is phrased in posts Pwning the concept of someone being Too Anxious or sm shit you Know it's meant to be general lol#and even then of course it doesn't have to be like ''any random post must be dedicated to real; specific support or it's worthless''#but people clearly also like. are like yep this is on principle; ideally this will Affect people & they'll Get Right#(i mean probably it's more just about their own satisfaction in feeling totally justified while Also getting inevitable negative reaction)#but also like you know what. someone's Issues may not be contained within the realm of what either You *or* They can control#that like all issues of what provides ppl material support / meets their material needs are matters of Mental Health Support or what have u#like pointing out that shit like healthcare & housing & accessibility are matters of suicide prevention...#like yeah of course individual responsibility is relevant in everything but there's broader concepts of Responsibility beyond that#only addressing the individual responsibility in any matter is the flattest easiest shit you can do. why else is it so popular lol#and going ''but have we tried ascribing personal failures / inferiority into ppl struggling w/issues????'' yes. we have & continue to do so#like 95% of my life including now i am beset every day w/someone who absolute Won't take personal responsibility ever & yea it sucks#but i'm not like. making that ''wow this sucks a ton'' experience my like Worldview lmfao this isn't now my Personal Policy abt shit#going ''have we considered that anything but deliberately punishing Mental Illness just Enables/Encourages their destructive vibes??'' yes.#''well if everyone just accepted their Personal Responsibility in all ways this & any other matter would be completely resolved forever??''#then by that framework if anyone goes ''well that's not quite it'' you can go ''sounds like someone isn't accepting their Responsibility''#checkmate Individuals...
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theswordwizard · 7 months
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ai art: both sides
I think a lot of non-artists are also just really and truly not understanding the big picture. I personally could not care less about that cat image, it was fun, whatever, but you are only producing those kinds of images in the sense that an art director "produces" whatever art they are in charge of. They are telling another artist what to do, even guiding them, but they are not considered the artist themselves. Artists who are creating their own art, who are trying to survive off of their work (many of whom have some form of disability, as art is easy to do while sitting down, etc), who are already in the middle of fighting to not just be tossed aside for a product which doesn't even produce the results it claims, are reacting negatively because they are seeing that in parallel with tabling spaces taken up with people presenting generated art as their own illustration, and game devs/producers using it as a way to explicitly avoid paying people for work, while using something that was trained on their work.
"Why do people react so strongly to things possibly being AI art?" If you want to keep it out of the courts, then public opinion matters all the more. It's about a party line that is easily communicable. Most artists are going to be strongly anti-AI because that's the best way to protect themselves than trying to "open a discussion" about it. It's like nurse scabs. We can argue back and forth all day about the intricacies of scabbing for important jobs, but at the end of the day the party line will generally be "scabbing is bad," "we don't like scabs," "scabbing harms workers."
People are trying to compare people getting mad about it to people getting mad about Duchamp's fountain, which just lets me know about their level of art education, and the level of which they like to talk out their ass.
Duchamp's fountain isn't a major point in art history because of the object itself, its because of the STATEMENT. It is because of the placement of the object IN THE GALLERY. It is the equivalent of a political pamphlet, but summed up in a single object that incites discussion around his political statement. It isn't about the object it is about the CONCEPT. We can literally call anything we want "art" if we dedicate ourselves to reframing it and treating it as such, it's just that most non-artists don't even care. They want the label of being an artist without even putting in an effort to. It's like if I wanted to be called a photographer and I wanted people to treat me as such, and so I just made a portfolio of pictures I took off of Pinterest or even a stock photo site, because I've decided that it's the photos I would WANT to take, and thus I can just act like they have anything to do with me.
There have been arguments over much more "similar" things for a long time too. Since the 90s Richard Prince has been taking people's instagram photos, making slight tweaks to avoid copyright, and then printing them large scale and selling them for tens of thousands of dollars. Technically legal, kinda shitty, as he does it without even contacting the (plenty of times, women) original posters. And that's just with selfies people have taken! But I don't see people mentioning that because a lot of people don't like him, and most people arguing to legitimize AI art to be uncontested don't actually care that much about contemporary art. They have zero real interest in being an artist and talking about art to that degree, to have those discussions in a way that isn't validating themselves. Duchamp's fountain in a gallery incites discussion because galleries are places of art discussion. If someone brought a crate of mechanically woven baskets (that they bought from amazon) to a craft fair, people are going to be rightly pissed off. It's about context.
It's also, in my opinion, a similar discussion to the one that was big on twitter not too long ago, where people argued that artists weren't obligated to be able to draw non-white and/or disabled people. Which, sure, but you probably aren't that good of an artist if you don't know how to. And someone going through a portfolio of exclusively white people might go "huh, only white people. interesting." (I even want to include a gotcha here! If an artist has a portfolio of white people, and they have a section talking about their focus being painting their family tree in like, northern Ireland, it's gonna be a totally different story. why, you ask? because there is an underlying concept other than "wow this artist really only likes white people." this is part of the reading comprehension test that will follow.)
And you know what, I'm going to be honest - and this is likely a result of me not being a photographer - but I'm not even really talking all that much about AI photo edits, outside of the large scale implications of what it means that anyone can create a highly realistic image of anything they want (including political figures, female celebrities, you see my pattern here) with zero effort, on a mass scale we've never seen previously. I think they should only be used with stock, and I even think that photographers who upload their works should get additional payments from it. I actually had used a generator back in 2019 for a project, well before this even became a discussion, and it was even featured in a gallery show for a bit! The overall theme was "fake news," so it was a conceptual piece with fake landscape photography that I made with some beta tool. The point was the tool in combination with the tool's result, not how pretty the fake pictures were. I also want to say it was trained a lot more ethically than a lot of the generators that are so popular today.
And this isn't to say that you have to have a gallery or be so fully integrated in a physical art scene or whatever to be able to make conceptual art or talk about it - honestly I think zines that could actually combine whatever your concept is with having room to talk about it, and they're easy to create both physically and digitally and share. maybe just don't have it be around "look at all these pretty pictures that I made with AI." similar to how people at the art book fair aren't going to be impressed with me being like "look at all these pretty pictures I found on Unsplash."
Sure, AI art is "real art," but it's not illustration or photography or whatever, it's conceptual art. Which means it's main goal is to incite thought and discussion about it. Like the D&D book's release that suddenly turned to being about the AI art they used. So if you want to be an artist using primarily AI, go ahead, no one can stop you, but the topic is culturally significant with the current fight between the entertainment unions to protect their livelihoods, so the discussion will be heated.
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problematic-surveys · 1 month
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Anti-Transids, there is room for you to support transids, you probably already do
In light of my recent survey on transID transitioning, I also wanted to throw out some of my favourite times people who are supposedly rampantly anti-radqueer have been blatantly pro-transid and pro-transition
I call these guys anonymously pro-transid, they fit the definition but they're convinced that they don't because they mischaracterise it for a variety of reasons - there's more support out there for the concept of transids than you think!
In my hunt for anti-transid arguments I was actually finding a lot of stuff like this:
Chronosian - the first variant of an accidentally pro-transid term I know of and it's still being used/coined for despite it literally being transage with a 'disconnection from the community/term
'The making of an atypical dysphoria awareness flag
Arissomei - whilst claiming to be anti-transition and anti-transid, the coiner also states that "if your "transition" doesn't hurt others, yourself, appropriate, glorify, fetishize, or romanticize anything, you're fine!" and they include amputation as acceptable transitioning. The term lists some of the most common reasons for transidentification
Arriso- Subterms - these have started covering everything from transage and transabled to things like transvoice and transnationality. In my view there really isn't a distinction between these anymore especially as more radqueers are considering themselves non-community radqueers
More acceptance towards transitioning methods deemed harmless, especially social transitioning and self-disabling transitioning
Generally, I think anti-radqueers have moved past their weaker arguments about the trans- prefix and how atypical dysphoria isn't real (remember when that was an argument? wow how times have changed) have moved on to stretching assumptions about the community being pro-c, romanticising/fetishising their identities, pro-all types of transitioning, pro-every term ever coined that's been tagged as radqueer, so on.
In reality, they don't understand that these things are huge discourse starters in the community, which is exactly why lots rq spaces don't talk about them, because they don't want to fragment their already-small and widely harassed community any further
They also don't see that you can be pro- these identities and experiences without being pro- the community they deem as so harmful based on anecdotal negative experiences, and that plenty of radqueers have actually moved past identifying with the community
61.6% of the 112 responses my TransID-only survey has gained so far consider themselves just 'radqueer'. 15.2% are non-community radqueers, 13.4% are pro-transid and pro-para but don't use radqueer, and around 5% either consider themselves not pro-para, not pro-transid, or neither
If you support any of the terms I've listed here, there is room for you to support various transids - you already do
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therainscene · 1 year
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Something that struck me about Will’s bedroom in S4 is how asexually it’s decorated:
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This boy is about to turn 15 and yet there’s not a single hunk to be found anywhere on his walls! Being closeted isn’t an excuse -- there’s plenty of plausible deniability in having posters of your favourite musicians, athletes, characters, etc, as our extremely heterosexual friend Michael can demonstrate:
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Perhaps Will just is asexual. After all, outside of his chaste love for Mike, we only ever see him express his sexuality in the form of revulsion towards girls/heterosexuality; he honestly seems kind of neutral on men in general.
However... I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.
Will happens to conform to certain 80s stereotypes about gay men -- he’s sensitive, well-groomed, prefers art over sport -- and these traits have made him a target for homophobic abuse, probably since before he even realized he was gay.
Imagine how it must have felt, then, when he finally did realize he was gay. The bullies were right about that, all along. So what else were they right about?
What other stereotypes plagued gay men in the 80s? They were seen as threats that wanted to recruit children into their “lifestyle”...
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...as disgusting perverts...
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...and as carriers of disease.
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Even as a 12 year-old with an innocent crush on his best friend, this poor kid already feels ashamed of a sexuality he hasn’t even matured into yet. So when he does start maturing into it, he represses it.
It’s no wonder that he identifies with Alan Turing, a man who was chemically castrated for being gay.
Who else do we know who might identify with what happened to Alan Turing?
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Henry is queer-coded by way of parallels to Will: he’s sensitive, well-groomed, and likes art. Like Will, he had a parent who tried to make him more “normal”. Like Will, he’s suffered abuse for being different.
But Henry is also queer-coded in a way that parallels those homophobic fears about “the gay agenda”: he preys on children, recruiting some and killing the rest. He’s angry at the world for not having space in it for people like him, but it doesn’t occur to him that he could peacefully co-exist with the rest of society -- he wants to burn it all down and remake the world in his own image.
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The thing is, homophobes are telling on themselves when they express such fears about gay men -- because what they fear queer people will do to them is what heteronormative society is already doing to queer people. Like Henry, they think this is a zero-sum game in which only one side can “win”.
So I don’t think Henry’s queer-coding is meant to be read literally as him being a predatory gay man.
Rather, he’s a personification of homophobia: the homophobe’s gay boogeyman made flesh.
(When it comes to other characters, he personifies a more broadly-applicable version of this concept. But the Duffers have stated that S5 will focus heavily on Will and his coming of age, so I think this queer reading of Vecna is a deliberate and central one.)
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If Vecna represents external homophobia, then the Mind Flayer represents internalized homophobia.
Vecna sends it after Will and it literally gets inside him, burying his true nature under a layer of torment. It’s partially defeated when his family and friends see what’s happening and shower him with unconditional love, but it lingers at the back of his head as he starts to go through puberty, flaring up when he’s near or otherwise thinking about Mike.
The only time he doesn’t have to deal with these flare-ups is when he’s in California, far away from both Vecna and the homophobic town he grew up in. And he gains a lot of confidence in his identity while he’s there!
But, as the asexually-decorated bedroom suggests, he still feels a lot of shame too.
Will can’t fully self-actualize as a gay man until he breaks his connection with Vecna once and for all...
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...with the boy who makes him feel like he’s not a mistake by his side.
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sophieinwonderland · 4 months
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r/systemscringe user ponders the question of whether they would still hate endogenic systems if we stopped calling ourselves systems. It goes... predictably.
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Before going on... let me just stop and say how sad I think it is that u/DustyArcade is befriending people to bait them into revealing personal details about themselves for Reddit Karma.
While it seems hopeful that they're more open-minded than some of the others on the general concept of plurality, this is a really gross behavior.
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Spoiler: the answer to this question is yes!
But before we get into that...
PSA: Beware @/Cains-Coin-Shop
Now, I am going to get into the comments, but before I do, we need to take an intermission for a PSA regarding u/DustyArcade. When looking at their post history, I ran across this.
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The blog has apparently been reinstated in the week since that post.
And they're apparently an anti-endo tulpamancer.
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I remember running across this not too long ago, thinking about responding, but deciding not to. Though given that this user is baiting people into friendships to post to Reddit, WATCH OUT FOR THIS BLOG.
I don't know of this is their bait blog or just another blog they happen to run. But either way, they aren't a safe individual to interact with if you're concerned about being posted to r/systemscringe.
Now, back to our regularly-scheduled debunking...
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"They're already saying they don't have DID/OSDD but they're still faking it" is some of the wildest reasoning I've ever seen.
Now, "used by" is a pretty interesting use of words. Because sure, there are plenty of DID/OSDD systems who use these terms. But remember that "plural" was created in the 90s as an alternative to the medicalized "multiple." Likewise, "collective" and similar terms were created to distance people from medicalized terms like "system."
It's pretty clear that u/NonamesNolies has no understanding of plural history, which does get pointed out by u/DustyArcade to their credit.
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Pretty sure the equivalent term before "endogenic systems" was "natural multiple."
Normally at this point, I would point out to u/NonamesNolies that the ICD-11 acknowledges that you can have multiple distinct personality states without a disorder.
I would point out that the creators of the Theory of Structural Dissociation have said spiritual practices and hypnosis may be able to result in the creation of self-conscious dissociative parts of the personality.
I would point to the chapter in Transgender Mental Health, published by the APA, which stated that you can be plural without a disorder or trauma.
But I won't do that because I know for a fact they aren't willing to listen, and just prefer to call any psychiatrists who disagree with them grifters. And yes, that's an actual thing they did, which I will get to at the end of this post!
Meanwhile...
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Really just... going straight for those cult accusations, huh?
Funny from the science-denier.
Anyway, it's amazing how completely wrong they are on the term "multiple."
Yes, originally, the term was shared. And it still is to an extent. But then as the endogenic/non-disordered community broke off, they coined and popularized "plural" as an alternative to avoid medical connotations.
Plural was NEVER a DID/OSDD-specific term. It was always inclusive to all systems from the beginning.
But there you have your answer. It's not about the terms we use. It's about our existence. The language we use doesn't really matter to them.
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There is... a whole lot in this interaction that it's hard to know where to begin. For one thing, most tulpamancy is viewed as psychological. And I imagine that even most spiritual tulpamancers would dispute their practice being considered "religious."
But to u/doubtful_messenger's assertion that endogenic systems need a parasitic relationship with DID, I'm just going counter that endogenic plurality through various names has existed for a long, long time.
The explanation of some forms of plurality as a mental disorder is fairly recent, only arising in the past couple hundred years. Before that, any instance of plurality was viewed as spiritual. Endogenic systems don't need a DID community to exist.
The tulpamancy and daemonism communities, forming completely independently of the larger plural community, proves that.
Finally... there's u/DustyArcade saying they thought they were turning into an endo, which I think I'll just let speak for itself.
...
The final comment in this thread I want to mention is from u/Kamari-mari, who I feel perfectly encapsulates the anti-endo point of view.
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"Nothing you say matters because we already made up our mind and won't read anything that contradicts our preconceived notions."
And shoutout to u/bugzxvi for their addition of congratulating u/Kamari-mari for bragging about not being able to read three short paragraphs. It really pulls the whole thing together.
...
Okay, now I referenced u/NonamesNolies calling psychiatrists grifters, so let's dive into that next!
r/Systemscringeing on Transgender Mental Health
Quick note: That's not a typo. r/systemscringing is a new hatesub like r/systemscringe, but exclusively for systems to make fun of other systems.
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The relationship between transgender mental health and plurality, including DID, seems pretty obvious to me. How many systems have headmates with various genders? How many of those experience dysphoria while fronting? How does the gender of nonfronting headmates affect the fronters? How do these factors affect transitioning?
This stuff is super important for doctors to understand when treating plural patients.
And it's wild how u/NonameNolies just immediately jumps to hating a psychiatrist for acknowledging the existence of endogenic systems.
This gets even worse in the comments.
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What is the logic supposed to be in this argument? "If you're not a trauma specialist, you aren't qualified to say that plurality can be caused without trauma?"
How does that track?
I mean, surely, not being a trauma specialist means there's a better chance you'll run into plurals who aren't traumatized than someone who exclusively works with trauma victims, right?
"You can't say things other than X can cause Y unless you're an expert in X" doesn't actually make any sense.
Imagine if you decided that to say "diseases other than cancer can kill you," you needed to be a cancer specialist.
That would be pretty silly, wouldn't it?
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Can we just take a step back for a moment and imagine something for a moment...
You are Eric Yarbrough. You worked hard for 8 years to earn a doctorate in psychiatry.
You've served the LGBTQ community tirelessly in the psychiatry field since, serving as president of The Association of LGBTQ psychiatrists, among many other roles.
You've become a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, one of the highest honors given by the APA.
And some rando on Reddit just called you a grifter and said you should be ashamed of yourself because they're upset you don't support their bigotry in a book that itself was reviewed and published by the American Psychiatric Association.
...
Anyone else just feel like anti-endos treat psychiatrists the way Trump treats judges?
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elderwisp · 18 days
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The Creative Process ‧₊˚✩彡 
Because I love to be distracted
Hi! Ok, I wanted to share wif everyone my process in which I create a story post from conception to the final post. I would say I'm a very structured person when it comes to projects like these however, I've learned a lot and maybe someone could find something useful! We'll be referencing this scene. Oke, let's start!
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✩ Rough Drafts
So, of course everything starts off with a vision. While I always say, write what feels authentic to you, I also know it makes things much more difficult if you don't have a solid ground to build from. I think I've scrapped this particular story about twice already and even reshot the first chunk of Tessellate so there was a better foundation. I like to start off with understanding a character before moving onto creating a plot, otherwise people start bleed into another. Greta Gerwig makes a really awesome statement about how characters come first to her before plot. OKE with that in mind, this particular scene, I wrote it well over a year ago, however there wasn't much flow in the initial draft. In fact, the two look nothing alike. This conversation was supposed to occur during France's concert, but I moved it to to this particular scene and I'm so glad. I felt like their current relationship was strong enough to have this conversation but also it allowed me to really focus in on the two. I am a huge advocate for jotting down dialogue even if things change because you can always expand on an idea. And if things don't work, scrapping is okay, but at least you gave it a shot! After that change, I didn't revisit that scene up until about a month and a half ago. I like to let things sit for a good while. In the initial draft, Taryn was reserved throughout a majority of the conversation. There was limitations in which how I wanted her to express things but things change in a year. When I looked at her as a character and how she's progressed throughout the story, the draft no longer aligned with her lack of response. And then that created the question of what the heck does one say? Because people aren't typically very graceful or eloquent when it comes to confrontation but also we're telling a story so how do I balance the two out? Since, I've followed these little blorbos for a while, knowing their characters and motives allowed me to flesh everything out. Atlas is much more cunning than he lets on and is excellent at painting a pretty picture for those around him if it means getting what he wants. Taryn on the other hand is perceptive and unwavering so being around someone like him, someone that she finds herself slowly falling for, is a complete, well, mind fuck. We can also see from this interaction that there's a hint of feeling inadequate and the lack of confidence to know that maybe he does like her. We also see that Atlas maybe isn't the most mature when it comes to developing something real so the two have plenty to work on just from this scene alone. Like Greta Gerwig says, writing is listening.
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I also wanted to mention LocalScriptMan and this video all the time because it just about changed how I viewed dialogue in general. I think it's such a great tool! I've probably shared it a billion times.
✩ Blender & Posemaking
So I would like to preface this by saying, you do not need to use blender to achieve a vision. There are still scenes that I still use poses/animations from other creators! I wanted to list a few references! Rebouks, Rascgal and Simmireen have an amazing variety of poses to use! I literally use Becca's bumper packs RELIGOUSLY! However, if you need any suggestions, SurelySim's has an excellent breakdown on getting started with posemaking from tiny details, to SimRipper and using accessories! She also talks about Vyxated's Pose Helper which is a god send! For this scene I wanted to fully pose it. In my script, I italicize anything I want to pose, I'm such a sucker for the mannerisms that people have. When words fail, body language speaks. Are they fidget-y, or do I imagine them to be more composed? Taryn's stance is grounded, she doesn't move at all in the scene except for when she leaves and I think it's a great representation of her stubbornness. Whereas Atlas is watching every single move, up until he makes his incredibly bold (ridiculous!) statement. As for emotion when he made that statement, I wanted to go with shame but then I felt like his expression radiated ruthlessness. I personally enjoyed that 10x more because it represented two things for me, his character and that he felt comfortable enough to show that part of himself. When posing a scene from start to finish, it takes me about 1-3 days depending on how complex it is. I'm a huge advocate for using references! I love referencing hands, posture, how to grab a book ANYTHING! Because this was a conversation and not much action happened, it took me about a day.
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✩ Taking Screenshots and Composition
I began taking photos for this scene on March 6th. I use to use this reshade preset by growfruit however, after tinkering with some settings I use like a mish-mash blorbo of a preset. Amobae and Sforz have some cool LUT's for download (I think of it like a filter? That's probably not what it is but MEH) and I love the qUINT's lightroom shader as well. Huge advocate of relight, I was today years old when I learn that you should load it at the top of your shaders order so you don't get like a weird whitecast. These spotlights though are super fun too if you don't use reshade! There are some photographers on instagram that even go over how to use lightroom and it can translate to game as well! For the most part, I try to keep screenshots pretty simple, editing-wise but there are moments when I doodle in little hairs, add in some texture and include shadows for, uh, DRAMAAA. Lately, I've been incorporating intricate fonts because idk sometimes my brain enjoys a little graphic design moment. Sometimes shooting conversation heavy scenes can get so repetitive so I like to look at film stills on pinterest or pay close attention to a film and how they present the camera work in a conversation. Rule of thirds is a great reference tool to use, I believe GShade has a shader for that. However it's okay to experiment, it's not an end all be all. I love looking at animators and how each frame is incredibly intentional, whether it's a shot from above or a really close frame. The beginning of this scene, I honestly didn't have a clue as to how I wanted to open it up since they were walking down a hall. Then I noticed the detail in the fencing and how the tiles were opposite. Using the TOOL mod, I was able to get them both in the center and it created a strong opening shot of how different these two are.
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✩ Editing
My god, I love editing but also this is usually the moment where I get so freaking distracted. This process takes me a day if I am focused.... But realistically it takes three days.... That's why I try to keep things to a minimum. I do use Photoshop. I like to use this sharpening action (the other actions are awesome too!) for story posts, I crop each photo (I use a 9:5 ratio and a 16:6 ratio if I need to focus on something specific idk why i picked those numbers yo), and add in text. Dafont has a lot of different free fonts. I like to use these little guidelines if sentences needs to be centered.
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For adding umph to text, I like to use two things: The warped text option when using the type tool or just going to the distort panel and using the wave option!
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Also bottom right of your layers channel is an fx layer. I like to use stroke and drop shadow on all text so it doesn't get lost within a photo!
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✩ Finalization and My Schedule
That story post was uploaded on March 29th. As of right now, I like to stay three weeks ahead so I have three weeks worth of story posts marinating in my queue LMAO. I always reread things like a bajillion times, sometimes I'll go back and tweak conversations if they feel a bit stiff. Having that three week buffer also gives me time to really dedicate myself to details and focus on being present with a future scene. Another perk is, it allows me to work on cleaning up the script, plotting for future arcs, and having fun with edits. When I used to upload story videos on youtube, I didn't really plan ahead and it was so chaotic for me. Sometimes I didn't have enough time to actually create a solid episode so things felt rushed because on top of that I had a schedule I committed to. This isn't necessary but structure and patterns is something my little brain needs.
I hope this maybe provided some tips for people wanting to start out or it was just a fun little thing to read! One final OP tip is to write about something that you enjoy, something that matters to you. I'm one mf that loves a fleshed out character arc, that doesn't like linear plots and for fucks sake I love a good slow burn and I think all of that reflects a lot which helps me be engaged.
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yooniesim · 9 months
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I know nobody gives a shit about this in comparison so posting a save file with uncredited builds in it, but reminder of that time @mapanou started calling me out of name and spewing hateful nazi ideology at me out of nowhere just bc i made a lukewarm criticism of a paywaller and I dared to say black people are often criticized more for being angry... but since only one of my parents are black that ain't allowed 😬 some of yall acted like this was okay but I didn't forget it, I notice how some of their friends are acting all betrayed now bc their homie turned out to be a sims content thief but you knew who you were laying down with clearly. You were glad to support an extremely nasty ass person when the vitriol was directed at me, but God forbid someone not credit a build! anyway guess who was struck down and it wasn't me bitch 💀
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That aside, since the insufferable cunt had the nerve to mention the One Drop Rule, which has been used as a tool to discriminate against all black people and keep their mixed offspring othered for as many generations as possible, here's some sources on what it actually refers to (and some related articles about the struggles of mixed race people). It's a method of discrimination by white supremacists, not a way for mixed race people that you think are unworthy of speaking to "claim" to be black. If you're lurking, mapanou, i hope you and your friends read them and understand something you should have already at your "very big age".
One Drop Rule on Wikipedia (for the basic concept + more sources)
How The "One Drop Rule" Became a Tool of White Supremacy
How The Nazis Were Inspired by Jim Crow
Understanding the Stressors and Types of Discrimination That Can Affect Multiracial Individuals
Exploring Black mixed-race experiences of Black rejection
Not Enough Or Double The Prejudice: On Being Black & Asian American
Why Imposter Syndrome Goes Deep for Multiracial People
When Your Own Family Is Racist Toward You
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^ the basic gist for the lazy. and just an added bit. I don't know if mapanou has ever seen me, because I barely know them and certainly didn't share with them, but I have been doxxed plenty and my pics probably shared to them by others and im obviously not white though i am light skinned. im very proud of my dark natural hair, brown eyes, thick lips and big nose that I all got from my father. I have nothing to prove nor hide about who I am. I am black and asian and white and I love every part of what makes me, me. I am mixed race and if you don't believe or like me as I am that's your problem not mine. just wanna clear that up for all the people that may have been confused about it. and for all my followers that are mixed, especially black and asian, I love you and you have a place here. your voices and experiences are valuable and you deserve to be heard. that's all I got to say.
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merakiui · 1 year
Note
Hiiii~ Mera! I've wanted to ask you if you by any chance have any Malleus thoughts?? 👀 👉👈
I may have a few hehe!! :D please accept these very assorted Malleus concepts that have been floating around in my brain.
✧ sugar daddy malleus in ancient times in which he’s the mysterious being of the deep, dark forest everyone tells you to stay away from. but that same mysterious being is leaving lustrous gemstones and exquisite pieces of jewelry on your doorstep or at the entrance of the forest for you to take, always even more generous each time. and in return, you must provide him with something of yours (usually he’d like something from your hobbies, whether a poem or a sketch or a wood carving and so on). one day he’ll steal you away, but until then he provides generous sums for you to continue living comfortably. after all, he’s quite entertained with the lovely art you produce! he must know more.
✧ omegaverse in which, by order of lord malleus, guards silver and sebek free you (and plenty others) from an alpha who had been keeping you captive for various reasons. without a place to live or a madol to your name, lord malleus allows you to live within his castle under the condition that you must earn your keep. sebek doesn’t trust you, but silver thinks everyone deserves a fair chance and though it may be dangerous for an unmated omega and an unmated alpha to coexist, especially when said alpha is a very important ruler, you’ve proven to be a very diligent servant to malleus, always so determined to pay him back for his generosity. malleus has grown rather fond of you in the time he’s gradually beginning to know you, and before long he’s inviting you to take a stroll through the palace gardens with him or to join him for evening tea or to accompany him to the grand library so he may find a book he’s been looking to read. and eventually your heat will sneak up on you, and who better to assist you with it than the lord you serve? :)
✧ a very awkward fwb dynamic in which both you and malleus are horribly inexperienced in romance, so your dynamic essentially becomes one of fwb—by which if malleus gifts you a bouquet because you’re his dearest friend (he is madly in love with you) you hurry to return his goodwill with some of your own. there is no sex in this fwb (yet). the two of you are just always trying to return the other’s kindness and are so worried about forgetting to repay favors to one another or else you think it’ll look rude and malleus fears his favorite child of man will become offended. the benefits in this friendship is essentially just lots of courtship gifts that neither of you realize are courtship gifts. both of you are always friend-zoning each other, too. T_T lilia just wants you and malleus to kiss already.
✧ ceo malleus who is very bad at using technology, so you (his secretary) help him out and handle much of the tech work for him. naturally he has to repay you by railing you behind closed doors in his office (and maybe even knocking you up if you’re capable of having children hehe).
✧ you’re making a wish on a star in hopes that the sky above will answer it. but when you wish for a companion/lover/friend/a horned fae prince who is very tall and can sing and is very handsome and keeps a tamagotchi and is also lonely so he needs a friend (this last one is very specific;;;;), you don’t expect said fae to appear and offer companionship. he may or may not have been watching you for months now, waiting for the right moment to appear before you at your windowsill. but when you’ve made such a curious wish, how can he possibly stay hidden any longer? he adores you too much. <3
✧ arranged marriage in which you’re betrothed to malleus in a marriage that’s meant to serve as the first stepping stone in uniting humankind and faekind and putting all previous disagreements to rest. you think you’ll be fine so long as you’re courteous and obedient, but your fiancé seems to like you a little too much. :)
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anamericangirl · 7 months
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Hi, I'm pro-choice (or pro-abort as you say)
i want to have an actual discussion, a lot of left-wing people just want to throw insults and punches out and thats kinda stupid. I think that women, should have a say in the matter of abortion. I think some people are using abortion as birth control. which is stupid. birth control is definitely needed in those situations, not an abortion. i dont really think teens should be having sex, but lets face it; they do. abortion is needed (when the mother wants to) for girls that have been raped, for incest, for teens who wont be supported, for mothers who may die, for people who were being completely safe and arent ready.
whats your take on my opinion?
Hi there, I definitely agree there are many cases where abortion is used as birth control and throwing out insults and stuff, regardless of what side you’re on, is stupid and unnecessary. I also agree that teenagers shouldn’t be having sex, even though they do.
The last half of what you wrote I think is where we start to disagree.
I’d be interested on what you mean when you say abortion is “needed.” Because when I hear someone say abortion is needed, I get the impression they are saying it’s necessary and has to happen, regardless of what may or not be wanted.
So if abortion is only “needed” in those cases if the mother wants it, but not “needed” if the mother doesn’t want, then that kind of implies it’s not needed in either scenario.
- For rape, I can certainly sympathize with the mother and understand why she might want an abortion, but I don’t think it’s needed and I think it’s still not a justification for abortion. The foundation of my belief is that the unborn are completely human and completely alive from the moment of conception and abortion kills a baby and I don’t think it’s ok to kill people because their mother was raped. We don’t even kill the rapist, so the baby certainly doesn’t deserve the death sentence. What I do the mother needs in this case is thorough medical care, emotional and even financial support. Abortion does not reverse rape or trauma and can even bring more trauma to the woman, which the pro-abortion lobby doesn’t ever highlight. And there have been plenty of testimonies of women who gave birth after rape who said they found it to be incredibly healing.
- As for incest, I generally consider that the same as rape unless this encounter was consensual. If it was rape my answer is the same as above but if it’s consensual why would the baby need to die?
- When we’re talking about a life or death situation for the baby, which we are in abortion, a teen girl who might not be supported is not justification for actively and intentionally killing a child. There are other options here that a lot of people seem to ignore or forget about.
First, there’s adoption.
Second, there are several pro-life organizations that offer support to people in exactly those situations. Let Them Live is a really good one that raises money and items for teens and women who don’t have any support elsewhere. Crisis pregnancy centers are also very good places to receive pregnancy support for free, including medical help. They get a bad rap in the media because they help women without providing abortion services but they are great places for any woman who is pregnant and needs any kind of support. Local churches are also a good place to seek out help and support.
- We are often told that abortion is necessary when the mother might die, but that’s actually not true. There aren’t any cases that threaten the life of the mother where the treatment is an abortion. In cases that threaten the life of the mother the baby is either already dead or dying. Those are medical emergencies and she should be seen at a hospital not an abortion clinic. Those cases are usually treated by delivering the baby early, not killing them. The mother should absolutely be treated as necessary and every effort should be made to save both lives. Many times both lives can’t be saved and the baby may die anyway in efforts to save the mother, but not because they were intentionally killed by an abortionist.
- In cases where people used protection and got pregnant anyway I absolutely don’t think abortion is justified. That’s essentially using abortion as birth control.
When looking at these issues, you have to ask yourself if you would be ok intentionally killing a born child in any of these cases and if you’re not then you shouldn’t be ok with aborting a baby in any of them either because it’s the same thing (there’s also the fact that abortion just isn’t safe, even for the woman, and it doesn’t become safe just because someone wants it or is struggling).
Abortion is never the answer.
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noyasaur · 4 months
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hii!! i have a few shifting questions im a bit new lol
can you prove shifting is real? im trying to shift but i cant get over the fact that it might not be real and that im wasting my life yk?
do i have to script personalities or appearances to existing characters or will they jut be like they are in the show/game?
how can i be more motivated to shift?
sorry if this doesnt make sense! im a bit bad at english even though its my first language lol
anyways have a great day!!
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₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊
hihi anon ! ⸜(。˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ i hope you're doing well and welcome! i hope your journey is going well so far! and don't worry, your questions made perfect sense! and i also apologise for taking so long to answer your questions, i spent a lot of time trying to formulate the right answers for your questions so i hope i'm able to help 😭 and sorry for the super long answer!
anyway, let's answer your questions~
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🪐 CAN YOU PROVE SHIFTING IS REAL?
honestly, this is a tricky one. i want to be very honest with you and i, in no way want to demotivate you at all! right now, the only way of 'proving' shifting (at least, to my knowledge) is through experiencing shifting ourselves, or trusting other shifter's word as proof of reality shifting. regarding scientific research and proof behind reality shifting, to my knowledge, there are no studies that directly investigate reality shifting. i also feel like reality shifting would already be incredibly difficult to prove already on top of the existence of infinite realities/potentials, thus leading to an extension of an infinite amount of different variables.
reality shifting is a very personal experience and one's journey and experience will differ from person to person. unfortunately, in the current state of our reality, reality shifting has not been scientifically proven.. yet.
reality shifting is on of those experiences where you just have to form your own beliefs on it, and trust yourself and others. i like to think of it this way. take our own consciousness for example- we are all conscious right now, correct? we all know we have consciousness. it's a known fact. however, very little is known about our own consciousness, it's origins and it's power. but we all know that we have a consciousness, and we can't prove it to anyone yet but ourselves.
people thought lucid dreaming wasn't real many years ago and now people recognise it as a legitimate practice. same with astral projection, and out of body experiences.
and i know shifting is real because i have experienced parallel reality shifts (some intentional and some unintentional) and mini-shifts myself.
however, not all hope is lost! are there studies and theories on infinite universes, parallel realities and the multiverse? yep! are there studies on consciousness, quantum mechanics and biophotons? yes! there are plenty of studies, theories, and concepts that can be linked together and used to scientifically determine how reality shifting is even possible in the first place. yes, it's one of those things that isn't believed or accepted by the general public, but it exists. we may not know exactly how and we can only theorise, but there are connections that can be made.
now, i completely understand your worries on how reality shifting might not be real. that's totally valid! especially speaking since we've been conditioned out whole lives to think otherwise. that we only have one shot at life and we have to work hard to get our desires, but know we now that's the opposite? we can live an infinite amount of lives and have an infinite amount of parallel realities? we are the creators of our own reality and we have the power to shape what we experience?
however, this is where you come in. i highly recommend that to reassure your worries, find these answers out for yourself. determine what exactly reality shifting is for you and find how it is possible, instead of worrying about what if it's not possible. i'm not a fan of overconsumption of shifting information, however i think it's good to do a deep dive on shifting every now and then to help you open your mind to question what reality shifting is and how it's possible. then, when you've formed your own beliefs on shifting, it's easier to validate your belief and trust in shifting since you've discovered yourself how it's possible and what it is to you! that way, you won't need to worry about any external shaking your beliefs or making you worry about whether shifting is real or not because YOU have personally worked out how it's possible for you.
explore and read about other people's experiences, beliefs and theories on shifting. read scientific papers on concepts relating to shifting such as The Many Worlds Theory, multiverses, and parallel realities. read about the Law of Assumption and consciousness. read shifting success stories! just anything that relates to shifting. and don't worry, at the end of this post, i'll link some helpful resources at the end that have helped me explore deeper into how reality shifting is possible!
and if you're worried about wasting your life away on reality shifting, something that could help is to normalise reality shifting. what i mean by that is see reality shifting as something that is an everyday casual thing (which it is). think of it as a hobby, and not something you don't need to be heavily obsessed over. become content with the fact that, "oh, there's this super cool thing i can do! i can shift realities, i'll try it. oh, i didn't shift, that's okay i'll try again next time. oh, i shifted? cool!"
remember that reality shifting and your desired realities all exist in the now regardless, and they aren't going anywhere. reality shifting is not something super unattainable. i understand where you're worries are coming from and they are 100% valid.
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🪐 DO I HAVE TO SCRIPT CHARACTER'S PERSONALITIES OR APPEARANCES, OR WILL THEY JUST BE LIKE HOW THEY ARE IN THE GAME/SHOW?
now, you don't have to script character's entire personalities and appearances (if you don't want to!). you can, but it's also not necessary. it's entirely up to you :)
with scripting, you don't have to script everything down to the tee. you aren't specifically creating any reality out of thin air, more like visually and physically specifying your intentions of what reality you want to shift to/experience. in fact, some people don't even have scripts!
scripting essentially has no power. scripting is just a physical, visual outline of the desired reality where you intend to shift to. to sort out your thoughts and intentions. your subconscious mind already holds everything in that script and whatever else you intend to experience. your subconscious knows what you want and it'll fill in all the gaps for you, so don't stress!
there is no requirement or criteria for how much, or how little you need to script. you can script as little as you like, or as much as you like! thus, if you don't script anything about a character's personality or appearance, but you intend for them to act like how they would in their respective game/show, then they will act how you expect them to. you can even add that in your script if you want as well: "this character will have the same personality/appearance as they do in ___." it's all up to your assumptions and intentions.
however, if you feel like you want to script their appearance or personality, then go for it! do whatever makes you feel best and most comfortable.
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🪐 HOW CAN I BE MORE MOTIVATED TO SHIFT?
oh gosh, there are so many different ways to help keep you motivated to shift! i'll try not to ramble :)
honestly, just thinking about the concept of reality shifting and the possibilities can be motivating enough. like how there are infinite realities and infinite possibilities? you can literally experience anything and be anyone you want to be.
you can consume any kind of content relating to your desired reality, watch videos, create pinterest boards (e.g. your outfits in your dr, dr locations, etc.), write letters to people in your desired reality, or think/make a list of things you're excited to experience in your desired reality.
or even just think about your desired reality and get yourself excited! what are you excited to experience? who are you excited to meet? what are you scared about? where do you want to visit? things like that.
however, while i am a big advocate for being able to seek motivation from yourself, it's also good to watch videos and read about other people's shifting experiences to motivate yourself! find other people who have the same/similar desired realities as you, or read shifting stories.
however, it's good to learn how to motivate yourself and not rely on other's so much for validation on shifting, it's existence and motivation. however, it doesn't hurt to consume shifting stories and tips from shifters too, just don't rely too much on it as your main source of validation/motivation.
additionally, it's completely okay to feel demotivated with shifting. it's okay to be drained. and it's also okay to take breaks when you need it. stay at your own pace and don't rush yourself into anything. you don't need to be trying to shift every single day of the year if you don't feel like it. reality shifting isn't going anywhere and your desired realities are always going to exist. so please don't stress and don't feel like you need to rush! you can always shift to your desired reality whenever you want, and however you want!
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alright, i hope i answered your questions well and i hope this helped! and i apologise if i rambled a little bit, i just had so much to say (especially for the first question dhjkds).
have an amazing day and good luck on your shifting journey! you got this! ʚɞ ⁺˖
- saturn ♡
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🪐 HELPFUL RESOURCES! (these are just some that have helped me!)
REALITYSHIFTING101 - i found this user through amino and their posts have been so, so informative in the in-depth science behind reality shifting and how it's possible. honestly one of the only shifters i've seen who's done such an in-depth analysis on reality shifting and the objective science behind it.
blog: https://realityshifting.medium.com/ amino: https://aminoapps.com/c/desired/page/user/realityshifting101/5w64_MWUYf81pj0qoYwJY00P5JdG5ZxmQHY ULTIMATE RESOURCE: Total Shifting Science (amino): https://aminoapps.com/c/desired/page/blog/ultimate-resource-total-shifting-science/xLkq_62t2u6DWEXn3x55w5rgL5z5vZkKmm
LOVE - an amino user who's been shifting for quite some time and visited many different realities. provided some very interesting information and perspectives on the reality shifting, the multiverse, other realities, and some interesting terminology and concepts.
amino profile: https://aminoapps.com/c/desired/page/user/nill-l/vPMG_2qu2f6eoEGbvBBwwP7kK2Y1qepw32sX
OTHER RESOURCES - here is are some other uncategorised links of good shifting resources!
reddit post (shifting + other shifting related resources): https://www.reddit.com/r/shiftingrealities/comments/ow7n7y/recommended_reliable_resources/ yennieshifts shifting carrd: https://yennieshifts.carrd.co/https://yennieshifts.carrd.co/
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7grandmel · 6 days
Text
Todays rip: 19/04/2024
i love(d) you
Season 6 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume FF Also on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 3
Ripped by vvsvlogs
youtube
Requested by oetaboy and an anonymous reader! @oetaboy (Ask Box)
I'm sure this rip's been a long time coming for many - I know it has for me. I've had i love(d) you sitting in my drafts as far back as in March, but truthfully it's...daunting, to write about. Requested by two readers. Close to 200 thousand views on YouTube, and recently featured prominently in popular Clone Hero YouTuber Acai's "The Quality of SiIvaGunner" series. And the rip itself being an emotional gutpunch in a season filled with them, from a ripper who's already gutpunched me plenty with Wham! Into Dreams and The Paragoomba and the Wiggler. vvsvlogs, Vivi, I ask this with the most sincere gratitude possible - why must you do this to me?
Minecraft as a game has its emotional hooks in at least two generations of people - that much I think we're all aware of. A sandbox filled with endless possibilities, community, friends, individual stories of survival or of great creative endeavors, all wrapped in C418's hauntingly beautiful score, one I've discussed many times before with Fell From a High Place (Reprise), M-O-O-G City and Every Mob Wants To Rule My World. All of these rips are beautiful, yet they're all aiming to play with Minecraft's sound in some way - the former two rips are arrangement of its music with other games' instrumentation, and the latter rip is a melodyswap playing Everybody Wants To Rule The World. They all play on my senses in their own ways, they're all rightfully impressive - but nothing hits quite the same as Minecraft's own music, on its own terms. i love(d) you isn't aiming to impress or amaze - but it lands a full-on critical hit on one's heart through leveraging everything that's kept Subwoofer Lullaby alive for so many years.
I've talked plenty about my musical illiteracy, and so I hope it doesn't come as a surprise that I've never really listened to world-renowed singer Billie Eilish. She's been on the radio, I've heard Bad Guy, but it was never a name I gave much more thought beyond seeing her discussed online from time to time. You can imagine the absolute awe I was in when I clicked on i love(d) you when it first went up, already expecting an emotional hit due to the Minecraft song used, only to get goosebumps from Eilish's vocals alone. i love you is the penultimate song from Eilish's debut studio album, the very same that Bad Guy was featured on - yet compared to that track's bass-heavy, almost seductive energy, i love you feels remarkably personal, with little more than an acoustic guitar and piano accompanying the openly emotional vocal performance. It's sincere in a way I don't hear enough music be, as if a diary translated into song, much the same emotion that Because I Love You conveyed yet with even greater magnitude due to the vocals in play.
i love(d) you, uploaded for 2022's valentines day, wields both of these forms of love - the connections many of us have to one of the most impactful games ever made, and the unfiltered emotion of i love you - to create something unabashedly beautiful. Mashups aren't a novel concept, mashups are nothing new - yet one glance at the comments tells me that I'm not alone in finding this rip in particular to have struck an incredibly sensitive nerve. Because there's a beauty to Minecraft that I think many of us oft forget about. It's a game that we all cherish, yet also one that's very easy to have left behind: we have adult responsibilities, we have school, we have other, shorter, more concise games, we have social media, we have friends, we have blogs...the solemn beauty of playing the game itself is, for many viewers like myself, not much more than a memory, something that can feel ever so difficult to recreate without feeling as if something's wrong.
We...I'm...not a kid anymore.
There was nothing about i love(d) you's concept that necessitated it to be more than just the mashup. There rip had no need for visuals that'd help convey the edit like with Plantasia 2 or Luna, mi Amor, no need to tickle the funnybone like with SUNGORE or the hundreds of other YTPMV rips on the channel. Yet, halfway through the rip, to the tune of Eilish's soothingly reverberating vocals, the background begins to change, not to a bit, not to a reference nor easter egg...but to Minecraft. To where all of this attachment began - to a far-off view of the game's beautiful landscapes as the sun begins to rises. That digital world that looks different for every player, yet the same in everyone's hearts - that place that, no matter how many years pass, how long its been since we last played, we all love. Its impact different to everyone, yet the feeling unanimous. It drives home how well the mashup works not just as a mixture of two deeply emotional songs, but as music tied to a shared experience: all of our Minecraft worlds looked different, all of our personal lives look different, but we've all played the game, and we've all had affection for it.
Every moment I spend thinking about this rip aches in some way. It's been well past two years since it was first uploaded, yet it continues to follow me as the years go on, my mouse drawn to it any time it reappears in my recommendations. In being featured on 2024's Now That's What I Call Quality! 3, I think the team holds much the same sentiment - even as the months pass, i love(d) you is the kind of rip that'll never fall out of favor, never stop meaning things to people. And realizing that it was made by vvsvlogs, the very same vvsvlogs who's already made me far too emotionally vulnerable on here twice before, has only made it mean that extra bit more to me.
I'm not a kid anymore. I know that. But I'll always be grateful to SiIvaGunner, the people behind it, and those who follow it along with me, for being able to bring me back to that state of mind when I least expect it.
Thank you.
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nitewrighter · 8 months
Note
I get what you are trying to say, but for the most part the ones complaining about Vicki's portrayal in MAWS are women.
I mean I can definitely get those complaints as part of the general body of "DC can be a major sausage fest" angle, and honestly I would love to see Lois develop a strong relationship with a female character within the show (like Ronnie pleeease can we see more Ronnie???), but I think it's also the general funky balancing issues of any show that's taking significant creative liberties with a well-known, well-loved IP and hasn't had a lot of time to really establish itself.
I mean for the most part, most of Lois's interactions with other women (in this case I'm talking about the League of Lois Lanes and Vicki Vale) are more about holding up a mirror to Lois as a character--the league of Lois Lanes obviously discussing both Lois's internal self-doubts and how there are significant differences between her and previous incarnations of her in media, and as I've said before, Vicki Vale representing pretty much everything Lois thought she wanted to be as a journalist prior to finding out Clark is Superman. And you do see early in the season the way Lois pursues a story like she has already come to all the conclusions she figures she needs to, is very similar to how Vicki pursues her exposé on Superman--which isn't journalism! Journalism is about investigating and finding the truth! Which is also probably why Lois is still stuck as an intern when we meet her, because she's been emulating this ball-busting B&E style of journalism without actually building up the necessary experience and compassion and direction to make it effective! I don't think the show really wants to pit women against each other so much as really ask the question of "How's Lois going to find her place in all this?"
I'm getting a little sidetracked but I do think that basically we haven't been able to see Lois develop a strong relationship with other women in the show because for this season, at least, the show's writing is about establishing this interpretation of Lois, Clark, and Jimmy. So basically what interactions the trio has with characters outside of the trio is more about establishing the trio themselves as characters than actually building relationships with characters outside the trio, you know? Like, just think back to Jimmy's interaction with Steve Lombard--like yes, we got to know Steve as this macho guy but ultimately that whole interaction was exploring Jimmy's feelings of being left behind by Clark and Lois and his frustrations with not being taken seriously as Flamebird.
Hopefully next season (if there is a next season) they'll be able to expand the cast more and build on more complex dynamics outside the trio (Pleeease bring in Kara pleeeease), but in the meantime I'm just going to say that DC has been doing whatever the hell it wants with Vicki Vale since forever. Vicki's been obsessed with proving Bruce Wayne is Batman, she's been a significant Bat-Love-Interest, she's been a supervillain, she's been a generic NPC newscaster, and now she gets to be this sort of reflection of Lois but also placed at a position in the narrative where she's completely independent from Batman and also has a surprising amount of power. Like I love the lore that she's been a rival journalist to Perry! It gives her a lot of flavor! It gives this fun sense that even in the midst of a whole bunch of superhero craziness, regular people have their foils and rivalries! Plenty of comic book characters have continued to persist despite less-than-flattering interpretations, and plenty of comic book characters have undergone significant changes basically to fit the narrative demands of being adapted to animation. This is not the be-all end-all of Vicki Vale.
Also I hate the concept of "if this female character is mean or unpleasant or unlikable to me as a woman then that means the writing is unfeminist." Like, just because a character is a bitch, that doesn't mean she's not bringing something to the story. Bitchiness can bring a lot to a story.
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lucalicatteart · 11 months
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Finally finished my weird hanging painting thing (originally a secondhand partially-done 'paint by numbers' kit that I found at a thrift store and kept to repurpose lol)! Imagery somewhat based in my own worldbuilding projects, and text written in my constructed language for one of my fantasy species, but also vaguely inspired by old tapestries and illuminated manuscripts and etc. I've never been great at neat clean patterning or text, but it looks cool from afar, and I always enjoy making "props" or things that are somewhat like real objects that might could exist in my world. :0
(additional pictures/info under the readmore)
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Here's what it was originally! I probably didn't have to actually have a river running down the middle because it further makes the composition of the whole thing weird (various connected yet separate locations and things happening, instead of one unified event being portrayed), but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fully cover up the already existing paint that was there.. and I can also kind of justify it by going with a more "all the imagery is just symbolic so it doesn't have to make exact sense" approach lol.. How is one half of the grass green and the other is suddenly snowy? shhhh.. it's not literal.. shhh...
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Made a vague sketch, then painted over it, and then added more distinct lines in black pen. Center image first and border second.
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The very last thing was the text, which actually took forever to translate because my conlang is still only like.. partially done, and some of the grammar is not worked out exactly how I would like it to be, so a few sentences I had to think about for a long time before just going "eh, this is probably not how I would do it if I considered it more, but I'll go with it for now" lol . I also am not entirely satisfied with all of the characters for the writing system, but again, it's good enough for a quick project, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate and perfect because it's a fake language that nobody knows anyway lol.
I thought about breaking down the text and translation here like I have for some of the tidbits of Avirrekava (the language) in things I've posted in the past, but I think it would take too long and is not interesting to anyone but me ghghj, so for the sake of getting the post out quickly, I shall not spend an hour typing All That lol.
The general jist of the writing though is that it's just about the Avirre'thel being cast out from the other elves, after abandoning their magic for immortality as a means to truly attain perfection (an important concept in elven culture), the usual, blah blah blah, but how it's Actually A Good Thing, because the gods are wrong and immortality is Cool actually and they like the shitty frozen lands they were sent to, so it's fine that everyone else is being a Hater about it lol
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Lastly, here's a few photos outside in the sun to TRY and show the gold detailing actually shimmering or showing up! It really doesn't come through in photos, but there's plenty of little golden spots to highlight light or Importance.
Mostly the fire, the pink sparkle that represents magic, the red drop that represents blood, the light behind Inaashi's hands and head (common symbol for the elven religion/one of their main gods, shout out to anyone who read the ancient elven religion post and recognized that lol), the sun, and the symbol for the Avirre'thel/country of Navyete at the very top. I did a few other gold bits, but they're not highlighted because they're Significant, more just that it looked more symmetrical to have some gold on the border too lol.
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Other things of note: The animals are not actually significant to Avirre'thel culture really, I just wanted to put a cat and a bird because I like them lol. (I also wanted to have a few funny looking creatures, as I was slightly trying to go with the 'in some old medieval painting the anatomy and perspective is very weird' vibe, though I think some of the other parts of it look too Normal to pull it off entirely). Same with the four leaf clover, which means nothing in their culture - but these are the only areas where stuff was just added self-indulgently .
Bligabata (giant cabbage that grows along rivers in Navyete) making an appearance! The architecture of the building IS based on actual concepts for ancient elven/older Avirre'thel architecture and metalwork. The Avirre'thel who's turning away from Inaashi/elves/magic and collecting blood, is doing so in a Special Bowl, as is part of their culture (collecting it in the hands, or just in a normal vessel would be disrespectful, they have Specific Bowls which is the only thing blood can be kept in, etc.).
The figure that represents Jhevona (and thus, a closer connection to magic, celestial imagery, etc.) is in weird ugly teal, which is not necessarily a color or design associated with them, as I don't have much common culture (like clothing) worked out for Northern Jhevona (who the avirre'thel would have come into contact with) yet, BUT everyone else is in more Typical colors (a northern elf in green, Inaashi in lavender + white + blue, an Avirre'thel in darker purples and reds).
Some things, like the four figures in the corners, and the two people + fish in the stream, do not currently have a meaning, but in-world they would.. Like, I could make up lore for how they're culturally significant and it would be true because I am god of the world, but I don't have anything currently. But just know.. they DO mean something, I just haven't decided it yet, maybe kind of fill in as I go, come up with a meaning later lol. Probably along the lines of an old myth from the ancient elven religion, a story, etc.
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I don't know, probably other stuff, but that's my Trying To Keep It Short rambling for now lol. I'm just glad I finally finished this! For how vaguely sloppy it is up close (everything being completely freehanded, only used rulers once when doing the initial sketch and lining where the border should be + my hands are shaky + the canvas is bumpy + my handwriting is scratchy and terrible + etc. etc.) it still took a REALLY long time, even when not trying to make it all perfect. Especially if including the text translation + writing, which took like 3+ hours itself.
Maybe all the asymmetry/lack of things being centered is NOT because I was too lazy to measure anything, but is actually because in-universe, it's a practice illustration made by some young apprentice who has to work on little canvases for years before he can be trusted will a full sized mural or tapestry. It's his first week on the job! of course he's uncoordinated! don't laugh at him!!! lol
#worldbuilding#elves#I AM WORKING ON A NEW PAVENTURE POST also !!!! I know I keep being like 'oh I'm going to get back to that! I'll stick to it this time!!'#and then another whole month goes by without me posting a new poll adventure - however - this time I DID fully intend to so#*do another one soon but my beloved beautiful perfect cat unfortunately passed away AND there was a heat#wave ANd I felt sick for a while for unrelated reasons so I just genuinely was not focused on posting online at all#I am trying to get back to it though along with other things hopefully so.#ANYWAY#avirre'thel#irithoas#maybe???? not super relevant to elves but I'll keep it intheir tag anyway also. Just since their lore is so closely tied with avirre'thel s#stuff and they're mentioned in the post. Or the gods are. Inaashi is.#OIGUGUGUGUHH I should have done a tapestry with the FCJhjkING triplets!!!!! Sehalanora Semoniyare and the other one whatever the hell#his name is. ... sehalanora my beloved .. (I'm referencing the ancient elven gods - for those who dont know)#It's funny that I rarely watch tv shows and when I do I rarely if EVER care about characters at all in any capacity#with maybe like a handful of even then extremely minor exceptions so I cannot relate to the concept of like 'having a blorbo' or whatever#but then for my extremely niche worldbuilding content#.. it's like OMG MY FAVORITE character!!! my favorite obscure god from a religion#that I entirely made up myself for a cultural group that I also made up that literally only I and maybe like two other#people who are able to sit through my novel long dry and wordy worldbuilding posts care about!! you all know them DUH!!#even WITHIN modern elven culture in the world at the moment in current day most people do not give a shit about them hghj#BUT .. I should have made a painting of the siblings actually!!! I stand by that!!#I mean I like Inaashi and Nisateyu and everything too. Actually all of them are fine except for Ea'ivuyera I guess. whoever the#like War and Order bootlicker god is basically. and the Evil dumbass one. but all the others are fine. I'm suprised I'm even able to rememb#that many ancient elven goofily long names ghgh.. But I could have maybe made it about the elven gods#The thing is just that.. i Don't have ancient elvish worked out as a language and I knew I wanted to put text on it#so it kind of HAD to be something written/drawn by the Avirre'thel#Knwoledge of the ancient elven gods is still a thing in their culture. But usually more as a joke or just a common fairytale knowledge#sort of thing. not really something to make a painting of. Inaashi is here less because of Inaashi The God being genuinely significant and#and more just she's there to Symbolize the elven religion as a whole. just like all the other figures are mere symbols of things. etc.
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777-maple · 2 months
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90 Days of Manifesting My S/P (success?)
I am embarking on a 90-day Affirmation Tape Experiment to manifest my S/P after two years of trying. I am grateful for the journey's duration; it brought invaluable insights into myself, love, and the art of manifestation. After four months of no contact, I focused on self-concept, and now, we're back in touch, although there are some current "blockages" to navigate.
- There are only six months until he plans to go into the military.
- I am manifesting him NOT going into the military and just getting his EMT certificate.
- He goes to school and works, so there is not much time to talk.
- I am manifesting that he texts me every day, and we see each other every weekend.
In the past, subliminals were my go-to, but I transitioned to various manifestation methods and manifested plenty. With my S/P, everything was hot and cold because of my inconsistency. I am rediscovering the efficiency of overnight tapes.
I am committing to nightly loops of six affirmations for three months, with updates every two weeks (but also just whenever I want).
- [S/P] and I have the perfect relationship.
- It is so easy to manifest [S/P] because I am a master at manifesting people.
- It was so easy to manifest [S/P] being a whole new person.
- I manifested [S/P] so quickly.
- I have always been wanted, desired, and irresistible.
- I have always been magnetic, unforgettable, and irreplaceable.
- I always manifest quickly, no matter the circumstances.
Day 3, visible changes are not here, but I am committed to this challenge. Also, why didn’t I try this earlier? I did; however, the affirmations messed up my sleep. How did I fix these sleep challenges? I devised a new method: ambiance on a timer for three hours, smoothly transitioning to affirmations while asleep.
Day 6, I can tell my resistance is way less today, I have the tape playing continuously from when I arrive home to waking up, excluding social times. I have been noticing a pattern with my wavering thoughts. Instead of thinking the stereotypical “this won't work,” I often face thoughts like “I need to do more for this to work.” I found myself thinking that I should affirm for 30 minutes a day for specifics; I stopped this thought because if we have a perfect relationship, he would already be doing these things, and I wouldn’t be thinking about specifics like this. In general, I have been watching my thoughts and keeping that mental diet. I have also been finding myself affirming automatically throughout the day, but I am not trying to force it because I do have that limiting belief of not doing enough, and I need to show myself that affirmation tapes are the ONLY THING I need to manifest. I have considered the possibility of listening 24/7 during winter break, but I do not want to face burnout like I have in the past while trying similar challenges. I am just committing to nightly listening for 90 days. I have realized past failures in manifestation challenges; I am determined to break the cycle. I’m planning on reaching out on Dec 21st (it is currently Dec 13th) because then he will be off break, but for now, I am committing to the tape and living in the end. Stay tuned for updates.
Day 9, he texted me first 😱 and called me; I had the tape on; however, I wasn’t paying attention, doing laundry and watching Suits.
Day 10, he texted me first again. Literally so in love with me. Only day 10, wtf.
Day 11, he was going to come over, but he got food poisoning, so he just called me, and we spoke for a few hours. He keeps texting me first like nonstop.
Day 13, no contact today; on delivered. Reminding myself it’s part of the bridge of events. Tarot cards advise patience. Planning to text on Christmas if no contact by Friday. Keeping a hopeful mindset.
Day 14, feeling insecure, but committed to listening for 90 days. Recognizing past patterns of worrying and waiting for things to work out. Living in the end.
Day 15, a confidence dip; can’t stop thinking about him. I’m concerned about cycles repeating. Putting away tarot cards to avoid uncertainties. Prioritizing gaining confidence again.
Day 16, more confident, realizing I don’t need to do more to manifest. Reminding myself of the promise not to affirm during the day. Embracing the belief that everything will be perfect by day 90. Standing firm and focusing on the journey.
Day 18? Had a really cute dream about him and me being together. I have been tackling those limiting beliefs and opposing thoughts fr 💪. Christmas is tomorrow.
Day 21 had another really cute dream about him.
Day 22, I can feel my mind and my limiting beliefs purging; I have this belief that negative thoughts and feelings always tend to be a big sign that something is about to manifest. This is what I wrote in one of my posts once, “Everything only has meaning if you give it meaning. After observing the process of manifesting something new multiple times, I've noticed I often hit a sort of rock bottom. In the beginning, it involved a few days of confidence followed by uncertainty and worry. But persisting through it always led to improvement and successful manifestation. I've learned to assign a new meaning to these tough days – they're a massive sign that what I'm doing is imprinting on my subconscious. It's like my subconscious is "fighting back" against this foreign idea, but if I persist, it'll absorb and manifest. The resistance might show up as opposing dreams, intrusive thoughts, or even the opposite appearing in the 3D. Take it as a sign that after persisting, your subconscious will be impressed and manifest. Just stand firm during this time. Stand on business.” I almost had a mental breakdown, but I just sat down and affirmed out loud for maybe 10 minutes till I was feeling better, then I reminded myself of this. I often feel the worse mentally right before I manifest something, and when I persist and make it through this “purge,” the desire is right around the corner. This may be a limiting belief; however, I know that with time and practice, being able to ignore these feelings will come even easier.
Day 23 feeling hella confident again 😮‍💨
Day 25: He texted me first this morning, New Year's Day, nonstop flirting. I go back to school in 2 days. For the past 4 days or so, I've been using the 4v1 method, “I maintain a mental diet by monitoring my thoughts throughout the day. If a negative thought contradicts what I'm manifesting, I stop myself and affirm the positive opposite four times”—definitely helping.
Day 28, Jan 4th: Okay, so we reached 28 days, and whoa. I never expected anything to happen this quickly; I thought I'd get to day 90 with maybe a text. I feel like I've learned a lot about manifesting in these past 4 weeks; I've got discipline under control. I'm doing well with a mental diet. This is the only method I've stuck to for more than 3 weeks. In an earlier draft, I wrote about how I always struggled to get past week three, and you can see that I started to face some struggles around there. However, those doubts I expressed barely impacted my manifestation. For the past 3 days, he and I have been talking a lot. He has been calling me things like "hun," saying stuff like “I'd love to… I'd love that” (using the word love towards me), and just last night made a “joke” about us being romantic. I never expected all of this to happen in less than a month. I am living in that end. He is treating me like a princess. And we should be seeing each other this weekend. As long as he doesn’t get food poisoning again, lol. I don't know what happened during those days we weren’t speaking, but you just have to remember that those are the bridges of events, and you need to trust where you are headed. I will continue to update; just know things are going well.
Day 30: He left me on opened, but I’m staying optimistic. I think it’s because I've been feeling kinda weird these past two days, and I found it kinda weird how much he has been texting me. Just negative thoughts, but it’s okay.
Day 31: He texted me; we’re good.
Day 36: We have been speaking every single day; he has been calling me so frequently. He compliments me, tells me so many sweet things. He’s coming over on the 26th (it's the 12th today), and we plan on going out before the 26th just to see each other because we haven’t been face to face in months. My plan after this is to create a general tape to listen to for the rest of the year.
Day 40: Things are going fine, still texting every day. I'm adding a new affirmation to the tape [S/P] calls me every single night, and he is always so excited to talk to me. Just because this is the one thing about our relationship I want to change. He’s only called me like 3 times in the past 2 weeks. I should be seeing him this weekend, but I don't know; we haven’t really discussed it.
Day 43, Jan 19th: We haven’t spoken these past 2 days; he’s been stressed, I guess. But I am still making more progress over the past 40 days than in 2 years. I am just hoping we are together by the 90th day, and I may add something to my routine; I decided to have two tapes going at once for the next 47 days. This next tape will have affirmations addressing the problems I have seen with this tape; however, I am keeping the original tape, just 2 at once, you know. And the subconscious is smart; if it hears two affirmations layered, it's not gonna get confused. The new affirmations: - [SP] always treats me like a princess. - [SP] calls me every single night; he texts me “good morning” every single day, and he puts effort into seeing me every single weekend. - [SP] puts effort into our relationship; he is always showing me how much he loves me, and he is always very excited to talk to me. - Everything about me and [SP]’s relationship is consistent and exciting. - [SP] asked me to be his girlfriend in the most perfect way. - I always manifest in 3 days or less. What are the problems I have been seeing? Consistency and getting bored of each other. And when I get bored, I start doubting, then it manifests in the 3D. I 100% believe this is the reason for all the on and off silence over the past 43 days. Yet I would say that for half of the 43 days, we have been speaking, so honestly that is a win. I am just amazed by all the progress.
Day 53: We haven’t spoken in 4 days because I left him on open, and I was kinda mad at him. We were gonna go out on the 26th; it’s currently the 29th, but he said his leg hurts too much, and he's still stressed (he injured his leg a few weeks ago, and he has a boot on). I have sort of been spiraling these past few days. I found myself going into old patterns like I used to before. At the beginning of these 90 days, I told myself that I would not affirm throughout the day, that I would just rely on the affirmation tape. I think I started to freak out about time a bit considering I only have 40ish days left of this challenge, and I was scared that I would fail and disappoint myself. But no matter what, I am manifesting this guy, even if it takes a little bit longer, and I am so close to extending the time just to relax myself. So this is now the 120-day challenge instead lol. Just kidding but maybe just to calm me down. I feel like I failed just a little bit. I entertained some negative thoughts which obviously manifested him away. I think I just got attached to him and the 3D. Anyways, from this point forward, I will only be using 1v4 to affirm, no more affirming 24/7. However, I have been trying this new mini experiment since last night. I could never visualize to sleep or affirm to sleep; however, I discovered that if I think my affirmation slowly and align it with my breathing, I can fall asleep that way. This will just be a mini experiment. I will still be using both tapes, just because I think those extra affirmations are needed. I feel like these past few days I have been doing too much to save my feelings. I fell into the old habit of “if I affirm a lot, I will manifest quicker,” which never worked for me. I fell into the old habits of “needing to do more” instead of just trusting. Now I am reminding myself that I don’t need to do more, that this is a part of the bridge of events. There is nothing I need to fix, nothing I need to do, my desire is here.
Day 54, I had a dream last night where he confessed his feelings to me. I don’t remember exactly but it was like “I really like you, I can’t stop telling my friends about you” and other stuff. The affirmation I have been repeating to bed is “S/P asked me to be his girlfriend”
Day 73? Feb 19th, I haven't updated in a while; I sort of went on a spiral and could not, for the life of me, get out of it. However, on Feb 17th, I sent him a memory from 2 years ago, and we spent all of yesterday talking. We were on the phone for approximately 6 hours straight. He told me that he is feral for me; we talked a bit about our relationship, and he definitely loves me—I can just tell. I think we may actually be hanging out soon; it’s just scheduling with work and school. On to the manifestation stuff, I am still listening every night, but during these past few weeks, my confidence in it has dwindled. I am mostly relying on my mental diet now. I may just start affirming more so that I can really keep my mental diet up. I don't know; things are going really well between the two of us; I'm not worried.
Conclusions: I decided to "give up" on this challenge here. I learned a whole lot about manifesting; however, I do not think this is beneficial for me anymore. Remember when I said I couldn’t ever get past 3 weeks? Well, I definitely made it past 3 weeks now. I am starting a new challenge to finish things off. I learned discipline like crazy, which was something I could never do. I saw physical proof of manifestation multiple times over 75 days. I understand the importance of a mental diet so much more now. Trust me; I am not giving up, and I am providing this resource to people so they can understand that the process is sometimes not a straight line, and these experiences are crazy normal, especially if you’re new to manifesting. One last thing: some people can say it is sad I didn’t get him in 90 days; however, I broke through so many limiting beliefs. I completely changed him as a person, and this is the most success I've had with him in 2 whole years. So I am pretty happy for myself.
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snowysobsessions · 3 months
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"Do I Have A Crush?" Quizzes as an Aromantic
In a previous post I had mentioned that I love taking "do I have a crush?" quizzes as an Aromantic. What I didn't share in that post was all of my findings from taking basically every quiz on that topic I could find. This is gonna be a bit of a long one, but I hope it will be an enlightening one!
Being an aro and taking these quizzes is pretty interesting. Because I do get plushes, which for me share some qualities with crushes, but are a completely different experience as a whole. For lack of a better equivalent, I have used my plushes while taking these quizzes. This will become relevant later on.
Anyway, here are my findings:
1. The target demographic for these quizzes is teenage girls. Well, the majority of online quizzes are intended for teenage girls. But these ones are especially designed for teenage girls. It's often painfully obvious by the way they are written, the answers available, and the scenarios provided. About crushes specifically though, this makes sense. Most people have their first crush during their teenage years. So the next logical step is to be curious about these new feelings and take an online quiz to figure out what's going on. Why only girls, though? Hard to say. It could be because they assume boys generally feel more confident in their romantic interest and thus would have no need for such a thing. Worth noting it was very hard to find a TRULY gender inclusive quiz. There's tons of wlm and wlw, but almost nothing for mlw or mlm. And if you're nonbinary or your crush is nonbinary, good fucking luck. The vast majority of them rely on some sort of gender stereotype. So many of these are clearly written from the perspective that you are a cishet woman interested in a cishet man. In multiple quizzes I have actually found typos where instead of using they/them, they accidentally use he/him in one question, almost like it had been up for a few years, then someone edited it later and missed one. A freudian slip if I ever saw one.
2. Practically all of them assume you are currently attending high school I understand that this is the time when most people get their first crush... but there are people who only crush on celebrities and fictional characters until they are an adult. This is not an extremely uncommon occurrence. So as you can imagine, there are a lot of questions that ask about how you interact with this person at school. Usually the addition of "or at work" feels like an afterthought. Some quizzes I've come across don't even consider that an adult might be taking the quiz. Like the question just openly states that you are at school.
3. They frequently assume that your crush is NOT someone in your friend group. This is probably the most interesting one to me personally. Because I myself cannot get a plush on someone until I've known them as a friend for at least three months. And I know plenty of non-aro people that need to get to know someone as a friend before developing romantic feelings. It's just... such an oddly specific assumption, y'know? They don't even consider that maybe this person is already in your friend group (unless you are talking specifically "do I have a crush on my best friend" quizzes). They just doesn't consider that the way you feel about someone can change over time. It's love at first sight or you will never feel that way about that person, I guess. (I think this is more teenager shenanigans. Because "am I about to enter a relationship with an abusive guy" doesn't appear to be the concern. Just that both or either friend group might not approve...?)
4. They generally assume your crush is a stranger or someone you do not know very well. Related to the previous one, this one is kind of weird to me. I understand the concept of love at first sight, but these are "do I have a crush" quizzes, not "is this love at first sight" quizzes. Almost every quiz I took had a least one question that assumed you had fallen in love with someone you have never spoken to. And often for answers on other questions instead of including an "I'm on the fence for how I feel about this person" option in the answers, which would be pretty logical to include, they have an option that says "N/A because I don't actually know them." However, the "do I have a crush on my best friend" quizzes are an exception to this. Instead they often assume you are spending every single free moment of time you have with this person.
5. If you have a crush on your best friend, you have either terribly misinterpreted you feelings and theirs, or they will never feel the same way about you. Um, yeah... I guess some people just can't tell the difference between romantic attraction and just being really good friends. But an important note: I think in some cases there's definitely outside pressure saying that two people "should" be in a romantic relationship simply because they are close platonically. Making those people question how they feel. Hence the existence of these quizzes. I can definitely feel that pressure while taking them.
6. They assume that your friends are all a certain type of person and your relationship with them is very specific. So here's the common assumptions I found across most quizzes:
Your friends are the type of people that are very invested in the love lives of everyone in that friend group. (And also outside of your friend group...)
Your friends are the type of people that will tease you about your romantic interests instead of being supportive.
You talk frequently about your love interests, love life, or lack there of with your friends. (Before you say "What? Everyone does that!" Not everyone does that.)
You are the only person questioning your feelings, everyone else is certain you have a crush.
Thankfully a teenage friend has informed me that this is 100% a teenager behaviour that happens all the time. Although I have seen cases where women under the age of 25 can also do this. I would go into detail about each of those but I think how these are not good assumptions to make is pretty self explanatory. You don't know me, you don't know what my friends are like, stop saying your experiences are universal. I will say blindly trusting the quiz taker's friends is not as reliable of a choice as it sounds. Sometimes people will just call any fond feelings for someone, platonic or not, a crush. And they sometimes will insist that person has a crush even if they say that they do not have a crush and simply want to be friends. And after awhile it can get to your head and feel like the only opinion that matters.
7. They assume this person is someone who you know/you regularly see in real life. In every quiz I took they asked at least one question that I could not answer because the plush I was using for all of these is someone I only know online. Specifically, it was some variant of "how often do you stare at them?" I understand this is a defining part of having a crush for most people, but I was rarely even given the option to say that this person and I are not regularly in the same room. Okay, let's say a teen girl gets a crush on a boy on from another school during like a sports game. She cannot answer this particular question truthfully either because imagining how often you'd stare at someone you met once if you were regularly in the same room with accuracy is not easy.
8. They assume you have the biggest crush, as anything less could lead to negative results from the quiz. Because I do not experience the same feelings, sometimes answering these questions truthfully is very difficult because my options are usually like this:
Q. If your crush asked you to hang out, how would you react?
OMG YES YES YES!!!
Well, we hang out all the time (as friends) so this is just a normal Tuesday for us.
I haven't even introduced myself to this person so they literally cannot ask me to hang out.
I'd make an excuse to not go.
And none of this is even close to how I feel about my plush. Or even about my friends. I cannot answer this question with 100% honesty. Legitimately, I've felt like I've gotten "you don't have a crush" results for the simple reason that I am not head over heals for my plush. Often it was either "every thought in my mind is of them" or "they're alright, I guess." But you can see how only the first option, with the most intense feelings, suggests that you have a crush. The other three options are either completely neutral feelings or suggest dislike. And since that's what people are taking this quiz to figure out, almost everyone is going to pick the first option. It might as well be just "would you hang out with your crush if they asked you, yes or no?"
So these quizzes are built on the assumption that you do, in fact, have a crush. You just want those feelings validated.
"Okay that's great Snowy, but what results did you get from these quizzes as an aromantic?"
Well, I didn't write down exact numbers since there were so many quizzes I took over about an eight month period. Some of them I took multiple times months apart and got different results. But I'd say about 60% said I had a crush, or was likely to have a crush. And 40% said I did not, or it wasn't likely to be a crush.
The funny part?
When I took some of those I didn't have a plush on anyone at the time. I was just using how I felt platonically about a close friend as the "crush." And while this did sway the results, it was not by much. Turning it more into a 50/50 chance.
No plush, no sexual attraction, they are JUST my friend. And yet, the results screen tells me I am deeply in love with them about half of the time.
When I said they assume you do have a crush, I really meant it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, I have actually made my own "do I have a crush" quiz that hopefully avoids doing everything I just talked about. No assumptions about the person you may have feelings for, no assumptions about your friends, no assumptions about you, who you are, or why you are taking it in the first place.
It's password locked since I'd like to get results strictly from people who find this post on Tumblr (for now). So type in this word when prompted:
conformity
Thank you for reading all the way to the end. I spent a long time with all the research and writing so it means a lot to me. 💖
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bropunzeling · 3 months
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Since you say you love to chatter, I hope you don't mind being asked a few questions :)
what's a scene/detail/piece of dialogue etc that you really wanted to include in [fic of your choice], but you couldn't find room for? here's your chance!
if you had to write an epilogue (or sequel!) to any of your fics (that you are NOT currently planning on writing an epilogue for), which would it be and what would happen?
for the ships you're currently writing about (and have written for in general), is there usually one character you like more than the other? (will you tell us who? has it ever changed?)
what's a ship/fic idea you want to read about but don't want to write yourself? maybe somebody will be inspired!
share anything you'd like about a wip!
aw thank you anon! especially for the opportunity to procrastinate on working on my current wip :) answers under the cut:
some dialogue that i ultimately cut from the spain scene in marriage bets where they were having tapas (originally there was going to be ALL this flirting over the tapas and then it went on too long so i got straight to the questions):
"You're not going to eat that?" "Hey, I tried it." "You're so American." "It's the texture--" "Such a wimp." "I'm sure plenty of people aren't into eating octopus." "Uh-huh."
if i had to write an epilogue or sequel:
oh gosh. i think a lot about the one where marriage bets matthew and leon get married for real for real, with suits and their families present and everything. it WOULD involve matthew finally telling brady that he was not, in fact, the first tkachuk to get married. the other one i think about is, of course, rat baby in a cup. she reigns eternal.
is there a character in a ship that i like more than the other?
i think it's hard for me to enjoy a ship where i don't actually like one side of it! that said, there are definitely characters where i find it much easier to get into their headspace than others. i've probably said this before, but leon is such a straight line thinker and so easy for me to get that for a long time it was hard for me to try and write anything from matthew pov because his is a little more twisty-turny. they're both equally complex! but it requires different skills to get the effect i want, which is normally the pov character not having a clue what the other one is thinking. it's a lot easier to have leon misreading matthew than the other way around. except now of course i've written a lot from matthew pov so finding my way back to leon pov has been a challenge.
a ship/fic i want to read but don't want to write:
god what DON'T i want to read. lmao. i would love for someone to write a good achy jamie/trevor post-trade fic. i would love for someone to write a long slow friends-to-lovers matthew/sasha fic! i would REALLY love a brady/quinn future fic. especially if it features divorced brady. i feel like future fic especially is a trope/concept that i just feel less comfortable writing so whenever someone else writes it i eat it up with a spoon :)
share anything you like about a wip:
well the wip is going SO SLOW and is VERY HARD for me because im challenging myself by writing a slow burn and cant rely on sex scenes to do the chemistry work for me this time rip rip. but here is a wee snippet:
“Draisaitl. Tkachuk,” Coach says, gesturing at the starting line.
Leon gets ready, bracing his stick over his thighs. He’s already raced Jordan and Gourde—beat Jordan, beat Gourde—but he hasn’t had to go against Tkachuk yet. Hasn’t had to do much of anything with Tkachuk yet. Yesterday they were at the other end of the line from each other, or opposite sides of the rink. It had lulled Leon into a false sense of security.
Now, though, Tkachuk is watching him with that way that he has, like—
One time, while making kebabs, Leon got a splinter from the bamboo skewer under his nail. It hurt like a bitch, had him cursing for five minutes until Jenna told him to stop squirming and tweezed it out. The splinter had been miniscule, almost impossible to see, and Leon had wondered how something so tiny could be so aggravating and painful, would make him do anything just to get it to stop.
That’s how it feels when Tkachuk looks at him. How it’s always felt. Like his gaze is digging in under Leon’s skin, until Leon’s entire body is red and inflamed. It makes Leon want to scratch at his shoulders, his chest, until he can finally tear Tkachuk out.
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