Apologies for my recent radio silence. I've had a lot on my mind lately.
This post isn't Earthspark-related at all, but please read it.
I need to take a second on this blog to acknowledge some things going on in the world. I should not have stayed silent on this blog before, but I'm trying to fix that now.
Genocide in Palestine + how you can help Palestinians
You can buy e-sims for people in Gaza here. Anything helps.
Click here daily to help generate funds for Palestine. It's free and takes less than a minute.
Here's a list of where you can donate to help Palestine.
(If there's anything I should add to this section, please let me know.)
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The KOSA bill, what it's going to do if passed, and how you can help prevent it from taking effect
KOSA will essentially erase anonymity from the internet by requiring people to upload their government ID or other form of identification to any social media site, as well as restricting resources and information on LGBT rights, history, racism, and more. This bill will censor the entire internet and destroy privacy while violating First Amendment rights and potentially putting minors in danger.
This also could very well mean the end of Tumblr, and I'm not exaggerating here.
Tomorrow KOSA could be passed in Senate, and from there it will need to pass in the House of Representatives before being signed into law by the president. It's not doomsday yet, but it is a dangerous situation-- and here's what you can do.
StopKOSA.org provides you with a template email to send to your representatives. You can leave it how it is or edit it to say what you want, and then send it from their website.
The website also allows you to call your representatives and gives you a template of what to say.
BadInternetBills.org, run by the same people, takes action against KOSA as well as other bills like EARN IT. At the time of posting this, over 356,000 people have signed this petition.
Additionally there are several petitions on change.org to help stop KOSA. Here are a few of them.
STOP KOSA
STOP THE KOSA
Stop Kosa
Save Humanity, Oppose KOSA
STOP THE KOSA ACT
(Again, please let me know if there's anything I should add.)
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One last thing-- The evolution of AI images and video.
I don't really have anything good to say. AI is evolving fast and changing the world as we know it. We are adapting, but nobody knows how this really is going to end up.
A few quick points:
AI images are not art. That's all. AI "artists" who genuinely claim to have made something of their own just by typing a prompt into a generator will be blocked. (Which has been in my rules for a while, but I still think it needs to be said.)
I recommend Glaze for artists who don't want their art being scraped and used for data training. Especially with the recent rumors of an upcoming deal between Tumblr and Midjourney. There's also a similar program called Nightshade (haha, earthspark reference? anyone?🦉) that I haven't tested myself but have heard good things about.
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That's all, I suppose. Reblogs are good, if you don't mind.
Spread the word about KOSA. Contact your representatives. Sign the petitions.
Support Palestine if possible. Donate if you can. If you are unable to donate, make sure to do your daily clicks.
Stay safe and take care of yourselves. ❤️
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I know the quest was very obviously implied romantic but I love the idea of trailblazer adopting Firefly as a little sister instead.
1. Very similar hair color- grey and light grey/white. Also have very similar color schemes minus firefly’s teal.
2. You cannot tell me chaotic raccoon trailblazer would not take one look at Firefly, immediately head pat, and immediately adopt. THEY HAVE THOSE ADOPTING VIBES. THEY CARE FOR BABY RACCOONS AND FIREFLY HAS NOW JOINED THAT.
3. It makes the story feel less rushed. Friend I only met a bit ago? Don’t care all that much. Love interest / crush? I guess they were cute, but we don’t really know each other. ADOPTED LITTLE SISTER??? That fits Stelle’s reaction so much more. Of course it still feels rushed but if it was just immediate little sister adoption than the immediate connection makes more sense- you have just taken this person in as your sister and then you failed to protect them. Trailblazer just added to their family and failed to protect them- something they clearly care about taking into consideration how many times they have thrown themselves into danger for someone else.
4. It would be cute. Enough said.
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Fumito Ueda was inspired by… Galaxy Express 999 (1979).
Ueda has cited the Galaxy Express 999 manga series as one of his influences. Watching the film they made in the middle of its run, I could see a lot of Ico and also some Shadow of the Colossus.
It made me think of Gulliver’s Travels, Alice in Wonderland and Firefly as we follow the boy, Tetsuro, visiting different planets.
On a planet called Titan, Tetsuro is given a gun by an old woman that turns out to be ‘the only cosmo gun capable of killing machine men’. Ueda's games feature special weapons that are uniquely effective against the antagonists.
Spoilers for the movie ahead!
It prefigures Ghost in the Shell.
There's a character called Tochiro who, moments before his death, gets Tetsuro to activate a machine that vaporizes his body and transfers his consciousness into the supercomputer of his best friend's ship, 'Arcadia'.
Maetel, one of two Yorda-like figures, explains to Tetsuro, "I am a copy of your mother in her youth. I am a shadow in the form of a human. When I grow old, I get a copy of a new body. That is how I survive through the ages and travel through time."
Both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus feature characters whose bodies are vessels for other consciousnesses (Yorda for The Queen and Wander for Dormin).
With the line ‘I had become a witch who controlled time’, it actually sounded more like a warning against plastic surgery.
The castle in the movie gets destroyed.
The other Yorda-like figure is Claire whose mother forced her to trade in her body for one made of glass. Her appearance is reminiscent of petrified Yorda and she has a power that makes her glow which she uses not to open Idol Gates but to save Tetsuro from Queen Promethium.
At the end, Maetel says to Tetsuro, ‘From now on, I will be a woman who lives on only in your memories. I will be nothing more than an illusion of your young boy’s heart, a phantom of your youth.’
The lyrics of 'You Were There' for me carry a similar feeling of nostalgia.
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The movie can be watched for free on YouTube.
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