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ialwaysknewyouwerepunk · 10 months

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i've been turning more and more inward about how i'm enjoying harry and how i'm processing the end of tour, but it feels good, for now at least. i celebrated seeing him live so thoroughly that my last time seeing him felt like the end of tour in some way. i don't want to feel like i'm missing out when i'm out with friends, like i will be during his last show, bc in a world without streams i also wouldn't see that show. i've basically been training myself to slow down and appreciate (old) content more, and bask in a show and its content for longer. or be at peace not seeing content from a particular show. bc sometimes i feel nervous about missing something, or i feel myself having fomo for a thing i could not possibly be at. and most especially, i am not missing out, bc i had so many glorious opportunities to see the tour. i'm literally having a diary moment here just analysing my behavior and my feelings about being on tumblr and in the fandom during tour bc it's been a lot but i've loved all of it. i'm so fucking happy (and relieved) i can find ways to enjoy it all in my own pace. this space has changed a lot in the last few years but the way their content hits me personally hasn't changed, unless i let it all overwhelm me and i lose sight of what really matters to me about following them. i think it'll feel great to have a break from harry on tour, and let all of it hit me. to revisit little things that happened. to go through my own photos and videos. to go back to his mvs and dive a little deeper into them, at last. maybe i'm just a little overstimulated and ready for harry to stop bombarding me with content fshdf but the way his music makes me feel and the way his goofy face makes me smile and the way his creativity and presence inspire me every day will clearly always remain, after staying strong through all of this, after all these years. thank you, dear diary, for listening. harry styles forever

#my posts #i feel relieved after typing all of that #things that have been swirling around in my mind #weighing on my chest #nagging at the back of my head #can't wait to see what's to come #and in the meantime i'll just be doing same old same old #stepping out of the stream is the best thing i've ever done #or am actively practicing to do #stream or yk the wild river that is this fandom #and i'll literally be on a trip i've been looking forward to forever with one of my best friends #having the time of our lives #so i will Not have fucking fomo !!!!!!!#sometimes i can just forget that #get swept up again in the rush #in the need to be on the pulse #but no. i don't even like to be #so yeah #now i should go to bed actually

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crescentfool · 1 year

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happy cryptid splatfest everyone! a little contribution to team aliens based on this song! 🛸

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #splatfest #team aliens #splatoon oc #minatoast #<- begrudingly adding his name tag as he laughs at me for not being able to figure out what the fuck his actual name is. its been 4 months #lizzy does art #gif #THIS WAS SOMETHING TO WORK ON ALRIGHT. there were a lot of moving parts for this and even though its relatively simple there was a lot of-#layers to keep track of!!! but i had a lot of fun working on something animated cos its been awhile!!#i just want to have more art of my squid kid out there... he is the Best and I Love Him and Will Give Him My Everything #making the clap gif was so funny. i was like. yeah i'll do this in davinci resolve except i didnt know how to use it bc i have only edited-#one whole thing in that bc i mostly have experience in AE. but then it was too much work so i just made it in csp KGLDHLDHFFD #ANYWAYS I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GOOD SPLATFEST. can't wait to have a losing streak and shit myself when i see comp players in the wild #will go back 2 ur regularly scheduled nonsense soon... i just had 2 get this out of my system. splatoon refuses 2 leave my brain :D #EDIT: ALSO I WANT 2 ADD THAT I FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS SONG LIKE. 6 years ago thru kradness. loved his covers back in the day

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queen-susans-revenge · 3 months

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Ever since finishing Journey I've been restless, without a creative focus, and without even many mundane demands since my kids are all in school now.

It's a real trip, by the way, going from a decade-plus spent as a 24/7 on call caregiver with barely the time to form a full coherent thought, to... a pampered housewife with few demands on her time.

I keep asking Sam if I should get a real job. Our "deal" -- which was only ever the deal that I proposed, and clung to, throughout those hard years when even being by myself in the shower felt like a snatched luxury...the deal was, that after the crunch was over, I'd get two years to write and market a novel.

Well. Journey took five years to write, and hasn't been sold yet. But it's still useful for me to be home and flexibly "on call" for childcare in case of illness or Sam having an out-of-town conference or whatever, and also I do still cook every night. I'm not entirely useless. Just...mostly.

One day not so long ago Sam came into the bathroom in the middle of the day, when I was having a luxurious candlelit bubble bath soak. "Should I...get a job?" I asked weakly.

"Nah," he said. "You're fine. You do plenty."

But I objectively do...not that much. I have SO MUCH time in the day now, I have hella time, and I'm not even writing. Journey is in the slush pile with Baen and I don't have a current project. I'm getting itchy and restless with it. It's like I'm retired at 47.

I don't have a conclusion for this. It's just where I am. It's not a bad place by any measure; no, I'm incredibly lucky. I've always been so fucking lucky.

#I don't even think it was ever my luck #I think it was Sol's #so I should not count on it going forward but I'm so glad he has it because he really needs it #and the thought that I'll be here for him so long as he needs me is very comforting so I'll continue to believe it #I know that I'm smart and I know that I'm a good writer but also I know that mostly I'm lucky #even back in college my bff called me a wild irish child with the luck of the fairies #it's obvious to anyone around me that I have poor judgment and worse impulse control and all the luck under heaven #I don't even believe in astrology or w/e but that one time I was in Seoul and a friend of my dad's paid for a star chart analysis #they were like 'well she's doing her best to kill herself but she won't succeed because the universe won't let her'#and I have to admit that has in fact been my experience #anyway yeah Sol is my fairy gift (conceived on Midsummer's Eve in a fertility ritual that was MEANT TO BE FOR MY GARDEN)#spill your seed on the fertile earth I said to Sam #no we won't use any other contraception bad for the magic I said #I don't think you get to call a child a surprise that's conceived in a midsummer fertility ritual in your backyard #but I MEANT IT FOR MY GARDEN #to be fair the tomatoes were great that year #and now I have a Strange son and I believe the luck was always for him

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rahorak · 2 months

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Whatever had lead them to this point, Leona no longer remembered. All she knew was the sharp sound of steel upon steel, colliding in countless strikes, and the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Coming here, she had made peace with the fact that only one of them would walk back out ━ and the metallic taste in her mouth spoke to the likely outcome of the evening. Still, she would fight to the last.

Diana was a formidable foe, and she deserved nothing less.

The first arrow shot past her faster than she could catch on to what it was. Only once a couple more shone gold in the sunset rays did she realize what was happening ; anger quickly boiling within her chest. A few of her Ra’horak warriors still took it upon themselves to hunt Lunari, despite Leona's orders to refrain. From behind her back she heard a muted ❝ Volley! ❞

She didn't need any further warning, charging towards Diana once more but this time with her shield pushing forward instead of her sword. She made no impact upon the other Aspect either, instead raising her shield above both of their heads as the archers let fly their arrows, seemingly uncaring about whether she'd be met with a blade to the gut or not.

❝ Get down, ❞ she urged the other woman, before gritting her teeth in a pained expression as an arrow pieced her leg, and another pair her back. More blood soon welled up behind her teeth, as she stood leaned over Diana protectively, shield held high as if that was her only priority right then. Maybe it was.

The edges of her eyes softened just a tad, brows furrowing as she finally met her former friend's eyes. ❝ Diana . . . ❞

➤ ㅤ@lun4ri

#❛ ✧. ic: general ⊱ hold the last burning ember‚ let us never surrender.#❛ ✧. verse: main ⊱ let the storm rage‚ baptize me in a river of fire.#❛ ✧. lun4ri: diana ⊱ i’ve sailed all the ocean‚ to find a love like yours.#lun4ri #33. No Pain That I Won't Go Through #ok so a few things. 1.) PLEASE do not feel like u have to match length - i wanted to set the scene and got carried away.#i promise i'll be okay with any length that u find comfy!! :>#2.) i hope this is okay for a thread. i'm a lil unsure but i got hit with the idea and yeah!! lmk if i need to change it #3.) i left it up to u to decide if diana took any damage and how much from arrows and whatnot!! go wild my pal #i'm rusty as all hell with leona so i'm sorry if it's not the best qq #but yeah have the girlies fighting. about what? clearly who ate the last cookie.#MWAH!!

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yu3s · 2 months

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** i think reading dungeon meshi and frieren and witch hat atelier at the same time does something irreversibleto you... .

#yu.txt #relistening to the wizard the witch and the wild one too so whatever happens to me after this will unthread/resew the fabric of my existenc #do you see it? do you see the vision? im pacing around the house humming “your eyes are the size of the moon” from a song i used to hear #on the radio as a kid and i'll look up the lyrics later but i finally get itnow. i get why people were making posts about senshi and cookin #and nourishing yourself!! eat a balanced diet rethink your lifestyle rhythms get proper exercise!! yes sir senshi dungeon meshi sir!!#my dnd group is going to get my best character yet im putting notes in the character sheet as speak for devouring and consuming and becomin #song was nine in the afternoon btw. i have to write i have to make a story i have to make the most diabolical au to ever exist i have to #i love you stories i love you stories i love you stories if stories were a food i could eat them forever and ever i would always be cooking #and baking and sharing and the table would be full and the meals would be filling and i would try so many things and find what i liked best #this post was brought to you by: the birds are chirping but its not tomorrow morning until i go to sleep. with a note from our sponser:#i don't have work tomorrow and nature is healing. i need to make a little wizard sketch bc dungeon meshi was so good and also i m going to #sleep and when i wake up im going to write something and it will be so fun i love you making stuff i love you stories i love you writing!!

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hyah-through-hyrule · 5 months

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My crops would be so watered if I could just love a main/popular character for once

#it's not like i do it on purpose #i don't make the conscious decision to look at some less popular blorbo and go oh yes this is the one #it just happens #my current blorbo is like one of the least popular ones and when he is depicted it's usually wildly out of character in an unfun way #and so i make a lot of content for him to the point he is the main character in my au #i by no means expect attention when i try to bring up my ideas everytime #but getting posted over constantly is really taking it's toll #I'll wait hours after the last message was sent and then bam someone is there to immediately post over me without comment #or when i go oh hey i did this thing today! and get ignored but when someone else says something similar they get all the praise #cause they write for only the best and important boy of course #and aus where Wild is the main focus are all of course superior to everything else so why the hell do i even try #sometimes i think i should just stop creating because what the hell is the point when people only want the special boy #and when i did show my au Wild i got told i needed to make him skinnier??? like okay.#im sorry that i dont make stuff of the favorite character and when i do he is not good enough in peoples eyes i guess #anyway this is an accumulation of just absolute garbo that i needed to yell into the void #maybe someday i will feel confident in what i create but gods certainly not now #this is so hard

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dimiclaudeblaigan · 9 months

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Okay I don't do this normally but out of curiosity, I looked at that guys' posts and yeah they're going around sealioning anyone who likes Dimitri being all like "how can you say Dimitri/AM is your favorite when you didn't play all the routes". Buddy it's called having preferences, subjectivity and opinion. I'm sure if we twist their behavior around back at them, they'll be like stop bothering us for liking Edel cause double standards is their bread and butter.

Yeah, I had taken a brief scroll through their blog the first time I saw them argue with Random about Claude because I had a pretty strong feeling that they were just another stan running around around against Rhea and Dimitri fans because I knew that person didn't follow Random when they started pulling the bad faith Claude takes.

I scrolled through a few posts before I was like yeah I'm not even gonna bother looking further because I could see all they were doing was arguing with people whose names I recognized, and the only people who ever do that are the stans. They also have absolutely nothing else but discourse on their blog.

It's crazy to me too, because I've seen those same Dimitri fans try to talk about anything else FE related and yet they still get pulled back into discourse. Like, I'm at the point where I believe everyone in that immediate group is just actively being stalked by the stans (and I recall one of them mentioning they are being stalked by them, but my guess is if one of them is, all of them are).

Also, the stans tend to pull the "you didn't play xyz route" when I'm quite certain most if not all of the Dimitri fans on Tumblr have at the very bare minimum watched the full route on YouTube of anything they didn't play. All these people have the information they need to know where they stand opinion-wise, and like you said, it's just... having an opinion. The stans have their opinions, we don't agree with them, and we don't engage with them unless they engage with us first.

Something I've noticed about the group of Dimitri fans that gets stans going after them is that it's always the stans who start it. They always respond to asks sent to those people. In other words they go onto those people's blogs, look at their posts/their replies to their anons, and start arguing at them over literally anything they say in thsoe ask responses.

Every single time I see a post reach my dashboard from any of those people (you might know the Faerghus/Dimitri group I'm talking about), it's always a stan going after them when they were just answering one of their own anons and posting something on their own blog. I'm sure there are people who think they engage in discourse too much, but they don't even start it. They get harassed and can't just blog in peace.

Unfortunately those same stans have been targeting Random as of late (and I've noticed it's more and more different ones so they're probably going after someone as soon as they notice their buddies are doing so) so it's not that surprising that they've taken notice of me since she and I interact regularly. They basically go through the chain of who interacts with who and try to start shit.

Oh nonnie honey, you better believe if even a single Dimitri fan did to them what they do to us, they'd be all over that and whining about it and posting callouts and shit.

I just want to be able to post whatever my feelings are about Dimitri without worrying that people will try to tear it down because "it's not about Edel-chan and it portrays Dimitri in a good light".

I've blocked every Edelstan I've come across but more of them keep popping up, so... I guess the blocking never ends. My block list is basically just Edelstans and bots at this point with few exceptions.

Funny how the stans don't block Dimitri fans who hate Edelgard to avoid seeing them (it's because they don't actually want to, because they want to argue), even though we're all over here trying to block them, but some of them block evade to keep going. Literally like Dimitri fans have tried to block them and move on, but they persistently find ways to keep harassing. And like I said, they go down the line, so eventually they'll just find every active Dimitri lover who posts about him and whine at them.

#DCB Ask #it's fucking wild to me how many times the same people have tried to block and move on and avoid these people #and how many times they've tried to talk about anything else or whatever they want in their own space #but the stans keep coming back and bothering them #there are even people whose favorite isn't Dimitri but they've ended up hating Edelgard because of the stans #and are wary of discourse bc of them. and like... their favorites aren't part of the general discourse much if at all #but they still hate Edelgard bc they just don't like HER but her stans made them despise the sight of her #it's tiring stressful and pathetic tbh. maybe I'll just like. write an analysis about a character I love #from another game so I can write about something fun and that I love and try to help #convince people in a happy positive way that he's GooD. bc like if you want someone to like your faves #the best way to change their mind is to have fun and talk in detail without discourse about them #if you're talking about them in a good way and explaining the depths of the character #and people can tell you're passionate about the character then they're way more likely to walk in open minded #than if you come at them insulting them and bitching at them for who they DO like or for not liking your fave #when ppl get interested in Dimitri and want to hear from me why I like him and stuff #I tell them all the great things about him that I love and gush about him. I don't start going #AND EDELGARD -INSERT EVERYTHING I HATE ABOUT HER- AND THAT'S WHY I LOVE DIMITRI #and I don't include why I hate Edelgard when ppl ask why I love Dimitri. I tell them why I love Dimitri and am happy to talk abt it #I LOVE getting ppl to enjoy my faves and sometimes it works! and that's bc they enjoy the vibe they get #when I'm talking abt my faves. they like seeing the passion and interest and positivity #I do this with my faves in another franchise all the time with an entire group of side characters who are sides but #also very plot important and it always makes people see them in a different light and appreciate them more

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skelenby · 2 years

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HELLO HI I REALLY LIKE YOUR ART STYLE A FRIEND OF MINE DID AN ART TRADE WITH YOU ONCE AND THEN THEY SHOWED ME THE ART AND I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD HAVE PERMISSION TO USE YOUR ART STYLE AS A BASE TO START DRAWING AND TO LEARN HOW TO DRAW MY OWN CHARACTERS!!!

yknow what? FUCK YEAH!!! steal my style!! adapt if as your own!!! improvise adapt overcome!! you'll beat me in no time GO FOR IT!!!! have fun!! fuck around and find out!!! ✨💖✨💖✨

#tysm for asking thats so polite and nice!;;#its such an honor to be an inspiration to u go wild! feel free to ask for any tips i'll do my best to answer!#ask

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loumauve · 2 years

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a very short list of things I'm gonna miss about work:

that's it. the climbing (that was against safety protocols but we didn't have a ladder and the tree was growing crooked af and I felt bad for it)

#look. I turned my favourite hobby - climbing - into part of what I did at work #was it ill-advised? yup. did I always tell the trainees not to do this? yup. was I still being a bad example for them? probably yeah #but hell if it didn't keep me sane to just sink my teeth into a problem (crookedly grown branches) and find a way to fix it (climbing..)#(..and sawing off branches with my tiny folding hand saw)#I'm gonna miss this if I actually really do go into IT but maybe I'll find something to love about that too #not like gardening was my dream job or anything. I just did it because it worked out that way #so I'm sure I can make something else work too #but yeah.. I'm gonna miss the winters at work more than anything. best season for gardening imo #all the trimming of branches and trees and whatnot that you're not allowed to do spring through autumn bc animal protection #a wild lou appears

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kaijutegu · 4 months

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Alligator Body Language and You, or: How To Know When An Alligator On Social Media is Being Stressed for Views

Alligators are wild animals. Despite the idiotic claims of animal abusers like Jay Brewer, they cannot be domesticated, which means they are always going to react on the same natural instincts they've had for millions of years. Habituated, yes. Tamed, yes. Trained, definitely. Crocodilians can form bonds with people- they're social and quite intelligent. They can solve problems, use tools, and they're actually quite playful. Alligators are also really good at communicating how they're feeling, but to somebody who doesn't spend much time around them, their body language can be a bit mystifying. And it doesn't help when social media influencers are saying shit like this:

That is not what a happy gator looks like.

That's a terrified, furious gator who isn't attacking because the ogre handling her has her in a chokehold. She's doing everything she can to express her displeasure, and he's lying about it because he knows his audience doesn't even know how to think critically about what he's doing. He knows that because his audience doesn't know anything about these animals, he can get away with it. This I think is why I hate him so much- he deliberately miseducates his audience. He knows what he's doing is factually inaccurate, he just doesn't care because attention means more to him than anything else in the world.

Let's change that! Here are two really important lessons for understanding alligator body language on social media.

Lesson 1: Alligators Don't Smile (in fact, most animals don't)

So what's going on in this video? Jay Brewer is aggressively choking his white alligator Coconut while scrubbing algae off of her with a toothbrush. And make no mistake, he is digging into the creature's throat while she is visibly distressed. He claims she's happy- but she's not. He is willfully misrepresenting what this animal is feeling. That's a problem, because people... well, we actually kind of suck at reading other species' body language. The reason for this is that we tend to overlay our own responses on their physical cues, and that's a problem. For example, let's look at an animal with a really similar face to ours, the chimpanzee. Check out Ama's toothy grin!

Wait, no. That's not a happy smile. That's a threat display. When a chimpanzee "smiles," it's either terrified and doing a fear grimace, or it's showing you its teeth because it intends on using them in your face.

How about a dog? Look at my smiling, happy puppy!

Oh wait no, this is a picture of Ryder when he was super overwhelmed by noise and people during a holiday party. He'd hopped up in my sister's lap to get away from stuff that was happening on the floor and was panting quite heavily. See the tension in the corners of his mouth and his eyes? A lot of the time when a dog "smiles," the smile isn't happy. It's stress! Why Animals Do The Thing has a nice writeup about that, but the point is, our body language is not the same as other species. And for reptiles, body language is wildly different.

For instance, look at these two alligators. Pretty cute, right? Look at 'em, they're posing for a Christmas card or something! How do you think they're feeling?

Well, I'll tell you how the normal one is feeling. He's annoyed! Why is he annoyed? Because the albino just rolled up, pushed another gator off the platform, and is trying to push this guy, too. I know this because I actually saw it happen. It was pretty funny, not gonna lie. He's not gaping all the way, but he was hissing- you can actually see him getting annoyed in the sequence I took right before this shot. Look at him in this first shot here- he's just relaxing, and you can see he isn't gaping even a little bit.

By the end, he's expressing displeasure, but not enough to actually do anything about it. He's annoyed, but he's comfy and that's where one of the best basking areas is, so he'll put up with it.

Reptiles open their mouths wide for a lot of reasons, but never because they are actively enjoying a sensation. Unless they're eating. No reptile smiles- they can't. They don't even have moveable lips. If a reptile is gaping, it's doing so because:

It is doing a threat display.

It is making certain vocalizations, all of which are threats. Alligators are one of the rare reptiles that do regularly vocalize, but most of their calls aren't made with a wide open mouth.

It is about to bite something delicious or somebody stupid. Check out this video- virtually all of the gaping here is anticipatory because these trained gators know darn well that the bowl is full of delicious snacks. (I have some issues with Florida's Wildest, but the man knows how to train a gator AND he is honest about explaining what they're doing and why, and all of his animals are healthy and well-cared for, and he doesn't put the public or his staff at risk- just himself.)

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It's too hot and it has opened its mouth to vent some of that heat and thermoregulate. This is the main reason why alligators will often have their mouths part of the way open, but sometimes they'll open all the way for thermoregulation. This is what a thermoregulatory gape looks like- usually it's not all the way open, kinda more like < rather than V, but you can't say that 100% of the time. Additionally, a thermoregulatory gape... typically happens when it's hot out. If they're inside, maybe they've been under their basking light for too long. Heat's the dominant factor, is what I'm getting at.

There is another reason that a captive crocodilian might be gaping, and that's because it's doing so on command. Some places have their gators trained to gape on cue, like St. Augustine Alligator Farm and other good zoos. They have the animals do this in presentations that are genuinely educational. They ask the animals to open their mouths so that they can show off their teeth and demonstrate how their tongues seal off the back of their mouth. They'll also do it as part of routine healthcare, because looking at their teeth is important.

In this case, the animals aren't gaping because they're stressed, they're gaping because they know they're gonna get a piece of chicken or fish if they do it. And what's more, they're doing it on cue. They have a specific command or signal that tells them to open wide. It's not an instinctive response to a situation. It's trained. If the animal provides the behavior after a cue, the situation is much less likely to be negatively impactful.

It's also important to remember that there's a difference between a partially open mouth and a gape! As discussed above, alligators will often have their mouths a little bit open just to maintain temperature homeostasis. It helps them stay comfy, temperature-wise. These guys are all doing thermoregulatory open-mouthed behavior- that slight open and relaxed body posture is a dead giveaway. (That and it's the hottest spot in the enclosure.)

Lesson 2: A Happy Gator Is A Chill Gator

So if alligators don't smile or have facial expressions other than the :V that typically signifies distress, how else can you tell how they're feeling? One way is stillness. See, alligators subscribe to the philosophy of if it sucks... hit da bricks.

Basically, if they hate it, they'll leave. Unless, y'know, somebody has their meaty claws digging into their throat or is otherwise restraining them. (Restraint isn't always bad, btw. Sometimes the animal is going through a medical thing or needs to be restrained for their safety- which a responsible educator will explain.)

Let's look at a very similar scenario, in which a captive alligator is getting his back scrubbed.

As you can see, it's quite different. First, he's not being restrained at all. Second, look at how relaxed he is! He's just chilling there vibing! He could simply get up and leave if he wanted to, because he's not being held. Towards the end of the video, as he lifts his head, you can see that his respiratory rate is very even as his throat flutters a bit. I'm not sure what this facility is, so I can't comment on care/general ethics, but like. In this specific case, this is an alligator enjoying being scrubbed! And you can tell because he's not doing anything. A happy gator is content to be doing what they're doing.

Why Should I Listen To You?

Now, you should ask yourself, why should you listen to me? Why should you trust me, who does not own an alligator, versus Jay Brewer, who owns several?

Well, first off, there's no profit for me in telling you that what you're seeing on social media is in fact not what you're being told you're seeing. I'm not getting paid to do this. That's the thing with people who make social media content. The big names aren't doing it just for fun. They're doing it for money. Whether that's profit through partnerships or sponsorships, or getting more people to visit their facilities, or ad revenue, you can't ignore the factor of money. And this is NOT a bad thing, because it allows educators to do what they're passionate about! People deserve to be paid for the work that they do!

But the problem starts when you chase the algorithm instead of actually educating. A "smiling" alligator gets the views, and if people don't know enough to know better, it keeps getting the views. People love unconventional animal stories and they want those animals to be happy- but the inability to even know where to start with critically evaluating these posts really hinders the ability to spread real information. Like, this post will probably get a couple hundred notes, but that video of Coconut being scrubbed had almost 400,000 likes when I took that screenshot. Think about how many eyeballs that's reached by now. What I'm saying here is that it's just... really important to think critically about who you're getting your information from. What do dissenters say in the comments? What do other professionals say? You won't find a single herpetologist that has anything good to say about Prehistoric Pets, I can tell you that right now.

Another reason you can trust me is that my sources are not "just trust me bro," or "years of experience pretending my pet shop where animals come to die is a real zoo." Instead, here are my primary sources for my information on alligator behavior:

Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations- Vladimir Dinets

The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles- J. Sean Doody, Vladimir Dinets, Gordon M. Burghardt

Social Behavior Deficiencies in Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Z Walsh, H Olson, M Clendening, A Rycyk

Social Displays of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)- Kent Vliet

Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles- Leslie Garrick, Jeffery Lang

Never smile at a crocodile: Gaping behaviour in the Nile crocodile at Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa- Cormac Price, Mohamed Ezat, Céline Hanzen, Colleen Downs (this one's Nile crocs, not American alligators, but it's really useful for modeling an understanding of gape behaviors and proximity)

Thermoregulatory Behavior of Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Cheryl S. Asa, Gary D. London, Ronald R. Goellner, Norman Haskell, Glenn Roberts, Crispen Wilson

Unprovoked Mouth Gaping Behavior in Extant Crocodylia- Noah J. Carl, Heather A. Stewart, Jenny S. Paul

Thank you for reading! Here's a very happy wild alligator from Sanibel for your trouble.

#reptiblr #alligator #crocodile #Youtube

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porcupine-girl · 6 months

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An important message to college students: Why you shouldn't use ChatGPT or other "AI" to write papers.

Here's the thing: Unlike plagiarism, where I can always find the exact source a student used, it's difficult to impossible to prove that a student used ChatGPT to write their paper. Which means I have to grade it as though the student wrote it.

So if your professor can't prove it, why shouldn't you use it?

Well, first off, it doesn't write good papers. Grading them as if the student did write it themself, so far I've given GPT-enhanced papers two Ds and an F.

If you're unlucky enough to get a professor like me, they've designed their assignments to be hard to plagiarize, which means they'll also be hard to get "AI" to write well. To get a good paper out of ChatGPT for my class, you'd have to write a prompt that's so long, with so many specifics, that you might as well just write the paper yourself.

ChatGPT absolutely loves to make broad, vague statements about, for example, what topics a book covers. Sadly for my students, I ask for specific examples from the book, and it's not so good at that. Nor is it good at explaining exactly why that example is connected to a concept from class. To get a good paper out of it, you'd have to have already identified the concepts you want to discuss and the relevant examples, and quite honestly if you can do that it'll be easier to write your own paper than to coax ChatGPT to write a decent paper.

The second reason you shouldn't do it?

IT WILL PUT YOUR PROFESSOR IN A REALLY FUCKING BAD MOOD. WHEN I'M IN A BAD MOOD I AM NOT GOING TO BE GENEROUS WITH MY GRADING.

I can't prove it's written by ChatGPT, but I can tell. It does not write like a college freshman. It writes like a professional copywriter churning out articles for a content farm. And much like a large language model, the more papers written by it I see, the better I get at identifying it, because it turns out there are certain phrases it really, really likes using.

Once I think you're using ChatGPT I will be extremely annoyed while I grade your paper. I will grade it as if you wrote it, but I will not grade it generously. I will not give you the benefit of the doubt if I'm not sure whether you understood a concept or not. I will not squint and try to understand how you thought two things are connected that I do not think are connected.

Moreover, I will continue to not feel generous when calculating your final grade for the class. Usually, if someone has been coming to class regularly all semester, turned things in on time, etc, then I might be willing to give them a tiny bit of help - round a 79.3% up to a B-, say. If you get a 79.3%, you will get your C+ and you'd better be thankful for it, because if you try to complain or claim you weren't using AI, I'll be letting the college's academic disciplinary committee decide what grade you should get.

Eventually my school will probably write actual guidelines for me to follow when I suspect use of AI, but for now, it's the wild west and it is in your best interest to avoid a showdown with me.

#academia #studyblr #college #finals #pg irl #ai shit #chatgpt #notes

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