#things i should have processed in 2016 but didn't etc

[qqueenofhades]

I understand how important it is to be able to criticize the President, and am not at all of the belief he should be beyond critique, but the critiquing of Biden makes me so nervous. (That's not to say I agree with every decision he's made - I absolutely do not). But I feel like people see things he's done wrong and decide they won't vote for him because of it. I'm not sure if enough people have the ability to see that he's done things wrong but also is our only hope of staving off literal fascism.

So many people talk about how sick they are of it constantly being a lesser of two evils situation, constantly having to vote for a candidate they hate because the other side is worse (I heard it in 2020, 2022, etc), and I guess I just- I don't really get it? We're here because they didn't do that in 2016. All of this could've been avoided had the result been different then. I just feel like people don't comprehend how different of a place we'd be in if Hillary won and engage in all this cognitive dissonance to make themselves feel better about being part of the reason she didn't.

Like.... this has been a long-running topic of discussion on my blog, not least because it is so inexplicable and maddening. It also shows how terribly shallow most people's understanding of the American political process is, and how toxic the "I can only vote for a candidate if every single personal belief/position of theirs matches mine" belief is, as well as how much damage it has done to American democracy even (and indeed, especially) by people who technically don't identify as right-wing. Yell at Republicans all you like (God knows I do, because they're the worst people on earth) but they vote. Every time. Every election. Every candidate. Whereas the Democratic electorate still holds out for Mister Perfect, and it very definitely is Mister Perfect. The amount of "evil HRC!!!" Republican-poisoned Kool-Aid that so-called progressives drank in 2016, and then afterward when they insisted they could have voted for someone like Elizabeth Warren and then didn't do that in 2020, is... baffing.

Frankly, I don't care if Hillary Clinton's personal positions on XYZ issue were the most Neoliberal Corporate Centrist Shill to Ever Shill (and Online Leftists' intellectual skills being what they are, I seriously doubt that they were using any of those words correctly and/or accurately). American policy is not made by "personal dictate of the ruler," or at least it shouldn't be, because we are not an absolute monarchy. We rely on the operation of a system with input from many people. As such, if Hillary had been elected, we would have 2-3 new liberal justices on SCOTUS and have secured civil and environmental rights for the next generation. Roe would be intact, and all the other terrible rulings that SCOTUS has recently handed down wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have had January 6th, the attempt to stage a coup, all the tawdry scandals, our national security being at risk because of Trump stealing classified documents and probably selling them to Russia and/or Saudi Arabia, etc etc. If you think that's in any way an equivalent amount of evil to what would have happened if Hillary was elected, or if she was "still evil!!!," then I honestly don't know what to tell you. She could fucking murder puppies in her spare time if she had preserved SCOTUS for us, WHICH SHE WOULD HAVE, BECAUSE SHE WARNED US EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

(Hoo. Sorry. Still steamed. 2016 war flashbacks, again.)

In short, Hillary would have been a solid continuity Democrat and she would have signed whatever legislation a Democratic House and Senate passed, not to mention been hugely inspiring as the first female president. But because it's so important to the Online Leftists' moral sense of themselves that BOTH PARTIES ARE THE SAME!!!, they can't possibly acknowledge that ever being a factor, and/or admit that they have any culpability in not voting for her in 2016. It's like when you read the British press about any of the UK's equally numerous problems, and they BEND OVER BACKWARD to avoid mentioning that Brexit might be a factor. They just can't mention it, because then that means they might have made the wrong choice in pulling for it as hard as they did, and blah blah Sovereignty.

Basically, if HRC had been elected president, everything would be so much less terrible and terrifying all the time, we would be talking about her successor in 2024 as someone else who could be the "first," we could explore handing the reins over to Kamala as a Black/Asian woman, we could promote Buttigieg as the first gay president, etc etc. But because 2016 was so catastrophically fucked up, we are in damage control mode for the immediate future and every election is just as pivotal. And yet, because people think that the only thing that matters is a presidential candidate's personal views, we're stuck having the same old arguments and desperately begging people over and over to please vote against fascism, since that somehow isn't self-evident enough on its own. Yikes on Bikes.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts #hillary clinton was right about everything: the redux redux redux

[miguel-manbemel]

I've been in the Thomas Sanders fandom for almost nine years now. That means I was there way before Sanders Sides, and that at this point I'll remain following him way after Sanders Sides is over. That doesn't make me better or worse than anyone else, but I think that that gives me a little bit of right to speak my opinion, and I'm gonna do it, because I've been holding it back for far too long when I've seen so much bullshit all around, especially on Tumblr, and I can't help it anymore. I need to speak and I'm gonna speak, no matter who likes what I say and no matter who's bothered by what I say.

Sanders Sides started in October 2016, but it didn't get truly big until 2017. And 2017 was "Fander year", it was the year Thomas was most prolific and released the highest amount of work: the bulk of season 1 and a big chunk of season 2 of Sanders Sides, and to that we have to add the first episode of Cartoon Therapy, the last few Vines before it was shut down and a production of shorts comparable of his big years on Vine, and to that we add the vlogs, the music, his big projects like Bizardvaark, etc. And back then at the beginning it was Thomas alone, Joan and Talyn joined around February, March, and it was only the three of them the rest of the year and part of 2018. They worked their asses off for these months, to the point that all the three of them with no exception ended up getting sick. Joan even had to go through hospital and Talyn was eventually forced to retire altogether because of the complications stress caused in his Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Not to mention that Thomas and the others spent literal sleepless nights editing Sanders Sides, the record being 36 consecutive hours of editing without sleep so that he could release a Sanders Sides episode faster (I think it was Why Do We Get Out of Bed in the Morning). I don't know if some people here know it, but Thomas has confessed to be a little bit workaholic, and we all know he's a perfectionist in his work, he will only release what he considers is the best for him when it's ready, nothing more nothing less.

There's people that, sure, have praised Thomas beyond what is considered healthy and that have been assholes with other people who had constructive criticisms (and not all criticism has been constructive), but certainly, specially on Tumblr, there's people who don't know the meaning of the word "fair judgment" and vent all their personal frustrations onto Thomas like he was responsible of all evils in the world. If excessive positivity is toxic, excessive negativity is toxic too, and also damaging, not to mention potencially a crime of libel if they go too far and start damaging his reputation and good name with lies. I'm still seeing people talking about the animator thing like they know first person what happened, saying happily that Thomas "didn't pay the animators", like it was something true and a fact. The animators did not even get to a unified unique conclusion about anything. Some of the animators got mad and left the fandom immediately, others stayed to literally bitch around and criticize (and some caused more harm in the process than anything they were accusing Thomas and team of doing)... while other animators remain in good terms with Thomas and still follow him with the same passion, and also there are animators that called out other animators for their toxicity while the work was in progress. It's time to set things clear: the animators were paid what they signed in their contracts, they said that and they recognized that without exception. It was their own responsibility to read such contracts and investigate the internet and what is considered a good amount of payment, they should have done that beforehand and not sign if they didn't agree, because once they signed, they're bound and they have no right to complain because they agreed to that salary and it looked okay for them before signing, otherwise they wouldn't have, that's something even some animators said. So please, stop using that to spread hatred on Thomas. Not even the whole bunch of the animators supports you on this, and clearly if you weren't there you have no word to say. Officially, a portion of the animators spoke to the team, and ammended things privately, that was what was published and that is where it should have ended five years ago. So the rest of the world should just shut up about it. This is not and should not be treated as a reality show because it has nothing public at all. This is something private between the animators and the team, and third persons should not use it as an excuse to spread hoaxes and hatred against the team. Stop it already and mind your own business.

That was one thing I wanted to let out, but the other thing is about the people complaining, and complaining, and complaining about how they don't get the content THEY want faster. I'm talking about those who think Thomas should do Sanders Sides and nothing else, because "it's what Patrons pay for", "it's his biggest source of income", "blah, blah, blah"... I am a Patron, and I know what I signed for when I joined Patron: "more content, more frequently", nowhere in that sentence it is mentioned it would be Sanders Sides only, or even mainly and if anyone read that it's something they assumed on their own, not the reality and certainly not binding. We've gone through a drought of content because there was a pandemic, in case anyone didn't notice. But he's releasing more content now, in all platforms, so he's commiting to his promise about Patreon. My money is well spent and I won't let anyone say otherwise. Please, kindly refrain to speak in my name as a Patron, thank you. If any other feels differently and is on Patreon, he's always free to unsubscribe when he wants, but don't repeat the lie that you "subscribed because he promised more Sanders Sides more frequently", because that's literally a falsehood. And speaking about Patreon and the "writer's tier", I don't know what you think the writer's room is about. The team only gives the writer light suggestions about what jokes could work well or things that could be featured specifically as ideas for the script, they don't get any power of decission in the plot and they don't even get to know the plot at all because the questions are vague. Don't give so much importance to the writer's room, because i's nothing of the other world, despite some people trying to make it a bigger issue than it is, usually people who are not even in the writer's room and therefore don't know what they're talking about, as usual. About the "Sanders Sides being his biggest source of income and therefore, he should stick to that"... well, sorry to break it to you, but have you been around his TikTok recently? He has recently released a Storytime short and a Misleading Compliment short, and the audience went literally crazy, and the new sketch videos are working like charm. Sanders Sides might be a huge success of his, but his short videos (the 10 seconds long and the 4 minutes long) are, and will always be, his biggest source of fame, they've always been since Vine. Remember, he has 10 million followers on TikTok, almost triple his YouTube follower count. And from these 10 million followers, not so many even know what Sanders Sides is because they didn't follow him on YouTube. You have to deal with the fact that Thomas could cancel Sanders Sides today, and he'd still have a very decent lifelihood thanks to the short videos. He makes Sanders Sides because he wants to and because it's a personal project of his. It's you who's in desperate need of Sanders Sides, not him, stop projecting.

Where am I going with this? It is okay to dislike Thomas, no one forces you to like him, and it's okay if his type of humor is not for you anymore. But you are not the center of the universe. There are still millions of people who enjoy what he makes whatever it is, and Thomas is not there to give you the content you want all the time like a video-making-machine. He's not going back to 2017-2018 when he literally destroyed his health with too much work. I know a lot of Fanders joined the fandom at that time, got used to that rythm of releases and miss it, but that time is not coming back, because above else, Thomas and his team are human beings, not slaves at your service and their mental an physical health is more important than your need for entertainment. If you can't accept that, you should seriously consider moving forward to other forms of entertainment that are more of your liking. And moving forward means moving forward completely, not going back and forth publishing insulting or condescending posts against Thomas and his team that are not gonna help you get content faster. Just because you are an "addict" to Sanders Sides (if you were just "invested", you wouldn't get to some extents I've seen some people get to) and didn't get served your daily dose of hyperfixation, that gives you no right to bitch around against the creators. It's your responsiblity to look for your own sources of entertainment wherever you can find them, but you have no right to demand anyone to make anything for you, because this is internet, not an a la carte restaurant. You have plenty of content created by hundreds of content creators anywhere, just choose it and consume it. But don't forget it's content creators who decide what, where and when they create anything, not the audience. The right of the audience is to like whatever or not, to follow whoever or not. It's not your business how he runs his business or his working schedules, because that's private. You only have a right to consume the final product, not to control every step of the production, and it's time some people start remembering this and pump the brakes with their attitude.

#thomas sanders #sanders sides

[useless-catalanfacts]

Hello I just wanted to say that I love your blog! I am Mexican, and I am very glad that there's places where minority languages are appreciated and not dismissed, and that are actually spoken by a lot of people. I think we should do that here. It's awesome to see a language thrive like that, being that the fascist regime tried to erase it and all.

Anyway, my question is about the history of the catalan language, as I am not very familiar with it, outside of the fact that there was a guy that didn't like it much and kinda tried to ban it. And I wanted to know if you knew anything about that and specifically about how the language recovered from that (if that is OK)

Anyway sorry if this is a bother much love <3

Thank you so much for your interest and your kind words ☺️

Here's three posts that will help you get a general view of what has been happening for centuries. It’s not only one dictator who banned it (though Franco’s persecution was particularly thorough and recent) but a longer process that was fuelled by Spanish imperialism, hatred towards the Catalan people, and the want to create a unified and homogenous Spain (that never existed in the first place) through the extermination of non-Spanish cultures, languages and identities.

Summing up Catalanophobia through the ages

Prohibitions of the Catalan language throughout history: 16th-19th centuries

Prohibitions of the Catalan language throughout history: 20th and 21st centuries (up to 2016, which is when I wrote the post)

You can find many more posts explaining particular situations in this blog's tag #catalanophobia. I don't "report" on nearly everything that happens (I'm not a news channel, I don't have that much time and it would be depressing lol) but I've commented on quite a few things.

About the second part of your question, the Catalan language was never lost nor close to extinction, in fact the moment where a lowest percentage of the Catalan population speaks Catalan is now. What happened is that, after the War of the Spanish Succession in which Spain (Castilla) militarily occupied the Catalan Countries and forbid the use of Catalan language, Catalan stopped being a prestigious language or a language used in official documents. The prestigious language then became Spanish, which means that the aristocracy would speak in Spanish, official documents were written only in Spanish, books were printed in Spanish, etc., but the huge majority of the population did not speak (and in many cases did not even understand much) Spanish.

That means that what later needed to be "recovered" was not the language itself, but its literary use and social role. That is, it needed to stop being seen as a language only "for the lower class to do their lower class things" -in contraposition to Spanish, the "important language for important matters"- and become, once more as it had been centuries ago, a language that can be used in all settings, including literature, science, government, etc.

This movement happened in the 19th century and is called Renaixença ("Rebirth"). It's contemporary to the Romanticism movement, so it can be seen as our version of it, with a more political/social role. This movement was centered on using the language in literary settings, as well as newspapers, learning about our history, and asking for cultural and linguistic rights. This is the moment when the first political Catalanist movement became well organized and active.

The decline in use of Catalan language started after the Renaixença had happened. It started to change with the introduction of mandatory schools, and by the 1920s many people (especially in urban areas) could speak Spanish, even though the everyday language was still Catalan. We got a huge immigration wave from Southern Spain in the 1920s that triplicated the population of Catalonia, and again in the 1960s Catalonia triplicated once again the population with people coming from Spain. Many of them integrated, many even risked being in danger by joining clandestine Catalan classes. But it was the time of the dictatorship, where many others were convinced Catalan was inferior or simply useless. With the political pressure and persecution, the social discrimination and the smaller amount of media available compared to Spanish, with time Spanish has imposed itself as the "cool" language that people want to associate themselves with because it's "better", "important", and "universal". A lot of Spanish imperialist propaganda is still believed, and most Catalan people have a lot of internalized Catalanophobia that makes us believe we can only be worthy if we abandon our language.

But luckily many people have fought a lot! Mobile clandestine libraries with books in Catalan, secret classes, field trips with safe people to speak to, the anti-fascist fight, and everyone who chose to speak it every day are what has kept it through the dictatorship's persecution.

The key to language survival is to have conscience and to use language in all settings, from speaking to your friends and family informally to teaching university classes in it or writing science and philosophy papers in it. And that's precisely some of the fights we're in rn: as an example on one side, because the Spanish judicial system keeps forcing schools to teach more in Spanish and less in Catalan; on the other, we're campaigning to have entertainment in Catalan, especially for children to grow up hearing that people they look up to can also speak their language, so we're trying to get streaming platforms to incorporate Catalan dubs.

(I'm talking about Spanish because the most part of the Catalan Countries are under Spanish rule, but the same applies with French instead of Spanish in Northern Catalonia).

#ask #anonymous #història #llengua catalana #català #coses de la terra #minority languages #sociolinguistics #spain

[lantur]

I had a great rest of my weekend since I last wrote. Derek and I watched The Invitation (2016) on Saturday night. It's a great horror / psychological thriller, especially if you like your horror without gore. I got my nails done on Sunday, and I'm SO happy with how they look. It's definitely a treat, since I haven't done it in a couple of years, but it really makes a difference! Derek and I also went shopping for new hair for me, and I got a couple of new wigs I'm excited about. I love going hair shopping with him, he's so supportive and always gives me the best second opinions about hair to pick out!

I have a super busy couple of days ahead of me. I'm organizing a patient education event tomorrow, in a city 2 hours away from me one-way. I have another patient education event I'm organizing on Wednesday that's another 2-hour drive away. I hope it all goes well, and I'm trying not to stress about it too much, but also still stressing about it lmao.

Not doing super great otherwise. I've been no-contact with my mom for a month and 10 days. She crossed a line with emotionally abusive statements, and I asked her to either apologize or commit to changing her behavior so we could have a relationship moving forward. She refused and sent me an email cutting me off. My dad tried a month ago to force me to reconcile with her, and I said no, unless she apologized or changed her behavior. He said I was a disappointment, I was acting like a child, etc.

When I was talking to my dad yesterday, he said that he doesn't know how long he has to live and his soul won't rest in peace until I make up with my mom. I reminded him that she was the one who sent me an email saying in detail how she was cutting me off, and I said that all she has to do is reach out to me. I didn't even say she has to apologize, since last time he said that she "never" has to apologize to me because she's the parent and I'm the daughter. All she needs to do is reach out and say she wants a fresh start with different behavior.

I was pretty sickened and upset by the level of emotional manipulation last night. Literally saying that my dad's soul won't rest in peace because of my behavior. I asked Derek, "Am I a bad person? Am I crazy? Am I out of line in this?"

All of this started when my mom said that I should have a child ASAP because of my dad's cancer, and when I said no, she said that I don't care about my dad and he doesn't matter to me - which is the statement that crossed my boundaries and sparked the whole fight.

I'm so deeply and profoundly tired of both my parents' level of emotional manipulation and using my dad's cancer/shortened lifespan as a weapon againt me, to get me to do what they want me to do (have a child, reach out to my mom "forgiving" her after SHE was the one who cut ME out.) I'm sick of it. Just going to try to keep hanging in there as always, but I'm getting more and more tired of just bearing the brunt of my parents trying to emotionally manipulate me and saying truly awful things in the process.

#lanturing

[youmayfindmeontheroad]

As we enter a new year I get to think about everything that happened in the past 365 days. For sure I am not the same girl who began in 2022, so many things changed in my life but most importantly I think I changed so much, I grew and sorta find who I want to be I found my dream path in this life. I allowed myself to explore more and to, I know such a cliché, but to romanticize my life. I really lived this year as if it was a movie or a show, I appreciate every single moment and I know that's a lot of new years bullshit but I am sure this change of heart made all the difference. Sometimes I wonder why it seems so easy for so many people and yet so hard for others, but finally, I got to make peace with it. Being 26 changed so much on my view in life, I like to think it has something to do with the fact that my frontal lobe is finally fully developed, well at least I think it's a feeling I share with a lot of women my age, like the fog, is spreading and for the first time I got to see clearly, just like when I wore glasses for the first time, the bops were actually things.

Being in your 20's is so fucking weird you got friends getting married, having babies getting their big jobs with good money moving out of home, etc and on the other side of the spectrum you see friends who are lost, just bouncing from one situation from another, not knowing where the north is, avoiding at all cost turning into adults, and then there's me wondering in the middle, finally finding out what I wanna do with my life, actually working in this field professionally for a year, still figuring out the love thing cuz that's so messy I don't even know where to begin.

I used to think that by 25 you should have everything in life, the husband or wife, the degree, the house, the dog, and the car. But it turned out that didn't happen, well at least not for me, I have nothing on that list but I think it's totally ok. To be honest one thing that made me change my mind was Guillermo del Toro's speech about being 20 and how it's the most heartbreaking moment in life because you feel a ticking sound cuz it feels like by 30 you are not a successful person, whatever that means, you failed in life, when in fact you are just learning how to be an adult and let's add that we became adults in the middle of a pandemic where everything got really fucked up.

So now as we enter this new year and my 27th birthday is just four months away I am at ease trusting that the universe and God will take me where I need to go, with the people I need to meet, working hard but trusting the process I guess.

I am so excited and nervous as usual about what this new year will bring me.

Being said that the reason I came back to this corner of the internet after leaving like in 2016 ¿? is because I have this need to document my life now, it is happening so fast and I am afraid I will not have something to look back at. Two years ago I began an Instagram account that serves as my visual diary, I post a picture every day but I feel I need more, and I wanted somewhere I could scream and vent to a void where nobody will listen I guess and as nobody that I know follows me or anyone, to be honest, I think I might have some fun writing here.

-A

#2022 #new year #growin’ up #life in your 20s #woman life freedom #26 years old #hello again tumblr

[utopia-game]

Interview with Mehul!

In case many ever wondered, the OG Mehul is still alive and kicking! Just so happens, one of our dedicated players, Frosty, managed an interview with him! Check out the interview below! And thanks Frosty!!

1.  Do you ever play, or feel inclined to play, Utopia?  Just out of curiosity?

Honestly, outside of the first few years running it, I really didn't play it much even when managing it. I would participate in the sense that I'd have an account and kind of watch the dynamics of how players interacted and if there were any imbalances in gameplay, but I wasn't an active gameplayer. Since selling it, I haven't ever played it. I've checked out the website occasionally just to see how things are going, but actually hadn't done that in a few years now either. This interview led me to do a deeper dive into the game today and it's pretty neat to see how it's evolved with Discord chats, an android app, etc but also how much of the original core game has survived!  But I haven't tried playing it as of yet.

2.  Are you still in touch with Blake?  I think Blake deleted my provinces more than once.

Absolutely - he was one of my close friends when he joined Swirve and still remains so. I'm in contact with him regularly and see him a few times a year. If you'd ever like to interview him, I can reach out and see if he has any interest! 

3.  Are you interested in ever making a new online game? 

I've had lots of ideas and think I still understand game design and mechanics really well. But I don't really play computer games these days, so I don't have a good sense of the industry, and my programming skills are still late 1990s, early 2000's level, so there'd be no way to develop a game in today's world the way I'd want to. One of the things I enjoyed in creating Utopia is that I could create it entirely in my head and then turn into code, do the (very limited) graphic design, and every other part of the website and business myself (before we grew and added Blake). Earth:2025 went from "I should try to make a webgame" to release in something like 6 weeks. Utopia was a bit longer, but conceptually similar. That kind of pace and environment is what I thrive in. Today's games seem to require entire teams of developers and designers and so many things to coordinate and the timeline to develop seems to be measured in years. None of that is really appealing to me, unfortunately.

4.  You manage escape rooms in Austin.  How do you develop those, how has Covid affected the industry, and how has your online game development affected your perspective in developing escape room scenarios?

Some friends and I launched an escape room around 2016 and it's one of the most fun projects I've been involved in. I love creating unique and interesting forms of entertainment. Swirve existed in a time when the internet wasn't really social - it was used for information and there were occasional message boards and such, but there was no social media, no real interaction between people of different backgrounds or cultures or things like that. So that's what I really focused on - Earth was interactive, but in a limited way. Utopia was kind of the fulfillment of that vision of bringing people together in a totally new way. 

Escape Rooms exist in kind of the opposite world. Now everyone interacts on screens and phones, and every corner of the world is accessible to everyone.  But in the process, we lost some of the human-to-human interactions. So the escape room was an opportunity to bring my strength in game design to a different world - taking out the screens and the tech and getting people laughing and struggling together face-to-face. Every aspect of it was fun - watching people play and seeing the joy they got, designing the games to create unique and quirky themes and puzzles, etc. For me, it was an opportunity to take my understanding of "what's fun" from the online gaming world and try to turn that into a real-life scenario. A lot of the outputs are very different, but the core ideas of what makes something interesting and addictive and gets people excited are very similar underneath. We had an amazing team of owners and employees that made the whole thing a blast and really successful.

Unfortunately, Covid hit in the middle of it all, and putting people in a room with strangers and having them touch things that other random people had touched all day long was basically the single least Covid-friendly activity you could come up with. We were built to be a high volume business that was fully booked all the time, and unfortunately, it couldn't survive the pandemic. So we shut it down in 2020 and ended up selling it to a company looking to expand their global presence. But, even post-pandemic, I don't think escape room popularity has returned to where it was prior (for a whole host of reasons relating to how covid changed people's entertainment preferences and spending).

5.  Do you see any future in text-based games?  Utopia's numbers keep dwindling despite being one of the best games ever made.  How can text-based compete with "modern" games?

Its hard to imagine, honestly. If you asked me in 2000 whether the game would be around 25 years later, I'd have laughed. I knew it was something special, but technology ultimately moves forward. Utopia survives because it has such a loyal following and works well enough on a smaller scale with a few thousand people. But if it had never existed and we tried to launch the same game today, no one would give it a chance. So it's incredibly fortituous that it had the right timing and grew enough in its heyday to maintain itself through today. And great ownership by whoever runs it these days to understand what makes it work and keep improving things while not losing that essence. It would be very tempting to try to turn it into something it's not to target a broader audience, and I think that would destroy it pretty quickly, so I'm glad they haven't pursed that.

That said, one area where I think text-based games could play an interesting role is with the massive growth in AI. Having the game be able to interact with players in a human way opens a whole new interesting set of doors of how to design games. For example, you could design a game done entirely through conversations on SMS between players and a virtual game host. I think of things like Dungeons & Dragons campaigns that could be modernized with technology but still be conversation or text focused. I haven't thought through it well enough to have a cohesive game idea, but that's an area where text can still dominate and create some unique value.

6.  Utopia has changed so much but has also remained the same over the 25 years I've been playing.  Real-life connections have been forged...marriages and friendships.  Did you forsee this?  (I know you have already been asked this...but it still boggles my mind.)   (Combining with 8.  What are our or more of your favorite Utopia (or Swirve in general) moments)

Not even for a second. Utopia is now older than I was when I wrote it, which is kind of insane to think about. As I mentioned earlier, doing this interview led me to do a bit of research just to see what the game looks like now and such. Seeing so many things added and new ways to interact with the game is really neat. At the same time, the logo is the original logo from our early years - that, to me, is crazy and really cool to see what's survived.

When I was started it, I was also pretty young and focused more on the game and business development. While I loved how much fun it was for everyone and had a pretty good sense that I was creating something fairly unique, I don't think I had the life experience to really understand the full impact the games would ultimately have. The friendships - I had hoped for that and that was part of the core design. But marriages? My favorite was hearing about a pair from literally opposite sides of the globe - Sweden and the Philippines - ultimately meeting and getting married.  The long-term post-game connections people have maintained are amazing. I was just looking at some reddit forums and to see people still talking about how they played the games 20 years ago and that they still have an emotional attachment to those experiences is kind of incredible.

Some of the things I didn't appreciate as much at the time but now still remember decades later are things like teachers sharing how they used Utopia and Earth to connect with students and teach them everything from math to social skills. And parents using the game to bond with their adopted kids and things like that. Creating fun is great, but actually having an impact on lives on a broader scale is a feeling that's hard to match - and not something I went into Utopia thinking would ever be the case. But that idea of helping impact people's lives in some unique way is something that's become an important part of any project I've worked on since and will do in the future.

7.  Game changes must be exhausting to conceptualize.  There are issues of balance (to fix flaws in the mechanics) and also a kind of intentional chaos (change for the sake of change).  How did you navigate this?

This was actually a really fun part of game design for me. With the Ages system and the game restarting every few months, this whole thing was like an laboratory for me. I could just kind of do whatever I wanted and even if it ended up unbalanced, it would take people a month to figure it out and then in another month or two, we'd just start fresh. People took each age and each change way more seriously than I did and would routinely get upset with things before seeing how they played out. But while I got plenty of things wrong, I think I had a reasonably good intuitive sense if something was going to work OK or being way too destablizing or whatnot that nothing went too, too haywire.

9.  Everyone asked this, but I feel I know the answer: Would you ever consider purchasing the game if you had the option to do so?

I think from a nostalgia perspective, it would be cool. I've often looked to see if I could buy back the swirve.com domain, but it's now in use by another business. But it would be disservice to the player base today because I'm not remotely qualified at this point to keep developing the game! I think if ownership needed to change again, some combination of active players with game-design and/or programming background would be the ideal. One of my big concerns when I sold the games originally was if the people taking it over really understood exactly what it was that made the games and community so unique and how to cultivate that. I think if I were to try to take over today, I'd be in that same position since I've been away so long.

10.  You have supported various causes, such as Restoration Collective (If I am correct.) In any case, what organizations or causes would you like to mention?

I work with a variety of causes, but my connections to them tend to be personal. I know their leadership or am involved with the organizations in various ways. To me, it's a far more meaningful and interesting version of charity because you get to see a more direct impact of your resources than you would contributing to a larger organization (though maybe less efficent due to lack of scale). Rather than picking organizations or causes and simply donating money, I would recommend people find things important to them and try to get involved in some way, even if it's only a small one, in some of the smaller and more local organizations doing work in those areas.  I think it's more rewarding and builds a stronger connection between the cause and the contributors.

#utopia #mehul #utopia-game

[klysanderelias]

There is a specific kind of liberal brainrot where people seem CONVINCED that whenever people criticize biden, especially when pointing out that he's enacting a lot of the exact same policies Trump pushed (the border wall, putting immigrants/refugees in concentration camps, ignoring COVID, etc) and that Trump would in turn enact similar policies re: genocide, that primaries don't exist.

People say shit like 'well what are you suggesting? Am I supposed to vote for Trump because Biden isn't perfect???'

No motherfucker, what's SUPPOSED to happen is that the backlash and groundswell of democrats losing faith in their candidate and expressing their disapproval leading to insanely low polling should make people go 'huh, what if we picked a different guy who DIDN'T have those issues.'

The whole point of voting, and democracy in general, is that we're supposed to be able to choose things that we support, and that politicians are supposed to make decisions that garner votes. If Biden is polling like absolute dogshit, and seems completely uninterested in changing course, the RATIONAL response would be to remove him from the ballot and replace him with another candidate that DID have popular support, if the Democratic party leadership was genuinely interested in, y'know, winning elections.

And criticising biden and making it known that his policies risk losing our votes is SUPPOSED to be a wake-up call to the party, the way that muslim communities in swing states have directly voiced.

But at some point if the DNC charges ahead with running biden as the 2024 candidate despite his low approval rates, the many people who've expressly stated that his support and complicity in genocide have lost him their vote, and the threat of fascist takeover with the project 2025 shit, that the DNC is not acting rationally or in good faith.

At best, they're so divorced from the reality of electoral politics that they're incompetent and unable to credibly threaten the republicans who are better organized and have viable electoral strategies.

At worst, they are intentionally losing because they are more comfortable with fascism and republican rulership than they are with, say, not doing genocide.

You have to, you HAVE to, accept that there is an extremely easy and rational solution to the problem that we're facing right now. I understand that in 2016 and 2020, the 'blue no matter who' bullshit had a certain amount of merit because at the end of the day, despite how I feel about the legitimacy of those primaries, Clinton and Biden DID win. We DID have to settle for a candidate that we weren't happy with because it was a result of a long electoral process.

And I think especially given some of the issues biden's been having with his mental faculties, and his age, you HAVE to at some level have a back-up plan for if his health nosedives. Campaign trails are hard. It's a difficult schedule. If he can't do it, physically or mentally, then the stance of 'well there's just no one else we could possibly throw into the position' will literally hand the election to Trump.

But like. What are people saying when they complain about Biden? Run someone else. And refusing to do so, to even consider it, ESPECIALLY with the threats on the horizon, is downright abusive.

#I'm sick of this argument #stop pushing your decaying god-king #he's just some dude #get another one. #but unfortunately the trend party leadership has been following is 'well if they won't fall in line fuck em'

[yhwhrulz777]

Today's Daily Encounter Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Surrendering to God's Timeline

"As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord's word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him."1

I came across a quote by the Christian singer and songwriter, TobyMac. He wrote, "God is not in a hurry. You are. It is why you are tired. It is why you are anxious, stressed, and disappointed. Surrender your timeline in favor of His peace."

I read this and immediately saved it because I felt God was talking directly to me! Recently, I had made the decision to become a trained volunteer for a non-profit ministry in our area. I went through the necessary steps and was determined to do this. And while this was a great ministry to get involved with and my intentions were good, there was one problem… I didn't really consult with God before taking this step. After one of the volunteer meetings I attended, God confronted me about it. Suddenly, he reminded me of the other responsibilities he has given me at this time, and how this new volunteer position would interfere with them. Now don't get me wrong, God didn't say that I couldn't be a volunteer, but he simply made it clear that now is not HIS time for this. He reminded me that I need to surrender to His timing, and not be in a rush to do all things at once.

Surrendering to God's timing may look different for each of us. The example above is just one of the many times I have jumped ahead of God's will. For some of us it may be a new job position, moving to a new city or state, making a purchase, etc. For others it may be salvation of a loved one, the mending of broken relationships, finding your future husband/wife, amongst many other possibilities. Whatever it may be that we are facing, let's remember to pause and bring it to God in prayer. As much as we would like to see immediate results, it is not worth stepping out of God's will, protection, and blessing to do things our way. God is working during the waiting process and many times uses this time to continue molding us.

God is perfect and flawless, and he has our best interest at heart. Always. "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord."2 Thankfully, we have a God who knows what is best and when it should happen. Even when we don't understand or we get anxious, His plans and timing are perfect.

Suggested prayer: Dear God, today I choose to surrender my will and timeline to you. Whatever the situation or the answers I am seeking, allow me to trust that your plan is perfect. Please allow me to abide in your will, so that I may experience your peace, protection and blessings upon my life. Thank you for your love and care for me. I choose to rest in you. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen.

Psalm 18:30 (NIV).

Isaiah 55:8 (NIV).

Today's Encounter was written: Crystal B.

NOTE: If you would like to accept God's forgiveness for all your sins and His invitation for a full pardon Click on: http://www.actsweb.org/invitation.php. Or if you would like to re-commit your life to Jesus Christ, please click on http://www.actsweb.org/decision.php to note this.

Daily Encounter is published at no charge by ACTS International, a non-profit organization, and made possible through the donations of interested friends. Donations can be sent at: http://www.actscom.com

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When copying or forwarding include the following: "Daily Encounter by Richard (Dick) Innes (c) 2005-2023 ACTS International.

[bookofmirth]

I swear you just posted that elucien timeline and there are already pissed off e/riels screaming in the tags, claiming what Sarah (the freaking author of the books) says in those interviews has no importance and that Eluciens should not take it so seriously. Like what?? How delusional can you be to think that way?? xD Also, I think they are stalking you, it can't be just a coincidence...

This will never not amuse me. I have upwards of 40 fandom blogs blocked (for being rude, for being bullies, for being homophobic, for being TERFs, etc.) and still they can't stay away. Meanwhile I'm just here

It's not enough to have quotes from the author from 2015, 2016, 2017, and the evidence from the books? And that's just for elucien, I didn't even touch on gwynriel evidence in that post. That's a whole other thing.

I've never tried psychedelics but I'm pretty sure I don't have to. This fandom makes me feel like I'm in a Pink Floyd video already.

It's dead in canon, it never even got off the ground in canon, and if they could like... start the grieving process now, it would be better for all of us.

Just wait, anon, they will become antis soon enough and start screaming abut the death of the author (using the concept incorrectly, of course).

#this is for my besties who stalk me #😘 stay mad #acotar fandom #ask #anon

[qqueenofhades]

I'm seeing a lot of leftists complain about Biden not being able to do anything and how Republican presidents were able to write executive orders for seemingly whatever they wanted, and I got confused. So i wanted to ask: why does it seem like Republicans can pass whatever they want whenever they want but Democrats can't?

Welp. This is, yet again, another Online Leftist "argument" that isn't correct, doesn't give an accurate view of the situation, and doesn't propose any helpful alternatives. I know that the Republicans can often feel like an overwhelming and unstoppable evil machine, but the truth is that despite the chaos and damage of Trump's four years to American democratic society and sociopolitical norms, he didn't actually pass much legislation -- even with a compliant Republican-controlled Congress from 2016-18. The Republicans didn't even succeed in legislatively repealing the ACA, despite trying zillions of times to do it, and mostly just passed tax cuts for rich people and other bad economic policy, since they could do it with budget reconciliation (the same process that Democrats used to pass the American Rescue Plan with only 50 votes in the Senate and no Republican support). Because budget/financial legislation isn't subject to the filibuster, the Republicans could pass it with the same simple-majority vote. But they didn't really succeed in doing much else.

Next, Trump's most onerous and infamous executive orders -- withdrawing from WHO and the Paris Agreement, the "Muslim Ban," etc etc -- were all in the list of things that Biden reversed on his first day in office. This is why, as myself and others have said, policy based solely on executive orders is never a long-lasting or ideal way to do something, since it's subject to instant repeal if an administration with different ideological priorities happens to succeed you. Besides, this whole "Biden should just executive order everything!!!" demand basically means that he should just... be Trump and try to exercise the presidency like a king? Online Leftists have no patience for or interest in the American democratic legislative process any more than the fascist wingnuts, and while I get the desire for a quick solution, that's still not going to be a magical panacea that fixes everything. It's not an excuse or an escape from having to put in the work.

Right now, Democratic control of Congress is slender and very contingent on whether Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema feel like supporting something in the Senate, and as long as they won't budge on reforming the filibuster, that means Democrats are likewise limited in what they can do from a legislative perspective. It's unfortunate that people deliberately don't understand that there's a huge difference between 60 Democratic senators and 50 Democratic senators, but there is, and since the Obama-era 59/60 Democratic Senate included seats in red states that a Democrat will never win again in the post-Trump era, it's always going to be a matter of very thin margins and major wrangling. None of this is to say that the Democrats shouldn't be doing more; obviously, they should, and I was sharply critical of Biden's initial response to the Roe overturn. Everything I have seen since has confirmed my opinion that the administration wasn't prepared, might not have thought it would really happen even after the draft leaked, and were wary of taking too "drastic" steps or openly trying to overrule the Supreme Court. This results from, as I have said before, Biden's over-reliance on his outdated belief that American democratic institutions will function more or less properly, even if they're currently staffed and controlled by terrible anti-democrat fascist evangelical nutcases. And that is... just not true, unfortunately.

That said, Biden has picked up the pace in recent days: he issued an executive order to maintain abortion access insofar as possible, the Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance that any federally funded hospital must provide a life-saving abortion regardless of state laws, Democrats in the Senate are trying to pass legislation preserving the right to travel out of state for care, and there is talk of Biden declaring a federal public health emergency, which would likewise preserve access at least in the life-threatening cases. None of this happened in the first weeks after the overturn, and I'm glad to see it happening now, even if there are still more steps to be taken. But as I have explained many, many times, an executive order does not magically work everything out and fix it immediately. It directs the relevant federal departments to come up with and implement a solution, and that still takes time and effort. And as I said, it is the least durable and most easily overturned form of policymaking, and should not be the option of first resort for any number of reasons.

The current leftist demand just seems to be "issue an executive order that instantly fixes everything and makes SCOTUS irrelevant so we don't have to feel any guilt about not voting for Clinton and laughing off everyone who warned us that this was going to happen." And that, likewise, is totally unrealistic. Biden can take concrete steps with his executive authority to ameliorate the situation to some degree; he has done some already, and hopefully will be pushed into more. But there is no way to simply remove SCOTUS as a major political piece, or make its decisions irrelevant, or wave our hand and pretend it doesn't exist. There are still obviously far more barriers to abortion care and access than there were while Roe was the law of the land, and that was the direct and intended result of them overturning it. That is not going to disappear.

Anyway. The claim that "Republicans can always do whatever they want and Democrats can't because they just don't try" is not true. As noted, the Republicans didn't actually do that much during Trump's time in office, and all their major victories now are coming as a result of the Republican-hijacked SCOTUS handing down decisions that are not easy to reverse, challenge, or otherwise get around. This is exactly why the Republicans played the long game with the direct goal being to capture the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, and why Democrats need to expand or significantly reform it if any of us plan on having any civil rights again in our lifetimes. But to do that, we need to get an actual working majority in the Senate, hold the House, and then keep the pressure up for the promised filibuster reform and subsequent legislation to actually get done. I know that pointing out that things take time and have concrete steps that need to be accomplished in a certain order isn't as satisfying or pithy as "just do it all now and stop making excuses!!!", but it is, alas, still the case.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts

[ectonurites]

I know Jason "came back to life" in the eyes of the public etc but like legit interested in your opinion on this because I'm just confused and interested in how he went about that, y'know? Like wouldn't it take him years? And who does he get to confirm its him and not some rando? IIRC Bruce didn't know he did that until the iceberg lounge thing which is weird if his son came back to life you would think he would testify or something sooner? I just don't know how it would work lol 😳🤔

SO you sent me down a reading rabbit hole. 

The thing about Jason’s situation compared to most situations irl is the fact that since he genuinely did die, there was a body and everything. That definitely makes it tricky. However, even though in our minds he was dead a super long time since he was killed in the 80s, he was only really gone for what’s probably 5 or so years by the time in RHATO he’s trying to ‘come back’. It being not even a decade is in his favor (I haven’t found a ruling for New Jersey specifically yet but in Ohio for instance a death ruling can’t be overturned if it’s been more than 3 years, so less time dead is better. But Ohio’s the only state i’ve seen the 3 year thing for so working with 5 should be okay here) 

Most cases about people needing to re-declare themselves alive that have happened irl I’ve found are either missing persons who were presumed dead after many years being away (the base line is 7, some states have it as less though), OR the more common situation of literally just clerical error on this thing called the ‘Death Master File’ (apparently like, nearly 40 people get declared dead by accident every day in the US! which is WHACK!) 

The grounds Jason would likely try to use is that it was a mistaken body (so somebody else) and he had actually just been missing all this time, which would kinda be a mix between a ‘fraudulent death’ claim and then the missing person type thing. Fraudulent death seems to be one of the harder ones to prove (because most of the time this category is more for people who purposely faked their deaths). In general, the fact that this happened with him as a child rather than as an adult, means there’s less cases I’ve been able to find that are even remotely similar but it also might help him out since there’s less precedent and also it’s more clear it probably wasn’t a like ‘get insurance money/run away from money owed’ scam. 

However, identity theft with dead people is like, a pretty common thing, so yeah proving oneself alive is not the easiest process in the world.

But most of the like, ‘things that make being declared legally dead even if you aren’t a really really bad and a lengthy process to fix’ are like, money related (social security, life insurance, bank accounts, property stuff, etc) and for someone like Jason who was 15 at time of death (so not married or owning property) and money apparently does not seem to be a problem for due to his various criminal activities, these wouldn’t be anywhere near as big of a deal. Like, sure a little inconvenient perhaps but definitely not entirely devastating like it can be for the real normal people that this kind of thing happens to. Also, when he bought the Iceberg Lounge, he bought it out from under the fuckin’ Penguin, so like, there’s already some shady shit going on there, so even if he was still in the process of ‘coming back to life’ he’d probably have been able to get that all started.

Also the ‘confirming it’s him’ thing as far as I’ve gathered from what I’ve read doesn’t... anywhere say it actually requires he bring someone from his life (Bruce) to verify it’s him? It’s way more about the combination of your presence & the documentation. So as long as he has photo ID and like as many of his official documents as possible (which. sneaking into the manor to steal his real passport from childhood and other documents like that i think is absolutely something he could/would do especially since like, earlier in RHATO 2016 it’s shown Bizarro’s door thing can literally get into the Batcave. I think it’s not unlikely to assume at some point he thought it could all come in handy and swiped ‘em) he could get the process going. This might differ since he was a minor at time of death but again every real case I’ve found so far was dealing with adults so I’m not sure.

Getting the US government to declare you alive though, like, from what I read can honestly be done as quickly as within a few weeks OR it can take years (but usually the ‘years’ there is more figuring out all that money and insurance related stuff, which again, not as big a deal for Jason specifically)

Another consideration I’d like to bring up is the fact that being presumed/found dead and later turning back up definitely happens a lot more in the DC universe than real life. Like, there’s supervillain attacks and world disasters and shit all the time. I think that realistically in the DCU there is probably a better system set up than IRL for handling cases like this, which would work in his favor.

I also think that due to the fact he was a relatively known person in Gotham, and we know Gotham’s systems are NOT the most uhhhh ‘by the books’ especially if theres public pressure and money being thrown at them, I pretty firmly believe he could have gotten it settled relatively quickly.

In real life it would be a lot harder due to the factor of the body, since he’d have to try to prove that wasn’t him even though it literally was, but liiiike unless Bruce had cashed in big on life insurance and didn’t have the means to pay it back (which this happened years before he lost the fortune LMAO) he should probably be fine, this is a comics world where most problems can be solved if you throw money at them (real life’s kinda like that too of course but comics take it to an EXTREME).

I do agree that Bruce would probably need to have been at least a little aware this was all happening, but for dramatic effect since this is in fact a comic book I understand why they had it be a surprise to him. A panel of Bruce getting a phone call from his lawyer wouldn’t have been nearly as effective as Jason just suddenly being on TV. Also like, I don’t think it’s impossible to rule out Bruce could have known he was in the process of legally coming back to life but not have known he was doing so in Gotham, because Jason being back in in the city was Bruce’s actual problem there.

Also funnily enough one of the cases of a person I found who was declared dead but is still alive was someone with the last name ‘Todd’, weird coincidence world. 

Some further reading about real cases of people coming back / things I might have referenced but wasn’t sure exactly where to link along the way: (one) (two) (three) (four) 

#Anonymous

[megsforeva1]

Today marks six years I published my very first fanfiction.

Megamind had already brought so much joy in my life since Christmas 2014 and I wanted so badly give something to the fandom because it had given so much to me.

Drawing wasn't an option so I decided to try writing. English isn't my first language so I was very afraid to post my story. I didn't believe anyone would like it or comment etc. so I was gladly surprised when people praised the first fics and asked me to write more though my English was terrible.

I used to be so down during those days when I started writing. I had just started processing all the shit that happened in my childhood and youth. Because of that I felt so depressed, unhappy and broken. - So numb.

I never could have believed how much writing can help to handle all those bad memories and repressed feelings I'd carried with me for so many years. I spent almost all my free time writing in 2016 and 2017. - And very often I cried while writing because I was feeling so miserable.

At the end of the year 2017 I was struggling with my thesis and it killed my writing mood for a long time. I posted maybe a one chapter once a year. I wanted to write more but I was so tired with life and all the relationship problems.

Last autumn I was sure I will never write again. I'd lost all the zest for life. I hated everything I'd ever written. I just wanted to delete my FFN account and all my stories. When I was considering to delete all my fics, I received a comment which changed everything. - It gave my writing mood back.

Though I'm feeling better now than six years ago, I'm afraid I can't write without depression. I want to write new stories and update unfinished fics but I'm afraid the new fics and chapters will never be as good as the old ones. I just feel I can't write without that terrible emotion mess inside me.

It doesn't help I've read so much my old fics lately and they make me feel things. I just keep thinking I'll never reach the same level with the new stories. I just feel I can't portray the feelings like I used to. - And it makes me sad.

Though I've already written 10k+ words in my new MetroMind fic I'm afraid the content is hollow and the whole fic will be a total flop. I'm afraid people who are waiting for it will be disappointed and I'm just letting everyone down.

I'm just thinking maybe I should give up and run away when I still can...

But though I'm terrified, I've decided to be brave - and give a try - because I still love these two SO much! 💙💛

And this will be my mood after I publish it:

#personal

[harristops]

I will preface this one last thing here: I know this is me projecting the relationships I have been around the most growing up and into today and yes I am aware that not all relationships are like those and I really do need to talk to a therapist about this (in the US and can't afford therapy atm because uninsured ✌🏼) lmao and I don't blame you not to post this, because I already know its not great.

But what worries me about people (not you in particular but people in general) defending relationships be it any relationship to the death and saying oh this person wouldn't do this if you follow them you know this. Is exactly what I heard about the relationships I've been around the most growing up and because we TRULY have no idea what happens behind closed doors, those relationships seemed so wonderful to outsiders looking in, mind you not on social media either but they ranged from emotional and mental abuse (one was actually physical and not a single person knew until years later, which isn't unusual) to just plain toxic to a person dating someone in my imitate family for about 6-7 years and then telling them at the end that they didn't love them just the thought of them.

So yeah I know not every relationship is like those I've known in real life but thats why I personally can't say anything definitive about any relationship online or in person. Sorry about this ask again. Hope school is going well!

Actually this is a really fantastic point and please don't apologize for posting your ask!! It took me some time to digest it but it's actually a bit of a problem defending a relationship we know nothing about. Like we don't know who AK and Ash are as individuals, we only know what we know about them through what they post and what they do for the public. Behind closed doors we don't know what anyone is like - and ofc not saying that they're bad people or that we should assume they're terrible behind close doors, but every relationship has its' issues and we aren't seeing the full picture with them, therefore defending their relationship to the death or saying that "oh they're perfect they're never splitting up" or "___ would never do that to ___" results in some iffy speculation considering we don't have much context to anything. They're just sharing pieces of their lives that they are allowing us to be privy too, but not the entire thing. It's what I was talking about with that one anon, that all the people that have been around since they first started up have a different perspective of their relationship that people who just follow them now do. Like they shared a bit of their lives, their pasts, struggles/etc., but a lot of it was speculation on our part back then (e.g., the break up of 2011, the depression stage of 2016) - we had no idea what was happening or if they even broke up at that time or if they really did go through anything during 2016 - it was all speculation based on what they were sharing or saying at the time. But I feel like some people (myself included) got drawn to certain aspects of them and almost internalized those aspects so again, it wasn't so much they were defending Ash entirely, but also themselves in a sense.

Idk if that makes sense, but what I'm trying to say is that you raise a really good point about how we view relationships - famous or not - in a very biased way. We want to defend our favs but sometimes we lose objectivity in the process because we don't want to admit that sometimes someone else might not be doing the right thing or that there are issues when it comes to objectivity. I also appreciate you being brave and posting this non-anon because that is very hard to do! And for being so kind and thoughtful in your articulation.

#asks #you are a lovely person and i hope you have a wonderful day #it always brings me a smile when you message me tbh

[crayfishpd-blog]

KIM SUNG PD'S INTERVIEW WITH STARNEWS

source: starnews

translation by crayfishpd

Kim Sung PD (35), who became the new main PD of KBS 2TV 'Happy Sunday - 1 night 2 days Season 3' ('1 night and 2 days') after Yoo Hojin and Yoo Ilyong PD. So, how the 'one night and two days' that he leads turn out ?

Kim Sung PD officially appeared in front of viewers when 1 night and 2 days won the 'Best Program Award' from KBS Entertainment Awards in December 2018, last year.

After that, in January, he appeared and made his official broadcast with the members.

Kim PD was so passionate but also, he was so embarassed by unexpected things made by the members, but that made viewers laugh.

Before Kim Sung PD, there were 2 PDs on season 3, and those PDs significantly showed the different colors when they directed that program.

KBS Entertainment PD 2019 that you waited, Kim Sung PD met the starnews to talk about this year's plan, aspiration, etc.

Kim Sung PD, who became the main PD of Real Wild Variety - 2 Days 1 Night said "i'm still groggy and afraid" He said it was unbelievable to realize his vague dream of taking KBS's famous variety show. "I wanted to do a real variety show, so i applied for entertainment

program PD. one day, i wanted to do 2 days 1 night, but now it became my first major.

According to Kim PD, although being afraid, it was the program that he wanted to do and outdoor shooting fits his aptitude well.

He said that '1 night 2 days' holds a special place in his heart because he worked for the variety show since season 2.

Kim Sung PD became an assistant director for 2D1N from November 2012 to April 2015, and then he moved to Immortal Song from May 2015 to

March 2016. In April 2016, he came back to 2 days 1 night season 3. The new main producer "Kim Sung" had great passion and desire. It is

natural to give joy to the viewers but he had his own philosophy regarding tv show and the reason was special "actually i was a graduate of the theater department and majored in filmmaking. In 2007, there was an opportunity for me to do an

entertainment program. There was an event held by a new agency to travel by city bus from the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall to

Haenam. At that time, i was selected as the first from the five finalist teams to arrive. afterwards, i participated in a race held in Europe and i won that race.

at the time, in the process of making UCC promotional videos, i asked the locals about what their dreams were. various answer came

out.They didn't just talk about their jobs. after meeting them and listening their stories, i thought i should broadcast it rather than

made a film about it. Just then, there was a real variety boom, so i decided to make it be an entertainment. beside made the viewers

laugh, i also wanted to made them felt moved by watching that." he said.

Kim Sung PD, who has a strong desire for do entertainment, is planning a special feature to make you feel moved by (something related with your emotions). It is related to Independence Movement Day in March 1 (Sam-il Jeol) and also 100th Anniversary of the Mar. 1 Movement and the Establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

He said "i want to make a content related to Independence Movement Day in this year, especially the story of independence movement's fighters. This year Sam-il is so meaningful, because this year also 100th Anniversary of the Mar. 1 Movement and the Establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Thanks to the independence fighters, because of them, we live in a good condition right now and of course i think we should do somethin to remember them."

at first , this project sounds so boring for entertainment program, but Kim Sung PD explained "Real Variety can also deal with a serious topic, so you should make it fun (interesting) to make it easier and faster to understand."

for historical contents, it's not just about laughter but also laughter for the sake of emotion. he make us curious what will the 2 days 1 night Independence Movement special turn out.

Also, Kim PD is planning for some other specials, such as special feature for viewers. Viewers feature is like a trademark for 2 days 1 night since season 1 to season 3. The combination between viewers and members have the biggest response for this.

he said "this special needs a long preparation. and i'm still adjusting to 2 days 1 night. and i'm thinking to go ahead. but I plan to have a team battle. There would be a maximum level of viewer participation in this special."

Kim Sung PD said, "we are not only focusing on special features, but also our weekly broadcast and our shoots every 2 weeks." he said that they are wondering about how to make the viewers laugh and also sharing various information from their destination location. also, their biggest worry is how to make the viewers laugh every week, because 2 days 1 night is #1 entertainment program in the same time period (slot).

He added "i don't think we are competing with other programs in the same time (slot), but i think we are competing with ourselves from

our last week episode, and we are hoping 2 days 1 night is getting funnier and getting better. the production team are working hard

with all they have. also, sometimes i want to hear "it's not like 2 days 1 night", in positive meaning of course. i hope it will be accepted as something that's not obvious plan or picture.. so, the viewers can watch the show in a new mood"

#2 days 1 night #2d1n #1 night 2 days #2days1night #kim sung pd #kim sung #1박2일 #1박2일시즌3 #김성pd #김성 피디 #김성 #interview

[whimsically-ominously-auspice]

Do we think that maybe the whole Kobe Bryant thing is the straw that broke the camel's back?

Its just something more real to us

To those people watching basket ball and enjoying life while all those human traffic victims work underground...

Its finally just that one well hello... The world aint been as good as we thought?

I remember when Kobe was accused of rape and it hurt my heart and i was shocked and i did check in with the development of the story.

I'm not taking sides. I'm not saying anything about him just how it hurt me.

And so... Earlier i watched a video about Auschwitz i posted here an i cried during it. It was so difficult and so bad.

And so maybe Kobe Bryant represents to SOME people something different. Like the death of their own innocence.

Like their favorite toothpaste was made by a slave and they never knew.

I mean the world is going through something tragic. Not just the deaths

But Auschwitz. I know some of our human traffic victims were gassed. And i know some died just this year.

And so i know what we are hearing about and thinking about is simply tragic.

Every single of our gassing victims were brought back to life relatively immediately and i hadn't posted about them because that's not what we want to know about. I did post about the gassing we prevented but there was gassing after. But they were revived.

So i didn't think of it before. I just wanted people yo have space and their ability to have their own time and way to grieve or deal with what they needed to in regards to Kobe Bryant before anything other was said.

But for me there's things that will be the last thing i expect to just cause all the strength I had to just say... Hey babe it's time to cry now. Just go ahead and let it go. It may seem stupid or irrelevant but just let it go. And cry for days Just because i need to.

And I see a very deep theme with Kobe And his secret life parallel running with our planet's secret human slaves.

Much like a rainbow promise of an end.

Now there's no evidential facts posted now. So don't start throwing words. I ain't here to listen to you.

Im listening to what i see in this video. Because for the first time i said why haven't i seen people crying for hostages, human trafficked victims, and so on?

As many of you know I am blocked from a lot of media, being a POW.

So i have not seen any tears regarding human trafficking.

So I'm all why can't they make a huge deal of them? Why can't people cry over those that are being hurt?

Okay so never mind i just can't see it...

So I'm not throwing down about it.

But it's what side stepped me to seeing that this is a breaking point for many people

Its also a stepping point for others.

Its many things depending on your level of activity and understanding and busyness.

I am announcing on Sunday Friday night we will have devastating news followed by amazing news. So if you hated Kobe you will know why and you will be floored by your intuition. If you loved Kobe because you saw him play in his first year or because you only saw his good side, you will have a better grasp on the difficult time I had with Matt Hagan.

At any rate, regardless how you feel, please do tune in.

In the end... There will be no bad news about Kobe.

In the end i say. During you'll want to keep your vomit bags close to you and keep Tupac in your heart.

I've written about each topic that you'll see on Sunday. Friday.

The Magic Tree said he can make a version which will flow smoother. Because we had Part A and Part B which would make many people sick so he did from 2 hours to 1 and a half and it's a much happier story throughout so it's less traumatizing but will be over all shocking.

So that's on Sunday Friday night.

There are points where it is said that you should protect your child from the information. And there's a table of contents which will be available tonight here Which will let you know which break is for which.

For example break 1 is for the 2016 coverage. So then it will say break 1. So you refer to the table that will be pinned here to see what it is going to be about.

So if you don't want your self to see something graphic or your child you'll know to change the channel or put it on mute and look at your phone or what have you. Its color coded and a thin colored line will be at the top of the screen. So say break one is blue. A blue line will be on the top of the screen if you can't be handling such an issue and there's also going to be a time start that will be listed here.

So you'll see it's very traumatic and can be triggering and the information will be very detailed. With evidence. Which means videos of each event.

So the table of contents is very simple and can be misleading so you guys can kinda play around in your mind about what they mean

You will find how you have loyalty. To people or to truth or do you bow to intuition?

How do you think?

Did you have it toying at the back of your ear all along? Did you tell it to fuck off? Or did you like really feel the ill of it?

It's to help you learn yourself.

So we're not going to mess with your minds here. We will allow you to naturally flow through the information if you would like.

Mark Anthony is tripping on me. So i will say that number 2 has two ways... I think it's the best way yo say it. And currently only one way is in the video and at the end There will be a multiple answer question where you use the intuition you have to answer and there will be prizes just for answering which will differ on how you answer. So if you answer it correct the first time then it's a better prize then if it's you did the correct answer then changed it then went back to the first Its the same prize. There's a little system

So 24 hours to answer then 24 hours to claim the prize

The question will be posted after issue 2 is over and so you can answer right away but the 24 hours start 1 hour after the show is over. This way you have a free hour to process the information. But if you are a better answerer like me when you first hear the information you have the chance to answer right away before you get busy with more information. You can answer as many times as you like. No hash tags necessary.

Otherwise there will be a comprehension quiz which will be rewarded as usual. It will be one post that you'll need to answer in all. Like a test at school.

It should be fairly easy if you watch it. If you don't watch certain segments and take breaks instead you just write that on that question. Like skip, break. Didn't watch.

Or you can guess. Who did ..... in segment 4? I guess Kobe from all the internet reactions.

They are gonna do a little magic and so 4 hours after you watch the video to the end the quiz will show up for you. Then it will automatically grade it for you And show you how to access your prize or deliver is the word Mark Anthony used.

I'm gonna hint at you. If you are missing someone because they are dead, you'll want to do that quiz ASAP. It cannot be submitted until you finish unless you have work or something and you can't watch it live

So if you answer the question about segment 2 correctly because you ARE at work... Then you will get the surprise in advance

So for real people working and only for reals remember i am super strict... 1. Try your hardest and give your for real answer. 1B you will not have the ability to see it. But to enjoy your surprise while watching the video late -- do number two. 2. Answer all the answers. Do NOT do all of the above or none of the above those are wrong, do A B C D E etc one has to be correct.

So you'll do

Real answer: C

Winning Answer cause i was for real at work or transporting to or from or volunteering to help empty a human traffic facility: A B C D E F G

Or however many answers there are. They say only to D.

.....

Now people watching LIVE will finish the comprehension quiz to make sure you actually paid attention to get the prize.

No one will get prizes until 15 minutes after the show ends. So don't be rushing

Quality matters. If you get 100% correct you get more prizes. If you get 40% well you will get one and good luck.