I wish we had been born into a kinder time.

But we weren't. So we're going to have to build one.

and we will build one

I will literally never stop thinking about this.

Is this anything

summoning rituals and vanishing rituals but used strictly for the purposes of transporting commercial cargo

ouija boards used to recover personal device passcodes (grampa we can't get into your email). disposable magic wands with preprogrammed spells for basic repairs/maintenance. flying broomsticks that are the cultural equivalent of hanggliders (expensive, impractical, recreational, and you gotta sign a waiver). necromancy that's just CPR with a longer shelflife, and now there are ER waiting rooms full of dead people.

Ironically, hard light is bad for recording sexy time.

It will highlight every pore, every vein, every wrinkle on your nutsack.

One day I will end this ring light fad. It is my ultimate side quest.

It seems my lighting advice has given people a mistaken impression...

These outtakes where the flash didn't go off are also AI generated.

I like this spooky dutch angle one.

I was just starting to learn flash and I didn't have all the equipment I needed. Since corgis are quite short, I had to put the lighting on the ground. The off camera flash was on a tipped over lightstand with a shoot-through umbrella to diffuse the light.

But I had no wireless triggers. And the only other way to trigger a flash, is with another flash. So I used the on-camera pop up flash to trigger the main flash.

But I had two issues.

First, I did not want that dinky on camera flash affecting my picture.

Second, triggering a flash with a flash is best done indoors. The flash will bounce all around the room and eventually hit the sensor so the main flash triggers. When you are outdoors, there is no bouncing.

SO... I took a little handheld makeup mirror and angled it toward my main flash. This blocked the dinky pop up flash and sent the beam of light towards the main flash to trigger it.

I was lying on the wet morning grass, holding a camera in one hand, a mirror in the other, trying to aim the mirror exactly toward the main flash, making crazy noises to get Otis's attention, and trying to get the focus point on his face so I didn't get a blurry photo. Also, Otis was much more interested in sniffing things than posing for a photo.

Here is an overhead view that might help explain.

I await all of your comments saying my amazing drawring is clearly AI generated.

Only 30% of the time did the flash actually go off. Aiming the mirror was tricky and I was doing like 8 things at once. I wasn't even sure I got the photo I wanted. But when I came back to the computer there was one that stood out and it is one of my favorites I've ever taken.

It was the best combination of monumental effort, great discomfort, perfect foggy sunrise light, and just pure luck.

Unfortunately, people like me who use advanced sculpting light techniques are getting accused of using AI more and more. Not really sure what to do about it—other than show the 30 awful photos it took to get the good one.

My 80s sunglasses photo and spoon photo get called out the most.

But it's just good old fashioned gradient lighting which has been used in product photography since the days of film.

So, no need to be suspicious.

Photography like sirfrogsworth's is what the fucken AIs were TRAINED on.

have you guys seen the zesty b1 battledroid....

The pics are cropped from this (Star Wars Insider 47, the artist is Hugh Fleming!)

seeing all the 14-17 y/o queer kids who don’t know what v for vendetta is…. u mean the blockbuster film written by two trans women about a masked vigilante who decides to singlehandedly take down a fascist alternate version of england set in the distant year of 2020… and his driving force was getting justice for a lesbian who he never met but whose diary he found, who was separated from her wife before being killed by said fascist gov…. and it stars natalie portman…. okay

the movie is great, with amazing acting:

and the original graphic novel is phenomenal:

I highly recommend them both

and they’ve never been more relevant

“People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

There’s strong subtext that V is a trans man and A)the lesbian from the diary or B)her wife.

frankly I prefer the movie over the comic, for three reasons:

1) lewis prothero as a rush limbaugh/glenn beck/bill o’reilly type is both more applicable and way funnier than a 1940s radio propagandist 

2) it has stephen fry as gordon detriech, and makes him explicitly gay and pretending to be attracted to evey as part of being closeted than actually attracted to evey and having sex with her while she hides in his home.

3) the movie came out in 2005; that is, only four years after 9/11, while the Iraq war was still in full swing, and while xenophobia and Islamophobia were not just acceptable, but tacitly encouraged by the administration at the time. which makes the following exchange even more poignant and sweet:

just… the easy acceptance of it. the idea that a religion that he doesn’t believe in and that has been explicitly outlawed in-universe is a source of beauty. I’m not Muslim, either, but that particular moment really stuck with me emotionally.

Love this movie

“…I remember how different became dangerous. I still don’t understand it, why they hate us so much. They took Ruth while she was out buying food. I’ve never cried so hard in my life. It wasn’t long till they came for me.

It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years, I had roses, and apologize to no one.

I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch, but one. An Inch, it is small and it is fragile, but it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.

I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you. I love you. With all my heart, I love you. -Valerie”

SOBBING

Thi movie changed me so much. So so much.

Honestly V’s acting is some of the most top notch stuff I’ve ever seen.

“No, what you have are bullets, and the hope that when your guns are empty I am no longer standing, because if I am—you’ll all be dead before you’ve reloaded.”

The film (which I saw in the theater opening night) was EXPLICITLY made as rebellious pushback against the political environment in the US post 9/11. All of the evil politicians in the film INTENTIONALLY look like US right wing political figures, including Bush, Cheney, and Rush Limbaugh.

It’s not, like, subtle, if you were there at the time. Especially if you compare it to the original novel. (I also prefer the film because it gets rid of the weird sexism.)

However I have to say Natalie Portman’s accent in that movie annoys the fuck outta me. It’s not great. BUT Hugo Weaving is magnificent.

It’s very unfortunate that it’s major cultural impact was through a series of unlikely turns, getting the Guy Fawkes mask adopted as an alt-right symbol. Because like the Matrix, right wing people SUCK at picking up on films themes.

I saw the movie because of the near constant trailers.

I didn’t know what to expect going on, something like bat man I thought.

I left the cinema with V’s speeches burnt into my mind.

I was in love.

To this day, when the world looks dark, I watch V for Vendetta and pray that some one will stand up, that we get a morden day V…. Because the Domino’s are lined up, just waiting for a push….

What’s going on in horses

So basically, this is Haru Urarara, one of the "starter" characters. Much like every uma, she's based on a real life famous racehorse of the same name.

Or rather, infamous. Ol'haru has the record of the largest streak of consecutive losses in the sport, ending with a career of 113 losses to 0 wins. Despite that, she was absolutely beloved by everyone in Japan, and had a pretty significant fan club. At her trainer's words, she was capable but simply enjoyed running with other horses too much, and wouldn't break out of the pack to seize a win.

This is reflected in her personality: She's a jovial, easily distracted klutz that simply races because she finds it fun. In a game where "why am I in this sport ?" Is a core question that moves every character forward, she sticks out like a sore thumb. It is even represented in gameplay, with her special skill giving her a stamina boost when she's surrounded by other umas mid-race.

Uma musume is basically a roguelite. Every character's career mode has a certain number of goals to reach before the final scenario race. You fail or succeed, then you can use your veteran uma as an "inspiration" for further runs, inheriting part of her stats and skills. Those goals are usually "Reach X amount of fans" or "Place 1st in this race". One of Urara's goals is to run in the Arima Kiren, one of the most prestigious races in Japan. Emphasis on "Run", no need to reach the top 5 or anything. Why you ask ?

Because Urara joined this event because a lot of her classmates also did, and wants to run with them too. Everyone, MC included, notes how unsuitable Haru is for this. Every girl has different affinities for ground type (firm turf or loose dirt) and race lengths (fast sprints vs mile long medium vs longer ones). The Arima Kiren is a Long Turf Race, and Haru is abysmally bad at both, preferring sprints and dirt. Moreover, due to most of the previous races being sprints, you are encouraged to build her to increase her speed and neglect stamina. It's essentially putting a 100m sprinter run a marathon. No matter how good your stats are, you're gonna beef it.

But it has a storytelling reason. After the race, there is a somber cutscene where she admits she had fun, but also she can't help but feel sad and ugly cries at you. Maybe there's more to racing than "having fun". A competitive spirit awakens in her and she vows to take future races more seriously.

A lot of people have taken it as a challenge to get Urara to win the Arima Kiren. Maybe they got guilt tripped by her cutscene, or they see it as an obstacle to overcome. They are meticulously crafting perfect inheritances in a lab as we speak, rerolling career events to get the perfect combination of inspiration that raises her turf and long affinities to acceptable levels. A key skill in this is Behold Thine Emperor's Might, giving a significant speed boost when you overtake several runners near the end of the race. Some in the JP server have done it, but it's unclear how long it will take GLB to get the tools needed for the impossible to become possible.

Okay, I knew about Haru Urara -- I like horses IRL -- and her legendary losing streak but everything else is news to me, this kicks ass and contextualizes the Kim Shot as an equivalent, thanks.

oh i love static miku.....

please stop treating the word neurodivergent like it means the overlap between autism and adhd

i dont know how to articulate this well but some of you act like neurodiversity starts with adhd and ends with autism. you talk about "the neurodivergent experience" and everytime you mean "the overlapping experience of adhd and autism."

please remember us when talking about neurodiversity. ocd, dyslexia, dyscaculia, personality disorders, tourettes, intellectual disabilities, schizo-spec disorders, etc. all fall under neurodiversity.

please stop saying neurodivergent when you mean "autism and adhd."

this post is okay to reblog but do not clown on it

I am once again adding this graphic from Lived Experience Educator

Hey everyone, remember that being sick or healing from injuries is a hard time for your body. You have to eat a lot and lay still and be kind to yourself! [large neon sign that says HYPOCRITE descends from the ceiling and points at me] Hey what the heck what's this who put that there

"ICE not welcome in the central district"

Posters seen in Seattle

Cockpit Exposure

There’s a terrible screeching of metal as your cockpit is rent open, exposed by a glancing blow from your opponents weapon. Suddenly your senses are muddled, two sources of data now vying for the attention of your shared mind. Your external cameras shift and refocus, as light streams in through the semi-transparent visor of your flight helmet.

Your partner is screaming in the back of your mind, and the terrible phantom pain in your chest tells you exactly why. It’s a huge strain on your mind to try and decipher between the information coming from your metal body, and the information coming from your flesh one. Your cockpit was designed to mimic a sensory deprivation chamber for this exact reason, most full-immersion frames are. The sensory deprivation of the pilot makes it easier to settle into the skin of the mech, fewer external distractions to remind you of your flesh body nestled under all that metal.

All of that is gone out the window now though, as the sounds and sights of combat assault your organic form through your breached cockpit. Distantly you recognize that you’re hyperventilating, and the safety systems are struggling to compensate. You guess this is because your partner’s panic is bleeding through the neural bridge. She did just get a huge chunk torn out of her front, after all.

With a monumental effort, you wrench control back from your panicking IMP, and you feel her systems settle down a bit as you enforce some order on things. The cold air and biting wind howling in your cockpit are doing all they can to distract you, but you’ve got a fight to finish and you’ll be damned if you end up gutted in your own cockpit.

Metal strains as your synthetic body stands and pulls the giant sword from the sheath on its back. You fire the boosters in your legs, feeling the g-forces slam your body back into the pilot’s seat as you charge your opponent. Blade strikes blade, and your damaged servos strain against theirs. A shot of fuel into your boosters breaks the stalemate and you pull back, circling around the opposing mech. You have to be extra careful to protect your cockpit now, one more hit to your chest and you’ll be pulp on your enemy’s blade.

Something shifts inside you, and you feel your IMP having off-loaded some of its processing into your wetware. She’s moving the limbs on your flesh body inside the cockpit, rooting around for something, piloting you the way you’re piloting her.

The lights on the front of your chassis flicker red in glee as you realize what she’s searching for. You send a mental acknowledgment over your shared link and hunch over, preparing for another bout. You’ll get your partner her opening.

According to regulation, mechs are required to have certain items stocked in their cockpits in case of emergency. Rations, a medical kit, an emergency radio, and most importantly: A flare gun. The standard flare gun had always seemed a bit superfluous to you, what difference is a meager flare going to make in spotting a 10-story tall Mech? But you’d convinced both your CO and your IMP to let you keep a few High-Explosive rounds for the thing stored alongside it, for a rainy day like today.

So the next time you clash with your opponent, blade grinding against blade, you feel your organic body move again. Your IMP makes use of the gaping hole in your chest, and manages to plant a high explosive round directly into the emergency hatch on your enemy’s chest, blowing it clean off, and disorienting their pilot in much the same way they had done to you only moments ago. You, however, will not squander this opportunity.

You drop your weapon, slam a hand through the breached hole in your opponents chest, and pulp the bleeding heart within it. The massive weapon of war you’ve been fighting slumps to the ground, the trauma of losing it’s organic half rippling through its systems. You grab the mech’s head and pull, metal screeching and cables snapping as you tear it free from the rest of the metal corpse. You find the glint of the enemy data core and crush it between two of your massive fingers, putting the enemy IMP out of its misery.

And suddenly it’s quiet again.

The faint sensation of wind upon skin echoes over the link, and you realize your IMP has removed your flight helmet. She’s half out of the pilot’s seat, and you can sense wonder radiating through the link as she looks out at the carnage through organic eyes. You decide to let her, regulation be damned.

You’re looking out at it through her eyes often enough, it’s only fair to return the favor.

Mech piloted by neural link and the more you see it as "yourself" the more fluidly you can control it but the more pain you feel when it takes damage

You can be safe in your mech as a vehicle, under heavy layers of armor and ready to eject if things go wrong, seeing the world through grainy cameras as you drag it forward one clunking step at a time and struggle to track a fast-moving target

Or you can dance in your mech as your body, engine revving in time with your heartbeat as you feel the wind across your metal skin, the heat of the gunshots you're just barely dodging a constant reminder that if your mech dies you die with it

For most pilots, the barrier between their war machine and themself is one which many are loathed to admit is more malleable than it seems. I’ve handled too many hounds who died during a sortie because even they did not notice how they considered themselves and the mech to be blurring between one and the same. For many, the only symptoms you may see is an uptick in success rates on their missions, missions done a bit quicker, done more effectively, but even then it is usually not enough time to realize what is happening before one of your hounds die of shock cause they felt the feeling of their mech getting torn in two by a monster or other mech. Its a shame really, poor hounds not even realizing how much they have lost themselves into their mech. Its a hazard you are taught to expect though, so there is little use in pitying the poor souls who die this way as for those who do come back this way are too scarred by the experience they are unable to pilot effectively. All it means is you need to find a new hound.

But many handlers eventually get tired of losing a hound, they get tired and decide that if a hound off the street won’t effectively handle these missions cause they lose themself in the role, they can obviously do better.

Heh.

Those poor fools typically die or back out long before they realize how much of a siren’s song it truly is. Those that do survive though, see just how hard it is for one to see themselves outside of their skins of metal they encase themselves in, the feedback from their monitors blurring with their own senses, and feeling one’s heart burn with the reactor as you fire your railgun or tear into an enemy before you. Those handlers begin to be more, discerning in the hounds they take in, finding like minded individuals to deal with an enemy force, dancing around the bullets and clashing with the poor souls who are scared of their connection to their mech.

Its always fun to force them to face their fears.

But the marks don’t lie, these handlers and their packs are some of the fiercest mercs this side of the sea. Their hounds get loaned out to the highest bidder, and rarely do we disappoint.

But you knew that didn’t you?

You wouldn’t be speaking still if you were not interested. You don’t have that fear the other potential hounds do when I tell them about this. You are not afraid to let the abyss of steel and circutry gaze back into you.

Well then hound.

Welcome to the pack.