I Dont Actually Know

This is just my reblogs corner

[alkiyon]

artwork for 𝙇𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 written by my beloved writer, @woshi-liu ! I LOVE LOVE LOVE their works so much you guys should check out their fics and give them much love because they deserve it! the fic itself is E rated so please beware!

⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

[genshinimpactresources]

Genshin Impact | 2024 Birthday Artworks & Character Shorts: Xiao

Artist: DSマイル

Download Link (Google Drive)

[kiki-1109]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY TOP 1 BLORBO

[judas-iscaryot]

EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP SCIENTISTS AT THE SCHMIDT OCEAN INSTITUTE HAVE FOOTAGE OF A LIVE COLOSSAL SQUID FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

🦑‼️🦑‼️🦑‼️🦑‼️🦑‼️🦑

[judas-iscaryot]

for context, scientists have know about these mfs for like a HUNDRED YEARS but only now have they actually seen one ALIVE !!

[judas-iscaryot]

🦑‼️

[bookantique]

And it's not even an adult!!! It's a baby! they found a non-colossal colossal squid!

[maburp]

I haven’t played Genshin in forever but I think the debate on how Natlan is so technologically advanced is funny. We have Fontaine which has working gears and motors and guns and trains. Sumeru has a guy with noise cancelling headphones and a music player. It is not far fetched for Natlan to have a motorcycle and DJ. More curious is how Mondstadt is so behind on all of this, like they just discovered the wheel probably. Is the rest of teyvat (-Inazuma because they only opened borders awhile back…) having a technology race while Mondstadt doesn’t gaf? Anyways I love mondstadt I should play genshin again.

[trash-soup]

"Inshalla he will OD soon" fucking sent me

[sunseths]

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I fell asleep in my friends' arms. It was eleven at night, we were tired, curled up in a small pile on my tiny bed. I had my head buried in my roommate's side, and one of my closest friend's hand on my shoulder, steadying me. It was quiet and nothingness and peace and their heartbeats in my ears, my hands in their hair.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

We pack four people to that little bed, you know. Laps used as footrests, collarbones as pillows, little lights like moonlight in rustic yellow bathed on their faces. The TV plays an anime. The words are repeated by my dear friend on my shoulder, curled close. My legs are asleep; my roommate may be, too.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

The cat curls on top of our criss cross mess of legs and arms and heads on chests to absorb the warmth of us all. She purrs in contented peace. When my roommate and I are left alone in the quiet, she cries, and watches the door for our friends' return.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I will never kiss them but the top of their heads. I will never touch but the warmth of their arms. I will never take more than what's freely given, and in return I put my glasses on the bedside table fashioned from a guitar amp, and when I lean into their sides, I pick up my vulnerability and place it in their capable, tender hands.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I sing for them. I cry for them. I work and I run and I withstand the worst of the world for them, because some days I get to cradle their forehead on my shoulder and some days I get to see their shining eyes.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

Maybe to you. But look beyond explanation. I love them. With my heart in my unsteady hands, with my nose pressed to the side of their head, with the buzzing in my feet and the warmth all around Iike the sunset pushing into the window.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

Is it enough to say I love them? With no strings attached? With reckless abandon and utter devotion and freedom and kindness and fear?

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I cannot explain it any clearer. I love my friends. There is no more to say.

[queenjulia11]

Beautiful.

[maburp]

Sometimes LinkedIn fills me with a comparison dread. Look at what these people are doing with their life look at these accomplishments you don’t have.

But also sometimes it’s like looking and peaking into experiences other people have. A small simplified page of their book. How did they struggle forward to where they are now? A gap between education years, to figure things out? And everyone IS constantly trying to figure things out. Some pivot from a completely different life to fulfil an ideal they didn’t have until later.

LinkedIn is still awful but sometimes it’s weirdly warming seeing the gaps inbetween of humaneness.

[blood-orange-juice-deactivated2]

Baby, wake up, a new Aether and Lumine dynamic just dropped

Two stars exploding and merging into a black hole

[blood-orange-juice-deactivated2]

you get it

[steviecrowdude]

love is in the air? wrong. evil skull

[ashesofdawn]

In light of Alhaitham’s birthday, I think a post about his green flags are in order. This is the other character I love besides Kaeya that keeps getting marked as a “walking red flag” and for what? I’ve said before Kaeya is a character who became more understandable with more adult experiences and living with neurodivergence, and Alhaitham probably fits this bill just as much, if not more. So I’ll do what I did for Kaeya, list his green flags then take a deeper look at what often gets him labeled as a red flag.

Alhaitham’s undeniable green flags:

He knows what proper boundaries are and respects them so much: Yeah, this one’s a huge factor in how much I end up liking any character from this game. From his actions in the Archon Quest, his quotes about others, his Story Quest and other content, I’ve never gotten anything but a safe impression from Alhaitham. In the Sumeru Archon Quest, as early as Act I he gives the Traveler the option to back out of doing the investigation with him. Although the Traveler has to agree to advance the plot, the mere fact that he put it out there was enough to put me at ease. Throughout the Archon Quest, he consistently makes sure they’re still willing to go through with it, especially after he reveals any ulterior motives he has. In his quote about helping the Traveler, he deems them capable enough of not needing his help - and just like Kaeya, this shows that he won’t just blindly jump in and forcefully help someone without knowing the whole story. And it’s not just the Traveler either - he makes sure they understand Shani’s plight before taking them to talk to her, as she has trust issues and pushing her to talk would make things worse. In his quote about Dehya, he’s bummed that she doesn’t want to be a scholar, but adds that he understands and doesn’t push her on it further. As much as he scrutinized Kaveh and Dori’s lifestyles, he never tries to stop them from doing what they want unless they’re actively putting themselves in danger. He even admires how Dori knows what she wants out of life, as much as he doesn’t condone her actions (his quote about Dori). In his Story Quest, he gives Ilyas a lot of leeway on what to do after leaving Siraj’s lair, and never tries to make decisions for him nor push him. And whenever someone says no to him or disapproves of him, he just shrugs it off and moves on with his life without trying to bother that person about it. It’s this consideration that makes someone a genuinely kind and safe person to be around.

Transparency and accountability: Another thing that ties into Alhaitham feeling like a safe character is how he tries to be as upfront as possible with his motives, and is willing to apologize and change his behavior if he messes up. When involving the Traveler in the Sumeru Archon Quest, he admits that he can’t tell them everything just yet after they meet, but promises to do so later on. Not only does he follow up on that when they journey to the desert, but he also apologizes to the Traveler for involving them in such a way. Even in context, Alhaitham hadn’t actually done anything wrong, but he’s still considerate enough of the Traveler to take accountability for any hurt he might’ve caused and doesn’t hold any hard feelings they might have against them. And after that, he continues to be transparent with them, especially during the part with the Canned Knowledge capsules. And despite what everyone else thinks, he does voice his true feelings to them and gives straight answers, but for whatever reason got goaded for an “ulterior motive” when he does so during the Archon Quests (like when he says Dehya is smart enough to be a scholar or when he tells Kaveh what had happened when he’d gone to the desert, he’s 100% telling the truth but the other person thinks he’s mocking them - and those are just two of multiple instances. I love the Sumeru cast, but seriously, what was up with that?). And as we’ve seen with leveling up his friendship, he’s willing to show a more vulnerable side of himself to someone who’s earned his trust, like where he can be found outside of work or giving them a way to talk to him whenever they want with no strings attached. And he continues being this transparent even after having multiple meaningful friendships, like in Cyno’s Story Quest. Alhaitham can be trusted to tell it like it is, even in the face of people refusing to believe him for…reasons.

Genuine empathy and critical thinking/Open-Mindedness: Contrary to how he tends to be portrayed, Alhaitham never claims to understand and know everything - in fact, he tends to admit to the opposite, but even so he tends to be very accepting of it. His first two birthday chibi art captions demonstrate this - he doesn’t understand why he received gifts and birthday wishes from his friends, but thanks them and accepts them anyway. In the teapot, he says that it would be nice if everyone was able to live a life with as few annoyances as possible. One of his Imaginarium Theater lines has him looking all over the children’s books on the shelves, and voicing disapproval at how the Akademiya deems them “distractions” instead of valuable learning experiences. He’s able to understand why Dehya wouldn’t want to be a scholar, why Dori would thrive with her kind of lifestyle, and - get this - he has high praises for Nilou for building a life that lets her play to her strengths and happiness. (All of these can be found in his respective quotes for these characters). So I’m not sure how anyone ended up with the idea that he looks down on people outside of academia. Hell, he’s quite respectful of Candace and doesn’t try to talk over her or question her word while the party’s in Aaru village, respects Shani to the point he won’t let the Traveler and Cyno talk to her unless they understood where she’s coming from, and is even invested in Isak’s progress in reading and writing despite having minimal interactions with him. And in Parade of Providence, he cares more about Kaveh getting the closure he needs rather than the possibility that he got something wrong. Even outside of that, he’s always trying to learn new things and trying to expand his worldview despite already knowing so much, and admits when he can’t fully grasp something but tries to see it from another angle anyway. Just like Kaeya, he’s not bogged down by ego or trying to look like some one-note version of a “good person”, which ironically does make him more believable as one of the playable heroes of the game.

Tactfulness: Yep, I’m being 100% serious here. Despite Alhaitham caring less about what others think of him than his companions, he knows when to draw the line, especially for someone else’s sake. Like when he was interrogating Shani, we don’t see exactly what he said to her but he was still able to gain the trust of this woman who didn’t even feel safe within her own village, and only lets the Traveler talk to her when they’re willing to repeat that same level of tact. He complains about the way Kaveh decorates their home, but won’t stop him since it makes him happy. He is notably gentle when he accompanies Ilyas in his Story Quest, being encouraging where everyone else was disparaging him and even giving a considerate answer when questioned whether he’s Ilyas’s friend. I was fully expecting him to say “nope, I’m not Ilyas’s friend” but instead he points to the Traveler and Paimon and goes “they’re more his friends than I am,” retaining his honesty but not saying something that might crush morale. Hell, the entire quest is about him putting his foot down if one of his personal conflicts would end up hurting someone else. And if the Traveler decides not to tell Kaveh the truth in Parade of Providence, Alhaitham does it instead, and from Kaveh’s reaction he managed to do it in a much more reassuring way that gives Kaveh the closure he needs. Alhaitham prioritizes self-care and comfort, but would still prefer not to do it at the expense of others.

Now let’s take apart some of those “red flags”, shall we?

Apathy towards social interactions: Don’t make me tap the sign: just because someone isn’t bubbly and constantly showering you in praise doesn’t mean that they’re rude or an asshole. And to be completely blunt, Alhaitham’s apathy is actually pretty reasonable if you take a look at how he’s usually treated by the people around him. I’ve gone into that at length in the linked post, so I won’t repeat myself too much. But the way he chooses to just stay away from people who don’t like him rather than engage with them and end up aggravating the issue is a sign of maturity, the complete opposite of a red flag, and the only time he puts his foot down is when he and other people are put in danger by it. That’s a fine boundary to have, and he actually enforces it.

His attitude towards Kaveh: Everyone who thinks this is a red flag completely missed the point that Kaveh himself eventually got. Consider how Kaveh can get pretty insecure about his public image to the point of keeping his true feelings in and hiding any issues he might have. As we’ve seen with Mondstadt previously, that’s not a healthy attitude to have and can cause huge problems if allowed to go unaddressed. Before he was able to befriend people like the Traveler, Tighnari, Cyno and Faruzan, Alhaitham was the main presence in Kaveh’s life. He also happened to be someone that Kaveh could openly feel frustrated, sad, or just plain negative around, especially in public. Alhaitham doesn’t take it personally and isn’t badly affected by Kaveh’s negative emotions, so he’s actually providing a very needed safe space for Kaveh to let the mask fall and stop being a people pleaser for five minutes, and people won’t think anything of it because “oh, Alhaitham’s kinda annoying, we get it too.” And since Alhaitham can talk back if he wants to and easily leave a situation he doesn’t like, he’s not put in a compromising position by it either. Also, if Kaveh was terrified of Alhaitham and was being controlled by him, do you really think he’d be able to talk boldly at him as often as he does without retaliation, or be able to casually bring up the idea of buying new furniture for the house or decorating it the way he wants? They both have agency in this scenario, even when things were rougher for them in the beginning. And notice how when Kaveh finds other people who can see him for who he is and won’t judge him, his relationship with Alhaitham actually improved significantly because he isn’t just showing his frustrations to one person anymore. They still have disagreements here and there, but they don’t go nearly as far and are actually kinda endearing. There’s a good reason Kaveh considers Alhaitham “his home.”

Sharp Words: He has a sharp choice of words for a lot of people, it’s true. But…notice how it’s almost always people he wants to be left alone by or someone who crossed one of his boundaries. Paimon has quite a few moments like this during the Archon Quest; a lot of his snide remarks are towards her, but it’s often preceded by a) her complaining about the books he’s reading (which are important to him and none of her business) or b) her talking loudly in his face (considering he has multiple voicelines and emoticons complaining about noise or wanting quiet, plus noise cancelling headphones, this is a pretty important boundary for him). It doesn’t help that at this point, he isn’t particularly close to her or the Traveler so he’d be extra guarded around them, and he mainly starts toning this down after his own Story Quest after getting to know both of them better. He’s also pretty snide towards the mercenaries in Act I (who he wants nothing to do with and literally call him a lunatic), a bunch of Akademiya personnel (who readily assume he’s arrogant and malicious unprovoked when he wants nothing to do with them), Kaveh (who can get pushy and refused to believe him even when he told the truth a few times), Cyno (who also fell into the trap of assuming Alhaitham was mocking him before their misunderstanding was cleared up), etc. I’ve said before that Alhaitham’s attitude was a deliberate way to get people to leave him alone so that his boundaries wouldn’t be crossed, and this is what I meant by that. And considering how much he loosened up once he had friends that won’t take his quips personally, that seals it even further.

His refusal to treat the Traveler and Paimon like they’re above criticism: This one of all things is actually a very green flag. Even after becoming close to the Traveler and Paimon, he doesn’t let them off the hook and will still be blunt towards them, and doesn’t try to give them special treatment. This is often taken as a sign that he’s “mean” or “never opened up to the traveler”, but let me tell you something about friendships especially as you grow older: Even if someone’s “opened up” to you there will still be some lines that they don’t want crossed no matter how much they like you. And if they straight up tell you what those lines are, don’t take it personally - oftentimes, it actually means that they want to trust you to understand and make an effort not to cross them. Alhaitham doing this with the Traveler and Paimon means he sees them as equals, and he has this attitude with everyone else around him as well - and he’s been so good at enforcing said boundaries that it’s impossible for anyone to find him if he doesn’t want them to. And aside from that, the Traveler needs people like this in their life too, considering how they’ve still got a lot of learning and growing to do with this world around them. Along with Kaeya and Heizou, Alhaitham’s one of those characters who often checks the Traveler about jumping to conclusions and judging others too quickly based on initial biases - which I’ve mentioned is something they really need to take to heart. All three of them also do it in a blunt but tactful way that never makes it feel like they’re talking down to the Traveler. Being a good friend means that sometimes, you have to be willing to have these uncomfortable conversations with your friend if it means they won’t end up hurting themselves or others, especially if said friend is supposed to be someone who wants to make the world a better place. Alhaitham genuinely wants to see the Traveler grow and trusts them enough to keep giving them feedback on it while also being open to feedback from them, and I think it’s pretty rad.

That’s all I have to say about the feeble scholar for now, feel free to add on this if you think I missed anything!

[samairuart]

[thelocalmuffin]

Hey everyone, I know it's going to be a busy day for a lot of people, but Google enrolled everyone over 18 into their AI program automatically.

If you have a google account, first go to gemini.google.com/extensions and turn everything off.

Then you need to go to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini and turn off all Gemini activity tracking. You do have to do them in that order to make sure it works.

Honestly, I'm not sure how long this will last, but this should keep Gemini off your projects for a bit.

I saw this over on bluesky and figured it would be good to spread on here. It only takes a few minutes to do.

[yeahwrite]

Writers: It's asking to read your Google Docs and be able to 'summarize' things from them and such things. I just turned all mine off.

[lvnesart]

babe made for ME

[finisnihil]

Liking Webtoons and wanting to analyze them is such a nightmare because most of their fandom activity is in the comments on the episodes, and a lot of the people there love to start beating characters the minute they're too morally grey/flawed or they're considered threatening to the main ship in any way.

For example, using For My Derelict Favorite, Helios gets dragged way too much at times. Like, I see people make him out to be a purely malicious force who's just as bad as Diana as if it's not emphasized that he acknowledges his feelings are wrong and will never act on them and the main reason why he harbors them is because the subejct of those feelings, Hestia, is way more competent than his wife.

A wife who's refusing to acknowledge nuance or her fading powers out of fear and insecurity and shuts down any attempts at healthy communication he attempts to initiate to the point she chases out the woman who basically raised him when his mother died. He can't rely on her and has basically no support system but he can rely on Hestia and his feelings are more born out of a desire to have somebody close who he can rely on.

The difference between Diana and him is WILDLY big, with Diana chasing out anyone who tries to question her and replacing them with the corrupt temple, choosing to drop her husband the minute he doesn't validate her batshit wild choices. She then decides to go and steal another woman's husband, who she previously condemned to the point of him becoming suicidal, because he defied her strict moral compass. Helios chooses to protect her still because she's his wife and he loves her and doesn't want to give up on her which is an objectively bad move, but he's in an awful position where anything he does will result in some kind of loss.

But I see the comments crawling with complete vilification and ignoring the character's honestly fascinating struggles so they can piss on him for threatening the beloved main ship. I even see some people compare him to WAYYYY worse characters, like Sovieshu from The Remarried Empress, which takes some sort of mental gymnastics as they are only similar to a surface level extent. Sovieshu is unredeemable but Helios is trying and making some bad calls while under pressure along the way.

For another example lets look at Annabel Lee from the amazing comic Nevermore. Everyone in the series is morally grey to some extent and some people will piss on Annabel Lee for being cruel, selfish, etc in such a shallow way. Instead of actually looking at her, a flawed character in a really fucked up situation trying to protect the one she loves at the cost of others, some people just say she's a bitch and want her to be expelled from the narrative for it. We can analyze Annabel Lee and why she’s Like That in so many ways because she's an incredibly dynamic and round character but some people don't care about that they just care she was Super Mean in some way and deem her The Enemy.

I have so many more examples like the fighting in the Jackson's Diary comments about who was the bad guy in a situation where both characters hurt each other in awful ways (I could go on about that for hours and might make a seperate analysis on it) but I think this post is long enough and I don't feel like inciting the possible wrath of any more comic fanbases.

Anyways if you're interested in any of the mentioned comics I encourage you to check them out for yourself!

[kevmeisu]

alhaitham & paimon thoughts (with mentions of the traveler, wanderer, and nahida <3) because he is clearly fond of her and wants her to learn stuff, their stupid silly friendship is so sweet

i imagine enrolling into the akademiya would obviously require a pen on paper process, amongst other things - perhaps an entrance exam. since he's already done this before, and is doing this again for paimon without any notice to the traveler and her; he just checks off all the answers because he knows them already.

personal information? first name paimon, last name fairy, optional middle name floaty. or something like that.

age??? he just jots some random ass number down

address? he just puts down his own home address. easy peasy

paimon and the traveler receive TWO letters; one from him and another with a seal of the akademiya waxed onto it. the other letter was sent to his place, but he sends it with his own letter to Them.

they open his fucking letter and paimon loses her mind because "what do you mean that guy enrolled paimon into the akademiya!??!?!?" and the other letter is the acceptance letter - it details how she's been accepted and lists the courses and classes she'll take, what darshan she's in and all that

imagine she actually attends one class and it's with wanderer; he had no damn clue she was even enrolled until now. that makes both of them just fire up and want to better the other because . They're stupid like that

when wanderer gets back to nahida and tells her about it, she's like "oh yeah! i already know! alhaitham told me he was gonna do it"

he didn't tell her BECAUSE he wanted to get approval from her for it, no. he wasn't even gonna tell her. he just gave her a heads up about that because they happened to bump into each other at the house of daena that day, and he was like Sure why not . he would've done it regardless, whether he let nahida know ahead of time or not

anyways i have so many silly thoughts about them they are everything to me i love sumeru

[cheriafreya]

Dr Ratio and Aventurine in Rota Fortunae, by Megane98, Unnämed/Lucien