The Magister @magisterfriedahtri - Tumblr Blog

Adult Transgender Legislative Risk Map, November 2024

This map is made and maintained by transgender journalist Erin Reed. She read all 550 bills targeting trans people in America in 2023 and 586 so far in 2024 and she scores state safety based on proposed and enacted legislation. She regularly updates the map (including explanations of recent legislative changes) on her site. She has a separate map for trans youth (which: warning, is even more scary), since a lot of policies target minors specifically.

It’s depressing as all hell, but Erin does great work and I’ve been using her maps to plan my career and vacations for years. It’s helped me figure out where to apply for grad school, and helps me keep track of what states I cannot do a layover in while flying because of bathroom bills.

wolvereaux

here’s the current map as of January 19th, 2025

bitchesgetriches

A Video to Send to Your Trump-voting Friends and Family

theconcealedweapon

arcadialedger

As an ace fandom elder, I present to you a quick (non comprehensive) guide to some ace literature. Enjoy!

Happy International Asexuality Day! And yes, there is aro rep here as well. We’re not here to exclude non romantic aces. There is POC rep as well!

staff

Hi, Tumblr. It’s Tumblr. We’re working on some things that we want to share with you.

AI companies are acquiring content across the internet for a variety of purposes in all sorts of ways. There are currently very few regulations giving individuals control over how their content is used by AI platforms. Proposed regulations around the world, like the European Union’s AI Act, would give individuals more control over whether and how their content is utilized by this emerging technology. We support this right regardless of geographic location, so we’re releasing a toggle to opt out of sharing content from your public blogs with third parties, including AI platforms that use this content for model training. We’re also working with partners to ensure you have as much control as possible regarding what content is used.

Here are the important details:

We already discourage AI crawlers from gathering content from Tumblr and will continue to do so, save for those with which we partner.

We want to represent all of you on Tumblr and ensure that protections are in place for how your content is used. We are committed to making sure our partners respect those decisions.

To opt out of sharing your public blogs’ content with third parties, visit each of your public blogs’ blog settings via the web interface and toggle on the “Prevent third-party sharing” option.

For instructions on how to opt out using the latest version of the app, please visit this Help Center doc.

Please note: If you’ve already chosen to discourage search crawling of your blog in your settings, we’ve automatically enabled the “Prevent third-party sharing” option.

If you have concerns, please read through the Help Center doc linked above and contact us via Support if you still have questions.

toki-pona

unfortunately, a lot of the userbase won't opt out. those who don't see this post, those who have posted to tumblr but don't anymore, users on older versions of the app who forget to opt out next time they're on desktop, etc. the point of making it opt-out is to take advantage of people who wouldn't have opted in but don't/can't opt out in time. automatically opting out people who have discouraged search crawling is a gesture that helps Tumblr look more kind, but from the fact that everyone else has to manually opt out, Tumblr is definitely not looking benevolent.

I wonder, will Tumblr/Automattic be selling images from deactivated blogs? I assume deactivated blogs can't opt out.

when will they start selling this data? Is it already too late to keep them from selling every image you've posted before you opted out?

and if they're especially malicious, I wonder if they could get away with saying "this image is from a blog that's opted out, but it was reblogged by a blog that hasn't opted out, so we're selling the image that's on that non-opted-out blog."

making users need to opt out to keep their images from being taken and sold is a shitty move that makes it clear Tumblr/Automattic don't respect our privacy, and @staff are really not giving us much info here to suggest otherwise.

noklateo

Brant - Dragon's Dogma 2

The honest and righteous captain of the palace guard. He has been demoted among the royal court for opposing the Queen Regent. Concerned for the best interests of Vermund, he offers his cooperation to the Arisen.

sweeetestcurse

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan 17/??

bobokitty

Annette's poster for y'all is out! ; w ; <3 <3 <3 adore her

dispatchesfromtheclasswar

biglawbear

Good for this person. This is exactly what you do. Screw the job.

I had a job that made me work an all nighter, 30 hours straight, over Thanksgiving. I resigned that Monday and it was one of the most satisfying decisions I’ve ever made.

running-in-the-dark

Part 3:

invaderxan

Please pay attention to all the manipulation tactics this boss uses, because they’re pulling out every trick in the book.

“I’m not your boss, I’m your friend”

“Other people will be hurt by this and it’s your fault and I’m going to tell them all that”

Mocking language

Jobs are important too

“Be a team player”

“We’re your family too”

Talking as if this is a thing you must do

“We all make sacrifices”

Undermining your authority

“You caused all of this, really”

Accusing you of being “unprofessional”

“Look at the money you cost us”

“Just laugh it off and come back to work”

This is like a 101 course in how employers use guilt trips to coerce you into putting up with their bullshit. This is precisely why you should never trust those employers who insist that they’re “like a family.” They are not. It’s just a ruse so that your boss can neg you into putting your job ahead of your actual life.

jewishdragon

Ms. Frizzle *in a star fleet uniform* “battle stations everyone”

warriortomaiden

We never violated the Prime Directive at my old school…

valhella-jeff

I did the thing…

jewishdragon

Yes this is exactly what I had in mind

agrownupgeekgirl

To be honest.. if more children were shown from birth that they are loved, cared for, and listened no matter their gender we might not have some of the problems we have now.

the-real-seebs

Parents: Aloof disdain! Shun! Distance!

Also Parents: Why doesn’t my child talk to me?

notyourusualvet

You can give your children independence, make them ready to take the world on their own, and yet cuddle them and show them they are loved.

Those two things don’t contradict each other and can, should actually!, very well coexist in any child’s life.

adz

chaosnightmare

so when i do the Autistically Kills You To Death Stare its "strange" and "offputting" and "bad for customer rapport" but when a skinny person with eyeshadow on does it its "trendy" and "the new look"

askagamedev

What is the basic level of competence you need to reach before trying to work on a game with a team? Basically what do you need to be able to do on your own first to ensure you're able to contribute and pull your weight in a game dev team environment

Just to note - I’m assuming a few qualities about you - that you are dedicated to learning the craft and that you are committed to finishing what you start. There will reach a point on every project after the honeymoon phase of “oh this is cool and new and interesting!” passes, the end just feels so far away, nothing is coming together, and it’s super easy to just throw in the towel there and give up at that point. I’m assuming that you’ve got enough internal fortitude to push through that and get to the part where the game starts to come together and be fun and engaging and interesting.

If the question is actually about the minimum competence level to get a job in the industry, please (re)submit the question and I’ll try to answer it with those criteria in mind instead.

Requirements - Everybody

Choose a toolset of some kind. Take your pick - Unity, Unreal, Lumberyard, RPG Maker, Game Maker, Construct, Dragon Age Toolset, Creation kit, Valve’s Source engine, whatever. Choose one, download it, install it, and get it working. If you don’t know how, follow the tutorials until you can successfully run the most basic changes you can make. This is the absolute minimum requirement you must be able to meet - if you can’t get something with a bare minimum of changes to run, you won’t be able to test or verify any changes to the game you make.

Requirements - Programmer

You must be able to write code that will solve a given problem, complete a given task, or accomplish a specific game behavior on its own. You must be able to convert spoken game rules into actively enforced behavior. That could be something as simple as “If health drops below zero, the player is dead and can no longer move”, or as complicated as “The player gains a skill point to be spent when leveling up”. You should understand how to store, read, and use data. You should have a decent grasp of logic - how to formulate the conditions you want to check, how to make the code react to those conditions being met and what the code should do if those conditions aren’t met.

If you want to learn this stuff, try completing tutorials for simple tasks in the toolset and learn the basic elements of how the code works. Then use those elements to complete simple tasks of your own. Keep it as simple to start with as possible. Remember, programming is all about coming up with a set of instructions for the computer to run in sequence. Computers are super literal, so your instructions must be extremely simple and clear.

Requirements - Artist

You must be able to create art assets in photoshop, milkshape, blender, Maya, 3D Studio Max, ZBrush, or even paper and then put them into the toolset for use. You must learn the tools to create and edit the game’s art assets, and you must be able to use the toolset editor to make sure that your imported assets are properly displayed. You must learn to adjust the toolset and the tools to make the visuals display the way you want them to.

If you want to do the art for the game, start by working through tutorials on how to import and convert assets into the game. If you’re working in 3D, retexture an existing model, bring your own model into the toolset, and try building simple keyframe animations and bringing them into the toolset. If you’re working in 2D, build sprite sheets and learn to use the sprite animation system.

Requirements - Designer

You must be able to translate a simple idea or experience from your head into the game via the toolset using code and assets. A designer needs to make her ideas work in the toolset. That could be a conversation, a quest, a spell, a character, an item, or a system. In addition to these skills, you need to be able to write documents that describe how your ideas actually work. Don’t treat these documents as commandments, but as guidelines and notes to refer back to in case you or anyone else on the team forgets some of the details.You need to know how to get the most out of the tools, and what you need to bring your ideas to life, but you also need to recognize that you aren’t the dictator or boss. You’re the one who puts the things that the rest of your team built together for a cohesive player experience and your ability to do so exists because of them. Finally, you must be able to take constructive criticism and constraints and internalize them towards improving or scrapping ideas. Nothing should be held sacred - good ideas will always withstand a trial by fire, and bad ones should be discarded before they soak up too many resources. If the programmer or artist says something isn’t feasible, it’s up to you to come up with an idea that is.

The amateur designer role is probably best described as a jack of all trades, because you’d be best served with enough coding knowledge to create small features yourself, and enough art knowledge to create placeholder assets in order to prove out prototypes. Learn how to create spaces with the toolset - a new area, a level, a map, and how to make these places distinct, memorable, and thematically appropriate from each other.

Final Requirements: Dedication

The most important thing about working with a team is making sure that everyone is on the same page, works toward the same goal, and pulls their own weight. Game development is, first and foremost, a collaborative effort. You can try combining roles or bringing more in as the team grows, but it’s really about working together and combining collective strengths. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are most games. Completing a game isn’t easy, and it will require a lot of dedication and perseverance. You will need to encourage, assist, and push each other forward to get through it. Try to avoid the rockstar auteur mentality and focus on helping each other when needed. Good luck.

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent questions: The FAQ

monwinvo

Bedtime Story.

Short story by Jeffery Whitmore! Wanted to make this into a comic for a while :] just in a girl boss sorta mood hehe

thumbs + bonus :^))

charactersofcolour

thranduilthings

-Thranduil & Elves Concept Art-

hellenhighwater

When I was a kid, my mom was a judge and my dad was starting his solo practice, and they both worked full time. There were four of us kids between the ages of one and seven (the Just Us League) and no decent daycares nearby, so they hired a nanny. She had three almost-adult children, and on days when she couldn’t work, one of her kids would substitute. The oldest kid was named Bob, age 18, and he had just finished army basic training when this all went down. Bob did not have the good sense god gave a rock.

I have an older brother, Jake, who was seven; then me, Hellen, age five, then Seth, age three, and my little sister Gin would have been one. It was late August, and we were at our nanny’s house, though she was gone for the day. Bob was in charge.

Bob should probably not have been in charge.

Bob tried keeping us entertained with board games and tag and movies. Gin took a nap. Eventually he decided to get creative, and sat us down in the living room with a game and vanished into the garage. There was a smashing sound. And then some saw noises. And then some hammering. And then we saw him going around the house to the back yard through the windows, though we were too short to see what he was doing. And finally, he yelled to us to come out into the driveway.

Jake and Seth and I trooped out. Bob had both hands behind his back. He stepped up to Jake and revealed what he had in his right hand.

It was a wooden sword. It was clearly made from what appeared to be parts of a chair’s legs, cut down and nailed together. He presented this, and announced, “You are Sir Jake, the strongest knight!”

He stepped up to Seth and presented what was in his left hand. It was another wooden sword, smaller than the first, also crudely made out of chair legs. He announced, “You are Sir Seth, the bravest knight!”

At this point, I was practically vibrating in place, waiting eagerly for my sword so I could use it to whale on my brothers, as god intended me to do. I was therefore understandably disappointed to be presented with the business end of a garden hose and told, “You are Miss Hellen, the Water Fairy!”

“No,” I said. “I want a sword.”

Bob was confused. “But you get water magic! Magic’s great!”

“No.” I repeated, holding the hose. It had a spray nozzle set to jet. “I want a sword.”

“Magic’s great. Magic’s better than a sword.” Bob insisted. “You’ll see. Wait here a moment.”

And then Bob ran around the side of house and vanished.

We stood in the driveway. Jake and Seth poked each other with their swords. I spritzed them idly with the hose, trying to decide which of them would be easier to steal a sword from.

And then we heard a quiet wooshing noise, and smelled smoke.

We turned. As we watched, a line of fire rushed around the corner of the house, consuming a path of gasoline poured into the dry August grass.

We paused and considered this for a few moments. I raised the hose and sprayed a jet of water at the fire. It went out. We glanced at each other. Then we took off running, following the trail of fire, spraying as we went.

The fire led in a path around the house to the back yard. As we turned the corner, we saw Bob, clad in a bathrobe and holding a curtain rod, standing in the center of a large ring of burning grass. He cackled manically. “I am the FIRE WIZARD! Your puny swords are useless! Nothing but water magic can defeat me!”

I promptly blasted him with the hose. He spluttered. The fire did not go out.

I turned the hose on the fire itself, spraying a section close to us so that it would extinguish. As soon as there was enough room, Jake charged forward, brandishing his chair leg sword with a battle cry. Seth, always happy to be included, followed. They ran into the circle and began beating Bob around the kneecaps with their swords. I kept spraying.

Eventually, Bob the Fire Wizard was brought down and all the fire was extinguished. Seth and Jake continued to work on bruising Bob’s shins, and I quickly discarded the hose to lend my fists and extremely pointy elbows to the cause. Bob lay in the smoldering grass, probably regretting using such sturdy chair legs.

Once we’d all tired ourselves out and lay panting in a heap, Bob decided it was time for the moral of the story. “You see, a sword is nothing compared to the power of a little girl with **magic**.”

We thought about this for a few moments. Bob nodded wisely. Jake and Seth nodded back.

“I still want a sword.” I said.

hellenhighwater

there’s a lot of people in the tags and replies expressing several concerns, which I will address:

“Where was Gin?” She was sleeping in a crib on the sunporch. We did this a lot–played outside while she napped–because we could hear her if she woke up and started crying, but were less likely to wake her up. She slept through the whole thing and was totally fine.

“You can’t put out a gasoline fire with water.” At the time, my little kid brain assumed that any flammable liquid was gas, but in retrospect it could have been almost anything. It very well may have been something other than gasoline. All I know is I could extinguish it with a garden hose.

“What did your parents say?” A lot of swear words at a very high volume.

“Did you get a sword?” Yes. Lots. Here are a couple of them, and also my pet ringneck dove, Arson. You can see how this all may have had some lasting effect on me.