#soliloqyu

[yupuffin]

If anyone needs good news, Washington (my state) recently introduced a bill to shorten the standard work week from 40 to 32 hours, without a reduction in pay, that would go into effect in 2028 if passed :3

[yupuffin]

Noticed just now while doing my weekly bosses that Phainon's expression looks strangely peaceful while he's floating back to the ground immediately after leaving Khaslana mode and I'm like. Actually yeah it must be immensely cathartic to transform by tearing open your own ribcage at the sternum and then blast your most despised enemies with the fire of a few million suns for about eight turns and then just get gently plopped back onto the ground completely spotless as if nothing ever happened. Rage rooms got nothing on this

[yupuffin]

it's funny, I've seen people be like. "If we're so concerned about the water usage/environmental impact of powering generative AI, why aren't we also telling people to boycott the corn industry??" and it's like yeah. I definitely don't doubt that there are major environmental concerns behind the process of corn cultivation. however. Corn is involved in so many aspects of food production that complete divorce from it is nigh impossible. Or at least significantly more difficult than just. not using chatGPT. which is an extremely simple and straightforward task

[yupuffin]

I was thinking about the walrus vs. fairy question again today bc of a post that popped up on my dashboard recently and I was like. My IRL equivalent of the walrus vs. fairy question is a story about how I legitimately believed in Santa Claus until I was fourteen or fifteen years old -- the reason being that both my parents would pretty regularly make remarks about how we didn't have a lot of money, so it was pretty well driven into my head even as a kid that we were not exactly rich. And yet, without fail, we'd get maybe not like the most expensive gifts for Christmas (which we also celebrated growing up) but still stuff that often surprised me because of how pricey it was (as far as I know), the most notable example being a brand-new, in-the-box Mac desktop computer back sometime probably between 2006~2008 when they were particularly fancy and expensive (as far as I knew).

And because this was back when I still had a very good relationship with my mom at least, for me it was far less mental gymnastics to conclude that Santa Claus was real and had indeed delivered these marvelous presents than it was to go down the rabbit hole of considering that my parents might not always be entirely open or honest about our financial situation.

[yupuffin]

Mentioned to my coworkers how one of my friends just got their divorce finalized and will be getting $1000 every month for the next 4 years and as an aroace person who never plans to date or get married I was like "Wow, maybe I should get divorced!" so one of my coworkers brought up the concept of lavender marriage for the superficial similarities and I was like

"You've heard of lavender marriage, now get ready for: lavender divorce"

[yupuffin]

Okay I know there's the whole thing with like. Sanhua being a blind/visually impaired playable character already in the game before Qiuyuan so Qiuyuan isn't the first one so we technically can't hype him up as such. BUT. Consider.

Still a diversity win; WuWa will now have TWO playable blind/visually impaired characters. 🕺✨

[yupuffin]

Some of my favorite shots of tidepool critters from my trip to the beach yesterday! We had a pretty great low tide at ~-2.3 so I got to see a bunch of stuff I don't normally see. : )

Featuring: - Ochre star (Pisaster ochraceus) - Sea lemon (Peltodoris nobilis) - Tidepool sculpin (Oligocottus maculosus) - Eelgrass (Zostera marina) - Various kelp species (Alas I am not a kelp expert... if anyone is, feel free to identify them🤣)

Taken on June 28, 2025 at Constellation Park Marine Reserve in Seattle, WA, USA

Bonus:

CRAB! (and fried egg jellyfish, my beloved)

[yupuffin]

First playing through the Amphoreus story, I was busy just trying to figure out what was going on, but going back and rewatching things, I'm starting to notice a lot more stuff narratively.

Like, I didn't notice before the poignance of the juxtaposition between first the scene where Mydei is talking to the kids in the bathhouse, and then directly afterwards, the scene where Krateros is berating him for allegedly not considering the importance of his people's future.

I mean, Mydei is sweet (as I'll insist to my coworkers at any given opportunity), but I think the kids fawning over him, and him treating them kindly in turn, reassuring them and telling them to eat and train well, isn't meant solely to show that he's sweet and likable; it shows that he is very much considering the importance his people's future -- of which you could say the gaggle of Kremnoan kids is appropriately symbolic, but also, in a way, they quite literally are his people's future.

Which highlights the frustration and Mydei must experience upon facing Krateros's scathing criticism, upon Krateros insisting that Mydei's hesitance is harming his people's future simply because Krateros is so singularly focused on his narrow and idea of what that future should look like. The traditional Kremnoan concept of an ideal future is one rife with conquest and bloodshed, whereas Mydei yearns for a future where his people can eat and train well for a good long while and not experience what he firmly believes would be avoidable and unnecessary deaths.

I think that's a clear demonstration of Mydei's insight and intelligence. I tell my coworkers that Mydei is (affectionately, of course) kind of dumb sometimes (mostly thinking of the infamous bath scene), but he's also smarter than people give him credit for. I'll call him a "jock" affectionately, especially because that was the facet of his character we primarily got to see in 3.0, but he's evidently also able to mentally deconstruct, analyze, and address complex problems, as in deciding how he wants to go about claiming the crown that should be rightfully his, rather than just following tradition and conforming to other people's expectations of him.

I still have to rewatch that particular scene too, raaaagh.