This...Thing

i thinkwe take fandom too seirously nowadays still. can we go back. can we please go back

i know people have always had discourse and arguments and stuff and im sure im partially blinded by the fact i was a kid when things were nicer but like. you guys know we're here to have fun right. like fandoms are for fun ? youre supposed to have fun in them

ive definitely contributed to the not-fun-ness but i dunno !!! i miss when everything wasn't like a dick measuring contest. it's a funny haha post to go 'they wouldnt fucking say that' and i Get It and maybe perhaps im just being a little overdramatic or something but it feels like with every piece of fanart or writing i make im opening myself up to people potentially being assholes to me cause something isn't in-character enough. and i know im not the only one who has this issue. everything is just discourse and arguments about the stupidest shit. why are you trying to do psychoanalysis on people who like certain characters. who literally cares. please im going insane can we just have fun.can we play toys IM trying to playwith my toys. why arent you playing toys with me why are we turning this into a competition. play toys wit h me pleas,e

fandoms are supposed to be like . a community. not factions youve constructed . whycant people be nice. is it so hard to be nice

reblog to bap prev with your paw

two weirdos who would do anything for eachother !!!!!

never elaborating cuz i don't understand the shit i say either

Need any ratty stamps?

Here's a set of them!

what if the bamboozlers bed is actually a nest (since they're all parrots) and THAT'S the real reason why grian keeps sleeping in it

bird brain takes over

It's a very human thing - to pray to the gods who cursed you.

wild life

Bargaining.

i've been havin a good art day :] doodles in-between commissions so i can figure out how to draw everyone again.

atla heritage post

Years and years ago, I read a book on cryptography that I picked up because it looked interesting--and it was!

But there was a side anecdote in there that stayed with me for more general purposes.

The author was describing a cryptography class that they had taken back in college where the professor was demonstrating the process of "reversibility", which is a principle that most codes depend on. Specifically, it should be easy to encode, and very hard to decode without the key--it is hard to reverse the process.

So he had an example code that he used for his class to demonstrate this, a variation on the Book Code, where the encoded text would be a series of phone numbers.

The key to the code was that phone books are sorted alphabetically, so you could encode the text easily--picking phone numbers from the appropriate alphabetical sections to use ahead of time would be easy. But since phone books were sorted alphabetically, not numerically, it would be nearly impossible to reverse the code without exhaustively searching the phone book for each string of numbers and seeing what name it was tied to.

Nowadays, defeating this would be child's play, given computerized databases, but back in the 80s and 90s, this would have been a good code... at least, until one of the students raised their hand and asked, "Why not just call the phone numbers and ask who lives there?"

The professor apparently was dumbfounded.

He had never considered that question. As a result, his cipher, which seemed to be nearly unbreakable to him, had such an obvious flaw, because he was the sort of person who could never coldcall someone to ask that sort of thing!

In the crypto book, the author went on to use this story as an example of why security systems should not be tested by the designer (because of course the security system is ready for everything they thought of, by definition), but for me, as a writer, it stuck with me for a different reason.

It's worth talking out your story plot with other people just to see if there's a "Why not just call the phone numbers?" obvious plot hole that you've missed, because of your singular perspective as a person. Especially if you're writing the sort of plot where you have people trying to outsmart each other.

#this has wrapped back around to reaching someone who cares about security more than writing#like this kind of thing is EVERYWHERE#anyways @op drop the title

@demo-ness, here you go:

If your democrat friends start muttering about stolen election conspiracy theories, the time to have a sit down with them and express your concerns is NOW, while you still have a chance to reach them, not 6 months from now when they're fully conspiracy-pilled.

Here's some of the talking points and why they're bullshit:

But just as importantly as the facts: sit down with your friend and talk about the anxiety that's behind their conspiracy leanings. Acknowledge their pain and fear. Help them find ways to feel less powerless and regain their sense of agency. Take them to a mutual aid event, involve them in a fundraising event for a marginalized group, invite them to a local community effort. If they spend more time feeling connection and empowerment and less time doom scrolling online, they're far more likely to stay in reality.

This this this

I worked as an election judge across multiple polling locations and election types in my state from 2018-2023 (presidential primary and general elections, midterms, and special elections like for the school board etc.)

US elections are extremely secure. There are so many safeguards in place. Everything is double and triple counted.

The number of ballots electronically counted by the box are checked against the number of physical ballots at the end of the night, and also the receipt papers that individuals exchange for their ballot. All three of these counts MUST MATCH. Sometimes you're off by 1 number and it means everyone stops and triple counts these papers until you find the error (human error, it's been 16 hours and two pieces of thin receipt paper were stuck together and the second person to recount finds it and everyone cheers because thank fuck, it means no one dropped anything on the floor anywhere.)

There are eyes everywhere and there's a deliberate mix of poll workers across political parties/affiliations. It's simply not possible to alter even 1 ballot at 1 polling place, much less thousands.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump won this election. If there was interference, it was NOT at the voting booth. That's simply not possible. The "interference" (if you can even call it that) comes from right wing propaganda convincing stupid and/or hateful and/or selfish people to vote for him.

“How’s life?”

Me:

The mammalian desire to stand at the edge of the ocean.