#from a structural standpoint

[aroaceleovaldez]

a quick helpful reference guide:

Children's books - Target demographic is generally up to like age 10 - basically elementary school and below, for us Americans.

Middle-grade books - Target demographic is approximately middle schoolers (ages 11-15).

YA (Young Adult) - Target demographic is about 15-20ish year olds, so high schoolers and early college.

There is such thing as "upper middle-grade books" (targeted more towards the upper range of middle grade, so middle schoolers going into high school) and other such more specific intended target demographic age ranges within those groupings.

What these ranges mean is that the books differ in how they present subject matter to be appropriate to the intended audience demographic. Obviously, books geared towards younger kids are going to be shorter, use simpler language, and present concepts in ways that are easier to understand for younger children. As the target age demographic increases, the length, word choice, and presentation of topics will become more complex. The actual subject matter within the book itself is unrelated to this classification system for the most part - the books are graded on what's presumed appropriate for that age-range in terms of how children learn and their presumed literacy and reading comprehension at that age, rather than the topic itself.

Rick Riordan is a middle-grade author, and his books are usually middle-grade - including the entirety of the Riordanverse and Daughter of the Deep. The only exception is The Sun And The Star, which is loosely either upper middle-grade or YA, as Mark Oshiro is a YA author and co-authored it.

#rick riordan #< basically only gonna tag that cause this is more general books rather than pjo-specific #anyways stop calling Rick a YA author he's not #also QUALITY IS SUBJECTIVE TO THESE CATEGORIES #a book being shitty because it's middle-grade does not excuse it being shitty #it just means it's shitty and also middle-grade #in fact its probably more difficult to write well for younger age groups because you have to break down the concepts well #and your audience is less likely to have the life experience to understand certain references or experiences #and you need to take that into account #it doesn't mean they can't handle certain concepts or deserve shitty writing #some writing is just obectively bad from a structural standpoint

[villainartist]

can i be honest and say that the idea of danganronpa being a tv show where the tv actors are legit murdered on live television, and thats just that, never made sense to me.

i know we get vagueries of the world being all rotten and fucked up and its not like i deny this! but i think a big corrupt tv company that has a death grip on the worlds attention would want its actors around after the season ends for contracting shit, merch ads, interviews, etc etc etc.

it just makes more sense to me then actually killing off popular characters and basically never being able to do anything w them again bc you fucking killed the actor playing them. VR au just makes so much sense yknow

#im thinking abt this from like a corrupt capitalism standpoint #i do enjoy the usual art/fic of the survivors coping in a fucked world w/o their friends ofc #i just think. Personally. theyre all kept alive #if i was a greedy ceo id keep my golden goose (kokichi) alive for constant corporate harassment #like um no sir you signed this contract we wiped from your brain before putting you under so you belong to US now #NOW GET UP THERE AND POSE FOR THE CEREAL COMMERCIAL. #also partially related to the topic but i think tsumugi is as much as a pawn as the other characters #she was simply allowed to write the basic structure of the plot and was given the mastermind role #i totally think team DR meddled with her story tho lmao

[lemongogo]

ep 9 thoughts

#i stopped halfway thru HAJHAAJA #i think im coming 2 the conclusion that i can only rly appreciate stamp from an outside perspective #i.e when ppl post edits or whatever #even from like a Show Design standpoint i think the pacing is really bizarre #and im not even talking ab the story itself right. like moreso just character interactions and expressions #nothing really lingers or lasts and i feel like theres no big Oomph to scenes #when i saw the edit of knives fighting the guards it looked SOOO COOL #but when it happened in the show like.. the music wasnt rly fitting and theres a lack of environmental sfx outside of blood splats / metal #its soo hard to explain but somethinf is just MISSINGGG .. also when vash passed out for like .2 sexonds i laughed what was that #blink and u miss it kind of thing.. and vash losing his arm didnt feel suspenseful .. like i want to wnjoy the edits so much #*enjoy the reimagining #but you barely see luida (WAS THAT LUIDA FRR HWLP SHE LOOKS SO DIFFERENT) #you see hee for two seconds and suddenly this like monotone convo turns into omg vash angel arm WHAAT but u arent actually saying WHAAAT bc #u ddint have time to process anything and then its alr over . i just cant get into it im sry IM SRYY!! #and . i do generally just pref the structure of max and the intentional narrative choices w everything #the way knives cuts his arm off in anger in max vs like ‘to save himm❤️’ in stamp is much better @ characterizing him me thinks .. #overall i just think the manga had a better idea of what msg it wanted to convey whereas stamp is just a mixed grabbag of max references #trigun #trigun spoilers

[border-collie]

I'm having trouble telling the difference between a gallop and a double suspension gallop in dogs. Does anyone have any good side movement videos comparing the two gaits?

#watching the videos I have found im not really seeing a difference which makes me wonder if there really ISN'T one from a gait standpoint #and the speed differences associated with the stereotypical double galloping breed is actually structure based rather than function

[toyherb]

you can value the art and importance a platform like ao3 has while also criticizing it. just so you know.

#lrb people actually called the people at ao3 gods amongst mortals and sucking their dicks #like. yall know ao3 has SO many problems from just a structural standpoint right #like shut up about the anti censorship circlejerk for a second we get it #flowerposts #like its pretty good as far as fanfiction websites go but that doesnt make it a good website? or that we cant do better?

[aeondeug]

reading the imperium maledictum corebook and whatever this system is like to actually play i do think that the patron and influence systems are neat.

#i really like systems in general that make use of like #here is some defined character that the gm plays which provides structure to the game #ryuutama's is the neatest of these i've found yet #but the patrons in this game seem really fun #both on the gm's side and the players' #like the free boon you get for an inquisitor as a patron is just #extremely Fun from a narrative standpoint #since while you do get access to a very useful mechanical benefit potentially #whether you get that or whether this fucks you over #is left entirely to gm discretion

[susansontag]

my friends who are surrounding me are all suddenly down on doing masters degrees but I don’t think this should impact my own decision to do or not do one. ultimately to learn the practical skills I want to learn in an environment where I can network and make industry connections is something that’d be very beneficial for what I may want to get into

#said ‘what I may want to get into’ is nonfiction/documentary filmmaking btw #learning the skills of production editing filming generating ideas etc #is something that actually is likely helped massively by doing a course in it even if it is expensive /: #which sucks from a structural standpoint and won’t be the only way #but I know friends who will still ultimately be learning for a few years yet even on diff paths #if I want to do it I probably should #moth.txt

[todayisafridaynight]

literally why is masumi arakawa pretty

idk but i thank god every day for making kiichi nakai a real person because of it

#snap chats #explains why ichi's so pretty though huh #anyway what do you mean i still get to see this dude despite him being dead in the yakuza series. omg w #nakai just has a really cute face imo. in the most normal-sounding way possible and if that makes sense #he just has some kinda homely vibe to him i cant explain.. from an artistic standpoint he has a really interesting face structure #and in particular how he looks when he smiles is so fascinating to me- its a really pleasant smile #im starting to sound insane though so ill cap it off there. point is everyone say thank you to rgg for hiring nakai to play arakawa

[llycaons]

the finale was pretty good but the final scene being an awkward solo dance party to non-diagetic music? not the best choice imo. also I always thought those wide dresses look dumb as hell

#watching catherine stick to her principles was inspiring but also frustrating because it took her so long to act #as a savvy political leader as well #like pugachev was right. the changes she wanted to make were impossible to put through because they disrupted the entire social and economi #structure of the country. thats why a violent uprising had to happen #so I wasn't exactly rooting for her to take back control from a idealogical standpoint but from a character one #because the way she learned to play the game and wrap everything up #and even channel a murderous elementary schooler's bloodlust into something beneficial for her #was genuinely impressive #hot damn. what a show #looks like 6 seasons were planned. I'd watch six. fuck #the stinger at the end with archie. KNEW he'd make it lol #the great lb #the great spoilers

[maeamian]

BMI is bullshit, you will never catch me defending BMI or its proponents, but calories, and by extension, calorimeters are actually a pretty effective tool for understanding how much energy a human can derive from a piece of food, I know the dismissive tagline is "You'll notice your body is different from a tub of water placed above a burn chamber" but also, in many significant ways it is identical to a burn chamber and a tub of water, at least when it comes to specific processes. Like, I think the way we think about calories isn't great, there is an absolute over-focus on simply counting at the input level, but overcorrecting into 'the Calorie as a unit is entirely meaningless' isn't the way forward either, IMO. It seems like giving up on the idea that we can use things to learn about other things, when, in fact, comparisons to similar but easier to understand systems are how we've gone about understanding basically everything we currently understand about the universe, which is quite a lot.

#Like your body isn't *just* going to use that energy to heat up some water #But also keeping you (a bag of water) warm is a large part of your metabolism's job #And the heating of an object with a known specific heat capacity is a good way to measure the energy involved in a process #And the way your body breaks down food is reasonably similar to the combustion process #Particularly from an energy capture standpoint #Because it is taking the complex hydrocarbons that make up food #And converting them mostly into smaller more stable forms #And using the difference in structural energy of those things as energy for various chemical processes #Energy is very well known to be extremely interchangeable the amount of energy it takes to heat water does not care where it came from #And likewise the energy to heat water can instead be used to make ATP to provide stored energy for chemical processes #Or the various other ways the human body works bless it #Anyhow this is a technical quibble with a post whose general thrust I agree with #Which is why it is its own post #Don't get me wrong I'm also not endorsing any diet or dietician's understanding of Calories and how they work #But the Calorie as a unit is both useful and meaningful in understanding the human metabolism #That's the hill I'm willing to stake out here and there's a large post in circulation with a comment that is in opposition to that #And it is my stance that their heuristics are fundamentally wrong and broken they are using bad reasoning #The exact quote is full of 'in my understanding' and 'just a thought's #And like bro your understanding is sophomoric at best #That is what we do but you didn't stop to ask why we do it or if that actually makes any sense #Literally huge portions of modern thermodynamics are based on the ability of experiments like this to accurately measure energy release #And like IDK maybe you can upend it maybe your understanding is better #But pointing out the basic mechanism without understanding how or why it works isn't going to be what does it

[calamity-bean]

You know how there are shows, books, etc. in which the narratives never really deal with consequences? And in some cases that's fine because the tone of the story — say, a lighthearted comedy — is such that the lack of consequences doesn't upset your suspension of disbelief (or even makes the story funnier), but in other cases it's frustrating because the tone/genre does not accommodate such suspension, and instead it feels like a cop-out, a plot hole, or simply weak storytelling.

Anyway I'm rewatching bits of Barry after my season 3 binge and I just always really love how the narrative in this show is absolutely driven by consequences, nonstop. From scene to scene, from episode to episode, from season to season — and sure, by no means is everything handled "realistically," it's got absurdity aplenty, but even things that seemed not to have significant repercussions at the time can and will ripple effect their way back into the narrative down the line. Like, just from a structural standpoint...... that's some sexy sexy organic storytelling, y'know?

#have probably said something like this before anyway bc consequences are inherent to the themes of the show #but like looking at it from the standpoint not only of themes but of narrative structure and plot-driving....... that's hot #op #barry

[softgrungeprophet]

i WILL say

i do really like that joe kelly in writing this comic definitely hits at a fact/facet of peter parker that some authors try to deny which is that like—oh he’s losing his intelligence, what does that mean? well if he’s losing his “higher thinking,” he’s losing his deliberation. if he’s losing his deliberation he is losing his control. and what happens, when spider-man stops being deliberately merciful? what happens when he starts to lose control and loses his capacity for thoughtful action and is reduced to his reflexes and instincts?

and kelly knows the answer to that, which is, of course, rage. deep, deep rage and violence.

that is the core of peter and what makes him so compelling, that he is a man so composed of both righteous and unrighteous fury and rage, justified and unjustified, threatening to boil over if he does not keep tight his control. that peter is a man capable of such incredible violence, who is so angry all the time, and he chooses to focus that on helping people.

i appreciate a writer who can go for that.

#i still don't like that he saved zemo but again i understand why from a like writing structure standpoint he did that #nadia reads comics #i also think that lesser writers would try to make him meek and afraid but he didn't do that which is good #also i get that he's a monster but savage spider-man is a bad name. #ofc that's probably on editorial or corporate but i still don't like it as a title #the word savage needs to be retired from comics ESPECIALLY ones w/o indigenous involvement

[meat-loving-meat]

Just finished The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean for a book club and it was. Fine? I guess? Legitimately the most 🤷 book ever. It wasn’t bad at all—I actually thought that the writing style was pretty appealing—it just didn’t compel me

#to give you an idea of how ‘meh’ this book is: it has women who kiss in a gay way and I STILL don’t care that much about it #the main character (Devon) was pretty cool I guess but she committed the number 1 woman character sin #(the number 1 sin is that her entire motivation for every single one of her actions is her children. No internal motivators at all) #(tbf that’s selling the narrative short a little. I think an integral part of her character is how desperation has erased a lot of her #individuality and how she can’t explore herself because of her forced marriages and her children) #the book eaters #I also thought that Cai was a pretty weak character. Like intellectually I know that his character is inconsistent intentionally #bc of his mind eating #but it was a lot harder to get invested in his character when his personality kept flip flopping around #again I know that the inconsistency is on purpose and there’s a rhyme and a reason #this is more of a structural critique #ALSO Hester and Devon had 0 (zero) chemistry beyond their first meeting. Zilch. Nada. #normally I’m team ‘they looked at each other therefore they are in love’ when it comes to ladies in fiction but damn #their romance was such a flop #they didn’t flirt. they barely quipped. there was very little yearning #also it just felt inconsistent from a character standpoint for Devon #you’re telling me that Devon #who famously does everything in her power to protect her children #is taking the time DURING AN ACTIVE FIREFIGHT THAT DIRECTLY ENDANGERS HER SON to kiss Hester? bullshit #also the setting is just so batshit that I can’t decide if I love it or hate it #On one hand. I LOVE weird speculative fiction with bizarre premises #but something about this one felt so. meh #the premise isn’t as refined and mature as the tone of the book #I can’t believe I just critiqued a book for its premise. I shouldn’t be allowed to review a book ever again #anyway. maybe more thoughts later #book eaters spoilers #book thoughts

[heritageposts]

[...] During the early stages of the war, the army gave sweeping approval for officers to adopt Lavender’s kill lists, with no requirement to thoroughly check why the machine made those choices or to examine the raw intelligence data on which they were based. One source stated that human personnel often served only as a “rubber stamp” for the machine’s decisions, adding that, normally, they would personally devote only about “20 seconds” to each target before authorizing a bombing — just to make sure the Lavender-marked target is male. This was despite knowing that the system makes what are regarded as “errors” in approximately 10 percent of cases, and is known to occasionally mark individuals who have merely a loose connection to militant groups, or no connection at all. Moreover, the Israeli army systematically attacked the targeted individuals while they were in their homes — usually at night while their whole families were present — rather than during the course of military activity. According to the sources, this was because, from what they regarded as an intelligence standpoint, it was easier to locate the individuals in their private houses. Additional automated systems, including one called “Where’s Daddy?” also revealed here for the first time, were used specifically to track the targeted individuals and carry out bombings when they had entered their family’s residences.

In case you didn't catch that: the IOF made an automated system that intentionally marks entire families as targets for bombings, and then they called it "Where's Daddy."

Like what is there even to say anymore? It's so depraved you almost think you have to be misreading it...

“We were not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives only when they were in a military building or engaged in a military activity,” A., an intelligence officer, told +972 and Local Call. “On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation, as a first option. It’s much easier to bomb a family’s home. The system is built to look for them in these situations.” The Lavender machine joins another AI system, “The Gospel,” about which information was revealed in a previous investigation by +972 and Local Call in November 2023, as well as in the Israeli military’s own publications. A fundamental difference between the two systems is in the definition of the target: whereas The Gospel marks buildings and structures that the army claims militants operate from, Lavender marks people — and puts them on a kill list.  In addition, according to the sources, when it came to targeting alleged junior militants marked by Lavender, the army preferred to only use unguided missiles, commonly known as “dumb” bombs (in contrast to “smart” precision bombs), which can destroy entire buildings on top of their occupants and cause significant casualties. “You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people — it’s very expensive for the country and there’s a shortage [of those bombs],” said C., one of the intelligence officers. Another source said that they had personally authorized the bombing of “hundreds” of private homes of alleged junior operatives marked by Lavender, with many of these attacks killing civilians and entire families as “collateral damage.” In an unprecedented move, according to two of the sources, the army also decided during the first weeks of the war that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians; in the past, the military did not authorize any “collateral damage” during assassinations of low-ranking militants. The sources added that, in the event that the target was a senior Hamas official with the rank of battalion or brigade commander, the army on several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians in the assassination of a single commander.

. . . continues on +972 Magazine (3 Apr 2024)

#free palestine #palestine #gaza #israel #ai warfare #this is only an excerpt i hope you'll at least skim through the rest of the piece #there's an entire section on the 'where's daddy' system #(seriously just typing the name out feels revolting)

[sky-scribbles]

OK, but I love that Essek might be appearing in the Mighty Nein series before he meets the Nein! It's not just me wanting More Essek (though I do) or wanting to see more of what was going on with his dealings with the Assembly (which I also do). I think this could be super fucking interesting from a narrative construction standpoint.

Because I cannot see how you can include Essek from early in the series and not make it clear to the audience that he's the Dynasty traitor loooong before the Nein find out. Essek having stolen the beacons will not be a surprise. It looks to me like the cast are swapping out surprise for a fuckton of suspense. (Suspense vs surprise was explained to me when I was studying narrative structure as 'surprise is when a bomb goes off that the audience didn't know was there. Suspense is when they see the bomb being placed and have to sit there begging the characters to realise it's there.' In this analogy, Essek is the bomb.)

When we watched C2, the question was is Essek the traitor? In the M9 show, the question for new watchers will be when will the Nein realise that Essek is the traitor? When Essek meets the Nein, the countdown starts ticking; people will know that he is a danger. He is manipulating them. He is going to hurt them. Will the Nein realise before it's too late? But then Essek starts really befriending them, showing more of his loneliness and vulnerability, and... I think the mood will shift. Oh, shit, he really cares about them, doesn't he? What will the Nein do if they find out? Do I even want them to find out? What if they reject him and it makes him worse? He can't keep this up much longer, this is unbearable, they're going to find out - OH FUCK THEY'RE FINDING OUT -

It's such a fascinating choice and I think it goes to show that adaptation is an art form in itself! The actual events in the world will be the same, or at least very similar, but a new format means you can show those events in a totally new way and create a completely different tone! Narrative structure is the fucking coolest! I'm so excited for this show!

#critical role #cr2 spoilers #mighty nein show #essek thelyss #sorry the narratology nerd in me is jumping out #my cr meta #(him being introduced early is by no means certain but it might be the case! so forgive me I must gush)

[sayruq]

A new investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call reveals that the Israeli army has developed an artificial intelligence-based program known as “Lavender,” unveiled here for the first time. According to six Israeli intelligence officers, who have all served in the army during the current war on the Gaza Strip and had first-hand involvement with the use of AI to generate targets for assassination, Lavender has played a central role in the unprecedented bombing of Palestinians, especially during the early stages of the war. In fact, according to the sources, its influence on the military’s operations was such that they essentially treated the outputs of the AI machine “as if it were a human decision.”

During the early stages of the war, the army gave sweeping approval for officers to adopt Lavender’s kill lists, with no requirement to thoroughly check why the machine made those choices or to examine the raw intelligence data on which they were based. One source stated that human personnel often served only as a “rubber stamp” for the machine’s decisions, adding that, normally, they would personally devote only about “20 seconds” to each target before authorizing a bombing — just to make sure the Lavender-marked target is male. This was despite knowing that the system makes what are regarded as “errors” in approximately 10 percent of cases, and is known to occasionally mark individuals who have merely a loose connection to militant groups, or no connection at all. Moreover, the Israeli army systematically attacked the targeted individuals while they were in their homes — usually at night while their whole families were present — rather than during the course of military activity. According to the sources, this was because, from what they regarded as an intelligence standpoint, it was easier to locate the individuals in their private houses. Additional automated systems, including one called “Where’s Daddy?” also revealed here for the first time, were used specifically to track the targeted individuals and carry out bombings when they had entered their family’s residences.

The Lavender machine joins another AI system, “The Gospel,” about which information was revealed in a previous investigation by +972 and Local Call in November 2023, as well as in the Israeli military’s own publications. A fundamental difference between the two systems is in the definition of the target: whereas The Gospel marks buildings and structures that the army claims militants operate from, Lavender marks people — and puts them on a kill list. In addition, according to the sources, when it came to targeting alleged junior militants marked by Lavender, the army preferred to only use unguided missiles, commonly known as “dumb” bombs (in contrast to “smart” precision bombs), which can destroy entire buildings on top of their occupants and cause significant casualties. “You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people — it’s very expensive for the country and there’s a shortage [of those bombs],” said C., one of the intelligence officers. Another source said that they had personally authorized the bombing of “hundreds” of private homes of alleged junior operatives marked by Lavender, with many of these attacks killing civilians and entire families as “collateral damage.”

Remember, the Israeli occupation government considers all men over the age of 16 to be Hamas operatives hence why they've claimed to have killed over 9,000 of them (which matches the number of Palestinian men killed according to the Ministry of Health). So, when the article speaks of 'low level' or 'high level militants' they're likely speaking of civilians.

If Israel knew who Hamas fighters are, Oct 7th wouldn't have caught them off guard and they wouldn't still be fighting the Palestinian resistance every single day.

#yemen #jerusalem #tel aviv #current events #palestine #free palestine #gaza #free gaza #news on gaza #palestine news #news update #war news #war on gaza #war crimes #gaza genocide #genocide #artificial intelligence #ai #long post