Solmare statement:

I've never been shy about being critical of Solmare when it comes to their game decisions and business practises, but they have always carried themselves in a professional manner - I am glad they responded in such a timely manner and are taking appropriate action.

Media companies often sweep these things under the rug, and this is a very positive sign that Solmare is not doing so.

Miura Ayme (VA of Asmo) statement:

I want to say first and foremost that I am not focusing on what is legal or otherwise here - a huge number of negative incidents that occur in the space between creator and fan fall between what is legal and what is moral.

Something does not need to be a provable crime to be wrong.

When it comes to creators, whether that be VAs, actors, performance artists, media personalities, or whatever - we do not know these people.

We know their creations. Their performance. Their fiction. Don't put your trust in strangers.

When I first saw the allegations, I of course did not want them to be true - because I did not want any young person to have been harmed.

However, because of my own experiences working with celebrities in a not dissimilar creative field, including being behind the scenes with them at conventions and other fan events... I know all too well how much predatory and unprofessional behaviour occurs in these industries, and how far removed the reality of a person can be from the persona they have created and work behind. (And indeed, how depressingly many people turn a blind eye or even cover up such behaviour in others.)

Thus I am always inclined to believe victims when they speak out, and I know that evidence is often difficult to prove - and that doesn't mean the victim should be disbelieved.

An adult man meeting with a 14 year old fan privately is inexcusable. To be frank, an adult man meeting with a 16 year old or 18 year old fan privately is inexcusable. But this was a child.

Fan meetings should be undertaken in professional events, with all the safeguarding that such venues provide.

At best, this was highly inappropriate and untrustworthy.

I need not speculate about what it implies at worst, but that does need taken into account by Solmare.

I am glad Solmare are investigating, and hope that they come to a conclusion that maintains trust in them from the community, that brings some form of closure to the victim, and secondarily, that allows us to keep recommending this franchise to others knowing it is not unsafe.

I also hope that the victim(s) in question have support, and that they ignore any people minimising their hurt, or prioritising a performer over actions.

~

As a final note, the feelings towards a fictional character are not remotely on the same level as the distress a real person has caused others irl.

(Statement update, event update, Ido update)

I'm very glad that Solmare is taking the matter seriously and being very transparent about the steps they are taking.

When it comes to a company investigating any employee or contract worker, there are certain steps they have to follow to stay on the right side of the law - hence why people are usually suspended when under investigation rather than immediately fired or labelled.

Again, as I said before, this does not require legal proceedings to be made from victim to perpetrator - the gap between legality and morality is large, and certain crimes are difficult and distressing to try and prove anyway.

What is clear is that the reputation of Obey Me has been put under doubt by this VA, his own admitted behaviour is unprofessional at best and alarming at worst, and that Solmare understands the safety of fans is important and are taking steps to mitigate this as best they can - at least from what we have seen so far.

I have no doubt that they are facing difficult decisions regarding Sinner's Choice, potentially recasting and re-recording an entire role, but so far I think indications are good that they will do the right thing here for both fans and the franchise.

(I also note that the statements from Solmare have all been provided in both Japanese and English, unlike the VAs statement.)

~

I sincerely hope that the suspension of the VA is enough to stop the minority of people from defending a grown adult, pretending that a famous person arranging to meet a minor privately is in anyway justified, and victim blaming children. Adults who share these opinions are not safe to be around imo.

https://gofund.me/60b746d2c

sleep apnea is more common in people who are fat.

society decided for some reason that this meant that being fat causes sleep apnea. its often difficult to get referrals for sleep apnea treatment if you are fat, because some PCPs will tell you try losing weight first.

turns out!! having untreated sleep apnea causes weight gain in a not-insignificant number of people. it also makes it fucking impossible for many people to lose weight.

my husband worked out the same amount before he got a cpap as he does now. there have been no major diet changes either. yet he has been losing weight -- and gaining muscle tone -- consistently since he started using a cpap in january.

also, his blood pressure -- which was high, which docs blamed on his weight/diet -- went down significantly within one month of starting cpap treatment, before his weight changed significantly.

ANYWAYS. this is getting long. two final thoughts.

- I Want To Strangle Medical Fatphobia With My Bare Fucking Hands

They’re given instructions for how to set things up and they do that because that’s their job. And as interesting as this is from an outside perspective, actually printing out spreadsheets and posting g on Facebook etc. is just kind of making their lives harder because people keep asking questions they can’t answer.

Tl;Dr don’t get store staff involved with design and marketing conspiracies, they are the bottom rungs and not only are they not told this stuff, they aren’t paid even half as much money as it would take to make them care.

OpenAI scraped the entire web. All of which had been a labor of love from humans. Wikipedia is the backbone of a lot of LLMs, and that was volunteer human labor. They stole it and now they're selling it back to us.

This means that at the same time that cowboys were reaching their end, so too were samurai.

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.