u/FEN1X64

I'll be selecting 1 commentor on this post at random. I will put your name in an RNG generator twice if you include a picture of your pet, the name of your favorite manga series, a stupid (but funny) meme, or a random fact about science that you know. If you use AI to write your post, I will smite thee. Feel free to explain your current situation too.
Cheers, I'll PM the person after I select them. You have until 8/12/26 10 PM PST to enter.

Edit: Account must be at least a week old and have at least 5 karma

Another edit: PayPal account preferred

I have a deep respect and appreciation for Data Annotation for providing really interesting work for pay that honestly feels criminal (genuinely making above hourly average wage as a college student is insane for me). I like how they seem to recognize my abilities that I've honestly had many doubts about. Turns out, having a wide knowledge across multiple professional fields (mathematics, law, physics, language, and programming) is actually useful for once. It means I have to put in elbow grease whenever more specialized projects involving those come up (I'm a generalist) but I honestly don't mind putting in the effort for rewarding and interesting work.
I generally don't like using AI and while it's great for parsing data, I've always preferred using my own knowledge and skills to solve problems. I feel like my ardent rejection of AI tools in college has been vindicated as many of my peers are reliant on technology that confers no actual knowledge. This is not meant to be a "I'm not like them" post, just, it's nice knowing I was right to work to better myself.
I wish everyone the best of luck in their own endeavors on and off the platform. I intend on using my earnings to further my education and achieve a PhD in Astrophysics (a voluntary paycut if I'm being honest but it's never been about the money for me). I've also been able to help my friends in their times of need so that's nice too. Thank you all and thank you Data Annotation.

I've always taken the stance that, unless proven otherwise (outright stated in game or by the creator(s)), all characters are bisexual/pansexual/whatever. I don't care too much about shipping but it provides an easy way to avoid the whole "THIS PERSON IS CLEARLY GAY AND NOT STRAIGHT AT ALL, IT'S ALL IN THE SUBTEXT" when they're friends with a guy character and are explicitly shown to love a female character. The opposite is true too (although less common if I'm being honest). There's always such a vicious fight in fandoms over sexuality when the true answer is ambiguous at best and only the creator(s) know. My assumption skips that but I don't see it embraced by a lot of people with an agenda.

I don't like yuri/yaoi/hetslop ships as it often is as sensical as mashing two action figures together and saying it's a canon ship. I care more about chemistry then ticking a sexuality box. Nefer and Lauma have good chemistry. Columbina and Sandrone have good chemistry. Alhaitham and Kaveh is a good ship (it's a magnet for obnoxious people to make it their personality away from me). Aether harem DOES make sense (he's a likeable guy and many women/men in game are shown to like him). What I hate is when any side of the aisle acts as if their ships are the "canon" ships when a lot of it is just fanon. I also hate the vitriol toward the female characters whenever their shown to like the Male MC but if it's towards Female MC, it's goals.

I'm on my second playthrough and I realized something. During the ascent of Kami, you only ever see the peak in the opening credits and after The Secret. For most of the game, all you see are the twin peaks of the Secret. And after The Secret, you can't see where you started. For the entire playthrough, except for The Two Hundred Steps and for most of The Peril, you're in sight of where you started. I think it's meant to represent her disconnect from her life back home and after you ascend in The Blades, you're entirely cut off from that life >!with no chance of returning!<. I really fucking love this game and it's become an obsession since I first played it. Genuinely a Game of the Year contender for me. Everything clicks: the story, the music, the sound design, the level design, the environmental storytelling, the visual storytelling, the gameplay.

Edit: Fixed some weird phrasing of mine