#NO JOKE THESE ARE ACTUAL IMAGES FROM THE OFFICIAL TWITTER

[mysterygrl20]

pit babe said let me educate you on omegaverse

[translated by me using papago]

[moonsaver]

Imagine instead of 4ggravate being a kpop boy group and reader being the fangirl, its the other way around

4ggravate forms a groupchat particularly because of you, their bias, who is also the least recognized in your group and is often overshadowed by others, leading to a desperate convergence of your fans in finding out the itty bitty stuff about you that's all on blast when it comes to the other idols in your group. They're like detectives trying to figure out whether you liked the specific flavor of ice cream on a show you participated in with your group. Each of them keep tabs on any official updates about you, recording and clipping parts of your group's lives in the tidbits where you come in, and forming a wall trying to defend you from majority of the fandom when you get backlash from false rumors. That's just how the group came to be.

Kaveh is the oldest fan amongst them – he's been there since day 1. Claims he knows the most out of all of them and tries to prove it via quizzes and guessing games. Sometimes he wins, most times he doesn't. Also the poorest of the four. He spent so much on buying your specific merchandise he didn't plan for the future concert you group was holding in his area, and ever since then he's had to tearfully decide constantly between buying albums, your photocards, new lightstick versions, etc.. and your concert that may or may not even be held in the area.

In the rare chance that he does attend your concert – he tries to get the most out of it. Front row, headbands, fanchant at the top of his head, lightsticks in both hands. When you notice him and exchange a few words over the loud crowd, he swears he's going to pass out, looking up at your crouched figure on the stage makes you look almost like an angel to him, the light highlighting your figure perfectly. Suffice to say, he eventually made an impression on you at least.. because he passed out and the crowd had to surf him to a security guard. He's deeply embarassed about it, and can't really escape it now that he's become a bit of an inside joke in your fandom

Cyno is the second older fan. Like Kaveh, he prides himself over having a good amount of knowledge about you that's not exactly easy to find – old, old, old images of other kpop idols in which you appear for a fraction of a second, spotting the products you use in your lives and being able to find out the brands is his specialty. If Kaveh has the knowledge, Cyno at least has the detective skills. He has his own individually run fanpage where most other fanpages, even your group's fanpages, refer to as a trusted source. Has also managed to create several fancams of you that were incredibly hard to get ahold of. He's those fanpages on twitter who thoroughly collect evidence and manage to pinpoint future events you're going to take part in before they're announced, and he manages to predict it correctly almost all the time. He's well known within the fandom, but due to how busy he is in 4ggravate trying to form a cumulative plan almost all the time, rarely does he find the time to respond to other fans and fanpages, and most other admins don't usually approach him either.

If anything, at least he's got more resources and money than Kaveh. I imagine he actually also is in a lot of other groups besides 4ggravate.

Alhaitham, out of everyone, is the one who's actually talked to you the most. He was originally just interested in the music, didn't really care until he realized how less and less your lines became the more songs your group churned out. So in his mind, to "make up for" the lack of lines on your end, he decides to simply just pay extra attention to your solo activities. It's not soon before you become his bias. Unlike Kaveh, he was pretty strategic and managed to plan ahead for scheduled fancalls, fanmeetings, appearances in public, etc..

he leaves a lasting impression because.. he doesn't show his appearance. At all. There's many fans out there who get your attention by doing strange things with their appearance, but Alhaitham refuses to even take off his mask just to talk to you. In fancalls, he decides to cover the cameras, always wears hoodies that cover him completely when he meets you in public. At some point, the fandom falls in love with him instead (which drives Kaveh insane), and it's not soon before there's all sorts of rumors about you two. The rumors get more wild when he only ever takes his hoodie off once when you meet him face to face. Personality wise, he sticks out because of how easily he's able to spot changes in choreography, voice, pitch, writing style, etc.. and even more so, because of how upfront about it he is, without actually being creepy about it. He gives good advice without making it sound like unwelcome criticism.

Tighnari is actually the normal one. He just generally likes the music and likes your voice specifically because he thinks your voice suits the concept the best, but because of a few injustices (which he sarcastically comments on many fancams, to which also many fans agree), he finds himself doing something similar to Alhaitham. Albeit, less.. detailed? Is what he thinks. He's actually a bit of a keyboard warrior when it comes down to it – replying to group threads that intentionally leave you out, having the sassiest comebacks to mean or rude comments about you, piecing together timelines and locations to prove false rumors wrong, working especially close with Cyno in these kinds of cases. If there's a fancam of you, Tighnari is under it fighting some or the other hater, or just blatantly commenting on the event itself that intentionally disrespects you or your group.

He's probably the only one who actually leaves a long lasting impression on you. When your car drives by a bunch of your excited fans, he's the normal one who's looking on calmly and waving to you with a stoic face. Whenever he comes to fanmeetings with Alhaitham, or has fancalls with you – it's fun! His humor is easy to accustom to, conversation goes lightly, and overall he's the tamest out of everyone. He gives you some skincare advice which you gladly accept, and somehow, despite not being as incriminating as the others when it came to detail, they're salty about how he seems to be the one who's closest to you. It's not unnoticeable the way out of all four of them, you recognize him by a first name basis. Ohhh boy.

[insanelyadd]

ONE MONTH UNTIL LET PAPYRUS SAY FUCK DAY (June 16th)!!!

Don't forget, it's now the third year of #LetPapyrusSayFuck ! I will be making an additional reminder about it a week from the day (so on the 9th of June)

Another wonderful year to celebrate Papyrus and his ever-present ability to say fuck! Before I talk about the day a bit more and give prompts as usual I would like to thank everyone who participated last year, especially those that showed your support for the additional #BringBackTheCoolDude campaign, which allowed the official cool dude shirts a limited re-release with a new easter egg on the inside referencing LPSFD!

(Image ID: a picture of the new cool dude shirt, folded and displayed in such a way to predominantly feature the "COOL DUDE" design on the front, with the easter egg from the inner back of the shirt being a small doodle of Papyrus with a speech bubble that says "FUNK!" end ID)

As far as I'm aware there's still some available to purchase if you want!

Okay so for Prompts!!

Papyrus saying fuck or other swear words of your choice (maybe his puzzle electrocuted him, maybe he stubbed his toe, maybe he is tired of Sans repeating the same joke to him for the 38th time in an hour)

Papyrus commits arson

Papyrus as the Ambassador of Monsters is tired of human's political BS

Anything else your heart desires!

Bonus!

Include another character, from UT or anything else, that you want to be saying fuck with Papyrus (Inspired by the @let-them-say-fuck-tournament ) If you do include another character from Undertale or another fandom, I encourage you to make a #Let(character)SayFuck tag (no spaces so it's the same on twitter and tumblr)

Papyrus is encouraging others who deserve to say fuck for whatever reason to join him on the wonderful #LetPapyrusSayFuck Day! I already have an idea for what to do with this prompt, in addition to a completely normal standalone of Papyrus.

Rules:

Tag your posts with #swearing (if that applies) #LetPapyrusSayFuck (regardless of whether he is or not) as well as #Papyrus #undertale and any other fandom or character tags that may apply.

You don't need to go all out and paint a masterpiece, you can draw a shitpost-y doodle, write a fic, knit a sweater?? Whatever you want! Just have fun. <3

If you aren't able to get your piece done for the actual day that's completely fine! Papyrus can swear any day of the year, and no matter what I'll be reblogging as many posts as I can to @letpapyrussayfuckofficial (which you are free to tag in your post!)

Don't forget to join the festivities by reblogging and liking other participants art, fics, whatever they've made! This is a fun communal event and I want it to be uplifting and supportive! :>

Have Fun!

[ventique18]

- Not twst, sort of rant -

Notice how the ones on twitter shouting that human translators/localizers should just be entirely replaced by AI don't know a lick of Japanese. Putting aside the obvious domino disaster that would happen to everyone if we let AI take over a career, Japanese is extremely different from English, to the point that making a stellar translation the likes of Ace Attorney requires that you be an even more stellar writer. Those who think translators don't deserve their pay are clearly too dumb to learn another language and too dumb to learn how to write above Elementary School level essays.

It's true that there are a few bad apples here and there who make questionable translation choices. But majority of those few did not even make the decision to publish that themselves; companies can and will censor and alter messages that they think will affect their image. That's why sometimes fan translations feel better than official ones. Fans just don't have the same level of restriction that official translators do. No translator worth their salt would willingly publish something that will ruin their reputation, especially if they're N1 certified (the highest level) and took years or decades to master the craft.

"But context gets lost when human translators do it--" And even more context will get lost if AI does it. I've watched my fair share of anime that are obviously AI translated and they're so bad you wouldn't even understand why it looks like everyone just heard a joke when you couldn't find where the punchline was. That rewatching it side by side with another publisher's human translation perfectly showcases the sheer difference between shitty writing of AI and someone who possibly earned a Master's or PHD. Example: AI translation of Shikanoko anime ep 1: "Don't tell me, you're a lady?" Actual translation: "So you're saying you're really a virgin?"

This out of control hatred for translators is just pure spite and petty envy, is all. I'll admit that I'm not the best in Japanese, but even with my intermediate skills I know exactly how hard the language is and how much time and effort it takes to even be remotely good at it.

[dearheart42regenerated]

MOTORCITY SEASON 2 MASTERPOST

once upon a time, over 10 years ago, just a few months after the announcement that Motorcity was officially canceled...the creators of the show took pity on their heartbroken fandom and gave us several glimpses of what season 2 might have been like. they saw how much we loved Motorcity and gave us every scrap of info they could at the time, so that we could use those scraps to imagine our own personal "Season 2" - whether it continue on in our fics, our fanart, or simply our own heads.

I'm making this masterpost so that none of this material will be lost or forgotten, and so any fanartists/fic writers still hanging around today can use it for inspiration. if there's any related material I've missed, PLEASE feel free to add it in a reblog or let me know in my inbox! I want this list to be as complete as we can make it! :)

--

The Season 2 That Never Was: A Comprehensive List

Motorcity Season 2 Rough Intro "Scratch audio by our very own Chris P." (x)

-> backup download

--

Season 2 Writer's Wall posted (and later deleted) by @chrisprynoski on twitter, and shared on tumblr by @peopleofmotorcity, these pictures of the writer's wall showed us a "rough sketch" of what could have been, and gave our imaginations SO many fun theories and possibilities to play with. every blurry sticky note was a treasure to us. :')

-> original tumblr posts: x x x x x x x x x x x x -> image masterpost -> google drive folder

--

Chris Prynoski's Fan Interview + Tumblr Q&A's this whole interview on youtube is a delight to listen to, and Part 2 in particular has some interesting bits about season 2. (skip to 17:10 for some good stuff about Texas and Chuck's backgrounds!)

-> Part 1 -> Part 2

Chris P also answered several juicy season 2 questions on tumblr. sadly his blog is deactivated now, but you can still read through all of them at the links below!

-> image masterpost -> google drive folder

--

Capri Chilton - Mike Chilton's long lost big sister! I can't remember where or when it was first revealed that they were considering giving Mike a secret older sister, and I haven't been able to track down the origin. that being said, when it was revealed, the fandom loved the idea so much that they begged the creators to make it canon. Chris P busted out the "magical canon stick", gave us this delightful concept sketch, and "Capri Chilton" was born!

--

The Motorcity Series Bible "To help you all understand what it is you are reading, this is the material that Titmouse used to help pitch Motorcity, and it was also a tool for writers to use when coming up with episodes to help understand who the characters were before there was any other reference. That being said, this was one of the very first documents about Motorcity, so many things have changed or evolved from these early concepts." (x)

-> original tumblr posts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 -> image backups -> PDF download

EDIT: the COMPLETE series bible has now been leaked by Lost Media Busters on X (Twitter) and helpfully shared by @waksworldrebooted!!

--> here is a google drive download for the full PDF file!

--

Motorcity Series Bible - Redacted Version (Pages 1, 2, 17, 19, 20) funfact: @peopleofmotorcity was the official? unofficial? tumblr blog for Motorcity, and it was run by a guy named Mac - an animator for the show who loved to tease and joke around with the fandom. before revealing the actual first 13 pages of the series bible, he posted this censored version as a prank - a mix of truth and trolling! it's up to the fandom to decide which is which. ;)

-> original tumblr posts: 1 2 17 19 20 -> image backups -> PDF download

--

MTV Era Motorcity Masterpost a fantastic collection of glimpses into the original pilot/pitch trailer that would evolve into the show we know and love today, found and compiled by @waksworldrebooted. "In 2000, Chris Prynoski pitched a cartoon called Motorcity. He made a card and a website promoting the show, which wouldn't see the light of day until the Walt Disney Company got their hands on it."

--> tumblr masterpost (including wayback links to the old website) --> twitter sources from Chris P himself :)

--

Motorcity Unaired Pilot - 2009 Disney Version Originally aired during Comic Con 2012, the pilot was recorded and then posted on YouTube by Allison Simmons in July of 2012, later being privatized in 2022. The video was re uploaded onto VKVideo 22 days after its original posting to YouTube and is still currently available to watch online. (x)

--> backup download --> also viewable here!

--

if I find more material, I will add it here! :)

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Magic: Return of the Asspull

So the word on Twitter is that there have been leaked reports of a new anime called "Dragon Ball Magic". I'm pretty sure it's all made-up bullshit, but I remember thinking Dragon Ball Super was a pipe dream too, and here we are. So I may as well discuss the topic here.

The whole thing comes across like a modern day Dragon Ball AF, where there seems to be a lot more emphasis on hype and speculation than tangible evidence. For example, there's a twitter account dedicated to gathering all the information available about the new series, but all it really does is amplify rumors and fanworks. When I search for the title on Twitter I mostly get skeptics making fun of the idea, or true believers talking about the show as if it were objective fact. Like AF, there's a lot of excitement but no clear picture of what the the thing actually is. The only real consensus I can find is the following:

Dragon Ball Magic will feature the Supreme Kai

Goku will be turned into a child, just like in Dragon Ball GT

Geekdom101 talked about this once, so that means it must be real.

And that's why I led off with the screenshot of the tail-yanking scene from GT, because I was trying to find an appropriate image of GT Goku and the Supreme Kai, and... yeah, that's it.

The more I think about it, the more this feels like something an internet troll would come up with. Like, someone started with the stupidest moment in the worst Dragon Ball series ever, and built a rumor around it. Oh, and also the rumor namedrops Geekdom101, just to make it extra absurd. It's the sort of thing gullible people would flock to while everyone in on the joke would have a laugh over it.

I don't know enough about Geekdom101 to insult him properly, but I'm like 90% sure he's an asshole. Back when Twitter actually worked properly, I'd see his name trending and there'd be a bunch of people in the fandom going "Dammit, what's he done this time?" Does he have inside sources in the anime industry? I dunno, maybe he does, but I think he's got a credibility problem. I mean, he calls himself "Geekdom101", and his avatar is Golden Frieza with a pair of glasses and holding a lightsaber. His YouTube videos look like a clickbait parody, with things like "Kai-o-ken EXPLAINED" and "WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR". Also plenty of what-if and who-would-win videos.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that maybe this is a guy who makes a decent living off his fandom channel, and when there's not much going on, he'll cobble together a story just to keep the conversation going and draw more attention to his videos. Which... I mean, if that's profitable, so be it, but if Geekdom told me water was wet I'd want to double-check for myself.

As to the rest, even if Toei was really planning something like DB Magic, there's no guarantee they'd actually follow through with it. Plans change, and even if this were 100% legit, it means nothing without an official confirmation and a release date. That "Superman Lives!" movie with Nic Cage was a real thing... right until it wasn't.

But I find the concept too vague and too specific all at once. Like, okay, it's Supreme Kai and a de-aged Goku. Why them in particular? What are they going to do? It just feels like something someone made up to get a reaction from the fans. GT likers are supposed to get all excited or defensive about a potential GT reboot, and other fans are supposed to get upset that the Supreme Kai got the lead instead of their favorite C-lister.

Compare this to the early reveals for DBS: Superhero. Toei teased a few details, and gradually it became clear that the Red Ribbon Army was back somehow, and maybe there were some new androids, and there was a lot about Piccolo and Gohan, so it seemed like they'd be a big part of the story. It wasn't a complete picture, but it made sense from a promotional standpoint. People were more concerned with the CG animation than any of the characters or plot.

I mean, anyone can come up with this stuff. I mean, my uncle works for Nintendo, and he told me that the next anime is going to be called Dragon Ball Snazzy, and it'll be about Vegeta and 18 starting up a private detective agency. Or... I don't know, Dragon Ball Jazz, which is a prequel series featuring a young Dr. Brief and Gine as secret agents. Wait, how about Dragon Ball Spatula, starring Elder Guru and Launch as they explore the multiverse!

And you know, I'd probably watch any of these shows. Hell, I sat through GT, and it was awful! The bar's pretty low when it comes to making a Dragon Ball project that I'm willing to try out. But people have been clamoring for Dragon Ball Super II ever since the first series went off the air in 2018, and that was years ago. This Dragon Ball Magic business just sounds like the same old empty hype with a fresh coat of paint.

Or maybe the whole thing is real, but my advice is: Don't get your hopes up. Life's too short to get worked up over things that might never happen. If it actually comes to pass, then it'll still be just as much fun whether you believed it ahead of time or not.

[misskattylashes]

The Dichotomy of Being a Teenage Alex Turner Fan

In this article I look at why I think so many teenage fans direct so much hate towards Miles.

Look at this image search I did on Alex’s name. First person whose name comes up ‘Miles Kane’, first other person he is in another picture with, Miles...before a puff piece about Louise or Taylor. It’s Miles. There are more results with Miles than anyone else. Whether people like it or not, Miles and Alex are intrinsically linked.

In the words of the big man himself ‘stop and wait a sec’...... imagine Miles was Mila, a constant female companion of Alex’s who he had been close to for nearly twenty years. Had been at his side more than any other woman, had done two duets with him and whilst touring the second one, their performances were so sexually charged you thought any moment soon they were actually going to have sex on stage. What would you think? You would think they were or had been in a romantic relationship. And even though you haven’t seen much of them together over the past few years, Mila constantly talks lovingly about Alex in her interviews, and Alex invites Mila to be the support act for the final days of a very long world tour, and on one of the dates he lets Mila stand side-stage (something his official girlfriend doesn’t get to do) and throughout the set he sings to Mila and can’t stop glancing at her. People would be enamoured with their love story and desperate for them to be together.

So why is it different just because Miles is a guy?

Of course there is the obvious. If Alex is gay, then the teenage fans stand no chance with him, which would be upsetting. But even me, as a creaky old Gen X-er, had gay pop stars who were attractive and sexy – Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Andy Bell from Erasure, even Boy George got screamed at, but we accepted they were gay and we didn’t stand a chance and that was it.

Of course, there was no social media then, but did we write hateful letters to them or their partners, or put up posters on street corners saying how disgusting they were? (the 80s equivalent to posting all over Twitter) No.

So why the anger towards Miles?

Unfortunately when I was growing up, homophobia was acceptable. Gay people were constantly the butt of jokes, straight comedians would pretend to be effette just for laughs. At school we even had the reprehensible Section 28, imposed by Thatcher’s government where any mention of homosexuality was banned, even books featuring gay characters, to apparently help prevent us from experimenting and catching AIDS (yes I grew up in the Dark Ages)

But there comes the rub. Because homophobia was acceptable, any negative feelings we had towards our gay pop stars or their partners wasn’t something we felt bad about so we felt no need to pick on anyone as a way of dealing with our own conflicted emotions

Fast forward to 2023. Gay people have rights, can marry, have children, are positively represented in the media, we have Pride, which is on the point of becoming too commercialised, and to be homophobic is to most young people not cool or acceptable.

Those same girls who spew hate towards Miles probably paint rainbows on their pencil cases during Pride, have male gay friends at school and would have a go at anyone who doesn’t support trans rights.

But then there is the fact that the celebrity they desire has a constant male companion, who he has been more publicly intimate with then any of the girlfriends he has had. Scratch beneath the surface and you can spot the differences in them when they fell out after EYCTE -both a shell of their former self. When there was a brief break in Lockdown in the UK, who did Alex choose to meet? Miles. Whether the fangirls consciously or subconsciously think there is something going on, it makes them feel uncomfortable with themselves. The presence of Miles Kane makes them realise they’re not necessarily that right-on girl who is into gay rights, because when they actually think about it, and think about what men do, they don’t like it.

But instead of realising that this is just part of being a grown up – we all have things about ourselves we don’t like, they direct their anger and frustration at Miles, as if he didn’t exist then they wouldn’t be confronted by these unpleasant feelings they have.

So, what I am trying to say is whilst I find the comments about Miles disgusting and cruel, just remember with these girls the person they really hate is themselves, while Miles lives his lovely life with his career and his friends and Alex and Maxie.

I think we know who is the winner here.

[jayessar]

Instead of fully being an annoying boomer loser who isn't happy about the new things, I'll make some sort of a masterpost about cool JSR and JSRF information sources and other neat thingies. Probably will be updated if i find anything else worth including.

So, first of all:

•Official websites for JSR and JSRF. JSRF website has an English version, but it's barely archived and doesn't have much information on it anyway. JSR one is really awesome though, a lot of cool tidbits, character bios(they include one new trivia for some characters ) and game tips!!

•A whole bunch of guidebooks, meaning JSR Perfect Guide, JSRF Perfect Guidebook and the JGR Sybex's Official Strategies & Secrets . Only one of them is in English, but they're still useful for maps and Graffiti Soul collecting. If you can read these then even better lol. Keep in mind, that the JSR Perfect Guide only covers the original Japanese release, which is different from the later one's.

• Sexy as hell manuals for JGR, De La JSR, JSR for GBA and JSRF. Always good to know about these.

•The JSR and JSRF articles on Sega Retro. You probably noticed me linking them for the manuals and whatnot. If you want to find out stuff about these games, this is second best source for it (first one is playing the games lol). But it has some weird statements like saying that Beat is the leader of the GGs, even though it doesn't make any logical sense, and claiming that JSRF is a sequel game, but then also saying that it's not in the actual JSRF article.

It's probably the obvious thing that could've been noted, so now to less obvious one's.

• Jet Set Radio Wiki. Okay, this website had a bad reputation and all and was filled with creepy comments and lies, now it's all good. I swear. New admin didn't just remove all the misinformation, but also regularly writes new articles! Like how we have Ollie King related pages there now(while it's a different game, making a separate wiki for it would be kind of an overkill so it's there). Anyways yeah, it's good now. But still always check the sources! It's good to do no matter where you are.

While these little things suck, they're completely overshadowed by the sheer amount of fucking information included. Scans, art, documentation of which magazine had articles regarding the games and on which page AND EVERYTHING IS WITH SOURCES AND IMAGES. This is really strong and you'll be there for hours just staring in wonder at all this compiled info.

• JSR Archives. This is a community dedicated for archiving and categorising all the stuff JSR related. One of their members was the one who posted the Sybex guide on the internet.(whoahaaa they got a tumblr FOLLOW THEM!!)

• TCRF article on JGR. While this article wasn't updated in quite some time and is missing a whole bunch of stuff (like the leaked prototypes), it's still a very nice read.

• A whole bunch of prototypes. I included only those i consider noteworthy, if you wanna get the other's, they're there as well.

• JSRF Inside. A certified hood classic if we're talking about JSRF modding.

• Best source for JSRF speedrunning information.

• An extremely really detailed playthrough/guide of JSR. Includes cool trivia like regional differences and instructions for character unlocking.

• Less detailed, but still very useful video guide for unlocking all of the secret JSRF characters.

• Playlist of JSR/JSRF music, and anything related to them, like different remixes and stuff. Read the description for more details. It also has a link to a text document containing a lot of cool trivia about the artist featured in the games and other JSR related media.

• Video with all the dialogue and special interactions in JSRF.

• Kind of a joke entry, but also Hideki Naganuma's twitter account is worth checking out. Not his new tweets, but really old one's. In the past he was more involved with the fanbase and shared some neat trivia. Not related to him but one of the Castle Logical ppl confirmed that the lyrics in Mischievous Boy say "chameleon machine" and it fucks me up so much.

• This goofy ass official IGN guide for JSR. Why i didn't put it with the rest of the official guides? Well, the reason is that the writer for this thing, Aki, is a real silly goose and they decided to spice up some of the character descriptions. While these are probably based on some legitimate information, like Beat being from Fukuoka(which was confirmed by a Beat TUBBZ figurine of all things), you can't trust these due to its silliness. Like they gave DJ K a backstory, which just ruins his whole deal AND contradicts the game manual. They also consistently get the names for locations wrong. As a game guide it's pretty good?? You can use it. Just don't go around calling Gum a "brownface girl" after reading it.

That's everything i can remember so far, hope this helps.

[kafus]

oh hey ive been meaning to ask is there an easy or preferred way to get into kamitsubaki lore esp for vwp. ive tried to skim the website like 3 separate times & only picked up the very very basics

ok so the problem with kamitsubaki lore is that literally like Most of it that is direct and not just implied thru music videos/twitter posts happened in a fuckign ARG that is... kind of lost media kind of not. the kamitsubaki city ARG took place on a website where players were given new... riddles and tasks called Qs every day for the month of october in 2021 and that website is now inaccessible but people i know archived and translated all the content they could so it's still viewable in some fashion. a couple of my friends practically singlehandedly edit the kamitsubaki fandom wiki and you can find all the "story fragments" (cutscenes from the ARG with direct story) translated here (oh and there's also lost media from before the ARG from kaf's old fanbox page that is now inactive/lost media... i have all of the images from that but they aren't all typeset yet so i'd have to get back to you on that one. it's dubious whether all that stuff is still canon anyways, a lot of it seemed conceptual before kamicity was properly outlined. one day i'll compile all this shit somewhere for everyone to have easy access since the wiki is kinda eh for it)

when you said "skim the website" i assume you're talking about the website for the narrative TTRPG stuff? perhaps? sorry kamitsubaki has websites all over the place it's kind of a disaster. i can't give too much information on this one honestly, my japanese isn't good enough and i'm a little bit behind, but afaik other than the tutorial after you sign up which walks you through a scenario with one of the girls as TTRPG practice, the rest is just... TTRPG stuff. like you making up stories with other players within the setting and whatnot. you'd have to browse through it. (eventually there's going to be some sort of small video game related to all of this. exciting. who knows when that'll happen)

there is also some stuff to do with the cr/ypto project that's loosely correlated with kamitsubaki city i guess but not really you can ignore that. and i would ignore it. i do

otherwise it's kind of like vocaloid song series where the VWP music videos contain hints to lore/metaphorically show what's happening. occasionally art is posted to the hashtag # STORY_VWP on twitter too which contains art correlated with the actual story of kamicity.

if you want my basic breakdown and understanding, tldr the girls r summoned from elsewhere by a mysterious organization called the Restoration Foundation to use magic singing powers to restore life to a city, but the city is doomed to end in apocalypse from fishlike creatures called Tessaracters every single time and they're like. in a time loop with varying amounts of memory retrieval trying to save kamitsubaki city and go home. there seems to be a lot of significance with what clothes the girls are wearing in different media and etc etc

Sorry i'm sleepy and this is probably too long and also a mess. the reason it's a mess though is because VWP lore is a mess and that's part of the fun for me. if you have more specific questions about specific parts i probably can help with an answer though! i'm not as into it as some other people but the lore is still fun to theorize on and i like seeing symbolism in the music videos.

this isn't even touching on like. how there's the kaf membership manga canon which is just an official comic where vwp is in high school together. or otogibanashi which was a series of... spoken skits? that kaf put on at her concerts for a while and has yet to be concluded and is a completely different universe from the rest of the vwp lore. Truly an enigma

by the way look at this video of one of my fandom friends posting a shitpost gif we made into the japanese kamicity ARG discord chat during a livestream. we made kaf laugh. the joke is that parrot was so annoying you don't want to know. i am so proud of this communityjsfdksdf

[faisdm]

The one downside to Tumblr, compared to say, Twitter, is that Tumblr just doesn’t care about your original works. It is painfully difficult to get people on Tumblr to give even a single shit about an original comic, story or game. It’s not a new thing, of course, it’s been like that for over a decade... but it’s always disappointing, and if you’re new here and thinking “maybe someday if I get really good and get published, or get really popular in a fandom, they’ll care!” No... sorry, they won’t, and you need to know that, or you’ll keep trying to please them and slowly get worn down by it as nothing you do seems to get you anywhere, even if you’re giving them everything they loudly proclaim they want.

It’s bizarre; people on Tumblr would rather invent an entire non-existent movie by rich cishet people and pretend it has gay subtext- subtext! Not even text!- than read original queer works by queer creators and discuss and celebrate them! Like, FFS, Tumblr, LOVE YOURSELVES. The best you can imagine for yourselves is hypothetically being queerbaited!?

And don’t get me wrong, I love the shared creativity of all the posters and things and the in-joke of the made up gangster movie, but coming back to Tumblr after a while on Twitter, hoping for a “better place” I’m inevitably reminded of why I always end up drifting off it. I want people to read my work; I put a lot of effort into it, and spending time on a platform that aggressively doesn’t give a shit while proclaiming “boy, I wish there were more things like [describes exactly my work]... but there aren’t, so we’ll just have to pretend the characters from this straight series by straight people might have maybe not been straight!” is just....EUGH. It’s tiresome! People on twitter will take a chance on it! People on Tiktok will give it a go, and even Facebook! It has thousands of subscribers, it’s on a Tapas program, it ran a pretty successful Kickstarter, and I’ve been published multiple times, so it’s clearly not a bad comic... and it has everything Tumblr claims to like in it! Sword lesbians, political metaphors, meme jokes, autistic and nonbinary representation, positive bisexual rep... AND it’s made by a long-time Tumblr person from the fucking Homestuck fandom! (over ten years as admin and VA on one of the biggest Homestuck projects that exists, an artist on not just fan albums, but two of the official albums!) What more can I give you to convince you this comic is for you, Tumblr!? I made it for you!

The problem with Tumblr is that everyone talks like they’re super open-minded and totally interested in supporting marginalised people... but they’re really not? They’re actually interested in curating an image, and if “supporting marginalised people” is part of that image, somebody will reblog content about the concept of supporting marginalised people. But you’re marginalised in publishing and hoping Tumblr will actually support your work focused on themes and groups underrepresented in media? Tumblr won’t help you, because people on Tumblr people only care about a thing if you can make it fit within the narrow band of “on brand” things that they’re already into. So you actually have to have a massive fandom already before Tumblr will feel like your fandom’s content has an audience and so is safe to share as part of the brand you’ve curated.

...and sadly, that’s why for original creators, Tumblr can never replace Twitter, even though Twitter is the worst; because we need to find people who will actually try new things, and Tumblr people don’t. They’ll just sit there, reblogging the same stuff about “what if these two canonically straight white men in suits cuddled a little bit?” And then make the tired excuse that “Well, I HAVE to do this because nobody provides the real queer content I would totally consume if it was real!” and waving that very real queer content in their faces will just result in them pretending not to see it.

[fearsmagazine]

FANGS OUT - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Stadium Media

SYNOPSIS:  A Group of college students head to Mexico for some cheap plastic surgery. There they meet Dr. Pavor, a creepy surgeon who is actually a vampire, harvesting victims for his blood cartel. Aided by his blood thirsty nurses he systematically carries out his evil plan. When a detective looking for his missing daughter arrives - all hell breaks loose in a bloody combustible conclusion.

REVIEW: Filmmaker Dennis Devine to date has over 30 credits to his name, beginning with the first feature he directed in 1989, “Fatal Images.” That film was a genre film about a haunted camera possessed by a serial killer, and over the years he’s made numerous genre films, quite a few in the vampire genre. In FANGS OUT the head vampire uses the cover of a Mexican plastic surgery clinic to lure victims in.

The plot is a fun idea that begins to fall apart with burdensome cliches, bad one liners and tons of sexual innuendos and references that could have benefited from a polish by a female screenwriter. It amounts to soft-porn without the visuals. Three of the friends are there for the surgery and one is there for moral support. Almost every scene contains a moment where she questions the shadiness of the clinic. She also is a lesbian catholic school reject that the head vampire has an affinity for. Talk about back loading a character to fill plot holes! Once you get past the initial setup the story delivers everything you expect it to with no real surprises. The story attempts satire, possibly humor, but it tries too hard to get those laughs and the jokes fall like a lead balloon. There is a scene with nurse Anna and a random character that feels like a gag they shoehorned into the plot that could have been cut without any impact on the story.

The production values are uneven. There are times the cinematography is too hot. There are numerous annoying rough edits. There are scenes in the same location where there is an air unit running and as they cut between characters the background sound appears and disappears. The costumes look like bagged outfits from a ninety-nine cents store. The makeup on nurse Anna is bad, as are all the prosthetic fangs that look like bad dentures. The production design utilizes lots of fabric or sheets to turn rooms into operating rooms, in addition to protect the vampires from sunlight.

The performances are monotone. I’ve seen better performances in a porn films and I’m not talking about the sex scenes. It feels like they are all in on the joke and are nodding to each other thinking the audience won’t notice. There are a few times when actress Stacy Aung’s work rises above the rest for a moment, but it quickly degrades back to the same level as the rest of the cast. With the fangs in, it becomes difficult to understand what they are saying and it looks like they might spit them out any second.

FANGS OUT takes a timely topic and never hits its mark as it is stiffelled by lackluster production values, poor acting, and some sloppy writing. I’m a bit surprised because being familiar with some of director Dennis Devine’s other films, FANGS OUT feels rushed. Many of his films have that B movie feel, but there are good B movies and bad ones. Much like the character of Madison, I’m here to warn you that this is a bit shady.

Intentional or not, I did find it funny that many of the names in the cast sound like the names of porn stars and Veronica Ricci has done her share of them.

CAST: Stacy Aung, Samuel Code, Heidi Hemlock, Angel Juarez, Marlene McCohen, Jessie Vane, Brian Easter Jr, Desiree Estrada, Robert Rhine, Randy Oppenheimer and Veronica Ricci. CREW: Director/Cinematographer/Editor - Dennis Devine; Screenplay - Drake Cola & Dennis Devine; Producers - David S. Sterling & Randy Oppenheimer; Production Designer/Special Effects - Richard Calderon; Digital Effects - Jeff Leroy OFFICIAL: fangs-out.com FACEBOOK: N.A. TWITTER:  N.A. TRAILER: https://youtu.be/6MmtSXKjeT4 RELEASE DATE: On digital May 23rd, 2023

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay),  or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

[aziraphales-library]

Hi! I was just wondering if you had any more fic recs like Adventures In Attempting To Purchase A Book From That Weird Old Soho Bookshop, A. Z. Fell & Co, So You Need To Get Into A.Z. Fell & Co.; Now What? (A Guide For Unfortunate Bookworms), The A.Z. Fell and Co. Conspiracy, and The Official Mr Fell Quarantine Thread? Basically outsider POVs, but on social media?

Hello! I have a fair few, anon. A fair flipping few. Enjoy!...

Unusual Occurrences at A.Z. Fell and Co.'s by WritesEveryBlueMoon (T)

azfellandqueers Customer: It’s an outrage that you would sell these books *gestures to shelf of LGBTQ fiction* alongside the word of God Fell: I’m very sorry to hear you think that way. The door is right over there. Customer: You don’t understand - You could go to Hell for this! Fell: Oh, I assure you, the forces of Hell wouldn’t dare return to this shop

pretty-pansy Obviously his reaction is king shit but I'm sorry Return???

-

When the bizzare and amusing habits of Mr A.Z. Fell, bookseller, begin to trend on the internet, those who dwell on various social media sites share their frustrations, confusion, and extraordinarily unusual stories.

Anthony J. Crowley, Retired Demon and Airbnb Superhost by TheOldAquarian (G)

What are you supposed to do when you've been fired from your sweet job in Hell for thwarting the schemes of Satan, you've got a swanky flat in Mayfair, and you're looking for an excuse to spend all your time in someone else's bookshop? Obviously, you turn to the dubious world of short-term vacation rentals.

The resulting Airbnb property has been variously described as "an instagram trap," "a vampire den but make it botanical," and "the weirdest bed and breakfast in the shared history of beds and breakfasting."

Reviews of AZ Fell and Co Antiquarian and Unusual Books by IneffableFangirl_writes (NR)

Based on the amazing image (linked as the inspiration). Each chapter is the story of a different Yelp review in the image.

A Guide to Fame for the Enterprising Demon by asideofourown (T)

tildeathdoustogether ok friends so i know we all joke about, like john mulaney and keanu reeves and hozier being immortals, but… i really think we gotta add anthony j. crowley to that list

thelongest27yearsofmylife reblogged and said: Christ, Beth, Anthony Crowley is an increasingly popular, openly queer creator with explicitly queer rep in his work that’s really important to some people, can you not make this into a meme for ONCE in your life?

tildeathdoustogether reblogged and said: you think i’m joking but.  i’m not.  l i s t e n  i did not get a history degree for nothing, i have RECEIPTS. buckle in kiddos this is a wild ride

[Crowley accidentally gets a bit famous, and the internet figures out he may be a bit immortal]

it’s a new craze by attheborder (T)

CROWLEY: I try not to make a habit of gratitude, but I must give our appreciation to everyone out there who’s been listening and subscribing to The Ineffable Plan. AZIRAPHALE: Ooh, yes, we’ve become quite popular, haven’t we? CROWLEY: Yeah, just hit number eight on the advice charts … No advertising at all. AZIRAPHALE: Mm. How … miraculous. CROWLEY: … Aziraphale. You did not.

***

Crowley and Aziraphale are very possibly the people least qualified, on the entire planet, to start up an advice podcast.

But what else is there to do when the world isn’t ending anytime soon, you’re technically on indefinite sabbatical from your lifelong careers, and you need a plausible excuse to spend more time with your best friend who you’re definitely not, absolutely not, maybe just a little, actually maybe overwhelmingly in love with?

twitter cryptids by doctormissy (T)

Crowley's latest brilliant idea involves ranting about his undying love tiny crush on Aziraphale on Twitter instead of actually dealing with his feelings now that the world didn't end. Because he will never find out, right?

Right?

I live next door to a haunted bookshop owned by an immortal cryptid bastard. AMA! by kyaticlikestea (T)

Before anyone reports this post, I got this AMA authorised by posting proof to a mod, so there.

Hi, Reddit! I’m no-one special, but about 6 months ago, I moved into a flat above a cafe next door to a bookshop, and my life has never been the same since, because the man who runs the bookshop is some sort of ageless (mostly) benevolent eldritch being. By all accounts, he hasn’t aged a day since at least 1944, sometimes he seems to have just too many eyes, and I once saw him turn water into wine (a nice rosé). His coworker / best friend / boyfriend / shadow entity is also definitely some kind of cryptid, but despite trying harder to be a bastard, he’s somehow less successful at it.

So, if you have any questions about what it’s like to live next door to an eternal bastard man, AMA!

Or, a cryptid bastard man haunts Reddit, trying to find out how to ask out his crush of the past 6,000 years and getting downvoted to literal oblivion. Just normal stuff on the world wide web.

And the ones you mentioned...

Adventures In Attempting To Purchase A Book From That Weird Old Soho Bookshop, A. Z. Fell & Co. by Quandtuniverse (G)

A rare book collector posting on a niche internet forum is dismayed to discover the last missing book is only available at the best worst bookshop in London.

So You Need To Get Into A.Z. Fell & Co.; Now What? (A Guide For Unfortunate Bookworms) by c4llistrad (G)

London’s antique enthusiasts and rare lit nerds alike know that if you’re looking for a specific vintage or antique book, you have a good chance of ending up in A.Z. Fell & Co. as a last resort. And if you’ve ever been in (or are currently in) this predicament, you know how much of an absolute nightmare it is trying to even get in the door. Luckily, this handy guide, the fruit of a months-long collaborative effort to create the perfect formula for gaming the A.Z. Fell system, will tell you everything you need to know, complete with a comprehensive breakdown of what, exactly, the opening hours are. Compiled by pageknight and inky of the Rare Antique Forums.

The A.Z. Fell and Co. Conspiracy by WritesEveryBlueMoon (T)

brokenbibliophile Okay everybody, we already know that A.Z.Fell and Co is a difficult place to visit (to put it mildly) and that the owner is a tad eccentric. However, I was digging through some old records of 1900s Gentleman’s clubs and I swear I've found a picture of Mr Fell (Soho's resident book hoarder)

theBooksteer #immortaldemonconfirmed

-

A bunch of wacky strangers theorize about our favourite immortals' personal lives.

The Official Mr Fell Quarantine Thread by argentconflagration (T)

It is with an exasperated sigh that I introduce you to an official thread for this guy. We've discussed it and we've decided that this is the only way we can stop you guys from derailing threads to complain about this guy. By mod decree, all Mr Fell complaining, griping, bitching, grousing, and miscellaneous butthurt now belongs in THIS THREAD AND THIS THREAD ONLY.

The forumgoers of The Codex, a forum for rare book hunters, come to some very interesting conclusions about the personal life of one Mr Fell of Soho. (Inspired by a tumblr post.)

- Mod D

[bizarrequazar]

GJ and ZZH Updates — July 24-30

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

[Glossary of names and terms] [Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]

07-24 → Hunan Satellite posted a preview for the episode of Back to Field that would air on 07-29, which Gong Jun briefly guest appeared on. Fan Observation: Gong Jun wore pajamas by BEAST that have a little French bulldog on them.  Addition 08-22: The blanket seems to be his own, as the same one was visible in the background of a vlog he did while filming Word of Honor.

→ #ProtectZZH trended, the hashtag having been made by Instagram-believers.

→ QuelleVous made a post showing evidence that another Weibo account showing support for the Instagram / brand is actually someone with professional connections to CAPA. 

People / accounts promoting the Instagram / brand who by this point are known to have professional connections to CAPA:  1.  Xie Yihua  2.  Sophie   3.  Lao Ahyi  4.  Umbrella  5.  Li Tianshi  6.  Lu Hejing  7.  Zhou Yan Is that enough to show it’s not a coincidence?

→ Efforts rose on Twitter to increase discussion about CAPA since they can’t stop us on international sites. CAPA trended.

→ Dragon TV posted a group promo image for Go Fighting! episode 5. They later posted solo promo images as well. 

→ The Instagram posted five photos of “Zhang Zhehan” working out that look different enough from him that I started laughing when I saw them. Caption: “Good morning 🌅 good afternoon ☀️ good evening 🌠”

→ Bluebird posted a thread discussing the narrative spread over the previous few days claiming that skeptics were saying the recent Zhang Sanjian videos are holograms. 

→ 361° posted a douyin where someone is pinched by a crab, then the transition makes it look like the crab is being stepped on. (Xie Yihua is referred to as a crab by those who don’t believe the brand.) 

→ Gong Jun posted six photos of himself from Go Fighting! episode 5. Caption: “Shallowly guess my true identity 😎” Fan Observations: There has been a trend I was not aware of where Gong Jun has been frequently including 浅 (shallow) on personal posts since 05-21, I’ve gone back and added these in. There’s a half-joking theory based off “nine shallow, one deep” that something will happen after the ninth one. From what I was able to find, this is the eighth altogether, sixth only including Weibo posts.

→ Gong Jun’s studio posted ten photos of him from Go Fighting! episode 6. Caption: “The extreme intelligence team assembled, and the ‘Nirvana Operation’ officially started. Today at 20:30, together with boss @Gong Jun Simon, we will uncover the layers of fog and look for the mysterious ‘pretender’.” Fan Observation: The photo of him blindfolded was not present in the episode itself, nor has any footage been released of it yet. 🤔 It’s the 8th picture.

→ 20:30 Go Fighting! episode 5 aired. [subbed episode]

07-25 → Gong Jun and #WordOfHonor trended on Twitter.

→ Gong Jun has been nominated for four awards in the Weibo TV and Internet Video Summit: one for himself independently, and three for The Flaming Heart, Go Fighting!, and Chinese Restaurant.

→ Tiffany & Co. posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Kangshifu posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Mengniu posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ MUJOSH posted a teaser image for their limited edition product with Gong Jun that later released on 07-29. The tagline reads, “I will love you till the end of time. I urge the trees, flowers and grass to go against nature, and be immortal for you.” They also posted three photos of Gong Jun from Go Fighting! episode 4 to their Instagram, [here] [here] and [here].

→ LockNLock posted winners of a giveaway, using a promotional image featuring Gong Jun.

07-26 → Colgate posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ A general meeting was held by the Culture, Art and Audio-Visual Communication committee of the China Federation of Radio and Television Associations, a state-run entity. During this meeting Li Xuezheng was elected as one of the committee’s vice presidents.

07-27 → 361° posted a drawing of a border collie with a caption that includes, “I sent the dog Xiu to stand guard for me today.”

→ Tiffany & Co. posted another cut of their commercial featuring Gong Jun.

→ A Zhang Zhehan lookalike was seen wandering around a mall in Shanghai. This is a new tactic by Xie Yihua and co., it is not him; other similar sightings have occured. At this point don’t believe any news you hear of him being seen in public, even ones that seem to be candy or that come from seemingly trusted sources. 

Remember that they are ramping things up for August. People within chatgroups have also heard Instagram-believers say they’re going to target those of us posting clarifications. If something seems questionable—even if it comes from me or QuelleVous or whomever—verify it for yourself if you are able, or at the very least make a mental note and keep questioning it. People can lie, people can be paid off, accounts can be hacked. Trust no bitch.

→ Tangle Teezer (which I mistakenly thought Gong Jun had already finished his contract with, whoops) made a post which included a photo of a pug. Caption: “What kind of bad thoughts can you have for puppy Xiu?” Toxic solos who mistook the dog for a French bulldog flamed the comments until the post was privated.

→ Kangshifu posted three photo ads featuring Gong Jun.

→ Dragon TV posted four gifs of Gong Jun from Go Fighting! episode 5.

→ YOUKU announced that Gong Jun’s upcoming drama Legend of AnLe will begin airing at the end of the year.

07-28 → People’s Daily made a post about water armies, the dangers they pose, and the need for an official unified effort to stop them.

→ Two additional stills of Gong Jun from Go Fighting! episode 5 were leaked.

→ Back to Field’s Weibo posted the episode preview that had been shared by Hunan Satellite at the beginning of the week.

→ Fans found that Zhang Zhehan’s name cannot be used in an e-card for a drink company, with the error message saying the “content contains sensitive words.” When customer service was asked, they cited that it was because he had “visited the shrine.” Fans tested the site and found that only other names from CAPA’s immoral artists lists are blocked. In case you need a reminder of why it’s vital that Zhang Zhehan is able to clear his name, here it is: he and the two thousand people who share his name aren’t able to do even something this simple. He cannot “move on and live a normal life” like the Instagram is claiming. And unfortunately...

→ The Instagram uploaded seven photos of “Zhang Zhehan” and “Zhang Mama” at a pilates studio together. Caption: “The best companion is to bring your family to exercise together 💪” [Here] is an interview from 2019 where Zhang Zhehan mentioned the topic of his mother’s attitude towords working out. An additional video was later also posted to the Douyin account of the pilates studio.

It has been found that this pilates studio, along with many of the other businesses that the imposter(s) have been doing photoshoots at, have professional connections to Songcheng. This does not appear to be a coincidence.

→ MUJOSH posted a photo from their new ad campaign featuring Gong Jun. MUJOSH also made a post with the additional tagline “I will love you as much as I can” on their blog and announced that these new glasses are a limited edition with 1150 products available. Sir. Fan Observation: The glasses are hexagon-shaped. SIR.

→ Danny (basketball player) submitted a video of himself and his family to the official Chinese Basketball Weibo. Interspersed in the video are two short clips of Zhang Sanjian doing sports that have been released over the last month. The song used in the video is Numb Little Bug, the same one Gong Jun used in a douyin on 06-14 that had a lot of us worried, which frankly feels very pointed.

→ Zhehan trended on Twitter.

07-29 → Downy posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Tiffany & Co. posted a behind the scenes video of their ad campaign with Gong Jun.

→ KFC posted a photo ad of Gong Jun announcing winners of a prize draw.

→ QuelleVous posted that Songcheng approached Zhang Zhehan for a collaboration last year and he turned them down. This is unsubstantiated at this time. If it is true, it’s possible that this was part of the motive for at least some of what has happened, whether it had something to do with 813 itself or simply the fact that they are now using his image to advertise their businesses.

→ KFC posted an illustrated commercial drawn by 微微不早起, a CPF artist.

→ Back to Field posted a group promo image featuring Gong Jun. They also later posted individual stills of the cast members.

→ LockNLock posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ MUJOSH posted another photo ad, shortly followed by a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun announcing the limited edition glasses.

→ We Are The Champions posted a group promo image featuring Gong Jun.

→ Kangshifu posted three photo ads featuring Gong Jun.

→ Xie Yihua made a post admonishing fans for feminizing and creating NSFW content of Zhang Zhehan. This resulted in huge backlash from all sides as well as some fighting.

→ Dragon TV posted a still from Go Fighting! episode 5 featuring Gong Jun.

→ Fresh posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun.

→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Mengniu posted a promotional video spoken by Gong Jun. 

→ Hsu Fu Chi posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Gong Jun’s studio posted four photos of him from Back to Field. Caption: “The warm food healing journey will also have exciting moments 😎”

→ Back to Field aired the second episode of Gong Jun’s guest appearance.

07-30 → Instagram-believers held an #AlwaysWithZhangZhehan hashtag event.

→ Gong Jun trended on Twitter.

→ The Instagram posted a video of “Zhang Zhehan” practicing boxing. Caption: “Wake up 🥊” Not long after, the account replied to a comment from a rude skeptic who criticized Xie Yihua, saying “Hope you growing a brain isn’t just to make you look tall.”  Fan Observation: A reminder that when Zhang Zhehan was being actively attacked by antis last July, he said nothing until he had put together enough evidence to sue the worst of them. A lot of Instagram-believers have been leaving recently because they believe he has really become this kind of rude and careless person, while many of the ones who are left were celebrating this comment. Also note that this was just over 24 hours after the backlash against Xie Yihua, whom the comment the account replied to was “concidentally” targetting.

→ Hsu Fu Ci posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Gong Jun posted six photos of himself from We Are The Champions to his personal Weibo. Caption: “Shallowly guess who the champion is going to be" Fan Observation: Ninth 浅, seventh only including Weibo.

→ Gong Jun’s studio Weibo posted an additional nine photos from We Are The Champions. Caption: “In the canyon duel, the battle is fierce.”

→ We Are The Champions episode 8 aired and is available with VIP, episode 7 is now available for free.

→ Xie Yihua made a post threatening fans with legal action, posting a forged letter (illegal) and a censored lawyer’s license. The lawyer’s name was still able to be discerned through the censoring and was identified as one working for a lawfirm with connections to CAPA. 

→ We Are The Champions posted a video announcing that Gong Jun had won the title of Solo King. They followed this up with a promo image of him.

→ Gong Jun’s studio posted another photo of him from the filming of the We Are The Champions episode holding the ring he won. Caption: “Dare to challenge, courage and strategy to support together. Congrats to boss @ Gong Jun Simon for winning solo king~”

→ Two hashtags about Gong Jun’s win got on Weibo’s entertainment hotsearch.

→ Kangshifu posted an illustrated ad featuring Gong Jun. The caption includes, “In the summer that heats up as soon as you go out, the highest standard for testing friendship is probably not pigeons. Baking through the heat wave and making appointments on time is simply the pinnacle of friendship.”

→ We Are The Champions posted solo promo images of several contestants including Gong Jun. 

→  Addition 08-02: A rumor was spread online originating from a supposed staff member of Back to Field that one of the guests used to be a sex worker (“duck”). This led to slander against Gong Jun, connecting it to slander previously spread by Sophie and co.. Back to Field did not post any official statement about this other than to say they were disappointed that people were more preoccupied by this than the show itself.

Additional Reading: → Flora’s daily fan news thread → I’m organizing a Zhang Zhehan is Innocent hashtag event on Twitter for next Saturday, please check it out if you’re interested in participating!

<<< previous week || all posts || following week >>>

This post was last edited 2022-08-22.

[thosebrookfieldgirls]

What do you think of the translations so far?

I'm not terribly far into the prologue. Like I just met Ace in the prologue and then I had to go to work-- RIP. So outside of those first 8 "chapters" since they are books rather then episodes and vignettes rather then personal stories, I've only seen screen shots of stories.

Some of the slang I've seen is hilarious, especially coming from Floyd. Boy litterally says drumming is canceled yeet before throwing the sticks XD. I have heard some complaints about Caters slang since it's dated but I kind of think it's funny since he's supposed to be up on trends and yet he's using early an early 2000s vernacular at times.

Pyroxene actually Shaftlands -shudder- but the good news is Sunshine Land is not Scalding Sands so that wasn't a recon like we feared it was just not in the map image we had. What we have currently is only a partial map which makes me curious about what the full map would look like.

I really am curious why they decided to make the game rates E considering the JPN is listed as Teen if i remember right and there are some pretty dark themes. No cursing that I've seen so far but with Riddles vocabulary alone you are going to need a pretty strong reading level for this game so then I just wonder why bother?

Over all I look for the fandom to be picky and chosey about which terms they will except and which they won't and new fans will use the new terms.

Some changes I really like that I noticed was that they don't refer to Kalim as "the boy with the turban" like I saw in translations prior-- he's just "the boy with the red eyes". It just feels better especially since if I remember listening to some of the MENA fans complaining that it wasn't accurate because that wasn't the term for what Kalim wears. But they also refer to Jamil as his cousin apparently??? Haven't seen screan shots but I have seen people complain on both the official Twitter and over here on tumblr. (Update: the cousins part was a joke that went south cause people mistook it for fact, please disregard that)

My one big question tho... WHY DID THEY GET RID OF SAM'S TATTOOS? like is there a culture thing I'm missing and they got rid of it to be more sensitive or what? Like someone please explain? I don't understand?

But so far that's all I have as far of an opinion. It isn't perfect but it is still doing better then I feared it would

[thevictorianghost]

You said in your finnrey/zutara post that studio meddling was involved for both. I knew that this was the case for finnrey because of racist cowards. But I never knew that was the case for zutara? Tbh I just assumed from the get-go that aang and katara were the main ship and I thought it was cute for them to end up together in the end. Though it is really interesting to learn that zuko and katara could’ve also been a serious thing and I think they could also work together rather nicely. What happened behind the scenes that caused it not to happen? Was aang originally gonna be set up with toph or have no love interest?

Oh hello! Hi! My first anon. Welcome :)

Before we start: I’m going to write Kat/aang, A/ang and Bry/ke like that so it doesn’t appear in the tags and I’ll bold some sections for emphasis. 

I don’t think the writers even considered Toph as a love interest for A/ang. It was always about Kat/aang vs Zutara.

It’s no secret at this point that Dante Basco and Mae Whitman, who voiced Zuko and Katara respectively, ship Zutara. Dante Basco is known as the “captain of the Zutara ship”. They’ve written multiple times about Zutara on Twitter and Dante Basco said in an interview that he really thought, at one point, that Zuko and Katara were going to end up together, that he thought it was going that way, and that he loved the idea of fire and water together.

As for the writers, it’s a bit more difficult to find information, since the show ended 15 years ago. But Aaron Ehasz, head writer of ATLA, has come out and said there was supposed to be a fourth season and it was dropped in favor of the movie. He said it on Twitter on April 1rst, 2019 (while also saying sorry for picking that date, it wasn’t an April Fools!). He said that M Night Shyamalan wanted them to focus on Book 4, but Bry/ke (Bryan Konietsko and Mike DiMartino) “wanted to focus on the movie”. You can find those tweets here. Not about Zutara per se, but it does show not everyone was on board with how the show was going to end behind the scenes.

Speaking of the movie, when asked about The Last Airbender, M Night Shyamalan also gave his input on the situation. He talked about how, by the time Book 3 came around, he wasn’t sure if the series was supposed to end there or if there was going to be a Book 4. He said to Bry/ke: ““Dudes, I gotta know this. This is critical! This has to end. This has to end. If it doesn’t end, I’m not on board. But if you don’t want to end it - it’s all good.”  They were like “no, we saw it as three seasons for each element that he has to learn.”  And I said “great.”” This is where it gets interesting, though: “At that time they hadn’t even decided where things were going to end, even like who Katara was going to end up with. All of that stuff hadn’t been figured out yet.” 

It’s interesting to me how he mentions this is who Katara will end up with. Not A/ang, not Zuko. It’s always about Katara.

 Someone who interned on ATLA has been quoted as saying that “If you check out the I.P. Bible then you’ll see a Kat/aang endgame was never planned from the start, it was supposed to remain a one-sided crush throughout the whole show.“ and that “The actual decision to make them a couple came about much later at Bry/ke’s request, largely because they were frustrated at the popularity of Zutara.“ Of course, not everyone in the production was full on one side or the other, as the post says some were neutral about it. “Some of the crew liked Kat/aang, I know Joaquim [Dos Santos] was a big Kat/aang supporter but more of them were neutral about it, Ehasz was not fond of Kat/aang but he didn’t mind too much since he’s a mature adult and all that.”

Avatar Extras (special events on Nicktoons where episodes of ATLA were shown with fun facts) were released where it was said that Zuko was supposed to be Katara’s love interest. It was said two times at least. I’ve only ever found screencaps of these, but I found these here on Tumblr. 

When asked about these in the Avatar Extras, Bry/ke said that it was just a joke and that Kat/aang was always in the DNA of the show. But if you’re here to tell fun facts to your audience about your show, maybe put a disclaimer that says some things might not be as truthful as they think they will be?

And the intern mentioned earlier also said that “No one was having full-on ship wars in the writer’s room but we did joke about it, and we toyed with the idea of Zuko and Katara falling in love a couple of times.“ So that goes well with the Avatar Extras.

Meanwhile, other writers, like John O’Bryan, have been quoted talking against Zutara in favor of Kat/aang. EDIT: Thank you to @exhaustedhope for giving me a source for this quote! This link also has a few images for the quote, so I’ll add them here.

Thank you again! And also the use of Zutara fanart to badmouth the ship in favor of Kat/aang? Dude.

If this was the way people behind the scenes were thinking of Katara and A/ang’s and Katara and Zuko’s relationships... well that doesn’t really make me think “Kat/aang was in the DNA of the show” either, huh? Zuko was never officially her love interest, Katara never actually “went after that guy”. But the thought that she might made them uneasy. 

(Btw, let’s not forget Zuko actually does care about Katara, enough to put his life on the line for her in Book 3, so that mischaracterizes Zuko.) 

This comment by John O’Bryan fits with this vision of Zutara Bry/ke has, where Zuko is nothing but a broody, emo “bad boy” who doesn’t care about Katara at all. It’s shown pretty well in their dreadful “joke” made at Comic Con in 2007. You can find the video here. Here, Katara ends up with A/ang and “should have never doubted the will of Mike and Bryan!” (yuck). So Kat/aang was always the “right” way for them to end the show, right?

But then! Even Bry/ke themselves have said that Kat/aang was forced. They said it in 2014 when Korrasami became canon in Legend of Korra. On Korrasami and Kat/aang, they said this: “Originally, [Korrasami] was primarily intended to be a strong friendship. Frankly, we wanted to set most of the romance business aside for the last two seasons. Personally, at that point I didn’t want Korra to have to end up with someone at the end of series. We obviously did it in Avatar, but even that felt a bit forced to me.“

So they admitted that Kat/aang was forced. They even mention the ATLA ship wars in the post. “Either direction we went [about Korrasami or Makorra], there would inevitably be a faction that was elated and another that was devastated. Trust me, I remember Kat/aang vs. Zutara. But one of those directions is going to be the one that feels right to us, and Mike and I have always made both Avatar and Korra for us, first and foremost.”

Okay. So what’s real about the behind the scenes of ATLA and what isn’t? Was Kat/aang in the DNA of the show, or did they go back and forth between Kat/aang and Zutara like they did with Korrasami and Makorra? 

There have been conflicting informations scattered across the Internet over the years. Some people say one thing and others react, saying the opposite and that the first thing was false. Some people lied, or joked, to mess with the audience and toy with Zutara - or not, or maybe, or perhaps... What I think, though, is that not everything was set in stone. Some people were for Zutara and some people were for Kat/aang. And even after all of that, the big takeaway for me was: the end result that Bryke wanted so badly was lackluster in and of itself.

[blueiscoool]

Top Scientist admits 'Webb Space Telescope Image' was Actually a Slice of Chorizo

A French scientist has apologized after tweeting a photo of a slice of chorizo, claiming it was an image of a distant star taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Étienne Klein, a celebrated physicist and director at France's Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, shared the image of the spicy Spanish sausage on Twitter last week, praising the "level of detail" it provided.

"Picture of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years away from us. It was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. This level of detail... A new world is unveiled everyday," he told his more than 91,000 followers on Sunday.

The post was retweeted and commented upon by thousands of users, who took the scientist by his word.

Things, however, were not quite as they seemed.

Klein admitted later in a series of follow-up tweets that the image was, in fact, a close-up of a slice of chorizo taken against a black background.

"Well, when it's cocktail hour, cognitive bias seem to find plenty to enjoy... Beware of it. According to contemporary cosmology, no object related to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere else other than on Earth"

After facing a backlash from members of the online community for the prank, he wrote: "In view of certain comments, I feel obliged to specify that this tweet showing an alleged picture of Proxima Centauri was a joke. Let's learn to be wary of the arguments from positions of authority as much as the spontaneous eloquence of certain images."

On Wednesday, Klein apologized for the hoax, saying his intention was "to urge caution regarding images that seem to speak for themselves."

In a bid to make amends, he posted an image of the spectacular Cartwheel galaxy, assuring followers that this time the photo was genuine.

The Webb telescope, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, officially began scientific operations on July 12. It will be able to peer inside the atmospheres of exoplanets and observe some of the first galaxies created after the universe began by viewing them through infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye.

By Toyin Owoseje.