#about fandom and they ways in which we relate to our heroes

[sanswstrk]

TO SANSA/JON FANDOM!

Hey everyone! I’m not sure how many of you remember this user, but lostlittlesatellites or batterydeaddotdot was a well-known Jonsa meta-writer in our fandom. Sadly, they deactivated, and as far as I know, we don’t really know why. A big chunk of their amazing work seems to have been lost, which was so sad for so many of us.

But here’s the good news: I recently discovered that some of their metas were saved on the "Way Back Machine" site! So, I put together a list of some of their pieces to share with all of you. My aim is to help preserve their contributions, spread the love within our fandom, and celebrate the incredible mind that has helped to shaped our fandom.

Quick disclaimer: I haven’t read every single meta, so I don’t necessarily agree with everything that’s written. My main goal is just to share this with you all. And I skiped GOT-related metas for this list. Enjoy diving into lostlittlesatellites/batterydeaddotdot’s work!

Some of their writings is already saved through some of those accounts: @/jonsameta & @/bookjonsa & @/esther-dot. Y’all can check! Here are the others:

BOOKS:

Sansa Stark: The Princess in the Tower

RLJ & Jonsa Payoff

Dragons, Snow and Armchairs

Can there be ONE ideal ruler?

Trojan War Literature influence on GRRM

The Red Comet: A Closer Look

Grey Dawn: Hour of the Wolf + Nightingale

To go forward you must look back: Dany’s tragic fall

Jon Snow as an Anti Hero

Val: A Subversion of BATB in Jon’s arc? + “something off about Val”

The Resurrection Problem

The Cost of Weaponizing Dragons For a Cause: Doran + Jon

There is Power in Living Wood: Bran’s role in the War

Valar Morghulis: Could Arya kill Dany?: Part 1 & Part 2

Stark Girls’ connections: To go forward you must go back

Fathers and Daughters

Sansa Stark: A Winter Rose?

Sansa Stark: A Girl in Glass

Sansa’s Fairytale and Myth allusions

The Blindspot of FPTP thread: Oversexualisation and overlooking age

Ask: Does “begging for a stranger’s kiss” foreshadow Sansa/Hound?

Deconstruction of BATB figures: He’s even uglier than the Hound

The Unkiss: The War Spilling Inside

Sansa’s repression of Jeyne

Alysanne: Paralleling Sansa + Contrasting Dany foreshadowing

A Song to Dodge A Kiss With a Blade (Part 1): Sansa/Hound and Jon/Ygritte ACOK comparisons

The Innocuous Nature of Jon/Sansa Foreshadowing

Snow: Lover’s Kisses

A Son by Marriage

1. Like a Lover; 2. Like a Kiss; 3. Kissed by Fire; 4. Burning Light and Dark Woods; 5. Intruders in Winterfell; 6. The Heart of Winterfell; 7. Fire: Hearth vs. Weapons

Dance of Dragons + Pact of Ice and Fire

Jonquils and Blue Roses

Horses and Flowers

Some Willowy Creature Who Sits Up in a Tower

A Union of the Old Gods and the New: Importance of understanding the Seven

Ask: Thoughts on Bridge4’s Video “There must always be a Stark in Winterfell”

Theories:

Bran as the Valonqar

History is a Wheel: Jon’s Rebellion

Jon’s Resurrection Repercussions

Dead Man with the Head of a Wolf: A Re-look

The Heart Tree of Winterfell: Tolkien influence

Complicating the Fantasy Battle: War Factions in the War for Dawn

Trail of Scrolls

Lady and the Ghost: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3

Shadowbinders, Death and Sacrifice

Sansa, the Vale and Mountain Clans: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Seasons of My Love

Jon’s Survival: Beginning of Subverting Westerosi Classism

Child of Flame and Shadow: Not a living child but a shadow child?

Shadowbinders, Death and Sacrifice: Dany with Mirri and Melisandre

A Potential Wildcard Advisor: Bronze Yohn Royce and the Importance of the Vale

Why Ghost is unlikely to like Dany: Melisandre and Val in ADWD

Others:

Jonsa: Tolkien influences

Jonsa: A Good Endgame

Jonsa is happening because it's how GRRM's mind works

Jonsa’s Hints: On how antis ignore Jonsa foreshadowing

POV’S: Heros or not

House of the Undying and Quaithe for Dany & Mythology

Dany criticism 

Other links: about asoiaf; asoiaf metas; asoiaf theories + part 2

Anyone who has some of their writing saved can feel free to share! I would be thankful.

[aya-luri]

Am I the only one who doesn't associate Zekrom with Ingo and Reshiram with Emmet but do it the other way around? Well, perhaps this will become an unpopular opinion, but, if you stop to think about it there are quite a few points that can support this theory. Let's check them out! To begin with, it's the legendary dragon Zekrom the one who appears on the cover of the White version of the game, while Reshiram does the same on the Black version, which would indicate that they actually represent their opposite color. Such small detail is already important in itself, not just the basic color of the dragons per se. Also we all know that Zekrom's associated element is the electric type, like Emmet's Eeleektros, while Reshiram's is the fire type, like Ingo's Chandelure, both being the most representative pokemons of the Subway Bosses.

Although the issue of ideologies of each dragon is used to link them with each brother among the fandom, "ideals" being the one typically attributed to Ingo for his passionate way of encouraging trainers, while for Emmet it is the "truth" for his direct way of communicating, this could work much better the other way around. If we have learned anything from Ingo on Pokemon Legends Arceus, it is that this man is full of existential doubts that lead him to want to get closer to the player in order to know more about himself. That's it, the truth about his origins. But he already had some tendency to this type of behavior long before, as it was evident in the first Black & White games.

"Where is my destination? I've kept thinking, and I've learned one thing. That is, you cannot know what happens after winning without winning." Through such questions, Ingo seeks to reach a real conclusion, his own truths. And perhaps in our idealized image of him we forget that he can also be frank and direct, without the need to embellish words with lies.

"However, it is difficult to win unless you and your partner are in total sync." On the other hand, and as we have said before, the frankness with which Emmet expresses his opinions makes him look like an open-minded character, sincere, making this seem (for many people) to be his only notable characteristic, despite the fact that it's kinda obvious the way in which he greatly idealizes Pokémon battles.

"This time, I am really serious. Really serious. Because if a battle is not serious, it is not fun." He firmly believes that there is a way to go about Pokémon battles, and that way is by giving it your all in them, and in an ideal world, everyone would have fun battling just as he does, but this is not always the case. Emmet clearly expresses how he believes things should be, and he's also aware that his own victory may not only be due to his skill but also to circumstantial elements or, put another way, luck. So he also idealizes the player's own defeat when it occurs, having enough consideration to make it seem like something unfourtunate. Further proof that the fandom has been associating the wrong dragon with the wrong twin can be found in the legend of the twin heroes, where it was the oldest who pursued the truth, while the youngest pursued the concept of ideals.

This birth order also corresponds to Ingo and Emmet, Ingo being the eldest of the both and Emmet the youngest.

That's why despite being white, I think Reshiram suits to Ingo much better and the same for Emmet regarding the black dragon Zekrom. All of these points put together carry much more sense than simply thinking that each dragon's ideologies relates to a brother just by the main color of his outfit. Although this, in the end, does not have much relevance either, since canonically there is no relationship between these legendary Pokémon and the Subway bosses, other than the simple fact of playing with mere chromatic issues. Still, it's always fun to speculate, right?

[carigm]

The “Teaser”, mlvn rooftop convo, and Lord of the Rings parallel…

This is gonna be a long post, so grab some snacks y’all.

First of all, the teaser the Duffers shared at this Netflix shareholders event was basically all BTS stuff, and according to someone that was there, we have mostly seen all of it. The actual clips from the show they showed were so short that most people missed it. However, over those short clips it seems they played a voiceover of part of the mlvn rooftop convo. Notice how the Suffer Sisters are literally incapable of sharing anything new, and the only audio they disclosed is from the ONE scene that’s been leaked to death, and even transcribed multiple times with the help of AI. In any case, Netflix did not share this teaser with the masses, and it’s unlikely they ever will. Stranger Things is not going to the Super Bowl this year (yes you heard that right) and the Tudum Event isn’t until May. Our only hope before that would be them releasing something on Will’s birthday, but whether in March or May, I believe we’ll be getting a proper teaser by then.

People that attended the event reported that El has a voiceover line where she goes “they don’t get to write the ending, we do” and apparently a voiceover Mike line where he goes “we’ll finish this together” (I’m not sure if this was paraphrased or not). Immediately, we all realized that these lines sound pretty close to what Mike is allegedly saying to her during the rooftop scene. Many people in the fandom have taken the time to transcribe that scene, some with AI and some without, and although some things could be wrong here and there, the general idea of it seems pretty clear. I’m attaching an AI reading of the scene here, so I can point out where I think his dialogue might be from…

Around the 1.43 mark, the AI picked up “enjoying it, together”, however I think this is where the “we’ll finish it, together” line comes into play. If anything, this shows AI isn’t 100% accurate, and it does call into question some of these previous lines 😂…I think it’s possible that after this speech from Mike about stories, fantasy endings and heroes, El tries to follow his advice and be positive, and maybe she delivers the “they don’t get to write our ending, we do” line back to him. It’s unfortunate because obviously we can’t see her face in the video, but I think it makes sense she would reply with that because right after it seems like he says “of, course…” and then proceeds to seemingly add that the Party can have a happy ending, without all the fantasy elements he mentioned before.

I find it very interesting that he’s choosing to speak to her with this storytelling analogy, which at first I believed to be a D&D analogy, but the more I think about it, the more I feel like he’s talking about an actual story. And then the lord of the rings parallel hit me, specifically with this scene. If you’re not aware, Finn Wolfhard has mentioned lotr twice now when talking about season 5, and I personally think it’s possible that Mike is using lord of the rings here as a reference to describe the hero’s journey and relate it to what the party has been through. Think about it, he’s trying to cheer El up, who has been stuck in that fuckass radio station for a year, who’s probably extremely tired of everything she has been dealing with for years, and he just wants to offer her some consolation so she can keep going and fighting. Does that sound familiar?

Well my friends, if it does, that’s because it is a direct parallel to Frodo and Sam from Lord of the Rings. I’ve always thought Byler were insanely samfrodo coded (funny enough the last S4 Byler scene is almost identical to this scene too), but it seems the Duffers are paralleling mlvn to them here. In lotr, Frodo bears the biggest burden of the story, as he follows his hero’s journey to Mordor to defeat evil. Along the way, ofc, he becomes increasingly weary and hopeless, and it is up to Sam (his best friend) to cheer him up and provide him with strength to keep him going. How does Sam do this? Interestingly enough, he encourages Frodo by describing all the beautiful things that will come AFTER they have won, what they and their friends will be able to enjoy when they get back home. Basically everything Mike appears to be saying to El in this scene, fantasizing about the end of the battle. To make the parallels even crazier, while on his hero’s journey, Frodo has to remain in hiding because there are multiple forces looking for him, and we know that El is basically hiding away from the government.

Another thing I want to point out is that in lotr (spoilers I guess 😭) good does win in the end, and the main characters get to return back home. However, Frodo is so changed by the journey and all the things he encountered that he simply cannot stay with his friends. Instead, he leaves and goes to the Undying Lands, where he finds peace. He doesn’t die, but he also cannot stay in Middle Earth. Him and Sam have a beautiful goodbye scene and then Sam is left with the literal book of stories Frodo started, and is told by Frodo to “finish it”.

Make of that what you will…

[thelittlelegends]

THE LITTLE LEGENDS

This is a blog for sharing and spreading love for the smaller Zelda games in the fandom!

For everyone crying over Spirit Tracks being forgotten, to people who wish someone else remembered the struggle to find a fourth player for Four Swords or sobbing at the end of online co-op for Tri Force Heroes – this is a home to join others in that love. Mainline and third-party Zelda games are all included!

The criteria for which Zelda games count as “small” is hard to quantify. To make things easier, we went by the numbers posted to Archive of Our Own, which has the option to disambiguate which game you’re writing for and is the current best-known fanfiction site. From there, we removed some things to try and narrow it down to core game fics and picked everything that was under 1000 works.

The resulting list of Zelda games is as follows:

CDI games = 14

Zelda cartoon = 29

Cadence of Hyrule = 50

Tri Force Heroes = 51

Oracle of Seasons = 76

Oracle of Ages = 85

Zelda II: Adventure of Link = 93

Zelda (1986) = 180

Spirit Tracks = 183

Phantom Hourglass = 191

Link’s Awakening = 256

Link to the Past = 260

Minish Cap = 290

Four Swords = 359

Four Swords Adventures = 423

A Link Between Worlds = 587

Wind Waker = 739

Some of this will be a case of poor tagging, and things winding up in the wrong place. (eg. Four Swords has 1200 entries, but upon removing all Four Swords Adventures or Manga story tags it reduces to 359.) Others may not be here at all because nobody has posted it under it’s own name vs a related game or “& Related Fandoms.”

While this means these numbers are not absolute, they still represent the problem: it’s hard to find content for your favourite games if it's in the list above, and we want to fix that!

WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?

The event we’re planning is very chill, very low-stakes way of building up interest and knowledge, and then collecting and sharing fanworks produced.

The event month will be AUGUST, 2024.

Every few days in August we’ll make a post for each game on the list (and any bonus games that were highlighted alongside the main ones), which people can reblog with a link to the fanwork they created! You can also make your own posts and tag the blog plus the game of the day but we cannot promise to see and reblog everything.

In the lead-up to August, we will be doing round-up posts for each of the above games.

Some will be doubled up and treated as “bonuses” due to their small pool of fans (CDI, the Cartoon), and if there are some we don’t know about we may take them on as suggestions!

Each of these initial game posts will include basic stats about the game: when they were released, on what hardware, where you can find them now, and what their story was. It will also include links to a walkthrough or two, for those without access to the necessary hardware.

The purpose of these posts is to be shared!

Reblog them with your favourite artwork, current fanworks you love and adore, your favourite AU they’re featured in! Share the lore you wish everyone knew, and the characters who get forgotten!

Share prompts you’ve never gotten around to using, or ones you don’t feel competent to handle!

Do not feel bad about doing this! Every exchange or event I’ve been in, people desperately wanted prompts and ideas to spark their own imagination!

The goal is for people to learn more about games that they may have never heard of before, or not had the time or ability to engage with in full on their own. And from there we can push up those numbers on AO3 for everyone to enjoy!

The scheduled games to be “main” features of this event, and their respective introductory dates, are as follows:

May 5th = Minish Cap

May 12th = Zelda II: AoL

May 19th = Oracle of Ages / Oracle of Seasons

May 26th = Cadence of Hyrule

June 2nd = Phantom Hourglass

June 9th = Four Swords Adventures / Four Swords [Game]

June 16th = Link’s Awakening

June 23rd = Zelda (1986)

June 30th = Link to the Past

July 7th = Tri Force Heroes

July 14th = Spirit Tracks

July 21st = Link Between Worlds

July 28th = Wind Waker

Exact dates for the posting schedule of new fanworks in August will be released soon!

[felassan]

BioWare Blog post: 'Unveiling The Veilguard: Cast and Characters Detailed at San Diego Comic-Con' [July 31st]

"San Diego Comic-Con has come to a close, but not before delivering mountains of Dragon Age fun for the amazing fans in attendance. The highlight of the week was the panel we hosted on Friday featuring some of our cast of companions who – in conversation with host Lucy James – shared new insights into their characters and revealed even more lore about Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We also joined our partners at Dark Horse on the showfloor for fan signings, giveaways, cosplay photoshoots, and more. In case you weren’t among the lucky attendees who got to experience this year’s convention in person, don’t worry – we’re here not only to recap all the action but also to share photos from throughout the weekend. Everything kicked off Wednesday night with the Dark Horse booth opening and some giveaways. Our team also enjoyed a celebration of Dragon Age with our partners at Fandom on Thursday night. Then on Friday came our panel “Dragon Age – Meet The Heroic Companions of The Veilguard,” which featured voice actors Zach Mendez (Lucanis), Jessica Clark (Neve), Nick Boraine (Emmrich), and Ali Hillis (Harding) and highlighted the heart of every Dragon Age title: the companions. The panel opened with a bit of background from Creative Director and 16-year BioWare veteran John Epler and Creative Performance Director Ashley Barlow, who helped to cast and direct over a thousand conversations and brought hundreds of characters and storylines to life."

"As Epler explained, Dragon Age: The Veilguard sees players embark on a perilous quest to face powerful Elven gods and stop the apocalyptic destruction they’re unleashing. You’ll step into the role of Rook, battling on the front lines alongside a deep and compelling cast of companions who together comprise The Veilguard, a group of heroes who have come together to stop the veil from breaking and bringing about the end of the world. Rook must become the unexpected leader who can rally and unite the group. Throughout the game, you can explore the detailed storylines of each companion, navigating love, loss, and complex choices that influence your relationships. “Companions have always been such a big part of this franchise,” Epler asserted at one point during the panel. “You’ll navigate some of the most compelling individual storylines you’ve seen from BioWare. I’m really excited about the bonds players will form.” Barlow later added, “I feel like you can fall in love with any of them. Everyone that has touched this project has put a piece of their heart into it and into all of the different characters you could cross paths with. I know for me at times, in the companion stories, it seemed like I was watching a scene out of my own life. It’s a powerful feeling to have something or someone to relate to on screen.” Meet the Cast With that, the panel shifted towards the companions themselves, as well as the actors who brought each character to life. First up was Zach Mendez (Horizon: Forbidden West, Married Alive), who voices Lucanis: an expert assassin of the Antivan Crow faction. Bloodthirsty, calculated, and a workaholic, Lucanis was raised with high expectations and fears disappointing those he loves. To him, being an assassin is his only job and identity to be excellent at. “As soon as Zach was cast, he deep dove into Dragon Age and read everything he got his hands on. He did it all to create that depth of character you can really feel,” Barlow remarked. “Zach’s a comedian, he would easily find the humor in anything Lucanis was saying. And sometimes I’d have to remind him he’s a deadly assassin and to stay bloodthirsty, but I think he found this cool way of finding the light in the darkness.”"

"“After I finished [The Wigmaker Job], I realized this might be the coolest guy I ever get to play,” Mendez said. “What struck me was his mind is as dangerous as his knives. He’s constantly attuning himself to the kind of shifting terrain of every mission. And also, he’s kind of hilarious. I mean, if you look at his relationship with his cousin Illario in The WigMaker Job, they’re constantly giving each other crap. But there’s a lot of love there. So I got to pull from my relationship with my brother, because we love each other dearly but we can be ruthless with each other.” Mendez also revealed to fans that, in addition to voicing Lucanis, he actually recorded lines for a variety of other characters, including the Grey Wardens. “I can go ahead and play a bunch of characters, so I had to really steep myself in the understanding that, okay, the Grey Wardens go through a lot to actually do what they do. They make a pretty intense bond. So, I tried to bring that as best I could to the physicality… I cannot wait to see how it plays out the game.”"

"Following a few more quips from Zach, the conversation moved to Jessica Clark (True Blood, Pocket Listing) and Shadow Dragons rebel Neve, a cynic with a heart of gold who cares deeply about helping people and never leaves work half-done. She also has ice powers to halt an enemy or take advantage of the environment. “I’d describe her as the working class hero trying to make her hometown better,” Epler commented. “I love her loyalty,” Clark shared. “I love her dedication. I love how much she loves Docktown and its people and how she really sees a different vision that I’m into, as John said, and then what’s previously been depicted, and she’s really really fighting for those people and she loves those people.” Clark also commented on her experience with the casting and recording process: “Even though [the cast members] were all separate disembodied voices a lot of the time, we really all bonded. I know in a lot of projects they’re like all ‘we love each other,’ but we really do! And it just evolved so organically. There was something magical about it just being our voices in the beginning.” Full of Character Next up was Nick Boraine (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Black Sails), who plays Emmrich – a sincere, friendly, and scholarly necromancer who comes complete with a skeletal assistant, Manfred (voiced by Matthew Mercer of Critical Role). “He’s part of the Mourn Watch,” Epler explained, “an elite group of necromancers who are revered in Nevarra, but outside it, they are odd at best and evil at worst. He’s your well meaning but oblivious academic – assumes everyone has an academic’s curiosity, so can be pedantic on select topics.” While Boraine agreed, he found another aspect of the character even more remarkable: “I love the fact that the writers took Emmerich and explored the whole idea of death and the whole idea of necromancing by bringing kindness into it. I really responded to that and got into that and I know it sounds crazy, but it’s to not have this idea that death is vulgar or something to be terrified about, but something to actually engage with on so many levels. I just love the fact that the writers had the courage to do that in a game like this.” Barlow chimed in to share insights from her time working with Boraine: “Nick encompasses Emmrich; his sophistication, and eagerness to teach and learn, his hot nerdiness. Often Nick is just playing off of someone making a sound, and he takes it and internalizes it and gives it meaning and care, which is amazing to watch.”"

"Finally came Ali Hillis (Mass Effect 3, Naruto) and everyone’s favorite dwarven scout Lace Harding, who returns with a big heart, positive outlook, and some unexpected magical powers. “The world’s changed a lot in the time period since Inquisition,” Epler observed. “She returns as an excellent scout and archer, and has been leading teams through the wilderness while covering friends in battle.” “My favorite things about Harding are the little things like she loves her mom,” laughed Hillis. “You know, she loves to write letters home and she’s always talking about her mama’s stupid stuff like that. I love that relationship. She likes plants and raising plants which is inspirational since I kill them. But just the texture they add to the characters. That’s in general, but for me, it’s those little things that really kind of give me a bunch of stuff to work with in my brain.” Barlow effused, “Ali brought a weight and a history to this project as an anchor of the series. There was a growth to Harding. She’s a veteran now. She’s a trusted voice at the table, and the writers did such a great job of integrating her with the new team and finding the relationships with each of the unique characters.” Photo Opps Our panel ended with a crowd Q&A, but SDCC was just getting started. Our team spent the rest of the weekend giving away posters and exclusive Discord pins, signing those posters, and of course, meeting fans out on the show floor. Footage of the full panel should be available in a couple weeks, so for now we hope you enjoy these photos of our favorite SDCC moments! We’ll have more to share next month – including a new roadmap, more looks at the game, and our official release date (!) – so don’t forget to follow our BioWare and Dragon Age social channels. – The Dragon Age Community Team"

[source]

[pinkpastels113]

Tell us how you feel about arcane. Use your emotion words! Use a visual aid if you must, too lol.

you want some visual aid? i'll give you some visual aid:

that describes perfectly ab how i am feeling rn

first of all the LESBIAN SEX SCENE????!! I-??!! i knew that something was bound to happen (esp after meljay and the rated for sex warning in season 2) and i celebrated when they (finally) kissed but oh my god?? an actual lesbian sex scene? in a prison?? in vi's sister's prison?? after a parallel about how cait is always finding her in a prison and expected her to be there?? (with dramatic music and banter and soft giggling and the ANGLES and HAND PLACEMENTS??) I AM NOT OKAY

just that scene alone is enough to nudge me off a cliff. but moving on

how is JAYVIK more homoerotic than now-100%-canon caitvi?? that's all i have to say. (what do you MEAN that love conquers all?? that he loved and admired viktor for all his imperfections and that was what made him special and beautiful?? GET OUTTA HERE)

i did not know that i needed timebomb until this season but HOLY FUCKING SHIT why must you make ekko fall (surprisingly, even to himself) in love with jinx/older powder and have that ripped away from him not like two days later?? WHYYYYY (the dance. the "can we pretend it's like the first time?" the "oh and he's got lines." the nervous wave after he fucked up in that scene with dead vi and powder was like hmp and he goes :(. the mural. im sent. im gone. nobody speak to me.)

ISHA NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (she was just trying to be like jinx and copy everything that she does and is and looked up to her as a hero STOP WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME. also the song?? IM CHINESE BRO AND I WAS SOOOO EMOTIONAL OVER THE LYRICS like hit me where it fucking hurts why dont you)

i cried at how vander suffered a fate worse than death. @becasbelt can attest to that

caitlyn adfshjk i knew she would come around and she was and always has been my blorbo (even if she stayed evil) MWAH my female rage filled, slightly wild, grief clouded, confident, "im an excellent shot," sexy, " i am a decorated officer, leader of house kiramman, address me with respect, or keep your mouth shut." dictator, vampire, badass, mofo. YES

the way she said "no amount of good deeds can undo our crimes" hit me bc she's acknowledging that she went off the rails and did some pretty bad things to justify and achieve (which she didn't. not really) her goals

i LOVED jinx in this season. she single-handedly made it a comedy show and was the sole focus of a lot of the emotional damage the storytellers and animators wanted to convey

the way jesus came to be and then quickly became evil SDFHSDKJ i was legit like WEEO WEEO ABORT ABORT JESUS HAS TURNED EVIL (also want to point out the "no you wont" sky dialogue bc DAMN she really called you out huh viktor)

that alternate universe timebomb episode had me gasping so much (like SILCO?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?? WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?? what do you mean everyone is well and happy but at the cost of vi's death???) i think i had asthma for a split second there

MELLLL MY GODDESS MVP PLAYER you saved cait's ass so many times it's not even funny and ugh the way you finally stood up to your mom (very cleverly too, i might add) ugh i applaud

EKKO MY KINGGG the way he hurts himself so bad turning back time and specifically saving jinx from offing herself BYE

HEIMERDINGER MY TINY ANNOYING/affectionate FURBALL WHYY

no but yea i am ruined and my emotions have faded away into numbness and i hope this post was relatable to the people in the arcane fandom and i also agree that this season was way too condensed and rushed and the last episodes in particular needed at least a couple more to drag out the events and character development bc at times when i am supposed to be cheering i am crying and at times i am supposed to be crying i am screaming and at times i am supposed to be screaming i am Horny and at times i am supposed to be Horny my heart is wrenching but only a few tears slip out bc IT IS CUT TO THE NEXT SCENE AGAIN??? does that make sense??

(also do we think jinx is actually dead or no. im still not sure but obv i would hope/am hoping that she is lmao)

[zexalmonth]

Hello, Zexal fans! Zexal Month 2024 is just around the corner and, for this year, we're doing the ABCs of Zexal! That's right, this year, our prompts are just based on the letters of the alphabet. Feel free to just use the titles (like A is for Astral) as the prompt or look at the following text for ideas. We can’t wait to see what art/writing/edits/cosplay/etc you produce for us!

If you are joining us for the first time: we have a list of prompts with suggestions attached! They're not hard rules though, so you can freely skip some or combine them. Tag your creations #zexal month 2024 and we'll make sure to reblog them all! Make sure to @zexalmonth on your posts as well!

Week 1: Introductions We’re going straight into it this year! For this week, introduce yourself and share with us something you like about our favourite warring factions!

1st: A is for Astral Make something involving our favourite, naked protagonist. Alternatively, draw something related to the Astral World. You can draw a character as a resident of the Astral World if you like. 2nd: B is for Barian Share with us which Barian Lord is your favourite or something you like about the world! Maybe even make another character you like a Barian.

Week 2: C to G!

5th: C is for Chaos Chaos is both a force of evil and the essence of life in Zexal. For this prompt, you can go either way. Share the craziest thing you enjoyed about Zexal or put your favourite character in a chaotic situation. Alternatively, draw a character in Zexal getting corrupted by Chaos. 6th: D is for Duel What’s your favourite duel in the series? What characters would you have liked to see duel? 7th: E is for Enemy Oneshot villains like the Fallguys, the Arclights, Don Thousand? A hero’s journey is only as good as its bad guys so let’s give them some appreciation! What do you like about them? 8th: F is for Friendship What’s you favourite friendship in the series? Alternatively, what friendship would you have liked to see? What two characters would have had a good friendship? 9th: G is for Gate The gate to the Astral world can also link to other worlds. This is our crossover prompt! Throw the Zexal characters to another world/fandom you’re in at the moment or bring other characters to the world of Zexal.

Week 3: H to L!

12th: H is for Hobby Whether it’s a character doing your hobbies or what you have headcanoned for them, show a Zexal Character (or characters) enjoying themselves with a hobby outside of card games! 13th: I is for Icicles Whether it’s icicles because it’s winter right now or icicles as in the stuff you eat at the beach, it’s time to give our faves a treat! Throw everyone in a beach episode or in a cabin under the snow... 14th: J is for Justice (Or Jail) Tell us what you thought was unfair in Zexal or show us a character that you think should be punished. Maybe show us bringing it into your own hand… 15th: K is for KATTOBINGU Kattobingu is the will to never give up without giving it your all. It’s taking a chance and moving forward with courage. What’s something positive you’ve gained from Zexal? Good memories? Fun experiences in the fandom? Friends? Share us something good you’ve gotten from Zexal or just draw characters with the Kattobingu spirit! 16th: L is for location There are so many pretty places in Zexal. Scenery appreciation prompt. What’s a place in Zexal you’d like to go to or would have liked to see more of in Zexal.

Week 4: M to Q!

19th: M is for Monsters Whether it’s a literal Duel Monster or characters that are monsters (Black Mist, Don Thousand, Tron, Dr Faker, etc.), a monster is a monster. Sshow us what you like about them. 20th: N is for Numbers Let’s give our favourite MacGuffin some love. What’s your favourite Number? What design you like? Feel free to include non-Anime Numbers here. 21st: O is for Originality There are a lot of OCs in the Zexal. Share them with us and tell us about them. Alternatively, show us some new outfits for one or members of the Zexal crew! 22nd: P is for Powers Photon mode, Barian transformations, Arclight crests, ZEXAL. Zexal has so many powers in the show. What’s your favourite? If you have an OC, feel free to show their powers if they have any. 23rd: Q is for Quotes Zexal has both quotes that hit like a truck and lines like “You just summoned your mom.” Show the scene that has the Zexal quote you like!

Week 5: R to V!

26th: R is for Ruins Whether we’re talking about the literal ruins the characters go through the series or the past (the ruin of the self), it’s all about our characters’ history. How were the characters when they were young? How will they be in the future? How would they be if they had a past life? 27th: S is for Siblings The Arclight siblings, the Kamishiro Twins, Yuma and Akari, Haruto and Kaito. There are so many familial relationships in Zexal. Show your favourite sibling group being a family or combine them together! 28th: T is for Tag Duel Did you like the Tag Duels in Zexal? Who do you wish you could have seen Tag Duel? Show us two characters teaming up! 29th: U is for Utopia AU day! Show us your AUs! Alternatively, show us something you wish to have seen from Zexal. 30th: V is for Victory Today is the last day of Zexal Month! We made it to the end! What did you like about Zexal Month? Also share with us what you liked from Zexal.

Bonus Prompts:

W is for Wonderwing X is for Xyz Change Y is for Yesterday Z is for Zexal Æ is for Aeon Ȝ is for gift ð is for thoughts “Anyone can overlay if they try.” “This isn’t goodbye!” “I’d rather do this with anyone else.”

Can't wait to see what August has to bring! -Mod Fla

[anghraine]

Best friend update:

While waiting for a movie to start, he and I made some kind of murder joke for some reason I no longer recall. A younger friend of ours was having a long day and went O_O, so I just added, "I mean, murdering me might cause problems, my corpse wouldn't fit in the trunk…" and J (my bff) immediately got it and replied, "Not with that attitude!" She broke down laughing, and J and I were like, "our 25-year friendship is founded on being totally cool and normal people."

On a different occasion, while reassuring her that identifying with angry marginalized villains rather than Good Representation(TM) is entirely common and normal and in fact an ancient venerable tradition, J used himself as an example: the most relatable Shakespeare character for him is Shylock and as a former theatre kid, there's no one he would rather perform on the stage. She didn't know who Shylock is, which was kind of great because J got to breathlessly explain how Shylock did nothing wrong and dramatically perform the "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" speech in the middle of a crowded diner.

(Note: J follows in the other ancient and venerable tradition of Jewish atheism.)

Speaking of J's atheism, he often jokes that his strongest religious devotion is to Star Trek (he basically relates to it the same way I do to P&P). We've been watching TOS together, which I had virtually no memory of outside the films, and mostly having a huge blast with it. We were recently discussing the romantic inclinations of all the captains we care about, and my fandom osmosis understanding of Janeway/Chakotay (Janeway was his hero as a child), and he admitted that he liked it a lot as a kid, but the Star Trek ship he really truly loves the most is .......... Sisko/Jadzia Dax. As he was very earnestly explaining the greatness of his ship, I was charmed anew, lol—the first time I went over to his house when we were 13, I was deeply impressed by his geek creds via the Enterprise blueprints he had on his wall, and some things don't much change.

(He's not in online fandom at all because he hates social media, but if he wrote fanfic for anything, it would be ST.)

But he's also the person who properly introduced me to Star Wars when we were in high school and got me into it back then, and we've happily spent hours dissecting things we both love and/or are frustrated by. Though I prefer SW and he prefers ST, ours is a household of Star Peace <3

[regretevator-confessions]

• erm hey. 1 think 1'm the person that a certa1n "SUSH1" anon was VAGU1NG. •

• "SUSH1 🍣" anon is actually an ex fr1end of m1ne, the one that was talk1ng about F1sh, yeah they were part of my fr1end group. they jo1ned my regretevator k1nn1e server and 1nvaded our group and they were really n1ce at f1rst but they kept break1ng our rules about be1ng aggress1ve to doubles 1nstead of block1ng. anyway when 1 tr1ed to 1ssue a warn1ng they responded by attack1ng my k1n/comfort character Emerson. they sent me g*re of Emerson and a lot of 1t was related to D**p-Fr*ers wh1ch they KNEW was one of my TR1GGERS. 1'm pretty sure they were the one who drew the gore too because we couldn't f1nd 1t onl1ne. we banned them from the k1nn1e server but 1 wanted to make sure they werent do1ng anything l1ke that to anyone else so 1 went undercover and 1nvaded the1r server. the1r whole server was f1sh themed and they forced all the1r fr1ends to match f1sh but nobody was allowed to talk about f1sh 1n a way that they didn't l1ke. •

• anyway th1s was all really crazy because they were actually a really popular art1st early on 1n regretevator fandom h1story and 1 was really exc1ted to meet my 1nsp1rat1on. then they devolved 1nto th1s.... never meet your heroes k1ds... •

-🥙

Dude I don't fucking care

(referring to this)

Oh. I also have to translate this mess of a confession. Okay

TRANSLATION:

( • erm hey. I think I'm the person that a certain "SUSHI" anon was VAGUING. •

• "SUSHI 🍣" anon is actually an ex friend of mine. They were part of my friend group. They joined my regretevator kinnie server and invaded our group. They were really nice at first, but they kept breaking our rules about being aggressive to doubles instead of blocking. Anyway, when I tried to issue a warning they responded by attacking my kin/comfort character, Emerson. They sent me gore of Emerson and a lot of it was related to Deep-Fryers- which they KNEW was one of my TRIGGERS. I'm pretty sure they were the one who drew the gore too because we couldn't find it online. We banned them from the kinnie server, but I wanted to make sure they weren't doing anything like that to anyone else. I went undercover and invaded their server. Their entire server was Fish themed and they forced all their friends to match Fish. Nobody was allowed to talk about fish in a way that they didn't like. •

• Anyway, this was all really crazy because they were actually a really popular artist early on in regretevator fandom history and I was really excited to meet my inspiration. Then they devolved into this.... never meet your heroes kids... •

-🥙 )

I avoid saying anything regarding confessions, but this was one of the most mentally taxing things to read and I genuinely do not understand why you would subject me to this.

[mariacallous]

Luigi Mangione, currently the internet’s main character, probably isn’t who you think he is. Main characters are like that. As soon as someone achieves main character status, they become the screen onto which the world’s opinions and preconceptions get projected. Mangione, who was arrested Monday in connection with the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, fits that bill.

Prior to his arrest, Mangione was an unknown. Police had released a grainy security camera photo showing half of their suspect’s face, but beyond that all anyone knew was that someone had killed the CEO of a health insurance company—and that someone quickly became an online folk hero. He was painted as an avenger, a response to a health care system that had fallen short. Some called the mysterious suspect “The Adjuster.”

On TikTok, people performed ballads dedicated to whomever the shooter was. On Bluesky, they marveled over his ebike escape and the backpack found in Central Park full of Monopoly money that allegedly belonged to him. There was a look-alike contest held in New York City. On Spotify, there were dedicated playlists. Fanfic sprang up on Archive of Our Own.

Online, fans exist for almost everything and everyone. Following the shooting death of Brian Thompson, a fandom emerged around his suspected killer that seemed unifying in a way few others have been. He became an avatar that anyone who’d ever struggled with a hospital bill could understand.

Many of the most engaged posts on X mentioning Thompson or UnitedHealthcare following the shooting “expressed explicit or implicit support for the killing or denigrated the victim,” the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) wrote in a report compiled before Mangione’s arrest. Rhetoric that was once more at home on 4chan or 8chan was spreading to other forums. “[T]his phenomenon was once largely confined to niche online subcultures,” the authors wrote. “We are now witnessing similar dynamics emerging on mainstream platforms.”

Mass shooters and other perpetrators of violence often become memes, NCRI senior adviser Alex Goldenberg told The New York Times, “but what’s disturbing about this is that it’s mainstream.” People reacted to the death of Thompson like it signaled the start of a class war.

In the US, people have strong opinions about health insurance companies, and when it came out that the alleged shooter had written “deny,” “depose,” “defend” on some ammo casings, they rallied round. When it turned out Mangione had been spotted at a fast-food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, someone on Bluesky called it SnitchDonald’s; others briefly review-bombed the location. (Google later pulled many negative reviews.)

Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court on Monday night to be arraigned on two felony charges, one related to a firearm and another to a false ID. He also faces three related misdemeanor charges. He didn’t enter a plea. He was later charged with murder in Manhattan. As soon as his name was released Monday, though, the internet’s investigation, and judgment, of him entered a whole new phase.

People pored over old X accounts and GitHub pages that appeared to belong to him. A thorough investigation of what seems to be his Goodreads account showed that he read Michael Pollan and Aldous Huxley. He had an Ivy League education and might’ve been a fan of Joe Rogan and/or Tucker Carlson. What some folks online had imagined as a left-leaning anti-capitalist revolutionary turned out to be someone with beliefs as complicated and perhaps as conflicting as just about anyone else online. Memes, it seemed, had once again reduced someone to whom the internet wanted him to be, a reflection of their own frustrations with health care in the US or the power of massive corporations.

Someone who would kill a health care CEO might share those frustrations, but very little else, with the people obsessing over him online.

This, perhaps, makes Mangione’s Milkshake Duck moment not quite a Milkshake Duck moment at all. Yes, people are reevaluating how they perceived Thompson���s suspected killer and his motivations, but they’re not totally abandoning him entirely. When police released his mug shot late Monday, giving a fuller picture of the good-looking person from the photo authorities had released days prior, online thirst was everywhere. Fanfiction writers remain at work. Etsy is full of merch.

As Ryan Broderick put it in his Garbage Day newsletter on Monday, “It’s possible that this is the most aligned America—well, aside from the folks in its highest tax brackets—has been about a news story since the invention of the internet.”

Want further proof? Look no further than the comments on Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel. On a video titled “The EVIL Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder!” the responses were swift and unequivocal: “FACT: Both left AND right are cheering! We don't care about your feelings”; “I’m not buying this ‘left vs right’ shit anymore Ben, I want health care for my family”; “Just because ‘the left’ likes something doesn’t mean you have to instinctively hate it. Wake up and read the room bro.” Not exactly the kind of banter typically found in the comments section of a manosphere video.

Public opinion on Mangione’s and Thompson’s fate will likely continue to shift for weeks. So much more information will come to the fore. Like any other main character, Mangione’s entire life will be analyzed, but what gets said about him may seem small compared to what the response to his actions says about everyone else.

[tookishcombeferre]

Cedric for ask game- 1, 12, 14, 25

1. Why do you like this character? Okay. So, ever since I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, I have been a sucker for a well written redemption arc. However, if I were to get into specifics, I think there's a lot to explore in this character from a literary perspective. He's complicated. Very complicated. His motivations make a lot of sense even if he goes about things in ways that aren't objectively moral. Which, honestly? That is stuff you don't see in children's TV much since Gargoyles or other things from the 90s and early 2000s. He has the backstory and personality of a Shakespearean tragic hero. He reminds me of like if you shoved Macbeth and Hamlet in a blender in the best way possible, and then, somehow, came out with Macduff? IDK how that works, but that's what happened. Secondly, I find him relatable to my literal life. Zuko hit me when I was just a little younger than Zuko's age. I saw Sofia the First, for the first time in earnest, as I approach 30. I am, exactly, the right age to relate to Cedric's personal issues. So, I like him because a lot of the stuff he deals with is the stuff I'm processing in my own life. Aging parents. Trying to repair a difficult relationship with my own dad as we both grow older. Realizing I might not be able to fix everything that's missing there, and trying to walk the line between indifference and cynicism. Check. Trying to form a solid relationship with a/my child and teach them things. (Granted my squish is biological, but still. Check.) Trying to look past my own personal failings to create a better world for my kid and future generations. Check. Trying to look past what people say/ have said about me and others like me to see the intrinsic good in myself despite my nuanced set of identities. Check. Realizing that my kid just existing in my life is what gives me hope to see myself as great. And, maybe, just maybe, that's a lesson I can teach my kid without them having to go through all the crap I've gone through to learn it: we are great because, unmasked, in our fullness, together with others, we are greater than in isolation. So, I like him because it's easy to walk his journey and see some elements of my own life and where I'm at personally. And, you know what? The show does a nice job presenting this struggle. I feel less alone in my own crap when I watch it. I've got a buddy to walk in my adult problems with while my kiddo gets a princess to learn how to be a good person alongside. I LOVE that. It's truly something we both get something out of, which, is, like, SO supremely rare. As a parent, I just cannot express how much I care about that. Bluey might be the only other program I can think of that does "both" as well as Sofia does. Like, I don't know if there are any other fans in this fandom who are parents. But, man ... Cedric hits because *all* of the life stuff he's dealing with is stuff that, like, is so real. Especially the stuff with his parents. Oof. I don't know if any of y'all have had parents age. But, it's a different beast y'all. It makes you think about things, it makes you want to retreat, and it makes you want to fix things - all at the same time. Sorry if that's a lot. But, when we talk about Cedric being an adult, this is what we mean. So, I just kind of fell in love with Cedric's character because in so many ways his story just kept slapping for me from every angle.

[oodlyenough]

apollo justice: ace attorney thoughts

over the weekend I finished playing AA4 so I wanted to try to put my thoughts in order. much to think about etc

spoilers for the whole game obv, but i haven't played AA5 or AA6 yet so any mention of those are speculation lol

I had heard some pretty mixed reactions to AA4 and I had a lot of reservations going in. It's also probably the AA game I've played that I've been the most spoiled for, which is a shame but probably an unavoidable consequence of waiting for the port while engaging with the fandom. I don't usually like being spoiled but I think knowing the broad strokes of what to expect actually helped here. I can imagine an AU where I blitzed through the first trilogy and onto 4 with no idea of what was coming and being... very upset and disappointed by the direction it took. Having several months to brace for things like Phoenix's disbarment, the 7 year gap, Trucy, etc definitely softened those blows and made me more amenable to them than I would've been otherwise.

Cases

For the most part I thought the puzzle solving was good and the pacing was solid. The puzzles were mostly challenging enough to be satisfying to solve but not so challenging as to be infuriating, and I don't think I needed a walkthrough at all. 4-1 is one of the best tutorial cases in the franchise so far (though I'd give the edge to 3-1) and 4-4 was a really cool finale. The middle two cases tbh I also found fairly charming, and there's usually a least one case in the middle that seems to drag forever, so that was a pleasant surprise. I played Investigations 1 right before this, and I thought both the puzzles and pacing in that game were frankly horrible, so AA4 won a lot of points just with that.

I did think Turnabout Corner and Serenade would be more relevant in the grand scheme of things. The half-spoilers I knew had me expecting a much bigger web of conspriacy than we ended up with -- I expected it to be more than coincidence that Phoenix got hit by a car, more than coincidence that the Borginian egg coccoons are related to poison etc ... like... I fully assumed this was going to tie into the atroquinine plot. But I guess not ... ? Lol

Characters

The new main cast are all very likable, despite my initial reluctance to have a new main cast to begin with. Klavier was an interesting change of pace as prosecutor, in that he wasn't particularly antagonistic outside of the court, nor was he particularly preoccupied with winning, but he was still fun and challenging enough to face off against. Trucy was fun and delightfully bonkers as all assistants should be. Apollo's longsuffering exasperation was hilarious. Ema is the BEST I loved having her as the detective I wish she was there all the time.

I loved Beanix, for the most part. I can see why he rubs some people the wrong way, and tbh I'm glad his last canon outing isn't ... this. But I didn't find him wildly out of character, or at least, when he was feeling "out of character" vs the trilogy it made sense given the intervening events. I also thought it was fun to see him from the outside and see what a galaxybrain 5d chess master he is. I do wish we'd gotten to see more genuine moments of him with Trucy.

Kristoph was fun as a villain, though I have to say fandom led me to believe he was much more of a mastermind puppeteer than he seemed to be in reality. I was expecting a whole decade worth of conspiracies! Instead he fucked up once and struggled to fix it for seven years, lol. I also found the Kristoph/Phoenix relationship a) very fascinating, b) not really what I'd been led to believe by fandom (shocker). I like the canon more though -- I like that instead of being a retread of the Dollie betrayal-from-someone-you-love it was two guys who hate each other being forced to play nice as part of their own schemes.

Criticism

I think it's fairly obvious AA4 was meant to be a soft reboot of the series, to pivot away from the trilogy cast and set up our new heroes in Apollo, Trucy, and I guess Klavier. I think this is probably the entire explanation behind Maya and Edgeworth (and others but lbr those are the big two)'s conspicuous absence... but that doesn't make their absence any less conspicuous. I can squint and forgive neither of them being there when Phoenix is accused of murder, even though I find that insane. I can squint around Maya maybe being off in Kurain during the Enigmar trial, even though I think they could've used a line of dialogue to explain it. But then we started playing past-Phoenix for huge portions of investigation and that started to fall apart for me. Sure, maybe he's pushing his friends away because he's depressed, or maybe he wants to keep Maya out of things because he thinks it's dangerous, or whatever -- you could at least throw in a line or two saying as much. Not mentioning them at all and setting AA4 so closely after AA3, where Phoenix fell through a bridge to save Maya and Edgeworth chartered a private jet, just feels ridiculous.

I also think, at the end of the day, the story here was focused on and pivoting around Phoenix. The core question of the game is "what the hell happened to/is up with Phoenix Wright?" I love Phoenix, so that alone isn't a negative -- except that I think it meant Apollo, Klavier and even Trucy felt underwritten. Trucy and Klavier have such personal stakes in the unfolding events with the Gramaryes and Kristoph, but we only spend a little time and hints on how that might influence Trucy, who mostly falls into the AA weird girl pattern of brushing off major trauma instantly. (Maya got this a lot too in the original trilogy.)

Klavier ... I like Klavier, but they did not do much with him. How did he feel about Kristoph going to jail? He doesn't seem to hold it against Apollo, which is uh, noble, but perhaps not believable. He says he values honesty and truth but do we know why?

Apollo, likable as he was, felt like a passenger in his "own" game, rather than a major character. He doesn't even solve much of the stuff happening in the big overarching mystery -- he is Phoenix's avatar in court, presenting evidence and clues Phoenix left for him. Unlike Trucy and Klavier, who I am pretty sure take a back seat from now on, I guess Apollo still has two more games to try and flesh himself out ... lol but I also know fan reception of those two is not great, so my expectations there are minimal.

Overall

A really solid game that I enjoyed playing, though I can see why it's controversial and not some people's favourite, if they really loved the trilogy. I think it's debatable whether this was the best/only way to continue the series after AA3. And I am excited to read and write a billion 7 year gap fics now.

[accio-victuuri]

CPN : the birth of “weiba” ( weifen wangba ) 😂

even while writing this, i’m still not entirely sure how people are seeing the data about these newcomers. i’m thinking it functions like any other online groups like a super topic. you can see which specific accounts have recently joined.

if you’re looking at the bjyx st, it’s pretty lively and people are celebrating because of the rapid increase in members ever since last night. around 2PM i think it’s 6k++ and then right now i checked again, it’s 9k+. that’s a lot, considering these two have not interacted publicly for so long. maybe we will finally cross the 4 million mark before the year ends. 🫶🏼

so what’s all this talk about “weiba”?

it’s a combination of weifen ( what we call solo fans ) and wangba ( us turtles ) . the conversation is around these wfs joining the ST overnight. so much so that you see people posting a meme ( taken from ome and only )!about a moto & shrimps housewarming 😂😂😂

This is actually not new, the whole concept of a wf being cpf friendly. There are spaces like douyin where these 3 groups co-exist and will sometimes tease each other. It’s not always toxic, but oftentimes it is. There were a few times before too when a particularly strong cpn comes out and turtles screenshot the reactions of wfs who are confused and feel like bjyx may be true.

Now what’s the “cpn” that probably sent them over the edge?

I’ve talked a bit about it here and it’s related to XZ’s work schedule change.

For the longest time, he was going to work in Condor Heroes early in the day. Then in 7/26, it was bit late but this could only be slightly affected by WYB’s condition. Remember that YBO announced that WYB is sick in the evening of 25th and they were in Hunan ( based on the IP ). We are not sure if Yibo is also there or just the staff but the thought is he did intend to come. In the 26th, WYB probably came back to Beijing a bit later or if he was already in BJ, ZZ can’t change his schedule. Then on the 27th, ZZ’s schedule is way later than his usual. Same with the 28th. These days we CPN that ZZ spent time with sick WYB before going to work. Then on 7/29, ZZ goes back the his old schedule and WYB is the same.

An additional speculation here is the photo going around of ZZ giving out drinks to Condor Heroes cast and crew. This is not something new. We know ZZ loves to treat the crew. However, this time, we interpret this as him giving his “apologies” cause he had to come in to work later than usual for the past days. ☕️

That’s it everyone! tbh, I don’t care if wfs cross over to being turtles or what. I still believe in staying in our own lanes and treating each other with respect. Just enjoy our own corner/s fandoms. ✌🏼

PS: Another probable reason for some newcomers are those who watched One and Only, then looked into WYB. 🫶🏼

-END.

[writebackatya]

Darkwing Duck’s* Biggest Fans Haters

*As in the old tv show from the world of DuckTales (2017), not the superhero Drake Mallard assumes the identity of to fight evil

To fans like Drake Mallard and Launchpad McQuack, Darkwing Duck is the greatest piece of television history that helped shape their lives to become the ducks they are today thanks to its titular hero who never gave up despite the odds against him

To the rest of the world, Darkwing Duck was just another superhero show from the 90s that starred a problematic diva d-list actor that may or may not have died

Opinions are subjective of course, neither are 100% correct nor incorrect but I feel like when the fandom talks about Darkwing Duck it’s always about the characters that would also like the show. So why not flip the script a little? We’ll start small and work our way up to its biggest hater

Gosalyn Waddlemeyer:

“GOSALYN!?” You might be screaming at your monitor/phone to which I have to say:

“Yeah”

Again we are not talking about the Drake Mallard or his super identity here, but the tv show he and Launchpad are obsessed with. Because frankly, I bet Gosalyn loves doing all that superhero stuff with her adoptive dads. It’s a cool life to live!

Other than the fact that Drake is a huge nerd who INSISTS that Gosalyn do her “homework” and watch every episode of Darkwing Duck, read all the sacred texts (comic books), and playing the original Darkwing Duck video game on the original hardware so she won’t use the rewind or save features that modern games or ROMs have

Like all kids who have had an adult push their interests onto them, she has a little disdain for the show. But not a whole lot since she’s first on this list. I like to think she’s in the same boat as Dewey where she finds the show cheesy and doesn’t really hate it per say and sees why Drake and LP love the show. She even has a few guilty pleasure episodes

But one thing she doesn’t understand is why Drake and Launchpad insist on watching the Darkwing Duck Christmas Special every year when they’re both practicing Jews

Scrooge McDuck:

Yeah the old man can barely remember Drake, let alone the Darkguy Drake played in that movie he cancelled so I don’t really see Scrooge being a fan of the Masked Mallard. (No, not that Masked Mallard OG DuckTales fans)

If Scrooge did sit down and watch the show, he’d find it to be rather ridiculous if anything. Some vigilante running around dressed like The Spirit or The Shadow or whatever superhero kids are into these days getting slapped around and fighting back just doesn’t seem like his cup of tea

I like to think when Donald and Della were kids they watched Darkwing Duck at the mansion and Scrooge just walked by the room, looked at the TV for a few seconds, scoffed, and moved on with his life forgetting all about that nonsense his niece and nephew were watching

Louie Duck:

Honestly I always had this headcanon that Louie just isn’t a fan of superheroes. Like at all. He finds the stories all copy and paste, using all the cliches he hates from other genres and putting them in tights.

And don’t even get him started on superhero related adventures! If he sees a sky beam, Louie is running in the opposite direction of it. He’s not dealing with the many different diva supervillains out there trying to take over the world with cartoony extreme measures, he doesn’t wanna be around all that property damage

He does have a favorite superhero tho. Waddle Duck because he gave him a Pep once

Lena Sabrewing:

She thinks it’s lame.

Gandra Dee:

This is a no brainer for me. Gandra Dee made herself Darkwing Duck’s biggest hater the moment she heard the duck talk shit about Gizmoduck around Fenton who insisted she does not reveal his secret identity to Drake, because Drake is all he has left

Wanting to respect her boyfriend’s wishes, Gandra decides not to spill the beans but instead add more fuel to the fire by talking shit about Darkwing Duck

And she does not hold back

She’s not ashamed to talk shit on the show. It’s predictablity, it’s cheesiness, the plot holes, how lame it was for its own time, etc

It ain’t her childhood, she ain’t afraid to fight dirty either. She will bring up problematic episodes that depicted races in a not so good and stereotypical light (“It was the nineties! They were different times!” -Drake probably) such as the fact that in one episode Darkwing Duck called a group of Native Americans “primitive savages” or that a non-Asian actor played an Asian character in a sterotypcial manner and that how one of the characters names was “Duck Ling”(Okay but for real, all that shit did happen in the OG show.)

This of course frustrates Drake who is extra suspicious of Gandra ever since he saw her with Gizmoduck and writes her off as a blind fan girl who doesn’t know what she’s talking about

She’s pretty chill about not being into the show with Launchpad tho. He respects her opinions because he’s Launchpad and at the end of the day Gandra is still his friend

[bigsnakesatethesun]

Kotoko and violent justice, or why Kotoko asked for Es to judge the other guilty

I will try to explain Kotoko's mental state, and her relation with the concept of justice. Justice is clearly one of the main themes of MILGRAM, as it plays an important part in many of the characters' stories. I will here put Kotoko next to Futa and Muu, and Amane as those are the three whose murder where attempts to enact "justice". The translation I'll be using are the one on cited on the Fandom, done by Milgrammer

Futa used social media and cyber bullying, also called cancelling, to enact what he perceived as justice. We can see in his first MV that he thought of himself as a hero in a team. His justice was a form of retribution, of punishment, and was also a "fun" activity, as can be seen in his many smiles in the MV. We however know that he didn't think his right to punish went to the extreme of his murder : his reaction at the end of his first trial MV shows and his second audio drama show that he didn't intend for this to happen. However, in his first audio drama, he answer the question "Should the act of killing someone for the sake of justice be forgiven?" by saying "It should be. That kinda thing will be forgiven!" showing that he is okay with the death penalty in some cases.

Muu murdered an old friend who bullied her. She thought she was justified by retribution and desperation. During her first audio drama and her second, she defends the position that she "had" to murder, to save herself. But she also raises an interesting point on the flexibility of moral judgment. She indeed understood that Es's decision is the key to a Innocent verdict, and advance the following moral proposition :

"You see, if you think that me bullying someone back after being bullied is the natural course of events, then wouldn't it be bad to bully me back again in return? [...] But if you were like, "I won't forgive you, Muu! Revenge is bad!", then wouldn't that imply that it's also bad for me to bully someone back after they bullied me? Since we've all done something bad anyway, doesn't that mean that I've not done anything wrong in the end?"

This shows a philosophical reasoning of the following form :

first demonstration :

If A bullies B, then B will bully A as a "natural" action

If A then bullies B as a response, A would have gone against the "natural" actions, which is presupposed here to be bad

in this case, B is innocent for all intents and purpose, for the only bad is A's response

Then, if we add the proposition "Revenge is bad", this change to the following reasoning

If A bullies B, then B will bully A as a "natural" but also a "revenge", which is presupposed to be bad

If A then bullies B as a response, A would have gone against the "natural" actions, and taken "revenge", making this action doubly bad.

In this case, B is less guilty than A, for B only did one "bad" against A's two.

While those arguments don't really hold up in a philosophical context, they are what Muu puts forth to convince Es that she should be forgiven.

Those arguments are important, for they show us that authority (Es in this case) can be attempted to be swayed by rhetoric and reasoning.

Amane murdered one of her parents, presumably her mother. She considers herself justified by divine right. She says so clearly, in her second audio drama, "It was merely a punishment in line with our doctrine". The second interesting part is, in that same audio drama, the way she compares the "we" of Es, which we know to be the audience, and the "we" she uses, which is the concept of her faith. Here, we can see a parallel between the authority given to us, what Amane calls "the general view", the view of the many. Here the general view is put into question, but it is taken at a priori as legitimate by its defenders, like Es.

We can start now talking about Kotoko. She murdered somebody, the son of a Newspaper CEO according to an article she reads in her second MV (as translated by ranmaru-kageyama), and it was something she considers to be self defense in accord with Japanese law. She however is a vigilante who used violent methods to give pain to those she consider "guilty", but she was quick to defer this decision to Es. She justifies her actions by calling herself the "fang" of the weak, their "shield". and that she wanted to be Es's "fang", because she considers them "weak". She also mention that her methods are the only way to change criminals, the only way they can learn.

I will now show what the other prisoners can teach us about her, by taking as an a priori that we can infer her reasoning by looking at the reasoning of the other prisoners.

From Futa, we can see that both consider the *misdeeds* to be enough to justify their actions, and that sufficient "evil" can justify murder as a punishment. However, Futa was part of a group while Kotoko works alone. We can however put it in perspective as her first MV shows her in a group, a "pack". However, the only two persons in the light in her first MV in the realist portions, apart from herself, are a kid and a criminal. As such, the question of who are those wolves is quite difficult to answer.

This can however be answered by comparing with Amane. She had a faith that was the basis for her judgment, and quickly compared Es with a member of her church, looking to see if they were to be in accordance with her beliefs. That is quite similar to what Kotoko does, wanting Es to emit judgment in accordance to her beliefs. That can be seen in her second MV, when she lists the different prisoners that were voted innocent in the first trial with pejorative adjectives, and ask Es to judge them all guilty. As such, I believe Kotoko is part of a larger group that does vigilantism.

As for what we can get from comparing Kotoko and Muu, they both have in common the idea that the "weak", the "desperate" are right to try to fight back. The other thing they got in common is their appeal to Es as an authority figure. They want to be on their good side, and they both try to do so by both talking philosophy and trying to make deals. This tells us an important fact about the both of them : they are willing to work with authority for their own good. While that doesn't surprise me from Muu, the daughter of a rich family, it may seem a little weirder from Kotoko, a vigilante that seems to operate outside the law. But we know, thanks to the article on her phone (same source as her victim's identity earlier) , that she was found not guilty by the law on ground of self-defense in her murder. As such, we can extrapolate that she is quite good at using existing organizations to further her own goals.

We proven here that it is possible that Kotoko works for an organization which she considers a good moral compass and that she is good at working with the system. I'll now be trying to explain "why" she does her vigilantism.

I think she does it not only because it is what her organization tells her, but also because she likes it. My evidence for this is one thing from Futa's first MV and multiple things from Kotoko's MVs.

From Futa's first MV, we can learn that the authors of MILGRAM do believe that one can one can find pleasure in attacking others. We can see both Futa and his guild smiling and cheering after each enemy, proud of what they did. As such, somebody just beating people for fun is not out of the realm of possibility.

Now that I've tried to answer the why of her crime, I can start talking about the themes. One of my favorite things about MILGRAM is the theming that is consistent in all characters : justice and morality. I'll now analyze what point of view is argued for by the character of Kotoko. First, it is easy to remark that she is not something this art is supporting : she is in MILGRAM, after all. As is made clear from the fact that the question is "forgiven" or not, she is considered guilty. It is however interesting to see what is considered her "sin", what part of her reasoning is seen here as wrong. First, we can see in her second audio drama that Es, the audience surrogate, sees her as having gone "too far". As such, it makes it clear that her retribution was not scaled appropriately. And second, Es is shocked that she would have liked to attack Amane. By that, we can also learn that at least Es believes that justice should be adapted to the circumstances of the criminal. Without the final trial, I still cannot say whether Es viewpoint in that will be affirmed or denied.

I think she also put a question about whether all crime are equal. She seems to know that the others did, as can be seen in her second MV, where she describes their sins, but she views them equally. As such, I think she is meant to interrogate us, the audience, on if all crimes are equal. Quite logically, I think this is an idea which will be refuted by MILGRAM, as even the very system of "vote" seems to indicate a belief in the differentiation of crimes.

In conclusion, I believe it possible that the reason for Kotoko's vigilantism are, one, that she is part of an organization, her pack, and two that she takes pleasure in that. She tried to make Es her moral compass in the prison to reproduce the same train of action as she did outside. As for the thematic side, I do think she questions "blind justice", a justice that cares only about people being criminals and not about them or their crime.

[gamebird]

The Soonercon Convention Report

I went to Soonercon this last weekend and I wanted to share what it was like in an attempt to encourage others to attend similar local events, for those who don't know what they're missing.

It’s a science fiction/fantasy convention held in Norman, Oklahoma every year. It has what I take as the standard scifi/fantasy convention events including: Dealer’s room where people sell stuff, gaming room where scheduled and pickup games are held at all hours of the convention, art show where you can buy fandom-related paintings, prints, or sculpture (or commission an artist if you have something special in mind), a costume contest, panels by authors, artists, media guests, and other folks, and various socializing events (a dance, a burlesque show, a drag show, a Star Wars parade, a philosophy discussion den, a cartoon watching event, crafting events, etc.)

The only thing Soonercon didn’t/doesn’t have that I’ve seen at other conventions is a con suite where snacks are available either at all hours or specified hours, and a designated media room playing classic shows 24/7. Plenty of other conventions also have party rooms or even a party floor of the hotel. Some will have live action role play events. Some will have a few big-name guests. Soonercon’s guests were smaller names like voice actors or the guy who played the hero of NeverEnding Story. If they had hardcore partying, it was kept well clear of the convention areas. I heard nothing of it.

There's a lot for everybody! I go to attend the panels. My son goes for the gaming room. My nephew goes for the cosplay. My spouse/partner goes to be supportive and present (also he meets up with a friend of his from that city who volunteers at the con or at least likes fandom). My daughter likes the merchandise, the gaming, and cosplay.

It’s a very relaxed vacation for us. We get a hotel room at the convention and all go our separate ways from that safe home base.

I thought I’d go over the various things I went to and some of my thoughts about them, to give a window on what a person might do:

Friday we arrived. I went through the dealer’s room in detail by myself, which was nice to do instead of speeding up or slowing down at someone else’s pace, or having them there calling my attention to whatever they wanted me to see. I bought some delicious pomegranate gummy fruit. I made preliminary arrangements with a leatherworker for some items.

I went through the art show, which I have never been to at the beginning of the show. The previous two years I showed up at the end and rushed through. I took my time again.

I also wandered the halls at liberty, with no agenda. I didn’t think much of the panels available that day, so I did other things. I did attend an author’s reading of horror fic. One of the stories was titled ‘Grindr’ by a gay man, featuring a gay character. As soon as he went over that, two of the six in his audience left. It was a good story. The other author read a bit of theirs (also good). And then we discussed. One of the things discussed was how this was Oklahoma and the very mention of gay sent two people out of the room. It was good and thoughtful conversation.

Later that evening, I attended a comedy panel that was ‘Am I The Asshole?’ with various heroes or villains of popular fan movies discussing if they were the asshole for their role in the plot of their respective media product. It was funny and a light end to the first day.

Saturday, we got up in time for ‘Cartoons with Cereal’ panel where we ate a couple weird over-sugared cereals while watching an 80s cartoon that featured transforming vehicles and masked/helmeted action figure type characters. After that, we went to a better breakfast, complimentary at the hotel plaza.

My first regular panel of the day was ‘Essential Sci-Fi Television’ where I was hoping to see if there were important shows I haven’t seen. Maybe? Maybe not? They talked a lot about the different flavors of Star Trek and the different ways people get into fandom. I didn't add anything new to my list, but I did get more emphasis that I really ought to watch The Expanse.

At 11, I went to a panel titled ‘How do I put THAT on my resume?’ about how to translate fan interests and skills into marketable descriptive terms that can get you hired. I attended not so much for myself, as I hope to never work again after my current job, but for my son and daughter and my attempts to give them advice on how to present themselves in the business world. I’d encouraged my son to go to this panel, but he went to the gaming room. It wasn’t a great panel – I think he made the right choice. But you don’t know these things until you attend them.

I had lunch and then attended a panel titled ‘I ship it!’ thinking it would talk about the range of shipping in fandom circles. And maybe it did, but mostly it was the panelists talking about rare pairs in anime fandoms – both fandom and characters unfamiliar to me. They were excited to talk about it. I managed to steer them into sharing their thoughts about why antagonists are often more interesting to pair with a hero than the designated side kick or another hero, and then a little about what fueled ship wars/fandom drama. It was good to hear, as always, that totally different fandoms have the same problems.

After that was ‘Libraries, Intellectual Freedom, and Book Challenges’ about what books were banned, why, how, and what efforts were going on or the attendees could undertake to oppose book bans. Afterward, I approached one of the panelists for her advice on finding a good Ursula LeGuin book since I hadn’t liked Always Coming Home, but did like Left Hand of Darkness. Turns out she was a core convention organizer. I sent her an email so she could send me a rec later and separately, I filled out a form to volunteer at the next con.

At 3 I went to early dinner with my spouse/partner and his local friend, who was the one who told me the panelist I’d talked to was high up in the convention hierarchy. At 4, I roamed the dealer's room again, finalized things with the leatherworker, and bought a bunch more delicious candy.

At 5 I had a panel titled ‘LGBT+YOU, Discuss the Plus’. Given the conversation the day before with the gay horror author, I was particularly interested. Also, the panel was focusing mainly on the queer identities other than LGBT – asexuals, aromantics, pansexuals, polyamorous, etc. I found it something of a relief to see them stumble and fail to define an aromantic relationship in a way that differentiated it from non-aromantic ones. The panelists varied from early-30s to mid-60s, some partnered, some not. It was lovely to hear people’s experiences with living queer in Oklahoma.

At 6 I attended ‘Fandom Life vs Long-Term Illnesses’ but found it not super helpful. It was mostly about arthritis and diabetes, neither of which are issues I have. But I listened and learned a bit. I enjoy these authentic little windows into other people’s lives.

I attended the costume contest for the rest of the night, which was a big event with a stage show and a music act. My fave costume won! Even cooler, someone I knew was announced as winner of the Fashion Show which was an informal or less formal contest they’d had earlier in the day. I was thrilled for them.

That night at 1:11 am, someone set off the fire alarm, but it was quickly squelched. Still, everyone woke up. Later sleuthing turned up that it was a person attempting to smoke inside their hotel room.

Sunday! We had a nice breakfast again. My first panel of the day was ‘Hollow Humanism?’ talking about utopia, dystopia, and the philosophy of humanism – what were the things that prevented us from making a better world? I had hoped for stuff I could incorporate into my headcanons for Preservation or the Corporation Rim. Not so much.

Then I went to ‘Fandom – The Next Generation’ which was not about Star Trek but instead about the intergenerational fandom experiences of the panelists. I found this not very helpful. Those weren’t my families. It wasn’t about how to interest my kids in fandom (not that I needed that – they’re into it) or how I could better relate to their interests (something I was very interested in). I asked a few questions trying to guide it toward what I wanted, but the panelists really wanted to tell the audience about their lives. So. I listened.

At noon my group packed and checked out of our rooms.

But we hung around as there was a panel at 1 pm I wanted to attend, ‘Neurodivergent Characters in Fantasy and Anime’. Alas, they did not discuss Murderbot. In fact, they didn’t discuss specific characters or genres at all. Instead, they discussed neurodivergent representation in general, mindfulness, coping strategies, dealing with negative social pressures to conform, masking, exhaustion, career intersectionality, disabled rep, and a lot of things I was equally interested to hear about. So that was neat!

At 2, there was a panel about ‘Oklahoma in Fandom Media’ that I attended half of. It was fun to hear the various filming projects and other media mentions Oklahoma featured in. I left halfway through to help our group depart.

And so we drove home. It was a delightful, low-stress vacation. Lots of viewpoints. Lots of experiences. It was lovely seeing people face-to-face and getting such different impressions. It’s a very different experience than Tumblr or discord or streaming. I would very much recommend it to all of you! Get out and meet people in person in your area. Talk to them. Listen to their stories. Find out what they have to share. Share a bit of yourself in turn.