#also this is more about the fandom anyway

[niteshade925]

April 20, Beijing, China, National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆 (Part 1 - Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展):

Aaand finally, the National Museum of China/中国国家博物馆! I was lucky enough to see the famed Dehua white porcelain exhibition/德化白瓷展 here. Some of you may recognize some of these pieces already, since pictures and shorts of them have been circulating online way before I went on this trip, but there are many many other pieces too. The pieces I post here are only a small portion of the entire exhibition, so if you ever get a chance to see the exhibition elsewhere in person, don't hesitate. This stuff is amazing.

First up is one of the two that has been gaining popularity online, the piece named 神话 or "Legend".

The first time I saw a porcelain piece like this, I thought that the clothing part was made with paper? But no, the light fabric of the clothing, the hair, it's all porcelain. Keep in mind when looking through these pictures: every part of every piece is porcelain.

This piece is the other one that was becoming popular, the piece named simply 纸, or "Paper". If you don't look up close and see the glossy surface, you can't tell it's actually porcelain. I cannot for the life of me imagine the kind of magic that was used to turn clay into this

Anyway, this is a good point to introduce Dehua porcelain a little bit. Dehua porcelain is a regional specialty of Dehua/德化, which is located in Fujian province, and is known for its expressiveness and white color. For this reason it's also known in the West as "Blanc de Chine" (French: "white of China"), and this should be the reason why this exhibition is named 中国白, which basically means the same thing. The history of Dehua porcelain goes back to Song dynasty (960 - 1279), and it is still being produced today. Many of the pieces I'm posting here are modern pieces.

But Dehua white porcelain can be colored too (I imagine the color must be painted on later, because the white comes from the clay itself), and when it is colored, it looks like it came right out of a painting

This piece is especially amazing to me. Look at the texture, look at those details. Zoom in and you will find that there are actually a bunch of porcelain ants on this porcelain tree stump. Porcelain ants. I never expected to use porcelain as an adjective when describing ants. Wtf. It's like a manifestation of a scene from an older animated movie.

Peanuts are called 花生 in Chinese, which literally means "flower grow", and because it also has a long shelf life, it symbolizes longevity and a happy marriage. Also a fun fact: because Watson of Sherlock Holmes is usually phoenetically translated as 华生 (huá shēng) in Chinese and sounds similar to 花生 (huā shēng), you will find that many in the Chinese SH fandom refers to Watson as "peanut".

This piece is titled 春色��园, or "garden filled with spring scenery". This is also a common 4-character word used to describe gardens in spring. I'm guessing the figure depicted here is one of the flower gods. It is one of my personal favorites because of its superb depiction of movement, it's as if the flower god will really fly away on clouds at any moment

More depictions of traditional Chinese deities, specifically Chang'e/嫦娥, the moon goddess. That moon rabbit is too cute.

Depictions of what I'm assuming is the Four Heavenly Kings/四大天王, based on the items they are holding. The Four Heavenly Kings are Buddhist deities.

Look at her clothing! That porcelain is so thin it's almost see-through! Also is it depicting Li Qingzhao/李清照, the famous female poet from Song dynasty? She does have a famous ci poem that's about paddling a boat in a lake full of lotuses while drunk

The piece titled 锦绣前程, or "future as vibrant and prosperous as silk brocade". This is also a common 4-character word used in well wishing. The figure in this piece is holding a xiuqiu/绣球, a ball made of silk, which was usually seen as a token of love

Somewhat more modern-themed pieces:

Among the hundreds of amazing pieces, this one caught my attention for its unique texture. When everyone else was trying to turn the clay into these thin sheets representing fabric or paper or flower petals, this artist took the noodle approach. Not many visitors seemed to like it, but I think it's pretty cool

Piece titled 运势如虹, or "fortune like the rainbow", also a 4-character word used in well wishing. Traditionally horses symbolize vitality and success, hence why many people use the words 马到成功 ("horse's arrival brings success") and 龙马精神 ("vitality of dragons and horses") in well wishes during Year of the Horse

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Dehua white porcelain exhibition!

[queenburd]

absolutely not a callout post but this activated my trap card so Im so sorry.

Yes, The Stanley Parable is a funny silly game about a guy trapped in an office building.

It's also a game that, while not the first to explore themes of meta and how the player directly affects the game, was really good at it and was super influential in how a lot of future games would explore meta.

There are a LOT of games that are now praised in how they address the Player directly, and make the Player feel that their choices aren't just the choice of a character they are playing, but the Person directly. You, the Player, are responsible for a character getting a complete arc or dying early.

Like, I don't know if you were here for/remember how crazy the Undertale fandom got about the genocide route (if a character was evil or if they were just influenced by YOU, the PLAYER, when they call you out specifically for making them like this), or how many people said "I put the game down after the Pacifist ending because it asked me to". Those were big meta themes of directly addressing You and telling you "you're complicit".

(but there's no wrong way to play that game, I wanna make that clear, that's a WHOLE tangent I wont get into)

The Stanley Parable (especially the 2013 remake) laid a lot of groundwork for it, but it did so in a way that was usually more lighthearted. Yeah, you're a guy in an office! Yeah, a voice is telling you what to do! Yeah, you can disobey everything he tells you to do, and listen to him get irritated, and see what happens.

And then there are a few key places where it brings up the fact that you're not actually Stanley, you're a real person playing the game, and the game is made to be played, but also, that has an impact on the characters inside the story/game itself. Not a LASTING impact (although Ultra Deluxe would change that impression), but when you Do a Thing, a Character Will Be Affected.

and that's really cool! again, it didn't do it first, and the idea would be expanded upon, but it did it so well that the game garnered a lot of praise and stayed in people's heads for 8 and a half years until the Ultra Deluxe version came out.

anyway you don't want to get me Started On the Bucket.

It’s so important that tsp is a game that knows it’s a game and it asks you to keep playing it and it tells you that to keep playing it is to torment these two characters but it asks you to do it anyway.

I watched The Morality of The Shadow of the Colossus and it said “you’re involved in it but you’re not Complicit. These things would happen anyway. You’re just re-enacting it” and I feel like the Parable is SOME of that. It wants you to feel complicit but it never really blames you for what happens, except maybe in the potency of the Skip Button. And by that point you have next to no choice.

TSP asks you to play it, knowing the consequences, and says “you can save these two, but you won’t, but that’s okay, nobody blames you. This is how they’re designed. This is how we need them to be, for the game to work. Please, keep playing. Keep making them butt heads. We made them for you.

We made them for you.”

[bayetea]

I think it's really annoying that leo has completely falsified memories of jason too and this is barely acknowledged in the books

[lunee43]

Okay soooo I might get bashed for saying this but unpopular opinion coming and a rant hopefully this is a safe space;

.

.

Six hundred strike was amazing musically: unlike many I enjoyed the beginning of the song but by the end I was a bit put off because how does Odysseus, a mortal defeat a literal god, not just a god but POSEIDON god of the fricken sea and earthquakes? Like it’s a cool concept but it’s just… makes Poseidon look and seem weak then in the ocean saga. Sure Odysseus became a “monster” but he’s still a mortal, I also find the “six hundred strike” silly like Odysseus did that?…. Using a wind bag?

I enjoy the concept but the plot kinda turns it off for me (not that it’s bad please don’t bash me) Poseidon is one of the 3 major gods, I feel like Odysseus was made to be too overpowered I’d understand if there was a power boost or divine intervention. Poseidon is made to seem weak which contradicts seeing him as a threat. It strays from the original Odyssey way more in this song, and the song is very amazing though I find it silly how Poseidon was defeated and how Odysseus is way too over powered.

And let’s talk about the animation, the person who made it is so very talented but I feel it doesn’t fit, the jet pack windbag? Boss battle? Interesting but it really put me off when I listened and watched it it kinda ruined the aspects for me.

Overall in the end I feel six hundred strike had a good concept and was very great musically but I personally didn’t like the plot of Odysseus defeating Poseidon so easily I mean the man has many different powers aswell? Anyways this is just my personal opinion

Another rant: Also I loved the song “I’m not sorry for loving you” though I feel like if I even said that out loud I’d be bashed by the fandom because, yes, calypso is a bad person I know but the song is really nice and musical it doesnt mean I like the things she’s doing to Odysseus.

Another rant (apologies); I feel like everyone is too blindsided with Odysseus, a lot of people blame everyone but him a lot like he’s just a “cinnamon roll who loves his wife so much and the crew are all a-holes” because like eurylochus he also made mistakes aswell he tries to keep his crew alive abd get home but we do have to accept that this was from Greek mythology he is a flawed character aswell and I enjoy him for that. It makes the audience connect with Odysseus.

Another thing, wisdom saga— I feel Telemachus is used like a child a characterization of a child or teenager unlike the 20 year old he is. It’s a bit off putting for me. And it’s possible to make him innocent and grown such as the use of Polites. Personally he’s like an embodiment of a child and it’s weird to me because he’s a prince and will be king, shouldn’t he have some roles?

Now another thing connecting onto what I just said about “Odysseus does no wrong” ALOT of people in the fandom seem to use Eurylochus as a scapegoat for their hatred and anger to who’s at fault when it’s really the gods and fate, it’s just something the fandom has created to put the anger on why Odysseus couldn’t get home quickly, and I can understand because we look through Odysseus’s perspective throughout the musical. But personally I feel like Eurylochus gets too much hate he is sadly the scapegoat. Even the crew, but it’s saddening because they also have lives, they had family, they are mere mortals what are they to do? What would you all do in these situations if you didn’t know Odysseus’s plans and inner monologues? How would you act?

It’s honestly saddening you can’t like eurylochus without a person spewing about why they hate him, heck I’ve even seen just simple cute TikTok and art about the man but people place hatred within the comments about the character. And it’s only him, you could like Odysseus, polites, perimedies elpenor, Circe, etc. but hate Eurylochus?

<<This is all I have to rant about this is a safe space on my acc for all opinions so you can comment your own opinions, just don’t be mean to eachother>>

(I’m most likely gonna get hate or bashed sadly for having these opinions though I genuinely enjoy the musical a ton. I feel the fandoms grown a bit toxic lately.)

[askshivanulegacy]

I've been trying to find anyone who posted a link to the stories and there's nothing for some reason. Everyone is talking ABOUT them, but never bothering to share. So, here's the best link I could find for anyone curious:

Evidently there's some inaccuracies in the translations. For the Typhlosion one, here's a link that talks about the leak situation a bit and also about some context that's missing from the story:

For the record, the stories are super fascinating! They lend a lot more dimensionality to the Pokemon universe, exactly along the lines as some of the more disturbing official descriptions of Pokemon. They are par for the course, though certainly fleshed out to some extent via short story format instead of a 1-liner.

Also, before anyone goes clutching their little pearls about this because it's Pokemon or because "Pokemon is meant for kids":

They are myths. That tells you all you need to know. If it doesn't, go figure it out.

They're unpublished, so they're not even real! Typhlosion didn't do anything. But even if it did ...

It's fine. It would be cool and fine if the stories were published and canon and if a Typhlosion was actually the husband of a human and they had a kid together. The stories are super neat! They're myths! And they would be super neat even if they were real historical events in the Pokemon universe! Your "god" of humans is a Pokemon. What exactly do you think that means for humans in that world? Lol!

Nothing about this is gross or weird, at least not in the cancel culture way so many people are ranting about.

Nothing about this deserves anyone "defending" Typhlosion. Typhlosion hasn't done anything that requires defending. Child-brain outlook. Embrace the myths.

Nothing about this deserves people raging on other people making jokes. The jokes are funny. See all of the above.

I found a post where some lady was crying the Nile over the very idea that writers had spent their time writing this instead of writing PG stuff, because she couldn't fathom that anyone would spend time on anything that wasn't identically required as the end product ... and because these myths aren't PG, that made it an especial crime.

Tell me you don't have a creative bone in your body without telling me you don't have a creative bone in your body.

Anyway, I invite everyone to go check these stories out.

The Typhlosion one is my favorite and I 110% condone everything Typhlosion has ever done.

Anyway...

[kytiapseud]

In Defense of Epic Manwhore au

Okay, so I’m kinda nervous to post this but I feel like it should be said. I hope I tagged correctly for the topics I discuss in this. So, in defense of the Manwhore au as for the concept being coerced, it’s not like the god(s) said ‘you’ll die if you don’t have sex with me’. Odysseus is the one who brings it up. Although yes, the line of consent there is a bit murky with Odysseus more doing so to get out of situations rather than because he wants to. It’s totally valid for some fans to not be a fan of the au, not everything in fan spaces is for everyone. You are entitled to your opinion and get to make your fandom experience safe for you. There is something I saw though that felt like commentary about those who came up with/ enjoy the au. To me this felt close to attempted fandom censoring or those who try to ‘cleanse’ all fandom content to what they think is morally correct. Again, it is fine if you want to share your thoughts on something. But I hope no one comes after those who do enjoy the au. I haven’t seen that happen yet, I’m hoping it doesn’t. But the generalization about what it says about those who enjoy the au doesn’t sit right with me. For reasons like I mentioned above, about worrying it could turn into attempted censoring. Especially if anyone tries to get others to agree to black-and-white thinking about what they think is true. That could easily turn into justification to harassment, which I have seen in fandom spaces before. Particularly with anti-proshippers.

There may be valid criticisms to this au concept, but that doesn’t mean everyone who is a fan likes it for the same reasons. Let me address some of what I’ve seen though. The joking about Odysseus being a Manwhore coming from homophobia. Yeah, that’s possible (although personally I feel like a homophobe is more likely to not even mention gay things.) I don’t think that’s always the case though. I know there was one animatic I saw, the first thing I saw for the au, that had a joke in it that I didn’t like. I don’t judge this creator, and in fact it’s a common joke I’ve seen. Particularly with people wishing they didn’t see something. It just doesn’t vibe with me. In no way do I think that those who say such jokes have something wrong with them. People have different senses of humor and I think some use such jokes as a way to cope.

Anyways, I think some of the humor more comes from how unexpected it would be. I mean, we have a war captain facing foes who instead of choosing to fight goes for seducing them. It’s certainly interesting. I know some of the jokes come from the others not involved in the coupling being just shocked or grossed out. I think that more comes from like not wanting to see someone else talk about or get busy with another? I mean, some of these men probably consider each other to be like brothers. I imagine that would be weird. I think homosexuality wasn’t taboo in ancient Greece, I’m not entirely sure though I may need to do more research on that. So there could be some homophobia to the jokes, but I don’t think that’s the case for everyone. It certainly wasn’t for me. It could also be lgbt+ fans wanting to see more gay stuff in the story. Gay shipping isn’t uncommon after all.

I don’t think everyone who talks about the Manwhore au has no problem joking about sa. There can be many reasons why someone may enjoy a concept in media. You don’t know. Like how women are criticized for rape fantasies. I watched a documentary about sex once (I can’t remember which one this was in now) and there was a whole segment about the rape fantasy, discussing why this is an appeal to some women. It did not mean these women want to be raped of course. Part of it could come from a culture of feeling pressure to not experience any sexual feelings, so the scenario allowed them to experience something without feeling guilty about it. There isn’t always a clear explanation for why someone can find something sexy.

I think this started as a joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some who wanted something sexy in their Epic fan experience. I mean, having read the Odyssey in school (twice actually) I did not expect I would want to see Odysseus in such a scenario. But then I saw one sexy fanart of him with others and cough I ended up liking it more than I expected. Those who have seen my reblogs on this tag know heh.

There’s also the infidelity notion. I feel like given the situation, Penelope would understand. I also saw some comments that they could be poly, which is a concept I like for this. I’ve also seen mention that human relationships with gods have ended up tragically for the humans involved. I don’t think everyone who listens to Epic knows about that. I didn’t. But again, this goes back to it being fantasy. People enjoying picturing it the way they want to. It doesn’t have to be accurate to the myths. It’s fanfiction/au.

I think the infidelity notion to it didn’t bother me as much as others because in the original, he wasn’t faithful. Sorry for Odyssey spoilers I guess. Anyways, I was already used to him being a cheater. Although the one with Circe may match more with the coercion along the lines of ‘sleep with me for your crew’. The knife that’s been shown in some animatics wasn’t in the original. It’s been a while since I’ve read it so I’m not entirely sure about how that went down.

Referring back to if Odysseus wants it even if he was the one who offered (sorry if I’m all over the place with this, I have a lot of thoughts.) Seducing foes doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t want it. There’s a character in a Sanders Sides roleplay I was in named Remy (Sleep), whose rp version was created/and played by the wonderful @queroze , who was proclaimed by them to be a manslut. His go-to to get out of situations, if he saw it was a fit strategy, was to seduce. Sure, he got into situations that weren’t great, but often he was the active one in the seducing. I wouldn’t say his go-to being to seduce meant it wasn’t always consensual. In fact, there’s many descriptions and some statements from Que themselves saying Remy loved bringing pleasure to his partners.

Then there’s the mention of the unlikeliness of the scenario actually happening. I don’t think this matters that much to be honest. It’s fandom enjoyment. Who cares if people want to enjoy something that doesn’t seem likely in canon? I personally couldn’t see seduction working, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t find the concept entertaining. Sure people shouldn’t insist it could occur to the creators. But aside from that, it doesn’t affect you. Enjoying fan spaces is way more fun if we let things stay peaceful.

I kinda want to write a fanfic now that adjusts to some of the critiques I’ve seen of this au. I know I said I probably wouldn’t, but I got inspired while planning this heh.

[fortunatelyannoyingcrown]

Just went down the Reddit rabbit hole, and found this sub aside from the main acotar sub- non toxic Acotar? Lmao, I think I just found out what the "non toxic" refers to- it is just a community for Feyre/Rhysand Stans to sit in their little echo chamber and spout misinforming crap about Tamlin/Nesta and Lucien sometimes....

Anyways, there was a post someone put up about what it "would take for Feyre and Tamlin to be Cordial"....

And some of these stupid and biased responses honestly had my blood boiling .I have ss a few here and I'll give my response to each comment as I go...

Oh sincere apology, you say?The one at the end of ACOMAF was not enough?What do y'all Feyrug bitches want him to do?Fall on his knees before her? Frankly, I wish he didn't apologize at all, or save her miserable life.She owes him way way more than he does her so just sftu. And also, look at your own faves' sin list?She can't just be demanding or even expecting apologies when she has done even worse to ruin his life and his court and his legacy, can she?.When Feyrug gives her apology, we'll think about Tamlin extending the same.

Imagine belittling what a depressed suicidal human being is going through, and making it his fault.No sweetie, your fave is a big part of the reason he is the way he is, she destroyed his life for no good reason.But yeah, taking accountability is something Feyrug has never really been good at.

"Feyre might come around"- who TF even is she? That war criminal needs to sit down with herself for a bit, and look at all the peoples' lives she has actively destroyed.So yes, Feyrug Stan you too can stfu and actually understand that your fave has done worse shit to Tamlin that she needs to own up to and apologize for...

And then there's another loser

Like honestly the way there people prop Feyrug on a pedestal when she doesn't even deserve it, like Jesus Christ, I hope Tamlin doesnt even get a POV, if SJM is going to pander to this bitch ass fandom, and have him apologize to her.I would rather he even die than that. Because if he dies, he can die with his self respect intact, instead of bowing before that monstrous bitch and her POS husband.

But unless Feyrug apologizes for all the pain she has caused him, very knowingly in fact, and acknowledges that she has been a POS, I don't want her within a ten foot distance from Tamlin

Like bitch, stay TF away from him Go back to Rhysie poop, your favourite rapist husband, but don't you dare expect an apology from him

If it ever happens, I will throw that copy of the book against the wall.I won't leave Feysand/ Feysand stans alone after that...

Have to get off my soap box now...

[nerdycolorcupcake]

To me at this point, is pretty much shipping them out of spite for the current absurd hate it has been receiving among the years

But in all honesty, ever since the pilot i could tell that their chemistry was spot on, literally

A cunning threatening radio demon and

A charming demon belle (his words btw)

Making a deal of norturing the hotel for different reasons but having no choice other than engage together to keep it alive

That signed me up

Yes, Alastor constantly touching her despite the fact that he loathes that someone touches him helps a bunch, from pinching her cheeks to mess with her hair, he just can't help himself and charlie hardly pushes him off (except one moment in the pilot when they met but ever since that she doesn't actively push him away, she just let him do whatever and boy did i read fics that explore that fact much further XD)

Charlie is also not stupid nor weak, she's the princess but she knows she can't be too comfortable around him, but she also can't help but ramble to him about issues and he just listens, even if he's not interested, he doesn't interrupt her and make sure she's safe, and even when mocking her delusional ideas or accomplishments, he still do it in a lightheaded manner, which unintentionally leads to her being more determined to prove him wrong

I love to make silly drawings of them or imagine their lives in apocalyptic settings, where they force each other to reach different extremes until they reach a compromise, and them in their feral forms is just

.

.

.

Speaking of that, this ship was the only one that inspired me to make my own fic, aka Bernadette, a tribute in a way for two fics that i love (just roll with it and radio reign)

As well as one shot that is separate inspired for a twitter drawing thread idea with pianos (which reminds me i still need to make a cover for the main fic)

Needless to say i am flabbergasted by the community sorrounded around this ship, with such talented and respectful people like zootopiathings, hazbintohell, chubs, darkus, moca, dreamweaver (yes binch you made me ship vaggie and emily too!) and many others that motivate me to keep engaging because their ideas are phenomenal and help me remind why i love this ship in the first place (i tend to hyperfixate a lot and bounce between fandom things i like)

In conclusion, i love the abundance of possibilities to be done with the ship

From anything sweet to angsty or melodramatic, the themes with them can be vast, (alastor dressed as the phantom of the opera bc charlie likes tall dark and mysterious men for example is such a classic) and the creativity of the shippers know no bounds!

Anyways, that's a few things that make me enjoy the ship UwU

Attention my fellow charlastor shippers

Reblog this and tell me what your favorite things are about charlastor. This includes dynamics, headcanons, silly doodles or whatever. I just like hearing what about something that makes me happy makes others happy

[conundrumoftime]

no ACTUALLY ship and let ship. no, really. including Haladriel including Celeborn including everyone.

Checking on the Tumblr Haladriel tag this morning like the Troy-arriving-with-pizza gif...

Anyway: I left the following comment on someone's blog about this, and while I don't have any particular wish to fight with that person or reblog them in a way that might encourage anyone else to get into that, I do want to copy my comment here because 'ship and let ship' is something I do feel very, very strongly about:

I'm a Haladriel shipper who's been in this fandom since 2022 (you can see my 20+ Haladriel fics here if you want evidence of that: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eye_of_a_cat/works) and in Tolkien fandom on and off for many years before. I’m one of the shippers who was on the receiving end of a massive anti hate campaign over Haladriel during 2023-4, including repeated vicious suicide-baiting anon hate comments. I’m also a multishipper who talks about Celeborn too and writes fic about him as well. Can I please ask that you consider the old fandom adage of ‘ship and let ship’ on this one? I don’t care whether you like this fictional elf [ETA: Celeborn] or not - we all have different tastes - but when you start going after the shippers as people, calling us “probably antis masquerading as shippers”, telling us to “be honest” that we just hate Sauron x Galadriel (seriously, do you think I and fellow multishippers are writing all these Haladriel fics as some kind of elaborate undercover act?), setting yourself up as some judge of who counts as a Haladriel and who doesn’t - this is just unpleasant for everybody and makes the fandom a toxic, bitter space.  People have different tastes. People approach shipping in different ways. Fandom is a big wide world.  What I always ask people who hate Haladriel to do is mute the tag and live and let live when it comes to other people’s preferences, and don’t go after *people* because you don’t like their ship. Can you please consider doing the same for Celeborn?

I don't want endless discourse about this. I hate ship wars. I have a ton of messy unpleasant stuff happening in my real life right now and fandom - writing, fun, creativity - is such a welcome escape valve for me. I don't care who likes which elf or which ship, but ffs can we please leave each other in peace about it?

I am always happy to talk about any of my ships or the characters I like in more detail - at the drop of a hat in fact! - but for obvious reasons, I don't do this in a ship war context where I feel like someone's expecting me to 'prove' myself or justify why I'm allowed to like something. Because the point is that it doesn't matter why someone else likes something or whether or not you get its appeal - what matters is the ability to get along with each other anyway.

Some of my best fandom friends are people who don't like many of the things I like, and vice versa. One of my dearest fandom friends I've known for over 15 years has some ships that make me recoil in ARGH NO horror. And she doesn't like everything I'm into either! And we still get along fine, as people, because we know it's ships. It's fiction. It's not a referendum on us as people.

I don't care if people like Celeborn or not - he is a made-up elf, he is not real. I don't care if people like Haladriel or not - non-book-canon ships and EtL ships aren't for everyone. But the fans who like these things are real people who should be allowed to do our thing in peace.

[girl-with-many-fandoms]

Potentially MAJOR Hazbin season 2 spoiler if this “leak” ends up not being a fake. I just need to get my thoughts and feelings out somewhere and maybe there are a few others out there that feel the same way I do about it.

I just saw on TikTok a supposed leaked song with line animation that, if true, reveals that Rosie owns Alastor’s soul.

It’s hard to tell what’s fake or not nowadays with so many super talented artists and people using AI generated voices to mimic the actual voice actors so I REALLY hope it’s just a convincing fake.

If this is true though, I will be absolutely DEVASTATED. I adore their friendship - and not just the fanon friendship and/or QPR that we as a fandom have created with HC’s - but also the canon friendship we saw in episode 7 of season 1.

Have you ever had something happen in a show that upset/disappointed you so much that you actually had to step away from the show for a while and process before you could continue to watch and enjoy it? That will be me if this is real.

Because the wording in the song, plus the rough animation accompanying it, really gives the impression that (1) They don’t like each other at all like we thought they did & (2) Rosie literally views Alastor as a pet to puppet and nothing more.

And a friend of mine said that even if it’s real they could still maybe be friends but I’m sorry, Alastor as a character just wouldn’t be friends with or even willingly friendly with someone who owns him and limits his powers to where he almost dies in a fight and has a mental breakdown about after said fight. So if this is a true leak, season 1 episode 7 was all fake friendship and that hurts my heart so much.

Also, aside from the fact that I’ll be heartbroken about this, it just doesn’t make sense to me from a plot standpoint. I know a lot of people don’t want it to be Lilith just because it seems obvious but Lilith or Roo at least make sense narratively.

I just don’t see how, story wise, Rosie owning him could make as much sense as other potential candidates for who he has a contract with.

Why would Rosie help the hotel by letting Charlie use her people to fight for the hotel and then turn around and handicap a powerful person that is also defending the hotel? Why make him disappear for 7 years, what did she possibly gain from that? As far as I can tell nothing really changed for her during his absence.

Anyways, I’m rambling. TL:DR if the “leaked” song and animation ends up being a real leak I will be devastated and very disappointed in Hazbin.

[legally-allowed-to-slime]

okay i think it’s time to talk about the “are we mean?” line from gem (28:16 her pov) which no one else seems to care about and it’s driving me crazy

so. if you watch the actual clip she changes her sentence from “are we th—” to “are we mean”. she also says it with the exact same inflection that cleo used. this gives me the hunch that she had cleo’s line in double life on her head since gem is pretty aware of fandom things and that’s an iconic line. at the same time though, this is a stretch so we’re gonna go ahead with the assumption that those two lines were just coincidentally similar.

at first glance it might seem like cleo’s double life line (“are we the mean girls?”) and gem’s line (“are we mean?”) are entirely similar and about similar circumstances, but if you look a little closer the similarities fall apart

in cleo’s case, they say it after the box boys had died and they were looting their stuff. pearl shows up and confronts them but the pair just laugh and say it was pearl’s fault ren and bigb died anyway. pearl doesn’t really push it either. then they steal more stuff and leave, before cleo says The line. so with this context, it’s pretty obvious what cleo’s asking is a rhetorical question. what happened immediately before would make them, objectively, the “mean girls” (both stealing and ignoring pearl’s concerns). scott is aware, which is why he immediately responds “yes”, with a smile in his voice. because to them, they might be petty villains, but because it’s funny and they’re self-aware, then they can’t be truly villainous, like dl!pearl. it’s a shared bit between the two of them that they’re being catty high school girls, and scott’s response establishes the fact that they really don’t care. they are two partners in crime, giggling after robbing the bank. top 10 i-can’t-remember-their-ship-name moment

gem on the other hand. hers comes after a long episode of telling everyone who passes by to hate impulse and pearl (soup group divorce 💔). moments later ren kills impulse, and gem thinks that it might be because of her. then she tells joel that “we’re winning by just telling other people who to kill”. but the dynamic between scott + cleo and gem + joel are very different. while scott and cleo are equally up to no good, gem is manipulating the social dynamics of the server while joel is off being angry. the difference between joel and gem is like the difference between joel and scott. so when gem asks “are we mean?”, it’s not like cleo asking scott, knowing they can have a good laugh over it. she’s testing the limits, seeing if what she’s doing can tip over into being mean. and joel, not being scott, automatically says “no, we’re not mean. he shouldn’t have been mean to us.” (insane parallels over gem and cleo saying the same thing but joel and scott having exact opposite answers btw) joel functions in a more straightforward manner: if you’re mean to me, then i can be as mean as i like to you. however, he hasn’t been here to witness gem’s social plays. it’s not like scott and cleo where they were both there to commit the crime together. it’s gem standing there with the blood on her knife and asking joel if she’s guilty. and joel, being both loyal and headstrong, denies it.

after joel says that, gem agrees with, “that’s true, he shouldn’t have been mean to us.” she pauses, turns, and then says “you’re right”. joel, who doesn’t concern himself with such mental gymnastics, has already moved onto bigger things, like a parkour course. but in the meantime gem has used her ally’s careless, uninformed response as proof to convince herself that she can’t be being mean, and that what she’s doing to impulse (and pearl) is warranted. while scott and cleo openly acknowledge their wrongdoing (and in doing so dismiss it), gem pushes it down, trying to persuade herself that she’s the good guy. because she can’t be bad, right? the bad guys are on the other side.

and this inner turmoil is obvious. she does concede before that impulse probably doesn’t deserve her slandering, in the same way that scott concedes he can be “mean”, but brushing it off because it’s so insignificant it doesn’t reflect on their actual character. because in the same way as scott, gem is chasing some objective standard of morality, and doing everything on the good side, and if she does something on the bad side then that something is now a good thing, because she’s a good person.

isn’t it crazy how i wrote this much about one line

[l-in-the-light]

I laughed so much. So Law actually did make a blunder there, Luffy's style (I mean, can someone who ended up floating on the sea in a barrel really go and criticize others for being stupid? I'm begging you xD). I was hoping that was the case, because it makes everything so much funnier :D Law's reckless side cranked up to the max! It's always so entertaining, but this must be his biggest screw-up in his pirate career, haha. Also it gives him some extra cute points lol.

Oh, I see, I see, so he was indeed after the poneglyph! He is going after the one piece treasure after all! Why is fandom so easily discarding his statement about it in the timeskip?

I know I read One Piece away from fandom spaces when I was catching up, but some of the fandom's habits make no sense to me. No more denying facts please (neither Law's statement about one piece or his connection to Drake, because *he has* one, even if we can only speculate about the nature of it)!

I personally see no contradiction here that Law has more than one goal. Both of these goals are probably part of his bigger plan, anyway, that's my stand on this. In other words, fandom's idea that Law was "aimless" and "didn't have a goal anymore" after Mingo's defeat is false. He wanted to fullfill Cora-san's wish, but he didn't need to hide that from his crew. Hearts are his fanboys, they would do anything he asks them to do, without him needing to lie to them. Also they congratulate Law for defeating Mingo and helped investigate Dressrosa at one point (Bepo drew a map of it, so they had to visit it!), so it seems they did know some bits of his plan actually.

I also don't think it complicates Law's narrative. His goals were shrouded in mystery since the very beginning, it actually all fits in very neatly. And it didn't before, it felt way too simple, like Law has only one motivation (that's kinda shallow imo) and his plans are shit if he didn't came up with proper backup plan after spending 13 years thinking of his revenge. We think it doesn't make sense because we fail to see the bigger picture, is all.

Though Rocky Port Incident was 100% Law's fault lol. What a blow to his already low self-esteem, geez. But it definitely was an impromptu plan, not something he came up with in advance (if it was he would do a better job), he didn't even properly check the ship beforehand to make sure he boarded the right one, he was probably afraid to miss his only chance to get on it. Makes sense, even if, well, it is a stupid thing to do 🤣

I want that anime spin-off so badly omg. It would be sooo funny! You just know Koby, Blackbeard and Law would not get along well, ahahaha. It has potential for so many hilariously awkward situations :D

The Rocky Port incident... (2)

was trending in Japan last night, so here's a post magazine release follow-up.

I was looking forward to hearing japanese readers' thoughts, but the source text itself is pretty vague which didn't help them either.

At least now the JP version is available, so I tried my hand on translating it as literally as possible.

Here's a simplified summary from Japanese user @manganouA (x) :

Just a clarification that "Hachinosu" and "Pirate Island", "Wang Zhi" and "Ochoku" are used interchangeably.

A common interpretational agreement is that Law definitely got onboard the wrong ship, and very likely the ship wasn't even going to Hachinosu. Artur's translation was incorrect, Law didn't board the smuggling ship. Pew's team updated their translation with Artur's version, even though their initial interpretation was right.

Law gained information that a smuggling ship heading to Hachinosu used a specific Kingdom's flag as their cover, and mistakenly hopped onboard a REAL ship belonging to that Kingdom- full of passengers and the King himself. The level of catastrophic clumsiness you'd expect from Luffy...

Man scratch that. it was clumsy even for Luffy's standard 😔

Another point to note, the term used to describe Law-Koby-BB combo was "共闘する形", so a combative pact is more appropriate than an alliance (同盟) - which was used for Law's pact with Luffy, and later Kidd (vs Big Mom). Nothing unexpected though.

My entire timeline is people cracking jokes about Law's blunder so I'm cherry picking a few of them.

Law: Crap, I blew it up... This is the wrong ship isn't it? (Cora ghost: Gee, Law... you're also the clumsy type aren't you?)

Zen (@GOKUJOUNOMAGURO) (x). (x)

Blackbeard arrives on luxurious Saber of Xebec, Koby arrives on a naval ship, and Trafalgar Law is somehow on a passenger's ship.

No matter how big of a mistake I make in future, I might be able to console myself thinking, "well, even Law kun got on a wrong ship."

Koby: Misunderstanding? What do you mean? No matter how you look at it, it's an act of terrorism against a Kingdom!

Law: How annoying... I'm in a state of confusion myself! I've no time to deal with the marines.

I got onboard a wrong ship!!!

Koby (after having Alvida flashback): I see. What a disaster, my heart goes out to you. Let's call it a temporary truce and defeat Ochoku first.

Law: You're convinced?!

.

My favorite has to be this low - effort comic summarizing their understanding:

"Rocky Port spinoff" was another buzzing keyword last night, I hope Shueisha is taking notes.

[nocaptainonthisship]

We talk about fandom history because - as the cliche goes - history repeats itself.

Saying "I've been in this fandom since its inception two years ago" isn't a dick measuring contest. It's saying I've been here. I've seen it.

I've seen the so-called lore bros harass and try to dunk on people having fun in defense of tolkien(an obviously racist dogwhistle I don't think I need to explain to anyone reading this.) I've seen people called pedophiles for writing perfectly innocent g-rated fiction. I've seen people harassed out of fandom. I've seen stans of other aspects of the show tell haladriels they're a danger to their spouses and children because they.. like haladriel? I've seen schism after schism within the ship in the name of being Right and Correct and most of all Important.

Anyway, history repeats itself. A new season comes and brings with it new fodder for fic and art and interpretation. The theorizing begins. What did it mean? What will come next? And if you speculate loudly, frequently, and slightly combatively, thus follows the high of Attention. We've been here before.

And, in the interest of proving the take is Right and True and Correct, one must always push down any varying interpretation. Maybe it's "they're not real shippers, they also like the other guy." Maybe it's "they're not real fans of the show, they're not doing the work of up voting every single ship friendly post on reddit." Maybe it's "they didn't pass the arbitrary test I just came up with, so it doesn't matter how long they've loved this thing or how many words of fic or meta they've written about this, they must be Faking It."

All that to say: your take(hot or cold) can be interesting. It can be intriguing and fascinating and super duper cool. What it can't be is The One True Way.

You don't win fandom. You can't. That's what makes it such a great hobby. Because the thing you can't win is also the thing you can't lose.

It is actually very easy to write about theories without making it about what you think other people are doing wrong. There's no prize if you get it right. And for what it's worth - in the interest of sharing history that those of you who have joined us more recently would have missed - dedicating yourself to being Right at the expense of someone who likes something you don't understand(or doesn't like something you do understand!) is an excellent way to lose friends and alienate people.

I've seen it happen. We've been here before.

[guiltycorp]

finally playing through pathologic classic properly, currently on day 9 of haruspex route and i'm a little confused about fandom's perception of Daniil as a mean and arrogant asshole like yeah he is arrogant in that delusions of grandeur way traditional to his archetype... but among the three mcs he is the one proactively helping the other two in those first two routes? actually it felt like a nice surprise with how present he is in the haruspex route ngl and when he's desperately vying for friendship and cooperation with the haruspex it is the player character who always has at least one dialogue option that is like 'man shut up i dont care' Daniil says 'sorry' way more than the haruspex does, too, which i noted separately since he's so often seen as rude and selfish also he is the one revealing some of his personal motivations and feelings which Artemy never really does☝️ both of their interactions with secondary characters tend to be a little cold and imperious which im chalking up to the writing style of the game (like honestly, i really enjoy this style of dialogue but it could use some emotion and warmth - pathologic 2 was a definite improvement in this at least) but i mean it also makes sense? for the bachelor as the educated doctor with his own research lab and for the haruspex as the inheritor of the menkhu title, especially since he is much more sure of his place in the city compared to the second game they both dote on children though anyway this is just me rambling, i look forward to seeing how they both act in clara's route and if she is much different to them so far i like her here much more than in pathologic 2 just because she is really playing up that religious saint behavior, very culty vibes, i like that i wonder if snarky responses to regular citizens remain the same across all three... but yeah idk i feel like they are supposed to be more their 'true' selves when controlled by the player, or rather just the best versions of themselves in the game, but i really enjoy how their actions differ between playthroughs despite core characterization remaining the same, it's very revealing and it's so much more interesting this way rather than them making the exact same decisions in each playthrough

[banrionceallach]

More Oxventure Wyrdwood thoughts: (Beware spoilers if you've not watched the first couple of episodes

Andy making Morven this incredibly powerful sorcerer who was killed by religious bigots, whose instinct when she sees signs of that bigotry being aimed at others is to ask whether they need help . . .

. . . who also wants to kill the man whose body she is stuck in so she can have it for herself.

He is not as inteligent as she is and she derides him as 'the village idiot'. When it's pointed out to her that maybe he should not be killed because the situation is not his fault, her reaction is to suggest putting his soul in an animal as a compromise. She very clearly does not value him as a person.

And the thing is, Andy could have easily made this simple for the audience by making Robin a terrible person. Imagine if he played Robin as a bully or a misogynist or a religious bigot.

It still would have been interesting, because that would have raised the question of 'should being a bad person mean it's okay if you lose the fundamental right to control your own body' but when you're engaging in fandom rather than real life it's much easier to go 'yeah fuck that guy' without having to consider the Implications of there being an Out Group Not Allowed Control Over Their Own Bodies that anyone can end up in if they piss off the wrong person.

But Andy chose not do that. He deliberately created a character who though useless in combat, uneducated and gullible, is as a person, incredibly kind and brave. Not brave because he isn't scared, but brave because he is terrified out of his mind, horrifying things are happening to him and he chooses to risk his life to help anyway.

It is undeniable to the audience that just as Morven did not deserve what happened to her, Robin absolutely does not deserve to be killed for Morven's convenience.

(Incidentally his gullibility and tendency to trust people who are, to the audience, obviously just amusing themselves by bullying him really are setting off my 'felllow autistic person' radar. I hope Morven sets fire to the guy who stole his shoes.

I have a lot more thoughts about Robin's village idiot tendencies being signs of autism, but that's for another post.)

[josefavomjaaga]

#not an attack or anything!! I very like your post and intervetions #i just don't believe in the “lesser evil” or “less worse” when discussing military men involved in the napoleonic wars

First of all: right back at you 💖! I hate not being able to agree with how apparently the majority of people feel about Junot, and that's probably a major reason why I just can't let go of the topic (which I realize would be the best thing to do).

As to the point you make - I fear we'll have to agree to disagree on this because I very much do make a difference. The way I read your post, it comes across as: well, they all were evil soldiers making other people suffer, so it's normal and okay for them to try to murder their wives, because one murder more or less does not matter anymore anyway. That indeed is something I cannot agree with; I'll try to explain why.

I do not know of any other popular napoleonic general or marshal who tried to kill his wife in a fit of jealousy. Junot seems to be special in that regard.

I do see a difference between atrocities committed indirectly, "on the job", and immediate domestic violence. For me, that's a question of personal responsibility. I very much agree that all the generals and marshals caused horrible sufferings both during war time and during occupations - but most of the time they also had little leeway, and the scope of their personal influence was limited. Once they were leading an army corps into war, they had to follow orders, and they had to provide for their men, period. Their personal responsibility "on the job" mostly comes down to: In how far did they at least try to minimize the suffering of civilians, in how far did they try to reign in their soldiers, and in how far did they abuse their position in order to enrich themselves? As an example: Soult occupying Sevilla and requisitioning money, food and resources for his corps versus Soult bullying the clergy into selling valuable altarpieces to him for peanuts. Only the latter is fully in his own responsibility. Soult could have chosen not to.

That's exactly why I fail to be able to condone Junot's behaviour. Much of it was indeed in his responsibility, or at least that's how I feel about it. He could have chosen to react differently when he learned that Laure had been unfaithful. He did not. Well, maybe he was already too far gone at that point (January 1810) to still be able to get a grip on himself, true. But had he ever been able to show self-restraint? Had "Sergeant La Tempête" ever tried to learn to discipline himself? Duelling, gambling, drinking, whoring, wasting money and threatening creditors - that's all on Junot personally, all in his responsibility. He could have made better decisions, he also must have been aware of that, but he chose not to. That's why I see it as "evil" rather than "tragic".

Lastly, something that bugs me a bit though I'm not sure I can explain myself well on this point, is how the decline that Junot inflicted on himself, the way he over the years more and more lost his sanity and the last bit of self-restraint he may have had at some point, in the fandom somehow seems to be seen as "cute"? Because, as people who had an alcohol or drug addict with violent tendencies in their family can ascertain, it's not. It's very much not cute. It's very trivial brutality.

About Junot and women: There is one other tale of him "chasing" a young woman during the time he was governor of Illyria but I would agree that at this point he probably cannot be held responsible anymore for the things he did. That being said: I do find one attempt to murder a woman bad enough. Most men, even most of his fellow military generals, seem to have been able to get through their lives without such an incident.

As far as I can tell, the brutal attack on Laure Junot is as much verified as it can be, more than many other assumptions (more than the idea that Junot was in love with Napoleon, for example, which seems to come solely from a remark by Laure in her memoirs). The main source for the attack on her is Laure's own testimony, a report she put together in the 1830s for her then-lover Balzac, published much later by journalist Joseph Turquan who gave it the flashy title of a "journal intime". It's obviously not a diary but a report made in hindsight, and as such I would not call it more credible than anything else Laure wrote. But the additional evidence of the letters exchanged between Metternich and his wife on one hand, and between Metternich and his secret agent in Paris on the other, do indeed validate her claims to a large degree, and they do so independently from Laure's report. In addition, the scandal is mentioned in several actual diaries of the time, though naturally without any details to what happened behind closed doors between Junot, Laure and Lorel Metternich.

Finally (and truly the least important point for me), yes, I have read several posts on Junot's military prowess by people who are indeed much more knowledgeable than me, and from what I have learned it seems Junot's greatest military feat was a glorified cavalry skirmish in Palestine 1799, before the battle of Mount Tabor.

All that being said: I am aware that I'm overly harsh on Junot, especially considering we do not know how his state of mental health was at each point of the timeline. Maybe it's a sort of backlash on my side, because I feel like things in the fandom often get blown way out of proportion: Bessières having a mistress - waaah, cruzify him! Junot trying to kill his wife - oh, how cute! (Exaggerated, of course. I hope I can make myself understood.)