#and also tbh i think if you have even ONE person

[pinechips]

Now, there are only 19 hours left before the finals close. Here are the (presumably hate?) comments directed at WN during this entire poll, along with my answers and thoughts.

"What the fuck is Warrior Nun?" or "Who are these people? Never heard of them." There is a perfect answer here from Almsy and this is my post from the previous round about why I love WN.

"Kill them!" or "I wish them all die." Over an online poll? You okay?

"Know your history." or "They don't understand the meaning of [ship name]." This was a good opportunity for me to learn about many other f/f ships, and I understood how each show represented women during that time. Still, that doesn't undermine the value of recent shows. The representation of women is important in every era, and Warrior Nun is an amazing show from this viewpoint, considering the current time we live in. I understand that history is essential, but Warrior Nun still holds a special meaning for me, just as [show name] does for you. This show was the only one that made me write fanfiction, and I wrote 400k about Avatrice (well, maybe now 500k, haven't checked recently).

"I saw Warrior Nun, and it is bad." Hey, I could've said the same thing about [show name], but I thought it would be rude. Jk, of course. We all have different tastes.

"I will never watch Warrior Nun." ...was it meant to be a hate comment? Because it's a good show, and if you don't watch it, it's a loss for either you or Netflix. I hope it's Netflix's loss cause I hate them. Have you heard that we put a freaking billboard in front of their HQ for a month?

"They do voter fraud!" Uh, I feel neutral about this topic. I think it would have been better if it were banned, tbh (look at the agony here), but apparently, it’s impossible to ban, and it's even encouraged by the mod of this poll. So well, what can I say? Also, when I look at the graph of the finals, the slopes of votes per hour from the two fandoms are nearly identical up to 27 hours after the start. I personally admire the enthusiasm of both fandoms, really.

"Let's do voter fraud!" The same as above.

Top Femslash Ships Bracket - FINALS

[shalomniscient]

Building on you dad energy Feixiao hc. Absolutely she was the cool dad once her kids reach above kinder age. However I absolutely belive she was the "Omg Im now responsible for a tiny one wtf do I do?!?!" parent when the child was a baby/infant. I think early parent feixiao channels a lot of 'A little confused but she's got the spirit energy'. Like I like the idea that she's a very talented person confronted with a situation completely out of her usual skillset. Bonus points if her friends or SO teases her about having to "figure it out, like the rest of us mortals" I imagine Yukong got a lot of 3am calls in which Feixiao was overwhelmed or just needed desperate advice because the little one hasn't stopped crying for 2 hours now and doesnt know what to do.

I also hc that Feixiao's first child is a surprise child rather than a planned one, not unwanted, just unexpected. Basically I like the idea of Feixiao channeling a lot of first time parent trying her best energy at the beginning. Also definetly cried after holding the baby for the first time.

being responsible for a tiny creature that can have their life subscription revoked in 10 billion ways is a valid reason for anyone, even generals, to get stressed tbh LMAO in the newborn days feixiao is definitely more skittish than she's ever been in her life. she gets nervous holding her baby, both because she's scared she'd drop them or hold them too hard. it takes quite a bit of reassurance from r that "no, you're doing fine" before she gets more comfortable and confident. during this entire time her senses are also on maximum alert; if there's even a hint of noise from the bassinet at night she's awake immediately. she doesn't have those damn radar dishes on her head for nothing. she's just a chronic worrier, fussing more than r about the baby especially if they have a minor cough or maybe sneeze too often. both yukong AND jiaoqiu have to field a lot of midnight calls from her; i think it gets to the point where jiaoqiu just moves into the estate for a bit sdhjfks i think the worrying can be attributed in some part to her heritage and the pitfalls that come with it, notably moon rage. despite all the stuff with hoolay, it's still not clear if any of it could pass to her baby, which is why she's always on the lookout for any signs.

and ofc that worry extends back to when she first found out r was pregnant. i think feixiao would struggle a lot with it; it'd be difficult for her to reconcile and justify bringing a child into this world who could possibly inherit her affliction. it's certainly not something she would want to pass on. this sort of ethical dilemma is honestly why i see feixiao adopting a kid rather than having her own, but if she finds a resolution for it like maybe the baby being clean of any indicators of moon rage (assuming they were sired post-hoolay) then i see her enthusiastically getting it on with r hskdfhk she wants a whole litter and if the next ends up looking like r? she'll be gunning for more alright dhkfsjdhfk also yeah she 100% cries when her baby is born; doesn't matter if it's the first, the second, or whatever. she's cradling them gently and whispering softly as her cheeks get progressively wetter. she does handle the birth pretty well though, i will say.

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

I saw a post on X talking about how Solas mirrors the protagonist as something Trick Weekes said. Summed up it says "If you're arrogant you get arrogant Solas and if you're humble you get humble Solas." More or less the meaning being: He's a spirit and he is what you, the player, make of him. and tbh I feel like that's kind of bullshit given that you can't actually influence him in a way that matters to the plot. Him matching your energy in the moment is not "mirroring" that's just how people do. Also if that was true what does that say about Solas? That he has no real personality of his own and is just a device for the character to create a roleplay scenario? I think I just really dislike the take that only an arrogant player is going to end up with an arrogant Solas.

I've been thinking a lot about Rook's dialogue about Solas making people work hard for the smallest crumbs of approval and that's so true for the player. You can grind and grind for a high approval outcome but it doesn't actually give you much more than "He sees you as a person now." Not a person worth changing for, not a person worth saving. He'll just be sadder about destroying you and your world.

God I hate the mirroring argument. It only really works for inquisition, and even then only for like personal interactions with him and not who he is as a person, and even then not really.

How you speak to him doesn’t change some of the fundamental aspects of his character, namely that he’s committed several atrocities, murdered people he’s supposed to care about, is lying about who he is, is actively planning to end the world, and cannot be convinced otherwise by anyone.

How you treat him in inquisition has no bearing on any of that, it’s just that if you’re kinda rude to him he’s kinda rude back. Which as you’ve said, isn’t a particularly special spirit thing. That’s just how people work. Groundbreaking.

And any merit this had falls apart completely if you try to apply it to veilguard. Because not only do his atrocities, that he commits regardless of anything you do, increase in frequency and are much more focused on in the story, we know who he is from the beginning. The inquisitor being rude to a mostly polite fade expert who presents himself as just wanting to help is one thing, rook being harsh and unforgiving to the man who is literally trying to destroy the world and has committed several awful things already, including grievously wounding their friend because he tried to talk to him (they don’t know he’s dead. They do know that it wasn’t a minor injury) is another thing entirely.

Why should rook be nice to the man who is trying to destroy their world and kill everyone in it, just so he acts politely back while he is actively using blood magic on them to make them hallucinate their friend he murdered (and using the voice of the man he murdered to say things to further manipulate Rook), with the intention of trapping them in prison in the fade for eternity just for the crime of being in his way?

Why is it on them to repeatedly give ground, grin and bear it, smile and be polite, to appease the delicate sensitivities of the man who is going to kill them and everyone they care about regardless?

When it doesn’t change a thing about what he’s going to do, why do they have to go to great lengths to keep the conversation courteous, never question his decisions, never call him out for the awful things he does?

Why isn’t the onus on him to stop being a fundamental knobhead?

The mirroring argument is complete nonsense. More than that, when it’s applied to Rook (or even the inquisitor post trespasser), it absolutely fucking reeks of victim blaming. I frequently allude to Solas as an abusive person because there are so many parallels, and this mirroring nonsense where he is apparently only an asshole if you’re mean to him (even though he does most of his bs regardless) feels a lot like when abuse victims are told their abuser isn’t to blame for what they did because the victim provoked them, and can’t they just be nice and none of this would happen.

[starlost-mochi-x]

yang jeongin - skz fluff headcanons

pairing: yang jeongin x reader

summary: innie headcanons

genre: fluff, idol! au, comfort, general fluff headcanons, maknae shenanigans

a/n: i haven't written stuff in a while tbh but anyways. thank you for 200 everyone !!

masterlist

so

you're dating jeongin

congratulations

he's a little shit

when you first start being together he'll be kind of quiet and shy

which is cute

he'll be doing things like opening the door for you or cooking for you

just that partner lovey dovey stuff you know

but wait til both of you get closer

the relationship will just descend into chaos

and if you were friends with him before you started dating

that chaos will be even worse

jeongin is the type of guy to purposely annoy you and take it a step further because you're so close with him

he'll steal your charger for his phone even if yours is half dead

and then he'll keep it until you have to use it

which results in the rest of the skz members getting used to texting you through jeongin's phone

because you have to literally beg him to give your charger back

all that nice guy stuff just evaporates as soon as he feels comfortable around you

like if you have to go through a door

innie will go first and then slam the door shut so you have to stop and open it again

which has resulted in several injuries

once you went to his dance practice and walked back to his dorm together

and he went through a door and slammed it

because he's a little shit

and you weren't feeling your sharpest that day so you walked right into it

as the door was closing too

chan, who wasn't far behind, had to literally carry you into the dorm because you were so dazed

all in all, jeongin learned to not do that anymore

also because he got scolded by leader hyung and chan is scary when he's mad

sometimes he feels like doing it to you but he doesn't because he doesn't want to hurt you

anyway

we all know that skinship isn't exactly innie's thing

unless he's super comfortable with the person giving it to him

i feel like he would be the type to just do little tiny acts of affection

maybe like resting his head on your lap while you work or on your shoulder when you're busy

or holding your pinky instead of your whole hand

i think he would be the type to accept physical affection from you because it's his partner, you know

but i don't think he'd be into giving it much

jeongin isn't the type to like full blown cuddling and spooning and all that stuff

he likes soft, purposeful affection in small doses

and when he's had a bad day or he's not in a good mood or something happened, he will be asking for affection

obviously not verbally because our maknae is too cool for that

but he might lightly tug at your hand til you sit down with him or nuzzle his head into your side if you're lying down

please he's literally a fox

protect him at all costs :(

i also feel like innie is the type to be quite impulsive sometimes

like it'll be a random tuesday afternoon when you walk into the bathroom and he's standing over the sink, cutting all his hair off

"JEONGIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING"

"i wanna look like hyunjin hyung :("

either that or he's dying it

or drawing all over himself

or eating things he shouldn't

you've seen him try to bite the corner off a brick wall and jisung swears up and down that innie has eaten deodorant

there's a reason why you keep yours in a drawer now

just in case

anyway

we know innie is also our fashion king

definitely the type to like little items like matching rings or phone cases

he tries to persuade you into matching weird shoes but that's too far for you right now

so he settles for other matching things like hoodies

and necklaces!!!

lots of matching necklaces!!

jeongin will never admit it but he likes having a piece of you close to his heart

whether that's in the form of a pendant or otherwise

aww

you guys also have those matching magnetic socks

you know those ones

with the little faces and the magnetic hands that connect when you sit next to the person who's wearing the other pair

yeah those

google it if you don't know

innie loves those and more than once has managed to persuade you into wearing them at award shows and other work events

hidden under your dress of course

and his hidden under his suit

like chan and hyunjin, he also beefs with the stylists about not taking off the matching jewelry you guys have

the stylists literally have to hold him down to take it off him because it just doesn't match

but he always puts it back on afterwards anyway

because he's maknae on top and nobody tells him what to do >:(

they've given up at this point

but they understand that he loves you and wants to keep you close

at skz concerts where they can throw water, innie will always look directly into the crowd for you

then he'll give you a cute smile before drenching you in a sacrilegious amount of water

you've learnt to bring towels and an umbrella to concerts now

jeongin also manages to rope seungmin and minho into it too

so wherever you go, be warned because one of them is always waiting to just dump water over your head

you could always tell chan about it but you let them have their fun

for now anyways

after concerts, you and jeongin always go back to the dorm or the hotel if skz is on tour at that time

and you'll wash all the night air and now-cold water out of each other's hair

if you're nice innie will let you dry his hair

but you're not allowed to style it

that's law

sometimes you get annoyed with how much water innie throws at you during concerts

you stopped being annoyed when felix secretly told you that jeongin drenches you at concerts on purpose so both of you can spend more time afterwards cleaning up together and drying off in each other's company

which is cute

all in all, innie is a mischievous little shit but he loves you

so so much

even if he doesn't go about showing his love conventionally

he makes sure that you never doubt he loves you

so

you're dating jeongin

congratulations

he's a little shit

when you first start being together he'll be kind of quiet and shy

which is cute

he'll be doing things like opening the door for you or cooking for you

just that partner lovey dovey stuff you know

but wait til both of you get closer

the relationship will just descend into chaos

and if you were friends with him before you started dating

that chaos will be even worse

jeongin is the type of guy to purposely annoy you and take it a step further because you're so close with him

he'll steal your charger for his phone even if yours is half dead

and then he'll keep it until you have to use it

which results in the rest of the skz members getting used to texting you through jeongin's phone

because you have to literally beg him to give your charger back

all that nice guy stuff just evaporates as soon as he feels comfortable around you

like if you have to go through a door

innie will go first and then slam the door shut so you have to stop and open it again

which has resulted in several injuries

once you went to his dance practice and walked back to his dorm together

and he went through a door and slammed it

because he's a little shit

and you weren't feeling your sharpest that day so you walked right into it

as the door was closing too

chan, who wasn't far behind, had to literally carry you into the dorm because you were so dazed

all in all, jeongin learned to not do that anymore

also because he got scolded by leader hyung and chan is scary when he's mad

sometimes he feels like doing it to you but he doesn't because he doesn't want to hurt you

anyway

we all know that skinship isn't exactly innie's thing

unless he's super comfortable with the person giving it to him

i feel like he would be the type to just do little tiny acts of affection

maybe like resting his head on your lap while you work or on your shoulder when you're busy

or holding your pinky instead of your whole hand

i think he would be the type to accept physical affection from you because it's his partner, you know

but i don't think he'd be into giving it much

jeongin isn't the type to like full blown cuddling and spooning and all that stuff

he likes soft, purposeful affection in small doses

and when he's had a bad day or he's not in a good mood or something happened, he will be asking for affection

obviously not verbally because our maknae is too cool for that

but he might lightly tug at your hand til you sit down with him or nuzzle his head into your side if you're lying down

please he's literally a fox

protect him at all costs :(

i also feel like innie is the type to be quite impulsive sometimes

like it'll be a random tuesday afternoon when you walk into the bathroom and he's standing over the sink, cutting all his hair off

"JEONGIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING"

"i wanna look like hyunjin hyung :("

either that or he's dying it

or drawing all over himself

or eating things he shouldn't

you've seen him try to bite the corner off a brick wall and jisung swears up and down that innie has eaten deodorant

there's a reason why you keep yours in a drawer now

just in case

anyway

we know innie is also our fashion king

definitely the type to like little items like matching rings or phone cases

he tries to persuade you into matching weird shoes but that's too far for you right now

so he settles for other matching things like hoodies

and necklaces!!!

lots of matching necklaces!!

jeongin will never admit it but he likes having a piece of you close to his heart

whether that's in the form of a pendant or otherwise

aww

you guys also have those matching magnetic socks

you know those ones

with the little faces and the magnetic hands that connect when you sit next to the person who's wearing the other pair

yeah those

google it if you don't know

innie loves those and more than once has managed to persuade you into wearing them at award shows and other work events

hidden under your dress of course

and his hidden under his suit

like chan and hyunjin, he also beefs with the stylists about not taking off the matching jewelry you guys have

the stylists literally have to hold him down to take it off him because it just doesn't match

but he always puts it back on afterwards anyway

because he's maknae on top and nobody tells him what to do >:(

they've given up at this point

but they understand that he loves you and wants to keep you close

at skz concerts where they can throw water, innie will always look directly into the crowd for you

then he'll give you a cute smile before drenching you in a sacrilegious amount of water

you've learnt to bring towels and an umbrella to concerts now

jeongin also manages to rope seungmin and minho into it too

so wherever you go, be warned because one of them is always waiting to just dump water over your head

you could always tell chan about it but you let them have their fun

for now anyways

after concerts, you and jeongin always go back to the dorm or the hotel if skz is on tour at that time

and you'll wash all the night air and now-cold water out of each other's hair

if you're nice innie will let you dry his hair

but you're not allowed to style it

that's law

sometimes you get annoyed with how much water innie throws at you during concerts

you stopped being annoyed when felix secretly told you that jeongin drenches you at concerts on purpose so both of you can spend more time afterwards cleaning up together and drying off in each other's company

which is cute

all in all, innie is a mischievous little shit but he loves you

so so much

even if he doesn't go about showing his love conventionally

he makes sure that you never doubt he loves you

a/n: divider by @cafekitsune

[lilietsblog]

The ethos from the Russian pro-piracy writer community as I remember it is:

It's actually secretly good for the solo / newbie writer to have their books pirated.

See, books are expensive, and most people have a limited entertainment budget - one that absolutely cannot keep up with how many books they'd like to read (applies to other art similarly). And nobody wants to pay for a book and then find out they don't actually like it.

Now, writers who've already made it big - writers who're writing their 20th book in a series or whatnot - don't suffer from this much. Their target audience isn't buying blind, they know what they're looking for, they're willing to pay for these books as much as they have to pay for books period.

But newbie writers? They need readers to actually /be familiar/ with their books first. Having their first draft online (on samizdat usually, think vague mix of royalroad and ao3 in terms of how it works) is great for getting that initial engagement and audience, but relatively few people are actively on samizdat looking for ongoing works (this is where it's more similar to ao3 than rr lol), and usually when you sign a contract with a publisher, they require you to stub your work )=

(This also applies to writers who are already moderately successful, but whose books are getting published as more expensive hardcovers, so even a hardcore fan can't really afford to get them all on an average person's income.)

In this sense, piracy is a marketing boon - far more people will read the books and then buy them where they otherwise wouldn't have, than will read the books for free and stop there where they would have bought them otherwise.

Of course, this argument works a lot better for books, where owning a physical copy has greater value than just moral satisfaction / storage, a printed book for many people is just more enjoyable than a digital copy.

But it still works on an ethical level: you have only so much money to pay for art. Nobody benefits from you enjoying less art in your life, and you are going to spend more of that money if you actually have preexisting strong convictions of who you want to give it to.

(It's also more relevant for books than video games, I guess, because a book is like 2-10 hours of your time, while a video game works on multiples of that even at a low indie end, so a lot fewer video games can take up more of your free time and desire to game)

(And of course, it's a function of economy, prices and income. Books are expensive around here in the post-soviet space for us locals; are video games cheap? In America for Americans maybe they are. For us over here... well, I was willing to pay for Minecraft, and that exhausted my video game budget for the foreseeable future tbh)

tirade on pirating software. 1.7k words.

i recently read a post by someone who is anti-piracy (better: against making copies of software). they said that if you can't afford something you should wait for a sale or find a free alternative. and then they said that the only time that they find piracy (better: finding a copy online) acceptable is for games that are so old that you cannot buy them from a licensed vendor, but only from resellers, because in that case the developer doesn't get the money anyway.

i feel like i could make a sort of loophole argument in this framework, which is that i can watch ebay until the game is listed by a reseller, and then pirate it, because i'm no longer making a choice between paying the developer or not paying, but paying a reseller and not paying, and i've decided not paying a reseller is morally permissable.

but i think it can go a little further. they specified developer. i should pay the developer. even though i don't buy directly from the developer, but a licensed vendor. but the vendor's surcharge is not worth bringing up.

this is because we don't believe in following the law, exactly, and thus you should follow all copyright laws for that reason. it's because of, usually, one of two reasons: developers deserve to be compensated, or that we have a moral obligation to support the developer.

on the first view, the "just deserts argument", it's not clear to me that the moral obligation to not pirate is watertight in this case (when i said "pirate" before, i made a silly gesture, meant to indicate that i'll say that for brevity, but am not acquiescing). a developer deserves to be compensated for their work; but what do they deserve exactly?

does every developer deserve to become as rich from their game as Notch, and every time they don't there's been an injustice? you probably don't think that.

do they deserve some particular amount that we would say is 'fair'?—it isn't unjust if they do better (although you might think so, and complain about how much of the spotlight they take up compared to others just as deserving), but we only require that much success of them. this might be dependent on the kind of game that it is, for example, a better game deserves more success. if that's the case, then we've exonerated at least some pirates; so long as the developer is as successful on the market as they deserve to be, we've done nothing wrong.

you might say that it's wrong to pirate games that haven't yet reached the threshold of just success, because you place them in jeoprady of never achieving the success they deserve. further, you might say that this threshold is epistemologically unknowable to human beings (see: click), and therefore in practice you can never justify piracy, because you never know if a game has reached the threshold of justice. pirates, therefore, gamble with justice, and only Minos will pay their winnings.

i think this would be a good argument, except that i don't understand why i, as someone who wants to download a copy of the game, am the one who bears the moral responsibility. if the success of this developer is a matter of justice, then surely we all bear that responsibility, even people who don't play videogames. therefore we should all purchase and promote every game, and so forth.

this isn't what any anti-piracy advocate believes, even if they seem to take a deserts line. instead they restrict our obligations to participating in ordinary market mechanisms. the game is being sold as a commodity; therefore people should buy that commodity from a point of sale apporved by the producer, and so forth. it's taken for granted that the anarchy of the market is the right way to guarantee justice, and other possibilities are never explored. ultimately, the deserts argument naturalizes capitalist relations. once you remove these blinders, the mechanism for delivering justice it actually proposes seems obviously unreliable and unsatisfactory (in fact, i believe this criticism applies to all deserts arguments).

here i will quickly add my complaint against the second argument, that we should support the developer. the argument runs: if you like a developer, you should support their work by purchasing their products. i am a lot more sympathetic to this argument and so i won't spend much of the post attacking it. it's enough to say that it suffers from the same problem we just mentioned: why is participating in ordinary market mechanisms the best way to support the developer? capitalism is likewise naturalized by this case when it is advanced as a moral argument against piracy. therefore we can run the same argument: if we have a moral obligation to support game developers, then it's not clear to me why only potential players have that obligation, and so forth (but this time the criticism doesn't apply to all similar arguments, just this one).

however, it often isn't advanced that way, and as a pragmatic argument i tend to agree with it. in fact sometimes they actually have a case for participating in normal market mechanisms: DMC fans want you to buy DMC games because then Capcom will look at their sales figures and decide it's worth making another game. you could argue that they still have capitalist blinkers on because they only advocate you buy one copy, the one you'll play, which is how the game is sold. maybe they should be asking you to buy a hundred copies or whatever. but we don't want them to do that, LOL. and the feeling is usually that there are limits of what you can ask out of someone; when one DMC youtuber was spending quadruple digits on a DMC-themed gacha, his viewers expressed concern and encouraged him to stop. so cheers to DMC players.

in fact, there might be ethical reasons to only ask someone to purchase a copy of something in the normal way: when i try to get you to buy one of Xraftstar / Charity / Porpentine's games, i am doing it because i personally want my friend to succeed, and i want to see their art recognized. this is a kind of moral motivation, but it's the morality of rendering personal obligations; you are not likewise obligated. however, i of course feel there are limits on what i can ask of you, and so, unlike when i make donation posts for my friends who are struggling, i'm only comfortable encouraging you to purchase a copy of something i think will actually render a use-value to you (even if you could still obtain it in other ways and get the same use-value).

but anyway, why specify the developer in the first place? the work put in by the publisher, the developers and maintainers of the platform its sold on, the bandwidth of the payment processor, and so forth, all get left out of the question, even though they are all more or less necessary parts of the normal market mechanisms we're encouraging you to participate in.

i think it's obvious that the anti-piracy advocate of this kind doesn't actually want to advocate for participation in the market economy, like Bush during the recession. they want to be just by the developer because they see the developer as a fellow individual like themselves; they actually want to cut through the market alienation and simply do right by another person. therefore all of the other capitalists who make money off the sale—publisher, platform, payment processor—are just more big companies, perhaps even leeches we'd be better off without.

it's funny, because historically this view was used to support piracy when it came to music. you used to see a lot of charts like this:

how much of a CD goes to the label, manufacturers and distributors, to show how little really goes to an artist, to shut down people who said you should buy the CD to support them. there's a sort of naive anarchism underlying this: i want to help the individual who made the music i love, who needs manufacturers and distributors anyway?

in this kind of simple moral reasoning, resellers really get shafted. they're seen as scalpers, taking money without producing any value. no one says: 'make sure to support resellers!' thus we never ask who the individual behind all of the market alienation the resller is. whoever they are they don't deserve the money. then, when you are poor and struggling, and cannot afford to buy things for yourself, what do people tell you to do? sell your games, CDs...

but i don't want to be too sarcastic here, because there is nothing funny about this impulse to reach through market alienation and connect morally with another individual. it is the essence of emancipation. but hear my argument: purchasing commodities from them is an unsatisfactory way to realize it. it's true that you can certainly help someone by buying what they sell; many of us rely on this to a greater or lesser extent, and, pragmatically, i hope we'll all buy Nadia Nova's next game and put food in her belly. but systematically, not in this or that case, but as a general moral principle, the commodity form, the exchange of cash for things or copies of things—this is the very thing that reproduces these conditions of alienation in the first place. and these relations—their predictability as a feature of the market, or even their scarcity as a part of a volatile and impermanent system—is what habitually places the developer in a condition of alienation from their labour, coaxing them to give up their so-called intellectual "property", then forbidding them from using the games they made; or by seducing them into placing their music on a platform, then offering them increasingly small margins and less control; or to post their content (qua sex workers) on a paywall platform, which then imposes complex payout structures to keep them from claiming their earnings. and so forth. the desire to reach through all of the noise and support the individual is inevitably captured, redirected, and fed upon in as many ways as it can be, until the whole thing crashes down and the cycle starts again.

therefore, should you purchase or pirate the next game you want to play? Remember Ptahhotep: "The noble who sitteth before food divideth it as his soul moveth him; he giveth unto him that he would favour."

[jackiespurnell]

I cant think of anything different for Jackie as an ask but i would like to hear your take on her character. Maybe bless us with a character analysis???

ahhh okay!!! i have so many thoughts on her!!!! for starters, i wanna talk about why i think some ppl in the fandom hate her sm cause ive never seen anyone whos neutral on her tbh like either ur a jackie anti or a jackie stan theres no in between.

i see a lot of people using the fact that her only crime was being a teeanage girl as an argument to defend her and while i wholeheartedly believe that, i think that’s the exact reason why people dislike her. i think a natural instinct that viewers have when watching a show is to take the sides of the "heroes." people usually root for the people with the best moral code (which is why nat is so beloved, besides the fact that she's hot asf). but in a show based on survival, where morals for the most part go out the window the second everyone is stranded in the wilderness together, nobody cares if you're the realest or the more relatable. in fact, i think in a show that is based on things that are highly unlikely to happen/deals with topics outside of everyday things, you're more likely to prefer characters that aren't real. in stuff like yellowjackets, people want the batshit crazy ones. they want the cult leaders and the butchers and the psychopaths. its made very clear that jackie isnt any of these things. you dont go into a show about cannibalism and murder and survival and think of a character like jackie. 

she's not the typical final girl. shows like these make you want to root for actively seek final girls. so of course, most people aren't going to gravitate towards jackie. i think ive seen maybe two people aside from myself on tumblr who jackie is their number one character and theres a reason for that. shes simply not what most yellowjackets viewers are looking for.

also, shes just a girl trying to fit into society and doing a pretty damn good job at it, at least on the outside. i think that’s another part of the reason she has so many antis, because 99% of the people want to fit in one way or another but if you’re getting seen/treated as an outcast, of course you’re going to envy the cool, popular girl. it would be another story if she was bitchy and mean but the fact that she’s so nice probably bugs people too without them even realizing it. sorry, but it’s the truth - people hate girls who are pretty and kind. jackie is that.

now, im not saying she’s perfect whatsoever, she has several flaws, she can be super vain and demanding sometimes, and even bossy, although i do believe a lot of that comes from obliviousness and compulsory heterosexuality (which, i won’t get too into cause i feel like a lot of people have already talked about it).

now, for a character study i think her defining trait is her popularity which is insanely sad, but also, its true. you see that she only knows how to be a cool, popular high schooler and the second all that doesn’t matter anymore, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. there’s a mitski songs with the lyrics “if i gave up on being pretty i wouldn’t know how to be alive” and i think that describes her perfectly. in a time and society where everyone has a public and a private side, and i think spent so long crafting ‘public jackie’ that she forgot how to be ‘private jackie.’ she spent so long trying to be a pretty girl that she forgot how to be just a girl.

i also think a reason that she was so kind to misty - outside of her just being a kind person - is the fact that jackie saw herself in misty. while i don’t think jackie was ever unpopular, i don’t personally believe that was always as cool and charismatic and we see her in high school. i think she was always charming to a certain extent, but i truly think entering high school she went the extra mile to become beloved and popular. misty was trying to do the same thing as jackie, she was trying so hard, and as much as i love misty, she was failing. jackie felt bad for her because she knew, not so long ago, she was kind of similar to her. jackie was also trying too hard. i saw an ella purnell interview where she said that sometimes she (ella) forgot she was a person, instead of a brand and i believe jackie resonates with that. she forgot she was a person, not just a popular girl.

she forgot who she actually was outside the makeup and the smiles and the perfect girl persona so much so that when the plane crashed, she didn’t know how to be. because while the other girls slipped out of their public image, jackie didn’t know who she was outside of her public image.

it got so bad that i don’t even think shauna truly loved her. shauna, who just wanted what was best for her best friend. shauna, who never really wanted jackie to die. shauna never really loved her, because shauna never really knew her. we see loads of bunnies around adult shauna’s house, when in reality, we know jackie hated bunnies. even shauna only saw the idea of jackie that she showed people, and that’s not shauna’s fault by any means, but it just goes to show that jackie never really let anyone in.

i think the most tragic thing about jackie by far, is that, ultimately, she just wanted to be loved. and she thought that by putting on this whole facade of having her life together and being the cool, hot soccer captain, people would appreciate and love her. but she mistaked being loved for being admired. and, as sad as it is, i think jackie died without anybody truly loving the real her.

tysm for the ask @yourlocalsaiko

[queer-ragnelle]

What are some of your favorite dagonet moments?

Dagonet characterization varies so wildly there are many examples from different texts where he’s like practically a different person.

Dagonet's originally from the Vulgate which tbh he’s mid there. There’s another text the name of which escapes me where he goes mad after the death of his wife. Love that. Apparently in Les Prophesies, Arthur leaves Dag in charge of running the court?? He's still the fool. He's not a different character, he just... also happens to be good at administrative work. Evidentially. I need an English translation of that so badly. I liked in Le Morte d'Arthur that he was the one to wear Mordred’s armor and jumpscare Mark? So funny that they all team up to pick on a bully. Very sexy of them. Tbh that might be one of my favorite Dagonet scenes ever. The absurdity is why it works. It's the perfect convergence of Dag as both a knight and professional goofball. We love to see it.

For retellings, Dagonet only appeared in Howard Pyle's second book The Story of The Champions of the Round Table (which also has all the Tristan stuff it's soo goooooddd) I loved Dag's cockerel shield idk I think that's so neat. If you see me referencing that in my books no you don't<3 Wish we had a full illustration of him with his cool shield... Pyle jester knight would have slayed. I do also like that Dag is the last one around for Arthur in Idylls of the King and I have a beautifully illustrated version which includes Dag in a kitty eared hood? He's officially a catgirl. Dag is really compelling in the work of Edwin Arlington Robinson, particularly Merlin. Robinson was cooking with that. Wise Dag my beloved. He's an important character in Richard Hovey's work, this quote from The Marriage of Guenevere was a hit with the macabre jester enjoyers but he's also integral to the plot of The Birth of Galahad as a messenger who gets to gossip with Brisen. Oh and I really liked him in A Lady in King Arthur's Court he was soooo weird and depressed<3 There's even an illustration of him! I did really enjoy the character in The Bright Sword by Les Grossman. He's soooooo unwell. :^D The reveal that he pick-pocketed an angel????? OKAY! BUT they didn't mourn his death which really left a bad taste in my mouth. So that sucked. In my mind everyone grieved deeply for him it wasn't just ignored</3

Dagonet has also appeared in two movies and a tv show. I didn't care for his portrayal in King Arthur (2004) although I did like that he adopted Lucan<3 and that Bors called him "Dag." Yoink, my nickname now! I haven't seen enough Kaamelott to judge him there but I want to. Eventually. He's so peak in Sword of Lancelot (1963), he gets to be a jester!! Picking on Mordred is his right. :^)

So yeah there's a lot of great Dagonet moments and probably even some I missed this list is all over the place but I think he should be in more stuff. I made like nine different shield emojis for him in the Theater Server for people to vote on and he ended up with three!

That's so many shields. One for each of Dag's personalities. That's more shield emojis than even Gawain or Perceval have (they got two each). This jester has captured my heart. Nobody ever said I don't pick favorites lol

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Insufferable Protagonists Winners Round 1

Propaganda why Evan Hansen is insufferable:

"just. oh my god. i cant put it into words. hes horrible im sure the rest of the world can find better ways to explain it than me"

"he lies to a grieving family about having been their dead son’s best friend. he does a bunch of patently awful things to either keep up this lie or benefit from it. he is portrayed as the good guy oh poor little guy he just has anxiety THE ENTIRE TIME"

"Lying creep"

"Lies about having been friends with a suicide victim so he can get in the pants of said victim's sister. The narrative excuses it and gives Evan no consequences for his actions because he's uwu anxious sadboi. What more is there to say? Other than the fact Ben Platt looked far too old to play a teenage boy so the film version is downright disturbing."

"Oh my god he’s such a douche. He’s presented as a good guy while manipulating and lying to the family of a guy who just committed suicide. He decides to do this because he wants to fuck this dead kid’s sister. Ridiculous. I hate him"

Propaganda why Jimmy is insufferable:

"The most chillingly real depiction of one of those men that think the world owes them everything. He's a rapist, a misogynist, abelist, self-centered, abusive, terrible friend and person that gets everyone killed because he was big mad about being laid off. It shocks me that there are apparently people out there that play the game and like him. He's so evil, but never in a way that makes him cartoonish, and that makes him all the more terrible. The game lays it out itself: he won't take responsibility for anything. He is never the villain in his own eyes. Scumbag."

"Tbh he's not just insufferable. He's disgusting. I can't even list all the horrible things he did because they would need multiple trigger warnings. He thinks that he's so high and mighty to the point where he betrays his own captain so that he can take his place, and then blames his actions and the ship crashing on said captain, who was actually trying to save them. So all of the crew died in one way or another (because of Jimmy's actions) thinking that their captain betrayed them when really if was him. And a quick Google search can tell you all the really nasty shit that he did. So not only is he insufferable, he's also just a horrible human being."

"Listen, I'm not even in the fandom and I know what his ass did. Screw this guy"

"Bro never takes responsibility for anything he did. Assuming he even acknowledges it *vaguely motions at what he did to Anya*"

"SA, causing a ship to crash, murder and elongating his friend's suffering in a cryopod for 20 years"

"He's literally the worst. He's a rapist, he framed his friend for attempted murder-suicide after getting him mutilated, and he either directly or indirectly killed everyone else. He's such an unreliable narrator that it's difficult to tell how the others of the Tulpar crew actually are because he sees everyone as beneath him."

"rape, murder, just generally being an asshole"

"LITERALLY A RAPIST"

[butterfreematingseasons]

Quickly pointing out that just because it is on Bulbapedia doesn't make it canon. If you look into why they say pokeballs were invented in 1925, you'll see that the source of this out of print media and not in the actual games themselves. There is nothing in the games that say Poke Balls were invented in 1925.

The first and shortest source to address is a Pokemon Daisuki Club page. Bulbapedia doesn't actually report WHAT this source says though, so this is a secondary source at best, possibly tertiary source since it is in translation from Japanese.

The second source to address is "An Illustrated Book of POCKET MONSTERS", published by Famitsu for Gen I. I saw for Gen I because it was never republished after 1997, and Gen II came out in 1999. It is a stronger source since there is an external link to view this book. However, the information provided in this supplementary material; the information is cool but it is ultimately extra material. It is only canon if you want it to be. Guidebooks like this are unlike game manuals, which were the primary way for game devs to do storytelling back in the 1990s and earlier. Even those can be largely ignored too, tbh. On top of that, some of the info from this book is contradicted by modern, in game canon.

The third source listed on Bulbapedia is "Tamamushi University Pocket Book". This one had an even stranger distribution method, being part of a magazine campaign that ran in the late 1990s, before Gen II once again. It's a fictionalized handbook for students at Celadon University.

What's the point for all this? It's to address that looking at the actual sources for the 1925 date on Bulbapedia shows that it comes from out of print and out of date information sources, not actual in-game canon lore. It is honestly up to the individual whether this 1925 date is canon or not. It's like saying the Book of Jubilees is canon because it exists.

(Personal headcanon is that apricorn balls were the norm for a very long time. The kind of Poke Ball invented around 1925 was more similar to the modern design but not exactly it; what set it apart from the apricorn ball of yore is that it did not require them at all. Think Sammy's Pokeball in the fourth movie. Silph Corp later invented the actual true modern Poke Ball which incorporated the Trainer ID tag, not unlike how you microchip a dog or cat in the real world much, much later than 1925. So Drayden and Rowan can still say that they didn't have (modern) Poke Balls back in their day. I also have a lot of thoughts about the Pokemon Wielder class, and what wielding a Pokemon means.)

I just woke up and went " okay what's the history of Poké Balls and how old his Drayden", so here we go! Please note that a lot of this is based on my own headcanons for the specific dates when certain events happen.

Let's get the general basics down. The invention of Poké Balls as we know it came from Johto with the use of apricorns, which is shown in pla with some extra ingredients.

The modern PokeBall, the one that trainers use in modern day, was invented in 1925( this isn't a headcanon, it's there in Bulbapedia). The modern PokeBall and the ones made in pla are not the same. I mean, clearly, but it's best to make this distinction now.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's move into Drayden. He had mentioned during his childhood ( key word: childhood) pokeballs didn't exist during. Now this kinda supports my theory that different regions were introduced to pokeballs at a different time. We know that Kanto and Johto had already got it locked down due to their natural access to apricorns to make the pla version of PokeBalls, and Hisui, by the start of PLA, have only recently started to use it more. We don't know much about Hoenn's history, sadly. Unova, as far as we know, didn't have access to apricorns back then. So maybe they were introduced to pla pokeballs later.

This might apply to both versions of the pokeballs, cause when you really think about it, Kanto kinda holds the monopoly on that, next to Hoenn with Devon Corp. 1925 , when the modern PokeBall was created, could have capped the fastest production and selling of PokeBalls ever. I say this because, in another hc, pokeballs would have had to exist before 1970, since that's when Opal and Mustard battled. And with Silph Co, I'm honestly inclined to believe that.

And this is where the math comes in! Some hc( and non hc) dates you need to know:

PLA takes place from 1868-1872. The pla pokeball was most likely invented before then, in Johto ( maybe a different variant due to different resources in Johto but I digress).

The modern PokeBall was invented in 1925 ( not hc)

The conversation between Iris and Drayden when he mentions pokeballs, at most, happens right after bw. This is because Iris is already champion here in that convo. So, nearing the end of 2012, since that's what I hc that's when bw takes place, or at least 2013. I'm not sure if these dates will be brought up but juuuuust in case it does, here.

The time between the beginning of pla and the time of the creation of the modern PokeBall is 57 years. Given how PLA pokeballs might have been created before then, we'll say 57+( not a big plus. Laventon did say that pokeballs are a recent creation in pla). If Drayden is purely talking about the pla pokeball ( as by 1925 and onward the modern PokeBall would be mass produced and sold everywhere), then it would probably be somewhere between those years where he was born. I don't think Drayden is that old, so I'm not gonna say he was born around pla. No. I am going to say he could have been born around the early 1900s, which, and I kid you not, make him about 112 years old by 2012( hey look 2012 did come in for something!). What. Opal is 88 by 2020, and Drayden over here being 112, the buffest man alive, in 2012. What the hell. I guess this kinda feeds the headcanon that Drayden, at the least, has some longevity to him. Like damn.

No could I be wrong about all of this? Absolutely! I didn't mention Kalos' PokeBall factory, or the fact that the Isle of Armor had a natural supply of apricorns. So what about them? How do they fit here? And honestly I don't know. Even with the information given to us plainly, there're still so many variables to take into account that can flip this entire theory on its head. But I guess that's part of the fun haha. I hope I was able to get my ideas across well, and sorry if it turned out to be a complete mess. But I hope you guys had a good read as much as I enjoyed writing it!

[frogiwi]

22 for fic writer asks 🖤

22. do you ever worry about public reaction to what you're writing? how do you get past that?

ooh honestly, i don't think so? i think i'm lucky in that for the last 3-4 years, the people i've managed to attract as an audience to my writing are people who have mostly similar tastes to me, and who enjoy similar types of characterizations and themes and stories. so i feel pretty confident about the stuff i write (aside from like... the typical writer spiraling during the process when i think everything is bad LOL) and while i'm writing it i don't think i ever get the feeling that it's going to bomb or turn people off or that people will generally dislike it. or rather than not getting the feeling, i don't really think about it all. it doesn't occur to me that ppl might not like it bc i don't care bc i like it😆 i haven't written too much stuff that's "out there" or controversial in some way in a few years now (rly want to though), but even when i did, i got great reactions from likeminded people, so i haven't ever really been scared out of it 🙏 it's my own procrastination and being daunted by my own ideas that's stopping me

if we're talking "reaction" in general like comments/engagement, i'm kind of used to writing for like, myself and my corner of 3-5 freaks, so i don't expect many reactions in the first place 😆 so any comment i get is always a joy and a surprise! these days i don't find it too demotivating to think only a few people are gonna read what i write bc i'm pretty focused on just wanting my ideas to exist in my writing style and if ppl happen to like it that's an extra perk. and also the few people who are gonna read it are gonna go apeshit about it so that's really all i need and i'm always grateful for it kjsdhgjksd

so overall i think i'm lucky that i have that kinda self assurance and comfort bc like, fearing how people will react to your art is one of the fastest paths to suppressing yourself and your creative instincts and it sucks a lot. but there are a lot of judgmental and closeminded people out there who can't accept that people have different tastes than them and it can be hard not to worry about people like that seeing your work and having something to say about it. but interacting with like minded people and trying to form a community with the same values goes a long way in finding people who will support you unconditionally and enthusiastically, and that seems to be the best way to stop caring what other people might think about your art!! "me and my 2 freak mutuals" will save you, trust me

✍️ fic writer asks

[choccy-milky]

ty to @icedmatchawoatmilk13 for sending this to me! i may have gone a bit overboard but this was so much fun to fill out/think about BAHAHA💖 ill still never get over how perfect the song sarah smiles is for them...the lyrics AND the fact that its an alliteration...im gonna do an animatic about seb and clora to that song one day i swear 😩 ((blank template by oakwolves!))

[inkskinned]

he says i hate everyone except you and that is addictive and that is kind of romantic and beautiful because you're young and you're kind of a sarcastic asshole too and you don't like bad boys, per say, but you don't really like good ones either. and you like that you were the exception, it felt like winning.

except life is not a romance book, and he was kind of being honest. he doesn't learn to be nice to your friends. he only tolerates your family. you have to beg him to come with you to birthday parties, he complains the whole time. you want to go on a date but - people are often there, wherever you're going. he's just so angry. about everything, is the thing. in the romance book, doesn't he eventually soften? can't you teach him, through your own sense of whimsy and comfort?

at first - you know introverts often need smaller friend groups, and honestly, you're fine staying at home too. you like the small, tidy life you occupy. you're not going to punish him for his personality type.

except: he really does hate everyone but you. which means he doesn't get along with his therapist. which means he has no one to talk to except for you. which means you take care of him constantly, since he otherwise has no one. which means you sometimes have to apologize for him. which means he keeps you home from seeing your friends because he hates them. you're the single exception.

about a decade from this experience, you'll type into google: how to know if a relationship is codependent.

he wraps an arm around you. i hate everyone except you. these days, you're learning what he's actually confessing is i have very little practice being kind.

[im-still-watching-anime]

trucy: hang on polly you have a hair on you—oh, it’s long and…blonde. again.

apollo, internally: oh my god they’re all going to think i’m STRAIGHT and that i’m sleeping with a WOMAN

trucy, athena, and wright all thinking: oh that’s for sure klavier’s :/

[sskk-manifesto]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and how “ability users” (opposite to “normal people”) learning to accept themselves through the acceptance of their own abilities is a queer metaphor of acceptance of own's sexual orientation and gender: an essay by me

[biblically-accurate-dca]

super disorganized sketch page because i do what i want

[revvethasmythh]

So I went and watched all the possible endings, and it confirmed something I had been thinking, which is that the redemption ending choice is, perhaps, the most immediately regretful one--but that they all come with some form of regret. In the redemption ending, Rook has to knowingly deny themselves the catharsis of retribution (should they desire it, which, at least for me it felt difficult not to) in order to offer Solas one last, painful chance to do the right thing. That willful denial of your own catharsis feels like an immediate regret. Giving Solas the opportunity to pursue atonement might very well be the best choice all around, but it is also incredibly painful to offer that to someone who has done so many terrible things (not a small amount to you personally). Why does he deserve another chance? Especially when so many dead (including a beloved mentor) lie in his wake? Which, I suppose, is the point: he doesn't. But you offer it anyway and it SUCKS ASS, because how could it not?

I don't know how this plays with other story choices (a sacrificed Davrin or a Harding who embraced her anger, for example), but within the context of my own choices, I can imagine an immediate satisfaction to either tricking or fighting him--especially the trick ending, where you can actively name drop Varric--but it feels like the sort of thing that would feel worse as more time passes. Once you've calmed down and are able to ask yourself if that's what the people you've lost really wanted. Varric, in Regret Superhell, didn't want vengeance. He just wanted his friend to walk a better path. And Harding always believed there was another chance for anyone, so long as you kept reaching a hand out for them--even when it sucked ass. So the redemption ending feels like a sort of indignance, an instant regret for not doing worse, for not getting comeuppance, for being forced to eschew satisfaction (related: I wonder if the Inquisitor feels those things as well coming out of this ending, considering how long they've lived under the shadow of Solas' actions). Conversely, the other two endings feel like an immediate satisfaction, because you got to trick the trickster with all the wits Varric taught you, or because you finally got to punch him in the face and it felt really good. But I feel like those endings would come with a creeping regret, something that sneaks up on you later, especially when remembering the fallen and what they would have wanted you to do. Ultimately, because of that, it feels like no ending is devoid of regret. Which I suppose, is rather thematic.