#people with dubious morals? on the Dubious Morality show?? its more likely than you think!!

[toffeebrew]

eughhh sleepiness is taking over must write about inky boy. ink sans is by @/comyet

i think upon reanalyzing some asks and the FAQ i have begun to understand how inks err emotions work a little better. a bunch of this is me kinda theorizing sooo yeah. it's not as uhh clear as my other rants are

His emotions aren't really "fake". at least my definition of fake. He still feels.

Instead, their main struggle is to balance and understand his emotions. Like in this ask:

So, he can definitely have quote on quote "normal relationships" with other people

One day you may ask him and he'll be like yeah i care about them alot and the next he doesn't feel very attached at all. As i interpreted "not making sense" as to not understanding why or how he even cares for these people. It seems really dependent on his internal emotional balance. The pretending comes in to play where he may exaggerate or lie about his emotions. Perhaps because he himself wants to have these attachments. Or because he wants to spare others feelings.

more yappage under the cut

According to his FAQ, he realizes his soullessness is an advantage (and theres not any realistic/non morally dubious means to obtain one) and wouldn't change that. However, i don't believe he is completely content with some of the drawbacks. He feels the need to hide his soullessness, as indicated in his design notes. But it "shows through". He feels the need to "pretend to have a soul" -from his backstory comic. This may be because he feels insecure in some way. believing his own emotions are less than others. Or his feelings are invalid or fake because he doesn't have a soul. Or at the very least not as real as others. Because he doesn't feel emotions the way others do, it must be wrong. Because hes chaotic neutral, i don't think these are things others contributed to his line of thought. Rather, something hes internalized himself. not that he would ever tell anyone that.

He may also hide this fact not the freak people out. Man does enjoy a bit of mischief, but it probably be kinda hard to work with other people if you have a large chance they may be scared of/don't trust you. I also think he doesn't actually want to like...petrify people. Which i would imagine many monsters would struggle, if they knew. given what people may assume of him. Or at least that's what he thinks ig shsksh.

Given he fears loneliness i think both of these reasons may contribute. He doesn't want people to abandon him. abandonment issues caused by trauma he can't remember.

But he can definitely feel extremes as well. being "overexcited" so much so he forgets consequences. He vomits up ink when shocked or overly passionate. I didn't expand on this as much because i feel like others have explained better than i ever could.

as his FAQ indicates his emotions can be separate from his morality. so its not necessarily contradictory for him to have these big emotions but still have uhh ig a more neutral way of looking at things. ig

btw this post was inspired from this analysis!! i tried to add my own spin on my commentary

[comicaurora]

(sorry for the long ask)

So there's this thing? That's been kind of bothering me, I've noticed it in the shera remake but also other places, where all these faceless minions are just there to show how hard/easy it is for the protagonists to get rid of them.

There's a couple of things, but I think that it just boils down to that they're not treated as characters? The hero will push them into a volcano and celebrate, then get all conflicted when facing the villain captain puppy kicker because "if I kill/hurt you I'll be just as bad" and in the same shot there's a pile of downed henchmen. And I get that, because from a meta perspective it would be hard to animate several hundred or however many individual people all fighting, but it's just weird right? In the show the only people without helmets on 24/7 are the main cast and of course the Rogelio/Kyle/lonnie group. Which is Confusing?? Because it seems like there's only a few options, either every single other person likes wearing the helmets all the time with no breaks, or they're breaking dress code and getting away with it, or "cadets" means they're in training. And somehow way more competent than all the other trained soldiers. It's weird, and I'm not even fully sure how to describe it. Do you have any thoughts?

Faceless minions are a time-honored storytelling tradition that persist despite being slightly reality-breaking story convention because-

They make it very easy to choreograph cool-looking fights against a big pile of interchangeable bad guys

You only need as many extras as you'll be showing together in one shot, meaning you can imply a vast army of evil with only like five costumes/character models

They make it easier to pick out the heroes in group shots and fights

They provide contrast against the important villains with unique designs

Easy protagonist disguises for sneaking around in

This is pretty useful stuff, but it does all feed into the effect that armies of faceless minions are generally not composed of full-fledged characters. They're a pile of broadly interchangeable mooks. This is one of those things that's technically dubious from a realism standpoint, but I honestly don't think it's automatically a bad thing for a story to make it really easy to tell who's an important character and who's an interchangeable obstacle in their way.

This does get shaky when the characters start acting like that. To them, in the reality of their story, those mooks ARE real, dangerous people, and their facelessness doesn't detract from that. The protagonist's morality shouldn't depend on how important a character is to the plot or how unique their design is, and that character inconsistency is the more disruptive bit of writing. Mowing down minions by the truckload only to spare the big bad makes it feel like the main character is standing apart from their own story and making the kind of value judgment the audience is, and that's weird. It's not weird that the faceless minions exist, it's weird that the protagonist evidently doesn't see them as real people.

But that doesn't mean every stormtrooper or background orc or ninja needs their own unique design, name and backstory. Narrative conventions exist for a reason, and while I do love a setting that feels like it's absolutely full of unique main characters all living their own lives, it's absolutely not mandatory. Sometimes things in stories are made unrealistic so they don't undercut the impact of the story itself, whether that's simple theater sets that don't draw the eye away from the actors, unrealistic lighting so a movie viewer can actually see what's going on, song and dance numbers, flashy showstopping villains, or convenient armies of ninjas to take down with one punch each. Storytelling has its own tools.

[mentallyisekaid]

「 ✦ Fatui Harbingers x Signora's Sister! Reader, PART 1 ✦ 」

---

[Part 1] Part 2 Part 2.5. Part 3 Part 3.5

Pairings: only hinted/platonic (will change to something "more" later on if I decide to make more parts)

Warnings: spoilers regarding Signora's lore and a certain event in the Inazuma Archon quest, possibly some spoiler-ish stuff about other things too

Word count: 2.7k

This fanfic will include direct quotations from "Teyvat Chapter Interlude Teaser: A Winter Night's Lazzo" that belongs fully to miHoYo. I'll write these quotes in bold, so copyrights won't haunt me like Khaenri'ah lore :)

---

Even among the Harbingers, not much was known about the Fair Lady's (may she rest in peace) younger sister, except for the fact that you existed and had somehow managed to live for over 500 years, just like her. They were all aware of Signora's special circumstances that had made her essentially immortal, but Celestia knows how you had done it?

This is why you'd become something of a urban legend among the lower ranking members of the Fatui. Maybe La Signora had just been delusional, some of them thought - maybe there wasn't a sister, at least not anymore.

You were fine with that, though. You'd never wanted anything to do with your sister or her morally dubious organization anyway.

But she was still the only blood relative you'd had left, and now she was gone.

Attending her funeral was only appropriate.

You arrived at the grand doors of the cathedral, stopping for a moment to adjust the expensive-looking cloak that someone had sent you along with the invitation to the ceremony, requesting you to wear it. Much to your displeasure, it had the Fatui Insignia on it, though you were slightly more bothered by the fact that they'd somehow figured out where you live...

Or maybe they'd known all along.

But even if the invitation wasn't just out of courtesy, you had only showed up because Rosalyne was family, and only to pay your respects.

Their agendas meant nothing to you.

Pushing the doors open, you marched inside, the click-clack of your high heeled boots echoing in the eerie silence.

Curious gazes followed as this visitor, shrouded in mystery, made her way through the aisle - some of them curious, others a bit doubtful - but you ignored them.

Sitting down in the front row, you crossed your legs, leaning back with your eyes glued to the coffin highlighted by faint moonlight. A girl with child-like, seraphic features was leaning her head on its surface, singing a calming tune...

Spooky.

"Well, I never... this must be the Fair Lady's rumored sibling? And here I was starting to think you wouldn't make an appearance, dear."

You sighed, really having hoped that no one would bother talking to you; you had nothing to say to any of them. But for Celestia's sake, you still had some manners...

Glancing over your shoulder at the man who had just addressed you, you gave him a slight nod.

"It does seem my arrival was rather tardy. My apologies."

The man who you recognized as the Regrator, also known as Pantalone, chuckled a bit.

"No matter, it is rare a pleasure to finally meet you~"

"Likewise."

For a moment, your eyes wandered over each of the present Harbingers, these... co-workers of your sister's, before returning to stare in front of you just as indifferently as before.

You spoke a few more words, though.

"Everyone else as well, I suppose. Oh, and please pay no attention to my discourtesy... A lovely night for a funeral, is it not?"

Your charade was poorly put together, and intentionally so; you didn't know these people anymore than they knew you, but it was already clear that no one was here to pay their heartfelt respects for Rosalyne's memory, much less to exchange pleasantries.

A funeral? No, this was nothing but theatre - and here comes the first actor...

"We have gathered here today to remember our dear comrade. In honor of her sacrifice, all work should halt for half a day as the nation mourns her passing."

Hearing these words come from Pulcinella, the Mayor of Snezhnaya himself, you mentally scoffed. So now these crazy diplomats justified mistakes as sacrifice?

Pantalone seemed amused by this declaration, though you noticed a shadow pass over his face.

"Hehe, merely half a day... People say that Northland Bank's true currencies are blood and tears... But Mayor, even speaking as a banker, that sounds a little unconscionable."

Well, it was as you'd expected? Even in this situation, the Harbingers only cared about their own agendas, and Rosalyne would've been the same way.

The next words belonged to someone you found a bit more familiar.

"You speak of her as if you knew what she had to go through," the silver-haired woman started, a derogatory look in her dark eyes.

You glanced curiously at her. This was surely Arlecchino? Out of the Harbingers, your sister had seemed to trust her the most, so you assumed they must've shared some sort of a closer relationship.

The Knave noticed you gaze, and gave you a small nod before continuing.

"Rosalyne died in a foreign land. But you heartless businessmen and dignitaries, always with a convenient excuse to remain in the comfort of your homeland... You couldn't hope to understand. So why don't you keep your mouths shut!"

"Ah, bravo...~" you commented with a small chuckle, your sudden boldness slightly surprising some of them.

It seemed that La Signora's hardly known sister was indeed an interesting individual?

The ginger sitting on the other side of the aisle apparently found your remark entertaining, since he gave you an amused smile. But he threw his comrade's a much sterner look.

"Hey, c'mon now, even I don't think this is the right time or place for a fight."

Tartaglia, the infamous maniac always looking for a fight? Present~

"Utterly risible," a blonde woman scoffed from her place, sitting on the arms of a weird looking robot. Sandrone, you presumed.

And naturally, the oh-so righteous Capitano also had his opinion to share.

"Though her methods tarnished her honor, Lohefalter's sacrifice is still a great pity."

You sighed, shaking your head. There they go again, degrading her death as a mere sacrifice.

"Her loss shall not hinder our progress," the Captain continued, disregarding the matter. "But Dottore, what of Scaramouche --,"

...to which the crazy Doctor answered something incomprehensible.

Right. They weren't even talking about Rosalyne anymore. By now, the whole ceremony had turned out as a complete farce, and you wished nothing more than for Celestia to nuke it with another one of their divine nails.

Someone else had had enough as well.

"It's time to end tonight's foolish theatrics. This time, you have no captive audience."

The Jester's voice echoed menacingly in the cathedral, silencing his fellow Harbingers.

You gazed at him from your seat, raising an eyebrow when he gave you a look as well. In that short moment, unspoken words were shared between the two of you - after all, he knew things about you that the others didn't.

In any case, the speech went on for a while after that. Pierro's exaggerated sympathies, the Damselette needling Dottore about his segments, and... well, you weren't really listening anymore?

Once they finished and scattered from around the coffin, you silently walked over, placing a few frostbitten Cecilias on top of it. They were flowers from your homeland, though to you, Mondstadt was a memory at least five centuries old.

"Pretty flowers," a soft voice came from beside you. Columbina was back to presumptuously leaning on the casket.

You gave her a sidelong glance.

"Well, they're frozen to death by now - but that somehow fits the moment, no?"

"Mh-hmm~"

The ceremony was seemingly over, though you could still sense their presence. Your back was facing them, but it felt like they'd moved closer to the coffin again - or, perhaps, closer to you...

"I don't believe anyone has yet offered their condolences to this poor child," Capitano remarked solemnly, disregarding the fact you were chronologically speaking a living fossil.

Tartaglia sighed, "She doesn't want us to, I think."

You turned around to face them, crossing your arms.

"Well, firstly, you're calling me a child about 500 years too late. And no, I don't need your pity. It's hard to see your last family gone, but we weren't that close to begin with. Besides, Rosalyne knew full well what she was doing - when agreeing to a duel before the Shogun, and when joining the Fatui in the first place. You reap what you sow, and that's that."

The Doctor chuckled. "La Signora would surely turn over in her grave if she heard that."

"Let the dead rest, Zandik," Sandrone scoffed.

Columbina had scooted next to you.

"Poor thing~", she sang in that eerie voice, tilting her head. "How long have you been living by yourself? Maybe you could have Signora's former chambers in the headquarters."

Hmm? What a laughable suggestion, you thought. She was obviously toying with you.

Arlecchino gave the Damselette a warning look.

"Such a thing is something only the Director can decide. Though," she gave you an unreadable look. "I wouldn't be against it. In Rosalyne's honor, of course."

The usually ruthless Knave's comment was found somewhat unexpected among her comrades.

You gave her a weird look.

Something was clearly going on, the atmosphere was strangely expecting and you didn't like it in the slightest. It seems the theatrics weren't over after all?

Pantalone was gazing at you, an amused smile on his lips.

"You look a bit lost there, dear. Don't worry, Pierro will explain some things to you in a moment~"

You frowned. So, there was more in the game here - that letter wasn't just an invitation to the funeral of a sister you hardly even cared about, you'd doubted as much from the beginning.

Not that it really changed anything. As already mentioned, you'd only come for the ceremony...

And now that it was over, there was no reason for you to stay.

"That won't be necessary," you stated, nodding curtly. "I will be taking my leave now. Goodbye."

Your cloak shuffled as you walked past them, heading toward the exit. However, Childe, who had been standing the closest to the doors, now moved to block your way.

You looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Tartaglia, right? If you could move aside, that would be much appreciated."

"Sorry, no can do, girlie," he laughed a bit, scratching his neck in an awkward manner. "Boss wants to have a chat with you, so I can't just have you leaving like that, now can I?"

"Right," you sighed. "Well, I don't really care..."

You rudely moved past him, reaching the doors and about to push them open, when you suddenly felt a hand on your wrist. And the grip they had wasn't exactly gentle.

Glancing over your shoulder, you saw Childe still wearing that stupid smile of his but there was now a shadow over his usually cheerful expression.

"Look, you seem like a smart girl." His voice was soft and menacing at the same time. "Things don't have to get ugly here, if you just cooperate a bit."

Ugly? Oh, you could make things turn ugly.

But this wasn't the right time for that - not with the majority of the Harbingers present. It's not like you had a death wish, for Celestia's sake... though, it did seem like Tartaglia was only half serious about what he had said?

You looked past him, seeing the other Fatui diplomats standing there, all with hardly readable expressions on their faces. Your gaze stopped when it reached the Jester. If this was about Pierro having something to discuss with you, you were fairly sure you knew what he wanted anyway...

So, no harm in amusing him a bit?

"Ha. Well, it seems like I have no choice, then."

Childe smiled. "That's more like it."

He started making his way toward the front of the cathedral, while still holding onto your wrist - basically, he walked you back there like a toddler. After all, you might've had a change of heart any at any given moment and sprinted out of there like a lunatic.

You awkwardly sat down on one of the seats, wrapping the cloak around you tigther. The Harbingers were now standing in a semicircle in front of you, gazing down at you like their you were property. Pierro took a step forward.

"Now then, Y/N Lohefalter..."

"You are going to ask about my Visions, right?" you asked rudely. "As in, plural. Both of them. Is my assumption wrong?"

Pantalone chuckled. "Well, aren't you clever, my dear~"

"No, I always knew Rosalyne had told you, which is precisely why I tend to keep a lower profile than this. There's no reason to be so melodramatic over a couple of Visions."

Dottore seemed amused by your remark.

"But most humans never receive one. Yet, here you are, blessed with two."

"That, or cursed" you pointed out.

The Jester had allowed this interruption, but all it took was one gaze of authority from him and even you realized it was better to watch your mouth around this man. You tilted your head slightly downward.

"This assumption you made isn't necessarily untrue," Pierro stated in a low voice. "But it's not the whole truth, either."

It wasn't?

You heard footsteps approaching and carefully glanced up at Pierro who was now standing mere inches away from you. Things were getting more interesting, that's for sure.

"I asked you to come here today out of respect for Rosalyne's memory, and of curiosity toward the fact that you indeed bear the power of both Cryo and Pyro, much like your sister, albeit without a Delusion. My intention, however, was also to make a request of you..."

The Jester suddenly kneeled before you, his gesture confusing you. The infamous Director of the Fatui, kneeling before you?

You gave him a doubtful look.

"And what might that request be?"

"To put it simply, I want you to take Rosalyne's place as one of the Fatui Harbingers."

"...come again?"

The other Harbingers didn't seem surprised in the slightest.

You shook your head.

"You want me to join the Fatui?"

"We've been keeping a close eye on you, Y/N Lohefalter, ever since the Cataclysm and Rosalyne joining our ranks. Back then, she herself made the request that should she ever perish, you'd be asked to take her place."

"Ha," you chuckled. "That does sound like one of her selfish whims... but still, why would you even consider such a thing?"

You looked at Pierro, tilting your head.

"Can you really trust that my agendas align with yours?"

"Every person in this room has their own ideals and it has not proved to be a problem." The Director nodded. "You need not but work in the name of the Fatui, and swear your loyalty to the Tsaritsa. Of course, the latter is expected of you as a citizen of Snezhnaya anyway."

You crossed you arms, contemplating this unexpected proposal.

"And if I refuse?"

This earned displeased looks from the other Harbingers. Pierro's solemn expression, however, never faltered.

"It's far beyond my dignity to be forceful here. That would be disrespecting Rosalyne's legacy, and risking to make you a powerful foe of the Fatui."

He paused for a while.

"But I should also clarify that with the kind of power you hold, you are facing but two choices - to be with us... or against us."

So that's how it was going to be?

You'd almost forgotten that Pierro was still half-kneeling in front of you; even though one of his eyes was covered by a mask, his gaze held such intensity that you were completely enchanted by it for a moment.

And to think you'd make this kind of a decision on a whim, just like she once had - you really were more similar to your sister than you'd care to admit...

You sighed, standing up and glancing at the other Harbingers.

"Is this how he recruited you as well?"

Sandrone made a 'hmph' sound, "hardly."

"Heh, to think the Jester would kneel in front of someone?~" Pantalone commented. "You're quite an impressive girl, my dear."

"Then again," Dottore chuckled, "she has yet to witness the crueler side of the Director, no?"

Are you sure about that?

Tartaglia sighed, "now, now, don't scare her away..."

Pulcinella and Capitano didn't seem too amused by their comrades' antics. You, on the other hand, had their undivided attention.

Columbina was sleepily humming along to some tune, giving you discreet glances.

Arlecchino shook her head.

"Pierro still awaits for an answer, Y/N. Despite of what he may seem like, the Jester is not a man of great patience. It's time for you to decide."

You furrowed your eyebrows.

"..."

"Then, I'm in?"

But for the love of the Tsaritsa, you had no idea what you'd just gotten yourself into.

[raayllum]

it’s high key really annoying the attention toh gets on this website while no one acknowledges tdp exists

Yeah, sometimes I wish TDP got more recognition and appreciation in a fandom space for its storytelling (the parallels, the worldbuilding, the mature theme explorations) simply because we haven't had a western kids' show go this hard since TLOK (even if I think Korra stumbles in a lot of ways) and arguably ATLA in its explorations of war and morality, two things that TDP is obsessed with, as well as a sometimes overwhelming discussion of Grief.

However, to be frank, while many teen and adult fans of kids cartoons say that they want darker themes and storylines, what that usually means, I think, is more akin to something like TOH or She Ra, in which you know 1) your favourite characters will always typically survive with maybe one or two minor parental or villainous exceptions, and 2) one or two characters in an otherwise fairly cookie cutter 'good guy' cast will have a redemption arc or be quirky morally dubious in a way that's played for comedy, and there will be a handful of significantly "Oh Shit!" darker or creepier moments. The characters are mostly teenagers, the heavier plot stuff is regulated to a few standout episodes, with most of the other conflicts being things like figuring out how to make friends or struggling with not fitting in or deciding what you want to do with your life. And those are all good explorations, and it's not as though TDP doesn't touch on some of that (Callum is finding his place in the world, Rayla is 'changing careers', Ez struggles with his new responsibilities and not fitting in, Soren - like Hunter - leaves an emotionally abusive relationship with a parental figure).

But I think it's TDP's attachment of all of those things to morality that makes the emotional stakes higher and less comforting and/or comfortable for people who are, likely, going to fiction for escapism rather than exploration. (To be clear: one is not better than the other, I just know what my personal preferences are.) Rayla's 'career/schooling' change is whether she's going to kill people for a living; Callum deciding what sort of mage he's going to be is rooted in deciding how much he's willing to either slowly destroy himself or take on the impossible, both with some dire consequences; Ezran not fitting is is also tied to having mysterious, unknown magical powers the story still hasn't fully explained the root cause of. Yes, the three main kids are typically good people who want to do the right thing, but that's much easier said than done (Ezran burning the monster soldiers, Callum's ruthlessness, Rayla's self sacrificial tendencies manifesting in destructive ways). TDP is never going to have an episode of "I lied to my friends because I wanted them to think I was cool or not a nerd" or "I'm scared of them preferring someone else over me" or "I need to learn how to be a good friend" (hi TOH with like 5 episodes and She Ra).

Like Rayla lies to the boys, but that's because she isn't sure how to tell them that her father murdered theirs and made them orphans, and she's worried it will accordingly be a wedge between them.

Like, there's hardly any episodes of TDP that don't talk about grief or death or both in some manner. The show consistently explores unreliable narrators across all sides of its ethical spectrum(s). S4 has a subplot regarding religious traditions and the ethics of the death penalty. Most of Arc 1 and now into Arc 2 sees good people with good intentions or understandable motivations doing pretty terrible things to either themselves, the people around them, or both. The death and body horror imagery aren't one offs, but consistent series defining elements that are always treated seriously. Villains aren't people who don't love their families (or anyone) and good guys aren't good because they're good friends to one another. It's more complicated than that, from the body swap and discussions of the soul in S1, to the cycle of violence laid out explicitly in S2, to explorations of punishment and exile in S3.

Overall, I'm fine with the success and appreciation that TDP gets; some of my students watch it, actually, which makes it useful in some of our lesson discussions. Because TDP is a good show for kids, yes, but it certainly never pulls its punches in forcing all of its ensemble cast through the wringer.

TLDR; due to age demographics and tonal differences, particularly in character conflicts, themes, and amount of Lore, I'm not surprised at all that TDP is pretty underrated on tumblr. Again, doesn't mean these elements of 'maturity' make it Better (although I do think it's written more cohesively than She Ra and more consistently than TOH in its set up and payoff), I just know where my (and many other's) preferences lay accordingly, and am not surprised at the split.

[scarycranegame]

here's part 2 of my 50 follower special!! for people who've just joined us here, i present to you...

MY BEEFY DIE FANDOM OPINIONS MEME!! ft. an in-depth explanation of each entry

sorry for slightly off-model drawings, it was my first time drawing a lot of these guys so. bear with me LMAO

explanations under the cut!

favorite character:

okay you probably saw this one coming but. yes. the rumor come out. i enjoy yellow face immensely. and it's not just because hes a silly goober guy (even though he is that too); it's mostly because i think he fits my personal favorite character archetype of "morally dubious business guy who's at least a little bit mentally unstable" particularly well, specifically in the sense that he does it in a way that isn't the stereotypical "sophisticated mastermind bad-boy sexyman" schtick... like. he's weird. he's unapologetically weird. he's a very non-standard character design in a world of already unorthodox characters, and he manages to give off an ominous yet innocuous vibe without being too on-the-nose about it; and on top of that, the show doesn't even really take it too seriously, so it doesn't really overstay its welcome for me :) also i just think hes really cute lol

liked by everyone but me:

alright this is a really unpopular opinion.. i get why people like them, but i just. don't, personally. since x is in another entry i'm just gonna cover four here. for starters, i really don't like four's voice; it's the one "annoying" voice in the series that i just can't look past.. besides that, though, i feel like his redemption arc & sympathetic portrayal in post-split doesn't really make sense for his character? because he doesn't really seem to feel bad, and the rest of the characters just. instantly forgive him without any notion that he actually intends to improve as a person... and then he doesn't, because in tpo.t, he goes right back to hurting people the exact same way with absolutely no consequences or remorse; basically making that whole arc irrelevant. like.. something's not adding up here. either post split or tpo.t's portrayal is incorrect.

didn't like at first:

this one was kind of a tough choice for me because i don't remember ever genuinely disliking a contestant when i initially got into this show? but i can say that i did find gelatin to be kind of. annoying. and the best part is that it's for a really silly reason that, in retrospect, doesn't even make too much sense? like. okay i first got into this show in middle school, and my first ever season was b.fb, and when i first saw it i was a HUGE donut stan (part of me still is LOL); so when i saw him yelling at gelatin all the time i just sort of. inexplicably started disliking gelatin for absolutely no reason. literally that's it that's the whole reason i initially didn't like gelatin. anyways hes one of my favorite characters now and honestly i couldn't tell you why (also sorry hes. very poorly drawn in this image. it was my first time drawing a lot of these characters)

would like to know more about:

golfie!! i like her a lot; i related to her a bunch when i first watched the show (especially since my best friend at the time was basically a carbon copy of tennis ball), and i'm really intrigued by her need for constant control over everyone on any given team she's part of, and how she began her career in science/inventing! it seems interesting that more recent bfd.ia seems to make this dichotomy between her and tennis ball, suggesting that she's more skilled than he is and/or has been inventing things for longer than he has.. also ofcourse there's the whole science museum "bozo" debacle from i.dfb, which shouldn't come as a surprise in that it intrigues me just as much as everything else about her character... maybe that's why she's so obsessed with being in control? also who the hell was after her in that scene?

least favorite character

people are really not gonna like me for this, but i genuinely hate x with every fiber of my being LMAO.. while it is mostly for personal reasons, it's also because 1. much like four, i find his voice really annoying, and 2. he kind of. never really does anything. he's sort of just a plot device at best, and at worst he literally just stands there and does nothing. even when he's the host in b.fb 9, he's tragically inept and does nothing of note at all. he's barely a character without four around (he literally sits down and gives up in the last few episodes of b.fb), and it's really disappointing because he could've been an interesting character foil to four! but he just. wasn't. all he really was is a "cute uwu cinnamon roll".

like the design, dislike the character

okay this one's a little biased because i'm still mad that bomby was partially why yellow face got eliminated in bfd.ia 9, but besides that, i think a bomb character is a really good concept!! a contestant that's both useful in a practical sense and useful in terms of themselves as an individual!! ...too bad bomby is basically just 2 running jokes in a bomb-shaped trenchcoat. literally, as far as i'm concerned, the only time he's ever actually done anything is when he explodes; and besides that he's just sort of. there to fill up empty space (and also get yellow face eliminated that one time in the stupidest possible way). i get it, it's an object show, but i really would've enjoyed bomby a lot more if he had a distinct personality instead of being. well. little more than an object.

like the character, dislike the design

this one i also struggled with but i eventually settled on naily! in terms of her character, i think she's an absolute delight to watch, and she's one of the rare instances of a running joke not overstaying it's welcome and actually seeming charming and witty!! i think she's a good example of a quirky and cute yet mischievous character, which i see a lot of people attempting to do with characters of their own and missing the mark just a little bit. in short, she really does nail it in terms of characterization!! the only gripe i have though is her design.. something about how her legs are kind of. behind each other. and how her face/head is just. flat. it really doesn't sit right with me.. and i don't even really know how i would change it! it's just.. slightly offputting to me.

similar personality

ironically (due to my previous entry), i think that the character i'm most like in terms of personality is price tag!! i consider myself to be pretty expressive and upbeat (or at least, i try to be a lot of the time; if i get too stoic i tend to get sad and that kinda results in a Not Great Time™), and as you might've been able to tell by the things i do here on this blog, i'm just a bit mischievous. a little bit silly. one might even say devious. but what you don't know is that in most situations where there's a bit of a problem, i tend to try and think of the most creative but rational solution (doing so, as far as i'm aware, results in a higher chance of compromise among others)! (also, yes, i can indeed do the :3 face)

fav ship

i've been a fries/puffball enjoyer since day 1, i'm not even gonna lie here LMAO.. to be fair, i enjoy a lot of other ships very immensely, too, but something about the fact that they seem to respect each other as equals and be on the same page a lot of the time just really gets me... like. they give power couple vibes; instead of trying to gain some sort of leverage over the other or reveling in the leverage they might already have over the other, they seem to decide to be strong together and sort of. combine their strength. and yeah i know people are gonna argue "b-but c.oinpin!!" well what about the bfd.ia thing from tpo.t 2. they never actually resolved that. dont even get me started on f.ireafy (someone else made a really good post on them) or t.engolf ("gb always said it was handy to treat your friend like a tool!!!") p.uffries forever lol

least fav ship

oh this one's biased as hell because. you know how i am about yellow face. but i actually have a legitimate reason to dislike y.ellowclock besides that!! okay so i made an analysis document that i've never released here regarding yellow face as a character, and while making that document i noticed that. during tpo.t 2, when clock is bitching about winner leaving to go recover bottle, yellow face backs away, which, to me, implies that he's. kinda sick of clock's shit. he doesn't wanna deal with his and winner's drama. and then in tpo.t 3 he straight up says clock is a boring person. and yeah people cite that episode as like. y.ellowclock genesis or whatever. but then if that was true then what the hell is up with yellow face in tpo.t 10? he still doesn't seem to care about clock and winner!! honestly it just never made any sense to me..

would befriend irl

okay im gonna be honest. i really like two as a host.. i liked them from the beginning!! even when they were kinda snarky and condescending, they were a lot nicer than four, and were even willing to give up their power as a prize for a silly little contest!! and that's not even mentioning their dynamic with gaty and their sympathy towards clock in tpo.t 7.. just. they genuinely seem really generous and caring and i think they'd be really cool to hang out with and talk to... coincidentally they're also one of my favorite characters (and my favorite host as well) so that's a plus also; 10/10 would help them plan the next beefy die season

would never befriend irl

even though i love blocky with all my heart as a character, i don't think i wanna be involved in potentially lethal pranks... it would either end in him killing me or both of us going to jail forever.. or, alternatively, if i tried to go the "i can fix him" route, i'd end up paying an ungodly amount of money for his therapy bill (i doubt he'd pay with his own money, even though his show probably makes a lot of money lmao) and then just never get paid back... or, alternatively, i'd end up in the same boat as woody when he joined the blocky corporate conglomerate (at least, prior to b.fb 29.. actually i feel like i should mention that i'm talking specifically about blocky pre-split and back, he actually seems pretty okay in post-split)

...and that's it!!

it's been a wild ride (and a pretty long one too) but i really hope you enjoyed reading this, even if you have different opinions from mine! again, thank you all so much for getting me to 50 followers; i'm so grateful that all of you have decided to tune in to the nonsense words that i post every so often, and i hope you'll stick around long enough to see the next milestone special!! <3

[what-even-is-thiss]

could you talk more about what you meant in your recent tags saying that sanders sides has "looped back around on itself in canon"? i'm a little confused by what you meant by that, but it'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on the characters

I stopped watching sanders sides because it seemed to just become a self referential show. The morally dubious characters’ personalities got oversimplified, the plot and production became way more complicated than I think the simple premise of the show can handle, and half of the show just seemed to be an advertisement for itself. Fan content and fan service also seems to have a bigger impact on the canon of the show than it used to. I think the show is at its strongest when it’s simple but profound and there’s little to no fan input in the story.

It’s fine if people still like it. I just feel like over time the series just lost the plot. Figuratively and literally. Especially since Joan left the writing team. And even when they were on it had already started to get too ambitious and self referential in my opinion.

[imjustabeanie]

My part of the exchange with @fourtyfourcatss !

Sorry for the wait! I hope you like it!

Your kuroshitsuji match is….Sebastian!

Now listen it was a very tough choice cuz your runner up is Edward, but in the end I think your chemistry with sebby is better. Anime Sebastian is a sweetheart compared to how bitchy he is in manga (he is my fav but someone slap this man).

Sebastian is charming and very manipulative….he has a lot of facades and can just become your dream man if he wants to which means that getting down to the real him is the challenge of a lifetime. Heck who knows why he decided to court someone. But I ain’t here to analyse morally um…dubious characters or anything cuz we’d be here for the night and I’m a beige flag who loves red flags so anyways. I think Sebastian is the type to fall later and be surprised that he can even fall in love. This means that when he realizes it’s serious he will distance himself at first and then basically stay glued to you. He’s quite a possessive lover because love is foreign to him. This sums up how you got together and the biggest obstacle in the relationship.

Sebastian is a lover who’ll always hype you up and help you achieve your ambitious goals. It can get overbearing sometimes because you don’t want to disappoint him but really just talk to him about it as he’s not the most emotionally intelligent. He loves how passionate you are and if it’s in his field, he will happily coach you and help you out without showing off much. He also appreciates your honesty because dealing with fake people all the time can be so tiring (oh the hypocrisy…).

He is not a negligent lover but he’s also not always here due to his deals and job. He makes up for it when he’s back by giving you a divine royal treatment. Nothing is impossible for you (his words). I also headcanon that he tries to buy you gifts based by what other couples buy but he still finds the concept foreign because demons aren’t that materialistic. You two are also Undertaker favorite visitors due to your humor (he teases Sebastian about his feelings each time).

He lives to impress and he won’t rest until he can impress you. The main reason is pride. If this one hell of a butler couldn’t impress his lover then what kind of demon is he? No he won’t stand for it lol. This results in a pouty Sebastian that you can tease and reassure. Careful, he’ll return the teasing tenfold. This man won’t hesitate to show off his demonic strength and just exhaust you with work which is quite embarrassing cuz you’re physically active and tired while he is smirking. You’re more considerate than him and he’s a bad influence that’ll encourage you to put yourself first all the time even if it’s harmful to others.

Your artistic side makes him happy because you two can just enjoy art together and there’s a high chance he’ll tell you a story about the artist. Heck if he can he will even let you contact your favorite writers, even if they’re dead. Your logical side is a breeze to him because he’s surrounded by idiots whose savior is you. I mean you’re the only one who’ll patiently explain everything easily while Sebastian is just condescending to them! Sebastian is a little old fashioned but if you want to try a new creative way he will help you out. It’s shocking because he usually dismisses the idea when someone else proposes it.

Overall it’s quite an adventurous relationship who does have its up and downs due to Sebastian origins so…good luck. I don’t even know how I squeezed out so much from your description…is it me or do I write like I’m a couple therapist?

Your Hades match is…..Zagreus! With Hermes as a close runner up

Him and Sebby is like cats and dogs. Zagreus is the definition of the clumsy golden retriever boyfriend who means well lmao. He’s nosy, curious, creative, AMBITIOUS, and so honest it’s not surprising that you two got together. Your matchmakers were Cupid and Aphrodite even blessed your union (please they pushed him to confess after being tired of his rambling).

You two are so ambitious you’re making Thanatos go crazy. I mean you’re more rationable than him but you two always hype up the other which creates trouble. Zagreus is proud of it and proud of you. He’s always rambling about how creative and good you are to him. He loves to read with you and tries to help you out in your writing by giving you new ideas and such. Heck he walks around with a notepad in case you have a new idea you want to write down. He’ll take it out even if you two are in the middle of a battlefield. Due to his lack of self preservation, the thinking is left to you and he’s the bodyguard. Just because he’s reckless doesn’t make him less protective. Dying sucks, even if you come back to life, that’s why he will do his best to never let you die. If you die before him he goes on a rampage and then comes back all sad and apologetic to you (he wants to bring the head of your enemy but doesn’t know how you’ll react. That’s mythology romance lol).

Zagreus doesn’t mind how blunt you are considering his entourage, but he always has a witty comeback. Only he can make these comebacks to you. He is always optimistic and will do his best to improve himself for you. Even if you have issues empathizing with others, he will be patient for you and learn how to be more communicative. I believe that this and his family issues are gonna be issues in the relationship because if he feels that he’s burdening you he’ll break up thinking it’s for your own good. He does need reassurance.

Zagreus love language is definitely acts of service and words. He always compliments you and tries to remember the little things that make you happy. If he hears that something is causing you issues he will try to solve it for you in the shadows (if it works he will come all proud and if it doesn’t work he will come to you apologizing like a scared puppy lol). Also, at first his father doesn’t like you and tries to chase you away contrary to his mother. It’s only after the game events that his father will welcome you under the threats of his dear wife.

[stripedtabbycat]

since I’m rewatching gravity falls rn I thought I’d make a post about my thoughts so far. (I wanted to start on August 31 which is dipper and mabel’s birthday but I ended up starting on September 1 instead. watching 1 episode a night and challenging myself to do the credits code each time)

under a cut because this will probably get long:

first of all this show is so funny. not all the jokes hold up but I really enjoy its sense of humor in general

i remember liking the second season better than the first and not just because it’s more overarching plot-driven, I just think the plot is a little more focused and the characters and their relationships are more solidified

I love seeing the development of Stan bonding with the kids over time. I noticed in “carpet diem” (the season 1 body swap episode) he’s commending dipper (who is really Mabel trying to turn him against dipper) for finally standing up to him and the next episode is the best we see them get along all season. it’s nice but still done in a funny/weird way that fits the show’s tone

dipper and mabel are siblings of all time. I love how clearly the show establishes how well they get along and work together and how often they’re goofin around and having fun at the beginning of episodes and how realistic their teasing and bantering and bickering feels…if you hate on mabel you’re wrong btw

i appreciate that the show doesn’t need to bluntly state the lesson we’re supposed to learn at the end of each episode but still has clear themes for each one. i also like when they kind of have a subverted/parodied version of a typical cartoon moral like in the truth teeth segment of “bottomless pit” when the expected lesson of “sometimes a small lie is okay” turns into “sometimes you have to let your uncle lie to the cops so he doesn’t get arrested for regularly committing tax fraud”

that said sometimes i’m a little :/ at the conclusions of certain episodes. I try not to harp on this bc I think part of what drives the more intense discourse about kids’ cartoons is the idea that they have to be teaching good messages to their target audiences, or at least not teach them harmful ones. I don’t think all kids’ shows should be Wholesome and Morally Edifying but sometimes you’re like. oh this is imparting a particular viewpoint I don’t love

anyway I’m just thinking about how “fight fighters” seems like it’s going to be about how physically fighting over petty relationship jealousy is dumb and immature but instead it kinda comes off like dipper has to learn “you have to fight your own battles” which…idk. I could be misinterpreting

then again I just watched “the love god” which tries to raise the interesting dilemma of “is it right/okay to meddle in others’ relationships [using magic or not] if they genuinely end up happier?” but given all the baggage around using love potions in fiction you can tell they had to walk that back a little in journal 3. I don’t think the element of “it actually wears off after a few hours” would have undermined the question too much but whatevs.

(i will say that stan in dreamscaperers saying he's hard on dipper to toughen him up kind of gets questioned later when we see the stans' backstory and it's clear their dad was not actually that great of a guy. room for interpretation there too i guess)

another reason I like season 2 better is because the show is finally done with the dipper/wendy crush plot that really dragged down parts of s1 imo. mostly because it felt like dipper had to learn that a relationship between them wasn’t happening a number of times before the show definitively said it and it lead to some of those dubious episode conclusions.

(whenever people claim that mabel was selfish and dipper always had to sacrifice things for her sake I just think…most of the time what he was “sacrificing” was a chance to impress wendy or spend more time with her, and I feel like this is more a problem with that aspect of the show than anything else)

(ALSO when people say there are too many "mabel's crush of the week" subplots - i never really got that impression? when she's going over her failed summer romances i realized there were only like, 4 episodes up to then where there was a plot about her liking a guy and it didn't feel overdone to me. however that's also why i was disappointed with her part of "northwest manor mystery" because i thought we were done with that. i guess they figured she and pacifica had already had their bonding episode in "the golf war" but i still wish she got to be involved with the main plot in that episode, even if i mostly liked it. kind of felt like the writers couldn't think of anything else for her to do)

anyway back to positive thoughts! I really appreciate the show’s creativity with the supernatural elements especially when they need a way to do a standard fantasy cartoon trope. need to shrink the characters down to miniature size? crystals that change the size of things that get caught in the light they refract! need to do a body swap? how about a carpet that swaps your electrons when you static shock someone? time travel? the time machine is in the form of a tape measure. they can get pretty outside of the box and it’s always cool

i also like the balance of humor and (kid-friendly) horror it engages in. there are a number of moments throughout the show that seem like a sudden intrusion of sheer horror but because of their suddenness and (relative) over-the-top nature they’re also really funny. I’m thinking of dipper opening the convenience store freezer and seeing a horrifying brain monster, the summerween trickster eating a kid, bill cipher summoning “a head that’s always screaming” and its skin peeling off (or like. anything he does in that episode), a lot of moments from the shorts like the island head in “the tooth” or the ending of “lefty”…

this show is i think a lot of people's first experience with a cartoon that has overarching continuity and encourages the viewers to analyze it for clues to the greater plot and i love how it does that. also love how it still works as a show even if you're not actively looking for clues to the mystery. they knew full well how much the fandom was engaging with it and both the show and supplementary material are just chock-full of details that really reward repeat viewings in a way that very few other children's shows do.

i did a pretty good job keeping track of the end credits codes in season 1 but by season 2 i had to just look up on the wiki what the vigènere key words were because i don't have the time to scour the whole episode for those sorry. especially when they get more and more hidden throughout the season. i'm still proud of myself for figuring out how to decode those messages using the grid of all the letters though

i think i first caught up with this show right when "not what he seems" was airing and now that's next up on the schedule. it's a very different experience watching the episodes all in a row and not having to wait at least two weeks between each one lol. on the plus side it gave the fans plenty of time to pick over every episode and theorize like hell

final thoughts: i love that a disney channel kids' cartoon devoted an entire extra-long episode to the surprisingly realistic and sad backstory of the main kid characters' great-uncles, one of whom had mostly been a comedic side character for the first season, and it's fantastic. once i'm done with this i cannot wait to get my hands on the book of bill

[yunadx]

: / / LOADING … NAGANO YUNA / /

20020924, 07:56 AM

FELINE EMPATHY

FELINE PHYSIOLOGY

YOUR BAD LUCK CHARM

: / / LOADING … AUTHOR’S NOTE / /

hello, everyone! my name is ryan (he/him, 28+) and i’m so excited to be here with all of you. 🤍 yuna is a brand new muse to me, and i'm so excited to get to know her along with you! so, if you’re interested in plotting, please 🖤 this post and i’ll reach out to you as soon as possible. i have d//scord available by request, so lmk if that’s easier! ngl, it’s easier for me, so… there’s that! 💜

: / / LOADING … BACKGROUND / /

yuna was born in tokyo, japan to a struggling single mother.

her mom is a notorious con artist and thief, and often used these skills to provide for them; taught yuna all she knows.

they relocated to south korea in year 2016, after her mom married a man from district x that she met over the internet.

although they have a more stable living environment and their lives have improved, yuna still relies on thievery and burglary.

hates the elite; feels no remorse stealing from them.

there’s a lot of charm to her. she purposely curates a highly feminine aesthetic. does so in order to dupe people easier.

in reality, she doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of her.

if she loves you, she’ll give you luxurious gifts. sort of like when a cat brings its owner roadkill to show them love.

she will not like it if you grab her tail; she will scratch you.

you’ve been warned.

: / / LOADING … PERSONALITY / /

getting to know nagano yuna is a tricky thing. she's not shy. in fact, she loves meeting new people and getting someone talking, but once the dive into a conversation, the other person is quick to realize that she's someone who plays devil's advocate. not everyone has the energy for that, but it's something she loves to do. loves. she will almost always question your logic, and not because she doesn't agree with you or understand it, but she wants to test it; to test you. this is something that her mother taught her to do. she wants to see if there are any chips in a person's armor. if they tell the truth, or if they lie. if their mentality is strong. she uses communication in order to form hypotheses and investigate, all while her tone is sweet and high-pitched, and she bats her lashes at you. speaking of, it's easy for her to disarm people like this. yuna's a huge charmer. she puts effort into her appearance, curating an aesthetic that's highly feminine, even if a bit goth sometimes, and speaks in a manner that's delicate, but despite this, when the moment is perfect, she delivers the sickest burns and the funniest jokes. she's a natural. one of her favorite things to do is sit in the corner of a room with a friend, take in all the people, and break down who they are; even if she's never met them. she'll create huge stories about their lives just based on vibes and instinct, and they're often chaotic and hilarious. she has the capability of making a person feel quite small. instead of huge boisterous declarations of hate though, she's more the type to whisper something brutal in your ear—jabbing you right where it hurts, digging that knifepoint in seamlessly, then twisting it. nagano yuna is a switchblade. accurate, quick, sharp. she's intimidating, but only when you start chatting with her. more often than not, you'll see the cat ears, and the tail, and her carefully crafted outfits and feel endeared. her smiles are so sweet. when she looks at you, winks, and sticks her tongue out, it's so playful and cheeky. if you engage though, you'll quickly discover that she genuinely does not give a fuck about what you, or anyone else, thinks about her. this is scary. it means she'll speak her mind, no filter. yuna's morals are rather dubious. she's a thief, for fucks sake. however, if you're her friend, and she's loyal to you, she'll take care of you. it'll be in her own ways, but she'll look out for you; bring you things she's mopped from her latest heist; give you the best, most honest advice; slice and dice your exes with words (and her claws, if you want that); cuddle up to you for affection, but only on her terms; etc. she may act like a lioness, but deep down, she's really just a cat. that might tell you all you need to know.

: / / LOADING … PLOTLINES / /

i prefer to brainstorm plots! 💜 talk to you soon!

[shipofthesis]

Reflecting on Fallen London content in light of the Disgraced Former Founder

I’ve been looking into Fallen London’s Disgraced Former Founder (AK) because I’d rather just know then assume. Now, everything I’ve read has tracked with what I was assuming from what I already knew and have seen of him but. God, he’s insufferable. I’ve read through his professed list of influences, and my realizations on that front have been: 

lamentably I have his written voice saved into my brain cuz I clocked it almost immediately (I tiredly clicked the link without registering who/what it was). This is wild to me cuz I have only really “read” him through whatever FL content he’s responsible for. Which makes me wonder how much is by his hand.

some of his commentary is... illuminating about the sort of person he is. Does he always sound this condescending? (Yes.) While a handful of his comments had me rolling my eyes or sighing this bit made me need to pause altogether. 

What an ass. Anyway, my final and perhaps most important realization! I am convinced while his merit as a writer is up for debate he is very well read and his writing owes everything to that. It sounds like some of FL is less genius ideas he had and more him grabbing things he liked from other, more established authors. (Something his own narrative along this list supports, though I’m sure he thinks more highly of himself than I do.)

Why does any of this matter? Why am I subjecting myself to learning about this frustrating scumbag? Because I am reexamining (earlier) FL given this context, understanding that often fiction is a reflection of its creators. 

I am thinking about how much of early FL content is the player character manipulating and exploiting people. I am thinking about the player character’s overarching narrative of starting from the bottom with nothing but your wits and grit, and winding up on top. I am thinking about how difficult it is to play a morally upstanding character if you take every storyline as canon rather than handwaving some here, others there. And I am thinking of all this while familiar with how people like AK think and create.

It sounds like AK regularly manipulated people while at Failbetter games. (Here’s a piece by the current CEO about AK’s behavior.) It’s safe to assume manipulation, intimidation, extortion, bribery, and other similar tactics are part of his everyday toolkit. Things the player character has options to do quite often, usually for greater profit. Even if you don’t play your character as morally dubious, there is something to be said of how various Making Your Name stories play out. How romancing characters is often a means to an end, how the university line is much more punishing if you uphold what is true and just. And likely many others I cannot remember in this moment! But wait, FL is a dark comedy and a horror show, it is also an rpg. This sort of thing is to be expected, right? It’s a dystopia where deathlessness has changed what violence means and we are all subject to the whims of monomaniacal space bats! What’s my point?? 

My point, what I am pondering, is how much of the player characters choices and actions were not written as something fantastical. How much of the sardonic narrator voice isn’t an affectation to amuse us, and how much the player characters sometimes ruthless, heartless, and even entitled actions and desires are not simply there to offer different Quirks. People like AK tend to think everyone thinks like them. The player character being written to use all tools available in service of their own needs, pleasure, ego, and rising power might not be entirely a hypothetical fantasy to AK. Well, maybe it’s a fantasy in that approaching the world of the Neath like this is not only accepted and justified, but the way to power. Power which you deserve because of your sharp wits and willingness to do what it takes, morality and ethics be damned.

[dinoburger]

to try to put an earlier thought about fan work and commodity in a less frenetic, more cohesive way, it's one of those things that thrives from being divorced from context that also makes it fraught as a way of feeding back into media consumption

it's easy for us to see on one hand, there are artists who are independently creating work, where monetary gain is minimal and means maybe this week it's a bit easier to pay rent.

On the other you have "buy a Disney plus subscription and watch this show the 'correct' way so they can keep making more content!" and it's a celebrity cast with a zionist director or something. Also Disney. Also the corporate subscription system.

Good job, you've helped set the pieces for the diabolical Rue Goldberg machine of capitalism and encouraged others to do the same.

Most things are more blurry. This platform, for instance, is less than ideal in countless ways and at worst, morally bankrupt, but it's still a resource that can be taken advantage of to the ends of spreading word about other resources, or helping drum up awareness - if nobody knows what's going on, they're going to listen to what's being told to them. We know which voices are the loudest.

Paying attention to which accounts have checkmarks, though, it's not as if we aren't complicit in some ways. When we use this site and it encourages others to do the same, we're paying indirectly.

There's always going to be more decision making than electing to shrug and say "no ethical consumption under capitalism" - that absence of a decision to decide where to draw the line is a kind of crime of omission. This "I just wanna draw my silly guys from my funny shows tee hee ^^".

I make and weigh up my decision to use this site every day that I do. I still think, ultimately, it is more optimal than a subscription service, it's... reasonably... user friendly (although, that gets less and less true by the day) and it's fairly accessible. I like that fan communities are a free, open space for people to chat and hang out.

I might change that decision tomorrow. I think it would be a shame, considering how long I've been around, but I don't need to fortify my identity as a "tumblr user".

That should extend to fan work. I don't guarantee you my patronage. If TF2 became a subscription service, I might rescind. I already feel very on-the-fence about supporting Valve - while it was a pioneer company, it's still encompassed by the vast and profitable Steam, which is corporate in its makings and as such, dubious. I wouldn't really encourage anyone to give them money, but I can't stop it either.

The other thing about this kind of disconnect is how most people online treat you as only the sum of your parts. The entity that is you is comprised of commodities they enjoy. Most people who find your work will do it through the frame of whatever they were already looking for, people who don't necessarily have any ideas about these conscious decisions we make.

I do know of artists deliberately making themselves harder to find because of this. Either disappearing any trace of the person behind the work, or obscuring the work to begin with. To a degree, it kind of undermines the joy of open accessibility that made these sites appealing, but I also understand why.

The sad part of closing yourself off from a community is that it can make it harder for smaller artists who just want to get by, doing what they do, to be seen at all. It's harder to reap the benefits of using this platform, with a lot of the same risks anyway.

I think everyone, to some degree, has an obligation to encourage conscious decisions like this, and show awareness of the strings attached to whatever their new shiny thing is. You're never really going to get there by trying to purge everything or double down about why you're allowed to stop caring.

[pacifyara]

Late-stage capitalism makes monsters of all of us

I would like to examine Netflix’s Squid Games (2021) which quickly skyrocketed to international success and fame. The nine part season, directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, features a talented cast and an even more gripping storyline. 

This show has been picked apart over and over again. It is clear that the bones of the show is its critique on capitalism.  The squid games essentially is a game where in-debted people risk their life for the chance to win money. However, under capitalism money is never just money. Money is a place to sleep, money is food, money is security, money is acceptance. These themes and more are heavily presented in the series. There have been so many breakdowns of Squid Games overall that I am choosing to focus on an analysis that I have not seen much of.

Spoilers Below

Cho Sang-woo, mainly referred to as Sang-woo, is an antagonist in the series. Sang-woo is one of the most disliked characters in the show because his ruthlessness, desire to win, sociopathic tendencies and selfishness eventually led to him murdering not one but two of the other main characters. Sango-woo’s actions are irreprehensible, but his motivations are all too familiar. Sang-woo desires redemption for his financial failures and missteps on his quest to climb the socioeconomic ladder. Within the confines of the game Sang-Woo is also clearly being driven to survive and outlast all his competitors. If we take the game as a metaphor for late-stage capitalism Sang-woo represents the one willing to do any and everything to win the rat race, which more often than not leads to their own demise. The conditions created by the Squid Games were ones that required depravity and lack of empathy to triumph. Remember although Sang-woo was not an upstanding citizen he began the games as a decent and mild-mannered individual. Sang-woo’s actions are not that of a rogue outlier, they are a direct response to his reality. The truth is to varying degrees most (if not all) participants of the Squid Games let go of empathy for their fellow man for self-preservation in the games. Sang-woo as a character is not a one off extreme but an example of how late-stage capitalism erodes the empathy and morality of every day people.

We have to lack empathy to exist

Have you ever heard the saying “there is no ethical consumption” under capitalism? If not, The Good Place (2016) brings it to life (haha ironic) with seasons long plot culminating in the realization that no human has been able to get into “the good place” (a positive afterlife akin to heaven) in centuries. This is because even the simplest of actions are inexplicably tied to numerous dubious and immoral consequences. Think about it 

The amount of cognitive dissonance required to go about our every day lives and believe we are good people is frightening. 

There have been studies that have found a link between social class and compassion. It is not all cut and dry but it seems the higher the socioeconomic status the relatively lower the compassion for the distress of others were shown. Again, this is not a phenomenon that can be explained briefly or reduced down but I posit that some of this unresponsiveness to others distress is exactly what is required to consolidate wealth amongst the uber-wealthy. This can extend to beyond individuals to nations or so on. 

This post is meant to be a brief examination. I welcome healthy and respectful conversation whether opposing or supportive. 

[hamliet]

Why does dany have to sacrifice her dragons to stop the others?

I think insofar as "have to" is concerned, a lot of fans misinterpret this as people saying it's a moral imperative. I can only speak for myself, but I don't think it is. I don't want Dany to suffer. I think it's just likely, given how the story has unfolded and how its consequences tend to go for its characters, that she will sacrifice her dragons and probably her life.

There are a few reasons based on the story text, its allusions, and its genre. My thinking it will happen isn't an endorsement or a comment on story quality.

Insofar as dragons are concerned, let's start with the fact that ASOIAF is very clearly based on alchemy. In alchemy, dragons and other animals are an image that routinely crop up as symbols of the beginning of the work. As the material continues through the process, as those "bestial" creatures become more "refined," the material is represented by humans. Hence, a symbolic way to show that would logically be through the death of dragons. In fact, that specifically shows up in alchemical images:

Insofar as Dany herself is concerned, we again turn to alchemy. The main tenet of alchemy is solve et coagula: dissolve and coagulate. Something is refined through fire, and then the impurities are rinsed away, repeat, rinse, repeat. This is often shown through death and rebirth. Through a series of struggles the character undergoes, they become a symbolic Philosopher's Stone: giving the elixir of life to all around them. Now, you can absolutely survive this in stories. Often characters do.

What makes me dubious is ASOIAF's specific structure, motifs, and genre (Romanticism), all of which emphasizes death and new life coming from that death. Only death can pay for life. Yes, I know that was said by Mirri Maz Duur who isn't the most reliable person, but. There's also no doubt that Mirri Mas Duur understood magic better than most, and wasn't talking out of her ass, so to speak. But I'm not basing this on MMD but instead on others.

Ned Stark's death sets off the war. Ned Stark's death is seen as unfair, as unjust, even if he wasn't exactly wise according to the political cunning of the day. Still, his character lives on in his six kids (Jon isn't his biological child, but he absolutely is Ned's son), kids who are certain to help save the world (yes, I think the Starks will be allies of Dany, not enemies Show That Must Not Be Named) and help repair Westeros after the Others. Ned's desire to save children cost him his life, and this, despite honest explorations of its consequences, is not framed as condemned by the narrative. Nuanced, yes. But sacrifice is absolutely not condemned in the narrative, no matter how people don't like it.

Sacrifice is also kind of... a main thing in romantic literature. Sacrifice gets to the heart of what someone wants to be, who they are, what motivates them, what they love, what they believe in. Dany sacrificing her dragons I'm absolutely certain of. Dany sacrificing her life, I hope not, but I do see it as likely.

Anyways. One more thing regarding dragons that I think those who haven't read The World of Ice and Fire might miss: dragons are not natural creations of the world. They are heavily implied to have been "bred" by Valyrians who crossbred fire wyrms and wyverns, and also used monstrous blood magic that relied on the daily sacrifice of thousands of slaves (this part is in the books proper). The whole "blood of the dragon" thing is also probably not just a metaphor.

The point is, while dragons are not themselves to blame for what the blood mages of Old Valyria did, they are symbolic of it. As Dany's whole thing is that she wants to free people, and yet she has her identity rooted in being the last Targaryen, well--it sets up a very interesting internal conflict indeed. The Targaryen legacy is one of slaves, of sacrificing other people--slaves--to keep your power.

It only makes sense to me that Dany will be asked to choose whether she commits to her legacy or being a true savior of humanity. I have no doubt she would choose the latter. Thematically, it makes sense that she would be asked to sacrifice someone else, someone she loves, a la Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa and Stannis with Shireen. However, given that Romanticism focuses on the individual, and given Dany's distaste for slavery, I would bet she'd choose to sacrifice herself and her dragons with her rather than sacrifice Jon (because it will be him).

Again, this is not me saying that this is a moral necessity. It is not me endorsing the message. It is not me saying there is 0 valid critique of such a narrative. If Martin lets Dany live a quiet life with Jon, I'll be thrilled. If the dragons live, I'd be happy with that too so long as Martin can make that work thematically, and that much I doubt (Dany's life has more potential to work thematically, but... again, I have my doubts). I am just saying that as things stand now, with the texts we have, this is the most logical endgame I see for Dany's arc in the books.

[galaxyofhair]

Dishonored's Goofy Sense of Morality

I loved the Dishonored series for it's sandbox approach to stealth/infiltration, and I loved it's setting for being incredibly atmospheric and fascinating. Genuinely, it's one of the only steampunk-ish stories that I enjoy, typically steampunk is not my jam at all.

But something that I have never gotten over is how much I hate the way Dishonored's branching story moralizes at you about how you go about revenge in the most hypocritical way possible.

So like, the basic premise is sound, right? If you kill people, you're a bad person and the world becomes a worse place---and if you spare people, the world becomes a better place and you're a better person for it. And this dichotomy is expressed specifically through the rats in the city: The more bodies, the more the rats feed and multiply, the more plague.

That much I don't argue, when it's in a vacuum---but Dishonored doesn't exist in a vacuum, it exists in a world that is filled with a ridiculous number of evil people, as well as its fair share of institutionalized evil.

You can very quickly do the math in Dishonored and come to the point of realizing that A) Many of the people you spare deserve to die, and they are only more dangerous alive, and B) Sometimes the punishment you inflict while sparing their lives is more cruel than just killing them.

The first guy you whack is Overseer Campbell, and when you spare him he gets exiled into the city's underground---and later he shows up as a plague infected half-zombie person. So on the one hand, hooray---fascist religious zealot forced to endure the suffering he inflicted on so many others, but on the other hand---not hooray, now he's actively spreading the plague. How was turning him into a plague zombie less wrathful than just whacking him and burning the body?

The Twins are made mute, and sent to work in their own silver mines in you spare them---which again, is great, love that for them---but how is that fate better than just being dead? How is it spreading the plague less when I'm clearly just tossing folks into very unsanitary working conditions.

Lady Boyle is one of the more dubious ones, because you end up sort of trafficking her to another noble? Again, again---the bourgie getting some poetic justice is great, but I struggle to see how this is necessarily better than death---especially because Corvo is mostly just putting his victims in situations to die by some other means. Campbell will die of plague, the twins will almost certainly be worked to death or die in an accident, and I would bet that being turned into a housewife on a remote island, married off to some creepy lord stands a good chance of driving Lady Boyle to suicide.

If the game just let it go and let me do as I felt was right, I don't think I'd give it a second thought---but that it assigns one method as GOOD and the other as ~bad~ just strikes me as very fake, moralizing horseshit that is only included in the game because Bethesda needed a morality meter to finish out that Xbox 360 checklist they had going.

Not to mention: Many of the underlings in this game are also just, terrible people---and the rampant inequality and institutionalized evil of Dunwall would honestly be just a little less evil if there were fewer fascist pigs running around the streets. If you're discerning, there's definitely a couple guys in there who don't deserve to die, but for the most part they depict nearly all of the guards as---well, realistic, they're puppy-kicking, lying sacks of shit who assist with a coup, and virtually no qualms about murdering the civilian population using giant lightning machines.

So yeah, I don't see the moral benefit to leaving those folks alive when Corvo has the power to end their evil in a more permanent fashion. And I don't think that staying your blade and creating more living plague victims is any better than just killing them and maybe doing everyone the favor of proper disposal.

=====

How would I change that? I don't totally know because I don't know what the technical limitations of the console were: But if if we ignore technical limitations, and go for a pure story experience then I would add this:

The moral of the story is to not become like the people you are fighting against, so give Corvo more opportunities to save bystanders and civilians. Saving civilians helps reduce the risk of infection, and maybe you save one or two folks who is a friggin doctor along the way.

It's not whether or not you kill---it's whether or not you clean up the bodies. If Corvo kills somebody, he should be responsible for disintegrating or burning the body so that it can't become food for the rats.

Sparing evil nobles so that they might suffer worse fates should still be encouraged, eat the rich and all that---but in the case of Campbell there should have been a more obvious acknowledgement that killing him is better than letting him suffer and spread plague.

There should be an overarching theme of asking the player to look up from their small-picture revenge story towards the big-picture plague issue.

And lastly, and optionally, for hardmode lovers: The numbers of rats in the city is directly to how often you use your powers. Every time you use otherworldly power, rats spawn. Teleport is the least harmful, maybe one or two rats, no biggie if you're careful with it---but slowing time, or well... summoning rats obviously creates way more rats.

Why? Because it makes you realize that Corvo's powers are a shortcut, and letting Corvo trip-out on power, and take this shortcut to his revenge is sort of bad because ~that~ is the real indicator of whether or not Corvo is like the people he's revenging against.

If you can become lost in your revenge and forget to think about others, THAT's evil---if you take shortcuts, and don't care about the consequences of those shortcuts, THAT's evil. The difference between a good Corvo and a bad Corvo is the Corvo that remembers to look up, and clean up.

Conclusion:

I think I particularly hate this kind of game-story trying to moralize at you because at a certain point it feels like I am being punished for playing the game: They made this incredible sandbox and then told you that you can't play in it without ruining it for everyone, and that feels sorta shitty. Like, thanks Dishonored 2 for introducing some of the most badass FPS dueling I've ever seen and then telling me I'm a dick for using it because killing bad, trololololol. Thanks Dishonored 1 for making literally everyone else in the game an absolute ghoul, and then telling me I'm the dick when I decide they're better off dead.

There are better ways to asking your player to engage in the world that you created without telling them to not have fun.

[blueiight]

8, 11, 12 for spaceboys

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

every bro who thinks this show is a perfect analogue to their rl politics…or likewise that the show is mocking said bros bc theyre incapable of confronting the fact that fascists will use anything to justify their ideology & that there is an air of revanchism/reactionary sentiment in the text that the author presumes the audience/reader will think of as morally dubious (if not evil downright. think of the ‘i want to be a good friend, but not a master or servant’ speech. which i rly do think is the central idea of the text. but maybe thats me projecting too? we are all a bit of a hypocrite). i just feel like for some ppl this is their first anime that isnt battle shounen that theyre like OMG its #2DEEP4U like omggg. looking at tanaka’s other works or even at yang wenli’s character who serves as an authorial proxy + his own in universe character arc which i <3 in mind tanaka seems to be more interested in how mythology + historiography is constructed than he is rly the minutiae of political reforms and the precision of things (if the 50 billion people that seem to die in every space battle didnt clue u in alr). idk. maybe im stupid. but also ppl who take ‘hey, maybe annerose had any sort of feelings about her brother & having to take on being the retroactive justification for his conquest’ (like they even call her the mother of space or something to that affect?? thats a heavy burden for one woman to hold. she didnt even ask for this. reinhard didnt even do anything to frederich like he died .. no one had to free annerose) to be ‘ur calling annerose a bitch?’. it doesnt help that theres not enough textually of annerose, but the fact that a lot of her screentime / page time is ominously prescient warnings on the nature of power v. reinhard’s disposition is something??? sieg if my brother stops listening to you then my brother is lost.. is that not a sign of some complex feelings about her brother or at the very least, the man her brother has / could / and did become? also queer readings that try to divorce the militaristic elements when so much of the subtext is wrapped around nascent homoeroticism typical in military /‘ male ‘ dominant fields. thinking about kircheis being the most physically imposing but the most gentle, and while he is reinhard’s dead wife his bond with reinhard is also wrapped in a shared militaristic ambition of ‘taking space’. half of what i have is urs! paralleled to reuenthal & mittermeyer - mittermeyer being the only dude who could beat up reuenthal, them being reinhard’s shuangbi /twin stars/pillars bc of their skills in combat... could i have been married too, like mittermeyer? hell naw hilde + oberstein being outsiders in the empire bc they do not commandeer fleets. yang being ‘useless below the neck’ is a joke but its something.

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

actually dont filter much cuz spaceboys fandom on here is dead but i refuse to go on certain platforms LOL

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

once again its dead on here idkkk. whats unpop v pop. despite being an OG in this spaceboy shit.. ik the way i liked reuenthal was unpop until nat & wiaw omg Reuenthal’s rebellion as a final act of loyalty + M.A.(S).D. thesis but fr evil seme reuenthal & boring self insert yang all 2018 by ppl who didnt even touch the OVA hurt my soul…what was they doing to my queens💔💔💔 there is no why u should like reuenthal thesis he should be killed with rocks but the ova did something incidentally (or purposefully?) thats haunted me for centuries. everybody likes reinhard and reuenthal in the wrong ways. anne rice interrogating the text fron the wrong pov voice

[la-pheacienne]

What are your favourite greek classics? or in general from the greek literature canon? I'm not greek so i confess that i only know the ones that date back centuries that i needed to study from my classic greek classes :) I read antigone and i like it

And, aside from les mis, have you read any other french classics? or any that are now encapsulated as "european" (spanish, polish, romanian etc?

Sorry if any questions sound weird. Do not need to answer if they make you uncomfortable

No it's not weird at all, thank you for asking!!!

Unfortunately, I have read far less greek classics than I would like. My first response will be kind of basic, I think one should always, always, start with Homer (with a slight preference for Odyssey). Odyssey is truly magical. There is nothing quite like it. Thematically, conceptually, narratively, stylistically it is just so flawless. It is like a dream of adventure, love, monsters, good and evil, loyalty and treason, and longing for home of course.

Then since you have read Antigone you could try Oresteia, this is a trilogy (I think the first trilogy ever created?), so it's three consecutive tragedies, and it's amazing, I think this one particularly appeals to someone who is looking for a more, let's say, morally dubious world. It's less idealistic, it's a story about a rotten royal family tearing itself to pieces. What's cool is that every single POV has more or less valid reasons for doing what they are doing, and your opinion on the characters really changes when you go from one tragedy to the next. Everyone is partly right and partly wrong (some more than others), but in the end the gods intervene to settle this affair once and for all. It's really cool. Then Oedipus Rex has of course the OG "trying to change my destiny and making it happen instead" arc which is a really powerful theme, used consistently ever since in any type of modern media, films, tv shows and books.

But since you ask about Greece, in case you are interested in reading modern greek literature, I have a soft spot for the Murderess of Alexandros Papadiamantis (you can find it in Amazon), I think it's the best modern greek novel honestly. It's about an old woman who slowly becomes deranged and starts killing little girls, starting with her newborn granddaughter, because she feels that girls bring only misery to their families (and will only experience misery themselves). Then I will also include this quite niche recommendation (this one will be more difficult to find but an english translation does exist), its The End of Our Small Town by Dimitris Hatzis, it's a book with many beautiful and heartbreaking short stories/portraits of different social types of people in Greece during the period between the first and the second World War.

So, from Europe I have read french, russian, and english literature. And also Kafka, that's it. So I can only speak about this. From french literature, I would recommend a less talked about novel of Balzac, Le Cousin Pons, that is one of my absolute favourite books. Balzac is the contrary of Hugo in the sense that Hugo is a Romantic, he talks about society but aiming to inspire people, to put it simply, while Balzac is a Realist, so he wants to present society exactly as it is, and it is not a good portrait. Where Hugo is hopeful, Balzac is resigned, so it is a really depressing book. But still, hands-out the most in-depth portrait of french society, 100 percent relevant today, and the appeal of it is that it makes the modern reader feel akward cause the things he criticizes are still prevalent in the modern way of thinking. I guarantee that you will find people you know that are exactly like some characters in that book. It is the story of an antique collector that is ignored and scorned by his superficial bourgeois family because he's weird and he only cares about his hyperfixation (his collectables) until they realise the true value of his collection and they construct a plan to steal it and basically destroy him in the process.