#which is is what this post was originally about - because this post was about the lazarus project and this very thing just not as outright

[phantomrose96]

Actually I have a post I want to make about Property Value.

Which is a topic that comes up a lot in discussions of rich people hoarding wealth, in NIMBY panics, and in the ever-increasing prices of homes. But I don't think we talk much about how the perniciousness of property value goes deeper and basically holds middle class people who own a home hostage.

So to set some context here: in 2025 the median US home sold for $416,000. Say you have a working class family who can't meet median, but who scraped and saved and penny-pinched their way to a $300,000 home.

Typically, when buying a first home, you pay 20% down directly, and take 80% out as a mortgage from the bank. For this family, that means $60,000 of their liquid money (and let's say it took them 10-15 years to save that amount), and a $240,000 loan from the bank.

That's $240,000 in debt the family is. Which will be repaid over 30 years, with interest, at a rate that usually means for the lifetime of the loan, they end up paying back double the original loan.

However this massive $240,000 debt is generally considered "okay" debt to have, because it's backed by the house. If things go truly sour, the bank can take the house (and what's a little homelessness between friends).

That $60,000 the family put down is considered equity, and equity is money you "have", but isn't accessible.

Scenario: Now let's say something happens. Someone in the family loses their job, and the only job they can find requires moving. Or a family member across the country can't care for themselves anymore and so this family needs to move to be closer to them. The family gets divorced. Someone in the family is allergic to material in the home. Someone in the family is being stalked or abused and needs to leave the town. Anything at all, which would require selling the home and moving.

Case 1: The family is able to sell it for exactly what they paid (same property value, no increase or decrease). You would think the math is clean. They are paid $300,000 for the house. $240,000 repays the bank loan. The remaining $60,000 of equity goes right back to them. And they can use it (which took 10+ years to save up) to move across the country and buy a different $300,000 house.

Except no, it does not work like that.

The seller of a home is on the hook to pay commission to their realtor and the buyer's realtor. This is usually ~6% of the home value. They have to pay legal costs. There are taxes. There are miscellaneous costs. It can easily be 6-9% of the selling price of the house.

The bank NEEDS its $240,000 back. So those costs come from the equity. This family is not getting their $60,000 back. They're getting $30,000-$45,000, and now no longer enough money for a downpayment in their move. They're back to renting. Back to penny pinching. They can get by, but homeownership is now out of their grasp once more. Maybe in another 5 years, they'll have enough (unless home prices have increased too much by then) then they'll maybe never be homeowners again.

Case 2: The property value has DECREASED... Family is only getting offers in the $260,000 range.

If the family accepts a $260,000 sale, well $240,000 goes to the bank. This is genuinely non-negotiable. And that leaves.... maybe not enough money to even close on the house. Not enough to pay the realtors and the fees.

That $60,000 is wiped out, and the family is incapable of moving. Never mind losing 10+ years of savings--they're below $0. They don't have the money to close. It's financially impossible to sell. They are stuck with the mortgage. They are stuck with the house. (Maybe they'll rent it, if they can. And now they're landlords by circumstance, which is often NOT profitable when you're not a trust fund baby renting out a totally-paid-for no-mortgage home.) But whatever the case, they cannot sell it. And if the reason for selling was a job loss... well, they can be homeless soon. And if the property value dropped below $240,000, they can be homeless AND owe a bank debt. A $60,000 nest egg wiped completely out, with a bank debt owed on top of that.

So how do people avoid financial destitution when moving?

The most sensible answer is building up equity by paying down the loan--but it's important to know that mortgages are super interest heavy in the early life of the loan. With a 5% interest rate (BETTER, btw, than current rates) this family would be paying $15,460 the first year, and only $3,540.88 is actually chipping at that $240,000 principle. The other $11,919.59 was pure interest to the bank.

So after 1 year, the family went from having $60,000 equity in the house to $63,540.88 equity in the house. This buys a little extra wiggle room when juggling closing costs. But not very much. Even after 3 years, the family has just a little over $70,000 of equity, and just under $230,000 still left on the loan. So if the family has to move for any reason (sickness! death! job loss!) in those 3 years, it's probably financially devastating.

But there is a second answer to avoiding financial ruin: and that is Property Value going up.

Any amount of property value increase is PURE equity. The bank only cares about the amount of money it gave you. If after 3 years, that house is now worth (and can sell for) $315,000 (which is appreciation of only 1.6% a year. Most home appreciation is closer to 3%), that's more equity increase than they got from 36 diligent months of mortgage payment.

If they can sell for $315,000, pay $230,000 of that to the bank, that leaves $85,000. $25,000 goes to paying the realtors and the closing costs and.... the family is back to their $60,000 downpayment. Not trapped. Able to sell. Able to buy a new $300,000 home in the place they moved. Able to just maintain homeownership status.

But wait, if their home appreciated to $315,000, didn't all the other homes do the same, so now $60,000 isn't enough

Smart eye, lad! You've identified why this is a TERRIBLE rat race for the people scraping money together to live, and is ONLY a profitable leisure activity for rich people who sell homes like collectables.

Now because the increase is pure equity, a similar family with decent property value increase can funnel that extra equity into affording to meet the new higher down payment (remember the downpayment is only 20%, so even if the new place is similarly higher in property value, you only need to match that increase 20% for the downpayment). Which gets their foot in the door. But now their new mortgage is higher than the old one. More expensive. More interest.

But there is a losing scenario here--if home property values increased everywhere else, but not where you live. Then this family is back to surrendering homeownership. Because even if they can sell their place, they can't buy the next home.

It forces them to care about their own Property Value increase because, if it doesn't increase while everywhere else does, it traps them.

So what do I mean by all this

If the value of all homes dropped 50% overnight, I assume most people here would celebrate. Affordable homes! Rich people upset and crying! So much to love.

But in reality, that 50% drop would likely continue to mean no home for most of us, because the people who could sell you the homes would be financially incapable.

For the family above with the $240,000 mortgage, that mortgage does not reach halfway-paid-off until year 20 of the 30 year mortgage (remember the interest frontloading). If a family still owes $230,000 in bank loans on a place that can only sell for $150,000, they can't sell it to you. That house is the bank's collateral securing the loan. Their mortgage is underwater. They're trapped. They cannot sell it. You cannot have it.

Something similar happened in the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, and the only people who got out okay were ones who could stay the course, keep making the mortgage payments, and wait it out long enough for property value to recover.

Those who couldn't got foreclosed on. Those who couldn't were left in financial devastation.

So in conclusion?

Banks profit off of mortgages. Rich people profit off of hoarding housing stock and selling it as the property value increases. Real estate companies profit off of home sales. And the regular people, who managed to achieve home ownership, are shackled to the price-go-up system to avoid financial ruin. They're forced to care about their property value because it is the singular determinant of whether they're trapped in place, whether they'll be okay if they lose their job, whether they could move due to an important life event.

It's a profit system for the rich where the cogs are middle class people who could achieve homeownership, running a machine where every single crank locks the poorer and younger generations out of home ownership forever.

[beemovieerotica]

i tried chatgpt once to see if it was plagiarizing my fic, as someone who has written uhhhhhh 99.99% of content for a pairing - asked it about turnerjones, but it could not string together pairing-specific dialogue/beats that couldn't just be copy-pasted into another fic entirely. and that was, i guess, somewhat reassuring.

but the scary thing was that at first i fucking DID get that rush of "oh my god!! instant fic of my rarepair making eyes at each other??" and i had to beat that impulse back down like a rabid dog. because genuinely i could see how someone with like, a debilitating fear of writing and no experience at this could be lured into the dopamine machine. pair that with isolation and no community to share ideas with and...yeah i do see it!! and that's the scary thing!!

but at the end of the day it's just a "what word should come next?" machine and it can't parse motifs or foreshadowing or irony etc etc. and i. i've been writing fiction since i was 14. have been writing a lot more for the last 5 years, which has made a huge difference. and after the initial high of seeing something other than myself write this rarepair, i was like. Oh. This is actually nothing. I can replace the names and this is meaningless. but if this were an original story...? yeah, there's no connection to canon beneath it. no serial numbers.

so in a weird fucking conclusion, fanfic is somehow more protected from the intrusion of AI in a way that original stories aren't?? i don't have a compelling end to this post i've just been trying to process this.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

even more tlm references

Part 1 (Episodes 1 + 2) / Part 2 (Episode 3) / This post covers Episodes 4 + 5, as well as references from the event boys' voice lines and vignettes (since those have also been unlocked now)!

OH MY GOD. Rook says he enjoyed a bath in the hotel's bathhouse. He and Malleus comment on the beautiful interior of it, mentioning a shell-themed bathtub and a carving of a fish. THEY'RE LITERALLY DESCRIBING THE BATHHOUSE THAT ARIEL WASHED IN???

While at an outdoor market, we spot a lady in a white dress secured with a rope. Jade explains that it is a fashion style unique to the Sunshine Lands. By simply changing the way you wrap the cloth and rope, you can make many different looks! This fashion originated from repurposing the cloth used to make sails and rope.

This might just be me buggin’ but 😳 Jade says the Coral Sea has high biodiversity, meaning when those animals and plants decay, they add a lot of minerals and nutrients that enrich the water. This makes rich, imami sea salt. I wonder if this is a reference to??? How the sea Ariel comes from is also very colorful and biodiverse, as we see in Under the Sea.

At the outdoor market, Malleus spots forks of a strange shape. These, Jade explains, are actually combs in the shape of forks. There is a legend about a mermaid that combed her hair with a fork because she had recently come to land, and at a time when her people and humans knew little of each other. She would go on to have a happy marriage. This is of course a reference to Ariel using a fork to comb her hair at dinner🍴(Jade also mentions the Atlantics Memorial Museum from book 3!! They have a replica of the fork the mermaid used on display.)

The market also has stuff salvaged from sunken ships! There’s precious antiques and things of value, but also tons of junk that can be refurbished or polished back up and made reusable again. This has to be a reference to Ariel’s grotto full of items collected from sunken ships!!! She has many things here, some useful, some not, but all interesting to her.

The people of the Sunshine Lands love song and music! An example, Jade gives is playing the flute on ships and the coast. You know who plays a flute??? ERIC. We see him playing one when Ariel sees him for the first time, as well as right before he spots Vanessa on the beach.

There are lots of clothes hung up to dry in the strong sun. There’s a scene in TLM where the maids of Eric’s castle are doing laundry!! Sebastian gets caught up in it.

The groom apparently works on ships and is quite familiar with the sea… LIKE ERIC.

The cove is the same as the one Eric and Ariel went in for Kiss the Girl!! Look at this neat new background and how they’ve nicely decorated it!!

The Eternity Float starts off with the groom gushing about the “first time [he] heard [the bride’s] name”. Definitely a callback to Eric guessing Ariel’s name on the rowboat 😭

Rook makes a thick fog by firing fire at water. Fog??? Like… THE FOG ON THE BEACH WHEN VANESSA APPEARS AND ENCHANTS ERIC?!!!!!?!?!

Riddle thinks to launch barrels at the bride and groom! This makes me think of when Ariel used a barrel to help herself catch up with the wedding ship departing with Eric on it.

Jade and Riddle get into a magic fight that produces fireworks. The couple reminiscence on the time they saw fireworks together. Fireworks appear over Eric’s ship on the night Ariel sees Eric for the first time!!

Malleus creates a mighty tornado with his wind magic. Is this maybe a reference to the powerful storm Ursula summons when she has all the powers of the sea at her disposal?!

THE BRiDE AND GRoOM ARE LITERALLY ArIEL AND ERiCCCCC (Side note: Jade leaping in his merform fr reminds me of that fucking leaping dolphin meme 🐬 which is funny because his fandom emoji IS the dolphin!)

The bride saves the groom by swimming with him to safety…! Like how Ariel rescued Eric after the storm at the start of the film!

Jade successfully capsizes their rowboat!! Similar shot to what appears in the film.

The event ends on a similar shot as the film too!!! 😭 The sea… the ship drifting out on it… the rainbow appearing… Even the font they use to write “The End” is similar to the font used for TLM title. This is setting off all kinds of nostalgia alarms for meeeeeeee 🌈

In Rook’s vignette, he and Malleus go fishing but catch nothing. Right as they’re about to leave, something snags on the line—and they fish up a fragment of a statue. They hear from a local that there is a sunken ship nearby, so it’s common to catch stuff from it. Rook is amused and wonders if the fragment once used to be part of a man with a strong will. This has GOTTA be talking about the statue of Eric that got busted up.

In Malleus’s vignettes, he practices maintaining balance while rowing. I don't think this refers to anything specific in TLM, but I'm thinking maybe it could refer to the scene where Eric's men are in those lifeboats during the storm and trying to keep afloat in the rough waves??

He has a voice line saying he would like to play violin at a wedding (and in the Sunshine Lands, they often take place on boats). We can see one of Eric's crewmates playing a fiddle on the night Ariel sees him for the first time!

Malleus also has a voice line about how they are many sunken ships at the bottom of the sea. This is pretty non-specific, but I'm sure all of us remember the film opening scene with Ariel exploring a sunken ship.

In Riddle’s vignettes, he mentions that a horse's demeanor can change depending on the handler. Then an incident occurs in which a horse gets spooked and runs off without anyone in its carriage; Riddle and Rook chase after it and are able to get in the carriage. With Riddle at the helm, they're able to get the horse to leap over a valley. THIS A NOD TO HOW WHEN ARIEL TOOK THE REINS TO THE CARRIAGE... and then she and Eric bolted off... AND THEN SHE GOT THE HORSE TO LEAP OVER A GAP.

In one of Jade's voice lines, he talks about how he used to look at the city longingly from the waters. JUST LIKE ARIEL... JUST LIKE ARIEL AS SHE SINGS PART OF YOUR WORLD REPRISE ON THAT ROCK AND THE WATER GOES SPLASH!!!!!!!

Finally!! In Jade’s vignettes, a storefront sells items imported from merfolk. Items include seaweed for fortune telling, musical instruments, and accessory cases made from shells, and seahorses with anemones on their heads. This calls to mind the general seashell accessories of the merfolk, musical instruments used in Under the Sea and the concert scenes, and Ursula's little potion ingredients cabinet + skrungly clients/prisoners.

He tells a tale of how he got caught in a whirlpool while chasing after something shiny that had fallen into the sea. Could this be a reference to Eric using glowing under the water to try and attack Ursula?? asjdhasdsalid I MIGHT BE OVERTHINKING THIS ONE AND IT'S NOTHING

Jade ends his vignettes by mentioning there may come a day where he “returns to the sea”… THE LITTLE MERMAID 2: RETURN TO THE SEA?!?!!

[iscdisc]

Casey has a very difficult time sharing things or people- LMAO

I really didn't want this to be a, "To Be Continued?" post, but I genuinely could not bring myself to finish the rest of this page (Nor the additional image that was going to make for it-),, I'm really exhausted and I don't have as much time as I used to to draw, so that doesn't help either,, I'm sorry y'all,, 😭 / Hopefully this comic will suffice for a while-! 🥲👍✨

Maybe some of you will pick up on it, but I was very inspired by the movie, "Orphan" (2009), which is a movie that I've seen numerous times / I really enjoy ! But the only inspiration that I took from the movie was the "Going to such extreme lengths for attention and sympathy-" part ! LMAO

I really want to do more ideas about Casey going to extremes for Donnie instead of the other way around- Both are fun ! But I feel like putting Casey in the spotlight more really helps explore his character in this context for me- You know? 👀👍✨ || Also two things that I wanted to bring up is: A. My inclusion of Karai and Splinter here ! They originally weren't going to be a part of this little story here, but then I remembered that I can draw whatever I want and so I decided to include them because I think they deserve to be a part of The Farmhouse Arc ! 🗣️🗣️ / And B. Mikey is a part of the story as well, I just didn't get to draw him yet,, 😭 So for anyone wondering where Mikey, is he technically is there, I just didn't draw him-! 🥲👍 (Also also, for anyone wondering what Casey used to cause the injury, it was a vice ! I didn't know that that was the name of that contraption until like yesterday- LMAO)

[cheri-cheri]

EN vs CN: Wildlight Chronicles Event (Caleb)

While the English translation of LADS content is definitely wayyy better than in MLQC, there are certain translations that I felt could have captured the original Chinese version more accurately. Let's have a look at some of the major translation differences in the Wildlight Chronicles Event:

1. Caleb's "Maturity"?

[ EN Version ]

Caleb: You're making me sound like a beanstalk in a fairytale. MC: Were you worried about not being taller than me? After all, it might make you seem less mature to me. Caleb: Was there ever a time you thought I was mature?

[ CN Version ]

Caleb: You make me sound like a spring bamboo shoot. [说得我像一根春笋。] MC: Back then, were you ever worried that you'd never be much taller than me and lose your dignity as a big bro? [你那段时间有没有担心过以后都不比我高多少，失去当哥的威严？] Caleb: When have I ever had the dignity as a big bro in front of you? [在你面前，我什么���候有过当哥的威严？]

The EN translation likely used "beanstalk" instead of "spring bamboo shoot" as the former is more common in a Western context, but this is just a small point.

The more significant difference is that the word "威严", which carries the idea of being dignified, stately, imposing and stern (think of the majestic aura exuded by royalty), is simplified to "maturity", which has a completely different word in Chinese (成熟). And as usual, the EN translation had to censor the reference to Caleb being a "brother" to MC 😂

2. Caleb's Retirement Plans

[ EN Version ]

MC: Caleb, you can be a farmer when you retire! Caleb: Workin' as a tutor, chef, and handyman... You already planned out my retirement. I'll be busy even as an old man.

[ CN Version ]

MC: Caleb, you might actually become an outstanding farm owner after retirement! [夏以昼，你退休以后说不定能成为一个出色的农场主！] Caleb: If I add this to what you said earlier about me becoming a tutor, chef, and handyman, you have already filled my post-retirement plans to the brim. [加上你之前说的家教，厨师和修理工，我退休后的规划已经被你安排的满满当当了。]

I find that the extra adjectives used in the CN version (e.g. "outstanding", "filled to the brim" injects more colour and vividness into their dialogue.

As a side-note, wouldn't you agree that the best post-retirement plan that Caleb could have is being a doting grandfather?

3. Casey's Chinese Name

[ EN Version ]

Caleb: The campsite manager said he named him Casey because the name's derived from a word that means "vigilant". Casey's always on top of everything, even catchin' field mice.

[ CN Version ]

Caleb: The boss of the campsite said that he gave Kuan Kuan its name because of how it oversees the wide field and can catch field mice. [露营地老板说，因为宽宽管得太宽会捉田鼠，所以才给它取了这个名字。]

Just a slice of trivia that Casey's name in Chinese is 宽宽 (Kuan Kuan), which literally translates to "broad broad" / "wide wide".

4. Caleb's Retirement Plans

[ EN Version ]

Caleb: I bought them because they're beautiful. also, beautiful flowers are meant for someone special.

[ CN Version ]

Caleb: Because they look very nice. And also because nice flowers are meant to be given to the person one likes. [因为它很好看。也因为好看的花要送给喜欢的人。]

To me, the phrase "the person one likes" comes across more intimate and direct (which is in line with Caleb's nature) than simply saying "someone special".

5. Bad and Good Results

[ EN Version ]

Caleb: There will always be a result. MC: What if none of them bloom? Will that still count as a result? Caleb: Yes, even if it's not what we're hoping for. Caleb: Regardless of whether the flowers bloom or not, they're the flowers we cultivated, protected and watched over together. Caleb: Even if none of them blossom, we can take what we've learned and plant new ones. Caleb: As long as you're willing to keep trying, our flowers will bloom someday.

[ CN Version ]

Caleb: Our flowers will bear results. [我们的花不会没有结果。] MC: A bad result where the flowers don't bloom also counts as a result? [开不出花的坏结果也算结果？] Caleb: Of course a bad result is also counted as a result. [坏结果当然也算结果。] Caleb: Regardless of whether it's a good or bad result, those flowers were cultivated by the both of us, protected by the both of us, and accompanied by the both of us. [但无论好与坏，都是我们一起耕耘，一起守护，一起陪伴过的花。] Caleb: Even if the flowers don't bloom this time round, we can carry this experience when planting the next round of flowers. [即便这一次没有开出花来，我们也可以带着经验去种下一次的花。] Caleb: As long as you're willing to keep trying, there will definitely be a time when our flowers bloom. [只要你还愿意继续尝试，我们总会迎来一次花开的。]

The CN version brings out Caleb's mindset towards results more clearly, where he sees purpose in the pursuit of something regardless of whether it ends badly or well.

Sprinkling in a little analysis: This dialogue is clearly layered, where you can replace the word "flowers" with "relationship" and it would be an accurate description of their pre-relationship dynamic. Caleb's tender care in cultivating the flowers, his patience in waiting for the flowers to bloom, having no expectations that the flowers would bloom (as we can tell by how shocked he was when the flowers actually bloomed), and him simply being content with being by MC's side is a mirror of what he has been going through so far with MC.

I also find it interesting that Caleb's says that the flowers will bloom someday "as long as you're willing to keep trying" instead of "we", and I'm glad that the EN version captured this accurately. Just like in his previous dates where Caleb holds himself back like the yearner he is, we once again see Caleb giving MC the space to take the initiative to make their relationship blossom. And she finally does that in the Floating Floraletter date ( ´ з `)🍎

6. The Little Assistant

[ EN Version ]

Caleb: It doesn't matter what role you pick after you retire. You'll still need your trusty assistant.

[ CN Version ]

Caleb: It looks like no matter whether I become a farm owner or handyman after retirement, I can't do without my specially hired little assistant. [看来退休以后无论是做农场主还是作修理工，都不能没有特聘小助理。]

This was unfortunately a mistranslation which changes the way this line is interpreted.

The official translation could be interpreted as Caleb wanting to become MC's trusty assistance regardless of what post-retirement hustle MC decides to take up.

However, in the original Chinese version, Caleb was actually referring to his own post-retirement plans and how MC is indispensable in his future.

⸜( ´ ꒳ ` )⸝ That's all for now! Thanks for reading and I hope you found this interesting HAHA

❀ Masterlist

[supercooljontimshipper]

Might get flamed for this I'm not sure

In my opinion Harlan went about the "content stealing" thing horribly. If you don't know 2 people were banned from discord and Patreon for making a discord server where they would put Patreon content in there. Harlan then proceeded to compare them to ai stealing artists work, which that is just a bit weird imo because there's a difference between stealing content and claiming it as your own and giving people content that was originally behind a paywall but that's not what I'm really focused on.

What I don't agree with is that Harlan proceeded to link the 2 people's accounts who made the server and publicly shamed them. He could have maybe just said that someone had done something like that and told people not to do stuff like that but in my opinion it was genuinely the wrong thing for him to do to link their account in his post and give them easy access to their accounts to possibly harass them.

Yes I get it, they did something wrong, but to publicly shame them and put an entire community against them for it is ALSO wrong.

[an-ruraiocht]

#hear me out but I feel the same way about martial arts movies

not only do i completely agree but this is also sort of what i was thinking about when i posted this quote of all the quotes in this article! (adding the link since this is the pre-edit version of the quote that's still circulating so doesn't have it, rip) except because i'm me i was thinking about it in the context of medieval irish literature rather than modern martial arts movies but one of my original tags was

#it's the ballet-as-clessa energies of it

which is referring to the medieval irish hero cú chulainn's martial feats/tricks which are basically incredibly elaborate things he does with weapons that are somewhere between juggling, gymnastics, and warfare. like he's leaping ten feet in the air and throwing around balls and apples and darts and also killing people. and these very elaborate tricks rely a lot of complex and possibly supernatural training to obtain

and when i wrote a modern AU fanfic of this a few years ago i decided to represent them by making him a ballet dancer, because it felt like something that best expressed both the athleticism and the grotesqueness at work in a lot of these uses of his body

which is why this quote spoke to the part of my brain that thinks about fighting and ballet and monstrosity all at once, mediated through the character of cú chulainn. and, probably like irina dumitrescu (who is also a medievalist), i think about monstrosity in the medieval sense of being beyond/outside of/transcending nature. monstrous is not automatically bad or horrible, but excessive and strange. things that are monstrous are Too Much, they are taken to extremes, they are everything with its sliders up to 11 to the point where it becomes abject. which is yes, a very accurate description of both ballet and also martial arts movies/performances

and indeed i can only think that cú chulainn would be a prime candidate for a martial arts movie. but in terms of body type i still think he'd be best represented if he were played by a ballet dancer. so if we could put a ballet dancer in a martial arts movie about medieval irish literature i think that would really bring us full circle here

Ballet, like opera, is wonderful because it is monstrous, the hyper-development of skills nobody needs, a twisting of human bodies and souls into impossible positions, the purchase of light with blood.

Irina Dumitrescu, "Swan, Late: The unexpected joys of adult beginner ballet."

[ephemeralinstance]

taking out the complexity

I have this hypothesis that at some point quite late in the writing process of Veilguard someone came in and pushed for the moral complexity to be taken out of the game. Because there are several plot lines which seem like they were potentially intended to be more complex than they ultimately were:

Isseya and the griffons. When I first played this I assumed that the punchline would be that she stole the griffons because she didn't trust the wardens with them after what happened - then deciding what to do about her would have raised interesting questions about war, sacrifice, the greater good etc. But instead there was this reveal that she was planning on blighting them, which makes no sense at all and feels shoe-horned in just to make it clear that she is Evil and Wrong.

Ivenci feels to me like they were originally intended to articulate the very reasonable point that it's not good for Antiva to be ruled by a group of unelected assassins - thus setting up an interesting chance to reflect on the nature of the Crows and the necessity of working with groups who do harmful things. But instead the Crows have to be the good guys so Ivenci is made into this weirdly cartoonish villain to make it clear that they are Evil and Wrong.

Relatedly, Lucanis' plot line feels like it was supposed to culminate with a reflection on his relationship with the Crows and the abuse he suffered, probably with the option to turn down being the First Talon and maybe even leave the Crows. But because the Crows have become the good guys this never happens and hence his whole arc feels quite inconclusive.

As this post points out, it feels like Emmrich's lich choice was intended to be darker and for the lich route to be genuinely a selfish option, but instead it's become this somewhat toothless 'dilemma' where both options are right and you never have to feel bad about your decision.

The initial ritual feels like it was a set-up for Rook to unintentionally do terrible harm while trying to stop the world from being destroyed, thus offering the opportunity to reflect on the dilemma that Solas faced in making the Veil and to understand the moral complexity of his situation. There is apparently even cut dialogue from the regret prison on this topic. But instead no one ever blames Rook and Rook is not allowed to blame themself at all, because they have to be The Hero in an uncomplicated way.

I don't know; it just seems to me that there are all these fossils of a more interesting game in there and they've been sort of clumsily written-over because some exec etc wanted the game to be less challenging or targeted at a younger audience or something.

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 7

Part 7 - Supporting character musings – other characters

As mentioned in Part 6 where I focused on the Eden kids, today I'll be discussing the supporting adult characters in SxF. Like with the Eden kids, I'm only going to be touching on a few characters who I think have the most notable things to say as far as the Japanese version.

Starting with Yuri, if you've ever watched the SxF anime in Japanese, you've probably heard him shout his signature 姉さん! ("Nee-san!") whenever he sees Yor, with 姉さん meaning "older sister." It's standard in Japanese for younger siblings to address older siblings with these kinds of terms rather than by their actual names.

We saw another example of this in the previous post where Damian calls Demetris 兄貴 ("aniki") which means "Big Bro." While it's normal in English for a younger sibling to call an older sister "Big Sis" or "Sis" or something like that, it's not something one would do as consistently as in Japanese. So even though Yuri only ever calls Yor "Nee-san" in the Japanese version, the official English manga will fluctuate. Sometimes it'll have him say "Sis" while other time he'll just say "Yor."

I can sort of understand this decision as it is less common in English for siblings to address each other like this all the time. Interestingly, the official anime subtitles are more consistent. I haven't checked every example, but it seems like they have him say "Sis" more often, at least in scenes where the manga doesn't.

When it comes to Yuri's nickname for Loid, in the Japanese version he calls Loid ロッテイ("Loidy" or "Loitte"). This originated from when Yuri first visited the Forgers and, in a drunken haze, demanded to know what nicknames Yor used for Loid, with this being one of two he "suggested" (the other being ロイロイ or "Loi-Loi"). Ironic how he ended up being the only one to use the nickname!

What's kind of weird is that the English manga translations have him call Loid the other of the two nicknames, "Loi-Loi," instead. Not a big deal as it doesn't change the meaning of anything, but still odd.

And of course, there's Yuri's nickname for Anya, チワワ娘 ("chihuahua girl"), which I discussed in detail in Part 5 if you haven't yet read it.

Moving onto Fiona, similar to Yuri, she has her signature term that she always uses for her "special" person – for Twilight, she refers to him as 先輩 ("senpai"). If you're into other aspects of Japanese pop-culture, you're probably familiar with the term "senpai," which is used to address someone who's your senior. It can either be used on its own (calling someone "senpai") or as an honorific (calling someone by their name+senpai). It's commonly used in school settings with students calling upperclassmen "senpai." It's used in work settings as well to address senior coworkers who are older than you and/or have been at the job longer. There's actually another example of "senpai" used in SxF – Yor's coworkers call her "senpai" or "Yor-senpai." They don't call each other "senpai," only Yor, which to me indicates that Yor has been working at City Hall longer than them.

Unfortunately there's no consistently good translation of "senpai" in English, at least not one that would sound natural to use in the same way as Japanese. Because of this, it's often omitted in English translations and replaced with just the character's name. Going back to Fiona, even though the English translations have her call Twilight just "Twilight," she always calls him "senpai" in the Japanese version.

Another thing to note is that, when she needs to be in her undercover role as a nurse who works with "Dr. Forger," she calls him 先生 ("sensei"), which is the term used for a teacher, doctor, or professor.

And lastly, I wanted to talk briefly about Melinda. Along with Becky, she's the only other reoccurring character to use feminine speech in most situations, which is defined by adding softening interjections at the end of sentences, like "ne" (ね), "no" (の), and especially "wa" (わ). It makes sense since she's a lady of high society, as well as being from a family of political influence, so she has a dignified persona to upkeep.

She also calls Yor "Yor-chan," with "-chan" being an honorific used among female friends. She called her "Yor-chan" fairly soon after they met, which shows how fond she was of Yor right away. Makes me even more excited to see what developments there will be for "Plan C" in the future!

<- Return to Part 6

[biscuitsofthesevenseas]

I have a theory about the Eternal Sugar update that is going to get disproven in about a month, but I'll share it anyway as there is a small chance if it being right. It isn't about the titular Beast, or Hollyberry.

It's that this person

And this person

Are the same person. And yes it sounds weird as heck because it is but HEAR ME OUT

1. It's basically confirmed that most of the paradise dwellers never originated from the place itself, which means Sugarfly is most likely one of them.

2. She quite literally alludes to her having a backstory and having "much to be grateful for". Now this could just be her being grateful for the paradise she lives in, but it could mean more.

But also. Look what happens to that NPC - who may be her past self. This girl was basically coerced into staying at the paradise because of ES's "blessing" which caused the creatures of Beast Yeast to viciously attack her. Of course, she never knew it was the Beast's plan and immediately went back to ES, calling herself a fool and basically pledging loyalty to the paradise in order to never feel pain again. It could be that this was just an interaction made by devsis to showcase ES'S uncorrupted form and nothing else, but there are a few more points I want to make.

3. Sugarfly is a very willing person. She does basically everything that is asked of her, even by Pavlova, when he is asking her to do his own job. She doesn't object or seem to have any personality of her own, apart from the obvious gratefulness she has. It could very much be that the event that led her here in the first place knocked all sense of individuality from her, and her sole purpose became, well really whatever ES, the maker of the paradise wanted.

4. This one is less psychoanalytic, but Sugarfly is a well, a butterfly. Known for being attracted to flowers, and she does introduce herself as the bringer of happiness of all things beautiful. And the NPC? Well the reason she wanted to leave the paradise in the first place was infact to check her flower garden. She obviously cared a lot about it, taking checking them over paradise.

5. Less of a point, but even though I know they look very different, it could be that everyone who lives in that place would have some drastic change in appearance, considering they have everything they could ever want. But also, the NPC was very injured when she came to ES for help, which means the Beast most likely healed her. This new form, at least some change in appearance, could be a part of that.

Anyways, that was a long post for a small theory. This update is actually pretty interesting in terms of characters. May be my favourite of the Beast updates. (I had a theory on Pavlova too, but I found it on tumblr already, so I'll only be posting this one.)

[darlingofdots]

Okay I usually try not to engage with bad-faith responses to my posts but unfortunately you caught me in A Mood, so here but for the grace of fucks go I:

Bud, I am not fucking American. That's an assumption you made. It's not my job to tell anyone how to vote in a US election, even though my job involves organising and promoting educational events about US culture, literature, history, and politics, which I don't talk about on tumblr because I believe in the separation of church and state, aka not doxxing myself on the account I use to post erotica on the Internet.

Secondly, you don't know anything about what people do outside of the very specific snapshot you get on this website. Believing that a person who doesn't post about, for instance, going to protests isn't going to protests is another assumption you're making. Even aside from the risk of doxxing, in plenty of political climates around the world attending protests or engaging in other kinds of political activism is dangerous. Or maybe people just don't want every single aspect of their lives to be saturated with noise about The State of the World! I've personally made a conscious effort to disengage from current events on tumblr because a) I don't have the spoons to factcheck everything I see and b) because I can't disengage either in my job or in my private life.

The point of my post is that, as a community, we have to stand together and not let ourselves be divided by outside forces. It's about solidarity. That's it. That's all I'm saying. I am not even going to say that there isn't a conversation to be had about effective activism, but like, if your response to my original post is to essentially accuse me of insincerity or not Doing Enough, I hope you find some hope to hold on to.

it really is all of us or bust btw. we cannot accept conditional acceptance of queer people, we cannot accept the exclusion of some in exchange for inclusion of others, it's all of us or nothing and we have to be so fucking clear about that. don't let conservatives or terfs or twitter discourse convince you that there's any other option. don't let them get away with it. we're all going to fucking make it and we're not leaving anybody behind

[taylorklosscomeout138]

UHMMMMM SO YALL.....

I originally was not very convinced by the discourse that the eye in Karlie's compact mirror reflection could be Taylor's

BUT......

THIS Volcano Anon was posted just 1 day prior to it and I simply cannot ignore how it doesn't say darting eyes, it says darting EYE, as in singular?!?!?!?!

"Almost like you could see me in your own reflection" and talking about sharp gazes bouncing off a mirror???

I'm sorry???? That's quite literally the description of Karlie's photo

There's just no chance this is a coincidence??

So I put aside my doubts and looked closer and I see what yall are seeing because

That absoutely does look like darkish blonde bangs at the top. Karlie's hair is completely out of her face and certainly isn't that color. I can't come up with anything else that part would be besides hair- and it's covering the eyebrow like shouldn't that upper part still be reflecting her skin / eyebrow if not hair?

It IS also possible that it is Karlie's eye and the message is just a play on them looking so similar which is how they got away with Eye Theory anyway. Perhaps it was meant to cause suspicion that it was Taylor's

But either way I am very confident the anon was about this exact picture !!

@spade-riddles just wanted to add a bit more analysis to this!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hihi Raven! Not sure if someone else has asked this, but what's your opinion on Lilia?He was quite low on your twst character tierlist so i was wondering if there was a specific reason(s) lol.I love hearing others insights and perspectives on Lilia since he is one of the most interesting characters in twst imo. 🦇

[Referencing my personal Twst character tier list!]

I originally had Lilia pretty high up (in the "like" tier) back in about 2022? I thought he was pretty chill and fun, an interesting contrast to the rest of Diasomnia, who come off as very serious or somber. But over time... I became increasingly annoyed with his behavior. As I state in this post, which documents changes in my feelings on the Twst characters over time, I still think Lilia's a far better parental figure than some of the other adults we've seen in Twst, but what really kills him for me is how overly lenient he is, specifically as it pertains to Malleus. Lilia's lapses in maturity no longer read as a cute quirk, they now come off as failures to be stern with those under his care.

One thing that really bothers me about Malleus is how he makes mistake after mistake but is never properly called out for them by the narrative. I'm not frustrated that he messes up (this is normal and expected for everyone because we're all imperfect!), I'm frustrated that Malleus doesn't seem to realize that he messed up most of the time. And if you're not aware of the issue, how can you target and address it??? I feel that part of this problem is because Lilia enables Malleus or doesn't fully commit to scolding him or taking the situation seriously when he really, REALLY should.

Back in book 2, Lilia tells Leona off for his underhanded tactics, calling him unworthy of the crown (and to be clear, Lilia has a right to be mad here, because Leona was literally threatening the health, safety, and wellbeing of his liege). However, where Lilia loses me is when he declares that Malleus is the noble and superior king when... ironically, we never see Malleus truly "lead" or even strongly express any positions on policies or governance. Lilia doesn't seem to hold Malleus accountable for doing any of his supposed duties either. I understand him filling in for Malleus at dorm leader meetings since he's often unreachable for them, but how come Lilia is handling so much of the dorm leader work, repeatedly makes excuses for Malleus not being there, AND fake cries and tries to shove the responsibility of finding Malleus onto other dorm leaders??? Azul is right when he says "What are we supposed to do, begin every meeting by searching for Malleus? This is HIS problem." Vil also rightfully points out that "Both [Lilia] and [Malleus] are making a mockery of this." Lilia ONLY begins to take the situation seriously when Leona and Idia begin questioning Malleus' and his royal status/how fit he is to rule. Why was he not concerned earlier???? If Lilia was REALLY concerned about Malleus connecting with his peers and making the most of his time at school, shouldn't he agree with them and push hard for Malleus to show up on his own???

I feel Lilia is extremely non-committal in that entire set of vignettes. One minute he's upset the dorm leaders "insinuated [skipping meetings] reflected poorly on [Malleus's] behavior", implying that Lilia disagrees with that take??? The next, he's telling Malleus off for "making excuses" and how he "ought to put more thought" into his conduct. Lilia even says that Malleus shares a fair bit of the blame and makes no effort to connect with his peers. But then when Malleus returns from a failed attempt, all Lilia does is laugh about it and not give him any proper closure or advice on what he can do better next time??? Which makes me think that all the times Lilia tries to advise Malleus now feel like just lip service. Where's the actual... I don't know, TEACHING????

That's not the only thing with Lilia. He frequently enables Malleus instead of properly showing him right from wrong (and yes, being TOO lenient is not great parenting). Instead of stopping Malleus from doing something drastic just to amuse some random ghosts that missed Halloween, Lilia joins Malleus, and this leads into the disaster that is Endless Halloween Night. He doesn't once think about how this would obviously worry the others, ESPECIALLY Silver (who legitimately got mad at Lilia for this prank)? Lilia is, quite literally, the only adult in the room and the guardian for Malleus while he's at NRC. He should know so much better than to pull off a stunt like this??? You can still have Halloween mischief, but maybe suggest something less extreme??? Or put up more of a fight when Malleus suggests it... Or be more sincere in your apology to the students you kidnapped... Something, ANYTHING.

And, worst of all, Lilia is always apologizing for or to Malleus while simultaneously also telling Malleus HE doesn't need to apologize for literally anything. Lilia tells him he doesn't need to say sorry for physically harming others, he doesn't need to say sorry for not controlling his temper, he doesn't need to say sorry for wasting his peers' time by missing meetings. Come ON, at least teach the guy to better control his emotions if you know how strong he is than allowing him to carrying on concealing?? (This feels like the kind of thing Elsa’s parents would do 💀) Malleus is NEVER held accountable for anything he does, he is constantly being coddled by Lilia as if he is an infant that needs to be shielded from any blame or fault. I think Leona really put it best when he tells Lilia that "[Malleus is] not some lost child. Quit treating him like one."

I think what made me fully realize that Lilia had gone downhill for me was when he was brought back from death by Malleus and Silver's combined love magic. What does Lilia do right after? He apologizes to Malleus. HE apologizes TO Malleus... for not realizing Malleus was lonely sooner?????? E-Excuse me???? 😭 Why is LILIA the one saying sorry when Malleus was the one intentionally hiding his own feelings??? Lilia cannot be expected to be a mind reader???? I get that maybe Lilia feels some responsibility for not accepting that others feel love for him (and therefore he denies Malleus’s affection for him) but the framing of the apology makes it come across as Lilia continuing to baby Malleus by shouldering all the blame for him after everything that happened. In turn, this is actually stunting Malleus and preventing his character from growing. This is so endlessly frustrating for me to watch OTL How's a lizard gonna learn anything if Lilia keeps creating situations in which Malleus is protected from any kind of responsibility, enables some of his prince’s worst possible aspects, and fails to teach him outside of frequent lectures about the importance of unity and understanding??? Obviously those methods aren’t working if Malleus has not changed a bit in his 3 years (which Lilia reports himself) at NRC.

For all that Lilia preaches about having Malleus expand his worldviews, Lilia sure is keeping Malleus pretty boxed in sometimes 😭 And for that... I, unfortunately, no longer enjoy him.

[emeldiir]

I saw a post from someone who was talking about how lesbians and bisexual sapphics have differences in what they are, not what they do, for example both lesbians and bisexual sapphics dating women and other sapphics is something we do together, but they then went on to talk about how a bi woman in a relationship with a straight man is not as queer as sapphics who are living within ‘queer relationships’

and while it is true to a degree that society has differences in how they treat and react to different types of relationships, i have to wonder, do you guys think that cis bi woman in relationships with straight men cannot have meaningful and DISGUSTINGLY queer lives (/pos) simply bc of their proximity to a straight man???

do you think these bi women cannot go out and participate in queer culture because of their man?? do you think that bi woman are chained into the position of lesser queer bc they have a straight male for a partner??? do you think that they cannot contribute to the health and well-being of queer communities??

the person who posted the original post which got me thinking about this also stated that it’s ’less a bi woman makes a relationship queer, and more a straight man makes the relationship straight’ and i cannot tell you how fucking upsetting it is to see the resurgence of this rhetoric, bc this is what gets bi women abused and killed.

our oppression as the bisexual community is not hinged on or limited to who we fucking date or how we present to society and i’m so tired of people assuming our queerness is based on the gender and orientation of our partners.

[avengerphobic]

memory care is a care home I took care of people from the day they were admitted to the day they ultimately died. death with dementia is no different than any other long term illness and while any death is sad dementia is not uniquely sad. idk why you assumed that I have not seen stage 3 dementia I am intimately aware of what that looks like because I have taken care of people on every step of the dementia journey and I've cared for some people from beginning to the end that's why my perspective is different

you misinterpreted the original post and then got mad at me for being like hey dementia is not that scary if you understand things about it and offered to teach you. like I am a dementia and alzheimers advocate in real life because of my experiences in senior care and I strongly believe that treating dementia like horror is not good for anyone like I cannot change your personal opinions but I can try and teach you to ease your mind because again this is what I do

idk why offering to teach you about dementia made me privileged and I think for the people you're around you should at least try to change your perspective about dementia. and again this post was about the genre horror which I made clear in my first reblog. and never once did I call you ableist I just said you would be better off learning about disabling illnesses so they're not as scary

sometimes you people will be calling things "Body Horror" when it's just how some people live

[hyperfixate-on-ninjas]

It’s been years yet somehow only now did I have a revelation with Lloyd having Lightning as his dominant Element when he had the Four Elements of Creation.

And it took @wanderingapathy’s post about Jay’s powers for me to realize that-

So like in Legacy of the Green Ninja- the first Element Lloyd learns to control is actually lightning. Though he summoned Earth, that was by accident. The first time they started training him, it was when they were training LIGHTNING.

Even then they were teaching Lloyd to control and suppress it so it fits the voltage of the Light Bulb. The reason why it kept exploding was because Lloyd didn’t know how to control how much voltage he was giving the Light Bulb. Aka he was adding too much causing it to explode faster. (High Voltage than a light bulb’s capacity causes it to explode quicker than one with Low Voltage.)

And I think that’s something Lloyd STILL does. From a Storyboard/Writing perspective of course they had to Nerf Lloyd a lot for the sake of storytelling. (Even though I highly disagree, you can make a character OP and still have them struggle.) but in lore it could be that Lloyd is also following the same tactic.

In earlier seasons we see that whenever Lloyd tries to activate his powers he actually has to charge them up, just like we’re seeing Jay doing cause he’s struggling to get a hold of his powers.

Over the course of the series, Lloyd’s energy projectiles gradually become more faster for him to shoot, to the point that in DR he’s actually spamming it against Ras.

Which could imply that Lloyd is suppressing the strength of his ACTUAL power than what he’s projecting. Time and Time again the writers, the show and the lore all tell us Lloyd is OP as hell but we barely even see it outside of projectiles.

But if it follows the same logic as lightning, where Lightning is actually a very powerful element that requires great control and suppression then Lloyd could be following Jay’s example and actually suppressing his powers to a more controlled state so we don’t have an incident like Jay blowing up the South Wing of the Monastery. (Though…where is the South Wing in the Monastery? Did Jay blow up a mountain???)

WHICH ALSO EXPLAINS WHY LIGHTNING IS LLOYD’S DOMINANT ELEMENT.

(I know Tommy says it’s not canon but I’m beginning to doubt that as of right now bro we’ve only see him actively use Earth and Lightning, Fire and Ice were kinda just…shown one time…and in the intro.)

(Also it kinda is a nod to the fact that Jay was originally going to be the Green Ninja.)

So yeah, basically the ones who know the real inner workings on how Lightning works is Lloyd and Jay. Yet one has amnesia and the other can only keep those lessons to himself. (I think the Ninja know the basics, but not like the full capabilities considering they’ve never actually wielded each other’s element outside of the ToS)