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siryouarebeingmocked · 1 month

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So there's this web novel called Worm.

[art source]

It's about a dark and edgy world that's full of superpowered folks, and which is, therefore, about three steps away from dystopian collapse. Many places are already there.

The story is about a teenage bullying victim who gains powers, and uses them to become a very dangerous supervillain, despite her best efforts.

And anyone familiar with the RWBY fandom may have just gone "wait, this sounds familiar. Are there a lot of fics where a main character gets an alternate power set?"

Yes, yes there are.

In this fanfic I'm about to complain about, Taylor gets an already existing power that's already broken.

Canon has "Path to Victory", which is almost literally just an "I WIN" button. It tells "Contessa" what she needs to do to succeed at almost any goal she wants. She's a big blindspot for people who can see the future.

Some powerful entities can't be accurately predicted, she can't predict how people will "trigger" and get their powers, and she's terrible in space.

Taylor has the darker, edgier little brother. Which is just an "I WIN" button, with no “almost”. It means she gets to do whatever she wants, and she’s a borderline sociopath.

Someone tries to mind-whammy taylor? Nope, doesn't work.

Contessa tries to use PTV.on Taylor? Doesn't work.

Look, this is obviously, transparently a stompfic. And there two ways to go with that.

ROFLSTOMP, or take it seriously.

Make it a humour fic, or focus on how the protagonist seems strange to those around them, and how they see everyone else as strange in return. Also how the protagonists actions affect various people and the system.

If you want challenge just give them mutually contradictory goals. The power can't do x without risking or losing y and certainly can't take care of z at the same time.

I read a Harry potter story which gave Snape the path to victory and the last published chapter was snape sitting in a bar trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. Looking back, that was probably meant to represent the author.

You can tell a good dramatic story with an OP protagonist. You just have to work harder.

This story mostly worked hard on setting up literally contrived situations so Taylor can kill someone in amusing fashion. And people's amusing reactions. That's the main selling point.

And of course the author and Taylor say that she has no more moral issues with killing. Because ROFLSTOMP.

In fact, one of the first things she does is literally stomp Sophia to death.

Taylor will still go after hard drug dealers because they hurt people, but she'll leave soft drug dealers alone. And of course she hates the local Nazi gang.

In short, she's a very selective sociopath.

So the story tries to mix both types, including with Sociopolitical Commentary™. It doesn't work very well.

At one point Taylor cracks a joke about tech Bros.

Fun fact: Worm takes place in an alternate universe where there is a very slim chance that they would develop that particular slang. A universe that is culturally very different from our own. In fact, I'm pretty sure the original webnovel ended before "tech bro" was even really a phrase.

And when Taylor kills the local Injustice League, she gets the bounty, and decides to donate it to the city. Specifically, she announces, the general public.

And in case anyone was wondering why it can’t be given to businesses directly, she says trickle down economics doesn't work.

Let's ignore whether that's true or not. Trickle down economics usually refers to tax cuts. Not handouts and bailouts. Also the phrase was popularized mainly with Ronald Reagan's tax cuts.

Note that superheroes and villains started appearing on record in 1984. Reagan's first tax cuts were in 1981. His second were in 86. By 1985 in the worm universe, the breakfast club came out with Nic cage as bender. Superheroes didn't go public until 1987.

So it's possible that the phrase could still exist in the worm universe.

But it does seem strange that a teenager with little interest in politics happens to use it. In fact it seems a lot more like something an adult writer from our universe would use.*

And besides all that, it's just getting one note. No char development. Even the people reacting to Taylor do it the same way.

I mean I knew this was going to be self indulgent Mary Sue nonsense from the jump, so I really have nobody to blame but myself.

*To be fair, precedent does exist in canon. There's a character called Nice Guy. He can make himself appear to be a non threat, or even socially invisible, even when people are actively trying to find him or he's slitting a throat. Which sounds a lot like the 2000s internet feminist stereotype of a nice guy. Ironically, the character concept was originally for a girl.

#fandom #worm #personal #fanfiction #long #writing

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writtenatdawn · 7 months

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Mistranslation

Word count: 482 words

I fixed my eyes on the painting in front of me. The confluence of colors makes up a picture of people gathering in a grand ballroom, beautifully framed in wood that has been intricately carved and lacquered gold. It doesn’t require an art degree to agree that the painting is breathtakingly stunning.

“It’s … people,” said a voice from my right, weak—just enough for me to hear. “But don’t get me wrong, the painting is clearly very great. I mean … turning blues and reds into a realistic painting of people? The painter must be madly talented.”

I chuckled, amused by Jaehyun’s commentary. “Exactly my thoughts, too.” He smiled upon hearing my remark.

“Right,” he then mumbled. “Sorry, I have my shortcomings with words.”

“No, no, that’s fine! I imagine I can’t even start to describe any of the artworks here for our report, not if I want to give them justice,” I quickly blurted. Jaehyun was going to burst into a fit of laughter, but decided to hold back.

“There goes our A, I guess.” Both of us giggled sneakily.

Him and I walked side-to-side to the next display. It consisted of two transparent guitar cases, one filled with cigarette butts and the other with capsules. The surface is covered with people singing and playing instruments—line art style.

“It’s filled with cigarette butts,” Jaehyun elaborated matter-of-factly, unintentionally mimicking a news anchor reading their script.

“And the other one is filled with capsules,” I chimed in. In an attempt to suppress my laughter, I settled for a smile.

I saw Jaehyun breaking into a smile himself, following in my footsteps. He raised his palm to put it on the back of his head. He fixed his eyes on the guitar cases in front of us, trying to decipher the meaning of the art.

“I’m quite sure it’s a critique on today’s music scene, but it’s hard for me to read beyond that,” Jaehyun sighed in defeat. “If you squint, I think it’s also an indirect barb at our campus’ band members who seemed to smoke all the time. Ah, whatever. What do I know anyway?”

“Don’t worry, your opinion is valid,” I assured him. While I meant every word, the manner in which I framed it was deceptive. Jaehyun laughed, most certainly due to his misinterpretation of what I said.

We continued our tour of the museum to look at numerous thought-provoking art pieces. Our brain is constantly aroused to contemplate and ponder in an effort to make sense of the art, but we constantly fall short. Perhaps the fault is in our limited vocabulary and understanding of all the finer things in life, or perhaps it’s the quiet talks of other visitors. However, my inner self suspected that Jaehyun’s disconcerting presence was to blame.

There’s only one thing that I know for sure. If it ever comes to it, I know I can attest to the last one.

[Republished to fit the updated blog post format]

#jaehyun #jaehyun drabbles #jaehyun one shots #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun x reader #jeong jaehyun #nct drabbles #nct imagines #nct one shots #nct scenarios #nct 127 drabbles #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 one shots #nct 127 scenarios

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crimsonxe · 7 months

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Rant below:

Dumbass on YT who has a record shitting on the RWBY has decided to do a vid where he says the community is responsible for the delay of greenlighting; because y'know people don't support AU's (and I doubt he means the good ones, instead likely thinking of "Ruining RWBY" type that are an insult to the show) or don't support sexualizing of characters or straight-washing characters. I guess everyone should continue to blindly support those people cause "fandom", instead of going "nooooooope".

Also while giving Miles credit for his voice work, making sure to put in a backhand to everyone else likely the female VA's; because ofc a piece of shit incel/neckbeard is going to do that. Which shouldn't be shocking cause iirc this neckbeard asshole has already taken shots at Barb and Arryn in the past.

The moron also thinks that rich vs. poor is a wrong concept probably in general but he's talking about the Atlas arc; y'know where it was repeatedly shown that such divide existed. But as usual this crowd doesn't care about that, just whatever bullshit they think matters or doesn't. And this jackass gives off the exact vibes one would think of from someone that takes issue with a commentary about poor vs. rich as a concept. Also directly mentioning Celtic thus confirming that the likely AU was "Ruining RWBY"-'s bullshit.

Keep in mind Ruining RWBY did:

faunus heat cycles

putting in shipping push for Velvet/Cardin

inserted in fanservice sauna scenes

brought back Roman in an asspull fashion and put him with Ozpin, even though there's not a shred of commonality between them

had Ruby blush towards Roman

Blake join what amounts to a police squad against other faunus (like people want to take issue with the show proper for its WF arc, this is an actual OOF on that front)

side-lined the main female characters to boost up male characters

fucking tries to redeem and boost up Cardin aka Mr. White Supremacist Douchebag

Like nah, fuck that shit. I'll keep shitting on that and any other disgusting ass fan-work that does certain things till the cows come home. I won't support a fan artist that makes wlw art, yet doesn't believe in irl same-sex rights; I won't support a racist, homophobic, sexist, and overall disgusting piece of shit like Celtic; or anyone else for the sake of "being a good fan" and "part of the community". Community isn't an accepting all thing and instead good ones root out the bad.

Anyway point is if you do searches on YT, ignore the one with Anime in the channel name.

#rwby #greenlightvolume10

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redley-of-many-noodles · 4 months

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Hello there,

Welcome to my blog.

I’m Redley. Relatively new to Tumblr still, but I’ve been finding that I’m comfy here. Though it still feels awkward (thanks, dysphoria), I prefer she/her pronouns. I don’t mind they/them, but… meh. Note that Redley is neither my legal or chosen name; it is solely a handle, and I will only tell you my chosen name if I feel comfortable with you. If I extend that trust, please treat it with respect. If you don’t, I will remember.

Here’s the main stuff I’m comfortable sharing or want you to know about me:

1) I’m transfem, but haven’t had an opportunity to do much actual transitioning yet. Dislike my voice, adore my hair. My luscious, glorious, flowing hair.

1.5) I am likely pansexual, but I haven’t done enough research to know for sure. All I know is, people are… well, people are hot.

2) I live in Florida, but was not raised here. The climate and scenery are nice; the local government sucks ass though. Also, I miss snow.

3) I’m a diagnosed autistic, falling somewhere on the high-functioning end of the spectrum. I’m on prescribed antidepressants, but have not been able to find a psychologist/psychiatrist yet because it’s fucking Florida.

4) There are a lot of things and people I don’t understand, but I’m always open to learning. Trying new food is a special passion of mine, and I’ve met some quite fascinating new people since starting this blog. (*eoughck* @potentially-a-poser *aucghk* @analogue-system *ahem*)

5) I will not tolerate hateful behavior. You will be immediately blocked for shit like denying any of the shades of aro/ace individuals as being part of the LGBTQIA+ community. If you see me spreading misinformation or saying something that excludes members of the community, please tell me. I’ll research the matter, as well as review any sources you send me.

5.5) okay so I think I’m demiromantic

6) I do not mind being tagged or sent asks or otherwise brought into conversations. People who abuse that will likely get blocked, but whatever your social anxiety is telling you probably comes nowhere near ‘abuse’ in my book. Anonymous asks are enabled, but that can likewise change if the feature is abused. Hate asks will be blocked, naturally.

7) I would prefer being asked before you directly message me. If you don’t, there is a possibility you’ll be blocked, but it’s not a guarantee. I don’t want me and my friends’ conversations getting buried by anything.

8) If you consistently and frequently post tiktok/reddit memes with little to no commentary, I may block you simply out of annoyance should you repeatedly show up on my dash. It’s not personal. If something about you makes me suspicious or uncomfortable, but not outright offended, I’ll most likely notify you of my reason before I block you.

9) Age: pick a number between 1 and 100 because it’s none of your fucking business. None of you are entitled to any of my personal information, regardless of the reason. I will share only what I want.

My Behaviors

There are certain things I gravitate towards or away from on this site. Here’s some:

1) I am most likely to follow people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, are mentally ill, or are dealing with some variety of personality disorder. This is mostly just due to the fact that I find the most common ground with those people. But even those who I have little common ground with, I’ll tend to find very interesting.

2) I don’t mind things like roleplay and hornyposting on my dash, but will almost certainly not interact myself, or make original posts in that category. More extreme examples won’t necessarily get you blocked or unfollowed, but… well, my filtered tags list may grow.

3) I don’t always tag reblogs. This may mean that my followers will see random things that caught my interest. It could be art, shitposting, tender affirmations, politics, or just goofy-ass Tumblr shit. If something I regularly reblog/post about bothers you and isn’t properly tagged, let me know.

4) I am discovering that maybe, I might, perhaps, be a little bit nosy. When I see someone receiving hate or suffering and stressed, I am likely to take it upon myself to do or say something to try to make them feel better. If I bother you with this, I will not be hurt or offended if you block me. In general, I will do my best to be respectful of it when people draw boundaries, so don’t hesitate to draw any you feel necessary.

5) If your intentions are pure, you will likely find that I try to be forgiving and/or understanding of your mistakes, at least in regards to interacting with me. (The /or is a very important distinction.)

6) I will often be attracted to dark, tragic, or dystopic works of art/fiction. I get a form of catharsis from such media, and some of my writing will reflect that.

That’s about it.

That’s all the important stuff I can think of, aside from tags which are at the end. Still, this post may be updated or rewritten in the future. In general, just be kind and open-minded, and we’ll get along fine. Even if you disagree with me, as long as you are civil and rational about things, I’ll likely have no problem interacting with you.

Be safe, and be yourself! <3

🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

My Tags:

#redley’s playlist - Some of my favorite songs!

#redley’s photos - Photos taken by/of me!

#writing - Writing related things and occasionally stuff I’ve made! (#poetry will also contain some of my work)

#let me just frame this one - My personal favorite posts by others. Put that right up on the wall!

#cw/tw: [content] - I will tag posts that I recognize may be disturbing to others with content warnings and/or trigger warnings. This way, you can filter content that may be harmful to your mental health to view. If a post is missing an important one, let me know.

#intro post #transgender #autism #writers on tumblr #lgbtqia+#demiromantic #queer #free palestine #🚗🔨⚒️💥#not really a part of any fandoms but i love browsing them. it’s very fun #fuck tumblr staff #fuck the us government #maybe if the site survives photomatt swinging his cock around i’ll upload timeline photos one day

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inventors-fair · 7 months

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Two-Faced Runners-up of the Halloween 2023 contest! ~

Congrats to @horsecrash, @real-aspen-hours, and @snugz as our runners-up for this week!

@horsecrash — Morphic Trickster

I'll be honest: there were two faerie-oriented cards in this pool, and I knew that one of them was gonna get up there and one of them was gonna also be praised, and I just think it's funny that we had two faerie transformation cards. Not surprised, but—well, to be honest, a little surprised. Let's take a look at this aspect! It's certainly a little more mean-spirited, but there's nothing wrong with some jerk faeries. The flavor text is spot-on for sure, and wow, Insects? That's a great choice.

The multikicker and the ability that comes from it is a great choice to really sink mana late-game or just make one problem creature a little pest, OR to give yourself some extra aerial advantage later when you gotta swing for it. The multikicker wording seemed odd at first but you used the right wording for that. With the changing part of it, Eccentric Apprentice says you can drop the "gain" off that ability. I think overall this is a fun, versatile card that plays into some mischievous aspects of its color/type that aren't super easy to capture. Unlike Steve, the Recently-TF'd Insect.

@real-aspen-hours — Amoeboid Gift

There are two main wording tweaks for this card. Firstly, I would make this an "as it enters" rather than "when," although I couldn't tell you precisely why. I suppose just for reaction's sake. Secondly, Arachnoform tells us that Embrace can be worded: "Enchanted creature gets +3/+3, has trample, and is every creature type." And also Reject should have "loses all creature types" after but whatever—those are some weird ones. The concept: solid. The card: really strong in limited and would probably be a bulk rare. The feeling: genuinely horrific.

I know that you wanted this to have the creature lose all abilities, and you know what, that would've made it a much stronger rare, but I want to focus on the strengths of this card. Besides being a slammin' good time for combat tricks and aggro Simic strategies, you nailed the art description and nailed something I wouldn't have thought about this card otherwise. I would've said that this was more of an actual-Simic card without knowing the thoughtless annexation of the amoeboid in question. I can see the gunk-drowned scream frozen on the soldier's face beneath the translucent body that is soon to become their body forever. It's grotesque and, like you said, deeply unsettling. Great show of transformation's complexities on a solid body of a card!

@snugz — Brazen Banner

Doesn't it feel good to go back to basics? This card's a pain in the butt and thank goodness it's not common. These days, you never know, but still. I think this card shows a little historicity and a return to Magic without being nostalgia-bait or pandering. Flagbearing is a pretty complex pseudo-mechanic as it stands. You gotta start somewhere, though, and the target is right there. The ability to block stuff implying that this thing sits back and takes the hits is kind of sad for it, actually. I feel bad for a creature that doesn't even exist yet.

And I would've liked to see more flavor here, honestly. Not necessarily flavor text, but: where do you imagine this card taking place? What do you see happening to this determined soldier? Are they proud to carry the banner? Does the banner stand unfurling in the wind? To be honest, I thought about the Tarkir banners, and a young warrior with their hands gripped around a pole so ancient that the wood is indented with other finger-marks of generations past. But it could be a makeshift rebel flag just as much, a hooligan's mark running through the city. What's it to you? What's the line between nobility and novelty? I'd like more of that—from every card that ever gets submitted, for sure, but here especially where the resonance feels just on the cusp.

Commentary's a-comin'! @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventor's fair #commentary #runners up #halloween 2023 contest

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madraleen · 3 months

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Bungo Stray Dogs - Season 5 A Laughably Long Commentary but how could i not! how could i possibly not!

-'m very excited to start s5, but also not so excited because it's the last one for now -.-

-i'm sorry, kunikida lost his hands?! i wasn't expecting repercussions. oh wait, we have yosano, nvm

-AHAHAH nikolai wants to kill fyodor?? amazing

-the human exceeding the gifted is ranpo, isn't it. i love you, dazai

-IF THIS IS AN EXCELLENT DETECTIVE WOULD HE PUT HIMSELF IN THE WANTED LIST, RANPO I LOVE YOU

-ranpo looks like a pleased cat

-bb atsushi crying at seeing the agency, my heart

-i want the agency to go feral, to fuck shit up after all they've been put through. fuck up the decay of angels

-oh no, we're getting too campy, too whimsical, too light-hearted, i'm scared for the flip

-no. NO. NO SAY IT ISN'T SO, SAY KAMUI ISN'T FUKUCHI! FUCK YOU BUNGO STRAY DOGS

-ATSUSHI, DON'T STAND AND CHAT, FUCKING RUN!

-AKUTAGAWAAAA, OUR MAN, GO HELP TIGER BOYYY. not port mafia always saving our asses, lol <3

-side note, i think this is a wonderful way to let ranpo make a mistake without compromising at all his detective capabilities. it fits his personality, trusting fukuzawa so blindly and naturally that he wouldn't question fukuzawa's loyalties - after all, throughout all of their time together, look at the people fukuzawa has trusted; they're nothing but stellar. but fukuzawa isn't a do-no-wrong deductive genius, so his lack of knowledge becomes ranpo's oversight, and fukuzawa serves as his blind spot. wonderful framing.

-AKUTAGAWA AND DAZAI PAST BREADCRUMBS! i beg, where's that backstory?

-i really like that atsushi and akutagawa run very differently, lol

-FOR FUCK'S SAKE, AKU-KUN, DAZAI HAS ALREADY APPROVED YOU

-eh? EH?! aku is ill?! how short of a time are we talking about?! and i was thinking of that recently, what happened with that cough that he used to have. wait, can we fix him? yosano?

-let me say that i am not expecting ANYONE to die at any point, not for real, so if aku-kun is dead, i'll have a proper freak-out

-AHAHA BRAM. the "vampires" part of the fukuchi movies was true then! i half didn't believe it

-aku-kun will be a vampire?! what does that mean?! well, i guess there's his lung diseased fixed, yay?

-"i know what you are, senpai." "say it. out loud."

-oh okay. aku-kun is vampire-eating people now. that might as well happen. i'm not scared at all, what do you mean

-this is such a mess, on every level, what are we gonna do, it keeps building up

-i hate it when i rely on mori-san, but damn is he reliable

-YES, TACHIHARA, GO WILD (and be careful)

-you know, as far time-traveling mindfuckery goes, which i'm never fond of, they explain it very clearly

-yes okay ranpo my love, we're saving the agency, but also our bros in port mafia too, right?

-tanizaki has a "O_O" expression in this meeting, and you know what, i feel him

-i believe in jouno, he's a bastard, but i believe in him :"(

-...i mean, good for me for believing in jouno, but things ain't looking good for disintegration boy

-as far as i know, the bsd manga isn't ending any time soon, so it's amazing to me that the enemies are so damn tough and the stakes so widespread

-EVERYONE HAS VISIONS OF DAZAI in their darkest moments, this man haunts them!

-holy shit, something dazai ACTUALLY didn't expect. i'm scared (*getting teleported out of his bubble)

-i think character designs are subjective, and whatever you vibe with, you vibe, and i personally really really like the bsd art. there's just something compelling about all of the characters

-i hate everything about nikolai's escape plan! i don't like us risking dazai's life and i'm sure fyodor won't die! well, dazai won't either, but I DON'T LIKE THIS. i am sigma and sigma is me in this situation

-why are bram and aya so sweet omg

-sigma is a newborn in a word of demons (yes, i am including dazai in the demons, how could you not)

-imagine being sigma and being pointed at by dazai. you lose your shit, on the spot.

-yes, dazai, protect sigma please?

-NO! NO! CHUUYA IS A VAMPIRE?! NO!!! why?! NO! DAMN YOU! FUCK YOU FUCK YOU ASKJSFKS

-there's me watching bsd like a normal person, and then there's me rewatching dazai's scenes a couple times just to REALLY see them, you know.

-i really like the use of dimensions, even if it's frustrating when antagonists use them.

-kenji-kun <3

-tetchou and jouno though

-dazai at sigma: "you're pretty sharp for a three-year-old" LMFAO DAZAI NO

-oooh, he's THE ATSUSHI-TYPE, that's why i like sigma! that makes sense

-aha. i mean. dazai is communicating with ango by manipulating his heart rate through a sensor. and ango communicates with dazai via the frequency and duration of miss stopping time. and dazai/ango/miss stopped time presumably after the nikolai incident, so that dazai could pop out to incapacitate the guards and change the passcodes. okay. does poor ango ever sleep? i mean, it makes sense! it does! but you also gotta roll with it a little.

-a demon. a menace. that's dazai.

-AKUTAGAWA APPEARING AMONG THE AGENCY MEMBERS IN ATSUSHI'S VISION, ARGH <3

-you know what's stupid, dazai has a way of making everyone 80% more interesting than they'd be otherwise

-yes, fyodor, i'm also interested in dazai's "shallowness of bond with the gravity manipulator," i think there's more to that part.

-i love seeing dazai not have an answer or not having calculated something, even if it's for a second (and it’s usually just for a second).

-i hate fyodor so much but i love that. he's an excellent villain and foil to dazai. i don't want him gone but also i REALLY WANT HIM GONE, but also really not.

-i thought dazai would fucking kiss sigma to give him air wth

-we're taking sigma to the agency after this, right? if he wants.

-oh wait, dazai has bandages over his ankles too?

-ahahaha, atsushi going "akutagawa, it's me, don't you recognize me," as though aku-kun hasn't tried to kill him fifty times. oh atsu-kun <3

-i'm sorry what, dazai's leg's broken? and he's bleeding? no no no that's not the deal, DAZAI DOESN'T GET HURT, REMEMBER, WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS, REMEMBER

-"dazai wins control over me" sigma, once again we're the one and the same

-i'm sorry, fyodor just stabbed sigma and i'm like, i love fyodor. i hate fyodor, but i love him, he's so VILLAIN, he's so good as a villain

-WDYM "our fate isn't to be done here" DAZAI, YOU LITERALLY LET CHUUYA DROWN!

-OKAY, story time. when ep 10 aired, my twitter feed was swarming with distraught bsd fans, which was odd, because i wasn't following or liking anything related to bsd. at the time, i was very emotionally fragile fandom-wise, and i knew i'd eventually watch bsd, and the collective meltdown of the fandom scared me so much that i was like "NO! NO I CAN'T GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN, I NEED TO BE PREPARED! I NEED TO KNOW IF DAZAI DIES!" note, i had no idea who dazai was, i just liked his face. so i clicked on a few posts. my takeaways then: 1) at the time i thought chuuya and dazai WERE the agency and was like, "wait, chuuya is a bad guy?" 2) i saw atsushi and kunikida and i was like "wait, there's protags in this show other than dazai and chuuya?!" 3) people having a major meltdown 4) people saying "there's no way they're dead" and 5) and i remember this comment very clearly, it said "aren't they immortal at this point?" and clueless me thought, "they're actually immortal? what are the stakes then?" to be clear, i went into the anime thinking they're immortal or would become immortal at some point. so. yes. i knew about this and i also knew they survive. but nothing more, no context. just the collective relief that followed. only, i actually remember seeing pics of atsushi and kukinida dead, which... it never happened, why do i have this memory? i probably mixed it all together at some point.

-FUKUZAWA, WHAT A CHAMP

-dazai-kun: has a stupidly convoluted plan to communicate with the outside. fyodor: i have accomplishes :3 eeeh, i don’t know. i don’t trust that he JUST had accomplices. It’s too easy compared to foil dazai, and also does it even make sense, and also would he even trust nikolai with such vital information

-LMFAO DAZAI WITH A LEG CAST and with clean face and bandages and clothes. WHEN. HOW. okay, hubbie, sure. this season is so deranged and preposterous and over the top, i love it

-bram would treat aya better than her own father, lbr

-CHUUYA ISN'T A VAMPIRE AND HE WAS WORKING WITH DAZAI ALL ALONG, HELP, HELP ME I LOVE THEM, HELP! THOSE IDIOTS! HELP!

-is someone actually dead? fyodor? and we'll never learn his ability?? idk idk, a hand doesn't make a corpse, and we did leave him with nikolai... iii don't buy it...

-DUDE the ending! the fukuzawa-fukuchi stuff, so sad, it got me, and then two hours later un-vamped aku-kun and atsushi fighting a new enemy?? who the fuck is that, what happened WITHIN TWO HOURS?! damn! i guess i'm migrating to the manga! good ending though, both a conclusion and a beginning.

-i'm so excited for all the material i've yet to discover though, like reading the manga and the spin-offs and so on, and eventually rewatching the show without the ASFKNKSLSG stress of the first watch. i'm excited.

#bungo stray dogs #bungo stray dogs anime #bungou stray dogs #anime commentary #and could you pretty please rerelease those pop up parades i beg #don't question the “aku-kun” part. i don't know what happened there but it stuck

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doom-nerdo-666 · 11 months

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When thinking of writing a post about why people tend to dislike Midnight, i had a bit of a thought: Just like SgtMarkIV/Brutal Doom, the hate can come from people that are usually uninformed.

A way to see Midnight is that he's more of a "side effect" and represents things that aren't unique to him (Specially if you look at other Doom related channels and see similarities).

I've seen him compared to MrBossFTW as if Midnight is the Doom equivalent to that.

He seems like a clickbait channel trying to exploit people that know less about Doom than he already does.

A recent example being him doing a video about Lilith PK3 and how his observation (If it's legit) can be comparable to that of how game journos (The group that Doom fans supposedly hate) talk about Doom mods.

(Because i don't think he even knows about the weird drama about that mod at all)

It's why DoomKid making a video correcting Midnight was a bit of a shocker: Both could be seen as representing opposite sides related to "Doom fandom".

But in general, a way to better understand this is by looking at 3 big points:

The Doom community and its history

I already made certain points in different posts, like differences between older and newer fans or aspects of certain activities etc.

You can read some of it here:

Random observations about the Doom community.

A specific Brutal Doom post.

Things that may've not exist if not for the fans.

Nerd/geek/fandom/whatever-you-call-it culture

I'm sure people are aware of nerd stereotypes in pop culture: The smart but socially awkward skinny guy with glasses with weird speech patterns and interests in pop culture, that gets bullied.

While they are exaggerated, they do have some truth in them (To the point some even say this outcast nerd aspect is what inspired Peter Parker, Spiderman).

So the "Funko Pop crowd" image seems different from nerds that get picky over how their favorite media is handled.

Might come from a place of what if means to love something so much: 100% blind love that you like anything associated with it or wanting "the best" for it that you tend to have standards like a parent wishing their kids get a better future and don't throw it all away.

Of course, some nerds will still have silly complaints over stuff but it also seems like some people find it easier to be nerdy in the "blind loyalty" way than making interesting stuff out of their passion.

Some also argue whether or not "nerd culture" is that obscure because something like Star Wars was always massive.

But it's still interesting to learn how subcultures change because it's not just a matter of newcomers but even the old guard can change too.

Internet content

When people discuss why "content creator" is a bad term, they usually include the angle from the corporations: How they treat artists and their art.

Be it corporations labelling different art forms as "content" or treating it badly even if the art itself is good and gave them some revenue.

But there's at least 2 angles we shouldn't forget:

The "creators" themselves because for all the talented people that deserve better, there's always those with crappy stuff or zero talent that somehow get to win at times.

And the audiences because some people tend to have really bad taste and in massive scales.

Youtube is a good example when you look at its popular videos and "personalities": A bunch of people with no actual talent or charisma "gamefying"/taking advantage of a system and the clueless audiences that watch them because they don't know better.

It reminds me of why a medium like animation got less popular:

First, there's specific rules from Youtube such as the 10 minute mark and how it relates to income, which was something animators barely could handle.

Then there's the fact that people like to play videos while they do something else as if they're background noise (This doesn't apply to just podcasts or commentaries).

It's probably not a surprise that some people who worked on more creative mediums end up doing podcasts or LP channels.

And then you have smaller channels doing the "don't forget to like, subscribe and hit the bell" etc part because YT essentially became a race of success and less about passion or effort into quality content.

Some say YT became more about personalities than content but even then, you can tell that James Rolfe still has a more interesting personality than Logan Paul.

One can argue that some people do rely on YT for the sake of money so "clickbait is needed" but i also assume that anyone who's super into Doom could just discover content on their own.

Another thing about modern internet is chasing trends or when everyone has to talk about what's currently popular, leaving little room for novel topics or creativity.

Anyway

Each of these 3 sections could've been better but i brought up some points that serve as food for thought, so any more interesting observations/opinions/even trivia could be reached from reading this, hopefully.

I doubt Midnight would ever find this blog and read this post... but at least he'd have more interesting material to use for his videos i guess.

#doom #fandom #opinions #long post

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supergirlarchives · 2 years

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Action Comics #284

Cover Date: January 1962 | Written by Jerry Siegel | Art by Jim Mooney

Read on DC Universe Infinite | NOTE: These commentaries are going to be very spoiler heavy.

Before going into this issue, I did want to mention that in the gap between the last issue I read and this issue, poor Linda Lee finally got adopted by the Danvers. Which is good, no more sad endings of Linda watching all her friends go off and have happy lives while she’s stuck in the orphanage.

The Supergirl story in this issue is called “the Strange Bodies of Supergirl!” and it’s all about everyone’s favorite Super random plot generator, red kryptonite!

(For those that don’t know, unlike green kryptonite, which weakens and hurts Kryptonians, red kryptonite affects them in random and odd ways, usually by causing some sort of temporary physical mutation. No two pieces of red kryptonite are the same, meaning that every time a Kryptonian comes into contact with a piece, there’s no telling what it’ll do or for how long. It’s a really easy way of putting your characters into some interesting situations.)

Right off the bat, we’re teased with a two-headed Supergirl. Strange bodies indeed. We’re also told that in the previous issue (which I wasn’t able to read) Supergirl already went through three transformations after being exposed to six pieces of red kryptonite, leaving three more transformations to go.

So to take her mind off of the dread of whatever impending body horror that’s in store for her, she does what any of us would do if we were waiting for our bodies to spontaneously and physically transform, she goes to the Midvale Fair. I’m not sure if going to a public, busy place would be my idea, but I’m not Supergirl.

While at the fair, Linda feels bad for the “carnival freaks”, such as “the bearded lady”, a woman with a hairy face, and “the human needle” which is literally just a really skinny dude. OOF, yeah sometimes poor aging of the cultural norms of the time period these books were made really smacks me in the face.

Moving on from that uncomfortableness.

Linda goes to the lady’s room to freshen up, and wouldn’t you know it, she starts tingling, which is usually the warning that a red kryptonite’s effects will soon take effect. And suddenly, POP! Linda has a second head.

The new head isn’t wearing a brown “Linda Lee” wig, making it easy to tell them apart. Also it’s a totally sentient being of its own, and very confused about suddenly popping into existence. Thankfully Linda explains everything to... I’m just going to call this new head “No. 2″

Linda wants to go home immediately so they’re not seen, but No. 2 wants to see the fair first because of course she does.

No. 2 gets her way, and they go back out to the fair. There’s a lot of staring and gawking, but everyone thinks she’s just part of the freak show and using a fake head. They get approached by the head of the freak show about getting a job, which they turn down. Then they get watermelon, which No. 2 absolutely loves.

After that they leave the fair and go window shopping. The two compare which hats in the window each like. No. 2 likes a hat with flowers on it, and Linda likes one with a feather. Really driving home that these two aren’t one consciousness in two bodies, but for real two wholly separate people.

Then Linda decided to show No. 2 their superpowers by burrowing a tunnel all the way to the Air Force base. No. 2 is astonished at their abilities.

Also while they’re there, an Air Force jet is passing overhead, but their H-bomb accidentally gets dislodged, which, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The Air Force is so shoddy that they just have hydrogen bombs randomly fall off their planes??

The Supergirls spring into action, catching the bomb and making sure to move so quickly that no one sees them, and takes the bomb to a remote desert where they safely detonate it.

I love how Kara is just showing off to No. 2 at this point.

It’s not to last, though. Almost new sooner were they done with the bomb that head No. 2 began to disappear. No. 2 pleads with Supergirl to save her, which honestly just seems so sad! It’s all for naught, though, as the head disappears. Kara is thankful to have her solo-head back, but says that she will miss No.2, thinking of her almost like a sister.

Honestly, that’s kind of messed up! A sentient creature just appeared out of nowhere and then died like a couple hours later. Red kryptonite is weird and traumatic.

Once again possessing the standard number of heads, Supergirl changes back into her Linda Lee disguise and returns home just as her parents return from an emergency trip to Europe. I wonder what the emergency was?

Anyway, some time later, Linda looks at the flower in her room and the thing instantly wilts in front of her. (There’s these brown lines coming from Linda’s eyes that are there to tip off the reader what’s happening, but I’m assuming that they’re not actually visible in-universe.)

Linda then turns her attention to her goldfish, who instantly dies in its bowl. And then the Danvers walk in and as soon as Linda looks at them THEY BOTH DIE ON THE SPOT!

SUPERGIRL JUST KILLED HER PARENTS OMG! That’s so horrific!

At this point Supergirl puts it together that this red kryptonite has given her “Fatal Vision”, which will kill any living thing she looks upon.

Distraught, Supergirl decides that the only thing she can do is to fly out into space and be alone.

She changes into her Supergirl outfit and flies out the window, accidentally killing the mailman on the way out, which OOF, poor guy.

When Supergirl gets to space she’s immediately met by Krypto, who’s probably like “hey Supergirl, let’s hang out.” But he can’t because KRYPTO IS NOW DEAD.

So Supergirl breaks down crying while she flies through space, proclaiming herself “The Most Dangerous Girl Alive.”

The narration then refers to Supergirl as the “Girl of Doom”, which, let’s be honest is a badass nickname.

The Girl of Doom decides that if all she can do is cause death, she might as well go to a planet that’s populated by evil monsters and destroy them. She heads to a planet full of “jet-propelled monsters” that look like spikey basketballs with angry faces and tentacles and lays waste to them.

After destroying them all, Supergirl sits down on the planet and begins crying about how much she loved her mom and dad and Krypto and how guilty she feels.

Then suddenly, Linda wakes up in her room in the Danvers’ household back on Earth. Her parents, her goldfish, and her plant (and presumably the mailman and Krypto) are all fine. That’s when Linda realizes that the actual effect of the red kryptonite was that it caused her to hallucinate the entire thing.

WHEW. Like, I knew that most likely Kryto and her parents weren’t actually dead, they’ve been around a lot longer than just until 1962, but still, what a traumatic hallucination!

At the beginning of the story we were promised (threatened with?) three remaining red kryptonite effects, meaning that we’re down to the last one, but let’s be real, what could be worse than hallucinating that you killed a bunch of people you loved and had to seclude yourself into the desolate, dark reaches of space?

Nothing could be worse, and thankfully they don’t even try to one-up that, instead ending with something fun.

Trying to take her mind off of the impending effect of the sixth red kryptonite piece, Linda turns on the news and hears about a drought that’s hurting farmers’ crops. So she changes into Supergirl and blows rainclouds into the region.

(And we’re going to ignore just how many things about this don’t really work and the implications of changing a region’s entire weather pattern.)

As Supergirl flies through the rain that she’s caused, the sixth transformation occurs, turning Supergirl into a mermaid! A SUPER-mermaid! Their words, not mine.

And since she’s a mermaid she figures she might as well go and visit her mer-friend Jerro, who lives in Atlantis.

While Supergirl’s traveling to see Jerro, we get a brief lesson about Atlantis, in case any of us weren’t up-to-date with it. Apparently, when the ancient city of Atlantis was starting to sink into the ocean, their scientists built a huge dome around it to protect it as it sank, keeping the water out and the air in. Then, years later they figured out how to change themselves into merfolk, and smashed the dome since they didn’t need it.

Wait. The merfolk of Pre-Crisis Earth-One DC were just humans that figured out how to science themselves into fish people? That’s... Huh. This is odd to me.

Anyway, Supergirl finds Jerro working on a marine-farm with his friend Lenora. Jerro is immediately smitten by Super-Mermaid’s beauty. He introduces Supergirl to Lenora, and the two swim off to show Super-Mermaid around, leaving Lenora alone.

(Side note, I love how they get around the “how does speech work underwater” question by having all merfolk be able to read minds and project their own thoughts into others.)

Then we start following Lenora for a brief time. She’s devastated to see Jerro so openly into Super-Mermaid. Lenora herself is madly in love with Jerro, even though she’s hid that from him (well there’s your problem).

Lenora follows them around as Jerro shows Super-Mermaid around, introducing her to people, taking her to a museum, until she overhears Jerro profess his love and ALSO MARRIAGE to Super-Mermaid!

Slow down buddy! You two were just friends like an hour ago! Kara is caught off-guard by the sudden proposal, and Jerro tells her that he knows that even though he telepathically learns that Kara is attracted to her friend Dick Malverne (hey first Dick mention... That came out wrong, and obviously I’m not erasing it), he’s still in love with her.

Super-Mermaid does the polite thing and tells him that she’ll have to think about it, but by that point Lenora has swam off, heartbroken. She goes and cries to her sister, who encourages Lenora be assuring her that Super-Mermaid won’t be staying long, and that Jerro could still learn to love her.

Bad advice, by the way. You really shouldn’t try to make people “learn to love you”. If you have to, that person’s not for you.

A little later, Jerro and Super-Mermaid are still hanging out, but Lori (Lenora’s sister) shows up and informs them that Lenora has run away (swam away? I’m... I’m not sure what the proper term is in this instance). Lori has a feeling that Lenora’s in danger, when when Super-Mermaid uses her telescopic vision to track Lenora down, they learn that Lori’s feeling was right.

It seems that Lenora has wandered into the the “Valley of the Hands”, which is a section of the sea floor with giant hands sticking out of the ground. What are those hands? They’re the hands of giants from outer space that invaded Atlantis but the giants sank into the bogs of the valley so deep that only their outstretched hands remain above ground. And also the giants are still alive, just trapped in those bogs for thousands of years.

...OKAY. That’s... That’s certainly quite the set-up for this random location that is shown in all of two panels. JEEZ. I kind of feel bad for the alien giants. I mean, just stuck down there? For centuries? I guess they don’t need food to live?

Setting ALL the questions I have about these giants aside, Super-Mermaid goes and saves Lenora from the Valley of the Hands, and as soon as she does the effects of the red kryptonite wear off and Super-Mermaid reverts back to Supergirl.

Now that Kara has legs again, she decides to it’s time to leave and promises Jerro she’ll think about that proposal (I’d be shocked if this was ever brought up again). Lenora is happy to see Supergirl leave, proclaiming that she may still win Jerro.

You um, you do that, Lenora.

Kara flies out of the ocean and as soon as she does she a piece of green kryptonite streaks by, hurting her, which confuses Kara a great deal since she thought she was invulnerable to green kryptonite.

Also Superman literally appears out of nowhere.

Turns out Superman was coming back from visiting the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century.

He explains to Supergirl that it turned out that Mr. Mxyzptlk had secretly given her superpowers, which is why Supergirl was invulnerable to green kryptonite for a time, but they’ve apparently worn off now, so it affects her again.

This is a really random thing to tack onto the end of this issue. I’m assuming that her invulnerability to green kryptonite came up in one of the issues I missed. I wonder if we actually saw Supergirl and Mr. Mxyzptlk interact or if this is just some random retcon to a decision the writers no longer liked. I might look into it, but I don’t currently know.

This issue ends with Superman promising that he’s going to announce Supergirl to the world, finally allowing her to step out of the shadows.

There’s a text panel next to this promising that this isn’t some sort of ruse or misdirect.

As Kara says, this is wonderful. Poor Kara’s been learning and practicing and doing as much as she can to help people, all while having to go through some effort to conceal herself entirely. I’m glad Superman finally came to his senses and is letting Supergirl have her day.

Which I sadly won’t get to read, as the next issue isn’t available to me.

Still, great stuff for Kara!

For my readthrough of past issues, this issue was the first appearance of Kara’s parents, the Danvers, as well as the first mention of her frequent love interest, Dick Malverne. I do wish I could have read the issue where the Danvers adopt her, but I am so happy that they did.

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innsjovide · 1 year

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some misc thoughts about modern horror (especially indie horror video games & internet horror [such as args and whatnot])

tw for discussion of horror topics obv and also my very biased opinions

[please note that my interests are usually peripheral to this stuff and I don't actually consume almost any of it, but I still have opinions on it bc I am an opinionated bitch]

rant under cut

it seems to me that a lot of modern popular horror media follows the same general trends and themes & that this has been happening for the past decade or so

those themes in question being 'sick and twisted horror under the guise of innocence'

this has always been an element of horror obv its not like fnaf invented the idea of making a children's thing creepy but its definitely had a rise in popularity in the past few years

in part bc of fnaf

and now you see it everywhere, its the most prevailing theme in modern horror media.

its in horrible steam games called 'bimbaps playtime' its in every new arg that comes out its in fucking yandere simulator its in everything you see and because its in everything you see there's nothing else interesting

and yes there are interesting things to do with this concept but when its all that's being done then the amount of things you can do with horror based on children's media

like I genuinely thing having horror based on children's media and this pretense of innocence limits the depth of theme you can actually go into bc ur limited by the aesthetics of 'childrens media but with blood'

bc even when you're twisting it into something dark and evil and horrific its still in some capacity got the trappings of children's media. it's limited by the fact its pretending to be something else and that's ugly

and its not like this sort of theme cant work well I mean. religious horror (which I am a huge fan of always) typically does the same thing but with jesus instead of chuckie cheese but idk it works better IMO there's more u can do

its like. we get it. the children's thing is secretly fucked up bc of whatever reason its seems like theres nothing there its just lame

also body horror gets extremely more lame when its a plush/puppet/toy/whatever instead of an actual human being with actual guts. miss me with all that symbolism shit it just doesn't pack the same punch

the inside of a build-a-bear will never illicit the same visceral reaction as actual legit intestines

[little side note obv horror doesnt need to be gory to be effective but theres something to be said about how the lack of actual violence against humans tones down the horror]

[little side note 2 I am mostly referencing the welcome home arg with this point and also fnaf and those are 2 separate things bc I'm pretty sure that imitation gore is not what the wh creator is trying to do with their story (their project actually seems pretty well written for this genre) and ik fnaf has actual gore but its lame and all kinda the same concept IMO (machine stabs u or whatever) also I hate fnaf and all the terrible things its done to this genre]

these projects seem to be lacking some of the things that make horror such an evocative genre. things such as themes. and social commentary. and things that are actually scary instead of just jumpscares

it all just seems so vacant and stupid and I also hate the culture around having to dig around for the actual secrets of a story. arg culture has done a lot for internet culture and unfortunately that is one of the annoying things. the actual plot of ur thing should not be hidden in ASCII art in the code of ur development blog

idk man I guess I just cant take ur horror concept seriously when the thing I'm supposed to be afraid of looks like a funko pop

the genre just seems so confining rn and I know that's bc this sort of stuff is extremely popular bc it appeals to people who want lighthearted stuff in addition to horror content but its just so fucking. lame.

horror for children is lame and bad. its too violent for children and too simple for adults (at least adults who enjoy actually thought out stories) and all the horror that's really popular rn is. pretty much just horror for children

TLDR

cj innsjovide is pissed off bc modern horror/horror for children lacks themes and stories bc its. for children. also fnaf still sucks

#innsjotxt #rant #not tagging with anything or the fandom bitches Will Get Me #these are very unfiltered unorganized thoughts if I'm still pissed off about this later I might continue it

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jeff-from-marketing · 1 year

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Oh hey this blog exists!

So Paizo just introduced a new ruling for Pathfinder 2e that allows players to effectively completely decouple stat bonuses from ancestries, letting players do whatever. Personally I think this is a great change for a variety of reasons, but this has brought up an argument that doesn’t sit right with me. Never has.

In short, it’s the argument of “stop bringing real world politics into my games!”

I understand where this is coming from, the world is a scary place sometimes and it’s nice to have a space to escape it all entirely. Though unfortunately this argument is often used by those who simply aren’t the greatest kind of people, and often have some level of bigotry or general bias against certain groups of people. But I’m not here to talk about that, not now at least.

No, what I want to talk about is the idea that media just simply should not have any form of politics in it what-so-ever. Now ignoring the fact that this stifles out so much potential for storytelling for a moment, you cannot have media without politics. Well, you can, but you’re probably playing Solitaire. And I’m sure there’s some cultural context there that I’m unaware of that someone could bring up and prove me wrong on that front.

See, the thing is: art and media are made by people. People have political views on things. People will often put those views into their work, most often subconsciously without fully realising, but also sometimes very much intentionally. People tend to create (and go to) media that aligns with their own ideologies. You’re not going to find someone that’s gay producing media that puts something like conversion therapy in a positive light for example. The thing is, media never became political, nor did it ever stop being political. People just don’t want politics that don’t align with their own politics being involved.

To rattle off a few examples (and probably preach to the choir a little)

Lancer, an RPG that heavily condemns capitalism, the concept of “infinite growth,” war, etc. But also heavily promotes full autonomy of your body, being allowed to do whatever you’d like with it. Including becoming a catgirl. This is canon.

Cyberpunk, both the genre and the Mike Pondsmith setting. I shouldn’t even have to elaborate on this, but it’s absolutely an indictment on capitalism and rampant consumerism, as well as being a warning as to what happens when corporations and the rich get too much power. Not to mention topics of transhumanism and the sense of self.

Star Trek, again I should not have to elaborate on this one. From the very beginning it’s been absolutely filled to the brim with politics covering so many different topics.

His Dark Materials, absolutely contains commentary against organised religion.

Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Rising, hell the former is all about espionage for fuck’s sake, and the latter has the main antagonist being a US senator who wants to Make America Great Again through war profiteering, and is again absolutely a statement on the military industrial complex.

Dungeons & Dragons, has one hell of a loaded political history if you look into it (satanic panic, anyone?) to say nothing of more recent controversies.

Fallout, do people really think the saying “War. War never changes.” is just there to sound cool? Seriously, not even going to question the world coming to an end through nuclear war? No?

Baldur’s Gate 3, has a whole thing involving an encampment of druids and tiefling refugees seeking asylum.

Divinity: Original Sin 2, once again going against organised religion.

The Witcher, I should really only need to bring up the elves to make my point here, but there’s a lot more than just that.

I’m going to stop there for the safety of my own sanity, but hopefully you get the idea. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but even just this small list spans roughly 60 years, I probably could go a lot further back if I took the effort to do so. Media didn’t suddenly start becoming political, and media won’t stop being political. Because all media is political. To truly think that should not be the case, is to say we should not have art.

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lesbian-choso · 1 year

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If i was more bothered I would figure out a way to write this more eloquently but I’m not bothered so I’m just going to talk about something that’s been on my mind.

I find it bleak how easy it is nowadays for people to just reject the idea that the stories they consume have any sort of larger meaning at play. That there was any intention at all, no the creator just made something fun, and if they don’t say it themselves and if it isn’t just obviously written out then it doesn’t exist. Given that I’m going to be talking about Chainsaw Man in particular, it’s so sad that the author said himself that he didn’t want to spoon feed the audience, and yet here we are in 2022 with the manga adapted into an anime with millions of people arguing online that, hey, maybe the curtains are in fact just blue because the creator likes blue! And if you think any differently, not only are you “pretentious” for finding meaning in the text, but its an attack that I take personally.

Like for example how are you going to read Chainsaw Man, and read about the Gun Devil, one of the main antagonists for the first saga and not think there’s any sort of meaning behind its inclusion. As a response to devils existing, the US had an increase in gun usage which resulting in an increase in fear of guns and much unrest and protesting, this led to a terrorist attack in the US involving guns, which then triggered the appearance of the Gun Devil as fear is a source of power to devils. The Gun Devil went on to killed over 1.2 million people by its speed alone as it moved across the planet.

While we are told that many devil hunters dream of killing the Gun Devil, it is revealed later that it has essentially already been defeated, yet this is unknown to the public. Countries like the US, the Soviet Union (as this is set in the 90s), China, and such have all divided up the Gun Devil’s flesh, owning certain percentages of it. And it is specifically stated that the US President in this world has a contract with the Gun Devil where they’ll receive power in exchange for offering it a year off every American citizen’s life.

Like surely, surely, there is no larger meaning behind this. Surely fantasy doesn’t reflect back on our own reality but with more exaggerated fantastical elements to make the message tangible. Yeah, no, it’s apparent that the plot surrounding the Gun Devil is commentary on gun usage in the US within our own reality. Don’t you think it’s a little on the nose that the president is literally selling the lives of Americans for power, and that regardless of how large these massacres get that involve guns that the president still values them above their people? You could even say the percentages of the Gun Devil shared between countries reflects further upon our reality with the militarisation of these countries and the hoarding of atomic bombs.

I mean even if you don’t get this far into the manga, even something as simple as devil hunters making contracts requires parts themselves to be consumed in exchange for power and to keep themselves alive in their job. Like that’s clearly a small aspect of how Chainsaw Man comments on work, as they are literally being eaten alive in order to keep working. And I think it really sucks how even if, say, by some horrible miracle that the creator Fujimoto didn’t intend for any of this and this was all my interpretation, who cares? Authorial intent isn’t absolute, your interpretation of what things mean is just as valid as if the author confirmed it themselves.

I don’t know how to end this all, just that I’m tired of people online that think everything stops and ends at whatever a creator puts on paper and spells out to you in size 36 Arial font. While I understand the urge to just want to consume content for fun, I feel like at some point you really do need to just use your brain, you can’t go your whole life consuming art mindlessly.

#chainsaw man spoilers

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jaypturnerbhm · 4 months

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Gay Dads of Birmingham 2.7.2024

Last night at Gay Dads of Birmingham I tried a new format for our conversation. I usually have an outline drafted with some commentary, quotes, research, and discussion questions. It's a great way to guide our conversation but can sometimes restrict our conversation.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I pulled together a bunch of quotes on singleness and relationships, put them in an envelope that we passed around the table, and every guy pulled out a quote, read it, and then we discussed it around the table.

The format and material made for a REALLY great conversation! Every person had a voice and everyone was so engaged. I will definitely use this format again! Here are the quotes that were in the envelope:

I’m not alone. I’m with myself. And I’m fabulous. – Eva Longoria

I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone and not defined by another person. – Oscar Wilde

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. – Oscar Wilde

Being single used to mean that nobody wanted you. Now it means you’re pretty sexy and you’re taking your time deciding how you want your life to be and who you want to spend it with. – Carrie Bradshaw

I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude. – Henry David Thoreau

Love yourself first. Because that’s who you’ll spend the rest of your life with.

Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be scared to like it. – John Mayer

If you aren't good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you'll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren't even giving to yourself. – Barbara De Angelis

You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody. – Maya Angelou

I don’t need Prince Charming to have my own happy ending. – Katy Perry

Love that stammers, that stutters, is apt to be the love that loves best. — Gabriela Mistral

We cannot really love anyone with whom we never laugh. — Agnes Repplier

“It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.” — Hermann Hesse

“Be honest, brutally honest. That is what's going to maintain relationships.” — Lauryn Hill

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." — Lao Tzu

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

“The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.” — Ernest Hemingway

“To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow — this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

“To say that one waits a lifetime for his soulmate to come around is a paradox. People eventually get sick of waiting, take a chance on someone, and by the art of commitment become soulmates, which takes a lifetime to perfect.” — Criss Jami

“You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you.” — Bob Marley

“Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.” — Bob Marley

“Love is an endless act of forgiveness. Forgiveness is me giving up the right to hurt you for hurting me.“ — Beyoncé

“When you take care of yourself, you’re a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better.” — Solange

"People should fall in love with their eyes closed." — Andy Warhol

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." — Marilyn Monroe

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." — Emily Brontë

"I'm much more me when I'm with you." — Unknown

#gay #gay man #gay dad #gay love #gay dads

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inventors-fair · 1 year

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Basic Type Commentary: Discoveries

As I learned, and by that I mean as I sorta figured out without actual consequence, the flavor/mechanics love is hard to balance. Cards like Loam Lion are suave and cool and mysterious to me; you got that mechanical bend but also, like, the lion gets to hide in the woods! That’s really cool! And...there’s also the mechanical ones straight-up, which encourage deckbuilding restrictions, but those are a different kind of fun, and... I think I should’ve asked for more of the former but I’m glad that I got all these good designs regardless.

Like, this week was GOOD. Very few mechanical stumbles. It does kinda suck when you have some cards that are functional but not exciting but still REALLY good, because talking about them is different than evaluating them. Y’know? They can’t be evaluated in the same way because they’re already really awesome, so they end up just being good on their own and that’s about it. Still, the nature of this contest allowed for that open-endedness; what else could I have expected? I’m still quite happy to be talking about the cards I enjoyed and tweaking the things that need tweaking. It’s all fun.

JUDGE PICKS are cards I want to commend for one reason or another, that either had a specific cool aspect or just missed the cutoff.

@0woah — Contracted Excavator

Interesting name and concept you’re working with here. I would definitely caution to make this rare, because, I mean, Ragavan’s a strong little monkey as is (and, like, this isn't even comparable, just so we're clear), and even at this cost the ability to run a mono-red deck with all Mountains and this is incredibly strong. Still, I gotta say: this is a real solid submission. I’m viewing it through a rare lens all the same. The ability to exile-steal your opponents’ best cards or at least prevent them from getting their shenanigans is pretty crazy.

I think I see the flavor, too, but this is one of those utilitarian cards; I’m doing commentary out of order so I think I said something similar below. Regardless! On the flavor front, sure, dwarf mercenaries checks out. Good use of the type with the mechanical synergy. The dwarf mines, and whatever they find is yours. Awesome. In limited, this could be a really strong utility card if not a half-decent attacker, and once you up the rarity we’re pretty good. Notes: It should be “Mountain card” for the activation, and I would word it: “Choose target opponent. Exile the top card of that player’s library and the top card of your library. You may cast those cards this turn, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast those spells.” You don’t need “in hand” for this.

@batatafilosofal — Flood Away (JUDGE PICK)

In a mono-blue deck, this thing’s a heck of a slog to get through. I’m a huge fan of big swingy bounce-like cards, but wow... All the same, though, this has a unique way of getting around that by having the big things come in first. It’s a shame that your opponents’ permanents will enter the battlefield before yours—unless they’re all small and your stuff is pretty big. Which, well, speaks for itself. What a strange card. I think I want to veer away from flavor-specific critique here because it’s clearly a general-magic utilitarian card, and that’s totally fine. The art could speak for all of that.

The question is then, with the math and whatnot, if this is a little too headachey for standard, or even for limited, and I love this card but I gotta say, a zillion counters and upkeep triggers and a return to suspend in standard? Not sure how I feel about that optimistically. What I will say, however, is that this card’s definitely great in digital. On Arena, you cast this card, and beep boop everything’s out of the picture. I have a vehement disdain for Arena, but I have a soft spot for places where human error would make things worse. Perhaps this card has a home. Also, you can remove that second “each” from the first ability, I believe.

@bread-into-toast— Peak Performance

I’m curious why this wasn’t an “until end of turn” or “until the end of your next turn” here; Occam’s razor, that was an oversight, but regardless. Quite a strange little thing here. I think the wording that you were going for and the ultimate execution may have, well, needed more words, like those weird milling-recursion cards they’ve been making lately. I think I see what you were going for generally: double-impulse type of common, with an extra land grab. Fine enough! Not egg-in-an-avocado good, but fine enough.

I’ll admit that the flavor text is making me grin. This isn’t a flavor-based contest, so people are probably going for a little more of a natural what-follows kind of vibe, which is totally cool! Silly for the advantage. You know, it’s a shame that this card only gets Mountains. It’s basically unplayable or at least really frustrating in a two-color draft archetype. Perhaps this is suggesting more of a constructed lean or a monocolor format, Pauper-burny, and I feel that. The limited player in me is seeing this as a fifteenth pick almost all of the time. I ain’t about to complain when I get advantage’d out by the 16-mountain burner, y’know?

@deg99 — Llanowar Purist

Is there precedent for two replacement effects like this? I mean, I grok it, but wow. This card can be absolutely bonkers. In a casual mono-green Elf deck, having each basic Forest put a COUNTER on each Elf you control?? Good lord. I wonder if this card would be better served as a core-set or DMU-type staple, because in a type-matters environment where Elves are one of the draftable archetypes, this is pretty strong. Hm, all the same, you have to build around it kinda hard. But in constructed? I dunno, I feel that you can make a strong Elf deck even stronger to the point of it being almost out of control. But maybe not. I think I’m worrying too much about blowouts from my days of Felidar Retreat. And this is kind of a more limited Felidar Retreat.

I’m overthinking it. Powerful? Yes. A staple? Eh. Good in limited? If you can make it work, I suppose. Elves and the rest of ‘em make for hard archetypes but the environment can change that. By itself, this card’s speaking to a more constructed means, I think, but could work for limited. Nothing wrong with cards like that overall. It’s not immediately evident but it’s not asking to be so. Getting even one other Elf out would make things work pretty well, so I’m going to say that, just like DMU, this would be totally fine. Oh, right, and as a grammar check: A basic foRest is a land. A basic foRRest....you know what, there was a joke here, but I'm electing to omit it. Point is, one R.

@halfsilveredmirror — Vantress Waterwheels (JUDGE PICK)

Good news! There’s only one card I could immediately see with which this goes two-card infinite. You, my friend, are tempting fate. What on earth! This is a beast of a card to get down for making blockers and tappers and mana dorks even better. What else?... You know what, it doesn’t have to do anything else. Clock of Omens was broken, and this card is less so, which is genuinely awesome. It’s asking for infinite combos, of course, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles, and there’s no specific archetype around which to build, AND it takes up mana resources, so that’s great.

Maybe this card’s even bad! Hold on. I mean, like, if you’re in limited, and you try to make this card work, and it’s the one you draw when you’re dead on board, it’s gonna feel REALLY bad to draw it. Like, astoundingly bad feeling. I love that. It’s a card that asks a lot of the player to make it work. Simple, powerful, great for looting dorks. I will say that the flavor text is pretty weak here. Waterwheels making kinetic energy isn’t exactly surprising, so the “reveal” you’re going for doesn’t land for me. I dunno, just not feeling the payoff.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Scuttle

You know, I’m not sure why this one didn’t wow me. I think the simplicity is fine, and the card plays harder the more Islands you have, which is fine, even though it’s almost always going to be a strictly better Mana Leak in the late game—but, it is an uncommon after all. Limited is gonna be fine with it, as it can vary depending on the environment and there’s nothing wrong with Force Spikes. Maybe that’s it: the most I can say for it is that “there’s nothing wrong with it.” And we do need cards like that, cards that could even be great in scenarios where now we have Mana Leak-but-better in Pioneer and whatnot.

The flavor is a little off. Sirens dashing hopes and dashing ships is a violent act of enforced luring, and perhaps this is the place where the ships (spells) are destroyed, but the flavor text’s description feels...like there should be another party? I don’t know, I think that it’s probably fine—with a different name. Scuttling is the act of making holes to sink the ship, cutting away, sometimes deliberately to your own vessel. It’s a subtle/non-telegraphed act of espionage by two equal parties, which doesn’t come across here for me. Now, I was thinking about crabs, and the flavor text of a possible reprint where crabs eat their way through the bottom of a boat, making a hole to sink it—and that’s the slightly less violent version than the “dashing” here. Verb choice matters.

@just--a--penguin — Garden of the Eidolon

How exactly does the dragon come into play here? Perhaps in the art direction, but who knows. Greek mythology is full of possibilities. First things first: I like the flavor format. Also, how does a land get inspired? Could’ve used a little more substance. I assume the eidolons are the ones tending the gardens. Do the gods need to eat? At least on Theros, I thought they were supplemented by the belief of their people. No matter. Tirezius still has fruit, so maybe I’m talking nonsense. At the end of the day, this card is fine, but I wouldn’t pick it highly in any format. Also, how does a land get inspired?

I guess third things third, this card should be uncommon? It’s a pretty great ramp spell and fixer, but that’s been done at common before. The mana not emptying feels like it’s upping the complexity; maybe this could be a three-mana uncommon? Either way, it’s not a bad card, but it’s lacking a little bit for me. Going back to it, I think the flavor text could’ve used a little more oomph.

EDIT: Something strange happened to the copy-pasting of the commentary here, so I have no idea what else to say beyond this. I think in the end I went with a rant about rarity, mana emptying, questioning myself and how mana works, and then I asked Maro something, and then I made popcorn and drove to catsit. Bottom line as well was that this card is nigh unplayable even in limited at this cost and rarity. Needs other substance and focus.

@misterstingyjack — Stonybrook Tideweaver (JUDGE PICK)

Oh, well that’s weird—but I guess either great minds think alike or great workshops produce cool results. The merfolk Island-love has always been there but I haven’t thought about it much until now! I really like the mechanics of this card. It’s asking a little bit of the board, but it’s an effect that, given the state of the board, I can imagine people trying to make work, and having it work well. Tap a merfolk, then get your High Tide. Wording-wise, I believe “until end of turn” needs to go before all that because most MTG cards like to end on a clean .” at the end of their rules text when applicable.

I don’t think playability would be affected in either limited or constructed. This is a card for Merfolk players to have fun with and to boost their archetypical decks. I like the specificity of it. The flavor text feels good conceptually but reads oddly to me. The second part being its own sentence makes me... Oh, no, nono, dangit, now I REALLY want this to be a rhyming couplet somehow. Look, I’m not going to figure that out, but I’m tasking you with it now. This is your burden to bear. The tl;dr of it is that having that sentence makes it feel stilted after a period and, like the river, it could use smoother flow.

@nine-effing-hells — Ire of Stones

You might want to double-check and hand-enter your reminder text, because “another Mountain” is cute flavorfully but doesn’t need the ‘nother’ up in there. Still, I feel this card and I feel what you’re going for. This one is weird and I really like that drawback for it. For this contest, I feel that this is exactly the kind of card that I was hoping to see at the concept level: it interacts with the card type in a manner that shows a flavorful caress. Did I ask for that specifically? No, but what’re we gonna do at this point, right?

The title “ire” is a little off, but as for the rest of it... What can I say? This card’s cute. It could be fun to get your Goblin Guides in early and then, when they die, you get some untapped lands. I doubt you can go infinite easily with these things, so that’s all fun and fair. Instead, you have a beater, and that’s all we can ask for. Hm, I wonder how this contest would have gone with monocolor cards that care about different land types... In retrospect, that might have even been better, but you know what, I’ll give it another year, assuming I have the time and energy for this, heh. It’s a beater, it’s sensible, it’s fast, it’s not too powerful, I like it. Fair’s fair.

@real-aspen-hours — Slip Under

So yeah, let’s assume a rare here, heh. Mechanically, I think that there’s nothing wrong with either part of this card. The wording on the first ability could be “Creatures you control have ward (2)” for ease of access, so let’s assume that. This card is a limited stranger, an odd duck, because it kind of forces these two colors, but if that’s what works, that’s what works. I would have liked more of a flavorful connection between them, because it’s fine as it stands and I appreciate the multicolor bend, but I want that little glue there.

The real glue that’s missing is what the name represents in terms of an aura. Intangible concepts aren’t easy, and perhaps with cards like Find the Path and Annex I have less ground to stand on, but verbs as aura names rub me the wrong way—or at least I feel that it doesn’t fit as well. Maybe the creatures are slipping under? But then, why would one slipping-under action result in the ward, and then another be phasing out? I would rather have a specific flavor name that referred to the protection granted by the act of enchanting this land that made the sacrifice effect more sensible. Oh, yeah, before I forget: card’s still pretty great! Fun to abuse all your little creatures for a boardwipe.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Seeker of the Thousand Ways

Gah, long names that look awkward, my old nemesis! ... Gah, cool mechanics involved in combat, my other nemesis! Ahem. Anyway, this card’s hella cool. I think that it speaks for itself, and I think that “You may play that card this turn” would be a better way to word it and has appeared before, but that’s a small quibble. Should the exile be a may ability? Eh, no, maybe not. I also really like the idea of scrying both cards to the bottom and then flipping an even more unplayable card off of the top. That would happen to me for sure.

It’s also quite an archetype you’re asking for. Three-color possibilities actually feels...kinda cool? It makes me wonder if they’d reprint the DMU duals—and how many times have I mentioned those now? I don’t even want to count—for those kinds of specific shenanigans. Maybe just a couple, maybe just enemy pairs. Either way, no, yeah, it’s a totally fine card. The name really does leave a bit to be desired, though. Seeker of the Way was certainly a card, and this callback feels almost...funny, or at least an attempt at a joke rather than an uplifting remembrance to me. Still, could just be me.

@spooky-bard — Tarpit Ceratops

Like a fossilized dinosaur skeleton, this card feels cool but a little too sticky. The explore archetype in limited was a strange one to say the least, and in constructed—well, wasn’t there some crazy-ass lifegain deck going around? Am I the only one who remembers that? I might be going crazy. Anyway, this card groks, but the pieces that want to go together don’t quite have that backing for me yet. Referencing cards revealed through another card’s exploration means that this card is kinda dead a lot of the time, no pun intended, and a four-mana 3/3 menace is super cool but not awesome. The archetype could work well by putting THIS into the graveyard, and that’s all cool.

I dunno, I’m just not sold yet. I do grok it, I promise, and I know that it should adhere. There’s nothing specific that I can point to that makes me hesitate. If anything, I’d say that it’s the ambition of it. There is indeed a fair amount of ambition taking place with the question of what gets revealed, and you know what, I want to commend you for trying something new on that front. Small actual note, the “it” on the Swamp clause there? It reads like it’s referring to the Swamp and that’s pretty confusing. And shouldn’t it be “is” revealed?

@stupidstupidratcreatures — Kor Ambusher

This is certainly a Kor. You know what, I’m actually a little surprised that there wasn’t a card named this already, and I could have sworn that there was. Ah well, learn something new every day. So! Mechanically, yep, that’s a warrior, it’s suggesting an RW warriors archetype, it’s a cool white card, and it gets to break a little chunk of a the pie without actually breaking anything. That much is all fine.

For contest terms, this card’s pretty insubstantial? The lack of art direction and flavor text mean that the ‘generally good’ mechanics are all we have from it. This card feels like something in the slot of a set skeleton. And you know what, if you’re building a set, there’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s understandable why this card would exist. It just means that there’s not much to say about it beyond the fact that it’s...good. Perhaps the nature of the contest meant that that was more of the mechanical bend, but all the same. Afraid I don’t have much more to say, cap’n.

@wolkemesser — The Soilsmith

The reasons why Yedora specifies “nontoken” are numerous, but in general, the face-down restriction is the more important one. The Soilsmith retaining name, mana value, and abilities means that going infinite and abusing sac outlets to basically get unkillable lands with static abilities is...rough. It’s rough! I think it’s inadvertent, but you made a magnificently busted card here. In Limited, this is the card you have to build around and win the game with, and in constructed—I’m thinking Commander—you aren’t going to make any friends here. Besides, it counts ITSELF. Which is disgustingly strong.

I know that Obsidian Fireheart is cool, but that reminder text wouldn’t be as useful as just saying that it remains after The Soilsmith isn’t on the battlefield or whatever. “Rotting” implies decay, and this is permanent. There are...quite a few quibbles with this card, and I do still want to say that it’s a cool idea, but wow, no, it’s mechanically broken. Win some, lose some.

One of these cards, IMO, fits next week’s prompt perfectly. Which one?

-@abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #commentary #general commentary #basic type contest #inventor's fair

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