piracytheorist - Tumblr blog

[piracytheorist]

i think what’s on a person’s nightstand is very telling so reblog this and put in the tags the things you have on your nightstand

[piracytheorist]

No see results option, I'm forcing you to perceive yourself. rb for more results plus

[piracytheorist]

Do you think any of the Forgers believe in ghosts or have a fear of the supernatural?

Anya is part of a supernatural force, courtesy of her mind-reading powers. And she's a child, so she definitely has some kind of belief or fear of something related. I wonder what kind of nightmares she might have and whether she has the instinct to run to someone for comfort after she's had one, cause she most likely didn't have someone to comfort her after one when she was in the lab or in any of the orphanages. Maybe the scientists drilled into her the thought that nightmares aren't real and there's no monster hiding under her bed or her closet.

She probably believes there are aliens and the kinds of monsters she comes up with.

She's like, five, and her imagination runs wild. And again, she herself is a result of human experimentation and has a dog that can see the future, so her imagination limits are probably even broader than the average five-year-old's. But I don't think she has a particular fear of ghosts or anything. Again, maybe the scientists took that fear away from her and maybe not in the kindest and most supportive of ways.

Twilight is a very logical person, and I doubt he believes in anything he cannot see or prove for himself. Even his own feelings are a difficult concept for him to grasp. Shameless self promo of my time loop fic, in which upon his realization that something supernatural is happening to him, he doesn't think "OMG magic is real! What else, am I gonna see ghosts or whatever?", instead he goes like "Okay, how do I work around this".

He's also a spy, putting himself in danger and dirtying his hands to create the world he wants. He doesn't seem to believe in a higher power or benign force that could help him in his mission; if he wants a better world, he has to work for it himself. He also probably doesn't fear of any divine judgment, I doubt he'd be able to do as much morally questionable stuff if he feared he'd be judged for them in the afterlife. He may not even believe in afterlife, period. How would he deal with the idea that, if judged for his actions, he wouldn't get to see his mother again in the afterlife?

As for Yor, she might be somewhere in the middle. Like Twilight, she took it upon herself to rid the world of dangers; she isn't expecting from a higher power to help her. No-one protected her and her brother when they were innocent, so she might as well dirty her hands to protect her brother, because what kind of a higher being that didn't help them when they needed it would have the footing to judge her for that?

That said, I wonder how accurate the translation of that line of hers is here. Cause here it sounds like she will be punished (by whom? Some higher power? The Shopkeeper if he finds out?) for thinking about harming an innocent person.

In the manga translation, it sounds like just by thinking of hurting an innocent person, she could jinx it and actually cause it to happen... or that if she thinks about it too much, she'll somehow end up convincing herself she should go ahead and harm Fiona?

In any case, she might lean more towards thinking supernatural things could happen, but it's not something that concerns her on a day-to-day basis. I don't think she fears of anything supernatural... if nothing else, because she might be confident enough she'll be able to fight off anything with harmful intentions. Gurl was absolutely ready to fight sharks if needed, I wouldn't doubt she'd be able to kick some ghost and demon ass no problem. I doubt she fears of divine judgment either, but unlike Twilight it wouldn't be because she doubts it exists, but because she concerns herself with the present and protecting what she cares about now. Future her can worry about that. And then kick the ass of the deity or demon punishing her for committing murder on the regular because excuse me sir where were you when me and my brother were two starving war orphans? Yeah, thought so.

(anime only here, don't spoil me for the manga)

[piracytheorist]

If you were an NPC, what three phrases would you say when interacted with?

I'd probably have a lot of my traits stripped and the first words out of my mouth when interacted with would be "Can I help you?" but genuinely. After that, on the opposite end, it would probably be something like "It's getting late" because I wouldn't handle being out for too long and interacting with people, lol.

I can't think of a third phrase, but I'd certainly be humming a tune or singing a song while standing aside. Whether my character was busy with something or I was just chilling, chances are some kind of melody would be coming from my way!

[piracytheorist]

I've got 8 open invitations, if someone wants one! It can immediately grant you an account, without having to wait in any line! You don't need to write any story of your own, there are plenty of people who make accounts just to read and comment, maybe even bookmark if you want. Hit me up if you want an invitation.

About the AO3 "No Guest Comments for a while" warning

If you're not following any of AO3's social media accounts you might be in the dark as to what kind of "spam comments" have engendered this banner at the top of the site:

These spam comments have been posted about a great deal on the AO3 subreddit for the past couple of days. Initially they comprised a bunch of guest (logged out users) bot comments that insulted authors by suggesting they were using AI and not writing their own fics. Some examples, from the subreddit:

But it then escalated to outright graphic porn images and gifs being posted in comments, again by logged out 'Guest' accounts. Obviously, I'm not going to give examples of those, but between these two bot infestations, AO3 has clearly decided to act and has temporarily closed the ability to post comments for users who are not logged in with an AO3 account.

Unfortunately, this means that genuine readers who don't have an AO3 account won't be able to leave comments on fics that they enjoy.

If you are a genuine reader who doesn't yet have an AO3 account, I strongly suggest getting yourself on the waiting list for one. More and more AO3 authors are now locking their fics down to registered users only - either due to these bot comments or concerns about AI scraping their work - which means you're probably missing out on a lot of great stuff.

Hopefully guest commenting will be enabled again at some point soon, but I suggest not waiting until then. Get yourself on that list.

Wait times are going to be longer than usual at the moment, due to the current Wattpad purge [info on Fanlore | Wattpad subreddit thread], but if you're in line, then your invite will come through eventually.

Update: There's now a Megathread about this on the AO3 subreddit.

[piracytheorist]

Is there a scene in the Spy x Family anime that you wish was in the manga, or vice versa?

Hmmm... honestly, I'm quite satisfied with what I've been seeing so far, considering I'm one of the very few that go anime-to-manga instead of the opposite. It's always a surprise when I read the respective manga chapter of the episode I just watched, and to see that something was added in the anime.

Of course, my top favourite addition is the over-the-top Loidman adventure in episode 5. However, I don't believe it misses from the manga; it's just as ridiculous (affectionate) as it is, the anime simply took advantage of its animation perks to bring it to a different level. Similar is the scene of Yor bringing Anya's gym clothes to her, I even remember watching it and going like "I wonder how that goes in the manga" and being surprised that it was an original part! Again, in this part, there was a lot of focus on the over-the-top action and movement, something that the anime can use much more easily.

So I don't think I have an anime-only scene that I miss from the manga. As for vice versa, I wouldn't say it's the lack of a scene, more like how they make some expressions less... passionate.

In the manga, Loid here looks nearly desperate, surprised, out of his depth. In the anime, his expression is more neutral, more reserved, like he feels more confused than anything else. And the point of that moment is for him to actually feel out of his depth, until Yor offers a helping hand.

I'd dare say this is one of the worst offenders, if not the worst offender. I understand why the anime team avoided showing Twilight too worried for Nightfall, as they probably feared it would make audiences think that Oh No Twilight Doesn't Love Yor Because He Showed One (1) Iota of Care for Another Woman!! Is Nightfall Gonna Break Them Apart???!... which, let's be honest, is a totally valid fear to have. Endo makes it crystal clear that Nightfall has no hope as a romantic rival, but audiences can be really thick and stupid, especially when it comes to (even potential) love triangles.

Still, that "neutering" of his expression takes away from his characterization. Twilight is a deeply empathetic person, and seeing Nightfall so upset makes him truly worried. He is Nightfall's mentor and whether he has control over it or not, he cares for her feelings. And this can happen platonically, for the love of fuck, romance isn't the only nor the holiest of connections a person can have with someone else. So for the sake of "protecting" the audience's secure feelings for twiyor, they ended up making Twilight look like an ignoramus.

Again, I get it. But I can love twiyor and have my Twilight be empathetic towards people that aren't his wife or daughter, you know?

Another, subtler but still striking change. Look at that worried eyebrow in the manga, we only see half his face yet we clearly see how touched he is by (what he thinks are) Bond's motives. In the anime, this is really dulled down. It's only the barely visible blush that makes him look a little touched.

Overall, I believe the anime does a great job translating Endo's expressions, from the emotional ones to the subtle ones to the ridiculous ones. But if I were to be asked, I'd change those examples (there might be a few others, but these were the first that came to mind) and make them closer to the manga.

There are, however, a few changes in the pacing that hit the spot perfectly right. One example I'm thinking of is from Chapter 35/Episode 24:

In the manga, it's straightforward. Loid sees Yor's reaction to what happened, he's thinks of his mother, and he shares the memory with Yor.

This gif was sped up to fit in the gifset I made, but notice how there's pauses for Twilight to go from one expression to the other. There's even one moment of him looking to his bottom right, and there's a very interesting correlation to lateral eye movement here.

Per this graph, he's remembering a feeling/sensation. The feeling of calmness he felt in his mother's presence.

The anime takes time to show him go from realizing that Yor feels bad, to feeling guilty himself and wanting to placate her worries, to remembering his own feelings about his mother, to wondering if he should share that memory, to deciding to share it.

So I feel the anime team knows very well what they're doing, and they respect the original material enough to make additions that bring the story and characters to a whole new, precious level. But, I don't doubt that they're terribly overworked and underpayed, so sometimes things can slip through. I don't blame them, in any case.

Not directed at the asker, but if you feel like shitting on the anime, this is not an invitation to do so on my post. Make your own and leave me out of it.

(Anime only (or anime first?) fan here, don't spoil me for the manga)

[piracytheorist]

Random Post-reveal domestic shenanigan 🤡🤡

[piracytheorist]

A white kangaroo. Nothing special apart from that this was taken in Finland.

[piracytheorist]

bring back tumblr ask culture let me. bother you with questions and statements

[piracytheorist]

cuddle bugs

[piracytheorist]

[piracytheorist]

Twilight

[piracytheorist]

給朋友的圖

太久沒用水彩了，還失敗重畫了一次

[piracytheorist]

Oh Ethan always so stubborn

[piracytheorist]

Going back on my tags and remembering the time I lost my shit when a previous blorbo sang his mother's lullaby to his daughter, in a scene that established his love for her even though she'd come so unexpectedly in his life and turned it around...

If Loid sings his mother's lullaby to Anya I am going to completely fucking lose it. AND IT CAN BE DONE. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S ON TV TROPES BUT IT IS A TROPE AND WE DESERVE TO LOSE OUR MINDS OVER IT. ENDO PLEASE I AM BEGGING

(anime only here, no manga spoilers please)

[piracytheorist]

Chess Allusions: Pawn Parallels

Rogers: “So you can use [her info] as leverage against [Belfrey]?”

Weaver: “Well that’s how this game works, Detective.”

Talking in the park, Weaver and Rogers both want the information that Tilly knows, the kind that causes Victoria to feel threatened, enough to blackmail Weaver with Tilly’s imprisonment and some CCTV footage of his misdeeds. Although both detectives covet finding and questioning Tilly for what she knows, their motives differ. 

Weaver has a “means to an end” approach, valuing Tilly only when she can be useful in his schemes. His selfish nature sides with his freedom and power over her wellbeing, and he’s okay with that. Tilly might be his informant with the ‘best eyes and ears in Hyperion Heights’, but at the end of the day, she’s replaceable, someone worth losing if it means he gains a stepping stone in the long game against taking down Victoria Belfrey.

Rogers: “Is that all this girl is to you and Belfrey? A pawn? Then why don’t we split up, since one of us actually wants to help her?”

But to Rogers, who doesn’t even know Tilly at this point, he sees Victoria and Weaver’s game as something where people win at the expense of somebody else and goes into full papa bear mode. Rogers wants to help Weaver as a partner and wage justice against Victoria, but not at the cost of using Tilly. He sees Tilly as a vulnerable person caught in the crossfire of a game they didn’t even know they were playing, rather than a soldier in a chess match, and wants to talk to her on equal terms. 

His opinion of Tilly being a bit off kilter but innocent at heart only strengthens when Weaver, in the hospital, unexpectedly pardons her of assumed criminal charges, telling Rogers an obvious lie about a masked robber being the one who shot the gun. Upon meeting Tilly outside of the hospital room, Rogers sees a confused, distraught, and guilt ridden young woman playing a game of chess alone. He tells her the facts with a kind opinion, “Look, you weren’t in your right frame of mind. He doesn’t blame you.” They build up an acquaintance and the budding start of a camaraderie over chess.

However, this all changes when the monster that is Gothel/the fire nation arrives Eloise Gardener gets into the playing field. Victoria and Drizella play cat and mouse, Weaver uses Tilly in a game of lies, and Rogers tries to make sense of things, inadvertently rescuing Gothel, the big bad spider.

Rogers to Weaver: You lied! And you made Tilly lie. Why did you do that?!

Weaver: Because you don't know what's going on around here... But I did it for one reason: to protect you from your bloody self.

(gratuitous physical violence scene bc I love the dynamic)

What Rumple could mean by ‘bloody self’ could be that Rogers lets his temper cloud his judgment first before he goes seeking revenge on/fighting for justice for those who deserve it most. I think that's where Rumple sees the most Killian come out from the supposed "Eagle Scout" detective, stubborn and determined to stick to his guns until he gets to his desired conclusion, which in this case is finding Eloise Gardener (Gothel). 

Rogers defends Tilly, despite only meeting her a few times, going so far as to bodyslam Weaver as he confronts him. However, he loses his respect for her after finding Eloise, where no explanation could outweigh the cost.

Rogers: What do you want?

Tilly: To say I’m sorry about the page. Weaver said it was for the best and I can’t always figure that out for myself.

Rogers: Take a look at what he was covering up. Now tell me, was that for the best? You know what? I understand. I’m just disappointed. You weren’t the person I thought you were.

Rogers is a man of many things, holding grudges being one of them and being rational in the other. The blonde informant had gone so far as to even lie to him about Eloise, dead of all things. As much as he wanted to forgive Tilly, he didn’t know if he could.

At the end of the day, in Rogers’s mind, Eloise needed help, rescue, and emergency aid, something that only happened because of his deep obsession with finding a missing girl from a cold case. And Tilly deterred him from saving a life, unintentional or not.

Roni: “Henry told me about how Weaver used that girl, Tilly.”

Rogers: “Well, it seems to me like she wanted to be a pawn.”

Rogers feels his trust was betrayed and remains disappointed in Tilly. He saw Weaver being a shady bastard from a mile away, but he didn’t expect her to be complicit in Weaver’s dirty schemes. He wanted to believe Tilly was the kind of person who questioned whatever she was told and made her own path on decisions like he did, not so easily roped into following plans, especially ones of slimy bastards like Weaver. If Rogers saw Tilly as an innocent victim of society before, moved around like a pawn, he feels wronged in his judgment and probably thinks she was content to be a sheep to Weaver’s mysterious whims. 

Who was he to believe she could be more than a pawn when she chose to be one?

Luckily, Roni was there to whack the obviously menacing poisoned cake from his hands and knock some sense into him.

Regina as Roni: “You know, people only let themselves be used when they don’t have any other option. How about you give her one?”

Tilly, even if a marmalade sandwich was needed as incentive, had been willingly helpful to his case. The only moment she hadn’t been was when she was under Weaver’s thumb, someone she had known and trusted like a father figure, unlike him who was a stranger in her eyes. People came and went from the older detective’s team, knowledge of informants and detective partners leaving frequently unless they had a special skill set or blackmail hanging over them. If anything, she wasn’t fully to blame.

What Tilly and Rogers can't see until it's too late, being cursed and all, is that they are good natured people afraid of getting hurt, wanting to help others, but unfortunately victims of manipulation, of those with ulterior agendas that use them as playing pieces, making them no better than pawns. 

Roni was right. People like Tilly wouldn’t let themselves be used like pawns if they didn’t have any other option. She had been brave enough to show up to the crime scene to apologize to him in person after what she did, not caring about being forgiven, and he hadn’t even given what she had said a second thought. Knowing Weaver, Rogers would have concluded that the old bastard probably didn’t even give her the entire picture and used her good intentions in an ill manner befitting the man’s deceitful ways, leading her to think it was for the best. 

This leads to Rogers making a step in the right direction. It doesn’t take more than Roni’s small nudge of advice to get him to internally forgive Tilly and go in search of her, eventually offering a chess set to help pass the time with a weekly game and a friend who’d listen if she’d accept. From then on, Rogers and Tilly both grow and begin to trust again, trying to protect the other from getting harmed as the consequence of another’s scheme.