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jimmy-dipthong · 6 months

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How long will the japanese wikipedia article for goncharov last?

And how big is the internet, really?

I was in a wikipedia hole recently and I happened to notice that the Japanese article for Goncharov is the only language variant that is completely in-character.

Every other language specifies it as “Goncharov (meme)”. Japanese lists it as “Goncharov (1973 film)”, and formats the introduction as if it were a real movie:

Goncharov is a 1973 mafia film set in Naples, Italy. Produced by Martin Scorsese, the main cast includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, John Cazale, Gene Hackman, Cybill Shepherd, and Harvey Keitel.

— Wikipedia (my translation)

The rest of the article does go on to acknowledge Tumblr’s influence in Goncharov’s popularity, but every mention of this influence frames it as reviving the popularity of the supposedly real film. On two occasions the word 再燃 is used (the first kanji means “again” and the second kanji means “burn” - it means “rekindle” and can be similarly used in the metaphorical and literal sense, just like the english word “rekindle”).

Goncharov became particularly popularity on social media as a result of a reblog of a Tumblr post in August 2020. The post depicted shows the title of the film (Goncharov) in place of a brand logo on a shoe, which were described as “knockoff boots”. The image post and the comment attached to the reblog, mocking the fact that the original poster had not seen the film, became an internet meme. In November 2022, a poster made by a fan of Goncharov was uploaded to the internet, and the film’s popularity resurged. Various fan-made content about the story and production began to spread on Tumblr and other platforms. Goncharov has been widely covered in the media as an example of how fandom is born on the internet, with many prominent figures, including Scorsese himself, leaving comments.

— Wikipedia (my translation)

It’s clear the article is trying to adapt the real history of the meme and incorporate it as much as possible into the fictional history of the film. The rest follows quite similarly, and includes more analysis of how Tumblr culture created the “reignited” popularity, how Elon’s acquisition of Twitter resulted in an exodus of users to Tumblr which may have contributed to the increased awareness of the “movie”, etc. Though most of it is directly translated from the english, enough of it is original (such as the attempts to reconcile both real and fictional histories) that I suspect the article’s current state is intentional.

To get back to my initial question, how long will this article last like this?

Remember the whole Scots Wikipedia debacle? An american teenager had basically used simple word replacement to translate over 23,000 articles into Scots. Some people noticed this, but not many, and not loudly enough. It was only after a well researched reddit post pointed out the scale of the damage that people really took notice and action was taken. The wikipedia editor had apparently been doing this for 7 years before the reddit post was made.

If 20,000 articles could go largely unnoticed for 7 years, I imagine a single article could easily evade similar detection. Realistically, how many Japanese speakers are going to even hear about Goncharov and make it to the wikipedia article? Then, how many of them are going to do more googling and find out it’s all a hoax (or know already)? THEN, how many of them are going to tell a wikipedia admin that the article is a lie, or publicise it somehow in a way that forces the editors to update the article?

I think the reality is that although the internet may appear to be a massive open town square (or several), it also has side streets, and side streets of side streets. I feel like the number of active members in each online hobby or interest group are really quite small, and then they get divided between platforms, and even further divided into subgroups. I think if one decided it was something one wanted to do, it would be quite easy to become one of the most prevalent members of any online community you chose just by devoting the time and energy to it.

It’s also kind of shocking how much internet content is inaccessible on account of it being in a different language. English reigns supreme in terms of sheer volume, but there is original research and journalism and entertainment and art in every language, that hasn’t and might never be translated into english. For example, I found it very difficult to find any english sources or research for my post about the evolving conjugation of 違う, but I easily found several japanese papers and websites. In fact, if you google “違くない adjective or verb”, the first english result that doesn’t just handwave it as “informal” or “slang” is a tumblr blog with my post on it!

It’s a small internet indeed where my little hobby language blog is, according to google, the prevailing english source on what is quite a remarkable change in Japanese grammar that’s been happening since the 80s.

I think the Japanese unreality version of the Goncharov wikipedia article will stand for many years to come.

(below link shows the article at time of writing)

#langblr #japanese #japanese language #language #goncharov #the internet #long post #essay #日本語 #jimmy blogthong

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hamcakevaletguy · 20 days

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My thoughts on the Damien situation, from the POV of someone who’s relatively uninvolved with posting on social media:

As a newer fan of Smosh myself (I watched some videos in 2012, but haven’t really kept up since, and only started regularly watching the last year or so), I went through the backlog of content that they have because I enjoyed their more recent videos. Zayna, a newer Palestinian fan, did the same and found this joke in an old TNTL disappointing and wanted him to address it firsthand and make his stance clear.

For anyone saying Damien has already made it clear that he is in support of Palestine: it’s not a given that the fan who brought up the clip would have already known about Damien’s stance on Palestine. Yes, he’s talked about it in a couple of his streams and posted Insta stories about it, but a newer fan of Smosh, not necessarily Damien himself, wouldn’t know about those unless they were looking for it because they are:

temporary (IG stories only have a lifespan of 24 hours unless you take screenshots) or

a few minutes hidden under several hours of game streams on a separate platform (he talked about Palestine several months ago and has streamed a lot since, unless you know the specific Twitch stream and the timestamp when he talked about it or had clips of it, most casual fans wouldn’t know either)

In his defense, Damien himself has recently said that more fandom stuff has reached his timeline than he would like, so maybe he thinks more people know about his activism because of that. However, even if Zayna did know, wanting a straightforward statement apologizing for the insensitive joke (because bringing up the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" [as it was called back in 2019, not accurate to what has been going on for 70+ years and counting, which is an ethnic cleansing] for shock value, as he himself said, is insensitive) is not an unreasonable request.

More under the cut

When all you have is 240 characters per reply, the things that you do choose to say matter even more. When you parse out everything in Damien's replies, he doesn't come out looking too good. Yes, he did apologize for the original joke. In his replies, he said:

using it as shock value was in poor taste and naive of him,

it was in poor taste back in 2019 and he wouldn't make it now

(in response to his first couple of replies) he is sorry for reacting in frustration and he'll learn from it,

and, in his final reply, his parting words were "With all my heart, I hope for safety for your loved ones. Be well."

However, he also says and does things that undermine his apology in the same replies:

questioning why the clip was brought up in the first place, as if bringing up old content wasn't something fans regularly do with things they're interested about and as if it's not still a public video fans can easily find,

bringing up that the fan in question had 19K followers, a fraction of the followers he has as a public figure,

saying that this conversation could have been done in private, as if an initial DM request wouldn't be buried in his other requests as a public figure, and as if he doesn't have the capability to start a DM himself to clarify things after the initial reply/post,

saying that the original tweets tagging him should have been deleted after his first response when he never asked for that, and just assumed it would happen for some reason,

deleting his replies a couple of hours later,

and blocking Zayna and several others who were only interacting with Damien through quote tweets (I'm not sure how quote tweets work, do they notify the OP?), some who don't even say anything remotely critical of him - in his defense, blocking is not inherently a bad thing, it just means that he doesn't want any further interactions from them for whatever reason. However, silencing any Palestinian voice isn't good, to say the least.

Damien has always been a proponent of “trying to understand and see from different perspectives” so his response here surprised me, personally. I get that he has a fear of being misunderstood, but jumping to the conclusion that the other party is purposefully trying to be incendiary is the opposite of that.

I'm not going to try to make excuses for him. He knows better. He's been a content creator for years. He knows he has more influence than any normal fan would. His autism is not a part of this conversation either. Mental illness is an explanation for behavior, it doesn't absolve you of the consequences of it. If you're citing Damien's autism as an excuse for his behavior, you have to also account for Zayna's autism.

People are also bringing up the possibility of Damien getting death threats as a result of this, which we have no proof of and won't have proof of unless Damien himself decides to disclose that. He has only stated that he is taking a social media break, which has been a long time coming, not necessarily only because of this, because he has been busy and tired in recent months. What we do know has happened is that Zayna has received death threats (weird of people to want the death of a Palestinian when the original argument they're defending Damien for is that he is in support of Palestinian liberation).

This isn’t an issue of cancel culture, it’s an issue of accountability and frankly, hero worship of Damien in the part of people attacking Zayna and other people on Twitter.

When the only people who had spoken about their support of Palestine in their own words, however briefly, are two or three cast members, some people are naturally going to put them on pedestals. This hero worship of Damien has been exacerbated by his image as the most politically correct member of Smosh, and Smosh’s (until recently) silence about the issue.

While we're at it, for people saying Smosh's sudden outward support for Palestine and joining Creators for Palestine is in response to backlash about Damien, or only in response to the block list going around:

It's only been a few days since the Damien's whole ordeal. Smosh is not that fast, and historically, their response to backlash would have been either complete radio silence or unlisting or privating the TNTL that the clip is from, combined with silence.

I’m sure Shayne, Ian and Courtney have been working on it for more than a few days, based on their liked posts, to get everything straightened out with the organization themselves and adding their names to the list of creators.

People have been asking for Smosh to be more public about their views on Palestine. Some of the cast members have said their piece on their personal social media, but their views could have changed. Those posts were made shortly after the events of October 7 brought even more media attention on Palestine and the Gaza Strip, which was not necessarily in favor of Palestine because of the effects of U.S. propaganda. It's been several months since then and people have a lot more information now, and more clarity.

Up until now, the only indication of Palestinian support not from social media is a brief statement from Ian who said something along the lines of "travel watermelon", while they were talking about their rejected roasts during Anthony's Funeral After Show in December, which are codewords that were used in TikTok for Free Palestine. However, this is heavily censored, behind a paywall, and temporary, because of the nature of their live shows. This support of CFP is the bare minimum of what Smosh could do, but the bare minimum is more than they were doing before.

They listed Smosh as the name under their $15,000 donation to CFP, not just Shayne, Courtney and Ian, which could be intentional, referring to Smosh as a whole company, or just referring to the three that have posted about it as a collective. Unless Smosh makes a full statement about it, themselves, it's still up in the air.

The timing of it is unfortunate. Damien has been silent about it so far, making his original posts about Palestine seem performative to some. However, it’s only been a few hours and he is on a social media break. The only thing he has briefly gone back online for is to promote something he's doing with Nintendo, which he could have been contractually obligated to do. He may or may not say something when he fully comes back from his social media break, but for now, that's everything we know. People can make their own conclusions based on all of this.

I am being very intentional with every single word I say on here, as to not be misconstrued in any way, however, if I missed anything or anyone else has anything to add (constructively, like images of either the actual conversation had by Damien and Zayna, or the cast and crew's support of Palestine prior to CFP, not outright anger and disagreement), please do. If anyone has any genuine questions about the situation, please feel free to message me directly and not bring it into this post, which is supposed to be a civil discussion surrounding more facts and events, less speculation. If I feel those questions have relevant points to add on here, I will add on in reblogs.

#damien haas #free palestine #smosh discourse #smosh

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cpericardium · 29 days

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So! I've gotten a host of messages and asks regarding recent disk horse and I wanted to address them as a collective. I know I have anon asks off, I won't share your URLs, but I do want to thank you for asking and clarifying some of the frankly vile things people have been saying about me, my girlfriend, and friends. I value those of you who offered your words of support, and didn't jump to believe screenshots taken out of context and lies written with the utmost confidence and none of the facts. I am a little tired of having my morals questioned and my views conflated with every single person I associate with, but there it goes.

Some questions and answers under the cut. Feel free to continue asking and I'll do my best to answer.

tumblr user cpericardium suspiciously silent on the subject of Gaza: does this mean you support ethnic cleansing???

My reticence when it comes to posting about topics like I/P is because:

-This is a fandom blog intended for lighter topics, except maybe the occasional vent about life stuff, which I usually hide under a cut. I don't have sideblogs. They seem tough to maintain and I don't post nearly enough to justify it. If I were to make one it would be for another fandom or maybe just the freakier bugs. I simply prefer my social media experience to be stress-free.

-Anti-slacktivism. It's a documented thing: posting about an issue makes you feel like you're doing something, you get that little shot of dopamine, so you don't actually go out and do something that effects meaningful change. I'm trying to do less of that. I'm good with the friends and people I follow who choose to post about it and this is a strictly personal belief, but when I engage in activism, it is offline or it is a donation. You're not going to hear about it.

But don't you reblog lgbt and women's rights posts?

Yeah, and that's usually when I want to save a post for one reason or another (e.g. to talk about with someone on discord later). The bottom line is that the main purpose of my blog is not to post political takes or to spread awareness of anything. It is just a collection of my interests (fan stuff, bugs) and hopefully a way to share those interests with like-minded people.

I will state my views clearly for the record: I support Palestine. The ongoing genocide is heartbreaking and so is the violence against protestors. Additionally, I am against antisemitism and the harassment of Jewish people in the name of supporting Palestine. This shouldn't even need to be said.

Is your girlfriend a Zionist?

No.

Does she support Zionists?

No.

Wasn't she in the military?

Yes, years ago.

But the military is evil?

It is. She's extremely hardcore anti-war, does not believe the US should even have an army, and actively PMs strangers on reddit to try to convince them to not make the same mistake. If they're dead set anyway, she gives them detailed advice on how to survive. Because she actually cares about the human cost of war, not the social clout gained from shunning or sneering at people who make wrongheaded choices. I have seen her doing this, seen her seeking to understand their reasons for joining so she can systematically explain—from personal experience!—why they're not going to get any of that out of the army. It is a hell of a lot more effective than bitching them out or writing callout posts or starting whisper campaigns about them. She cannot delete those years of her life no matter how much she regrets them. There is only forward. I think we can all agree on that.

But what about all those things she said. "I regret nothing, I have no qualms, VA nipple money etc."

Well you have to understand that while of generally upright character, she is a bit of a scamp. She believes she fundamentally should not have to explain herself to randos who do not know her, who have never, not once, interacted with her, who are clearly digging for dirt and will twist anything she says no matter how banal. People see what they want to see and they look for evidence to reinforce their preconceptions; they'll go so far as to make alts to join servers, cherry-pick screencaps, crop them, and conveniently fill in the rest of the narrative for curious onlookers. So she decided to exaggerate and amplify and twirl her mustache like a supervillain. Give them a show, as it were.

To be clear, I'm not sold on this strat because it makes her look cartoonishly evil to people who can't understand sarcasm and hyperbole. But her friends and I are aware of her actual beliefs and also that she did not in fact do those things people imagine she did. And isn't that what matters? Real-life harm? Do you even care?

Re: screenshots/so-called proof from shakertwelve & lakesbian's "callouts"

Girlfriend addresses them here.

#politics #wormblr #if you're not from wormblr #nothin to see here just scroll past

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ask-north-korea · 3 months

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Farewell

OOC;;

I mean this should have been obvious for a while, but let's make it official:

This blog is closed.

I had a great run in the hetalia fandom: over 10 years, give or take. Not all at once, but more or less consistently, until recent years. Running this blog and RPing Sang Kyu (across multiple platforms) has been a big part of that. He's one of my longest running OCs and is still really important to me, but...

Over time, various things have driven me away from this fandom. Maybe it's just growing up--I'm approaching 30 at this point. I also lived in Korea--one of my life goals--got to experience that for two years. Since returning to the US, my interests and goals have turned to other things. I got married, bought a house, got a new job...and over time I found this fandom sucking up energy I didn't have. I don't keep up with current events as I once did; I simply don't have it in me to continue updating this blog anymore.

I am not Korean, if that wasn't clear, so this blog was always run from the experience of a Westerner, doing their best to do the research and portray things in a respectful (although admittedly not always 100% accurate) manner while keeping in the relatively lighthearted spirit of the source material. I hope some Korean fans will pick up the reins and fill in the gaps where I couldn't. Even having lived in Korea for a time, I can't pretend I know everything or have the experiences of people who grew up in the culture.

That being said, please DO feel free to use Sang Kyu for fanfics, fanart! Whatever! (But please don't RP him or claim him as yours...) All I ask is that you credit him to me, @circlique (or @ask-north-korea), and use him in respectful, non-hateful ways. I would love to see any fanart or fanfic that you tag me in. If you have questions about him, I would ask that you direct them to @circlique, since I plan on completely turning off the ask box to this blog after this post.

For the people who supported me over the years, or participated in my refugee fundraisers, thank you. I will always remember my time playing Sang Kyu fondly, and I hope he can continue to be an ambassador and educate even as I am not actively taking that role anymore.

#hetalia #aph #hws #aph korea #hws korea #aph north korea #hws south korea #im sang kyu

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rockybloo · 6 days

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Getting people interested in your OCs takes a LOT of time. So creating OCs for the sole purpose of getting people interested in them is def draining af and I get why people get frustrated and sometimes just give up completely.

I have been drawing original characters since I could hold a pencil because I love making my own beings I can just do whatever I want with. And I've been posting my OCs since the early 2010s (I had been drawing original characters earlier but it wasn't until I got into middle school that I began posting my art online).

The biggest reason I've been going so long just drawing them, with only sprinkles of fan art in between ever blue moon, is because I genuinely enjoy my characters. I've had an active imagination since forever so I enjoyed imagining them in scenarios and sometimes drawing said things.

I would say, with my full chest, that I didn't really reach any flavor of "popularity" until 2022 which is when I came up with Glitter and Guilt. And I am fairly certain that is where a GOOD chunk of people came from since...I mean who can resist magical girls?

I had been drawing my number 1 favorite baby, Beanstalked, since highschool but, unfortunately, I spent most of that time posting it on a sperate blog from this one and only am I recently sharing art for it here.

I think the only other big source of other people discovering me is from my Red Beans art (Jack x Nana) because prior to 2022, that was like...85% of my art I would make. And while that was on a separate blog as well, I'd at least sometimes reblog it to over here.

Bondwidth also helped a wee bit with getting a couple people interested in me since before Glitter and Guilt showed up, Bondwidth became an active thing I'd post on this blog that kept it alive since, like I said, I had a separate blog for Beanstalked and Red Beans so there was a time long ago where this blog was basically crickets.

I WAS LUCKY TO GET ONE ASK A MONTH TBH

So 2022 was def when I got put on a wider radar thanks to Sweetheart and Bitterbat.

SO YEAH--Getting people to be interested in you OCs is def a time consuming process which is why I say to just keep having fun and blabbering about your characters because in the end, that's the only thing that matters. That you enjoy them.

I couldn't predict when people would flood me because I had been blabbering about my characters for practically 2 decades and I had been a relatively small artist working on a small lil webcomic that I eventually had to reboot because I had a better vision of it.

And then one day I just happened to have designed some OCs people REALLY liked and here we are.

I do get curious about how things would play out if I never made Glitter and Guilt and just kept trucking along with Beanstalked. I would have probably made it to where I am now, given like....an additional 10 years maybe? I dunno how to gauge fairy tale interest--I AM BIASED THO SINCE I LOVE THEM (I get so happy watching walk throughs of little story book forests and Eftling y'all have no idea).

But now I am getting off topic

THE POINT IS

LOVE YOUR OCS AND KEEP DRAWING/WRITING/TALKING ABOUT THEM AND PEOPLE WILL NATURALLY ARRIVE

#rocky rambles

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anthroposeen · 11 days

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tmagp 17 relisten notes!!

as always, tmagp and tma spoilers below the cut! hope you guys enjoy the breakdown :)

celia:

- she's been teleported to another road side, this time very close to a highway in oxford. she missed the play with sam and didnt have a way to contact him about it

- she wants to make up for missing the play by paying for their next date, and seems pretty genuine about her guilt and interest in him

- once the incident ends, she thanks the computer/chester for it. this could have been a sarcastic comment on her part, but it comes across as her acknowledging the case for what it is, and acknowledging that it is somehow curated for her. i think this is evidenced by her telling alice the incident wasnt very useful, implying she tries to find their meaning, and takes them as some form of sentience.

sam:

- he seems a bit peeved that celia didn't call him to tell him she had to cancel, and tells her to not make a habit of this kind of thing. i think its important to keep in mind that we've established he's very sensitive to rejection and people "not having time" for him.

- "im not a big horror fan" who's going to tell him?

alice:

- her computer keeps malfunctioning, showing a jmj error

- shes back to making bad puns and jokes at gwen's expense, a hard shift from her demeanor last episode

- she jokes to gwen about venting their problems as a group exercise, but denies actually having a problem to discuss

gwen:

- she helps alice with the jmj error, and says that colin hasnt been in the office in weeks, though theres no more word in his whereabouts

- she also! denies having anything to talk about! great communication guys!

incident:

- narrated by chester/jon, read at celia's desk.

- incident pulled from the magnus institute oxford outreach center -> important for the obvious reason and because celia woke up in oxford the most recent time she teleported

- darrien is given low viability for agent, subject, and catalyst

- states that "continued incarceration" is the advised method of containing/studying the subject and phenomena, implying that sometime after the statement was given, the magnus institute incarcerated darrien for unknown reasons.

- the statement was given by a man named darrien -> episode 13 also featured a darrien, but it doesn't appear to be the same man to me, i think its most likely that ajn and johhny are just having a good time with recycling names.

- darrien was in a court ordered anger-management program and was transported across dimensions during a therapy session -> intense meditation seemed to be the trigger here

- the receptionist at his therapy office was a "big, soft looking guy" who stumbled over his words, this is followed by the mention of a "bookish looking guy" who darrien says gives him weird pervert vibes. while these are incredibly in character descriptions for them both, i cant say im sure these are alternate-dimension's martin and jon. ide also like to point out that these are characters from darrien's previous universe, not the tmagp one where he finds himself.

- when darrien wakes up from his meditation he has a strong migraine, dry eyes, a stiff neck, and he was dizzy. later, he discovers hes emaciated as he continuously passes out. these symptoms seem to go away as he stays in this dimension

- he woke up in the tmagp universe in a shopping center, coming from a magnus institute outreach post -> seeing as how we know the main building is still active, it could be that the outreach centers also serve as "portals"

- he experienced similar things to anya villette's statement in tma s3. he couldnt contact his employer, had no emergency contact to give the hospital, woke up in a different location, and was taken to the wrong address.

- the tmagp native darrien (who ill call other!darrien for clarity here) was welcoming to his lost doppelgänger, letting him stay in his house and offering him advice on how to keep his anger in check

- darrien describes meeting his other!self as "trying not to fall through the cracks" -> potentially a call back to anya villette's episode "cracked foundation"

- they reasoned the coincidence out by figuring they were half siblings, though they were both named darrien. they discovered a couple of time discrepancies, seeing as their dad died on different days

- the housekeeper, sharon, was wary of them, giving darrien a scared look and looking for opportunities to leave the room when he was around

- when darrien asks how other!darrien manages his anger, hes taken to a heavy door in the basement. there was a single drop of blood on the staircase leading down. ragged breathing and pleading for help rose from below the stairs, and darrien refused to be a part of this anger-vent exercise. he pushed other!darrien into the room, locking it back.

- darrien denies the invitation into the torture chamber, "i couldnt join him down there with my father", later saying he felt guilty for not killing other!darrien and "saving whatever poor soul he had kept". at first, i thought that his other!father was being kept in the basement and tortured, but i think he uses his dad as a metaphor for the anger they both carry. this opens up the scarier realization that other!darrien is just torturing a random person

- once he locked other!darrien in the basement room, he adopted his life.

- sharon didnt return to darrien after her vacation was up, and its thought that she reported him to the institute, where we can assume they began his incarceration

glitches/lies:

- "i'm ok/its ok" spoken by celia as she's trying to reassure herself

- no glitches after gwen and alice say they have nothing to share. its very possible this is because they dont want to share with each other

extra comments:

- the jmj wrror stops popping up after alice proposes talking out their issues as a team, but considering they dont actually do that im chalking it up to a coincidence for now

- this incident follows chester's normal shtick: statement from the magnus institute, directly targeting someones business, and sort of providing a cautionary tale

- this may be my favorite incident so far. it has a very similar vibe to the early tma statements, and an ominous music bit from s1-2 even played briefly as darrien meets his dopplegänger (at least, thats what it sounded like to me). it has a lot of revelation-centered horror that really grabs me, knowing exactly who will be in the house as darrien knocks on the door and following his dopplgänger into the torture room were so vivid for me, its the exact type of horror that always makes me genuinely creeped out!

- this episode raises a lot of questions about the stability of this dimension, and all dimensions in general since there seems to be reoccurring leaks/cracks. this manifests as celia teleporting across space, existing in this universe in general, the giant cavern in the magnus institute ruins, and darrien's adventures in universe-hopping.

- as i mentioned in the incident points, jon and martin have a sort of hinted cameo in darrien's original universe, but a part of me refuses to believe its them just because i enjoy the mystery set up after mag 200. if this is all the content we get of potential jon and martin dopplegängers, ill actually be happy with that. i really do enjoy the notion that they exist in some boring reality somewhere else, and martin still stumbles over his words and jon still needs anger management therapy. i like that theres consistency even in an alternate universe. im certain we wont be seeing these vague background characters again, but i would love to see darrien's reaction to norris's voice.

#tmagp 17 #tmagp #the magnus protocol #tmagp theory #tmagp spoilers #tmagp thoughts #alice dyer #celia ripley #gwen bouchard #sam khalid

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joyboyish · 4 months

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I honestly also think fan portrayals of Luffy (both by people shipping him to other characters or not shipping him to anyone) being so ""childish"" (when he had accepted before Vivi that they cannot save every people in war, & have other displays of maturity I'll mention below... he's just enjoying "stereotylically boyish" things/actively trolling cuz he's so confident in his & his crew's abilities/being indulgent behaviorally most of the time but he is very aware of loss, battle deception, etc.)

that they think he does not know anything about sex or romantic love... is majorly not canon!

Cuz (disclaimer a bit raunchy here) Luffy not only canonically consciously made a balls pun all on his own (the family jewels/kintama ie golden balls thing) in Amazon Lily & *explained* to them that those balls + "mushroom thing" can help make babies (so he knows what procreation is but isn't interested in that at this point in time & all of the main canon One Piece media so far... canon doesn't say he 100% will never want that)

At the start of Whole Cake Luffy also says sth like he knows marrying should only be done out of love & only wants to stop Sanji's marriage if he sees Sanji is not happy with it. Luffy even says he'll invite Sanji's spouse to be part of his crew if they want to! As in Luffy understands what marrying & spouses are, & doesn't oppose having a couple in a happy/healthy romantic/married relationship on his crew & boat at all within canon!

So Oda's words of not having romance on the boat is not absolute- it's just Oda setting the boundary that he wouldn't show romance happening on the boat in the main storyline because his storytelling for the Strawhats specifically would not focus on that, but none of his Strawhat characters have actively opposed to it. Oda even said he knows his characters can be interpretted however his readers want & has long accepted he has no control over that.

Luffy doesn't even call the Strawhats his adoptive family ever in canon! He calls them his friends! He differentiates between them, his friends, from Ace & Sabo who he calls his blood brothers! He never calls Zoro his brother, Nami his sister, etc. (if she is why did Oda not deny he ogled her under Usopp's influence??? Oda said in an SBS it's icky to do that towards siblings, so he'd never make Sanji do that ogling gag to his sister!) Even if Oda says the older guys are like the crew's dads, doesn't mean Luffy himself considers them his actual adoptive dads, for another example less related to this main argument.

So that original poster on Tumblr who recently puts in their z0s4n/one piece/opla post tag that Zolu shippers are in the same category of moral wrongness as incest shippers like Th0rk1 fans can kick rocks,

because the canon they think they're """following properly""" contradicts their own hcs (which they should realize are just personal hcs & not canon representation at all)

literally! just because luffy isnt interested in something doesnt mean he doesnt know what it is or that hes this innocent childlike character bc hes not lol

#ask sleepy #one piece #monkey d luffy #one piece strawhats #straw hat luffy #monkey d. luffy #straw hat crew #luffy #straw hat pirates #roronoa zoro #pirate hunter zoro #aroace #aspec

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whispering-ways · 11 months

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•♡✷ matched hearts (pt. 1) ✷♡•

✷ summary: shinsou downloads a dating app and starts talking to you

✷ pairing: hitoshi shinsou x reader

✷ tags: no warnings, just fluff!

✷ notes: slanted texts indicate actual text messages (purple is shinsou, white is reader) :)

Shinsou wasn’t a big fan of dating apps. He wasn’t even a big fan of talking to the people around him nevertheless new people. It’s not that he didn’t like people, he liked his friends of course, it was just hard to maintain a conversation with people is all.

But seeing all the couples on campus did honestly make him feel a bit lonely, leading him to download Hinge. He honestly never took it seriously; it was fun to swipe through profiles but he never took the time to have any sort of deep conversation with anyone. That is until he saw your profile.

He’d seen you around UA a couple of times and thought you were pretty, but Hinge let him see you in a whole new light. Apparently, you really liked crocheting, which he found interesting because he always wanted to learn how to do it, but never quite found the time to actually learn. You were a huge movie buff which was yet another plus since he was too. You also seemed to be really smart; UA didn’t just choose any old student to be part of the Department of Support after all. Something about you just carried this bright aura that pulled him in. Soon enough he was liking your profile and sending you his best pickup line in hopes of talking to you more.

You’d just gotten home from a long day of tinkering with a new gadget you’d been working on recently when you saw that someone liked your Hinge profile. At first, you were going to ignore the notification; you were way too tired. But even after you took a shower, ate dinner, and took a melatonin gummy, it seemed like you’d never be able to fall asleep. So you opened up Hinge, thinking that if you were going to be up, you might as well look through some profiles.

That’s when you saw that Shinsou liked your profile. You didn’t know him too well, but you had seen him pop into the support department a couple of times. You definitely thought he was cute, but you’d never really gotten a chance to talk to him since he mostly just talked to Mei when he needed repairs. But his pick-up line?

“‘Is your name yarn? Because you’ve got me all tangled up in your stitches’?” you said with a laugh. It was for sure one of the cheesier pick-up lines you’d been told, but still pretty sweet. You thought about it for a second and then decided to reply. I mean it’s not like you were falling asleep anytime soon anyways.

Lol that’s really cheesy, but you’re in luck bc cheesy pick-up lines are my fav :)

After a few minutes, you thought you wouldn’t hear a reply back till tomorrow morning so you started scrolling through Instagram. But after looking through a couple of posts, you saw that Shinsou sent you a reply back.

Haha, well I’m glad you like it. How has your day been?

Its been a little tiring tbh, I’ve been working on this one gadget for who knows how long and I just can’t seem to get it to do what I want it to do lol. How’s yours been?

This time the reply was instantaneous.

Tiring as well. I’ve been doing nothing but training all day today. What sort of gadget are you making?

That surprised you; most people thought making gadgets was boring and didn’t want to know too much about it. But as you gave him more details about what you were building, he seemed genuinely interested. It was refreshing, to say the least. That question lead you both into talking about your careers and the passion he had to be a hero was evident. It was inspiring to see how much he cared about quirks that were looked down on in society. To you, it was certainly admirable and made you want to work harder in your own career.

Shinsou thought your dedication to the support department was amazing. It was good to talk to someone who was equally as ambitious as he was, but not actively trying to be competitive, which was a big issue between students in the hero industry. As the night carried on, the both of you kept texting about anything and everything.

There was just something so comforting and natural when talking to you. It was just simple. Before you two knew it, it was 4 am and you couldn’t keep your eyes open anymore. You’d felt yourself drifting off a couple of hours ago, but the conversation was just too good for you to end it then. You and Shinsou said goodnight and you hoped that this wasn’t the end of the both of you talking.

When you woke up the next morning after talking to him, you were greeted with a text from Shinsou which immediately put a smile on your face.

Good morning. I hope you have a nice and hopefully less tiring day :)

It was simple, but sweet and lead you both to continue talking throughout the rest of the day. It had been now about three days since your initial conversation and you both had been texting the entire time. Getting texts from Shinsou had now become one of the most delightful parts of the day. Whenever you saw a notification from him, you felt a wave of giddiness flood through you.

Shinsou, although he didn’t want to admit it, also found himself grinning at your daily texts. Every time he heard the chime of his notifications, he secretly hoped it was you texting him back. And while he knew he shouldn’t be so quick to answer, he couldn’t help texting you back instantaneously. You were one of the only people he enjoyed talking to after all.

It took a lot of courage out of him, but after an hour of hyping himself up and drafting out the text in his mind, Shinsou finally asked you out on a date.

Would you happen to be free this weekend? I’ve really enjoyed talking to you and I’d like to take you out on a date if that’s okay with you.

When you saw that text, you squealed and threw your phone on your bed in excitement. After a moment, you realized that you’d actually need to settle yourself and reply to him.

I’d love that! Are you free on Saturday around 11am?

Shinsou’s nerves instantly settled; he was absolutely elated reading your last text. He took a minute or two to think of some places he thought you’d enjoy and then sent his reply.

Yeah, that works for me :) there’s a cat cafe nearby UA, would you like to go there?

That sounds lovely! I love cats, so thats acc perfect!

Great! I’m a big cat fan myself. I guess its a date then ♡

Soon after you two had set up your date, you both said your goodnights. But you were far too excited to fall asleep any time soon. You were already laying in bed, planning your outfit, and thinking about how you wanted to do your makeup even though the date was two days away

. A couple of blocks away, Shinsou was thinking about the date too. The more he'd talked to you, the more he truly felt this connection with you. It just felt like kismet. All he was hoping for now is that you weren't any different in person.

You spent most of the night thinking of different scenarios of how you thought the date would go in hopes of calming you down enough to fall asleep. However, it did the exact opposite, the lovely thoughts keeping you awake. After a while though (and with the help of a melatonin gummy), you were able to fall asleep and you dreamt of your date the whole night.

#mha x reader #bnha fanfiction #bhna fluff #bhna x reader #ao3 shinsou #shinsou fluff #hitoshi shinsou #shinsou x reader #mha shinsou #shinsou x you #hitoshi shinso x reader #hitoshi shinso x y/n #mha hitoshi #mha shinso x reader #my hero academia #bnha shinso hitoshi #mha fluff #hitoshi shinsō #hitoshi x reader

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anneapocalypse · 1 year

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Why Anders and Fenris can't be friends (in the game)

Recently I made a short post that was supposed to stay that way, but instead it took over my brain for several days so I'm going to expand on it. In that post, I said:

"Why can't Fenris and Anders get along? Why can't they see what they have in common?" Because it's a story about how people can be practically and philosophically correct about a specific thing, and also get so mired in their own pain and trauma that they can't relate to people whose pain and trauma comes from a different source and who are right about something else, especially if trying to reconcile those two things would threaten their sense of self. And that is, imo, both more interesting and more true to the human experience than if they simply looked past all that without any difficulty.

So, with that as our starting point, why don't Anders and Fenris find common ground by the end of the game? Wouldn't that be a strong character arc for both of them, and aren't both characters lesser for not getting there? Is this an oversight, rushed development, bad writing?

I think the answer to these questions lies in the journeys that Anders and Fenris are each on over the course of the game, and in this post I'm going to explore both of their arcs a bit, where they’re both going and why their paths are divergent in the game. Specifically I mean to argue here that they cannot find common ground during the game because Fenris spends the game finding safety, while Anders spends the game becoming progressively less safe.

Disclaimer time! This post is not meant as a refutation of anyone’s ships or headcanons! You do you. What I hope to explore here is why things go the way they do in the game itself.

I’m also aware that this game has been out for over a decade, that there is nothing new under the sun, that both of these characters provoke strong feelings in a lot of us, and that some fans are just tired of hearing about them in general. If the latter is you, please feel free to scroll right on by; no need to inform me.

This analysis will necessarily involve discussing both characters’ flaws as well as their strengths (as well as those of some other characters), but it’s coming from a place of love and appreciation for these characters as complex and multi-faceted. Please refrain from expressing character hate on this post.

Content warnings: discussion of slavery, the Chantry explosion, abuse and trauma generally.

Anders' Journey

It has been said that Anders' character arc in DA2 is a downward spiral while Fenris is on a slow road to recovery. And I basically agree with that, but I don't think of it as a downward spiral in terms of negative character growth, precisely. While I do think there are ways in which Anders becomes less able and willing to empathize with others over the course of the game, I consider that more of a side effect of what's happening to him than a sign of him being on some kind of moral downturn.

To me, the downward spiral is that Anders spends the entire game losing hope.

As an apostate in Kirkwall (and a possessed one at that), I think it is important to recognize that Anders is never truly safe. It seems likely to me that the only reason he remains free for so long is because he happens to befriend some very powerful and influential people in Kirkwall—most notably, Varric Tethras, who is known to pay people off to keep his friends safe from the city's various criminal organizations, and I don't think it's unlikely that he's payed off templars as well.

Even in his closest circle of friends, Anders isn't completely safe. And it isn't Fenris who poses the greatest danger to him! The one character who actively suggests they turn in Anders (and Merrill) to the templars is Sebastian in Act III—and it's Fenris who brushes him off, telling him to "work it out with Hawke." I don't think Fenris would lose any sleep if it happened, but he actively declines to be a part of it. While Fenris is not above turning in mages generally (he will rat out Emile de Launcet to the Knight-Commander if brought along for “On the Loose”), there's no evidence that Fenris has ever made an active attempt to turn Hawke's mage companions over to the templars; if nothing else, he has too much respect for Hawke.

There's another companion who we know has turned mages in. Aveline and Anders get off to a pretty sour start right in Act I when Aveline asks if she can "consult" with him, and Anders guesses (rightly, it seems) that she just wants information on how to fight and kill mages. Needless to say, he is not forthcoming with help. Their Act II banter begins with Anders pointing out that she isn't a particularly mage-friendly Captain of the Guard, where Aveline counters that she’s only turned “a handful” over to the templars. Between Act II and Act III, there is a mounting tension between the two of them, with Anders in the final act doing his best to nudge Aveline away from defending the templars. Not even ideologically—he knows that's a losing battle with Aveline—but by bringing up Meredith's overreach and the fact that even Donnic doesn't agree with the Knight-Commander. When explaining to Hawke why he hasn't included them in the Mage Underground, Anders cites Hawke's connections to the nobility and to the Guard. It's no mystery who he's talking about.

There are people among Hawke's companions who pose an actual danger to Anders—and Fenris is not at the top of that list, no matter how much they may despise each other. And I think Anders' interactions with Fenris are especially vitriolic, not in spite of that fact, but because of it. I'd say similar of Merrill, the other companion Anders arguably has the most acrimony with. Neither Fenris nor Merrill poses any true threat to Anders. They are both elves who do not benefit from drawing attention to themselves; Merrill is a blood mage and Fenris an escaped former slave. While both of them hold views that make them philosophically or potentially dangerous, neither has ever actually acted against Anders.

Now, Anders does argue with Aveline and Sebastian. Repeatedly. He's not shy about stating his opinions and questioning theirs. But notice how the way he argues differs with each character. With Aveline, he appeals to her sense of order and propriety. With Sebastian, he appeals to his sense of righteousness. We see this particularly in Act III, once things have gotten especially dire. And he does start out similarly with Fenris, trying to draw a comparison between mages in the Circles and slaves in Tevinter—a tactic which utterly fails to move Fenris, and Anders drops it pretty quickly.

I think Anders' dialogue with Fenris gets especially nasty a) because Fenris is a rival against whom Anders can afford to vent his anger with less restraint, and b) because Fenris's existence makes Anders feel threatened in an entirely different way than Aveline and Sebastian. Anders knows that the Captain of the Guard and the noble-turned-Chantry-brother are not on his side, and it is in his best interest to be persuasive toward them, but also philosophically they're opposed to him in a way that he finds easy to refute. He is very firm in his convictions that the Circles are unjust and that they are a corruption of what Andraste taught and fought for. He may have little chance of actually persuading Aveline and Sebastian, but he's also in no danger of being persuaded by them. In other words, they may threaten his physical safety and that of other mages, but they do not challenge his core beliefs, his sense of self.

But Fenris does.

Anders has spent most of his life locked up for being a mage, running away and being caught, and subject to profound abuses. Since his final escape and joining with Justice, he has found purpose and hope in fighting for the cause of mage freedom. If his cause is just, then it is worth living for and fighting for, what he has lost he can endure, and what he’s had to do for that cause is justified. If he admits to himself that magic is itself a power that can be abused, that magic has anything to do with the atrocities Tevinter, that calls his purpose into question. If the unchecked use of magic has the potential to create a society just as unjust as the one he knows, that unravels his present idea of justice, which is quite literally part of his identity!

And maybe if this were a different story, Anders' arc would be about confronting those challenges and deciding how to move forward with them. But this isn't that story, because this is a story set in Kirkwall, where the templars' abuses of power over mages are happening right now, right in front of him, and every effort he makes to change that is systematically crushed.

This is really critical to Anders' arc! He is not a character who has spent the whole game achieving his goals and then escalating those goals. Almost everything he has tried to do has failed. And it's really not due to any strategic failing on his part; the Circle is just too powerful. His attempt to save Karl introduces this theme right at the beginning. Anders does his best; he does everything he can. But he is up against forces he cannot stop. Karl is doomed by the narrative so that we can understand what Anders is facing.

And it does not get any better! There's another tumblr post out there about how every companion quest for Anders is basically you go to see how he's doing, and he's doing bad. And it's true! Because things just keep getting worse. His Act II quest "Dissent" gives us a firsthand glimpse of the abuses taking place inside the Circle. "Dissent" is sometimes read as an example of Anders' paranoia, because both the Knight-Commander and the Grand Cleric had rejected Ser Alrik's plan to make all mages tranquil. I don't fully agree with that reading. Anders knows that such a proposal has been drawn up, and he is absolutely correct about that. He just doesn't know it’s been rejected, and frankly from where he’s standing, he has every reason to worry it might not be. Furthermore, Anders tells Hawke that there are templars within the Circle, most notoriously Ser Alrik, who are misusing the Rite of Tranquility even by Circle standards and who enjoy torturing and abusing mages—and then we see exactly that firsthand with Alrik and Ella, so Anders was entirely correct in that case.

By Act III, the Mage Underground has been completely dismantled, the Knight-Commander has openly seized control of Kirkwall, and half of Anders' own social group will still barely admit there's a problem. His ambient dialogue as early as the end of Act II is "I can't go on like this." It's hard not to feel the sheer despair radiating off Anders by the third Act.

His attack on the Chantry is not something he was always planning and working toward. It's a last resort he undertakes because every other avenue has failed. In seven years, he has helped to free individual mages, but he has made no progress toward dismantling or frankly even improving the Circle as a whole; in fact, it's only gotten worse. Now the lives of every mage in the Circle are threatened as Meredith seeks the Right of Annulment for little more than suspicions of blood magic. Individual rescues are not a solution. His written appeals to the public have had little practical effect. If he wants to save Kirkwall's mages, he has very few options left.

And if you listen to the way Anders speaks—if you look at his face after the explosion as he waits for Hawke's response—he is not happy about this. He is not dancing on the ashes. In fact, he looks heartbroken. There is collateral damage from the Chantry explosion and Anders knows there will be and he does not take that lightly. This is foreshadowed very well in a piece of banter with Isabela:

Anders: There is justice in the world. Isabela: Is there? You want to free the mages. Let's say you do, but to get there, you kill a bunch of innocent people. Isabela: What about them? Don't they then deserve justice? Anders: Yes.

Anders accepts this justice. He leaves Hawke out of his plans regardless of whether Hawke would have supported him because he means to accept the consequences for himself. He accepts whatever sentence he is given without resistance.

Regardless of how you feel about Anders' attack on the Chantry (and I'd prefer not to fight with anyone about that here), I recount all of this to make the point that his arc in the game is a long slide into despair and desperation, and for what I think are very understandable reasons. And over these seven years, it's pretty clear that Anders feels increasingly alone in his efforts. He feels like everyone is against him. There are things he feels he cannot tell even Hawke, no matter how supportive Hawke may be, because of Hawke's connections.

These are basically the worst possible conditions for a person to be able to extend patience and empathy to someone of very different experience with whom they are ideologically at odds.

Anders straight up doesn't have any energy, or emotional bandwidth, or whatever you want to call it, left for that. When he says, "I am the cause of mages. There is nothing else inside me," he means it. He is drained—emotionally, spiritually, probably physically, in all possible ways. He is particularly caustic in the back half of the game, and at times says some truly mean and petty things to and about other characters and I will not defend those things, but it is so understandable to me why he gets like this, stretched absolutely to the breaking point and ready to snap.

Anders' journey in Dragon Age II is a tragedy. Depending on the choices Hawke makes, it may not be the end of his story; there is still the possibility that he lives to see a changing world in which he himself can begin, after all these years, to breathe easier, to heal. I think that's going to be a long process, but it is absolutely possible.

Within the timeframe of the game itself, I don't think it is possible for Anders to go on the journey he's on and also figure out how to get along with Fenris. In fact I think those two things are antithetical to each other. Post-game, the world is wide with possibility. But not in the game itself. "Learn how to play well with others" (especially others who are diametrically opposed to everything he believes in) is so emphatically not the story being told with Anders in this game, and the entire climax of the game is built on top of the story it's been telling us with Anders. Because of that, I cannot see "Anders and Fenris become friends" as what could have been or what should have been. It's not just an add-on in this case; it's a change that rewrites the whole story.

Fenris's Journey

Upon arriving in Kirkwall, Fenris's history does at first glance share a lot of commonalities with Anders: he is an escapee who's managed to evade his captors for a few years now, and in Kirkwall he finds reason to settle down, though he is not out of danger yet.

But their paths start to diverge pretty much immediately.

First, let's just acknowledge that Kirkwall is, objectively, a safer city for Fenris than it is for Anders. That's not to say it is truly safe; Danarius is still hunting for Fenris and has connections in Kirkwall, and no human city is particularly safe for elves. Fenris finds himself pursued at some point in every act, culminating with Danarius himself in Act III.

Fenris is, however, much more able to defend himself against hired mobs of slavers operating illegally in the south than a lone apostate is able to defend him against an army of templars who have the backing of the city guard should they decide to actually come for him. Fenris's pursuers do not rule Kirkwall, and they don't have the guard on their side; they do not have a base of operations just a short boat ride away, and they are not sending troops to daily patrol the streets and look for a person of his description.

Had Fenris stayed in Tevinter, that would be exactly his situation, and if Anders had fled north, the templars tracking him would likely have faced more difficulty apprehending him. But this story doesn't take place in Tevinter, it takes place in Kirkwall, and Fenris has some advantage here just by nature of have escaped to the south.

Is Fenris truly safe in Kirkwall? No, and that's the setup for his whole character arc. The critical difference is that Fenris's arc is toward finding safety, while Anders' is not.

Let us note also that there is no one in Hawke's immediate friend group actively threatening to sell Fenris back into slavery. The Captain of the Guard, while she needles him about squatting in Hightown, also does not take the side of slavers. Even the pirate is against the trafficking of people. The only one in that group who has the potential to do such a thing to Fenris is Hawke, and only if Hawke decides to recruit Fenris, pretend to be his friend for seven years (even rivalries are still fundamentally friendships, just more challenging and complicated ones), before selling him out for, at most, a sum that should frankly be an insult to Hawke at that point in their career.

Hawke’s mage companions feel like threats to Fenris, yes, because his life experience has led him to conclude that no mage is truly safe. Anders and Merrill in particular represent the additional dangers of abominations and blood mages, respectively. But Anders’ core convictions pose a particular challenge not only to Fenris’ worldview, but to the very sense of safety he has only just begun to have.

Fenris spent most of his life enslaved and subjected to profound abuses. Since his escape to the south, he has found a sense of safety in the black-and-white concept that mages are dangerous and only non-mages can be trusted. If this is true, it means that in a world where mages are locked up, he can be safe. If what happened to him is, even in a broad sense, not unique to a land ruled by mages, then it could happen anywhere. (And unfortunately, that’s true. The slave trade is alive and well in the south, illegal though it may be, as we see in our many encounters with slavers.) If he admits to himself that many mages are just like him–subject to profound abuse and deserving of freedom—that sense of safety he is building for himself as a free man in the south is shattered. While he is still on the run, actively evading capture, this is not a possibility he is emotionally able to entertain.

It may be said that Fenris’s arc is about learning to let go of his anger; I disagree with that reading, or at least I think it is a very incomplete one. For one thing, it misses the very important point that the person his anger is for is still alive and actively pursuing him for most of the game. It’s easy to take Flemeth’s remark to Fenris, “The chains are broken, but are are you truly free?” as like, a philosophical statement, but no! He literally is not truly free so long as he still has to live as a fugitive, always looking over his shoulder, always waiting for the inevitable. He tells this to Hawke right in Act I: he will never truly be free until Danarius is dead, and if Danarius doesn’t show up eventually, Fenris will go hunt him down himself.

He is angry about this. He carries a deep rage not only for what has been done to him, what has been stolen from him, but also that even now Danarius is still taking from him and fucking up his life. Listen to the fury with which he says, “I was a fool to think I was free,” during “A Bitter Pill” in Act II.

And he needs that anger. Right now, that anger is still protecting him. It gives him the courage, as he says, to “turn and face the tiger.” His hatred of Hadriana compels him to seek her out and kill her rather than running again. And killing Hadriana is absolutely the right decision! There is nothing to be gained from leaving her alive, she certainly doesn’t deserve his mercy, and taking her out of the picture eliminates one more tool Danarius can use against him.

Where this scene shows Fenris’s need for growth is when he then lashes out at Hawke, regardless of their response. His anger isn’t the problem; his anger is valid and necessary. The problem is that it sometimes targets the wrong people: mages generally and his own friends in specific. But until Danarius is dead, Fenris cannot let go of that anger because it is necessary for his survival.

If you’re a Fenris fan, you know that moment in Act III in the Hanged Man, when he’s come to meet Varania and he sees Danarius. The expression on his face when the camera zooms in is nothing like the way he looks at Hadriana, with unfettered rage. The look when he sees Danarius is pure horror. He’s been waiting for this confrontation for ten years, but I think in that moment we realize he has also been terrified of it. He remembers what happened the last time he had a taste of freedom and Danarius came for him, and though he knows he has grown since then, those emotions are still there—the horror of having turned on the people who sheltered him, the shame of realizing how deep his conditioning was, the revulsion at what Danarius had made him. Anger has kept those feelings at a distance, but now, with Danarius before him at last, he must confront them all over again. Only this time, with friends at his back, he will fight.

With Danarius dead, it’s finally over. And whether Fenris chose to kill or spare his sister, he is now forced to confront the person he’s had to be to survive until this point.

The point of Fenris’s restlessness and dissatisfaction following his victory isn’t that killing Danarius was wrong or pointless. On the contrary: we have seen throughout the entire game that there was no other way for him to truly find freedom. At the risk of getting too clinical here, trauma (which includes long periods of unrelenting high stress) tends to leave people with emotions and coping mechanisms that were necessary for their survival at the time but become maladaptive once they are away from their trauma stressors. We have already seen this with Fenris, in the way his anger sometimes targets the wrong people, and Fenris himself is aware of this, at least in his interpersonal relationships: on his own initiative he seeks Hawke out to apologize after lashing out at them. In Act II, I think we even see the early stages of Fenris beginning to extend his circle of empathy after “Dissent,” when instead of calling Anders a monster, he suggests that Anders realize his limitations, adding that it was a suggestion, not a condemnation. I think it helps in that moment that Anders seems to take responsibility for what he did, or almost did, to Ella, even if he understandably does not react well to Fenris’s “suggestion.”

And now that Danarius is dead, Fenris is beginning to realize that while his fight for freedom is over, his path to healing has really just begun. There’s a reason he isn’t ready for a romantic relationship with Hawke until Act III, and it isn’t just that intimacy was triggering or the brief recovery of his memories upsetting. Until Danarius is dead, Fenris’s emotional growth really can only go so far, because he is still at least partly stuck in survival mode, and the anger and the blanket concept of “mages dangerous” are coping mechanisms he has developed in order to survive.

With Danarius dead, now Fenris can begin to let go. Now he can go further in examining who deserves his anger and who does not. Now he can begin to truly heal. And can he learn to sympathize with mages one day and stop seeing magic as the ultimate evil? I actually do think the answer is yes. But that’s at least a five-step plan, and his arc in the game is mainly concerned with accomplishing step 2. Step 1 was “Get out of Tevinter.” Step 2 was “make Danarius dead.” The next few steps are a lot less cut and dry, involving a lot of difficult emotional work. He has begun that process, but it’s a work in progress.

With friends to support his journey, I do think Fenris can still come a long way. I just don’t think he could possibly have gotten there before Act III.

Conclusions

Fenris and Anders are on very different journeys over the course of Dragon Age II. They cannot be friends or sympathize with one another in the timeframe of the game, not because they have nothing in common, but because neither of them are in a position to let their guard down in the ways they would have to in order to connect with each other. Neither of them have reached the level of healing they would need in order to do that, and it’s not possible for either of them to reach that point in the journeys they’re on during the game, with the stories the game is telling.

That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s not possible for them to reach that point in the future. Under the right circumstances, both of them may have the rest of their lives to heal and to grow.

#fenris #anders #dragon age meta #dragon age 2 #blunders of thedas

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burst-of-iridescent · 9 months

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at the moment, 5.7k people are following the kataang tag, not 2.9k, as you said, why would you lie? in addition, even on Tumblr (which remained almost the last popular zk place among all fan platforms), Zukka is ahead of Zutara in popularity, and a lot of talented and popular creators of fan art and fan fiction are now concentrated in the Zukka and Maiko fandom. It is fundamentally a mistake to focus on the popularity of the ship, because shipping should be for personal pleasure, but this only shows that most people are ATLA fans (namely fans, not casual viewers) they actively love ATLA and did not see zutara in the canon. In addition, can you give evidence of your words that «almost all of the main cast and most of the writers» love zutara? From the cast, only Dante actively confessed his love for zutara, but he also spoke about his love for zukka, Mae Whitman not against Zutara and joked about it, but she also said in podcast that she also loves kataang, the rest of the actors did not speak at all about their preferences in shipping (except Grey DeLisle who prefers zucest).

none of the screenwriters has ever confessed his love for Zutara, on the contrary, Ehasz has said several times that he loves Maiko, he also wrote almost all the most significant maiko and kataang episodes. The only one of the 13 main writers of ATLA who spoke about sympathy for Zutara is John O'Bryan. Zutara never featured in any of the original scripts, and in ATLA's "bible," the only love triangle that was originally planned was Aang-Katara-Toph (who was a boy in the original script). In a recent interview, Ehaz also answered the question of how he feels about zutara vs kataang, that he, as a professional screenwriter, "follows his characters" and their final canonical choice of love interest is the choice of the character himself, not the writers.

i wrote 2.9k the first time around by mistake. the original post has since been amended to reflect the actual numbers of the kat.aang tag, though frankly the disparity between the two tags is still so large that i don’t even think it matters. anyway, my bad. thanks for letting me know.

many cast members and former writers on the official atla podcast, braving the elements, have talked about shipping zutara — including, but not limited to, dante basco, jack de sena, michaela murphy, joshua hamilton, and john o’bryan. grey delisle, mae whitman & greg baldwin have also spoken about being zutara shippers. i’m not sure why them liking or showing support for other ships somehow means they don’t ship zutara, because people don’t need to ship only a single couple to prove they’re “real” shippers lmao. i like azutara, sukitara, ty luko & even book 1 kat.aang myself; that doesn’t make me any less of a zutara shipper.

i’m also not sure why you expect me to do the work of providing evidence for you when, given the fact that you’re here, i’m certain you have just as much access to google as i do. this information is freely available online. feel free to fact check me.

and let me say this again, in case it was not clear enough: i truly do not care about zutara’s popularity. even if none of the cast and writers shipped it, even if the tag only had 10 people, even if every single wonderfully talented writer & artist & AMV editor & GIF maker in this fandom left, i would still ship it. because it’s a better story, because it is more thematically and narratively cohesive, and because it makes me happy.

and if you disagree with that, that’s fine by me. but somehow trying to “prove” to me that zutara is unpopular and no one likes it is not only a) factually false it’s also b) not going to do a damn thing to change my mind lmao. the opinions of other people have never been a reason for me to ship zutara, and they never will be.

#zutara

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abarbaricyalp · 4 months

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do you have any advice for a new writer trying to post on ao3 I want my stories to be noticed (also thanks for not leaving -- so many writers are gone now)

*Looks at my recent hits counts* I'm not sure I'm the best reference for this 😅

I think there are two aspects to getting engagement on fan works:

1: There is the actual work you put into posting your fics. This includes tags, cross posting, and self promotion.

Tags: Make sure you are tagging what is relevant to your fic. AO3 doesn't run on an algorithm, so the way people find your fics is primarily through searches. There is an excellent post on tumblr somewhere that discusses how to accurately tag your work, and I highly suggest starting there! (Post here) Also when tagging, I would suggest considering what YOU would search if you were looking for a fic like this. Quite often, I've found that the tag I was looking for isn't on AO3 yet. Don't be afraid to type in the specific trope or AU you are writing. Look at other tags to get a feel for the structure of the tag, but other than that, have fun.

Also, it may seem counterintuitive, but don't over-tag, by which I mean tagging a bunch of tropes or characters or ships that aren't in your story. It's a fast way to have people disregard your fic instantly, or even mute your name on AO3. Especially in smaller fandoms, I totally get the desire to tag a bigger ship, but it just makes more trouble for you in the long run.

Similarly, on tumblr, keep tags tight. I tend to only tag ship, character (name and superhero name), show/ movie, franchise, and the challenge I'm answering if I am. I know other people tag the actors of the characters. I don't because I know when I go into an actor's tag, I don't want to see fic (of their characters or them either) but that's entirely up to you. But don't tag characters or shows etc that have nothing to do with your fic. This is just courtesy in fandom spaces.

Cross-posting: I admit, I can be kind of bad about cross-posting, but I do find that it helps drive engagement when I do buckle down and get it done. Cross-posting is publishing or promoting a fic on multiple platforms. For instance, I use AO3 AND tumblr. On tumblr fic posts,I link to the AO3 (if there is one, I'm pretty bad about publishing shorter things on here only) And when I publish the fic on AO3, I'm supposed to be linking back to my tumblr. This helps more people see your fic and it grows your community when people are able to follow you on various platforms and spread your fic and kudos around. If you have fan accounts elsewhere and you're comfortable with it, feel free to promote there as well. Also check any discord or group servers you may be on for rules about promoting or channels meant exactly for that.

Self-promoting: this is pretty similar to the above. Because AO3 doesn't have an algorithm, it's kind of up to you to keep interest alive in your fics, especially if you want eyes on it for the first several days afterwards. I know it feels embarrassing to reblog your own fic posts all the time, but it's impossible to tell who may have seen or not seen that you posted a new fic. I don't have any set times for this, personally. I try to catch what I consider active times on tumblr, but that's entirely subjective. It's just trial and error, really. Secondly, don't be embarrassed to recommend your own fics (I'm kind of bad at this) If someone is looking for recs on a specific trope or AU and you know you have just the fic, tell them! Unfortunately, you have to be your own biggest cheerleader when it comes to your own art because no one knows and loves it as much as you do. It feels awkward and I know I get embarrassed if people aren't reccing my fics on their own, but you really are your biggest advocate. Fandom is kind of a popularity contest sometimes 🤷‍♀️ Hype your own self up

2: Now that the technical stuff is done, let's move on to the community aspect of fic posting. (This is not really what you asked for, but i think it's more important sometimes than the actual tags and AO3 procedures) Curating a community and making friends is HUGE as far as readership goes. Especially in smaller fandoms (I assume this is about Sambucky fics/fandom) community is everything. Being a name people recognize and trust is important to regular readership.

Building community: don't be afraid to interact with other writers on this platform or others! The Sambucky fandom has this delightful habit of playfully creating headcanons and ficlets based off of text posts. The Daily Sambucky Fluff Diary project is so much fun and so interactive. I have honestly never been in such a fun, supportive group as the sambucky writers on tumblr. I highly suggest playing in this sandbox and getting familiar with other writers. We hype each other up all the time.

Understanding the rules of play: this is kind of an addendum, but the sambucky fandom is rightfully protective over Sam and his portrayal in fics, as well as Bucky. Reading fics, community interaction posts, and even the rules laid out in various challenges (like the bingos that are hosted at various times) will really help you get a sense of how to respectfully tell stories with Sam and Bucky without being racist, ableist, or disregarding to these characters. Quite often Sam (and Bucky, and especially Sambucky) is only there to prop up other characters. This is something the fandom will (again, rightfully) push back on and avoid. I highly suggest looking at the rules that are laid out in the Sambucky Library's bingo rounds to get an idea of the sandbox rules.

Engagement: the sambucky fandom is small, so we don't really have big organized events like Bangs or Reverse Bangs. However, we do have lots of fun, smaller challenges, namely the bingos! There is also Samtember, the Anniversary Challenge (I don't think that's what we called it) and various prompt week challenges, including an AU week (and we like birthdays here). I highly suggest following @ sambuckylibrary to keep apprised of challenges and prompts. Filling out these prompts when you can and want is a great way to break into the fandom and get engagement with your fics. They are all very low stakes and the reward is new fics, friends, and interaction!

I would also suggest joining a discord server, if that is something you're interested in. (I personally am not in any, but that's because I don't like making new accounts on things, not because I don't want to be part of the fun) This is a great place to interact with other fans, promote your fics, get new recs, and generally reap the fun of fandom in a more condensed space, rather than the entirety of AO3 or tumblr.

One last thing to keep in mind: you've already pointed out that fan fic/art/engagement is decreased in our fandom. This will be reflected in your hits/kudos/comments, especially if you're coming from a bigger fandom. Don't let this discourage you. In fact, I really suggest not looking at stats as much as possible. The wealth of engagement in this fandom will be seen in your relationships and interactions with other fans, not in skyrocketing numbers. Allegedly, Cap4 and Thunderbolts come out in 2025 and our guys look to have an episode in the next season of What-If, but without new content, interest will lag and numerical engagement with it. Just keep this in mind as you begin/ continue your journey into the fandom.

That's a lot of words to say: tag properly, make friends, and have fun ❤️🤍💙❤️🩶🖤🪽🐺

#sambucky #writing #i answer things

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glassprism · 4 months

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I may not explain this the best but are there any sort of unofficially "public domain" bootlegs? Like older ones that have been posted to YouTube or have had so many clips posted from them that people simply don't care anymore? Or are people who post clips without explicit permission but they aren't really leaks because they've already been publicly shared? I'm only asking because I'm unfamiliar with the expectations of trading and curious about how those things are viewed

No worries, I think I get what you're asking, and it's something I've discussed in other places, like Discord, but not so much here.

Anyway, I think Phantom is an interesting show in that it's so old, and the people in charge of copyright striking bootlegs are so lax, that I think there's less fuss in general about people uploading clips or even the full show to YouTube compared to newer shows where the creators are more likely to go after bootlegs and their recorders. So yes, it should count as a "leak", but as the saying goes - if a bootleg is uploaded and the filmer is no longer around, does it create any sort of trouble for them?

Another thing too is that many of the original filmers have long since left trading and unlikely to care what happens to their videos, which again, is just because Phantom is an older show (I know of one Phantom filmer who has actually passed away, that's how old some filmers are). It also helps that Phantom has had many international productions that closed years ago, which again, means it's less likely that there's anybody in the company who's going to come after a bootleg being uploaded. Like, do we really think the original Hamburg production, which closed in 2001, is going to go after the filmer of a bootleg from 1997? Probably not, so nobody's really going to be be a bother if you upload a video of it.

(Incidentally, this is also probably why members of the cast and crew will start leaking audios and videos - after enough time has passed, who cares? I'm almost certain the Mexico City proshot of Phantom was from a cast or crew member, as was the monitor video of the original Stockholm production, and I think everyone knows by now that it was Anton Zetterholm himself who decided to toss out the proshot of the Stockholm revival.)

Additionally, other filmers might be around but are not on social media because again, an older show means an older generation of filmers, meaning even if they did care about their stuff getting uploaded, well, it's unlikely they'll find out. Compare this to a musical like Six the Musical where the fans tend to be newer and younger, meaning it's very likely that the filmers are newer and younger, are still in the trading and bootlegging scene, are very active and adept at moving about on social media, and will take serious umbrage if you go uploading their stuff, especially combined with the fact that the company is more likely to come after them for bootlegging.

And yes, with some bootlegs, they have been uploaded so much it feels like you're fighting against the current to even go against it, especially when there are no repercussions. For example, the video of the original Broadway cast of Phantom has been posted so much, and by multiple people, that I don't think anybody cares at this point. That can certainly count as what you might consider "public domain" videos in that so many people have it, have uploaded it, or have seen it, that it's just taken as a free for all, do-what-you-want video.

That said, there are some unofficial rules that people tend to follow. Stuff filmed by people who are still active in the trading scene tends to not get uploaded. Stuff from post 2019 or so is a bit uncommon, again tying into the fact that people who filmed more recent boots are still very much around. If a filmer asks you to take something down, take it down. Name it something obscure (but that does not involve the words "slime tutorial" anywhere).

Anyway, I hope that answers your question!

#GP gets asks #anonymous

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accio-victuuri · 1 year

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let’s talk about the “surge” of xz & wyb related hot searches…. and what they are both doing about it.

It’s usual for both of them to go on on hs as individuals even for the most random thing. what’s interesting is them being on one together, as in xz & wyb, considering it’s been some time since they have been on the same stage and the animosity between their so/o fans.

Turtles have been talking about the recent searches that link them being more frequent than before — starting from that infamous same phone case topic to last 5/28 with two ( or three ) hot searches tying them up like it’s 2019 :

even the the recent “same style” maison kitsune top made it there:

This is not the norm, having it on consecutive days is surprising. Having a topic on HS can either be paid ( promotion ) or something organic and all of theirs fall on the latter. because honestly, from both their sides, there is so much more to lose ( fan wars ) than gain from being associated with each other. They also have nothing to “promote” so that takes it out of the equation. The HS are mostly good-natured and if you read it, looks harmless, but I don’t think that means it won’t lead to something negative ( like the phone case ). They had a recent HS together too cause their passport was leaked so there’s that too.

this brings up a conversation on a couple of things:

1. Is this good or bad? We honestly can’t tell. It is definitely nice to see their names together like that for cpfs but it should mostly be about “safe” topics.

2. They are not “banned” from being together as some people are saying. You know what I mean, there are those who say it’s not allowed for their names to be associated because of 2/2/7. That’s not true. It never was. They continue to be tied to each other and mentioned together whether certain groups like it or not.

3. The melon / entertainment accounts who pick up the tags and increase views & interactions for topics to make it on HS. This one is a wildcard. These accounts can’t be trusted no matter how cpf-friendly they are. We don’t know their true motives for picking things up and it’s creepy how they get photos from cpf accounts — like for the same phone case & maison kitsune. It’s not hard to search something up about them, the bjyx supertopic is so active that you can easily pick up the latest news about them. I think they should be more careful and bring back the watermarks marking “fake” or something like that. I know that won’t stop them from replicating but it’s a start. I just don’t want a good natured cpn turned into something bad for them.

4. Even last night, there were these ones, the (p1) is cpn friendly and all that but even turtles were trying to cover it up. (p2) started as an edit of their characters but made into a tag about their acting skills — which we know will lead to fan wars. Why does it have to be compared right? One is a drama airing now. One is a film that just finished it’s run. So what’s the purpose? Other than try and invite their fans to fight why one is better. I think that’s also why turtles were trying to denounce the first tag because there is a sense that these recent associations are becoming shady.

5. So what do they do about it? I wanna say nothing drastic really but turtles have noticed that it depends on the topic. I say this all the time but for celebrities like them — they have staff who keep an eye out on what’s being said about them online. Not necessarily HS, because there’s this thing about WYB and people are saying he doesn’t pay to have negative HS be taken down. Way to go. Honestly. Sina weibo can go f*** themselves. If it’s defamatory, YH can always sue.

If you read comments on YH’s post, even YBO sometimes, the replies of fans are not exactly nice. A number of them are complaining that there are a lot of “black” hot searches about WYB and they are not doing anything. I think in this case doing “nothing” is the best. It can’t be helped. They can’t spend their money every time this happens. It’s in WYB’s character really — Wugan. It’s all noise. What matters is the work he puts out and he won’t be disheartened by black hot searches.

Same goes for XZ, who doesn’t take things down mostly and clarifies through that 🦐 fan account as needed. It’s like saying, this is not enough for me to spend money on. It’s not important and I don’t care.

Going back to their associated HS, turtles have observed the trend for some of those searches….

Let’s take the acting skills HS ( Xiao Chunsheng vs Ye Mi ) as an example. It was pulled out quickly. It is said that the hot search was withdrawn before 9 o'clock, and they should have withdrawn it. They were unwilling to have this kind of HS stay up too long. The same style of phone case, fans singing Wuji by the sea, and the same style of shirts were not gone so fast.

If you look at this table ( column 2 ) shows how long it lasted on the HS ranking. Acting skills was not even an hour. The topic comparing their “salute” ( Ace Troops vs Born to Fly ) was 1 hour and 11 minutes the rest you can see for yourself. The HS updates every minute and even then, knowing how large their fanbase is, even cpf related won’t go down and disappear that quickly. leading people to believe it was paid to be taken down.

The CPN speculation is, it’s okay for them to be associated with each other on HS. As long as it doesn’t pit them against e/o. The two examples I mentioned show what. You can say that this is preemptive, trying to stop a potential fan war but why this quick? In that short time — it’s not even enough for the fans to band in and quarrel. It’s like they have a condition of what topic to put out quickly when it comes to them. If they are “rivals” and loathe e/o as some people claim, then why not let that hang in there? Why do they make an effort to still keep their association neutral to somewhat positive?

Anyway, no matter what this all means, the mantra will always be bjyxszd. 🫶🏼😂

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here i’m just clowning like i always do #not necessarily full on cpn talk but something to ponder on….

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