#(i mean it is a giant problem sometimes in some contexts but STILL. YOU DON'T GET TO 'DIAGNOSE' ME.

[tardis--dreams]

To summarize today's day in university:

- got diagnosed with social phobia by a class mate (bitch?!)

- heard a Very cool lecture/presentation by a guest lecturer

- our lecturer said she kinda liked our idea for our presentation

- had lunch with friends in the uni canteen which was nice but evoked some existential despair

[scintillyyy]

i just sometimes think with unpacking misogyny in comics we do need to move a bit beyond "this male character was condescending/mean to this female character and that's sexist and evil" and really get into the meat of how women are viewed as a class within the media in question.

because take robin (1993). the problem with it is not so much tim being mean to steph after steph has made a mistake that almost got or would have gotten someone hurt (such as the robin 80 page giant). the problem with it is also not *necessarily* that some main character traits of steph's are that she's never quite as good as everyone else and she's kind of a liability in the field and she's kind of prone to making mistakes (these are all things that make her a 3d character that's interesting, actually. and are fairly consistent character traits you see under writers who aren't dixon--including kelley puckett, devin grayson, lewis, scott, gabrych etc. the problem is really more the rather unfortunate execution of them than the fact that these character traits exist). the problem underpinning a lot of the issues people take with robin is how the writers view women as a class, and how write their female characters accordingly.

so take dixon. and to dixon, women are both extremely hypercompetent and also extremely incompetent at the same time. this is how he envisualizes women--they need men, but at the same time they are still capable of everything and more. and he also has a tendency to slot women into either the extremely hypercompetent, badass amazing role or the slightly incompetent, but still underestimated and badass role. and it's a sexist, reductive view of women as a class and it's why those character traits of steph that are interesting don't really work well under his writing. because steph very much starts off as the second one--and it's frustrating that she's never given a real chance, that she's given the role of being the more incompetent one who will never be as good as everyone else merely because she is a girl and that is the role she's alloted in life based on how dixon views women as a class.

however dixon's opposite tendency towards if a women isn't incompetent, she's gotta be hypercompetent is also sexist. i think a lot of that panel in robin where bruce tells steph she could be better than tim if she works hard enough, and it's interesting to me because people will forgive this because it's being nice to steph but it's also completely and wholly emblematic of dixon's brand of misogyny. because if she can't be incompetent, she has to be hypercompetent. there's no in between for how dixon views women.

and it's an especially interesting quote to me give the surrounding context--that particular quote takes place at a time when we know dixon had been begging for quite a bit of time to reward steph for her hard work and perserverence with robin. and we know that his plan for her as robin was going to be that she was just so hypercompetent and good and amazing and better than anyone at it, it was just going to fall apart because bruce would be too worried about her because she's a girl and be ultimately unable to work with her. so his story for her was going to swing from she's kind of bad at everything because she's a girl (bad, terrible way of how dixon views women) straight to she's amazing at everything because she was actually destined to be a hypercompetent female all along (which also happens to be a bad, terrible way of how dixon views women). it's definitely a total fuck you quote to editorial that kept refusing the idea of steph as robin. it is a fascinating facet of his sexism. and it's a reflection of how misogyny works in real life, too. the cultural expectations for women to either be the best or be nothing at all is a very real phenomenon.

because that's how it is as a whole. so when you just focus on how the male characters treat the female characters you're missing out on so much else that's misogynistic within a female character's story. misogyny in a narrative is about so much more than how one character is treated (though that's also important). it's about how even their successes/how they're treated "well" have to be viewed under a critical lens. the thing is that fixing misogyny is about ensuring there's an authentic variety and meaningful differences in how women are treated narratively, not just fitting them into a box of competent or not competent.

[lovelyminako]

A giant rant/critique about redeemable Villain LIs in otomes/dating VNs

Before I get into the rant, let me say a few disclaimers/notes. Tropes are tools. Just because a dating game or VN has a redeemable villain LI doesn't automatically mean it makes it bad. It does not and I will argue against that if you think that's the case (likewise if you think a game having a redeemable Villain LI automatically makes it good). There have been cases of certain tropes that work well in a certain story because of the execution and how it goes. Tropes very much rely on how you use them which impacts the story. This is just discussing times when it has been used badly and turns a VN that could've been great or memorable into something that's just okay.

With that out of the way, let's get onto the rant.

For those who don't know me, I play Genius Inc otome games. Their games aren't really consistent in quality, some are better or worse because they hire different writers for different stories. So for context, a lot of my criticism is aimed at them but can still apply to other VNs and otomes as well.

(Also, I know there are the female LI games from Genius Inc, I know they exist, never played them so idk if they follow this rule and it's only the men-likers that follow this.)

I was just reading Amon's side story from Lullaby of Demonia and it really just reminded me of why I have a love-hate relationship with Genius Inc and their games. They have a crippling amount of villain LIs that don't tend to be written well which can boil down to 2 main problems.

They make the MCs stupidly empathic for no reason.

Empathy can be a strength of one's character sometimes. A big example I can name is Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket and I find her to be actually good. But man, I find myself just shouting at the screen for the MC endangering themselves by trying to touch the villain LI's heart when their instincts should be to run or fight back. A lot of the poor examples of a villain LI romance have the MC just risk their own safety and ignore any sense of self-preservation for no reason other than the possibility of trying to redeem the villain LI and even more infuriating if the villain LI is a genocidal maniac and/or desperately wishes the MC to suffer or die.

I get that there's the ideal of "there's good in everyone" but sometimes, you need to draw the line or get me to care about why they care. Suppose you have this villain LI who has killed thousands of people and committed war crimes but has emotional trauma. In that case, I'm more likely to pity them but still hold them accountable for their actions because a sad story doesn't justify doing bad things. I don't support the MC trying to redeem them of all the horrible shit they did because as far as I'm concerned, they're a complete monster.

And a lot of the time with these monstrous types of villain LIs, the MC has no reason to care to redeem villain LIs, they just simply do because of their wildly empathetic heart and don't care what they have done to others or themselves which seems less empathetic and more childishly naive. If these VNs just gave the MC a reason to care for the villain LI strongly and want them to be a better person aside from them just being hot and let me see why they want to, I could still at least understand them. But they just don't. A lot of the time, these villain LIs are strangers and I just can't see why they'd get so worked up over them, especially since there tend to be other guys they can get but choose this one for no apparent reason.

Like imagine a scenario where there's a villain LI who has done horrible stuff and the MC wants them to be redeemed and be a good person. But the twist is they used to be friends or something more, hell maybe the MC even played a part in the reason why the villain LI is the way they are. The MC desperately wants them to be the person they used to know and wishes to share those moments of joy and fun again and keeps endangering themselves for that small hope they can touch their old friend's heart again and regain the person they loved.

Or perhaps the MC was in the exact same shoes as the villain LI and they used to be a villain as well. They laid waste to many villages and cities, killing dozens because of their own trauma/grief/backstory reasons. But there was someone who decided to lend out a hand to them and try to heal them and convince them that they could be a better person. And it succeeded. They let go of their villainy and atone for their mistakes, fixing up the villages they destroyed, providing support for the loved ones of those they killed, etc. Years later, they're now the hero of the story and are finally confronted with a villain who also has been burnt and is lashing against the world for it. And all they can see is themselves. So they try to use kind words and thoughtful gestures to help guide them onto the path they are now on and show them the light in an attempt to give them the chance they had, even as others discourage them and say they should just imprison or kill the villain.

Now I might not exactly agree with their actions in each scenario but I would understand them and that's all I need. "If your protagonist wants something no one else cares about, you gotta give us some emotional explanation as to why, otherwise, it just seems random." - There Will Be Fudd

2. The villain has a weak reason to be sympathetic.

Too many times, I've seen villains have such a weak reason for them to be considered redeemable or in other words, their actions far outweigh their reasons.

A prime example I can name is Sakuya from Soul of Yokai. While in the first season, it had always been implied he had a sad story behind him. However, a beauty about the implications and small pieces that told you he had a sympathetic backstory behind him without getting into the nitty gritty details was that the audience could fill in the blank. The audience could see he was a genocidal maniac who wishes all humans would die (for context, he's not a human), see small bits of pieces of "One day, Sakuya suddenly changed from being a loving person to a ruthless murderer," "This gift [an injured eye] was from a human, just like you," "You're not fooling anyone with that nice human act," and "You sound like her... before..." and immediately understand that a human girl met him (without anyone else knowing), he fell in love with her before she betrayed him and the act was so vile that he decided the rest of humanity should burn down alongside with her. That's all we needed to know and knowing exactly what happened would only just cheapen the entire thing because the audience could imagine for themselves what was so horrible that it completely changed Sakuya and he wouldn't dare speak about it because it was that horrific. Then we get to Season 2 just to discover that what happened was that the girl in question just cheated on him and suddenly what turned from a beautiful and alluring mystery to suddenly wondering why Sakuya simply just hated only the girl or just abandoned his love for humans without killing them. Sure, a lot of people cheat on their lovers but that's not an action that deserves death.

While this is a very specific case, my point is that because of Sakuya's actions of attempting genocide, simply not telling what happened to him was more effective than knowing he got cheated on because of the "Noodle Incident"-esque nature of Sakuya's backstory simply revealed that a horrific event happened to Sakuya which left him traumatised in which humans were the cause of the event which made him become a genocidal murderer. With actions as severe as his, you're expecting an equally severe incident that would justify or explain what he's doing. And in a case where your villain (LI) is committing literal war crimes, it's possible you can't even come up with a reason that explains what he's doing and you're better off just leaving hints at a sad story without fully knowing what that sad story is. Even if Sakuya's backstory ended up being something stronger, it wouldn't have worked as much because it's likely that whatever the writer made wasn't going to be as horrific as the audience imagined.

And to bring it to a more general level, a villain LI needs a reason that is equal to their villainy to convince you that they're redeemable. If your supposed redeemable villain has done evil but nothing horrific, then they can get a milder sympathetic story to equal to what they have done because it's equal although you can do something more extreme and it wouldn't bring down their redeemability. Have a more monstrous villain LI, you'll need a stronger reason for why they are the way they are or doing a Sakuya and keeping the backstory vague, depending on which angle works best for your story.

If your villain has an insufficient reason for being sympathetic, I find that worse than them just being evil for no reason because I can at least get behind that. Attempting to make them sympathetic just makes me roll my eyes that you're trying to make them feel for them rather than committing to them just being evil. And trying to make them sympathetic solely to date them just makes it feel forced and unnatural which is one of the types of writing you should never strive for.

[lidiacervos]

hi.

not sure about you but sometimes i feel all these back and forth arguments from the shipwar is silly. a point made about one ship can easily be applied to another and so forth. people don't like to admit it but a lot of these ships (elriel, vassien, elucien and gywnriel) have a lot in common.

from your perspective what do you think makes elucien more likely than elriel? both couples don't really know each other and all of them have issues to work through. same with gywnriel and vassien. both don't have much onpage interaction but what makes gywnriel more likely than vassien in her eyes?

Hello!

Yes, that’s kind of life, if we think hard enough we can find a connection to most situations. I do think it depends on what one is arguing about though because these ships aren’t carbon copies of each other. If everyone would just focus on their own fandoms and leave others alone, no one would have to argue🙃 that I do find silly…

I agree that on one level e/riel, elucien and gwynriel are on a pretty even playing field because none of them interact much or truly know each other, disagree that vuci*n should even be factored in because there is no romantic context for them.

When you say “in her eyes”, you mean SJM? No way to know what she thinks, but I sure can tell you some of what makes me unconcerned with the possibility of elucien or gwynriel not being endgame.

SJM is a mates author, this is even more clear since hosab. Nessian being mates was unnecessary to the story yet she made them mates anyway. Until SJM gives us a main couple that breaks the pattern, I’m going assume that mates are still very important in her worlds and a signifier of endgame.

That’s kind of all I need for elucien but a couple others things stood out to me too: the retcon of Lucien being Helion’s son is a big mc/mc adjacent storyline. Him having to deal with Graysen and even his friendship with Vassa(who Elain had visions about) connects him to Elain. Both of their associations with Spring and that there are problems there(ok this one might be wishful thinking). The fact that Elain and Lucien have both been sidelined and have such a strained relationship just screams “we have a book full of development coming”. Sarah said they would have “tension, healing and growth”. If they got along, I’d be worried.

Gwynriel was less obvious but still there in acosf. SJM giving the backstory that Azriel saved Gwyn added nothing to Nesta’s story. Hybern’s soldiers destroyed several places, Azriel didn’t have to be there but he was, gee I wonder why? Gwyn having that brazen sass with the stoic shadowsinger was another thing that made me go “huh”. The little sections referencing Gwyn watching Azriel or Azriel leaving to go over dagger handling, etc: more things that weren’t needed for Nesta’s story or could have been written differently. The way that there was more of a focus on Gwyn than other side characters(we know more about what goes on in Gwyn’s mind than Elain’s right now).

Honestly though the biggest example that shows gwynriel is more likely(and therefore elucien too) is Azriel’s chapter. No, bonus chapters have no effect on the books but Azriel’s chapter was a giant freaking neon sign from Sarah telling us where these relationships are heading. Azriel’s mind told us everything we needed to know. He’s been bottling up his anger and jealousy. He wants a mate, thinks the third sister should be his because of his brothers, he feels unclean and unworthy of Elain. He hasn’t thought about a future, just pleasure with her. Azriel’s not thinking rationally. We get to the Gwyn scene and it’s light and simple, a little funny, Azriel starts feeling better, his head is clearing. He finds himself thinking of making Gwyn happy. It ends with mate language! There is a ginormous contrast between the two halves of Azriel’s chapter and honestly the way SJM went about writing it was some of her best work imo.

Sooo this was my very long way of saying that sure, when it comes down to interactions they’re all equal, but looking beyond that is where people form their opinions.

[shadow-logan]

100 OC Questions - Answered

questions are c/o the-moon-dust-writings! bulleted responses are Shadow's and responses without a bullet are mine.

i've got his backstory up, but here's some quick context:

he's a reborn (looks like a teal-haired anime wolf boy)

he's been alive for 1 year in-game

26 y/o body

arcane trickster/bladesinger

he's a Harper, but is still trying to navigate his relationship with the Zhentarim

How do they present themselves to others?

like, disguised? Not disguised? What do they mean?

I think they mean just… What you're like when you first meet someone.

uh… Myself, usually

You're pretty standoffish. You like talking with people, but most people scare you.

this is true. I'm always searching for what makes them tick or what they're hiding.

2. Do they like animals?

YES

but they also confuse you.

yes

Care to explain?

animals don't make sense to me. Why can't they transform like Lily? Why do they choose those forms? And permanently?

… That's not how it works, but I see your point.

3. How do they dress?

clothes. Next question

Oh my god, Shadow. You dress in whatever's comfortable and available

bonus points if it's black

4. How many languages do they know?

does Thieves’ Cant count?

Sure

then… Technically…. Four, I guess. Common, Elvish, Thieves’ Cant, and a bit of Giant.

5. How big is their family?

… You answer this one. I don't wanna.

You consider Lily, Caim and Blaze family. Newer members to your family are Krowen, Vidar and your Tressym! Your winged snake familiar is special to you, too.

yeah. Just sucks that the Zhents still consider me family, but I'm starting to see that as… Not that.

I won't push you closer or away from them. I just want you to be happy and safe.

sigh yeah. Family sucks sometimes.

6. What is their purpose in the story?

my friends and I are adventuring together to root out the cause of the Giants’ behaviour. I'm also on a quest for ALL of the knowledge!

7. Do they know how to fight?

Several styles, actually!

yeah!! I've been developing my own sword scales!! And my magic is slowly growing more powerful. It's scary, but really cool, too!!

8. What is their back story?

Both: gesture to 40 pages of backstory "that"

9. Why is their name, their name?

I can't remember if I was like, "ah, shit!! I need a name!! Uhhhh…" Or if I was like, "you're gonna be 'Shadow' because it's edgy hehe"

either way, it works!! I'm a shadow of past lives and I'm starting to live my own life. I've taken on Logan's name, too, since it came to me when Jamna first asked for my name. I like the ring of Shadow-Logan.

7. Do they have any nick names?

not really? I guess Shart might be a nickname

Please don't give your friends that kind of power

8. Do they have a romantic interest?

Xavlith

9. How do they cope with struggles?

you don't.

wrong. I sit on rooftops and write to Selûne. She likes me, but I know she can't solve all of my problems for me. Even so, I like writing to her.

fair point. it works pretty well for you.

oh, i also rage and sign blood pacts, apparently

there it is.

10. Do they have anyone they can lean on?

Blaze is cool, but I've known Caim and Lily for longer. Caim's also saved my life a few times, so he's become a brother to me. I'm gonna go with Caim and Lily.

11. How do they react to someone dying?

depends on who it is. Myself? Been through it at least once, could probably handle it again. Friend? Not well. Enemies? Spits.

12. Can you name 5 personality traits they have?

i don't know, can you?

shut up lol. sigh. you're... determined, analytical, curious, adaptable and loyal.

interesting wait of saying "stubborn little shit who doesn't take 'no' for an answer", heh

oh my god, shut up. you're a cool dude, but you really don't let your guard down, ever. you'll stop at nothing on the pursuit of knowledge

you're not wrong

13. How did they become a character?

you needed a DND character. apparently i was a halfli--

*grabs his lips* YOU WERE ALWAYS A REBORN ANIME WOLF BOI. NEVER A HALFLING. NEVER A SHIFTER. UNEARTHED ARCANA??? NEVER HEARD OF IT.

14. Do they get along with others?

you try

not always successfully

you're getting better, though

... i appreciate it. it's hard being nice when you don't know a person's true motives

15. What flaws do they have?

both: "a lot"

oh, i'm fucking flawed. i'm angry, resentful and manipulative

to be fair, while not objectively great traits, they've helped you with certain dealings

16. How do they influence the story?

neither of us know how you truly influence the story

yeah, i guess we're kinda just vibing and seeing where the timeline takes us

17. What do they look like?

i'll post some art soon enough!

18. What are their hobbies?

writing, reading, doodling. also people-watching.

19. What are their ticks?

people tAKING TOO LONG TO SPEAK. STOP TALKING SO SLOWLY. JUST SPIT IT OUT, ALREADY, GODSDAMMIT.

20. Do they like children?

remember Kyla? the one with 2 moms? back in Silverymoon? she was cool. pretty sure she wasn't freaked out by me and was just curious. other than her? kids kinda just confuse me. why are they so small???

you're a unique case, Shadow. you rose from the dead. that's not the average person's experience.

but still... *visible consternation*

21. How do they react to being around wild animals?

i'm used to Lily--our Sea Elf Druid--being in Wildshape, so wild animals don't really freak me out. I like seeing and learning about them.

22. If they were given the task to prank someone, who would it be, what would they do, and would the prank work?

pretty sure you've pranked Caim before.

yeah, i just don't remember how... anyway, i'd probably prank Caim or Blaze. i wouldn't do anything malicious, just... uh... swap their salt and sugar or something. depends on where we're staying and what i have access to, y'know?

23. Do they have any survival skills?

i can pitch a tent?

you're kinda lucky you don't need to eat, sleep or breathe. you just find places to hide and hope for the best.

basically

24. Are they more book smart or street smart?

surprisingly, both!

yeah, i guess i'm more street smart, but only because i've basically lived on the streets. i haven't had as much time as i'd like to read.

25. How do they get out of a difficult situation?

with my daggers

sweet heavens, boy.

okay, fine... mage hand.

what?

i don't know. i just usually try to talk my way out of shit. or pull out my tressym if things get awkward. i makes for a wonderful scapegoat---er, scape-tressym--and distraction

26. Do they use their body, mind, personality or force to get what they want?

my personality sucks, so it's usually up to my mind to get what i want.

this is true. however, you've used your body before.

mhmm. not too proud of that

27. What music do they enjoy?

i blame you, but pop-punk

i will accept full responsibility for this

and the just over 600 songs on the playlist you've curated for me?

with pride

MORE Q'S BELOW! I'LL GET TO THEM (AND RENUMBERING THEM) LATER LOL

28. How do they overcome obstacles?

29. When faced with a difficult decision do they get stronger or break?

30. Do they have any special powers?

31. How do they change throughout the story?

32. Do they have any friends? If so, are they close knit?

36. How is their family life?

37. Are they likable?

38. Are they the hero, or anti-hero?

39. Do they make questionable choices?

40. How do they become who they are?

41. How was their childhood?

42. Are they close with anyone who is going to screw them over?

43.How do they adapt to different situations? Do they adapt at all?

44. How do they speak? Examples - Are they soft spoken, hot heated, vulgar

45. Are they opposed to violence?

46. When is their birthday?

47. Are they quick to judge?

48. Do they have anything they are trying to hide from others?

49. Do they act different around different people?

50. Do they enjoy the arts?

51. Do they like science?

52. Are they more emotional or logical?

53. How do they deal with their emotions?

54. How do they cope with sadness?

55. What is something they care about?

56. Would they die for anyone/anything?

57. What do they do when they are happy?

58. How would they come across to other characters? Examples- messy, lazy, childish, caring etc.

59. Do they have a phrase they use over and over?

60. In a crowed room are they in the corners, sides, or in the middle?

61. Are they comfortable being in a crowed room?

62. How do they relax?

63. Have they ever harmed anyone and regretted it? Verbally or physically?

64. Do they like to dance?

65. How do they get around their environment? Examples - horses, bike, vehicle

66. What is their pet peeve(s)?

67. Do they have a disability?

68. How do they react to getting flowers?

69. Would they ever wear a flower crown?

70. Do they like themselves?

71. Who do they dislike?

72. What is their motto?

73. Do they have any markings on their body?

74. Have they ever been abused?

75. What is their biggest fear?

76. What are their goals?

77. How do they go about achieving their goals?

78. Do they have a fight or flight response?

79. Is there someone in their life that they care about more than themselves?

80. How would they fare in zombie apocalypse?

81. Do they have any tattoos? If so, are they significant?

82. Are they good at mental math?

83. Do they get along with others?

84. Are they lazy?

85. Are they self motivated?

86. How do they cope with anger?

87. Have they ever been in a situation where they were helpless?

88. Are they organized or messy?

89. Can they remember a lot of information at once?

90. What is their occupation?

91. Do other characters respect your OC, if so, is it out of fear? Or do they respect your OC because they like them?

92. If they were given minutes to live, what would they do? Who would they want to see and say?

93. How do they deal with stress?

94. Do they have a more submissive or dominate personality type?

95. Do they have a pet?

96. Do they have a stash of weapons?

97. Where do they live? Who do they live with?

98. How do they calm themselves down?

99. Are they co-dependent?

100. Are they a day, or night person?

[twigstarpikachutroll22]

3, 4, 5, 11, 18, 19, 34, 37, 38, 40

*Berry flicks me in the back of the head with her fingers*

Ow!

"Hey Twig, you've been forgetting that when Sparkle sends asks they're for both of us again. I'm jumping in on this post now. We get in double the amount of songs that way."

Oh! Okay! Sorry. I'm really sorry I don't know why the frick I keep forgetting--

"It’s. It’s fine. Honestly, I forget too, which is kinda even more upsetting. Well anyways, I'm here now. And I can go through your previously answered asks and get on any of those I’ve missed after."

3) a song tied to a specific moment in your life

Not really a specific moment so much a specific period of time, but, Problem Child by Simple Plan reminds me very strongly of 6th grade.

"The Middle of a Moment from the James and the Giant Peach musical adaptation reminds me of when I first left home."

4) a song that is not sung in your native language

H@ppy Together from Fresh Precure.

"Aisling's song from The Secret of Kells!"

YOOOOOO WHY DIDN'T THAT ONE OCCUR TO ME FIRST KJGSHDGKJSDLIGBSDAG

"I have no idea. That was like, your favorite scene back when you were watching The Secret of Kells like, every day."

I mean. Technically that one has a line that's in english.

"Yeah, exactly ONE line. That comes around like, twice. The entire rest of the song is not in english. It counts.

...If it doesn't count, Imma say Histoire de Mensonges by Fred Pellerin."

OH POOP WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF PRISENCOLINENSINAINCIUSOL

"WHY DIDN'T YOU OH MY GOD anyway that's already FOUR songs instead of two, next question."

5) a song over 5 minutes long

The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace by The Amazing Devil.

"The Most Unwanted Song!"

dsjhfsdkjg the way I'm the one who names a song by the band that makes everything sound like something out of high fantasy, and my best friend who's literally fae names the song literally crafted in a lab to be the worst song ever.

*Berry shoves me*

11) something you'd give ANYTHING to hear performed live

What comes to mind is musicals that I’ve listened to the soundtrack of but haven’t seen. Saw the Hamilton proshoot but never saw it live, seeing it live really really must be AMAZING.

“I think if somecreature were able to perform The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku live I would HAVE to see that.”

JFOISDHGOUASDGBISDGUISDVGIUSDVUIFAVSDIUGVUISDBGSDUIAGDSIVUIVGUIDSVUIFVSDUIVGUISDFDSUVGDIUSVGDAISUGAS okay your answer’s entirely a jillion times better than mine and I 100,000% agree.

“Aurelio Voltaire songs must be amazing live too, if we had to stick to like, naturally humanly possible things.

But seriously. Disappearance of Hatsune Miku.”

Yes.

18) a song that demands lip syncing into a makeshift microphone

What comes immediately to mind is 30/90 from Tick Tick Boom but it's not lip syncing so much as fully belting along to it so really it's more of an answer to 16 than 18.

"Yeah, this is kind of a hard one for us 'cause we don't really DO lip-syncing so much as just singing along, huh? Hmm. I do see you lip-sync to Taylor Swift songs when they come on out loud a lot though."

Yeah sometimes it’s ‘cause I’m in a context I’m not totally comfortable singing aloud in, and sometimes it’s just ‘cause if I try to sing along it’s hard not to automatically try to match the key and my voice isn’t high enough for that. Hmm. Still doesn't feel like a proper answer.

"Might be best to just go onto the next question or we'll probably be stuck on this one for a ridiculous amount of time."

Yeah, I guess.

19) the last song you had stuck in your head

It keeps changing every minute, bro. At this particular second of me typing this, it's All Hallows by Aviators but also They Come In The Night by Elise Ecklund and also some other song I forget the name of but mostly All Hallows. It'll be something entirely different by the time we're done with these asks.

34) a song you'd like your favorite artist to cover

I mean, we have a LOT of favorite artists...

"Ooooooh! What about a Rachie or Jubyphonic english cover of Fear Garden or Scissorloid?”

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Y E S

OR OF THIS IS THE HAPPINESS AND PEACE OF MIND COMMITTEE

“OH MY GOD YES. WE NEED A RACHIE OR JUBYPHONIC COVER OF THAT ASAP.”

37) a song you're ashamed to have in your music library

Several fan songs for media I consume secondhand.

*Berry smirks at me and takes a bite out of the cookie she's eating*

*she looks at you* "I can't give an answer of my own for this because I have no shame."

38) okay what's the song you were too ashamed to even post for #37

*i sit there sweating, mouth clamped shut*

*Berry just looks at me*

"How long will you drag this out, Twig?"

I'm GONNA come clean eventually, just not in an ask that's posted for EVERYCREATURE who looks at my tumblr to see!

"Fair."

40) favorite disney song

Are we counting TV shows or only movies? 'Cause I have a bunch of favorite Sofia the First songs and a bunch of favorite Phineas and Ferb songs, which feels pretty separate from Disney movies--

"I think we’re just counting movies. I dunno, just feels like that was probably the original intent with this question."

Ah.

...Well, cliche as it is, I might actually have to say Let It Go. It WAS genuinely in my top 3 favorites for years after Frozen came out. Don't anycreature judge, it's a genuinely good song, y'all are just mad because it’s been overplayed to the extreme. 

"Hmmmm. Hard decision for me. I wanna say something from Tangled the series, maybe Wind In My Hair or Waiting In The Wings or Nothing Left To Lose--and SERIOUSLY it’s hard to choose between those--but I also kinda feel like saying The Next Right Thing from Frozen 2? I dunno, we’ve seen some videos talking about some of the making of that song and some of the music theory in it, and the Frozen people really did go hard with that portrayal of hitting absolute rock bottom emotionally and trying to pull yourself up just the tiniest little bit at a time.”

It’s true.

“Welp! That was fun! 😄”

We really do have to get better at remembering to BOTH answer Sparkle’s asks gsudbagisbgiiau

“Yeah.”

[olderthannetfic]

RRverse hyperfixation anon, I know exactly what you're talking about! I left that fandom years ago but still follow the main tag for art and it seems like every third post is a flavor of anti now. The fandom actually ruined my favorite RR series, HoO, for me with it's vitriolic atmosphere long before I stopped reading YA in general.

+++

That fandom got weirdly dehumanizing towards the characters too sometimes, treating them as just a checklist of identities rather than people, and framing that as a Good And Important Thing To Do and how dare anyone be so disrespectful as to be more interested in a character's personality than their identities!

I've seen similar behavior in other Tumblr fandoms and while I think people should be able to do what they want with fictional characters, people need to stop forcing their way of doing fandom on other people.

I still remember how much it it sucked to be a teenager of color who for the first time saw a character that was somewhat similar to them – I'm from a majority white country where diversity in media is not a concern to 99% of people – in looks, experienced social issues, and personality, and who wants to explore the character as a person through AUs and such, only to be told they're being racist toward their own group for doing so.

Apparently people of color can't enjoy video games or LARPing or building computers because those are "white people hobbies". We can't like certain music, or foods or whatever because they are "white people things". And making a character enjoy those things is whitewashing them. Maybe these words come across different in America but to me they sound exactly like the local racists who want people like me gone from this country entirely.

I don't post much fandom things anymore and when I do it's usually about white male characters because for some reason I'm allowed to treat them as people.

And now I'm seeing the same type of fandom person demand Own Voices content! Don't ask for our voices if you can't even handle hearing them in such an inoffensive context!

--

This is a little bit of a nitpick, but his stuff tends to be middle grade rather than YA, no?

And yes, there is a massive double standard masquerading as "supporting" POC. In my experience, it tends to boil down to a combination of clout-chasers whipping people into a frenzy to further their own power and more or less well meaning but misguided fans who are very picky about their faves.

I totally have the same problem with gender: I'm way pickier about female characters and especially f/f than about male characters, and the upshot is that I enjoy more things with male characters. Doh! It's just an instinctive reaction. I can't turn it off.

A lot of people take that personal inability to enjoy and inflict it on everyone else in the form of being hypercritical of all fannish activity around a particular minority character. The problem is that fandom only flourishes when it's not being obsessively monitored that way.

I think people around here desperately want reality and activism to work along moralistic lines: be Correct™ and yell loud enough, and that will accomplish what you want.

But in reality, being pragmatic would work better.

We know what fosters creativity: room to fail and try things without it being a giant fucking drama. And we know where good fic comes from: a vast mountain of badfic you can mine for gems. No mountain, no top 1% of good shit!

Ultimately, these fake activistes shoot themselves in the foot. They're a blight on the causes they think they champion and impose unfair scrutiny and double standards on the minorities they claim to be protecting.

[noteofnaught]

Dante's memory of his mother

Fiddled with what I had written earlier.

The translation was done for me by deepl (translator).

Please let me know if you think it's strange or if there are any mistakes.

The above is purely a personal opinion

Feel free to discuss and exchange.

Dante's memory of his mother

Dante's memory of his mother, or rather that night, seems to have been formally depicted once in DMC5 since DMC1.

So let's start with the DMC1.

In the DMC1 novel, there is a scene depicting Dante recalling the events of his mother's death.

「母さん、母さん……ねぇ、母さん！」

幼子が、地に倒れ伏した母親の身体を揺さぶり続けている。母親の息がすでに絶えていることは、誰の目にも明らかだ。

だが幼子は──すでに自分でもそうとわかっているのだろうが──無

駄な努力を止める気配はない。

「兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ！ 母さん！ ねぇ、母さん！」

亡骸からは未だ、温かな血が地面へと広がり続けている。

幼子は半狂乱だった。

We can see in the description that Dante tries to wake his mother up next to her dead body, even though he realises that she is dead but he is still trying to wake her up. This is a reluctance to accept his mother's death, a normal emotion and attitude for a small child to have.

And the second half of his sentence [兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ!] It is as if he had searched for his brother, but his tone is one of powerlessness, of helplessness, of feeling negative about the outcome. So here I want to convey not so much that he has searched for his brother to no avail, but a sense of powerlessness about the situation. He tries to wake up his mother in this way.

It's close to one: Mom, wake up. My brother is not here/is gone and I don't know what to do/I'm scared, please get up Come on.

And then in the scene of Neal's death, Dante recalls this as Neal's sacrifice to protect him, just as his mother did that day.

After that he heard the voice of his father's sword, and out of fear and insecurity he was completely drawn to it, thus obeying its words and changing his name until he gained the power to fight against it.

Then, in the battle with Gilvi, when Gilvi stabbed Dante and was covered by the necklace, Dante's internal activity was as follows.

He credits his mother with protecting him (again) as a child.

Where the mother sacrifices herself to save/protect Dante this is consistent with the DMC1 in-game scene. In DMC1 Dante has a similar line after Trish sacrifices herself to save him. This is the diagram from Precious Tears, with Japanese and English, but both Japanese and English convey that Trish sacrificed herself to save him, as did her own (Dante's) mother.

This is in line with the content of the DMC3 comic.

In the DMC3 comic, Dante has a nightmare at the office after his encounter with Vergil, a dream that is not in fully recreated form but like a fragmentary form.

Here the mother has more dialogue than in DMC1, and it is obvious from the comic's footage that there are huge hands behind her that are about to crush her, and Dante reaches towards her as if to retain his mother, who is feeling very scared, while her mother shouts for him to hurry up and hide/hide and not come out no matter what happens. She is then crushed by the huge hand. In the next panel we can see that the demon looks like a bird and says the terrible words "all die". like it is glowing, and on the next page you can also see the huge three foot shadow on the ground, which also looks like the claws of a bird, and the door behind it is the image of burning, while a long shadow is drawn under his feet.

Of course, we know from the comic that Arkham says there was a fire that day, and Vergil's fearful recollection of the house being on fire makes DMC5 even more certain that it was indeed on fire. The glowing eyes, the long, thin shadows and the subsequent bloodstained house in the comic give the impression that something ominous, unsettling and alien is about to happen.

The cartoon after that also shows us Dante waking up with a jolt, his face covered in water, looking at his hand but with only a drop on his end finger, giving the illusion that he has pulled a hook with someone. There is no sweat on his body, however, and of course there are problems of expression in the painting, so it is not painted.

But it is also true that these same fragmentary memories and dreams give Dante unease and fear.

Well, the memory, the feeling of his mother in Dante's vision so far is the following: his mother told himself to hide and not come out, and sacrificed himself to save himself. It is the great selfless motherly love that belongs to Dante.

Although it was a great mother's love, the memory of that day still makes Dante feel uneasy and afraid. The last memory his mother leaves Dante with is the one that tells Dante to hide, and implicitly the will to let him live. If we add the DMC1 novel to the mix here, it is at this very moment that he is drawn to his father's sword.

Again within these memories and fragments, the mother is rendered unknowable to Vergil, meaning that we do not or cannot see in Dante's recollections that the mother ever went looking for Vergil, if not for the presence of the phrase [兄さんもいなくなっちゃったんだ!] we would not even know in this recollection of Dante that he knew that he had a brother. What we can see or what Dante perceives in his vision is that his mother loved him so much that she died in the process of protecting/saving him.

However, it is also a writing device that can be lifted off as suspense.

But again, this doesn't do any damage to the image of Eva as a great mother, because based on what happened that day, the great mother had to choose to save/protect (potentially the closest to her or that she could find) one child and had to give up the other in the face of force majeure. Dante also never said before DMC5 whether his mother loved Vergil or not, whether she ever sought him out or whether she cared for his brother as well.

What we see in Dante's vision is basically what Dante can know, but it doesn't mean all of it. After all, comics or game scenes have an obligation to show us the scenes, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the characters actually see all the textures. We, as players/readers, are a kind of God's eye and we can notice things that are not right or different (also a storytelling technique) but as protagonists we are not necessarily fully aware or in the same position as us.

I think if you have seen suspense films, you will also often see that kind of bridge, we all know that this bomb is going to explode this person to kill that person, although there is that kind of explicitly shown in the footage, but the protagonist is still unaware of the appearance, many viewers are in order to pinch a cold sweat, for this reason anxious hope that the protagonist quickly realize.

And DMC5 gives us a formal depiction of that day, not through snippets like a nightmare, you can see in the game's overstory description that it says Dante dreamed of what happened before, which means this time you are shown real memories.

After all, a nightmare is not necessarily a real memory, it is a condensation of a certain memory. Sometimes we have a nightmare like dreaming of a giant cockroach because we are afraid, so we reproduce and amplify this fear in our nightmares, so that a small cockroach we see in the house becomes enormous in our nightmares, the giant cockroach is not necessarily real but the fear is real. Of course, we are not talking about the formation of nightmares here, but only about the fact that nightmares and some fragments of our memories with fear and anxiety may be a recreation of what we felt and what existed at the time, but not necessarily a completely real recreation.

In the DMC5 Eva process screen.

There is a slight difference between Japanese subtitles and English subtitles, or even Japanese dubbing.

The overall meaning is actually similar to the DMC3 manga, Eva is all over Dante not moving and telling him to hide/hide, the only difference is that she says more words to make Dante forget his past and forget his name and start a new life from scratch/not being Dante but another person to start over. All also contain the mother's wish for him to live well.

The difference is that in the Japanese subtitles, Eva clearly expresses the possibility that she may not return and so tells Dante to listen well to what she says next, whereas in English it is expressed as I promise you will return.

In the English context, although the mother says she will come back, she immediately reverses the 'come back' in the next sentence, saying that she knows it will be difficult, but you're old enough so you'll have to do this if I don't come back. They both mean the same thing, a mother who knows she might not come back and tells her child what she will do if she doesn't come back, as if making a pact with her child: we agreed that if I don't come back, you will remember to do this, I know you can do it.

If you look closely at the animation of the process, you can even see Dante's hand trembling on the cupboard door, he is very scared.

And the BGM here also happens to be called: More Fear

And of course it is here that we first see Eva looking for Vergil, and it turns out that Eva has looked for Vergil! This doesn't exactly match the information we got on Dante's side earlier.

But are you saying that the DMC1 message contradicts the current message? The DMC1 novel only mentions that he cried next to his mother's body, not that she said anything to him before she died, after which he became obsessed with his father's sword out of fear and terror. And his father's sword statement is the same as his mother's deathbed statement but in a very different series.

The meaning of the mother's words is very clear, the words are all about the desire for her child to live well and to stay away from these things that will hurt him, a good expectation and blessing for her child and the expectation and belief that her child will be able to do so.

「今はその名を隠し、目を眩ませ、逃げ延びよ」

“Now go incognito, confuse the enemy and flee far away!”

The overall meaning of the phrase is that it is dangerous to hide the name, confuse the enemy and run away, and the phrase even takes the form of a command that the child must do what he says.

It's a phrase you'd put in the context of a superior to a subordinate, a captain to his teammates, and in the context of a tense battlefield man telling you to run fast is perfectly fine and appropriate. But Eva's words could only be said by a mother to her child.

When all the memories are linked together, our facts about Eva become a little more complete, and at the same time what effect does it have on Dante?

If his mother only died saving him and he hated his father for her revenge which is quite reasonable, this has to be a blowback from his father's enemies. What is necessary to mention here is what Dante's mindset was regarding DMC1 killing the Black Angel.

In the official publication of the 3124 collection, Dante is said to have killed the Black Angel with "no thought", a word synonymous with "remnant", which is generally translated into Chinese as: regret.

And the DMC1 how-to book has a direct description of his ideas.

Dante is talking here about Mundus killing his mother and brother.

This is not the same as what we generally think of as objective perception. In the game we see over the course of the game, the Black Angel looks as if he still has a heart, so naturally we think there is still salvation, after all, he is still alive.

But here Dante does not think that it was his own hand that killed the Black Angel, but that Mundus killed Vergil.

Of course we can parse this to mean that killing the man who was Vergil means, but even so within this passage of Dante he is not one of the reasons for Vergil's death, he has no responsibility in Vergil's death and is not responsible for any act occurring in the process, but rather Mundus should need to take full responsibility.

In other words, it means that even if it was he who killed the Black Angel in the course of the battle, then he is not responsible for it, but Mundus is responsible for it, because it was Mundus who arranged it, and how could he have killed it if he had not arranged it there, it was not his problem, it was Mundus' problem.

than what we generally think of as objective factual rational logic going into the judgement: although Mundus turned Vergil into a black angel like that, he himself didn't recognise the killing, more or less he was responsible for it or felt particularly guilty that he didn't recognise it.

Dante's logic leans more towards total emotional logic: It's all Mundus' fault!

And in DMC5 just as Vergil used to think it was a matter of not having enough power, now it's a matter of having too much power, and now that Mundus is gone, not recognizing Vergil (V) for killing Vergil can only be his active choice, not a passive one, and it can only be that his responsibility has nothing to do with Mundus.

Returning to the mother, what arises is in fact the same question. If before it was his mother's great love for him, which was selfless and exclusive to him, now, at this moment, her love is equal, not just his but also his brother's. The "he" whose mother sacrificed herself to save him in the flashback (DMC5) is not really a "he". His mother's did not hesitate to rush out to save her brother, knowing the danger.

Of course we must also mention nell, arguably the designer of Dante's double shot.

In the novel, Thor wants Neal to commission and pay a deposit for a double gun for himself, one of which is a secret-made gun he stole from a robbery, and the other is the same type of medieval gun that Neal himself received.

nell is so good to Tony, as is clearly described in the DMC1 novel, because Tony looks so much like her child, and her love for her child is projected onto Tony, and she holds on to her job before she eventually dies, not only because of her love for Tony but also her love for her own child, and more so for the work ethic she has taken on this job and should complete.

But all the same, the person she missed most on her deathbed was her own child, something Tony could never replace, nor could he if he wanted to, which of course didn't mean that nell's love for Tony was false, nell's love for Tony was also real, indeed it was love, it was precisely because of the person of her own child that nell loved so deeply that Tony was loved by her.

Whether it is nell or the mother Eva, their love for their child is not solely Dante's alone and only his, or why they love Dante/Tony, it is because they both love their child, and if they were not such, then Dante would naturally not be loved by them.

His mother's protection and sacrifice is something he feels and desires, something that is personal and emotional for him. It also explains Dante's statement to Trish in DMC1 that "his mother died to protect herself", because Trish, like his mother in his feelings and understanding, has what he calls a "heart".

Of course, because DMC1 is entirely Dante's vision of storytelling (DMC1 is Dante's story), his mother is human in Dante's eyes, and Trish acts like his mother to protect him, or even Dante's ideal mother, so Trish is also a person with a "heart", as to how Trish feels or if that is the case. We will not discuss this issue here.

Surely the mother did not save Dante? This is necessarily a negative, but was it to save him that his mother died, or to hold back the demon who tried to kill him so that he could escape? Again, that is a negative. Wouldn't his mother have done that in that situation? That too is a negative. Wouldn't Dante have wanted his mother? No. Must Dante have never been afraid of not wanting his mother to stay by his side to give him security and protection? Did Dante only want to protect his mother and never wanted her to stay by his side to protect him? All the information above seems to be in the negative.

DMC5 is simply a reinterpretation and addition of information from the past, the only thing overturned is Dante's belief that his mother died to save himself.

This message provides us with an explanation of the origin of Dante's hatred for his brother, as is often the case in many films and novels, in which he blames the child for the death of his beloved wife, even though it was not the child's fault, and believes that if it had not been for him, his wife would not have died. He stubbornly believes that his mother died to save him, not to save his brother, and not because of this he is unable to love his brother; he acts as if he wishes he could have the mother's love all to himself.

For if we are to acknowledge the fact that his mother died to save his brother, we also have to acknowledge something else, and that is that he equally did not want to be left/abandoned by his mother.

Of course, this is not a contradiction or a conflict; it is only natural that a child should be afraid and want to protect his mother, and it is equally natural that he should want to protect her.

The above is purely a personal opinion