#I want the foundation to be with the creator and I think it's only fair to expect the same of myself

[optiwashere]

How do you feel about other people making fan art or fanfic about your oc Asheera? Like interacting with other Tavs or writing their own scenes?

Art? Please do! If anyone ever wants to they can. I'd love to know what an artist is making, and I'd love to see it before it's out for the rest of the world so I can offer early praise as well as suggestions or corrections, but please go ahead!

I expect people to credit artists, so I would expect another artist to credit Asheera as my OC and link to my stuff. That's basically all I expect.

Right now I can't commission anything (holidays go brrr) so please don't solicit for them 💜 Also, I have a lil blurb on my AO3 profile that covers the things that people have blanket permission on! It's never come up, but I made it years ago so I think I'll add onto it now...

I really appreciate the love and interest in Asheera if anyone felt compelled to write fic with her in it, that's really flattering! I really do mean that. Like, I wanna express that up front. Super flattering and I'm honored. I love everyone (mutuals, followers, drivebys, anons, all y'all) that pours love out for her and asks questions about her. I really do! But there is a line.

This is the condensed version of what I've spent the better part of an hour writing.

In advance, you don't really have to do this but for people that don't know — it's considered common courtesy in fanfic circles to ask about using other people's OCs in fanfiction.

Also: this is about fanfiction specifically, not the fun asks that come in, and it isn't a permission thing. I can't stop people from writing about her. I also can't stop how I know I will react, emotionally.

I would be very wary of why people would want to use her in fic and, if it was on AO3, why they felt the need to publish it. My immediate answer to a total stranger doing that is: I would probably be demotivated and depressed by it.

Please don't do it if you respect me as a person. This is for me as much as it is for you. Trust me.

Asheera isn't a self-insert, but I am very emotionally attached to her. She has projections of my transition and experience with transition in her. I would be extremely uncomfortable/borderline depressed to see her depicted in ways that don't conform to what I think of her. I also don't know what "interacting with other Tavs" really means without hard specifics. I do mean literally word-by-word on that.

I'm not pretending that this is a moral high ground or a logical stance. It's all an emotional reaction. I've had experience with my OCs being written in strangers' fics and it never ends well. It's made me possessive and controlling and I recognize that. I also recognize that it is not anyone else's job to monitor my emotions or feelings, so take my word at face value here.

This isn't even touching on the part where I'm actively writing for Asheera, have lots of unused ideas that I wouldn't want to see someone else write, and the clusterfuck it can create on tumblr/AO3 if someone assumes a one-time pass equals free reign to fanfiction.

Please respect my wishes 💜

[creatingblackcharacters]

FAQs!

I go by Ice, she/her pronouns 💕. In case you had any of these questions, here you go:

1. "Why'd you make this page?"

I want to make the creation space- fandom to professional- more inclusive for people that look like me.

It is very disheartening when you really like something, and you see that oh! It's going to include a Black character! And then you get that character and... They're subpar. Especially in comparison to the usually white characters that have so much thought put into them. You accept them because you REALLY want that rep, but... We deserve to wholeheartedly accept our characters too, no ehhs about it.

I wanted to challenge myself, using my amateur art skills and my teaching skills, to convey to creators how that makes us feel, and little things they can do to more intentionally create their Black characters. There's more to us than adding to a diversity quota.

2. "So you aren't even a professional?"

I got 27.5 years of being a Black person on my resume 🤣 jokes aside, I am a self teaching artist. It's only been about a year for me. My more specific goal here is to use my skills to convey a perspective change towards Blackness, not necessarily a "how to do". If you want to learn the specific how-to's of drawing Black characters, there are Black artists all over Tumblr and the web that can show you. I actively encourage you to go check them out and support them, it's a great way to learn as well as to support our community!

3. "But if you're not a professional, why should I trust you?"

Well, again, because I don't have to be a professional to recognize when supposedly Black characters... Don't look like me 😅. Or, in writing, don't have any thought about me behind them. I could show my 87 year old Grandma some art and she'd recognize the issues.

But also, I personally believe that if you start from the foundations thinking about intentionally creating your Black characters, it'll make it much easier for you moving into the future. I am holding my hand out as a Black peer to HELP YOU! There are professional video games and art pieces and projects out there with poorly designed Black characters. The concept clearly needs to be introduced to the people somewhere before a million dollar project is release 🤣 But I can't talk to the people at the AAA studios. I can talk to you!

4. "I don't think race matters/should matter."

Alas, it does, everything we do is affected by our beliefs unconsciously or not- but I'm not going to waste my time and argue with you. This blog isn't for you 🤷🏾‍♀️ this blog is for those who want to take that first step to be better, both as creators and as people. 👍🏾

5. "Do you support AI?"

Not in the arts. Learn how to draw and/or write, it's very fulfilling.

6. "Do you answer asks?"

I do! However, this is a lesson based page, more than an ask based page. If I think your ask can be answered by one of my lessons, I'll refer you to that lesson. If it's an ask that's relevant to something coming up, I will answer it, but you will find more detail in the lesson coming up! I'm only one person doing this, and I can't answer every singular scenario. Also, keep in mind, if you ask me my opinion on something, I will be fair, but honest!

7. Will you be turning on anons?

Okay: right now, we've earned Anon Office Hours Wednesday 12:30pm thru Friday 6:30pm EST!

Most of this is due to the nature of what I'm discussing. Historically, these topics (and how race is relevant) upset some people, and it can get unsafe. Personally, I have no intention of allowing racists, or those who will take my advice in bad faith, to hide their faces. If you want to hate me, speak with your chest 😤👍🏾

The other part is that it is not a bad thing to ask questions! I did create this blog to be a learning opportunity. So long as you are kind to me and send me asks in good faith, I will be kind to you and reply in good faith. I'm also pretty sure I have the option to answer privately, so if you don't want your question posted publicly, You can say that.

If I get more questions, I'll update this!

[hyperray]

Making God a villain in Hazbin Hotel is a very bad idea

To explain why I think would be bad we must first analyse what Hazbin Hotel is. It's a show where Princess Charlie, the daughter of Lucifer and potential heir to rule Hell, is tired of all the needless bloodshet and suffering in Hell and wants to change things by motivating to become better, by having the Hazbin Hotel build in the promise that Heaven would take them back in. And then there is everyone else, all the other demons so far don't give two shits and have either accepted the stagnating painful system of Hell and how people generally are, or even revel in it and don't see the point of giving all that up, as well that the road to redemption is a very long and difficult process and that if multiple people aren't doing it too, you might just get bullied or even killed by the general masses. Vaggie supports Charlie's endevour, but I don't think she truly believes in it either and is just in because she loves Charlie as a person, which is fair. Now imagine if God, the supposed creator of everything and Heaven which is supposed to be the realm of purity and moral goodness, turns out to be some jackass who does things because he wants to be amused and fuel his own ego. That would destroy the entire core premise, the foundation on which the idea of Hazbin Hotel stood on, as not only would it in-universe make everything seem pointless and hopeless, but it would justify the bad guy's behaivor as all the crimes they commit wouldn't matter at the end and seem right to spite God. We want to see the characters grow, change, develope, and see how they surpass their stagnating secon natures by making the hard decitions to overcome what's causing them to be so miserable, but if God was evil, then the moral decitions and teachings would all go right down the toilet. Wouldn't it mean that the best version of themselfes is worse than their worst versions? They might do an endgame plot where they banish or kill God and they still look hopefuly and remain their moral goodness, but it would be such a massive whiplash compared to the messages the show wanted to make at the beginning, it would be like watching an entirely new show, even worse if there's more fanservice and filler and then having to rush the main story (caugh caugh Helluva Boss caugh) What do you think?

[n3xii]

pick a card - how you can find balance

Hello everyone! today's pick a card will focus on:

-what you're placing all your energy into, what you're neglecting and how you can find more balance in between everything you're taking on at the moment. take a deep breath and allow your intuition to guide you towards your pile!!

pile one

what you're focusing on- page of wands and king of coins, Saturn in Scorpio

for you guys im seeing a focus on growth, expansion and exploring new ideas. youare wanting to grow your money and maximize your potential, not only with money you have the potential to make but money you already have whether it be savings, inheritance, loans, investments. you're pouring your energy into ambition and practicality and achieving financial freedom. intuitively i feel like this pile wants to achieve great things at a young age, you feel that you are destined for entrepreneurship, or making bold career moves that are risky but still grounded in reality. so overall pile one, you're energy is being poured into your longterm stability and financial freedom, especially financial freedom that is achieved through inheritance, investments, trading, traditional methods such as stocks or selling something.

what you're neglecting- nine of pentacles

Overall, the Nine of Pentacles suggests that you may be neglecting essential aspects of self-care, financial management, and appreciating the abundance that is already around you. you're being encouraged to find a balance between working towards your goals and taking time to enjoy life's simple pleasures. in the pursuit of finding financial freedom at a young age and achieving long term stability, you may be stifling social relationships too. pile one, its more than ok to pour more energy into your friendships, you can work towards your goals while still enjoying life's simple pleasures. your friends may miss you, dont listen to online creators who tell you that you can go out and have fun while striving towards an extraordinary lifestyle. longterm stablity may be difficult but it doesnt have to be miserbale or lonely.

pile two

what you're focusing on- the hanged man, the ten of swords, mecury in libra

the Hanged Man and the Ten of Swords together suggest that your energy is being poured into surrendering to, accepting, and embracing change. You may be in a period of transformation, releasing old patterns, and finding wisdom in challenging experiences. im feeling shadow work vibes, meditating on your fears and triggers to find the root of them. i feel like this energy is specifically demonstrating you placing a ''halt' on your fears to really examine every angle of them. im seeing the image of a spider creating a web, and one day they just stop to sit in what they've created before continuing to make their web. This combination of cards encourages you to be patient, with your life's direction, to find meaning in the journey. any delays or setbacks happening right now are trying to get you to stop, like the spider has, to exmaine where you are and what your triggers are, to build a foundation of something you ahve to know what the foundation is. i feel strongly that you're also being halted to examine your friendships and assoications before webbing a foundation in them. i also think that this pile is pouring energy into deciphering what media is influencing you and how its effecting you mentally, as well as how your words influence others, how your words effect your mind and reality. you could be getting into affirmations and manifestation.

what you're neglecting- the 6 of pentacles

you may not like hearing this, but you're neglecting fair, and balanced exchanges of energy, time and resources. The Six of Pentacles indicates that you may be neglecting the balance between giving and receiving. It's important to assess if you are being too generous to others at the expense of your own well-being or if you are hesitant to receive help or support from others when needed. or alternatively, are you not aware of how much you're expecting from others without giving in return?

pile three

what are you focusing on- three of cups and two of cups, mars in aries

friendships, close connections, building bonds, creating loving and harmonious relationships. you're pouring your energy into the more emotional, social aspect of life. i also feel that you're energy is going towards being emotionally vunerable and open in your relationships, you're placing emphasis on giving people quality time, sharing moments of openness, building mutual bonds with people. i also feel that there is also of impulsiveness going on, i think while you are pouring energy into a deeper bond, you're going head over heels, this feels like emotional compulsion to go 100 percent in on someone. i also keep getting the message about you being in a social group or friendgroup in which you break off into a partnership with someone in that group, and instead of balancing your time and energy between everyone, you're impulsively poring your emotional energy into one person. that wont resonate with everyone though.

what you're neglecting- 4 of pentacles

stability, solid foundations. the Four of Pentacles advises you to avoid neglecting areas related to financial generosity, planning, adaptability, and emotional connections. This card can indicate that you might be neglecting to embrace change or holding onto outdated financial beliefs or habits. It's essential to be open to new ideas, adapt to evolving financial circumstances, and be willing to make necessary adjustments. this card may also be coming up to signal that you're holding too tighly on something and neglecting everything else in pursuit of holding onto one thing, in your case, a relatiosnhip or bond with someone.

[arcanemadman]

The Castlevania franchise feels like it's getting more and more divided since Netflixvania started and it's getting really bloody frustrating to the point that while watching Nocturne I've felt disquieted, and I think I've realised why that is.

It's the fucking DmC:Devil May Cry white hair fiasco all over again.

For those that don't know, when the DmC reboot was revealed people had a lot of criticism, including turning Dante from a cool but likeable hero into a foul mouthed smoker, the dumbing down of the gameplay, the antagonism towards the fanbase, and turning his iconic white hair black. Of all these criticism, only the hair colour change was given any attention, painting the fan base in a very negative light and side stepping the real issues people had by only focusing on the cherry rather than the whole sundae.

All this attention directed towards something that in the grand scheme of things is very minor but it gets all the attention while the bigger stuff is ignore.

Yes, there are people mad about the show for racist reasons and they shouldn't be listened to, but there are genuine complaints that are being swept up with that.

The character changes have a sort of domino effect on everything. Maria being a serious revolutionary is interesting, but I saw someone put it best that what made her special was the fact that she was a little girl in a world of classic horror that believed she was in a fairy tale and had the power to force that reality on everyone else. Netflix Maria is good, but lacks the charm of Maria.

The second example is Juste. When I saw him I was very excited, but that was mainly because it was acknowledgement of the original canon than anything else. His magical prowess, the thing that makes him stand out among the Belmont linage, is mentioned and then brushed aside, and the worst ending of his game is what is taken as canon. And once Richter gets his magic back, Juste is gone. He feels like a plot point rather than the character. I sympathise with people who's favourite game was Harmony of Dissonance.

Annette was a compelling character with a well developed story, but anyone that says her original characterisation would never work are being disingenuous because they literally did that, except that did so with Tera. The connections to Richter and Maria, the damsel elements, the fact she gets turned into a vampire, all from Annette. Swapping them around wouldn't work for multiple reasons and I'm not going to say I can do better than people you get paid to write when I don't, but I feel I can say that if they had wanted to they could have done something closer to the original while still touching on the themes and narratives they wanted to.

Olrox... honestly the only criticism I can really think of is the removal of any reference to Count Orlock.

There's an elitism with both sides of the fanbase here. On the Netflix side, there's the feeling that since theirs is more popular that any criticism is because people are just nostalgic, and game fans feel that since theirs is the original foundation that anyone that doesn't agree with them is just a new fair-weather fan. And honestly, I'm more sympathetic to the game fans.

I've seen Netflixvania fans look at people complaining that the character have changed and go "yeah well the version you like sucks so you should just grow up" As if that's going to make everything better. And all the people complaining about the race changes or posting "WOKE?!?!?!" have poisoned the well for any actual discussion about this, not helped by the social media accounts deliberately stoking the flames in the mistaken belief that all publicity is good publicity, which raised the ire of nexflixvania creators. Unfortunately marketing can often be removed from the intentions of the creators.

Yes, Netflixvania is a great show, with beautiful animation and great storytelling, but it's not perfect and as an adaptation is leaves a lot to be desired. And that's the crux of it! The show is good, really good! But it doesn't feel like an adaptation of Castlevania. It's just a bunch of little details that pile up to make it less of what the game fans liked about the series. It's more grimdark horror than classic horror. It's more crude than it is philosophical. It's more hopeless than it is hopeful. And regardless of what you individually think, that's what people have liked about Castlevania for almost 40 years.

Ultimately I just have to ask, why do people seem to assume that you can't make a faithful adaptation while also making it interesting? They're not mutually exclusive.

[asha-mage]

Lesbian Rand AU?

[Send me a potential AU and I'll answer with five things from that story!]

Oh boy, here we go-

A lot depends on the setup. A big part of Rand's character is reckoning with the failures of his past life and the foundation of a lot the interesting ways Jordan interrogates the gender binary is built on the idea that those mistakes are a remix of Paradise Lost/The Fall. LTT is at both at once Eve and Lucifer. Eve in that he acts without the consent or permission of his other half (Latra Posae Decume- the Adam of this version) and runs of on his own in defiance of her will. Lucifier in that in his pride, he believes he can match or surpass the Creator, by attempting to Seal the Bore with only saidin. As a result, paradise is lost- the AoL is destroyed in the breaking by LTT's sin, an entire Age results where all men take the blame to a greater or lesser extent, for the original sin of one man. Of course, Jordan isn't just running with this premise as simple fact- he's interrogating the idea of original sin, salvation, and redemption and raising inherent and complicating questions. Does it make a difference that LTT's intentions where pure and genuine? That he didn't know and couldn't have predicted the consequences of his actions? How does Rand suffering for LTT's do any justice to those who suffered and died in the Breaking? Is chasing the splendor of an Age that could shatter so easily even a worthwhile endeavor, or should the focus be on letting go of the past and building something new? Does that mean forgetting and forgiving and is that fair?

All this to say is that, I think for a Lesbian Rand AU to work the story would probably need a reversed gender dynamic to the one that is present in the books- which I don't know that I could ever write both because it would veer very uncomfortably close to the most misogynistic elements of our own historical societies, and probably have to exceed them in brutality to work (something I'm not very good at, since a lot of my world building energy is usually directed at reshaping and re interpenetrating those historical societies through more queer and equitable lenses), and because a lot of what I connect to in Rand's story has a lot to do with the specifically queer male reading of it. That said if I could or would do that, I think it could also work very effectively as a queer female reading in the same thematic ways.

Rand and male channelers in general in the WoT verse already fulfill a lot of the tropes commonly associated with medieval witches- individuals tainted by an otherworldly power that is poorly understood and inherently transgressive to the gender roles of their society, as well as threat to the established social order (to put it mildly). It's not hard to translate that to a theoretically tainted saidar and the feelings of a resulting broken world onto a theoretical female Dragon. Rand in this context fulfills a pretty familiar role- Joan of Arc, Himiko of Yamatai, Elizabeth Woodvile, etc- savior and hero to some, witch and monster to others.

My brain of course goes to female Mat to be Rand's love interest in this AU- trickster and guile heroine. Mat's specific brand is easy to imagine transcending into a female character in a strict patriarchy, both because Mat's role in the series is already pretty gender transgressive (as befits a trickster shapeshifting archetype), and because it's easy to imagine again that simmering homoerotic temptation Mat and Rand's relationship inherently invokes, but gender flipped: Mat representing a liberation a refusal of the traditional gender roles that Rand can't quite decide if she truly wants or only wants because she was raised to want them. Rand specifically being homosexual rather then my bisexual head canon means that, I would probably air on the side of it being compulsory heterosexuality/heteronormativity- and genuinely wanting the life of adventure and liberty offered by Mat's promises of running away together.

I could also see Min (again as her Gender Weird makes her surprisingly easy to translate into a traditional patriarchy without loosing core elements of her character) as Rand's love interest- again in largely the same role as the series. Someone who Rand could just be....herself around, who couldn't overawed or terrified or brow beaten into seeing a monster, but rather just a person- a woman sacred and overwhelmed and being crushed by the expectations of a savior, and all the fears of being a monster. Conversely I don't know that either Avihenda or Elayne's relationships would still function the same- not without flipping their genders as well which defeats the idea of the premise. A few extra thoughts (since 1 and 2 are basically just big disclaimers)-

While I find the idea of Lesbian Rand having to learn from Short Gay Ball of Anger Uncle Moiraine very funny conceptually (Moiraine is already a pretty strong riff of mentor characters like Obi Wan and Gandfalf, but genderflipped, and I find the idea flipping that back but keeping the more unique aspects of Moiraine's character to be interesting), I also can't help but find the idea of Moiraine as an older, slightly rattled/mad, female wilder Moiraine with the same motivation as in the series just as intriguing as a mentor figure to Lesbian Rand. It would give the entire series a very different vibe, but that's just a natural outcome of the premise as well. I once said Moiraine is a woman who, if she had be born into a patriarchy would have easily been burned as a witch- but the truth is, the idea of Moiraine as a witch to clever to burn, a witch who is surviving the curse of her power, and struggling to see the savior who may yet be able to reverse that curse and save their world...their is an Appeal There.

It's scary conversely, how easy it is to fit the Aes Sedai in general into a gender flipped Randland, and I think speaks to how effectively Jordan wrote them and their institutional flaws. Mired in traditions, secure in their power, comfortable in ordering the world to their will- a mix between the Catholic Church and an order of magi, angry and resistant to reform and change that alters the base of their power, presided over by ancient and yet ageless cabals of entrenched elders. The scene, easily one of my favorites, in the series, in Fal Dara, is almost sickeningly easy to imagine with the genders flipped- a young woman still bright eyed and scarred of what she is and what she is capable of, with three thousand years of tales of women going mad from power, declaring themselves the Dragon falsely in greed and lust for power and leaving the world to suffer for it, walking into a a room with three ancient wizards who tell her that this is her fate, to be this messiah and destroyer both, it hits sharply and exactly the right way.

Again, I don't know that I would do it, and I find what Jordan is doing with gender and sexuality already in the Wot Books inherently more interesting and....less....I don't know sticky? But it's a fun thought exercise.

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 3/23

What am I feeling today?

I wish I had woken up earlier. I feel like I had been asleep forever and wasted the majority of my day so I’m kinda beating myself up about it. Also, I dreamt about my ex last night and it brought back all those emotions but I think it brought some closure too. Also dreamt about the guy I like, it’s not fair, every single time I think ‘I’m over him! I’m totally over him! It’s never gonna happen!’ then I see him again (I saw him last night) and my heart goes wild all over again and I’m so tired of it. I want to be able to move on from him bc that’s the advice I’ve received, that it’s probably never going to happen and sure it stings and hurts every time I’m told that and I wish it didn’t and the only way it wouldn’t is if I could move on!! sometimes I kinda just wanna scream or cry in frustration bc I’m just so sick of it! Anyways, I’m sorry about that rant, I guess I just needed to get that off my chest.

Bible Plan: Spiritual Wilderness

The Spiritual wilderness is a place of wandering. It’s a time when our feelings can fade, our finances might get dry, our relationships get sour, our experiences with God seem to be shallow, and our doubts get amplified.

Spiritual wilderness is spiritual warfare. There is one key that can help us win this spiritual warfare and move us from a spiritual wilderness to victory. That key is worship!

In the wilderness, we will either whine or worship. Chronic complaining may seem natural and come easy, but it has dangerous consequences. Complaining is to the devil what worship is to God.

Wilderness is a dry place; worship is the water! Naturally, we get water from a lake, river, or well. The children of Israel got their water from the Rock. The Rock symbolizes Jesus Christ. That speaks to us today that our worship must flow from who God is especially in our difficult days. Even if our life is currently not doing well, God is good. Worship is essential to surviving wilderness. It will keep us spiritually hydrated.

Not only does worship help us get through hard times without becoming whiners, it is also our spiritual weapon. We are created to worship but called to warfare. One of our weapons is worship. God wants us to have praises in our mouths and His sword in our hands. Spiritual warfare doesn’t work if our mouth is full of complaining and admitting defeat.

Complaining is to the devil what worship is to God. <- this line stood out to me! I kept in mind what the Bible says about grumbling and I caught myself a couple days ago and it really hit me! And with this line!! It hurts even harder!! My goal is to not complain for the rest of the day, whatever I have to get done, whatever I have to do, I’ll do so with worship on my tongue, not complaining because the Lord desires and deserves worship!!

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.””

I think this is really sweet🥹 talking about how He’s with us and will gather us from the end of the earth🥹 also keep in mind that God formed and made you, I know some people can get on about how they look and even I can get like that too but remember your creator, remember that He made you and He loves you and creature you for His glory!

‭‭Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.”

Tbh this just further shows you the power of praise! Even though they were in prison, they never stopped praying and giving glory to God!

[earlgreytea68]

Notes on the Andy Warhol Decision

Sometimes people ask me about big fair use decisions that come down, but nobody really asked me about this one, which made me wonder if everyone in fandom just collectively shrugged at it, which, I don't blame you, tbh.

I have to confess that I didn't read the decision when it came out because sometimes I just don't feel like it, but I have now read it and if anyone was curious about what it is, I figured I'd write up a little something.

Here's the deal: Lynn Goldsmith was a photographer, largely of icons of music, who took a photograph of Prince many years ago. Also many years ago, Vanity Fair wanted Andy Warhol to make an Andy Warhol print of Prince (really no other way to describe the print, it's just the Andy Warhol style). Andy Warhol wanted to start with a reference photo, so Vanity Fair contacted Goldsmith and licensed her photo of Prince for use. The terms of the license basically just said that Vanity Fair could only use the photo the one time.

Fast-forward to Prince dying and Vanity Fair runs ANOTHER Andy Warhol image of Prince based on the Goldsmith photo, because it turned out Andy Warhol made a bunch of prints based on the photo which Goldsmith didn't know about. Now the license didn't cover these other prints and uses, because by its terms it was very limited. So Goldsmith called up the Andy Warhol Foundation and was like, "Yo, the license didn't cover this, so you are infringing on my copyright in my photograph." (This is the effect of not being covered by a license.) And the Andy Warhol Foundation was basically like, "Nuh-uh," and they went to court and asked a court to say that they weren't infringing Goldsmith's copyright and Goldsmith is wrong SO THERE! (This is honestly basically what a declaratory judgment is ["You're wrong, SO THERE!"] and please use this definition if anyone ever asks you what a declaratory judgment is.)

Here is the photo at issue and the Andy Warhol print of it:

Okay, so I think you can see the issue in the case pretty clearly, right? Like, those two things look very like each other, I think everyone would agree.

Here's the problem with this case: I don't actually think it's really a fair use case and it annoys me that that's where we ended up. Because fair use is a DEFENSE to copyright infringement. What that means is that there has to be copyright infringement first. Copyright infringement means that the sued-upon work is substantially similar to the first work in something that is copyrightable (original to that creator). Fair use is only relevant once a court has decided you've created something substantially similar to something that someone else owns. Courts often just skip straight to fair use, though, which is a VERY ANNOYING HABIT because it muddies everything up, and the parties complicated it here in this case by only appealing one very narrow issue: Is the Andy Warhol print transformative? Which is one of the fair use factors.

Because that was the only issue before the Supreme Court, that's the only issue the Supreme Court decided (this is technically what the Supreme Court is supposed to do but like most things Supreme Court these days, one never knows what the Supreme Court might do). But it irritates me because I'm not sure this actually IS copyright infringement. I think it seems substantially similar, probably, but I'm not sure it's similar in anything that is COPYRIGHTABLE by Goldsmith, meaning anything that Goldsmith can own. By which I mean, maybe these two images are only similar because they both look like Prince, and nobody can own what Prince looks like (not even Prince). I think this is an interesting point for debate and I could see it coming out either way but we get zero discussion of this because it's not what the parties asked for analysis on. And that's annoying because there's a Kagan dissent in this case (Kagan disagreed with the majority opinion) that is basically all THIS DECISION WILL DESTROY ALL CREATIVITY, EVERYTHING WILL NOW BE COPYRIGHT INFRINGING, and I get where Kagan is coming from but that's only because this decision didn't actually get to decide copyright infringement. Like, it starts from this assumption that this is infringing unless fair use saves it, and then the majority doesn't let fair use save it, and so the dissent is like, THEREFORE EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE INFRINGING. But the analysis is in the wrong spot here! Anyway, I hope that makes sense, I'm a little in the weeds here.

The opinion of the Supreme Court was that the Andy Warhol print was not transformative, which is a big deal word in fair use law. Basically, if you are found to be transformative, you win your fair use case. And if you're not transformative, you don't always lose but you have a greater chance of losing. So a lot of the energy in a fair use case is around this transformativeness analysis (this is why AO3's parent org is called the Organization for Transformative Works).

What the Supreme Court basically says is that the first factor (which we have shortened to transformativeness) is "the purpose and character of the use." The Supreme Court says basically that there are two parts to this, as you can see: purpose and character. So it seems like Andy Warhol has changed up the original photograph and so maybe has a different message (art critics argued this vociferously) but the purpose of the Andy Warhol print in this context was the same as the purpose of the original photograph. In other words, this is not a case about this Andy Warhol print in a museum. This is a case about this Andy Warhol print being used by a magazine for the same purpose that the magazine would have licensed Goldsmith's original photo: to illustrate an article about Prince. This made all the difference to the Supreme Court.

A lot of the commentary about this case found this to be an outrageous conclusion for some reason. I'm not bothered by it, but I suspect that's because I come from fandom circles. To me, I am not confused by the idea that my fanfiction is transformative if non-commercial, but not transformative if its purpose shifts to be the same purpose as the original (to make money). I mean, I'm not entirely sure I agree that it would automatically be infringing if turned commercial, but I get why the different purpose makes a difference to my analysis of what's happening there. So I was a little bewildered by people who found it ridiculous to conclude that a use could be fair use for one purpose and not fair use for another purpose. I'm okay with that. I don't think it's destructive of fair use to say that, Idk. It's maybe a little destructive of commercial fair use, and that might grow to be problematic, but I don't think the opinion is attempting to be that broad. Although it could be broadly read. I just think the opinion is meant to say "don't forget that it's not just about the new message, it's also about the purpose that message is being used for, and those two things need to be balanced." At least, that's what I think it's saying. It's not just what the work is, but also how the work is being used.

One thing I have to say and that I have long thought is that copyright law and trademark law and many other types of law tie themselves into knots to protect Andy Warhol, and I feel like this is the first opinion I've read that...doesn't. But, look, this case would not be where it is today if the Andy Warhol print didn't so very obviously use the Goldsmith photo, and this case also would not be where it is today if the person using the photo hadn't been Andy Warhol. Like, I can't shake the idea that if any other average human had taken the Goldsmith photo, done that to it, and sold it to Vanity Fair, courts would have found this an easy infringement case, but because it was Andy Warhol it made courts uncomfortable to say that. The opinion that the Supreme Court affirmed (the Second Circuit opinion all of this) said basically that: We cannot have an Andy Warhol exception to copyright law. Andy Warhol could have used the photo for inspiration, for reference for what Prince looked like, to get ideas, and still come up with something that looked completely different (even if it still looked like Prince - there are a million photos of Prince that are all different even though they all look like Prince), and we wouldn't have a case here.

I just think about this case as compared to "Oh, the Places You'll Boldly Go," a case in which people took the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go" and remade it for Star Trek. They kept the basic message of the book (a problem for transformativeness analysis) but they changed all the artwork to be about Star Trek (although keeping the Dr. Seuss "style," as distinct as Andy Warhol's) and they also changed the words to be about Star Trek, while keeping the distinctive Dr. Seuss "style" there, too. You can have the book read to you here. Anyway, while agreeing that no one can own a particular "style," the appellate court in the case (the Ninth Circuit) was like, "This is not transformative, this is copyright infringement and not fair use." And I'm not saying that decision's wrong, but if something could be changed that much and not be considered to be fair use, to me it makes sense that the Andy Warhol print also wouldn't be fair use, Idk.

ANYWAY. These are my musings! Lots of people disagree about the outcome of this case and what it means! I think there wasn't a huge fan ripple reaction from it because I don't think it means much of anything in terms of fair use as applied to fandom. Again, I think it's a much bigger deal in the commercial fair use world, which frankly has always been a complicated mess. (Also it revives the parody/satire distinction, which is nonsensical, but no reason to get into that now lol.)

You can read the opinion for yourself, if you're interested, here.

[blueiight]

if one can feel happy in childhood, that’s because one went without knowing the truth about one’s self. — oskar von reuenthal, lotgh ova ep93. in the name of pride.

and isnt that the crux of ep93’s flashback scene? the foundational belief reuenthal has of his own irredeemable nature lies underneath it all. we were introduced to reuenthal’s backstory in ep28 as a means to excuse away his sexist philandering personage, but this 5-7 min flashback sequence of ep93 truly completes the puzzle on who reuenthal is and how his past forges this present choice he will make. falsely accused of treason once more, yet this time an admiral in the inner network was killed for it [and an attempt was made on reinhard's life]. so someone has to be the fall guy for this crime, and reuenthal will take the charge...

while reckoning with this, reuenthal reflects on his life. he contrasts himself to the recently departed yang wenli, who was his exact age & a man who desired peace. reuenthal finds yang's brutal death to be so cruelly ironic. reuenthal believes ardently that he is incompatible with peace & under that, he believes he is cursed. if a just creator exists, reuenthal argues, then he is only fair in his malice.

when reuenthal thinks of his father carrying his mother’s corpse, of the common abusive refrains he heard in his childhod, the first thing his childlike apparition runs to is mittermeyer. his safety, his closest companion, the only reference of ‘healthy family’ he had. he thinks of his friend, shrouded in gold, happy with his wife, while his now-adult self is cast into the darkness. could he have a family and be happy too? he thinks. elfriede runs over his mindscape and in it, holds their child as if to say no. the product of his abuse of the woman who tried to murder him mocks his past desire of ‘wanting this seed of nuisance, the reuenthal lineage to end’. bc now, he has a child on the way. reuenthal explicitly compares being falsely accused of treason to this child, as theyre both situations he didnt want. but where reuenthal has no desire to be an active father (+ all the complicity in the kid's conception). he had no complicity in the uruvasi incident yet all the desire to play the role of traitor.

reuenthal thinks of his kaiser, his kaiser’s dearly departed kircheis, the recently departed lutz… all these people: random admirals, aristocratic women, all these symbols of polite society. before thinking of mittermeyer and eva again. and once more, his father interjects with the refrain ‘you should have never been born’. and reuenthal the man turns once more again into reuenthal the child.

we see leonora taking all the chips in the poker game, how leonora in reuenthal's mind resembles reuenthal himself, symbolizing how reuenthal saw her as a reflection/the root of his own vices with her lover who resembles mittermeyer... and the same old murder suicide attempt with leonora and infant reuenthal. reuenthal’s father repeats ‘you should have never been born’, with a now adult reuenthal saying the titular quote. he truly has internalized & believed that his father was right about him, that he was born to make his parents suffer + should have never been born. reuenthal excuses his childhood abuse, with the implication of why he was ‘unhappy’ in childhood being that his father was onto some innate stain his child self was born with.

we see when reuenthal said the titular quote, its to mittermeyer when they were meeting with military academy students, and ever so savvy mittermeyer asks ‘is it like being drunk, or being sobered up?’ and reuenthal says he doesnt know, but ‘its better to die drunk than sober,’ thinking this as he says such. [also something to think about later on for when mittermeyer confronts him in an ep or two later, how his last words to reuenthal was 'you're drunk on blood-colored dreams' ... reuenthal getting drunk as he dies slowly in agony waiting for mittermeyer to arrive. i digress.]

and reuenthal’s curious on intoxication, love and devotion, we are taken back to the night that reuenthal went to reinhard to save mittermeyer’s life.

‘that anointed one, that dear one nine years my junior, had thought of usurping the goldenbaum dynasty…i was in shock. truly, theres a wide difference between the ambitions of great v. ordinary. i was then carried away by it, and gambled on Him.'

reuenthal always loathed the aristocracy, but was complacent in it up until mittermeyer infuriated the nobles, and even then, could not free his friend directly. his devotion to reinhard is spurned by reinhard’s utter boldness in spiting the old guard.

and where reinhard is his loyalty, mittermeyer is reuenthal’s love. however way u cut it, reuenthal and mittermeyer canonically care deeply for eachother, and the flashbacks set up reuenthal's 'intoxciation perhps including love or loyalty' line too well with mittermeyer and reinhard representing one/both to reuenthal as they're the costars in reuenthal's mindscape from here on out.

regretting that he could not have any more days with him, believing he 'chose to gave it all away'... he thinks of all the fights they got into, all the fun they had together, and how mittermeyer so vociferously advocated for reuenthal’s life the first time his loyalties were put in suspicion. he knows, he begs even, mittermeyer, the wulf der sturm, his dear friend, to not do that again. because theres multiple political figures who would benefit from reuenthal AND mittermeyer’s downfall. reuenthal is fully willing to go down alone & not let his dear friend suffer the rammifications.

and this is when, the earlier question of why reuenthal’s so eager to be the traitor is fully answered.

its in the name of pride. 'for my pride, i have no choice but to fight.' he says. which is another reason why he begs in his head for mittermeyer not to intervene, because pride where a man raised in an aristocratic relic of a space empire retreats to, when the self is hollowed out. pride, mixed with almost intrinsic capacity for self loathing and blame. reuenthal knows he did nothing wrong here, but the image he's created for himself and the political quagmire he is in requires that he gears up to fight. and reinhard. oh, that dear one.

reuenthal recognizes that he and reinhard have this shared warrior's pride, and that reinhard has been empty without conquest, without yang, without someone to battle. this is also, in a way, showing his devotion to reinhard. which is why, right after reuenthal says this to himself, it is for pride...we are shown once more the reinhard from the s1 finale, coldly testing reuenthal and not anyone else.

reinhard in his moment of cruel grief, in losing kircheis + annerose going no-contact with him, resonates reuenthal's intrinsic self-hatred, and recognizes that in him as well as their overall shared warrior's pride. the reuenthal at the time could not meet that challenge, as their world was far too tumultuous and reuenthal devoted to the overthrow of the goldenbaums to risk reinhard's then rather unpredictable, terrifying ire. where now, reuenthal is far more acclimated to a reinhard unsheathed, and has served his duty in the creation of reinhard's legacy... he will commit to this final act of playing the turncoat, to satisfy reinhard's last warcry. reuenthal is also prideful in that he refuses to die in obscurity or be incarcerated by lang. he craves being under the glory of the golden lion, as he said earlier, and he will find infamy in history as the traitor if nothing else.

what this flashback sequence asks us to look at is how reuenthal’s fatalist pessimistic nature & why exactly he decides to play into the rebellion allegations even when he knows he had no involvement in the uruvasi incident. no one will believe him, except for mittermeyer. what this is rooted in complex traumatic patterns, foolish pride, and a political quagmire involving multiple parties, and what makes reuenthal's rebellion such a classic tragedy is that in reuenthal's eyes, his life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. the boy that should have never been born, made only to make his family suffer, becomes a man who left a trail of broken hearts + betrayed his king. yet reuenthal didn't ask to be born, nor did he actually betray reinhard. and he didnt even get to fight reinhard, mittermeyer is the one who puts down the reuenthal 'rebellion'. its incredibly cruel, that the person who loved and probably knew reuenthal the best was the one who was made to be his costar in closing out this elaborate suicide attempt. and he couldnt even make it in time to have their last drink.

[donnerpartyofone]

When MAD GOD aired on The Last Drive-In on Friday, the EIC of Fangoria quote tweeted me, where I'd said approx "What would you spend 30 years doing if you had no idea whether you would profit by it?" The comment he added was "Some of us know because we have," and this provoked a slew of responses from people announcing their many years of starvation in the various arts. It's nice that they all had a fun discussion but I found it a little insulting. I agree that "there's nothing to it but to do it" or whatever and I think that personal satisfaction should be your main motivator in any creative work, but I felt like my tweet got recast in this light as if I meant, "Can you IMAGINE doing something you don't get paid for?!", in order to prove something about who lacks character and who has the right stuff, and I thought that was really flattening. There's more kinds of people out there than those who Do and those who Don't, and if you don't get to do what you really want to, you don't always "only have yourself to blame" in every single instance. There are people who have to spend all their energy and resources surviving, combatting poverty or illness or both. Someone can always point to disabled and oppressed artists who built amazing careers despite it all, but the lesson isn't always "If they can do it then anyone can do it," sometimes the lesson there is "That particular person is extremely remarkable" or just "They have a totally different economy of energy than most people." There are people who aren't able to feel that they're good enough at what they want to do, so it's hard to fully commit to work that may not even have artistic value or entertainment value, let alone monetary value. Will power alone isn't always enough to bring together the material resources necessary to make the kind of thing you want to make, especially if it's as complicated as a movie (and let's not forget the creator of MAD GOD is an Oscar-winning artist partially responsible for the original STAR WARS trilogy, not some basement dweller with uncertain prospects). The more expensive and technical your thing of choice is to produce, the more support and ingenuity and self-confidence you need to get it done, and those things can be in short supply for many of us; just "being obsessed" doesn't always open every door.

Part of me thought, "Hey wait a minute, there ARE things I've done for decades-plus that are purely for my own satisfaction (my film writing is the biggest example), this isn't a foreign concept to me, I just think I'm asking a good question!"...and then another part of me thought, "I drew, passionately and prolifically, every single day of my life until I got into an abusive relationship in my mid-20s, and by the time I was 30 I basically never drew again. Something about that experience flipped a switch and there are now things I can't enjoy anymore, including things that had always been core parts of my personality. I hope this changes, but there's not much I can do about it." I think the Fango EIC is reacting in part to being constantly assailed by angry nerds who think they automatically deserve jobs at the magazine because they're fanboys and they're active on Twitter or whatever; a few years ago he wrote an editorial about doing creative work out of desire first and foremost, and how that *sometimes* does form the foundation of a career. I loved that, that's basically what I've been doing with my writing for years and I wouldn't stop even if I found out for a fact that I'd never see a return on it. I just HAVE to write for some reason, I don't question it. So yeah anyway I felt a little dunked on, and maybe I asked for it or something, but I didn't think it was fair. Thankfully I have enough sense not to go on the defensive with anyone on Twitter, but part of me felt like saying, "I co-run a horror academia non-profit, you don't have to explain to me the virtues of working for pride and pleasure above all else. I just thought it was worth posing the question in general, for anyone reading: What would you be willing to spend 30 years doing if all you ever got out of it, as far as you knew, was the work itself?" I mean yes, work hard, be obsessed, trust the process, make the journey the destination, etc. That's an excellent premise to start from, for sure. But not everybody who can't spend 30 years on their favorite thing is some kind of lazy ingrate, sometimes there's also circumstances. Anyway that episode of Last Drive-In was amazing, Phil Tippett gives an amazing interview, the whole thing was very inspiring and I highly recommend it.

[bishiglomper]

I layed down for a nap. Had vertigo the whole time. When I sleep with vertigo it feels like I'm slowly spinning on a raft. Also my brain was noisy. But I had coherent dreams

My dreams were in chapters. First set of dreams I was in POV of the villain! Which was so cool. I even got a simple run down of his motivations because there was like this introspective monologue. Also it was set inside a video game. Like an imersive one. Which I think he was semi-aware of the fact. I vaguely remember thinking is this file safe? Would it corrode or get corrupted? What if it ends up the last file and it gets lost?

I remember flying around and using powers that use the terrain which... a LOT of areas used wet sand as both terrain and puzzle mechanics and all sorts of uses. There was a musical number. I remember participating like I was a stand in for the villain but I was just playing the part. Shooting up geysers of wet sand pillars.

I remember interacting with some bad-side characters. Both were hermit crabs. 🤔 one little crab controlled a wave wall. If the heroine dug into her hidden alcove and found her she could control a wall of wet sand that dropped to pass a wall of water an access a higher pool. Another was there was a garage full of mechanic hermit crabs that looked like theme park rides. Their shells were barred cages that rose and fell and yu had to avoid getting trapped in the sequence or it'd hold you and gas you with poison. I remember thinking. "Nooo I'm the boss, remember? I KNOW I should know the sequence but cut me some slack!!" Lmao

I even tried to shift around in between the bars and panels but the game logic wasn't letting me haha

I remember lucid dream controlling my power to fly around and investigate the plot. There was supposed to be a heroine. Depending on how she cleared baddies, she had a party. If she failed to save some from their plots though..

There was some rewinding and jury rigging some shit.

There was like a trolley ride through a carpeted hallway. Like at a hotel. Had arches of stairs it went over. There was a guy at a counter at the start and you could obtain goodies like fair inflatable swords people dropped if you scooped them up after someone dropped them. Couldn't get out though. Had to grab as you passed.

Heroine had to jury rig a fishing line for something? She grabbed a bottle of foundation that was an item but there was only enough for one use. Which she used to paint her toenails. Low render mechanics. Slathered it on and it transformed I to painted nails. Which had 3 variations. I remember a companion being like " wheres mine? That not fair."

Then she had to fight a woman/beast sitting in The middle of a vast space in the hotel that was basementy and filled with water. I think it was only like 5ft deep. Too small to drown or hide enemies but too big to maneuver well.

And then there were chapters with alastor and I was thinking I'm sad he's not real because I seriously wanna know his reaction to asexuals, aromantics and queer platonic relationships. 🫠 also how would he react to being confessed to? Like would he be an ass or handle it gently? It was killing me not knowing 🫣 I went over to figure it out. Next thing I know we took turns having our hands handcuffed to a bench sort of thing and we took tidbits of eachother to snack on. Weird ass cannibal mf'ers. 🤷‍♀️

I wanna go back to flying mode as the villain. I practically had creator privileges (part as lucid dreamer, part as main antagonist) I loved flying around with my powers and just going about the overworld

Not so much when I lost control over the power though. I got hit with shards of glass and temporarily forgot how to power everything because it hurt and I didn't want to crunch more glass in my legs. 😬

[arbitrarycogitation]

Adulting? I think not.

Note from future wah: I genuinely do not remember when I wrote this, but looking at the content, maybe around 2021? It's safe to say that I am not this angsty these days, but enjoy, I guess.

Going into my 20s at the same time as the world practically ending has been one hell of a ride for an anxiety-ridden hermit that is my real husk on earth. Who am I kidding, I am not a doomsday prepper, nor am I focused enough to play bitcoins. Meanwhile, my world is unfolding itself into the vast nothingness that is our "new normal". What a joke. Is this a timeout from mother earth? Or a punishment from those above? Maybe.

Thankfully, my whole life has always been online, so I was not a stranger to video calls and studying on the web, I am a digital native due to how my generation was collectively raised. Worry not, I still stare at the walls and windows and coffee mugs when I can. I read, write, throw random facts on the dinner table and stretch like my bones are lead on a daily basis too. It’s a miracle anti-depressant are the only thing I take away from this whole ordeal.

That’s a lie. I took away so much from life during the pandemic. In return, the virus took away as much from me. It’s not all bad, I hear myself saying. It’s not all good either, I feel my heart screaming. Nothing seemed fair, and although most adults might think “Well, life ain’t fair kid”, I personally think that kind of mindset will make me push myself into a self-pitying hole that I will never make myself crawl out of.

Grief comes with age. Grief comes with speed. Grief came over everyone on earth in one way or another since the dawn of 2020. Grief, while natural, is still an emotion I wish we could just pawn off to the devil in exchange for some riches and gold. Alas, the devil is busy making use of himself, with the staggering amount of people passing through his domain lately. I wish I can help them if that means seeing all the people I lost this past few years. Human greed knows no bounds, but I’m willing to play the role of Orpheus in a heartbeat if it meant changing the course of one’s life. The fates would not be happy, but they have been grumpy for centuries, I reckon.

Maybe it's true what they say on the internet. The roaring 20s was wild, and this one is no different. I kept thinking to myself, I just want to live a quiet life. I don't mind hearing roars every now and then, but I would appreciate it more if no one gets eaten alive. As of now I am pretty much constantly overwhelmed and living the days one hour at a time, but hey, at least I never caught that blasted virus that kept me away from my loved ones for so long. The virus made humanity’s brittle foundation crumbles. My heart still aches when I remember the news. There were no festivities, and there was no celebration. No school, no community gatherings, no vacations. We as a species were reduced to our earlier form, cavemen hiding from dangers lurking outside. It was as if the world’s creator put us on time out.

I feel robbed of my newly acquired "adulthood", but really, what is it anyway?

[sumerun]

sumeru archon quest act 2 appreciation post

HEAVY HEAVY spoilers warning, wall of text

note: i know the game said it wasn’t a time loop but for simplicity’s sake we’re keeping that phrase

honestly, i’m still riding the high of the archon quest so i will be very biased in my opinions LMAO. however from reading some friend’s and randoms’ opinions, i think we can all agree to a certain extent that this is one of the best if not the best archon quest to date. it’s such a mindfuck, wonderfully executed and so much more engaging. this is what inazuma should have been instead of the rushed mess that we got. i knew that the writing was going to improve bc MHY is no stranger to well-written stories (honkai, dainsleif’s and inazuma npc’s quests) but i certainly did not expect such drastic improvement this patch lmao.

first i want to go back and look at previous nations and why i hated the format of the missions. (to be fair i know that story-heavy live services games usually get better over time and not perfect the first few years but just using these points for comparison ;)). mondstadt and liyue, imo, is just there to set a foundation and test the waters. how the story was delivered was very boring. it’s pretty much: you walk here, read dialogue that most skip anyways, fight for 3 seconds, watch characters do the same 3 talking animation, cue cutscene, conclusion. look, i may be able to play visual novels for hours, but when i play genshin i expect something much more engaging than that okay lol. story is supposed to excite you, keep you immersed and encourage you to keep coming back to it. but i really didn’t feel that with mondstadt and liyue. most of the excitement were boss fights and cutscenes. if you asked me what happened in-between, i wouldn’t really remember much LMAO. inazuma was slightly better but followed a very similar format. i think we were all hyped from raiden shogun reveal and new region that we just kinda accepted whatever we got. Inazuma’s quests were better near the end with yae miko’s and raiden’s quest for certain though. building up to sumeru, we had a LOOOT of unanswered questions and no one seems to know or want to talk. this frustrated me a lot bc the only time we get to learn more about our sibling/khaenri’ah was through dain and that motherfucker appears like TWICE in the duration of one nation KJASEK. so as we enter sumeru we have a LOT of anticipation for something MORE, whether that’s through better quests or getting actual answers about the other sibling/abyss. inazuma is not completely flawed and is amazing in its own way but it should tell you a lot that I was already kinda done with the region by 2.4 ish.

now to actually talk about why i think act 2 was so good. i love time-loop like tropes ok? like a lot. it’s a complex trope to write and the audience can very easily get lost and frustrated trying to follow it. however, if developed with care, it’s extremely rewarding for both the writer and us pea brains gacha addicts. it’s not perfect as i think MHY could’ve done better than a “collective dream” as the reason for samsara. the conclusion was a tiny bit jarring with nilou being the host bc she barely appeared. but everything else was incredible. i appreciate that they tried to make that trope work within genshin’s lore. if anyone has ever watched madoka magica, i think it’s a great example of why time-loop like tropes are so good. simply, it’s disturbing. (madoka spoilers skip to next bold text if needed) the creator of madoka confirmed that homura has ran through at least 100 timelines to attempt to save madoka. when i watched it, i personally didn’t even get the hint that homura was stuck in a time-loop lmao. (end of spoilers). i like that the time-loop in genshin was similar to this. we sensed that something wack was going on. our memories are erased and we keep repeating the festival until the duo consistently retain their memories. nahida confirmed that they went through at least 20 time loops before realization. that is so eerie to me. i would legit question everything i ever knew about time and reality lmao. paranoia would overwhelm you and you can’t help but think if you’re truly of out the “dream”. if the duo wasn’t protected by plot armor, they could’ve been trapped there for an eternity. autonomy over your own life lost bc of some petty scholars. it’s that feeling of helplessness and trapped with no way out is what makes this quest so terrifying.

so that’s reason #1: time loop tropes are cool and it was executed well majority of the quest. reason #2: better audience engagement. aw man 100 chefs kiss to the teams that worked on this together. i don’t want to ramble but to summarize the following things really helped me stay engaged in the story:

- camera work: I might be very wrong there were some shot that utilizes actual camera techniques such as dutch angles and dolly zoom. subtle maybe but it was there. these are great for giving the feeling of uneasiness. and it was a great way to lead the audience too - dunyarzad: she was fleshed out very well! i was attached to her early on and even shed some tears during the dancing cutscene lmao she feels much more alive bc she had a purpose and relationships (nilou, dehya) that we care about. teppei lacked a lot of that and while i adored his character, i can’t deny that dunyarzad was more complex and believable - deduction mechanic: for once the player actively participates in the story!!!! it was so cool piecing things together. it helps making you feel like you’re a part of the mystery. aaaaanddd it confirms that the traveler is an established protagonist that actually speaks and not a piece of cardboard voiced by paimon. - battle of wits: we always see paimon solving issues via brute force but i think this is the first time we really get to watch them use their intelligence and observational skills to get out of this sticky situation. it was so refreshing to do a quest that was more mystery oriented. i definitely need more quests like this bc the dynamics/bonds between the duo truly shines here! - small little things such as art of young dunyarzad speaking to nahida, and mini-cutscenes of the duo time-looping to show quest progression. it helped liven the quest for me!

- traveler: traveler feels so much more human here. like I LOVED that they were mourning dunyarzad and angry at themselves for being unable to protect her. paimon has always spoken for them and we don’t really get to see traveler express their own thoughts and emotions a lot. I feel much more attached to the traveler bc of this imo. I’ve always seen them as a blank slate (and they are for the player but I see them more as an OC)

CONCLUSION

whether or not they're listening to our feedback regarding story (certainly not for character design oop), this is very exciting. i love the direction that they are going in in terms of storytelling and execution. this specific act is more story than action so it's possible that this gives MHY more leeway to be creative. but i'm gonna send them a fat feedback to make sure they keep some of the elements i mentioned bc i refuse to go back to the 40 minutes of pure dialogue and talking animations. the sumeru plot line has potential to be one of the best AND very dark thematically but will mhy actually do it??? we’ll find out in 3.1 and 3.2!

[formulinos]

Hello everybody, it’s Ana here, briefly talking seriously with you. First of all, I would really like to take some time to appreciate all the nice people around here who have had some brilliant sportsmanship while participating on the tournament. When I first did the post, considering how tiny my blog is, I didn’t expect that it would grow the way it did, I just wanted to do something fun around here given that’s summer break and I have been taking my time writing the Hyperfixation Corners, the key focus of why I’m here. To see amazing people reblogging these, taking their stands and creating funny stickers, graphics and posts to engage with the tournament is wonderful and I really can’t say thank you enough. A special thanks to the folks at the GC (you know who you are) who have also been very supportive from day one.

That being said, unfortunately things took a weird turn today after I got some further weird anons making some claims I know aren’t true and would be only inflammatory if I published them. I want to be clear that this isn’t serious at all: I don’t make money off this and the drivers will not add it to their Wikipedia accounts. This is just a fun little game and if you think it’s well organised, I did it so on purpose because I believe that if you establish your foundations well, everything after is fun and within the rules of the game. I didn’t want to limit the numbers of answers and ask for e-mails/usernames because I wanted people to feel free to vote as they please and however many times as they pleased without feeling embarrassed. I did not expect it to grow as it did so fair play, but even as it grew from day to day I knew what to expect from the fan favourites and the surprises were pleasant (even more with your interactions). By matchday two I knew it was growing a bit more and that people would share the poll around so their friends voted to. Again, I didn’t mind, think of it as the Driver of the Day polls, it’s fun to win, it’s messy, and it’s not serious.

The choice I did to DSQ Charles really was because it was too obvious to the point that it wasn’t sportsmen—like anymore. It was really fast and not keeping up with the trend I was observing (maybe I should have kept a screen record of the poll or something so I could prove it, but I didn’t think it would be necessary). If we had reached today with the same number of votes he had but it had been a slow steep, I’d know it was weird but I wouldn’t have minded and it would have been way more plausible to think it was just the Charles armada doing what it usually does. And that’s fair, it’s a tournament after all. Now, it’s just one person but one person is already too much for a silly game on Tumblr and it’s starting to get malicious, and that’s not what I’m here for.

I’m not sure I will turn off anon yet and I don’t intend to stop the responses, but I have a very low threshold to tolerate these things and I will just drop everything if it keeps happening. I don’t need this and you don’t need this either. It’s been a very tense championship and I know we all needed to put our hair down a bit so I’m glad it has fulfilled its goal. My end goal is to be happy though and as Tyler the Creator said, “just close your eyes hahahaha”.

Sorry for any inconveniences and I hope we return on Monday as planned. Thanks again everybody!

[carpisuns]

New anon, but I saw the last one and I have some thoughts. Specifically, I have been obsessing over ml for the last month or so, and I’ve only seen three episodes, and they were the three released before crocoduel. And you know what? I wasn’t that into it, it wasn’t bad it just wasn’t half as engaging as fanon and fanworks have been for me.

I’ve also done this with the Magicians, Supernatural, and a couple others. I think the reason that this works, for some people, is because it is a more familiar and in many ways, easier way to discover and become attached to new material and new characters. Fan writers and artists are coming from a place of love for their source material (no matter what issues they may have with it) and that bleeds out into their work. Time is spent developing the characters and their feelings, their relationships, in ways that canon so often can’t or isn’t allowed to, and reading that, it’s very easy to fall in love with new characters very quickly. There’s also common AUs and dynamics that make it much easier to start something new.

And also: comfort characters. So many fans find common ground with characters and further project onto them, particularly in fanfic. And because of that it’s often easier to identify with a fan’s interpretation of a character than it is to identify with the canon’s, since you have these more deeply explored feelings and relationships based on a combination of canon and the personal experiences of the fan writer. Also, with these kinds of fics it’s extremely emotionally affirming since for someone who doesn’t have much of any connection with the source material, it feels like the original, even if you’re reading a large body of work by a lot of different people. And I’m so used to fanfic as a substitute for the emotional work and character development that shows/movies/books don’t have room for or aren’t willing to get into, that approaching a fandom as it’s own original piece of media in a way, feels very comforting.

That’s my perspective on it anyways, and why I do this. I do think it is a good thing to engage with the canon to an extent, even if it’s just watching a few clips (how I found ml) but I also don’t think you need any real connection or knowledge of it to be deeply invested in the fandom. Sorry, this got very long.

you know, i totally get being on, like, the fringe of fandoms and interacting with fanon to an extent without a proper investment in canon (I have a couple fandoms like that), but i honestly just can't imagine becoming super invested in a fandom when I am not invested in the source material...maybe that's just a difference between you and me, idk.

but also, i gotta admit that i'm struggling a bit to understand the reason. you yourself pointed out that fan work is enjoyable because the creator's love for canon bleeds into it. and isn't that the reason that you would want to give canon a real chance? obviously there is fan content made out of spite lol (and sadly a fair amount in this fandom), but to me most fan content is like a love letter to canon. like, "i adore this thing so much that it inspired me to create and share with other people who adore it." and what better recommendation is there than that?? i would think people would wanna familiarize themselves with canon in order to better enjoy fanon(?)

i completely understand your point about fan content delving further into characterization and relationships where canon hasn't/can't, and that is such a big appeal of fanfic/fanart. but i don't feel like that's a reason to not engage with canon? on the contrary, i feel like you are missing something important in your understanding and appreciation of that wonderful exploration if you haven't experienced firsthand the foundation that canon set. and maybe that missing thing is just your personal interpretation of a character/dynamic.

for example, i could say, "adrien agreste is this, this, and this and he would do this but not this." and of course i will think im right because my characterization is always perfect 😌sakjdfaldjks but someone else might have a slightly different interpretation, and someone else will have another interpretation, and when you mush all those individual takes on a character together, you will get a good sense of who they are, but you still don't have the Original™️ to draw your own interpretation from. idk, to me it sounds like basing your opinion of chocolate ice cream on what other people are saying about it without ever trying it yourself? ajsldakljf maybe that's an oversimplification but i do think that without experiencing it for yourself, your understanding will always be kind of incomplete.

idk, i big agree with everything you said about why fan content is special, but everything that is a point in fanon's favor is not a knock on canon. to me fan content feels pretty inseparable from canon, so it just doesn't compute to me to take canon out of the equation? then we would have nothing.

i feel like it's almost kinda trendy nowadays to be like, "oh this show actually sucks lmao but the fanon and AUs are good." like it's shameful to actually...enjoy source material? 😭 i mean i completely understand that miraculous ladybug is not gonna be everyone's cup of tea and that's fine! but if you truly enjoy the fan content that much i encourage you to give canon a real shot. it's not that surprising to me that you watched 3 recent episodes and didn't vibe that much, since you haven't seen the 3 seasons of buildup that lead to them. miraculous has a neat way of tying a bunch of things together so if you aren't familiar with all of it, you're probably missing out.

personally my love for miraculous was kind of a slowburn at first. i only started watching the show because my sister and i made a deal that forced me to watch the first few eps lol. and i didn't really vibe either. but there must have been enough of a spark there for me to keep watching bc for some reason i did and the more i watched the more i fell in love with it until it became the thing that occupies my brain more than anything else. i started with canon and then got into fanon, but it could easily go the other way too. and if you're already invested in the story and characters, i have to imagine it would be much easier to push past the initial cringe of "this is a show about a couple of teen furries rated TV-Y7 on netflix" lol and give anything you don't vibe with the benefit of the doubt.

again, to be clear, i'm not trying to judge or gatekeep here! i'm just saying this because i genuinely LOVE miraculous. it's my favorite show. that's why i make things for it. that's why i have this blog. i want people to watch it. so maybe, pwetty pwease, try watching the show you like so much? 🥺👉👈

(source bc i was too lazy to make my own so i stole this from twitter)

[thedreadvampy]

I don't want to respond to this directly in a reblog bc it doesn't really have to do with the content of the rest of the post (which is great, by the way! I'm really happy that things are going well on an artistic side and your work is lovely!) but this aside has me feeling some kind of way.

I don't think it's a fair characterisation to say the mechanisms 'misinterpreted' the universe of Doctor Carmilla, because it isn't really the same universe. The continuity between Doctor Carmilla & The Mechanisms and The Mechanisms as a standalone band seems to me to really be legacy only, and to the degree that Carmilla is mentioned in-universe it's an acknowledgement of the band's origins, not an attempt to write a Carmilla story. Seems to me like it wouldn't be appropriate for the Mechanisms to write stories about Doctor Carmilla and the universe Maki developed in her absence, nor would it be fair to pretend Maki never existed or that Carmilla wasn't deeply involved in the foundations of the Mechanisms universe.

like if you approach the Mechanisms and Doctor Carmilla as one unified story led by Maki then sure, it comes across like the Mechanisms misinterpreted ideas and dropped threads. But that's...not what it is? They're two separate stories with a common root. Maki hasn't been involved in writing with the Mechanisms since 2011 and the band finished in 2020 - in almost a decade with different people writing, a good number of whom weren't even involved with the Doctor Carmilla era of the Mechanisms, yeah, it isn't the same entity and I don't think that the Mechs have ever acted like it's meant to be? Doctor Carmilla is Doctor Carmilla and the Mechanisms are the Mechanisms and they exist in separate universes with some crossover points - that seems to me to be the best approach?

Like, it would be valid to say that the Mechanisms misinterpreted Carmilla's universe and character if they had ever written stories about Carmilla or about the ideas Maki had for her story. but they.... haven't? ever really done that? They've written stories featuring Carmilla, which is really kind of an acknowledgement that the band started with Maki, but only really in apocrypha or performing songs developed with Maki as far as I can tell? and beyond that when they've introduced new characters or story elements they've avoided going back over ground that would mean reinvolving Carmilla without Maki's input. bc from what I've seen they're pretty careful about not writing stories About Other People's Characters without getting substantial input and signoff from those people.

I don't really know the precise circumstances in which Doctor Carmilla and the Mechanisms became two separate entities - that's a wee bit before my time - but my impression was that nobody pushed anybody out or was cut out, that it was all pretty amicable, and that the Mechanisms wanted to perform more and Maki was going in more of a solo direction so they went on performing separately. I have no idea if that's a correct impression (and I'm happy to be corrected if not) but either way it's not abandoning a character to carry on without them when the person who played them is no longer involved, and it's not misinterpreting or abandoning an idea to build your own thing on the foundation it's set. I like both the universe Maki's made for Doctor Carmilla and the universe the Mechanisms made for their stories, they don't need to be in competition and there doesn't need to be One True Correct Canon, especially since Maki has continued making really great work on Doctor Carmilla's story without the Mechanisms. They can and should just be separate entities, that's allowed.

(and this isn't a go at you, btw, this is just like I've heard this take a few times and it seems like a pretty uncharitable interpretation of how creativity works. The Mechanisms are allowed creative ownership over their own universe - they were working with Doctor Carmilla for under a year and they've been developing stories together for the better part of a decade and it seems like a pretty unfair approach to all involved to cast that as a shadow of Doctor Carmilla's universe as if the only way you're allowed to keep using the same band name is if you follow exactly the preordained narrative of someone who hasn't been part of the band for years. Doctor Carmilla as a story and a character has certainly changed and developed over time, musically and narratively, and that's good! That's as it should be! so I don't know why the Mechanisms' narrative universe not being the same as it was when they were ...And The Mechanisms is sometimes framed as a bastardisation of Maki's work rather than like. an evolution and development of their own creative voice and stories)

Like. Assuming that we agree that it's good that the Mechanisms existed post separating from Carmilla and went on to make new music and write new stories, how would that do this in a way that wasn't a 'misinterpretation' and/or 'abandonment' of Carmilla's story? Either you have to try and tell Carmilla's story, which would be inevitably a 'misinterpretation' because. They're different people. And it would be pretty inappropriate to try and tell the same story as Maki wanted to tell without her and potentially have two versions of the same story competing. Or you do what the Mechs did in practise, and largely leave Carmilla's story and the surrounding universe for its creator to play with and go ahead and make your own thing with its own universe and rules that won't impact on the story they obviously want to build for their own character and world. You can characterise that as 'abandonment' but I'm not sure what the better option is then, other than just Nobody Who Has Ever Made Anything Involving Doctor Carmilla Can Ever Do Anything With The Characters They Made For That. like. It seems like the only alternative to keep creating with those characters (which, again, people developed as onstage personas for themselves) that couldn't be called a misinterpretation or an abandonment of Maki's original vision is like, to only ever do anything with Maki in charge, which is a pretty big limitation to put on a band, especially if I'm right in my understanding that they parted ways because Maki wanted to take a different approach to her work that didn't heavily involve the Mechanisms, so would she even have had the time, capacity or interest to lead on a whole other project alongside her own work back in 2011? When people have this take that the Mechanisms were somehow disrespectful of Maki's story by not just telling Maki's story and instead making their own thing, I just have to ask like what exactly is the alternative version where the Mechanisms make their own creative work with their own creative voice in a way that isn't either reinterpreting or moving away from the Doctor Carmilla story?????