#I wish I could remember which article this screencap was from

[graveyardrabbit]

it’s that time of year again

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

emma used to put him down, either publicly or privately. i don’t think anyone remembers the incident years ago during halloween when tons of fans reported seeing emma drunkingly screaming at evan in the streets of NOLA during a party at a party. apparently, he had a girl ‘gliter bomb’ sarah and her friend that had ultimately made them mad. emma took it upon herself to pull him out of the bar and into the streets where she decided to yell at him for having a fun time. emma denied doing this and being at this party which ended up being a complete and utter lie since during a tv festival sarah made it a point to remind someone that emma was there too during the party and glitter bombing.

there were also several incidents of this happening where she tried to control him, when emma and evan went to a miley cyrus concert years ago, upon leaving, fans asked evan if they could have a picture with him. he turned to emma, asked for her permission, to which she gave the fans a dirty look and said no because ‘they had to go somewhere’ (despite it being 12 in the morning). there was another incident in new york, some fans wanted to get some pictures. evan was going to take pictures until emma forcibly moved him along and as the fans said ‘wouldn’t let him take any pictures.’

according to this article i read from years ago, evan’s friends and members of his inner circle who thought emma was too controlling ‘were on a mission to help him break free from her possessive ways’, they claimed she constantly monitored his every move and wanted to know who he was with and who he was talking to at all times. in this article, it’s said ‘emma used to get jealous of his close relationships with his family and friends’ and ‘she made sure evan spent as little time with them as possible and she was always rude to them.’

every claim made against evan is always made up, emma stans are desperate now because they are not able to provide any proof when you asked them. stupid people are so hard to fight against because they are stupid and not able to reflect on arguments that make sense, so maybe the best way is to show how stupid they are by asking them for proof and wait for the silly stuff they have.

^ lots of lesser talked about info from anon! thank you! wish i had screencapped some of these articles and posts on forums in years past.

very good point. like i said before, the only thing any of her stans ever say in response to the arrest is ''SHE HAD BRUISES'' like.. so? that literally means nothing. they were superficial little bruises which she likely got from tossing her body around.

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 7

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Back to the second game we go for The Return of the Great Departed Soul! (Part one, this is another two-parter case)

Episode 2-3: The Return of the Great Departed Soul

So now, chronologically, six months have passed since The Unspeakable Story. Susato returned to Japan at the end of the first game and hasn't returned yet. Ryu was reprimanded for all the perjury and the questionable McGilded defense, so he had his right to stand in court revoked for now and instead had to focus on studying English law some more. He's done so quite patiently and now he feels he's ready to return. He just needs to get Stronghart's permission first. Meanwhile, the Great Exhibition is happening in Hyde Park, pulling in visitors and scientists from all over the world. Exciting! (S)Holmes hands Ryu a newspaper with an article on the exhibition, talking about how the brighter things shine, the darker the shadows cast behind them. By now, Ryu is fluent enough in (S)Holmes speak to know this means he should flip over the newspaper. There, we find an article of an entirely different sort.

So not only was Van Zieks apparently attacked, Ryu shows horror and concern at the notion. No hard feelings from our wholesome boy! (S)Holmes explains that London's finest criminals often find ways to get acquittals from trials through bribery, threats, sham witnesses... We saw this in McGilded, of course, so we know all too well how dangerous that can get. But since the Reaper and his curse are immune to such tactics, when a ringleader or fellow ends up being 'taken' by the curse, retaliation can occur. So it's established that this isn't the first time Van Zieks has been attacked by a group of thugs. Fortunately, Van Zieks is an “accomplished combatant” who doesn't take these attacks lying down. Unfortunately, the thugs were carrying guns this time. Uhoh.

This warms my heart, it really does. Van Zieks has been a terrible scumbag, but Ryu doesn't think he's gotten his comeuppance at all. He's genuinely concerned for this man and intends to find out more about his condition. So since he was planning to meet with Stronghart and ask for attorney permission anyway, it's the perfect opportunity to also ask about Van Zieks! Iris decides to tag along because she wants to visit the Great Exhibition. Let's shove the newspaper in Stronghart's face as soon as the game allows it.

The phrasing of “number one prosecutor” is interesting, but then... We never learn of any other (living) veteran prosecutors in this country, so of course Van Zieks would be number one. Stronghart says there's no need for concern; Van Zieks would not be so easily dispatched. Street ruffians are no match for him, since he's a very capable fighter. Seems like that sword he carries around isn't just for show after all. As for why he was attacked this time... Well, a month ago Van Zieks prosecuted a leader of a criminal organization. Nice to know he didn't just return to retirement and instead got back to work like a normal person without cherrypicking his cases based on what Ryu's doing. The defendant was acquitted, no doubt thanks to large sums of money being shifted around behind the scenes, but he still met a dramatic end just yesterday during an accident at the Great Exhibition. The man in question was Odie Asman, and the one now being detained on suspicion of murder without a defense attorney is Professor Albert Harebrayne. Albert's case has just been assigned to Ryu, so we're sure to find out more about Asman as we go. As as final touch, Ryu asks Stronghart why he continues to use Van Zieks as a prosecutor. Since the criminals are becoming fearful of the curse and attacking him, it's dangerous to Van Zieks himself. Stronghart explains that he has two reasons: Firstly, Van Zieks is the best prosecutor in the capital, bar none. And secondly, any deaths that have occurred outside the courtrooms after his trials have nothing to do with him. (S)Holmes alluded to the same thing, saying that Van Zieks had a rock-hard alibi for each and every mysterious death.

“So he will continue to prosecute on behalf of the Crown. ...Unless he wishes otherwise, of course.” With that, Stronghart admits he needs to get going since he's already 11 hours late to his next appointment (fsdkjfls). Ryu asks where he might be able to find Van Zieks and is told to head to his office. So even after being told that Van Zieks is just fine, Ryu is still concerned and wants to discuss the matter with the man himself. Let's gooo! Naturally, the first thing out of Van Zieks's mouth when he catches Ryu and Iris in his office is to wonder what the heck they're doing here.

So there's several things of interest in the office, with the game automatically addressing the biggest one: Van Zieks has an apprentice now! It's a mysterious, rigid dude wearing a hood and a mask who is absolutely not familiar to us, nope. We don't know him. Gosh, what a mystery. Van Zieks doesn't seem to know who he is either, instead just referring to him as his apprentice and nothing more.

Ryu sees this as an opening to ask about the attack on the Reaper that was in the newspaper. Van Zieks admits that he too is very interested in the true identity of the Reaper. “Assuming, that is, such a fabled fiend genuinely inhabits our great courtrooms.” The conversation halts for a moment so we can examine the office and this is the best opportunity for humanizing traits we've gotten so far, so LET'S DO IT! The enormous portrait in the back is the first thing to peek at.

Iris says whoever painted it exaggerated the subject's handsomeness, which in turn is reminiscent of Napoleon ordering the painter to make him look more attractive. That's super vain and not an attractive quality in a person at all. I laughed the whole way through that bit of dialogue and Van Zieks, who was in earshot the entire time, gets his feathers ruffled.

When Ryu asks who it is then, Van Zieks doesn't reply. BACKSTORY ALERT! Examining the chalices and bottles on the left leads to Van Zieks explaining the hallowed bottles are filled with the finest grapes from the finest vineyards he visits (so it is grape juice!!!) and he personally oversees the chalices being made by the finest crystal craftsmen in the world. Right, so not only is he filthy stinkin' rich, he's a perfectionist. Iris points out that Van Zieks throws the chalices and bottles around like they're worthless, to which Van Zieks says:

“Before you open your mouth next time, you should consider the poor artisans whose work you defile.”

As it turns out, passive aggression is contagious now. Ryu replies with a “So it's my fault? Silly me! How could I ever have thought otherwise?” and honestly I love that he's got enough guts to say this out loud. Our boy is growing a spine. Examining the wine casks has Ryu and Iris theorize about how there might be dead bodies in there, which once again ruffles Van Zieks's feathers.

Snrk. Examining the big diorama in the middle of the room has Ryu and Iris wonder whether Van Zieks can't go to the Exhibition in person and this is his way of dealing with that, which has Van Zieks snap that it's obviously an investigative aid.  He even has pets of sorts in his office, in the form of a couple of bats hanging from the curtains. Alright, so the game's definitely humanizing this poor man now. No matter how many crazy stories Iris and Ryu come up with about him, there's usually a very innocent explanation to debunk the eerie myths. Something particularly interesting happens when Ryu shows Van Zieks his defense attorney armband. Van Zieks asks what the reason is for showing it to a British prosecutor, to which Ryu admits that he doesn't quite know. Van Zieks is silent for a bit, then says that he understands. “There's merit in reminding yourself of who helped you become what you are today.”

As he says it, he reaches for his prosecutor's badge and if you're aware of the backstory, you'll know he's thinking of Klint. More importantly, this conversation puts Ryu and Van Zieks on the same level. Ryu is always thinking of Kazuma, who 'helped him become who he is today' and the armband signifies this, along with the sword. Similarly, Van Zieks lost someone very close to him and he's walking the path of prosecutor in his brother's memory. Ryu thanks Van Zieks for understanding and it's very significant that Van Zieks understands in the first place. Remember, in the first game he was under the impression that a Japanese person could never understand a British person and vice versa.

Showing Van Zieks the newspaper article has him looking a bit embarrassed, pointing out that a reporter must've been nearby and he'd been careless to let himself get photographed. Either way, all the thugs responsible have already been apprehended. The investigation into Odie Asman's activities meant that their arrests were already imminent anyway, and some hoped to kill Van Zieks before that happened. Much like McGilded, Asman used his wealth to buy his way towards an acquittal in court, but “he got his comeuppance in the end.” Which is strange, right? Very suspicious. Van Zieks asks whether Ryu believes he has some sort of divine ability to make an accident like that happen. Ryu admits that would be far-fetched, and thinks to himself that even if Van Zieks were the Reaper, he'd have to be innocent of this particular death. We also learn that Van Zieks is familiar with Professor Harebrayne, the suspect in the Asman incident. When told that Ryu will be taking on the defense, Van Zieks is shocked.

Van Zieks goes on to explain that he knows Albert quite well. They were at university together. While he's lived in Germany for quite a few years, Albert is actually from a respectable British family. And despite Albert being in the science faculty and Van Zieks in law, they got along quite well. Now he's in pretty hot water for that Asman accident.

Hm. I don't quite know what to make of this reaction. I think what's going on here isn't that Van Zieks is rattled because Albert is being defended by a Japanese person, but because he's being defended by a rookie attorney who was just disbarred for six months for accidentally encouraging perjury, false witness and crime scene tampering in a court of law. Yes, Ryu has won his trials every single time, but it came at a price. Aside from this, there's one other thing Van Zieks knows about Ryu: he'll pursue the truth, no matter what. This means that if Albert indeed didn't succeed at inventing teleportation, it'll be revealed in court because exposing shams is Ryu's whole deal.

We learn that Van Zieks will be the one to prosecute Albert tomorrow, which is curious to say the least. Ryu wants to know why he'd do something like that, with Iris pointing out that so long as the Reaper is the prosecutor, Albert is doomed. Van Zieks replies that he's a Crown prosecutor and a mortal like any other; he's no demigod. In other words, he doesn't believe the curse to be a real curse. Iris points out that everyone who's been prosecuted by Van Zieks has died (which is already objectively wrong), to which Van Zieks replies that he usually prosecutes the vilest wretches of society.

… Harsh. Ryu points out that Soseki wasn't a vile wretch though, with Iris chiming in that Gina's also turned her life around and she's working very hard now. Van Zieks admits that things have changed ever since meeting Ryu- which of course has to do with Van Zieks's need to face Ryu in court even in mediocre trials rather than pursue his usual corrupted targets- but the point is that if any of those vile wretches died in mysterious circumstances, it was “at the hand of their own kind”, not Van Zieks's. So basically, he believes that they were killed because they were dubious people engaged with dubious activities, not because of the Reaper's curse. Not only that, but ever since the rumors of the Reaper began, the number of serious crimes in London has decreased significantly. Even the most hardened criminals can be made fearful of their lives. Therefore, if his pseudonym of the Reaper can serve a useful purpose, he'll “adopt it gladly and with honour”. Ryu repeats that which he already told Stronghart; that it's putting Van Zieks in danger.

He really is a prosecutor on the edge with nothing to lose, huh. So what Van Zieks is basically saying is that he doesn't care if he dies, so long as he spends the rest of his life serving the 'useful purpose' of carrying the Reaper moniker to intimidate the vilest of society. But is that really all there is to it? (Spoilers: It's not)

There's a bit more talk about the mysterious apprentice here, with Van Zieks explaining the man was placed in his care under Stronghart's orders. He's wearing a mask on Stronghart's orders and also doesn't speak to anyone from outside the office on Stronghart's orders. HM. Van Zieks claims that Stronghart isn't one for “meaningless follies”, therefore he must have a good reason. This implies that Van Zieks believes in Stronghart's judgment almost blindly. To round up the conversation, Van Zieks asks about “that Nipponese man. The one arrested twice in succession six months ago. With the stoop. And the moustache. And the jitters.” Looks super offensive at first glance, but I gotta admit, after six months I wouldn't remember Soseki's name either. Better to describe him than to guess the name and get it wrong. Still though, just because it's not super offensive doesn't mean it's not offensive. Just saying “the one you defended six months ago” would've done the trick. Either way, Ryu says he's doing just fine and a letter from him arrived by post just the other day.

So this is interesting. Earlier, Van Zieks claimed in his own words that he doesn't believe in the curse and those who died had it coming to them, but he's still inquiring after Soseki. Perhaps not so much because he's worried about Soseki himself, but because he's curious whether this man has successfully escaped the curse so far. He would know that for a fact about Gina, but the only way to verify Soseki's status is to ask Ryu about it.

Time to leave this glass cage of exposition and meet the defendant in person! Albert spouts a whole lot of dialogue about how his machine is treated differently depending on whether the case is treated as an accident or as murder. If it's murder, it can be examined up close and that's what Albert doesn't want. It has to be treated as an accident so that it'll be protected from prying eyes through The Special Dispensation for Scientific Equipment Act (wow that's a mouthful). Of course, that's not entirely what we're interested in. Let's ask about his friendship with Van Zieks! Ryu asks what he was like back in his university days and the answer surprises him.

HAH, wonderfully written exchange, this one. Albert goes to describe him as “the little darling of the Van Zieks family, with all its great aristocratic origins”. So Van Zieks has some very noble blood in him. We could've already guessed this from his title of Lord, but apparently it's a bit more serious. I could derail here with wild theories about his family originating from the Netherlands and having migrated to the UK around the time the first king of the Netherlands, Willem I van Oranje Nassau, rose to power in 1813. Willem changed the way nobility works to some degree in the country and not all noble families would've agreed with his way of doing things. But anyway, point is, Van Zieks is a big shot. Albert says that it was kind of a shock to him when he came back to Britain and discovered 'what Van Zieks had become'. He heard that there was 'a very big event' that completely changed Van Zieks after his graduation, but doesn't know what it was because he was already in Germany at the time. So here we have some more traces of that backstory and we have enough pieces to start sticking some things together. We know Van Zieks was once betrayed by a friend and we now know he was a very modest, pleasant gentleman when he was young. Whatever happened must've been very harsh indeed to turn him into such a sour lemon. Either way, Albert doesn't seem to know yet that Van Zieks will be the prosecutor and Ryu doesn't have the heart to tell him.

So let's investigate the crime scene! Here, it's confirmed that Gina Lestrade is indeed just fine and now in training to become a detective with Gregson. Cute! So eventually we get to talk to Gregson about Van Zieks and how he's acquainted with Albert. Gregson is overdramatically shocked to find out that the two of them are old buddies.

Remember when Van Zieks took a five year hiatus and nobody had to mysteriously die from the Reaper's curse? Those were the days, eh Gregson? Now he's even prosecuting his own friends willy-nilly. Gregson states he has no idea what goes on in Van Zieks's head  (a sentiment we've heard before in 1-4) and goes on to bring up the newspaper article about Van Zieks being attacked. When told that our good old pal the Reaper is just fine, Gregson utters a very uncomfortable “glad to hear it” which honestly had me wondering whether he'd preferred Van Zieks to die.

Up until a certain someone gets killed and stuffed into a suitcase, I'd reckon. Gregson says that Van Zieks is a top class prosecutor, but not even he can always push the right verdict through. “Sometimes justice can't win.” Gregson explains that naturally, Scotland Yard suspected Van Zieks at first and assumed he was taking matters into his own hands. There was a very thorough investigation and the outcome was that Van Zieks was in no way related to the mysterious deaths. So that's three people now who all insist Van Zieks couldn't possibly have committed the murders. Gregson says he's willing to stake his reputation on it, even. Of course, Gregson would know for sure, wouldn't he? But the narrative is telling us over and over that Van Zieks himself isn't the Reaper, with even Van Zieks himself implying he'd like to know just who the Reaper is. There's a conspiracy happening that Van Zieks is the centerpiece of, with the narrative really pushing the mystery aspect of it. The writers want us to care about the truth of the Reaper for sure.

OOOH that's meta! Ryu, being nosy and overly invested in Van Zieks's life, asks Gregson whether he knows about the 'incident' which changed Van Zieks after graduation.

Okay he clearly knows. Even a first time player can tell from this single reaction that Gregson's lying. The mystery thickens! At the end of the conversation, when Gregson's gone off, Iris recommends asking (S)Holmes about it instead. Safe bet, since (S)Holmes continuously knows more than he's letting on. To the house of wax we go! When asked about it, it's clear that he does know something (and is described as suddenly clamming up), but before he can explain there's a distraction in the form of Madam Tusspells and we have to sit through a mostly-unrelated Joint Reasoning segment. It leads into a conversation about a mass murderer known as the Professor. Ten years ago, there was a series of murders which rocked the capital right around the time Van Zieks graduated from university. Five people were killed before the man was caught and executed. This fifth victim was Klint van Zieks, Barok's older brother.

I really, really dislike this phrasing because Van Zieks was already studying law to begin with. He'd just graduated as a prosecutor; his brother's death had nothing to do with him pursuing that path. Anyway...

OOOH that's meta! So remember way back in the first essay when I said the backstory is optional? Well, here it is. The Great Ace Attorney is going all in for it. It's being tied to the ongoing plot, just as pretty much all the main prosecutor backstories are. Edgeworth's backstory is tied to Von Karma being the final boss, Godot's backstory is tied to the Fey lineage, Klavier's backstory (I say this lightly) is tied to Phoenix's disgrace... Now Van Zieks's story is tied to the serial killer who ruined so many lives a decade ago. And technically, we already have all the puzzle pieces we need for the next twist; we know Van Zieks was betrayed by a Japanese person who was his friend. So really, we can now say with absolutely certainty that the man arrested and executed back then was a Japanese buddy of Van Zieks.

The investigation segment is pretty much over, but the game has one more scene for us. This is something Ryunosuke won't witness, but the scriptwriters deemed it so important that we're ignoring Ryu to focus solely on the two characters involved. And cutting away from our main character is something that usually doesn't happen in Ace Attorney. Even when characters like Phoenix or Ryu are out of commission for whatever reason, a new 'main character' takes over for a second and we see everything from their point of view. I can think of only one other scene viewed without Ryu there, which happened in 1-5 just before Susato had to leave London. So what we have here is a very private moment between Van Zieks and Albert.

AWWW... The scenes in the office were great and all, but this right here is perhaps the most humanizing exchange we'll ever see with Barok. The reason for that, I think, is precisely because Ryu isn't there. He's alone with an old friend now, which means he can let his guard down more than he usually would. Even so, it's worth noting here that he doesn't look directly at Albert. He stands with his back to him the entire time and I'm certain this is intentional, because they could just as easily have rotated him into that sideways view that's often used in dialogue and courtroom scenes. He made his way down to the gaol to speak with his friend after ten long years, but is reluctant to look right at him. The conversation itself feels rather distant as well. Albert is delighted to see Van Zieks, but the sentiment isn't returned vocally. Van Zieks points out that they're meeting again “in prison of all places” and that the court will decide Albert's fate tomorrow. When Van Zieks raises a warning, Albert says he already knows his friend will be prosecuting and doesn't appear bothered at all at first. He does try to raise a question in the form of “Are you really...?”, but ultimately drops it and says that he knows Van Zieks has his best interests at heart. Van Zieks says he wouldn't entrust the trial of his friend to anyone else, and Albert thanks him for that. So my first guess upon taking in that dialogue is that Albert wonders for a brief moment whether Van Zieks really is the Reaper/really is cursed, only to shake it off because he considers the man his friend. Van Zieks seems to know it's risky to prosecute Albert, but deems it more important to handle the case himself than to let someone else do it. This, as we learn later, has to do with the Special Dispensation for Scientific Equipment Act and the protection of Albert's scientific secrets.

Next day, we're at the Old Bailey! In the defendant lobby, Ryu is once again told by Albert that the true goal to aim for in this trial is to protect his scientific hypothesis. So hypothetically speaking, the ideal outcome here would be to prove the death was accidental and that the kinesis was a success at the same time. (S)Holmes and Iris don't believe Albert's theory to be sound though, instead saying it couldn't possibly be done. In the courtroom, Ryu faces off against Van Zieks once more for the first time in six months! The judge is quick to point out that Odie Asman is a name familiar to him; a man who was prosecuted only a month ago by Van Zieks. When he asks whether this death is the work of the Reaper, Van Zieks instead describes it as “divine retribution”, but also “a direct result of the actions of the accused, Professor Albert Harebrayne”. The prosecution asserts that the instantaneous kinesis demonstration was a success. He himself can't say for certain whether it's a sound theory, but it's being investigated by the British government since it was deemed to have potential and the prosecution's case aligns with the notion that there was indeed instantaneous- You know what? Let's just call it teleportation. That's easier to type.

Unfortunately, Van Zieks doesn't want to follow the accident angle. Instead, he outright accuses his old friend of murdering Asman using the totally-functional-teleportation-machine-which-totally-worked to be the sole benefactor of a scientific grant. Harsh. Very harsh. I don't entirely understand why he didn't pursue the accident angle instead, but then, I don't quite know enough about law. My guess is that as the prosecution, he's not allowed to. Scotland Yard found enough evidence at the scene to substantiate a murder plot, especially that damning screwdriver that Ryu so graciously handed to Gregson, so that's what the prosecution has to go with, maybe? It's up to the defense attorney to debunk that down to an accident, then, so in essence Van Zieks is counting on Ryu to 'defeat him' and prove the murder aspect wrong. It would align with the conversation Albert had with Van Zieks in prison, where he said that 'it was a terrible accident and the young Eastern man acting as his defence assured him that he can prove it'.

So speaking of that screwdriver, Albert tries to discredit it himself by saying that if he had stabbed Asman on the stage, there would've been a whole lot of blood. Van Zieks pours himself a glass of wine and 'congratulates' his friend on a good rebuttal.

“Here's to you, Albert!”

Albert laughs it off sheepishly, saying he's nothing compared to “Barok” (awww, first name basis), but a chalice is immediately flung. Van Zieks says Albert neglected to mention one crucial possibility, which is that the lack of blood is explained by the notion that the screwdriver remained in the victim's chest to plug the wound. Therefore, since the demonstration was totally a success, the screwdriver was teleported along with the victim. Ryu thinks to himself that he had no idea the victim had been stabbed and wonders whether Van Zieks kept that information to himself to keep the upper hand on purpose. This whole thing jars me a little, because the screwdriver is brought up relatively early in the trial during the very first cross-examination. Is not mentioning it during the opening statement and waiting for Gregson to bring it up three minutes later really the same as 'keeping it to himself to gain the upper hand'?

Either way, Ryu counters, saying that the screwdriver was found at the stage and therefore didn't teleport at all, with Gregson serving as an official witness to this location. It's pretty clear from the next dialogue that Gregson never told Van Zieks where that screwdriver was found.

“That you contravened the Special Dispensation for Scientific Equipment Act?”

Gregson is immediately up in arms, but it's fine. There was no investigation needed to find a screwdriver lying in plain sight. So now Ryu decides to tighten the screws. He claims that if the prosecution can't explain the inconsistency (the screwdriver being found on the stage but no blood being there so clearly it must've plugged the wound), the testimony is unreliable. Van Zieks doesn't reply and Ryu thinks to himself that he looks stumped, but uh...

He just looks annoyed to me. The person to object next is not Van Zieks, it's Albert. He says that metal can't be teleported with the machine, so it only makes sense the screwdriver stayed behind and there's no inconsistency at all. Van Zieks suggests: “Clearly we should hear the accused's explanation. … Or should I say, this brilliant scientist's explanation?” And I think here in these two sentences we have the crux of the issue. Albert wants to be treated as a legitimate scientist above all else. Even if that means he's branded a murderer, so long as his hypothesis is protected and the confidentiality stands, it makes no difference to him. This was likely discussed with Van Zieks the night before as well. Albert is apparently willing to die for the sake of his scientific principles and... Well. I'm sure Van Zieks can understand. He's willing to die for the sake of serving the Reaper purpose. In a way, this means the defendant and the prosecution are in cahoots together, which is another first in Ace Attorney history. The two of them are fighting to keep the hypothesis of teleportation intact and if Ryu manages to prove that it was an accidental death, then great! Unfortunately, the second that screwdriver was discovered, the chances of that became slim to none. It was murder, plain and simple. On a sidenote, I found this little gem:

I'm counting this as humanization, because the underlying sentiment here is that despite his haughty better-than-thou attitude, Van Zieks is still friends with someone so very scatterbrained, his name is forgotten sometimes. Even Ryu is taken aback by the purity of the friendship.

Heh heh... Time to cause some more havoc by informing the court that Asman's metal-rimmed glasses were still on his face and since Albert already said metal can't be teleported, his hypothesis is a load of tosh. The jurors go up in arms about it, saying the machine should be stripped down and examined. The game gives Ryu the option to either raise an objection or 'wait and see', but this is another one of those fake choices. Waiting and seeing just leads to a bit more dialogue between the jurors before Ryu steps in of his own accord. He says Albert would have no reason to build such an elaborate fake machine and put on a public display for murder, but Van Zieks counters with the very good reason: Money. The jurors are even more outraged, calling him a fake scientist who's only in it for the guineas, and Albert begs them to believe that his science is built upon a sound hypothesis. Van Zieks comes in to 'save the day' (sort of).

“The fact remains that the victim was transported instantly to the Crystal Tower. Which means that the experiment... was a success.”

And I gotta say, this next bit is just very enjoyable to me. The way it's written is so great.

HEH HEH.... Van Zieks has some more witnesses to summon who saw the incident from some 'very special seats', but let's end the essay here for now and pick it back up next time!

[beneaththetangles]

Oregairu Season 3 (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU CLIMAX), Episode 9

A very important theme I’ve never focused on when writing some several dozen articles about Oregairu is heavily emphasized in this episode. It’s also part of the series title.

When Oregairu (My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong As I Expected) begins, Hikki is without a club, without friends, without prospects. He’s wasting away his youth. In fact, the essay he writes that opens the series begins like this (in the light novel version):

Youth is lies. Youth is evil. Those who incessantly celebrate their teenage years are lying both to themselves and to those around them.

Yikes. Of course, as we learn later on, Hikki’s just hurt, and he’s awkward and immature, too. But through the power of love (via authentic relationships, or at least those that are as authentic as you could expect out of teenagers), he comes to have a youth full of memories that aren’t fake, that aren’t “evil.” They’re truthful and good. Ultimately, even if you’re an awkward kid like Hikki, a popular but unsure girl like Yui, or a student who seemingly has it all together when you really don’t, like Yukinon, you still have a chance at living out a youth that matters.

That theme is emphasized particularly in this episode. But first, the romantic question marks continue, particularly through a scene in which Hikki admits to Yui that he lost the bet and that he’ll grant her wish as the condition of his loss. Yui explains that she doesn’t know exactly what it she wants him to, besides basically giving their all (in terms of friendship) until the end, and then to do something for him, to grant his wish.

The two later get together to bake a dessert for Komachi’s birthday (which can’t be a huge celebration, as Hikki tells his sister, because of the awkwardness of things between the service club members). And in comes Gahama-mama. FINALLY. And of course, she’s hilarious, and of course, Yui get jealous of her mom’s closeness to Hikki. It’s to be expected of Yui—her mom is definitely flirting with the boy.

As with almost everything this season, there wasn’t enough time given to these scenes, but I’ll take what we’re given nonetheless.

Most importantly, Gahama-mama provides some wisdom to the pair. As they search for canned peaches to bake the dessert, she explains that they’re creating a memory. One day, when Yui bites into a peach, she’ll remember this moment. That idea is so full of nostalgia and love. It’s wonderful, and impresses that theme I mentioned earlier. Just by caring for each other, Yui, Yukinon, and Hikki are making memories. They’re living out a wonderful youth.

Later, more memories are made when the graduation ceremony occurs. We continue on our goodbye tour by saying farewell to everyone’s favorite…Sagami!

Just kidding. We get one final goodbye for Meguri!

Meguri is often forgotten, especially since her primary role was so early on in the show. But she remains one of my favorites, and Hikki’s too. I love how her character is this balance of wisdom / motherly attention and one who pushes and moves others. She’s prim and proper without losing her sense of girliness and youth. When she does the back and forth call to the crowd, I was transferred back to my own high school experiences. The scene is a purposeful inclusion, yet another symbol of the youth the main trio has come to enjoy.

Next week, we’re on to the big blowout, which Meguri herself mentions: prom. I won’t say too much, but the light novels are like Lord of the Rings: There’s a huge battle / event, and then a long prologue involving another such battle / event.

I’m interesting in seeing how this all develops on screen.

EPISODES NOTES

The streak is broken! No MAXIS COFFEE in this episode for the first time this season. We must be getting serious.

Loving the comfort level between Hayato and Hikki! I get why people ship them so hard (and not just Hina).

Miura gets some time this episode, too. Hikki again remarks that she’s a “good person,” which I guess she is, but I came away from this episode actually thinking that she’s the most awkward major character in the entire series.

I brighten up whenever Irohas comes to the screen: She’s my favorite character in the show after all, and a really good balance for Yukinon, who is absolutely catatonic this season.

MVP of this episode is…Kamakura! For once, he shows affection for Hikki, and it comes during a time of need. Good cat.

Shiromeguri is really the episode MVP, but eh, we’ll give it to kitty. Though I’ll leave you, dear readers, with one final screencap of her:

=====

Season three of Oregairu (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU CLIMAX) can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

[duhragonball]

7 Comfort Movies

Tagged by @pandemicpicnic . List your seven favorite comfort movies, then tag 7 people.   

This is a good thing to pass around, since I could use the diversion, and as I think about this list, I realize how long it’s been since I last saw a lot of these movies.  

In no particular order...

1) Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn

I dunno if these are necessarily comfort movies, as opposed to just movies I like the best, but I don’t watch movies a whole lot, so I’m guessing my all-time favorites are probably close enough.   Movie 12 is good watchin’, period.   This is a movie about everyone working together.    Friends, enemies, strangers, the living and the dead, the damned and the divine.   I watch this movie and wish that we in the real world could put aside our differences so easily and blow up all the Nazis.

2) Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

People say this is the worst Superman movie, but fuck that noise.   This is the only one where Superman throws all the nuclear weapons into the sun.    But one of them has a chicken nugget attached to it, which grows into a clone of Superman with scratchy fingernails, his only weakness.    So Superman has to kick his ass on/with the moon, and then tell everyone that nuclear war is too big a job for Superman, because we’ll just re-arm the minute his back is turned. 

This is a story about high school physics, Luthor.     Sometimes the things we fear the most are only the darker side of our greatest strengths.   If humanity has the power to destroy itself, then doesn’t that mean we have the power to save ourselves as well?   The choice is ours.  

3) Spaceballs

Some killjoys actually hated this movie, and point to it as evidence that Mel Brooks lost his touch.   I respectfully submit that those people are dumb.  Spaceballs came out during the dark years between Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace, when we all wanted more Star Wars but thought we would never get more.    Brooks heard our pleas, and gave us this movie, which is basically Star Wars with dick jokes all over it.   People always go on about how Star Trek predicted smartphones and the Simpsons predicted the Trump administration, but only Spaceballs was prescient enough to declare: “Fuck!    Even in the future, nothing works!”

This is a story about following your heart.    If all you care about is duty, and obligation, and profit, you’ll end up marrying some dullard, or owing your soul to a talking pizza, or roaming the universe in search of air.   

4) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

This is the best Batman movie ever, and maybe even the best comic book movie period.    In 1994, Batman the Animated Series was popular enough that they made a feature film and ran it in theaters and everything.  I remember some smartass article at the time questioning whether parents would see the point in taking their kids to watch a movie of something that’s on TV for free, which is just dumb.    It’s not like they ran four episodes of the TV series for this thing.   It’s an original story!   Anyway, Batman has to figure out what the deal is with this new vigilante who fights crime with murder, which is also a crime.   He also gets very sad in place and it’s very emotional and I bought the soundtrack as soon as I could because I wanted to listen to it and feel things.

This is a story about the future, and promises, and the roads not taken.   And when all is said and done, maybe the choices we made were the right ones after all, in spite of our second-guesses.

5) Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

I considered putting Revenge of the Sith on this list, since that’s usually the one I look up clips from on YouTube, but there’s no topping Jedi.   I saw this in the theatre when I was six and everything was awesome.    Jabba the Hutt, wint-o-green lightsabers, speeder bikes, Ewoks breaking stuff with logs and rocks, it’s just a pleasure to watch.   Also, this movie introduces Emperor Palpatine, and lays the foundation for the Sith lore that made me love Revenge of the SIth in the first place.  Not long after we got home from seeing this movie in 1983, I tried to draw this scene in the screencap above, because it left such a deep impression on me.   

This is a story about feelings.    Every butthole in Star Wars is always telling everyone else what to feel and how much they should feel it, and don’t get too attached to this or that.     But in this movie Luke has to exercise restraint and then cut loose, give into his passions and then reign them in, care for his friends and family but also be willing to let them go.    Everyone can give him advice, but he’s got to hoe that row himself, and figure it out as he goes.   He doesn’t always get it exactly right, but he still gets it.   

6) The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

The historians will say that cartoons like the original Transformers were nothing more than glorified toy commercials, made possible by the deregulation of children’s entertainment in the 1980′s.    I find this incredibly unfair, because that analysis ignores the fact that Transformers was a fucking awesome cartoon.    They’re all robots, so they could shoot and punch each other without any guff from standards and practices. And since the show was designed to promote an entire toy line, there were literally dozens of characters, each given a surprising amount of character and personality.   Starscream (center) and Ramjet (right) are practically the same toy, but kids wanted both of them because Starscream is a whiny, shitty drama queen, and Ramjet is a dumbass who likes to hit things with his head.     Astrotrain (left) is just a cool dude who can be a train or a space shuttle. 

This movie is the height of the franchise, where they could raise the stakes even higher, and introduce even crazier concepts like planet-eating monsters and robots actually killing each other for keeps.    I see fans from my generation acting all traumatized over all the deaths, like they never should have done that in a movie marketed for children, but this was a story about renewal.   The old order changeth, and it falls to the newcomers to rise up and carry on.    I’ve always taken a lot of comfort in the way these characters pass the torch.    The Smurfs were never brave enough to have Papa Smurf name his successor.  

7) UHF

Geez, I haven’t watched this one in forever.    I’d have to double-check to see if I even have it on DVD.    UHF was the ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic vehicle from the late 1980′s.   I want to say ‘89.    He plays a guy who takes over a TV station and runs all these ludicrous shows on it until it becomes the most popular channel in town.   It’s basically a bunch of sketch comedy stitched together into a movie, and it doesn’t try to apologize for this.  

This is a story of the importance of imagination, and of being true to yourself.   Al’s character has trouble finding a steady job, and its’ easy to conclude that there’s something wrong with him, but it’s really just that he hasn’t found the right opportunity for his passions and skills.   Once he finds his place, he rises to the occasion.  

And that’s my list.   Now I gotta tag people.   @auralime, @ediblenonsense, @semercury​, @twobellsilence​, @drowning-in-this-starry-serenade​, @cozymochi​, and @glintea​.

[buddha-in-disguise]

Television ships

So I'm wading in again into those murky waters and TV ships, plus when fans go too far on hate, particularly towards opposing fans or the actors/actresses in the roles.

The longer a show (or movie franchise) runs, the chances that a fan fight breaking out increase.

Every long standing fandoms over more years than I care to think about, in which I’ve been invested, had its ups and downs. 

The earlier ones (as my age dictates), weren’t fought online, but via the printed word or face to face. 

Hell yes, I’m that old. 

Anyway - years ago, this all was from media articles, monthly newsletters sent via snail mail, to fan clubs (often fan clubs with no formal running beyond an occasional meet up in a pub locally), and phone calls that were via landlines that were fixtures you were stuck with in one spot and couldn’t move beyond the cord length! So in other words, from nineteen hundred and frozen to death and the Stone Age of fandom. 

Occasionally it could get heated at the pub where a fan meeting might’ve been arranged, and a few drinks imbibed. I don’t ever remember fisticuffs being thrown, but raised voices weren’t an uncommon sight. 

Sadly today more hate towards cast on Supergirl went out. That people simply seem unable to recognise or understand that just because someone plays a certain role, it absolutely gives no-one the right to attack them personally over it. It is vile.

How does the love at the heart of fandom become something so caustic? 

It’s usually a ton of different reasons, but leaving out the full whys and wherefores this could happen, when new cast and storylines appear - especially when older cast or storylines have been dropped - it fractures the cracking even more between fans. 

Faint lines become cracks. Cracks become chasms.

The new versions of what’s on screen can often seem to be nothing more than attacks on what or who came before them, so by extension, is an attack on the fans who loved them. 

An actor or actress might get asked a question asking them about a specific aspect of their character and possibly those around them. They have the right to respond on how they might see something occurring. That doesn't mean it would happen or is planned.

If they're being asked in regards a known aspect of their role, again it isn't on them if you don't agree. They are merely playing that part.

This is on the show as a whole.

Note I say the show - this is an important distinction. 

If things do change that you don't agree with, don't attack those involved or even other fans (as often also starts to occur), if you disagree with something so much.

However, even previously staunch fans might well now watch for completely different reasons to what drew them into the show to begin with. 

It doesn’t mean there are other staunch fans who should move on or agree with a direction a show might take. You are just as valid in what you want. 

These two points of view are equally authentic. 

In regards LGBTQ+ representation; as difficult as it is to palate for a lot of people, there are also other reasons why those aspects might shift, or not emerge at all, regardless of how much fan support there might be.

We’ve (husband & myself) been around long enough to know what poor and good representation looks like. Heck, good representation is still nigh on impossible to find.  

But consider this. 

Representation is also more than just one group and there are some (like transgender people or gay men or POC) who’ve had even less. They deserve more, and sometimes that starting point is horribly bad. By horribly bad, I mean nothing has come before them.

We’ve also been around long enough to know it isn’t black and white. It isn’t linear.

Just like coming out, you constantly have to do it. That sometimes means taking what is the worst outcome, but using it to steadily push for the better ones. It sometimes means you might have to take that step backwards to move forwards. 

It can also feel unsavoury to do that. 

It is an exhausting situation, to constantly push for better representation. 

This is a process. Occasionally that process will force steps back - but as long as the overall push forward is bigger than that, it will carry on. 

So take on board what others see as great or groundbreaking representation. As in the case of Nicole Maines.

We were at the one fan meet and greet with Nicole, and it was pleasing to hear how much she talks with those producing the storylines, how they also talk to GLAAD. 

There is a lot that resonates for us in Nia’s story as a transgender woman. A lot my husband wishes he could’ve seen as a child growing up, not in his early 50’s. 

Think about that. 

For all the complaints might be that there isn’t good enough representation, it’s taken until someone is in their 50’s to get even a fraction of what you might have seen. 

At the end of this, if you don’t agree, and your opinion makes you say something that is intentionally hurtful (directly or indirectly to a person or group of people), it's a bad thing.

If you read comments, and immediately believe it’s an attack on you and your love for something or someone, when there is absolutely nothing to hint otherwise, even if you believe wholeheartedly it’s an attack - for a good example Twitter - and subtext or subtweeting, when in truth on any other given day it could merely be nothing more than a generic comment. 

If you always feel targeted, if you always look at the worst outcome or reasons behind things, it’s leads to those feelings becoming your normal. 

So - Distrust, feeling targeted. In themselves, they are something everyone feels at some stage. If though it’s a constant state for you - that is not normal. 

Also make sure when you do read something, you are reading it correctly. 

Too many have jumped on a poster over a post or comment, and are twisting or misrepresenting what was said.

Be absolutely sure you’re not putting your own bias into things, when if you read more carefully you’d see it wasn’t what was said at all. 

It’s why I also try to never respond to anything as a knee jerk reaction, because I always try to be sure that a) I’m reading something accurately, and b) my own bias isn’t tainting what I might perceive or how I might reply.

I’m also always open to talk to someone calmly, and I will always listen to differing points of view. 

That doesn’t mean I will accept being dictated to. 

If anything, I always ask does this need to be replied or spoken about at all? 

Stop.

Pause.

Ask yourself these things.

We all have a duty of how we behave.

It is not cool or clever to be vicious over it, if you decide on all out attack, in the words of Chyler; it makes you a jerk! 

Scroll past the posts. Do not engage. Do not be that jerk. 

Misgendering, or in the case of my husband, misgendering and being talked about as ‘that thing’ is transphobic. Azie has faced similar language or attacks that have been outright racist in nature. Nicole has faced transphobic abuse constantly online. If you agree with anyone who posts those things, or are someone who posts them, that doesn’t put you in the jerk territory, but the utter asshole territory. This is the one area of intolerance I have with people. Bigotry of any kind is deplorable. 

Be ready to back up stuff with proof if you can. Don’t just repeat others, rinse and repeat. Know what you say is true, and accept you might be asked to prove it - and if you can show that proof, do so. Don’t be offended if you are asked. Not everyone will have witnessed events as they happen. 

People don’t always think to grab a screencap of things when emotions run high, and sometimes tweets get deleted for various reasons. That doesn’t mean it’s demonstratively untrue - but be aware you should always try to discuss with accuracy. 

Finally for this post at least.

Try to be more kind.

Try to accept we are all different and we all have differing journeys. 

Try not to hate.

Don’t be that asshole.

[yeonchi]

Dub Logistics Part 30: Redemption and Reflection (Retirement Speech Part 2)

“The dub-sub debate and fan base infighting will never end until fans are willing to put aside their differences and unite as one.”

Well everyone, we’ve reached the last instalment of Dub Logistics. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone, but given everything that has happened along the way, I think it’s for the best. Let’s make this final hurrah count.

Before I begin the second part of my retirement speech, I’m going to inform you on what will be happening. Firstly, as I stated in Part 22, I’ll be hiding the links to the Koei Warriors Rant Series and Dub Logistics pages from my Tumblr page at the end of the year; do note that they will still be accessible from the links.

Secondly, The Dub Hater’s Guide to Dual Audio is being discontinued because I want to clean up my cloud drives. Since the guide was just made of arguments and quotes from my rants anyway, I’ve published the arguments from the final version of the guide into Part 25 of the Koei Warriors Rant Series.

Thirdly, I will continue to run the English Dubbed Game News page out of gratitude for the fans I’ve made over the years. Please continue to send me your tipoffs regarding games that have been dubbed or subbed and remember that the page’s post archive is there for your convenient reference.

This year’s Dub Logistics instalments have been a return to the lighter style of discussion (with minimal research) that I intended to make this series since the first few instalments in 2016. Following the events of the debate and feud in 2017, I wanted to end my English dub rants on a lighter note without causing any more dramas.

In Part 29, the first part of my retirement speech, I stated how my experiences with dubbing and subtitles made me a hypocrite. Combined with my reflections of the past few years (in terms of the English dub rants), I’ll be showing my haters and naysayers how their hate, vitriol and trolling was very misguided.

When I started making English dub rants in August 2014, my main focus was on the Koei Warriors games until I started expanding my focus to localised Japanese games and anime in general. Given the reasons that inspired me to start the Koei Warriors Rant Series (see Part 29), some people would assume that I didn’t want to read the subtitles or that I hated the Japanese voices (or some other bullshit reason) when that was entirely not the case; in actuality, I was actually looking forward to hearing the English voice actors reprise their roles in later Koei Warriors games, something that Koei Tecmo has wilfully neglected for a long time now.

My fans have commended me at times for making good points, which is something that I always appreciate. On the other hand, however, I find a majority of the haters and naysayers I’ve encountered are unable to discuss the topic rationally or show compassion for those affected by corporate greed. Some of them have resorted to petty insults to bask in the delusion that they are always right without including evidence to support their points or even trying to make an argument at all.

My views and opinions regarding the dub-sub debate have been shaped over the years through researching articles and weighing the opinions of fans. When writing my posts, I make sure to include links to any site I use for research so that people can see where I got my facts from. If I become aware that something I’ve written is incorrect, then I would acknowledge this and correct it, otherwise I would assume that what I said is correct. If people question the validity of my research, even when it is clearly there, then I suspect that they are just trying to find an excuse to say that I am wrong (see Part 24). I’ve fallen into that trap a couple of times, but now, haters and naysayers need to stop looking for excuses to validate their flawed viewpoints to me and accept that my research is there; you just need to look.

Over the years, I feel that the Dub Logistics series and the #NoDubNoBuy page (also known as English dubs in Japanese games or no buy, now known as English Dubbed Game News) have strayed away from their original purposes. In late-2014, I began screencapping the comments of dub haters and reposting them in an effort to criticise their flawed viewpoints and vitriol, but I guess I met my match when the people on the other side of the feud came along and even then, they were just trolling people who disagreed with them in the name of virtue-signalling. After the feud ended, I realised that I became no better than an SJW or a troll, so I started my plans to change the #NoDubNoBuy page to what it is now (keeping in mind that I had plans to do that a little while before then).

This may surprise some of you, but I was never really a supporter of #NoDubNoBuy despite the page name; in fact, I wrote Parts 33 and 34 of the Koei Warriors Rant Series to criticise the so-called “movement” (and I say so-called because it never really took off) along with its supporters and opposers. Like I said in Part 29 (the first part of the retirement speech), if you have supported me and you consider me a hypocrite because of this, then maybe you weren’t really supporting me at all.

In Part 22 of Dub Logistics, I listed my reasons as to why I wanted to retire my English dub rants. To briefly recap, there was the feud, I lost interest in the fight (along with Koei Warriors games and video games altogether) because of commitments, I started to burn out because I found myself repeating points I made in the past and I started to become out of touch with the current situation (but there is a chance that the haters could be wrong).

Additionally, I’ve learnt a bit about logical fallacies this year and after further research, cognitive biases. I can’t help but think that I’ve likely committed a few of these fallacies and biases (just as my haters and naysayers may have) and as such, I don’t think I can continue talking about dubbing and localisation knowing that I’ll probably commit another one.

My loss of interest in fighting for dubbed games (with dual audio options) mostly stems from the fact that Koei Tecmo have been dubbing less and less games they localise per year (in turn, they have also been publishing and localising more and more games per year). I understand the reasons why this has been happening, but up to now, they have not taken into consideration the dub fans (including myself) who would have liked to hear their favourite Koei Warriors characters in English or my suggestions on how to do so, such as crowdfunding systems (ludicrous though it may be).

I’ve put up with this disgrace for over three years, but Dynasty Warriors 9 was the last straw - when I found out it was dubbed by another studio due to the SAG-AFTRA voice actors’ strike, I felt that the characters in the game were no longer the characters that I remembered and appreciated. Granted, there have been other things that people have criticised in DW9, but given my perspective, the voices were my main concern for this game.

Maybe blaming Insp.Chin, former community manager for Koei Tecmo Europe, entirely for the lack of English dubbing in their localised games was somewhat misguided; I can’t help but think that his role has made him a scapegoat for fan outrage and I took the bait. Other departments are certainly to blame for this and other disgraces to their fans, but until Koei Tecmo properly recognises what harm they have done to their Western fans (particularly dub fans), I wish good luck to the current and future community managers in their jobs - you’re all going to need it.

At this point, I’ve accepted that gaming companies like Koei Tecmo are no better than politicians, so they can do what they want for all I care. If you still believe that they listen to their fans, then you need to wake up to yourself sooner or later because one day, they will do something you won’t like and nothing you say or do will make them change their decision. It’s been happening for a while now with AAA game publishers, so how long will it be until all gaming companies, niche or not, fall into this trap?

Given the increasing prevalence of games being localised without English voices over the years, there are some people who would say that English dubbing is becoming a rarity. Sadly, I would have to disagree. On the English Dubbed Game News page, I usually post about newly released games (with some classics from time to time) and while keeping a constant archive of these posts in the post archive spreadsheet, I’ve been noticing that just over half of the games I’ve posted about have been dubbed. Maybe I’m just cherrypicking or maybe this figure will change in the future, but for the time being, I can agree with the observation that the dubbing of localised games depends on game type, budget, time and scale.

Over the years, there have been a few fans who have inspired me to keep fighting on, but in particular, there were a few people who inspired me to start the Koei Warriors Rant Series back when we were posting on the old Koei Facebook page (I may have mentioned their names previously). Unfortunately, the “original group”, as I like to call them, have dropped out in various ways - a couple of them stopped following me, another one is busy looking after his family and I fear that another one may have committed suicide because of his depression.

With regards to the last one, I’ve had him as a Facebook friend since I started the rants and at times, he would talk about how his life, his family and the world have been causing him stress; he even posted about committing suicide a few times. When he deactivated his account in September 2017, I feared the worst; a few months later, I messaged the remaining person, the “family man”, and he said that he hasn’t even seen him on PSN either. Even one of his other friends made a post recently wondering where he is. Given everything that has happened recently, in real life or on the internet, I think the world was too much for him and at the very least, I hope he is in a better place.

Look, maybe I was wrong to presume that everyone would read or agree with my rants, or that something significant would happen as a result of them, but the fact that I, at the very least, tried to reach out to Koei Tecmo and other Japanese gaming companies along with their fans, cannot be denied. I acknowledge that the first rant only got the attention it did because a few people (with bigger followings than me) shared it and called out the extreme language used in it. While people not caring may not entirely be part of the problem, people actually pointing out that people are not caring are just as much a part of the problem as sub fans and dub haters because this is basically an ad-hominem attack that does not contribute to the argument in any way. The ridicule and virtue-signalling from the feud mostly revolved around this point along with the ignorant generalisation that all localised Japanese games were subbed.

I’ve tried to see myself as a pacifist between dub fans, sub fans and Japanese gaming companies, but over the years, I realised that some people are too ignorant and unenlightened to even let people have their own preferences or civilly disagree with them. For one, the feud could have been prevented if the people on the other side of it either politely declined without saying any more or had bothered to understand the situation more. We should be criticising the gaming companies about how they have let their fans turn against each other instead of fuelling the fire ourselves.

The idea of “entitlement” gets thrown around a lot these days, particularly in gaming. I find that people who call dub fans out for being “entitled” when they complain about their favourite game not being dubbed are just making up excuses to defend the publisher’s decisions or not participate in civilised debate. That could also be applied to other things in gaming fanbases as well. There are two sides to “entitlement” and as far as we are concerned, we should be only worrying about getting a decent product that (hopefully) caters to all; that’s the kind of “entitlement” I’m talking about.

This is kind of a stretch, but I’m going to propose a theory based on this Jonathan Pie video which was released following the 2016 US presidential election:

The theory is that maybe Koei Tecmo and other Japanese gaming companies are only localising games with English subtitles because their fans don’t know how to debate properly. This isn’t surprising given how long the dub-sub debate has gone on for, but maybe if dub fans and sub fans can at least learn how to discuss and debate respectfully, then the companies may start listening to us. To quote Pie’s video, being offended doesn’t work anymore and throwing insults doesn’t work anymore.

To be honest, I’m kind of glad that my rants haven’t been picked up by anyone “important”, like journalists or YouTubers. The arguments and motivations of dub fans are taken out of context and twisted quite often by opinion-neutrals to fit their views; who knows what they would say about me? Besides this, I’ve caused more than enough drama already out of good intentions and if you’ve been following the recent celebrity and internet dramas, you’ll probably know that fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’m also kind of glad that I don’t have any white-knights fervently defending me with vitriol because I don’t think that is the way my fans should behave and God knows what would happen if I did actually have white-knights.

There are a lot of people who think they know everything about the dub-sub debate, including why some games or animes aren’t dubbed or subbed. Given this, I would rather hear these reasons coming from a representative of the game developers, specifically someone who is in charge of localisation, translation and dubbing instead of someone who only gets their “facts” from other people’s comments. Granted, I am in this category myself, but at the risk of sounding hypocritical, I’m pretty much the closest person you can get without all the political-style bullshit coming from the developers and publishers. The views and opinions of fans are all that anyone will ever hear about this issue unless someone credible does a “word of God” thing at some point in the future.

So what are my intentions from here on out? Well, for starters, I’m retiring this series and my English dub rants for good (given that nothing major comes up for me to talk about). As for what is going to be happening, refer to the three things I listed at the top of this post.

Following Tumblr’s announcement of their NSFW ban, a lot of people have been inclined to believe that Tumblr is dying. What this will mean for my blogs as a whole is a whole different topic altogether, but for now, what will this mean for my rants?

Well, unfortunately, I regret to announce that in the event that Tumblr closes down (for good), I have no intention to back up my rants or any other post relating to English dubs, video game localisation, Dynasty Warriors or the Koei Warriors series, including any posts from the feud. Ever since I started my rants in 2014, the content of this main blog has mostly been around those things, so if any of my other stuff goes down with them, then so be it.

When some people think of Tumblr, they think of it as an echo chamber for fanboys and fangirls in all the different fandoms, or a safe space for triggered SJWs “representing” various social causes. Given my actions over the years, I’m starting to think that I’m falling into this stereotypical cliché, but again, I’m glad that in the end, I’m not as bad as an SJW. I’m not perfect, but no one else is perfect either.

Up to now, I’m basically the only person who cares about this topic enough to do research for two series of rants; most people get shut down or stop bothering after one post. I don’t want to encourage people to ignorantly follow in my footsteps without understanding everything, particularly because I’ve been beating a dead horse for quite a while now. Whether or not you believe this to be the case, there is a chance that there are still a small number of people who have been inspired by my rants enough to want to imitate my methods. Last year, I used this next video as an interjectory statement for a particular hater who thought they knew everything about me and could take me down with petty actions. This time around, I want this video to be a piece of advice for those wannabes who think they can be like me, because the last few years for me (in terms of these rants) weren’t as easy as they seemed.

The situation I am in is based on compassion and empathy, as I’ve watched and played a lot of dubbed and subtitled works in the past. Even though my current tastes in TV shows basically require me to watch them with subtitles, I can understand why dub fans would want English dubs in some animes and games and vice versa for sub fans. It is rare to find people in the same boat as myself because a majority of commenters I’ve encountered are either ignorant, short-sighted or just unable to understand the bigger picture behind things.

The dub-sub debate has been overblown to the point that it still manages to get overblown now and again. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; we don’t need to be arguing about which voice preference is better. Instead, we need to learn to appreciate and respect both sides of the coin while also supporting those who don’t even get an opportunity to choose what voice they want in their favourite game or anime. If an irrational hypocrite like me can feel compassion for both dub fans and sub fans alike, you can too.

If there is anything I may have missed over the years, then let it be known for the record that I would have liked to write more about those things, but it is a shame that various circumstances have led to me making the decision to move on.

Given that these English dub rants have been a major part of my content since late-2014, it is up to you to decide whether you want to continue following me as I continue to post content that fits with my current interests.

This is not a victory for the sub fans, dub haters or opinion-neutral naysayers, nor is it a defeat for dub fans; this is me announcing my retirement. Once again, a big thank you goes to my fans and dedicated fans for their support. As some people would say, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

[attract-mode-collective]

"weLCUM to the motherfucking Queer matrixXx"

In part 1 of my recap of stuff tweeted during the later half of May, over at @AttractMode, I mentioned that one thing that kept me awfully busy… hence the backlog and two-part recap for Tumblr & Medium… was Death By Audio Arcade X Dreamhouse II.

The proper/full name of the soiree was Ova the Rainbow: DreamBoxXx, which is where most of these photos were taken, with a few from Death By Audio Arcade X Dreamhouse I; the photographer on the behalf of Gothamist was there for both opening & closing parties, to help add color to their story...

... BTW, the arcade will open one last time, this Friday (June 8th). Doors open at 7!

And as for the rest of last month... well... back to the subject of arcades for a sec; it’s a dream of many to have the full experience at home, though space is obviously the primary issue. Thankfully you (or your Lego minifigs to be exact) have options (via @ActionFigured)...

This Blast City shirt was designed on a CRT monitor, making it extra legit (no word if it was in TATE orientation tho; via theyetee.com)...

I basically know nothing about Avail, though appears to be a Target or H&M-like retail entity for Japan? Well recently they had a Gradius shirt for sale, but I missed my chance to save a copy of the PDF circular from which it made its seemingly sole appearance.

Hence why I had resort to blowing up this screencap (via miki800.com)...

There's actually a 2nd Gradius tee, and we thankfully have a far better look at it this time (via miki800.com)…

... I almost have to wonder if the 1st one was a mock-up or placeholder or something, cuz I seriously cannot find an image of it anywhere.

Few things get me as giddy as a nice 180 camera turn around with sprites (via segacity)...

And 3D turnarounds of polygonal characters are cool, provided that they’re watercolored (via typhlosionofficial)...

Same (via @BauceSauce)...

Sorry, but the sight of shelf after shelf, all bucking under the massive weight of countless carts & discs, is an eyesore IMHO. Instead, a modest pile of software with plenty of breathing room work best for me (via sixteen-bit)...

Such a beautifully personalized iPhone is essentially an iPhone for life (via miki800)...

A (video game) toy chest… a (video game) treasure chest… basically both? (via miki800)...

Remember hearing about Street Fighter 2 X Transformers? Well, they're finally here (via tfw2005.com)...

To be honest I have enough toys. Whereas I could always use more storage! Hence my interest in these SF2 USB sticks. But I can’t decide which World Warrior I want to see in such sad shape all the (via miki800.com)...

Time for another crossover, specifically Virtual On X bunny girls; a custom model kit of Angelan (via shop2000.com)...

A look at all the Tokyo Game Show poster girls since 2010 (via videogamesdensetsu)...

The first Famciase of 2018 to get my attention now has a fake ad to go with the fake game (via pepesalot)...

I'm 99.99% confident that this gaming set up/living quarters (via @miaumiauzmiau)...

... belongs to Polylina, aka Poririna, aka SEGA SATURN GAL (via this old post from a few years back)...

Note the similar pink curtains...

Who wears their Space Invaders shirt better? This guy (via shmups)…

Or this gal (via thesensualeye)...

The chairs for Space Invaders Frenzy has seen some serious shit (via oh-log-n)...

It’s a Space Invaders bathroom cuz why not (via it8bit)...

Nothing illustrates the harsh game making environment better than this one dev’s cardboard facade, underneath his desk, to emulate home (via videogamesdensetsu)...

Kitchen pantry cat’s prices are way better than bedroom closet cat’s (via @tatuya01)...

Memorial Day took place near the end of May, naturally, which meant another opportunity to repost my fave video starring the greatest soldier of the 20th century (via this other old post from years ago)...

Memorial Day weekend was also when I decided to post a bunch of YouTube vids; remember that one explaining why wiggling Sonic 3D Blast for the Genesis produces a level select? Did you also remember to subscribe to the channel? If so, you’d already know how Sonic R did transparencies on the Saturn...

Do you like Famiclones? Do you like Jackie Chan? Then you might like...

... I ended up going down a Jackie Chan rabbit hole, which resulted in a high-quality version of the infamous soundtrack to Hong Kong 97. Which in turn led to the discovery that the loop is actually a small portion of a full-length song entitled "I Love Beijing Tiananmen".

Sorry to ask everyone to click out, but I have a limit on how many videos I can embed in a single post and all.

Come to see what NES game Bithead1000 broke the bank on, stay to hear him bitch about Trapper Keepers...

Spoilers: it was Metal Storm, and can you believe that it managed to grace the cover of Nintendo Power? Not complaining of, more impressed than anything else (via shmups)...

Time for some bonus Bithead1000, which I’m not posting cuz of the aforementioned technical limitation, plus it has nothing to do with games anyway: hearing him talk about old school rap made my Memorial Day and hopefully it'll make yours, no matter what date it is.

Yet another video I must abstain from embedding is Johnny Cage performs 4'33". Hopefully all of you fans of Mortal Kombat/experimental compositions/shitty webtoons do not feel slighted (via roman55)...

Another look at the “New Aero City” stick, this time with the intended color scheme of yellow for both the balltop & buttons (last time they were red, as seen here; via hibachicandy)...

It’s the guy made Metal Gear and the guy who made Kong: Skull Island, playing Xevious & Ikaruga (via xtheo.ca)...

The beginning of the ultimate road trip (via lazywaifus)...

Like many others, I spent an entire morning pouring over that epic game collection before it was set to be auctioned off at the end of the month; my wish list included a SuperGrafx, TurboDuo, CD-i, Nuon, and Donkey Kong for the OG GB sealed… (via bodnarsauction.com)...

Alas, I couldn’t make the trip to Edison, NJ for the auction. Thankfully, @textfiles could; be sure to check all the photos he posted on May 31 for all that he saw...

Am surprised it took this long to see something like this (via @gamesyouloved)...

… The same source also posted this Sonic gif; I’ve looked everywhere for the source but zero luck… can anyone point me in the right direction?

Back to the aforementioned auction, or should I say the mass acquisition of old games; it’s always been a secret plan to collect a bunch of Super FX carts in order to extract the chips, for... something? (via pixelpolygon)

Thought check out what the Mega Drive/Genesis can do without the help of any fancy chips (via vidgam)...

...BTW, am aware of the fact that equally amazing programmers can probably push the SNES in crazy ways if given chance.

Am also familiar with the SVP or Sega Virtua Processor that drove the 16-bit version of Virtua Racing (which I enjoy better than the 32X version).

Re: the auction one last time: so the real reason why I didn't bother with making that trip to Jersey? There wasn't a Divers 2000 CX-1 on-hand (via anthony10000000)...

Here’s someone really enjoying a game of Zaxxon (via arcadezen)...

And someone... well... maybe enjoying a game of Polybius? (via dualvoidanima)

Okay, so this gif ain’t related to video games per say, yet this came up in a Tumblr that I frequent for super cool shit, plus the music video it’s from is neat, so there ya go (via mendelpalace)...

Speaking of sources for content, worlds collided with the surprise appearance of Just One Boss (which I first encountered at Death By Audio Arcade's Lo-Fi Game Night several months back) at obscurevideogames...

Worlds continued to collide with the surprise appearance of Attract Mode's Dark Souls print by Judson Cowan, in a recent article in Kotaku on the subject of Dark Souls Remastered...

One last last thing: I’ve long considered Suzuki Bakuhatsu to be THE game that best represents the Attract Mode a e s t h e t i c & I’m super happy that the RetroPals finally got around to playing it...

[truthofherdreams]

people can surprise you (or not)

Friday

also on ao3

Maria is the one on Nastya Watch when Anya wakes up the following day. She’s made herself at home already, sitting cross-legged at the dinner table with her laptop and graphic tablet in front of her. The strong aroma of coffee fills the room, and the last notes of a Panic! At The Disco song fade away, Paramore’s guitar riffs rising in the silence of the apartment.

“The emo playlist, really?” Anya asks as she makes her way to the kitchen so she can pour herself a cup of coffee. She adds two sugar and a drop of milk, head bobbing to the music. It reminds her of being a teenager, singing along to rock songs and dancing on her bed with Maria and Alexei, playing at who-would-be-the-more-dramatic. (Her, always her.)

“It’s still solid, stop complaining,” Maria replies, not looking away from her screen. She’s drawing a mermaid, and it’s probably part of the children’s book she’s been illustrating for weeks now.

“Am not,” Anya says as she comes back to the living room, and sit on a chair opposite Maria. She puts her feet on the chair, arms wrapped around her legs and chin on her knees. “You could have bought croissants, though.”

Maria takes one grape from the fruit bowl in the middle of the table and throws it at her. Anya catches her with her mouth, the grape exploding on her tongue before she swallows it around a proud grin, to which her sister only replies by rolling her eyes.

“The bakery is just next door, feel free to go whenever.”

Anya pokes her tongue out at her sister, before she looks down at her phone. Emails have been piling up since yesterday and it will take her hours to go through all of them – not that she has anything else to do. She can’t remember the last time she took that many days off work, but it would be lying to say she doesn’t deserve them. She’s been working so hard the past few years; she deserves a break, even if it comes with an almost mental breakdown and an identity crisis.

She’s in the middle of sending a requested to DisneyLand – lots of kids want to be in the happiest place on earth as their Wish, after all – when Maria’s phone blasts Alexei’s personalised ringtone.

“Yeah, baby bro? …Okay, wait. I’m putting you on speaker.” She moves the phone away from her face and presses here and then on her screen, before she adds, “Okay, you can speak now.”

“Nastya, what’s Dmitry’s surname?”

She frowns, both at the question and the hurried tone. “Sudayev. Why?”

“You need to check Twitter,” is all Alexei says instead of answering. “Now.”

The sisters frown at each other above the top of the laptop screen, before Maria pushes her graphic tablet and Anya stands up to walk around the table. By the time Anya stands behind her sister, both hands on the back of the chair, Maria has opened Twitter already. It’s her profession account, the one where she posts about her work and current projects, but it’s not the most important part right now.

Because Anya’s eyes are drawn to the Worldwide Trends list on the left of the page, and they widen when she reads through it.

BuzzClick is trending, and with it Dmitry Sudayev. Worldwide.

Maria’s mouth hovers over the name, before she pauses and looks up at her little sister. Anya is aware that she’s waiting for something, for some hint of approval that she can click and discover what is going on. But she just can’t stop staring at the screen, at the name. Just a bunch of letters aligned in one specific order, and yet her heart is in her throat, beating so fast that she’s afraid her breakfast will go out the wrong way. Maria is silent, and so is Alexei, and Anya is staring and staring and staring.

She isn’t sure if she offers Maria a nod, or a jerk of the head, or just that her entire body is trembling. But at some point she moves, and Maria clicks on the link, opens the floodgates, releases the kraken. And Anya, with her heart in her throat and cotton in her ears, and her damn fucking mind playing tricks on her, Anya leans closer to the screen so she can read.

The first tweet comes from the Huffington Post, of all places. ‘How one Frenchmen called out incel-friendly online magazine,’ reads the title. Next tweet is from a feminist organisation. The one after from a politician. Then another feminist, some angry dude, a smaller newspaper, a YouTuber, random person number one, random person number two. It goes on and on, and on, until Maria scrolls back up and clicks on the HuffPost article.

“Sudayev, who had been working for ClickBuzz for the past five years, posted the article early this morning,” Maria reads out loud for the both of them. “It stayed online for three hours before it was deleted – but not before people could screencap it and share it on social media. The article soon went viral and…”

Maria stops then, goes back to Twitter, finds the screencaps. It’s four of them in a row, sentences after sentences, paragraphs after paragraphs. The style is messy, all over the place – she pictures Dmitry sitting in front of his computer and typing angrily, or going at it on his phone, before hitting the ‘Publish’ button in a spur-of-the-moment fit of rage.

That raw, unguarded flood of emotions, she felt it too.

It’s hard, to come to terms with it, with the fact that Dmitry may be going through the same heartbreak she is. A small, angry part of her wants him to suffer, to feel so sorry for his crimes that he will come crawling back to her and beg for forgiveness. But, at the end of the day, that is not who Anya is. That is not what Anya wants. She just wants… she just thinks that Dmitry messed up, and is as broken as she feels, and probably was drunk when he wrote and posted this.

She thinks that he would never have said some of those things, sober, to her face.

Maria’s phone beeps twice loudly, startling Anya out of her reflexion. It’s another call, from Olga, and Maria is fast to merge the two conversations together so they can share a big Romanov conversation.

“Did you see it?” are Tatiana’s first words.

“Yeah, looking at it right now,” Maria replies.

“How’s Malenkaya holding up?”

“You’re on speaker,” Maria says, at the same time that Anya replies, “I’m fine.” But her voice is flat and small, and her eyes are still glued to the screen, and she isn’t even convincing herself. She doesn’t feel fine. Actually, she doesn’t know how she feels at all about all of this.

The Dmitry she knows – or, well, thought she knew – never would have done that in a manipulative way. Despite what some of those tweets are claiming, he didn’t do it to throw a pity party for himself, or for Anya to feel sorry for him. If Dmitry is half the man she thought he was, he meant every word he wrote. And perhaps that is the most terrifying part.

“So what are you going to do?” Olga asks, her voice so soft and gentle that Anya’s eyes start prickling.

“Well, she can’t exactly…”

“I think that’s quite romantic and…”

“She should just call him to see if…”

“...obviously manipulating her and…”

“...if he really means it, it could…”

“...benefit of the doubt and…”

“...doesn’t deserve her anyway, she’s too…”

“...but what about second chances and….”

“HOW ABOUT YOU ALL SHUT UP!” Hands in her hair, pulling a little, she is still staring at the screen and ignoring Maria’s wide eyes, enjoying the silence that settles over the phone. Not even Olga makes a comment about her language, which says a lot. “My love life isn’t some kind of democracy where you all have a say!”

A pause. Then, Alexei, “Well, more like an oligarchy because…”

“Oh shut your damn mouth, okay!”

Alexei may shut his mouth, but Maria’s jaw is on the floor. Olga weakly protests about not talking to her brother that way, not that Anya pays her any mind. She’s just focusing on breathing properly again, deep in, low out, so as to calm down the anger building inside her. She loves her siblings, she really does, but sometimes they forget about boundaries. Which would be fine any other day, but her mind is too much of a mess already for her to take into account everyone’s opinion on the matter.

“I’ll call you all back later,” Maria hastily says, before she hangs up despite her siblings’ protests.

The silence that follows is deafening.

It’s only when Anya goes to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water, only to struggle with opening the bottle, that she looks down at her hands. They are trembling so hard she can’t make them stop, even when she clasps them together. She closes her eyes and leans her forehead against the cold metal of the fridge’s door, willing her heart to stop beating so fast, her entire body to calm down.

Maria’s hand, warm and soothing, settles on her back and runs small circles against the fabric of her shirt. She doesn’t say anything at first, just lets her comforting presence do the job, and Anya has to admit it is effective. After the noise and mess of her siblings, some moments of peace with the other half of the Little Pair might be exactly what she needs right now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Maria asks softly.

Anya scoffs. “Is there anything to talk about? This doesn’t change anything.”

She isn’t so sure who she is trying to convince here but, as always, Maria isn’t fooled. She doesn’t say anything for a while, her lips pressed tightly, as if carefully pondering on her next words. Maria has never been the wiser of the lot, after all, especially not when it comes to relationship advices. She got her heart burnt too many times before meeting the love of her life, and yet she kept throwing herself back in the game every time. Anya has no idea how she did it.

“But he said you were the love of his life,” Maria finally says, her voice soft and careful. “That has to change some things.”

“You think I should forgive him?”

“No.” Simple. Final. “Because what he did is unforgivable, I stand with Tanya on this. But… But Nastya, you owe it to yourself to find some closure, don’t you think?”

It’s dangerous -- she is afraid of what might happen if she confronts Dmitry again, if she looks into his eyes only to find something she doesn’t want to see in them. Or does want to see. What then? Fall back into his arms, only to get burnt once more? Walk away from him anyway? She doesn’t know what she wants, what she needs, what she expects. Why does everything about all of this have to be so complicated, her mind at war with her heart?

“I don’t know…” she starts, before she pauses. Tongue darting out to lick her lips. Hand rubbing one of her eyes.

But perhaps not knowing is exactly why she needs to do that. Perhaps it will shed some light on the situation and allow her to make sense of everything that has happened since Wednesday night. And, like Maria said, it might help her get some closure, might make it easier for her to move on after this. So she sighs, and looks back at her sister.

“Yeah, okay.”

Maria smiles, soft and protective, before she takes out her phone and opens the maps app. “Let’s go to BuzzClick, then.”

[lastsonlost]

Now you all know how I feel about ACCUSATIONS. Even if I don’t like them HE IS STILL INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY NO IF ANDS OR BUTS PERIOD!

However MULTIPLE accusers ain’t a good look. So if that said on with the shit show.

ScreenJunkies, the home of “Honest Trailers,” suspended Andy Signore, creator of the popular online series, after multiple women came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct.

“We have been conducting a thorough investigation into allegations made against Andy Signore and are preparing to respond to those allegations and take appropriate action. Given the additional statements that were made today, we feel it is necessary to suspend Andy’s employment while we continue our investigation.  We will take all necessary action once the investigation is fully complete,” Defy Media, owner of ScreenJunkies, said in a statement Friday.

Signore has not responded to a request for comment.

One woman, April O’Donnell, a ScreenJunkies fan from Wisconsin, told TheWrap that Signore tried to sexually assault her repeatedly, and threatened to get her boyfriend, Joshua Tapia, fired from his job at ScreenJunkies if she spoke out. She said she and two other women went to the ScreenJunkies human resources department in July to complain about Signore.

Another woman, Emma Bowers, said that when she worked as an intern for Signore, he came across pin-up photos she had done in the past and wrote to her about “jacking it to you in your undies!” Signore then asked Bowers to come

over so he could do that in person.

“You can read a book for all I care,” she quoted him saying.

Bowers added that her interactions with Signore killed her interest in pursuing a career in costume design — the field where she hoped her internship might lead.

“So yeh, it’s not just Weinstein,” she wrote, referencing Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein, the subject of a bombshell New York Times expose about his history of payouts to women who accused him of sexual misconduct. “I wish I’d fought more, wish I’d screencapped his messages, but I was young, scared, and dumb. So I didn’t. Girls in Hollywood get taken advantage of so much. I just want people to believe me when I say this happened.”

Another woman, Devin Murphy, tweeted “DM’s and an email he sent to me that scares me.” In the DMs, he repeatedly urges her to dress up in a costume.

Signore’s Honest Trailers pokes fun at popular movie and TV trailers. In the past, the series has skewed films like “Ghostbusters,” “The Mummy” and “Logan.” It launched in 2012 and its YouTube page has amassed over 157 million views. Screen Junkies, the channel that hosts Honest Trailers, has over 6.2 million subscribers. Signore is also the creator of Screen Junkies and the SVP of Content at Defy Media.

SO I GUESS THIS IS AN HONORARY MENTION BUT IT DON’T LOOK GOOD.

WELCOME TO THE WHITE KNIGHT

home to such dishonored alumni such as mr.  Christopher ( KIDDY PORN) John Goldberg.

In 2016, the vocal progressive and male feminist stepped down from his position as editor-in-chief of the Alamo Drafthouse-owned publication Birth.Movies.Death following allegations of sexual assault and multiple instances of sexual harassment.

According to the report, Goldberg had 53 pornographic images of small children between the ages of 4 and 14 years of age on his mobile phone. Additional images and video were also found on his home computer.

MATT HICKEY

Matt Hickey was an anti-Gamergate journalist who accused the movement of being “future rapists”. In fact, here’s his exact quote:

“#GamerGate is a bunch of women-hating future rapists!”

Matt is now facing 3 rape charges from women who allege that Matt sexually assaulted them. Matt has also been sued by an attorney general for running a fake porn agency scam. He set up a fake amateur porn organization and then tricked women into having sex with him, who thought they were auditioning for a porn video:

Anti-#GamerGate journalist Matt Hickey is not only facing multiple counts of rape charges in the state of Washington, but he’s also being sued by the Attorney General’s Office in Washington on consumer protection grounds. The suit came up after the Attorney General Bob Ferguson had the case brought forward where it was discovered that Hickey had been running his fraudulent porn recruitment agency for more than a decade in order to trick women into sleeping with him.

DEVIN FARACI

Devin was an editor in chief and writer for Birth.Movies.Death who stated that “The losers in #GamerGate are mad at women because women want nothing to do with them!”. You can read his article about Gamergate HERE.

Excerpt from the article:

Arguing with these people (Gamergate) has been eye-opening. A lot of these kids – and they are, without a doubt, largely kids – are simply ignorant. They don’t understand the world, and that includes everything from how gaming websites work to how people interact as adult, sexual humans….. They’re outsiders, losers, weirdos and freaks. And most of them aren’t just male, they’re white males…… They do it because they have been raised in a world where women are not humans but prizes, and so they can’t see them as individuals…..

Matt stepped down as editor in chief of Birth.Movies.Death in October of last year, after several women came forward to accuse him of sexually assaulting them:

The accusations surfaced on Twitter after Faraci shared his views on video tapes of Donald Trump bragging to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush about groping women. The movie blogger tweeted that he was “terrified” of the Republican presidential nominee and labeled his running mate, Mike Pence, an “ideological monster.” Faraci’s condemnation was widely retweeted, but one woman took issue with his statements, tweeting under the handle @spacecrone, “quick question:  do you remember grabbing me by the p—y and bragging to our friends about it, telling them to smell your fingers?”Other women offered their own stories of Faraci’s inappropriate behavior. He did not deny @spacecrone‘s accusations, tweeting, “I can only believe you and beg forgiveness for having been so vile.”Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas owns Birth.Movies.Death, which offers up casting stories, reviews, and trailers for cinephiles. The company declined to comment. In an exchange with Variety, @spacecrone said that Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League spoke with her about her allegations and was “empathetic.”

Robert Marmolejo

Robert was a member of Zoe Quinn’s “crash overide network”, which was intended to fight against Gamergate and other forms of “online harassment”- in reality, the members of this group harassed more people that they people they were supposedly fighting against.

Robert, who commented on Gamergate last year, saying “we need to take action against #GamerGate and the ideology that spawned it!”, has been accused of rape by at least 20 women:

A male feminist deeply involved in Zoe Quinn’s Twitter-partnered “anti-harassment” organization, Crash Override Network, has been accused of harassing, stalking, and abusing female victims, in a series of tweets and leaked chat logs from the organization’s supporters….. Robert Marmolejo, who is reported to have helped manage Crash Override’s social media accounts, allegedly used his position and connections to abuse around twenty women online….Marmolejo, who was previously an active anti-GamerGate activist, and had repeatedly labelled conservative actor Adam Baldwin, and YouTubers TotalBiscuit and Sargon of Akkad as “misogynistic”, “sexist”, and “anti-woman,” deactivated his Twitter account after a series of apologetic tweets confessing to having “f**ed up.”Anti-GamerGate web developer, “Internet Abuse Specialist”, and feminist Izzy Galvez, who also happened to have been a member of the secret Crash Override group, tweeted on Saturday to confirm the allegations.“If you’re catching up: Over 20 women have come forward & revealed that Rob/UnseenPerfidy had sexually harassed them over DMs, Skype, etc” announced Galvez.

Jamie Killstein

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Jamie is a male Feminist American writer, radio host, and stand up comic who accused Gamergate of being about sexism, instead of ethics in journalism.

Jamie was booted from his podcast last month, after several claims of him sexually abusing women were brought forward.

Comedian and lauded male feminist Jamie Kilstein has departed the podcast he co-hosts amid allegations of manipulation and abuse from multiple women.On Monday morning, liberal independent podcast Citizen Radio and its co-host Allison Kilkenny announced that Kilstein would be leaving the program. Later that day, however, Kilkenny clarified that Kilstein’s departure from the podcast was a result of allegations of him preying upon, manipulating, and emotionally abusing women.In a Facebook post slightly detailing the decision, Kilkenny, who is also Kilstein’s ex-wife, wrote that “murmurs” of Kilstein’s abuse lingered in the past, but because of anonymity, she was “never able to learn the full scope of what happened.”That was until a few days ago, Kilkenny wrote, when “one of the women” who came forward was someone who had worked for the podcast, though she doesn’t mention how many women came forward initially. Kilkenny wrote that she asked Kilstein to leave the show, seek therapy, and apologize publicly. She said he has declined to do the latter, so she decided to clarify the situation in the post instead.“Without making this about me, I want you all to know I’m furious, crushed, and horrified by all of this. I always believed Citizen Radio was a genuinely safe space, and I’m trying to make it that way again,” Kilkenny wrote. “I’m so, so sorry for letting anyone down.”

Juan M. Thompson

Juan Thompson is a former writer for The Intercept who was later fired for fabricating and publishing fake stories. Juan wrote an article for the Intercept in 2015 accusing Gamergate of being a hateful group that threatens violence against “marginalized groups”.

He was later arrested by the F.B.I for making bomb threats against 8 Jewish community centers. The except below is taken from his Wikipedia page:

Thompson was arrested by the FBI in March 2017 for allegedly making bomb threats against at least eight Jewish community centers in the U.S. According to officials, Thompson phoned in and emailed many of the threats under his ex-girlfriend’s name within the preceding two months, in an effort to frame her. Thompson also allegedly made at least one threat under his own name, under the pretense that his ex-girlfriend was framing him. He had also emailed the Anti-Defamation League in his own name in late February, pointing to his ex-girlfriend as the perpetrator of all of the bomb threats.

Leland Yee

Leland is a former democratic senator of California who made a career of attacking violent video games and blaming them for youth violence. In 2005 after the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ‘Hot Coffee’ mod was unearthed, Yee passed two California assembly bills that restricted the sale of mature video games to those under the age of 18 and where these games could be advertised.

Leland, who accused gamers of “violence against women”, was also a big fan of Anita Sarkeesian, who he described as “courageous”.

I commend Anita Sarkeesian for her willingness and courage to take on this important issue. For far too long, the video game industry has glorified violence against women and often depicted female characters as nothing more than sex objects. Such sexism is unacceptable and teaches our kids the wrong lessons. Those who have criticized Ms. Sarkeesian with such offensive comments should be ashamed. It is time for the industry to stop perpetuating stereotypes and further demeaning women.

Leland Yee was sentenced to jail on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, to five years in prison by a federal judge for weapons trafficking (ironic). Someone who dedicated his life to complaining about violent video games is literally responsible for putting deadly weapons in the hands of bad people.

Here’s an except from a Washington Post article about Leland’s sentencing.

Yee served as a state senator and was plotting a secretary of state campaign when his political visions were curtailed by a federal indictment in March 2014. The arrest swept Yee and his associate Keith Jackson, 51, up in charges alongside some of the city’s most notorious characters, notable among them Chinatown gangster Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow.This Wednesday, Yee received a five-year prison sentence for accepting bribes and trafficking in arms. After initially denying culpability, Yee pleaded guilty to the charges last summer. These acts were discovered by undercover federal agents investigating organized crime in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Jackson, a former school board president who helped Yee facilitate the bribes, received a nine-year sentence.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB.

[meyerlansky]

It was in Atlantic Highlands. The wiki article used to say that he lived in the Homestead in Atlantic Highlands but now I checked and see it just says "A house in Atlantic Highlands". My great-aunt told me that he lived at the hotel. It burned down in a house fire in the 50s or 60s or so and I don't even have pics of it. My aunt said her room was above the bar and learned from a young age to ward off unwanted drunken intruders. But yeah, the wiki article said before that Luciano and Lansky (1/2)

went there for one or two meetings or whatever and ALLEGEDLY according to Wikipedia that is where they decided "what to do about Benny Seigel" which I doubt since I figure none of them want to even be connected to that let alone to have that line in an article but it was interesting to read that nonethless. According to Great Aunt my great-grandpa remarried after my great-grandma died, to a woman who was one of Vitos former mistresses. Allegedly. I have it written down but cant remember her name

I wish I had screencapped the wiki page before they edited it. It was like a whole paragraph and now it's gone. lol At one point before my aunt clarified all she said was "great grandpa remarried the misstress of the head of X family" and my brain was like freaking a bean because I was like WHAT YEAR WAS THIS WAS CHARLIE STILL IN CHARGE WAIT and almost keeled over right there until she mentioned Vito and I was like "ah, okay it was later makes sense LOL"

IDK Charlie, Meyer, AR and Benny are fave so like I was super interested that she told me because I was like OMG THATS SO DAMN COOL but I couldnt say it out loud because shed be like "um... cool???" lol So I was just hoping to see if any other info was out there and also to flail about it with someone who understands lol :)

[condensing into one reply hope that’s cool SORRY I FELL INTO THE HOLE OF MY NYTIMES ARCHIVE SUBSCRIPTION i’m back now]

oh man i totally get it, it’s so much fun hunting down this kind of stuff! i’ll cop to the fact that vito’s one of my many many blind spots, i really only know about his stuff where it intersects with charlie’s and [to a MUCH lesser extent] meyer’s, but from what i’ve found it looks like he definitely lived in atlantic heights for a while, and anna divorced him in the early 50s so he probably moved out of the house they were living in before that. the benny thing is preeetty dubious, admittedly, if only because charlie never came back to US soil alive after he was deported and there wasn’t any reason to talk about killing benny before charlie got arrested and vito bailed for italy in the late 30s. so that might’ve been a fuckery on the part of the wikieditor, or they may have had bad info [which considering how shIT the historiography of this stuff is, would not be surprising nor could they be blamed for it] BUT ANYWAY i am getting in the weeds SORRY i will stop now

wrt the wikipedia page, the “View history” tab lets you look at old revisions on the article, if you wanted to try to hunt the thing down. i tabbed back through a couple of revisions and didn’t find it myself but if you happen to remember when the last time you read the page and that paragraph was there, you might be able to find it? i would offer but i must do the sleepings shortly /shakes fist at capitalism

[13flowersandfoxes]

1-169 because I saw your tag and I'm a reasonable man

1: How tall or short do you wish you were?Idk I like being tall until there are no tall guys who want to date me 
2: What’s your dream pet? (Real or not)Does that include realistically? Cause I'd love to have a fox or a snow leopard but foxes are expensive and there's no domestic snow leopards I've heard of. 
3: Do you have a favorite clothing style?I just wear what strikes me. I'm kinda all over the place style wise but I'm very true to myself. 
4: What was your favorite video game growing up?Soul Calibur II
5: What three things/people do you think of most each day:My best friend, my cat, food?
6: If you had a warning label, what would yours say?Crazy bitch approach with caution
7: What is your opinion on [insert person/thing here]?
8: What is your Greek personality type? [Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, or Melancholic]I don't remember these well enough to say
9: Are you ticklish?... 
10: Are you allergic to anything?Morphine 
11: What’s your sexuality?Bi
12: Do you prefer tea, coffee, or cocoa?Not coffee
13: Are you a cat or dog person?Both
14: Would you rather be a vampire, elf, or merperson?Elf. Especially a Tolkien elf. 
15: Do you have a favorite Youtuber?Not really
16: How tall are you?5'11
17: If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?Billie
18: How much do you weigh? [Only ask this if you know the user doesn’t mind!]250
19: Do you believe in ghosts/spirits?In a way yes
20: Do you like space or the ocean more?Ocean. But both scare me in a way 
21: Are you religious?Yes
22: Pet peeves?People chewing loud or leaving cabinets open
23: Would you rather be nocturnal or diurnal [opposite of nocturnal]?Nocturnal 
24: Favorite constellation?Orion
25: Favorite star?Betelgeuse 
26: Do you like ball-jointed dolls?No
27: Any phobias or fears?Being alone
28: Do you think global warming is real?Believe pollution is an issue. But not sure I trust politicians and scientists with an agenda when other scientists are saying they are wrong. And they're trying to say they're stupid or crazy or should be killed for disagreeing. I just have a hard time trusting that people who do that are actually right. 
29: Do you believe in reincarnation?No
30: Favorite movie??
31: Do you get scared easily?No
32: How many pets have you own in your lifetime?3
33: Blog rate? [You’ll rate the blog of the one who’s asking.]7
34: What is a color that calms you?Green 
35: Where would you like to travel and/or live?Germany 
36: Where were you born?California 
37: What is your eye color?Green
38: Introvert or extrovert?Introvert
39: Do you believe in horoscopes and zodiacs?No but I think they're harmless fun. I don't get why some people freak out like they're so bad to talk about hypothetically. I just think it's fun. 
40: Hugs or kisses?Both. Both is good
41: Who is someone you would like to see/visit right now?My cat and my best friend(s). And that's gonna be happening soon as I'm on the plane right now. 
42: Who is someone you love deeply?My cat :P
43: Any piercings you want?Not really. Maybe my lobes. 
44: Do you like tattoos and piercings?Not excessively. But I love beautiful pieces of art and can really appreciate the art that goes into both. 
45: Do you smoke or have you eiver done so?No
46: Talk about your crush, if you have one!Ugh he's a writer loves cats one of my best friends, a little eccentric, and he's genuinely understanding. We've both gone through some hard shit and we trust each other in that
47: What is a sound you really hate?Coughing. People talking obnoxiously loud in public places that are generally quiet. I can't think of anything more specific okay I'm on a plane right now. 
48: A sound you really love?My cat. Also my aunts cat cause he can't meow right he sounds like a dying squeaky toy and I can't stop laughing
49: Can you do a backflip?No
50: Can you do the splits?Almost
51: Favorite actor and/or actress?Dunno. Like Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie to name a couple random ones. 
52: Favorite movie?Too manyyyy
53: How are you feeling right now?Tired and a little dizzy. I have a headache right now :(
54: What color would you like your hair to be right now?I'm happy with it being red. I'd like it to look slightly more orange though
55: When did you feel happiest?I'm not sure. Happy things seem tainted now. 
56: Something that calms you down?Animals 
57: Have any mental disorders? [Only ask this if you know the user doesn’t mind!]Bpd, possibly along with bipolar type 2 as suspected by my psychiatrist. 
58: What does your URL mean?I feel like I was something that had potential to be beautiful and good but it's just broken and painful now. 
59: What three words describe you the most?Crazy. Weird. Catlike. 
60: Do you believe in evolution?Yes. 
61: What makes you unfollow a blog?Being constantly douchey, or just annoying the shit out of me. I'm pretty nice though generally, I follow all sorts of people and I tend to like having variety in who I follow so I don't feel like I'm hearing the same shit over and over. It's a bit dull
62: What makes you follow a blog?Interesting content. Seems nice. Especially if they follow me first 
63: Favorite kind of person:Idk someone nice and funny that I can talk to easily. 
64: Favorite animal(s):I've said this so many times lol
65: Name three of your favorite blogs.Kellyann Saint Louis???
66: Favorite emoticon:💜💜💜💜 or 😊😊
67: Favorite meme:I miss the bad audition songs one. But I do have a special place in my heart for screencaps+tumblr posts/onion articles 
68: What is your MBTI personality type?Infj
69: What is your star sign?Sagittarius 
70: Can your dog roll over on command, if you have a dog?Nope. She can sit and that's about it. She's not very bright. 
71: What outfit out of all your clothes do you like to wear the most?Jeans and floral/sheer top
72: Post a selfie or two?Make separate post
73: Do you have platform shoes?Yeah
74: What is one random but interesting fact about yourself?I have webbed toes
75: Can you do a front flip?No
76: Do you like birds?To look at, but I probably wouldn't ever have one as a pet
77: Do you like to swim?Yes
78: Is swimming or ice skating more fun to you?Swimming cause I'm very new to ice skating I've done it twice and once was on crappy skates that really hurt my feet. The other time I was doing circles okay following the wall
79: Something you wish didn’t exist:The dark shit I've seen on here
80: Some thing you wish did exist:A special hell for people who do that shit
81: Piercings you have?My daiths
82: Something you really enjoy doing:Cooking sometimes
83: Favorite person to talk to:My best friend 
84: What was your first impression of Tumblr?Well I remember in middle school when it was brand new everyone was getting one and I tried it and I was just like How the Fuck do I do anything then the next time I had heard Things and knew somewhat what to expect 
85: How many followers do you have?280 ish
86: Can you run a mile within ten minutes? Lol no
87: Do your socks always match?I'm wearing one sock with cats and one black sock. Does that answer that well enough for you? Lol
88: Can you touch your toes and keep your legs straight completely?I think so I don't remember 
89: What are your birthstones?Topaz
90: If you were an animal, which one would you be?My friend used to say I'm part cat. Maybe fox cause they're basically half cat half dog. 
91: If a flower could aesthetically represent you, what kind would it be?Orchid
92: A store you hate?Torrid cause I spend way too much shopping there I can't walk in without buying something 
93: How many cups of coffee can you drink in one day?0
94: Would you rather be able to fly or read minds?Fly
95: Do you like to wear camo?No
96: Winter or summer?Winter
97: How long can you hold your breath for??
98: Least favorite person?This nightmarish girl who was homeschooled and was like a fundie Christian Mormon afraid of doctors and lesbians and gum and Twinkies (im literally not exaggerating) and was just loud and obnoxious and annoying in high school. 
99: Someone you look up to:Not sure. 
100: A store you love?Torrid
101: Favorite type of shoesOxfords
102: Where do you live?Utah
103: Are you a vegetarian or vegan? If so, why?No
104: What is your favorite mineral or gem?Amethyst. Also there's this green stone I have somewhere in my house I got from a roadside shop in Zion it's so pretty it's like quartz looking. I can't remember what it was. But it's pretty 
105: Do you drink milk?Not really
106: Do you like bugs?Not particularly 
107: Do you like spiders?^^^^
108: Something you get paranoid about?People hating me/being bothered by me
109: Can you draw:No
110: Nosiest question you have ever been asked?Got an anon once I deleted asking my favorite things to do when I'm having sex. That was probably it that wasn't called for. 
111: A question you hate being asked?"Are you working or in school right now?"
112: Ever been bitten by a spider?Maybe. Woken up with lots of bug bites in my day, most all of them mosquitoes but some not
113: Do you like the sound of waves at the beach?Yeah
114: Do you prefer cloudy or sunny days?Cloudy
115: Someone you’d like to kiss or cuddle right now:Idk
116: Favorite cloud type:? I just like clouds
117: What color do you wish the sky was?Idk I'm fine with it being blue but I like purple sunsets
118: Do you have freckles?No :(
119: Favorite thing about a person:Eyes or the sort of things they find funny
120: Fruits or vegetables?Fruits
121: Something you want to do right now:See my damn cat
122: Is the ocean or sky prettier?Yes
123: Sweet or sour foods?Spicy
124: Bright or dim lights?Depends 
125: Do you believe in a certain magical creature?No
126: Something you hate about Tumblr:People
127: Something you love about Tumblr:People
128: What do you think about the least?? If I thought about it then it wouldn't be thought of least
129: What would you want written on your tombstone?Not sure. I'm tempted to go with something morbid like memento mori just to be a little shit forever
130: Who would you like to punch in the face right now?Idk
131: What is something you love but also hate about yourself?My boobs
132: Do you smile with your teeth showing for pictures?I try not to. But I end up looking angry
133: Computer or TV?Both
134: Do you like roller coasters?Yeah
135: Do you get motion sickness or seasickness?Yes
136: Are your ears lobed or attached?Lobed
137: Do you believe in karma?No
138: On a scale of 1-10, how attractive would you say you are?5
139: What nicknames do you have/have had?I have one friend who used to call me Hanukkah, then brosef calls me hanners 
140: Did you have any pretend or imaginary friends?No
141: Have you ever seen a therapist/shrink?Lol yes
142: Would you say you are a good or bad influence to others?Idk I try to be a good influence but some people's parents have said I'm bad .... so idk
143: Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts/help?Both!
144: What makes you angryIdk just bullshit lol
145: How many languages do you speak fluently?1
146: Do you prefer boys, girls, and/or non-binaries?Boys
147: Are you androgynous?Nope
148: Favorite physical thing about yourself:Eyes or lips
149: Favorite thing about your personality:Idk I'm friendly
150: Name three people you would like to talk to right now in person.My best friend, my girl best friend, and ?? My sister maybe
151: If you could go back into time and live in one era, which would you choose?I can't choooooose
152: Do you like BuzzFeed?For dumb little shit like dog stuff or "boys try this" yeah I think it's fun but if you think it's actually journalism you're sorely mistaken
153: How did you meet your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/partner? [If you have one.]
154: Do you like to kiss others’ foreheads or hands for platonic reasons?No. cheeks yes. 
155: Do you like to play with others’ hair?Yes
156: What embarrasses you?Lots of things. 
157: Something that makes you nervous/anxious:Talking to people. 
158: Biggest lie you have ever told:Idk
159: How many people are you following?700 ish
160: How many posts do you have on your blog(s)?Idk
161: How many drafts do you have on your blog(s)??
162: How many likes do you have on your blog(s)?Idk
163: Last time you cried and why:Idk
164: Do you have long or short hair?It's medium but I wants it to be long again I miss it being long even if it's a lot of work
165: Longest your hair has ever been:past my chest
166: Why do you like, dislike, or have neutral feelings about religon?I say if something helps people and doesn't harm others in their lives let them. 
167: Do you really care how the universe and world was created?Not that much TBH
168: Do you like to wear makeup?Yes
169: Can you stand on your hands or head for more than thirty seconds?Never tried but probably not