#WHY DOES NO ENGLISH AUDIENCE KNOW THIS GAME [enough]

[blackkatdraws2]

Hey boogie-woogie bang bang [SANABI]

[micer2012]

a reflection on MatPat's plagiarism

Hello, my name is Della, or micer2012, and 2 years ago Game Theory plagiarized three Tumblr posts of mine, making a video that now holds almost 6 million views.

My posts explaining his plagiarism made their rounds on Reddit, Tumblr and Twitter, but despite the Hermits and Pooka commenting on it (generally in support of me or saying they don’t know enough details about the situation to say either way), MatPat and his team have never owned up to anything, and no mention of my name is present on the video. The one Reddit post they made denying it (which was made before my detailed takedown, which they have never responded to (though the mods on the r/GameTheorists Reddit were kind and made sure it stayed up)) didn’t even mention me by name, just referring to me as “a tumblr user”. (Though one of the screenshotted comments in the body of the post does say my name)

This experience was baffling, but it’s overall had a positive impact on my life. r/Hermitcraft gave me a Golden Apple Award (post of the year, 2021). My inbox was filled with excited fans, wanting to ask me questions or pose their own theories, far more than the hate I got. (Though the hate I got from Game Theory fans was VERY funny. I wondered why none of them gave me shit about saying “MatPat misgendered Evil Xisuma” before realizing none of them read that far into the post.)

And getting on a more personal, and much more important note, I met most of my current online friends through this, including my partner. It helped me grow closer with my irl friends as well and gave me an entertaining story that I tell whenever I have the chance. It was one of the first things in my life that really made me feel like my talents, my autistic hyperfocusing and analyzing of things I love, could be valuable. Useful. Exploitable. It blew my mind that MatPat thought an autistic kid’s ramblings about a Minecraft Youtube joke character were good enough to steal. To put an audible sponsorship on. To get 6 million views off of.

And that’s why I’m writing this post, this update years later. As you might’ve been able to guess, Hbomberguy’s Youtube video on plagiarism reopened this wound. It was really hard for me to sit through, it took days of pausing and taking breaks, because I had experienced everything he was talking about firsthand. 

In my 10 page long takedown post, I wrote about how his rewording of my sentences made him say things that were incorrect, just like Filip did. The content farm production style that made big companies like Cinemassacre take one creator (AVGN/MatPat) and turn him and his content into a brand, a voice that reads out scripts by other people with other opinions/theories, is a history shared with Game Theory. What really hit me was Harris talking about how big creators only do this to people they think they can get away with doing it to. How they view their victims as lesser, as not deserving of their words, repackaging them as their own to give to an audience that can gain from hearing them, but deserves better than to have to listen to the original victim.

That’s the thing, I 100% think a video version of my theory to expose to a bigger community than “Evil Xisuma Fans on Tumblr” is a great idea!! Near the end of the video Harris talks about how video adaptations of things could be a great market, even an accessibility tool, and I completely feel that about my posts. I wrote them quickly assuming the reader was someone well versed on Evil Xisuma lore, after not even watching most of the CarnEvil series, and the diagrams I made to explain them are even less comprehensible. Harris makes a joke that I completely agree with, 

“I’m sure some of my videos would do very well if someone translated them into English.”

I don’t think I would’ve ever made my posts if I didn’t have autism, and a special fixation on Evil Xisuma and Hermitcraft. I made them because I felt the character was being done an injustice, and because I wanted to share with other superfans this theory that might explain it away. I do think that MatPat plagiarizing me was ableist. I used to wonder a lot if this would’ve happened if my posts were articulated better, if they had been peer reviewed, if the posts themselves had been spread to a wider audience before MatPat made his video. At one point when the discourse was fresh (before I had the time to write out my 10 page rebuttal), a bigger YouTuber (100k subs at the time) messaged me and started talking on Discord, interested in possibly making a video on the discourse, but I think my style of typing and general enthusiasm drove him away. You can tell by a single look at my blog (or my original 3 posts!) that I don’t usually type like this. This post you’re reading now has been peer reviewed and edited, and took me hours to format correctly. That video could’ve been huge, the entire outcome of this MatPat situation would probably be much different.

I also used to stress a lot about “being the one who ruined Evil Xisuma’s story”. If you didn’t know, to me S8 Evil Xisuma’s story got wrapped up pretty quickly and unsatisfying (in my personal autistic opinion). (though this might’ve been due to s8 being experimental and ending early with moon big) There was no real culmination of the plot points and arcs going on, and I don’t want to blame myself, but when Xisuma said on stream (when the MatPat thing was first going on) that he didn’t want to focus on the discourse or draw more attention to it, it makes a lot of sense to me that he just wanted to wrap it all up as quickly as possible. For a while I beat myself up about it, of ruining the story of this character I love, but it’s not my fault. If anyone’s, it’s MatPats, but I don’t think it’s useful to just blame someone else. That’s how the story ended up going, and that’s fine. This is Evil Xisuma we’re talking about, their inconsistent lore is what made them such an interesting character. And notably, Pooka made an animation with an awesome culmination of Jeff, the Dreamer, Evil Xisuma, and his own sona’s story, and it makes me so happy to watch. Whatever Pooka does is of course his own choice, but I’m glad he got to give this personal story his own ending (if it is an ending, and not just the start of a new chapter!). 

Typing this all out and getting it off my chest has made me feel a lot better. For a while I wanted to make my OWN video essay about Evil Xisuma’s lore and CarnEvil’s lore, actually going episode by episode to explain it instead of just assuming you knew as much about Evil Xisuma as I did. That idea is still not off the table, but MCYT isn’t something I’m that into right now. Maybe if something else comes out about Evil Xisuma I’ll get back on it, but for now I’m fine with letting that go. But I want to make other videos, share other theories and analysis… if I have the freetime I’d love to make YouTube videos, and if I don’t have the time I’ll continue posting to my tumblr and infodumping to my friends. Apparently my infodumping is valuable enough “content” to steal! Writing this out has made me feel a lot better though, I’m really glad I got it out.

If anyone ever wants to talk to me about the things I’m obsessed with, or reach out to me as a source in a bigger discussion about Game Theory or other channels, my inbox is more than welcome :] Thank you for reading! 

Sincerely, a tumblr user.

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 2

Part 2 - Anya's "Anya-isms"

I think Anya has one of the most interesting ways of speaking out of all the SxF characters. But like with Twilight's dialogue that I previously discussed, it can only be fully appreciated in the Japanese version. Probably the most noticeable thing about her dialogue is how it's written compared to the other characters.

Written Japanese is comprised of three different alphabets: ひらがな (hiragana) and カタカナ (katakana), which together are referred to as "kana," and 漢字 (kanji). Kanji are the characters that hold the meaning of words, while kana simply represent the various Japanese syllable sounds and don't have any meaning on their own (much like the letters of the English alphabet). There are only about 100-ish total unique kana symbols, however, there are over 2,000 kanji in common use today. So Japanese children will start out learning kana and then learn kanji gradually during their school years. This is why Japanese children's books are typically written only or mostly in kana. This is also why manga and books aimed at a younger audience will have kana "translations" of kanji written above kanji characters, which are called furigana.

With that in mind, it's not surprising that all of Anya's dialogue in the Japanese version of the SxF manga is written entirely in kana. Even though using kanji in her dialogue wouldn't necessarily mean she knows kanji, reading a character's dialogue only in kana definitely gives off childish vibes – it conveys feelings of youthfulness and innocence, like "they're speaking only in kana because they don't know the kanji for these words…they're just a little kid, after all." At least, that's the feeling I get when I read Anya's dialogue. Though I haven't read enough manga in Japanese to say for sure, it seems like this concept of making little kids speak only in kana is not unusual, as there's at least one other example I know of: a manga from the mid-2000s called Yotsuba also has a titular 5-year old whose dialogue is written only in kana.

What's also interesting is that all of the other Eden kids speak "normally," using kana and kanji properly in their dialogue. This helps to convey the fact that, despite Anya being roughly the same age as them, their "rich family" upbringing has forced them to grow up faster. In the below panel, you can see how Damian's dialogue uses kanji (with furigana translations) while Anya's uses only kana, even for words that have kanji.

Interestingly, I found at least two cases where Anya does use kanji in her dialogue: when she's calling out the name of her big "Arrow of Light, Seize the Star" move during the dodgeball game, and when she calls out her "Lighting Bolt, Deliver my Aid" move when she tries to throw Yor's weapon back on the deck in the cruise arc. As you can see in the below panels, the names of these "moves" is written in kanji (with furigana translations). This makes sense not only because this is parodying shonen series where the characters shout out the names of their moves, but because it emphasizes how determined Anya was at these moments.

But going back to how Anya's speech compares to the other kids, another thing that stands out is that she speaks very "plainly." Her grammar is (mostly) correct, except for a few mistakes you'd expect a little kid to make. But she uses pretty much no colloquialisms, almost as if she knows the language but lacks the experience for using it in normal social interactions. I don't think this is unusual for a kid her age who's still learning, but it definitely stands out when compared to her classmates. For example, in the below panel, Becky uses normal interjections and other colloquialisms in her speech, like "ne" (ね), "wa" (わ), and "yo" (よ), which are all standard Japanese linguistic devices for softening or emphasizing your sentences. However, Anya doesn't use things like this in her speech. Again, this makes her speech come off as very plain and abrupt, almost like she's not a native speaker.

She also refers to herself in third person all the time in the Japanese version. In fact, I don't recall her ever using an "I" or "me" pronoun. I don't know why the English version of the manga doesn't keep this characteristic of her speech. I think it's very important in highlighting the childish aspect of her personality.

Putting all this together – the fact that she doesn't use typical colloquial speech and refers to herself in third person – really emphasizes the childish, naive, and almost baby-like nature of her character. I'm curious if Endo made her speak this way simply to show what a little kid she is compared to her classmates, or if it will somehow tie back to whatever roots she has in classical languages that he keeps hinting at. Regardless, as I mentioned in my full Anya analysis, what she lacks in speech and school smarts, she makes up for in empathy and resourcefulness.

Besides all this, Anya does make typical speech mistakes a normal kid would make, like mishearing words or saying things wrong. She mostly uses casual speech, but does try to use keigo (polite speech) on occasion, though not always correctly. For example, she says "ohayaimasu" (おはやいます) for "good morning" instead of "ohaiyou gozaimasu" (おはようございます).

But the most consistent "mistake" she makes (though it's not really a mistake) is what she calls Loid and Yor – "chichi" (ちち) and "haha" (はは) respectively.

Japanese has many different words for relatives depending on whether you're talking about your own relatives or someone else's, and whether you're talking to them or about them. "Chichi" and "haha" are the general, neutral terms for "father" and "mother," and are also used when talking about your parents to someone else. However, they're not used when talking directly to your mother and father. There are many other words for that, the usual ones being "o-tou-san" (お父さん) and "o-kaa-san" (お母さん), or some variations of these with different honorifics. Damian refers to his dad as "chichi-ue" (父上) which is very formal, while Becky calls her dad the actual English word "papa" (パパ) which is very informal and normal for kids to use. But again, "chichi" and "haha" are typically only used when talking about your parents, not to them the way Anya uses them. This started from the very first chapter where Loid asks her to call him something that sounds "elite." He originally suggests the very formal "o-tou-sama" (お父さま), but when Anya says "chichi," he doesn't bother to correct her.

Hearing a little kid call her dad and mom "chichi" and "haha" is kind of like calling them "my father" and "my mother" even when speaking to them directly – it's not wrong necessarily, just strange. But again, this serves to further emphasize the childlike nature of Anya's character.

<- Return to Part 1

Continue to Part 3 ->

[physalian]

What No One Tells You About Writing 8— “Anyone can write a book”

Yes. But actually no. I say “writing is easy” in that it doesn’t take a degree and textbook learning to understand. You can get an English or lit degree if you want, but writing is incredibly subjective. It’s not even like an art degree that has you study different mediums and historical styles. “Writing is easy” in that it’s about feeling, and instinct, and a little bit of common sense. Anyone can do it in that it doesn’t take financial investment to start. Steal a tchotchke pen and paper from a hotel room—you’ve got all the tools you need. I have a communications degree and 9 years of experience, and I'm about to publish my first supernatural fantasy novel.

Writing is not easy, however, if any of the following applies to you:

You want to make enough money to do this full time

You want to appeal to mass audiences

You want to be a NYT bestseller**** or get an adaptation

You want to be regarded as the best of your generation and fill bookstore shelves

1. It takes a healthy dose of self-awareness and a reality check

 I beta’d for an author who thought that he was comparable to GRRM, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, because both have adult themes in their book and if GRRM can do it, why can’t he? The sheer vastness of the divide between ASOIAF and this awful, awful manuscript wasn’t worth putting into words for the amount I was being paid, though I tried.

Yes, you can write whatever you want. Yes, you can write to please yourself and stroke your ego. You can write the hammiest wish-fulfillment author insert that you desire. But you can’t expect anyone else to want to read or pay money for it. It’s great to have confidence as an author and envision your success, but starting right off the bat with “everyone will love this book because I’m really smart and I love this book” is only going to leave you bitter and penniless.

2. You might be an expert in your given field, doesn’t automatically make you an expert at storycrafting

I really, truly want the above godawful toe wart of a human (who tried to justify pedophilia in his book with the Israel-Palestine conflict) to stop featuring in my writing advice, but I know he’s not the only person out there who thinks like this. You might have a doctorate in engineering, medicine, political science, chemistry, physics, history, paleontology—any field you want. That does not mean you can successfully translate your expertise into a well-crafted and compelling narrative. It means you can write a college textbook lecturing your readers for 300 pages. Heck, if you can't explain what you do like I'm 5 years old, then you're not an expert in your field.

Elements of good storytelling include well-rounded characters, solid pacing, compelling themes and motifs, an engaging main conflict and character arcs and edge-of-your-seat action, romance, debates, and arguments. It’s so much more than “I’m going to write a textbook, but have my character tell it to you, and everyone will love it”.

They won’t.

3. “I’m gonna be a millionaire like JKR”

The frustrating thing about making money writing is that at the end of the day, you are still selling a product. Which means that it doesn’t matter how amazing you think it is, if it’s not what sells. The Fifty Shades series is hardly a poetic epic with deep, meaningful characters and themes, but it sold. It got adaptations. Why? Because it was a product people wanted and its writing style appeals to mass audiences who aren’t entertained by fluffy, antiquated prose. I hated the Divergent books. They soullessly and shamelessly fed off the success of Hunger Games. But they sold because “teen dystopia HP houses” was what audiences craved and what Hollywood was pushing to make movies out of.

Personally I don’t have any nostalgia for Harry Potter and I both wish I did so I could have one more beloved series and fandom to participate in, but also am glad I don’t because of JKR. HP is chock full of plot holes and “fuck it we’ll do it live” worldbuilding and so many concepts that look cool on paper until you really start thinking about it.

JKR didn’t make a million dollars because she wrote the greatest fantasy series. JKR made a million dollars because she wrote a book that sells every goddamn piece of lore for $15.99 or more and collects on all those sweet, sweet royalties. She understood that she’s selling a product, not just a story, selling everything from Slytherin ties and wizarding robes to golden snitches, sorting hats, wands, chocolate frogs, and every other prop seen in the movies.

You sure can chase trends and I’m sure Divergent is somebody’s favorite book and you can hock chocolate frogs. Everyone’s writing goals are different.

4. “But GRRM did it” (or, adhering to genre expectations)

Circling back to this one. Once again, you can write whatever you want, no one is stopping you. However, books are products and if what’s in the summary and on the cover isn’t what’s on the pages, you’re going to upset and annoy your readers. For example, if I slap a chiseled six-pack of man meat on my book cover with flowy calligraphy for the title that reads something like Sex and Pink Champagne and my summary is all about how protagonist girl gets the adonis of her dreams, you’re not going to be happy if, 200 pages in, the plot detours and Mr. Sexy fucks off to sell NFTs.

It doesn’t meet genre expectations.

GoT kicks off with incest and child defenestration. It tells you *exactly* what you’re getting into immediately. You can subvert plot expectations all you want. You can subvert tropes and archetypes and throw in all kinds of twists and turns. But if you’re writing a YA novel and 100 pages in after campfire songs and the power of friendship, Protagonist gets assaulted in a 7-11 parking lot because you wanted to be ~edgy~ you’re going to piss off your readers.

Take Mulan for example. It has a dramatic tonal shift so powerful, the musical stops being a musical because it’s traumatized. Mulan doesn’t drop in the grizzled and horrifying wasteland of a battlefield with thousands of dead soldiers in an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It’s already a war movie, the possibility is already there.

If you want to write adult content, then write a book for audiences who are prepared for and want to read adult content. Otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure.

5. “Okay but it’s not entertaining”

Your first job as an author is to entertain (your second is to do it responsibly imo). There’s millions of books out there—why should someone read yours? Whether that’s entertainment through a feel-good romance or a gut-wrenching tragedy, you need to keep convincing your readers to stay invested in the story, otherwise they can and will put it down to read something else. No one is obligated to read your book to the end.

So, yeah your protagonist might have all the elements of your own personal tragedies and it sure is meaningful to you, but the way you wrote it is incredibly boring and no one will care. It might be the most brilliant heist plot ever conceived, but you focused on all the wrong elements, the pacing is whack, and your protagonist is annoying, so no one will read it.

Very few individual elements can be good enough to carry the entire manuscript and the likelihood of an author being really good at one thing and awful at the rest is slim. Readers can quit a book over the most arbitrary reasons. Do you want to die on a hill of “I’m not changing my annoying protagonist, I’m right and they will see”? They won’t. The arguments authors get into with me over how I hated their protagonist or I told them which parts were boring and dragged because I “didn’t understand the story” are pointless. If it’s boring or confusing or annoying, no one will read it.

6. First Drafts are drafts for a reason

Actually writing is less than half the time and effort spent on getting a book to publication. Probably less than a quarter. The rest of that time is spent editing and rewriting. Some first drafts will be better than others, not arguing that, but your first run through your story has a non-zero chance of needing revisions, even for something as small as typos and punctuation.

You have to edit for pacing and tonal shifts, erroneous details and entire scenes, character inconsistencies and goals. You have to make sure your conversations flow believably, that you hit every talking point that scene requires. You have to make sure your character’s motivations don’t create plot holes and that they’re always on track like a real person and not a creation of your imagination. You have to make sure your action scenes and sex scenes are legible and as thrilling for a reader as they are for you. You have to make sure your worldbuilding is consistent and logical and easy to understand.

Some people outline heavily before starting page one. Some people have a sticky note of “beginning middle end” and run off that. Some have whole folders of different documents to keep track of all their elements. Everyone’s writing process is different, but it is a process, not a one-and-done. It requires revisions, seeking feedback, implementing that feedback, and more revisions until it’s as good as it can be.

Yes, you need to edit. No, you’re not the writing god who penned perfection on your first try. Maybe a piece of your story is perfect on the first draft, but not the whole thing from start to finish. It’s okay that your story isn’t what you thought it would be when you started, and it’s no failing of you as a writer to need edits or even massive changes. It happens to everyone.

7. “Writing is easy, thus it’s not a real job”

Really the notion that creatives are lesser than corporate business people solving problems that their business created. But specifically for writing, the idea that it’s just putting words on a page, thus it’s easy and anyone can do it, so it’s not impressive or deserving of praise and you really need a real job (you probably will because writing doesn’t make much money for most people, but that’s just how it shakes out).

I know ENNS won’t appeal to everyone. I know there will be people who hate my characters, who don’t understand them or don’t agree with their philosophies or find my writing trite and too lean and not ~immersive~. I know there’ll be homophobes out there who won’t even read it but hear about it and make assumptions and will leave me crap reviews. I know it’s not the greatest supernatural fantasy novel ever written.

I’m not in it to make money or get a movie deal and see my merch all over the shelves and get my own theme park. I write so that even one reader might see themselves in my characters and know they’re not alone. So that even one reader has one of my characters as their favorite and that character motivates them to do the Thing or keep moving forward or be brave enough to finally do whatever they’ve been too afraid to attempt before. I want to help people, even if at the end of the day, my writing only helps myself.

Yes I need supplemental income (who doesn’t these days). It’s the way of the world. But I’m doing what I love in my free time and it is a real job because it takes work, and it might not have monetary value but its value to me is priceless.

[desultory-novice]

The Interactions of Marx & Magolor

Some think I'm out of my mind thinking Magolor's castle (or “Magolor Land”) bears a resemblance to Marx, and even more crazy to think it will lead to an appearance by him in the remake. 

...And maybe they’re right!

But I would just like to see these two who have been hinted at knowing each other for nearly TWELVE YEARS to finally interact on screen together. Canonically. (Not counting Star Allies. Great as it is.)

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look back at all the times Marx and Magolor have canonically (or canon-adjacent) been hinted at knowing each other or otherwise been seen together!

1) Magolor’s “somebody” in the "Return to Dream Land" script

<Screenshot from JO ThumbsUpMaster>

Full Text of the conversation from Wikirby: (Bold text mine)

"By the way, I knew about you long before our fateful meeting."

"Kirby, the happy-go-lucky hero with the bottomless stomach."

"I even know somebody who knows you quite well!"

"Even on this world, you're incredibly popular!"

"There may even be some folks here who have fought with you before."

"If everybody would just get along, it would make things so much easier."

"Nothing good comes of fighting. Let's always stay friends, Kirby!"

<Bonus> My translation of those same lines: 

"...The truth is, I already knew about you. The carefree and gluttonous hero, Kirby of the Stars, living on distant Popstar! Why, among my associates, there's someone who knows you all too well. That's just how popular you are; even on my planet. Heh heh heh! 

And one of them seems to have fought with you but really, how dumb can you get? If we all became friends, everyone could be happy. That's why fighting's just no good. I hope you'll continue to stay my friend, Kirby!"

...I’m kind of sorry we lost out on hearing Magolor slyly call Marx an idiot behind his back in English! Maybe they’ll add it back in DX?

2) Marx shows up in RtDL’s Kirby Master cutscene

<Screenshot from flipswitch3111>

The rest of the audience is made up of duplicates of characters already in the game. Only Marx was included without having any other visual appearance in RtDL. Aka, he’s a new resource - for a half-second back shot in a 5 second movie. Now, he had a 3D model for the Super Star Ultra cutscenes, but that was years ago, and this still would have required porting him over.

There must be a meaning to all that effort...

3) They have a rare gold Rock transformation in Kirby Triple Deluxe

<Picture taken from Kirbypedia>

The game immediately after we learn they may have known each other, they appear together on a statue? Once again, this requires either making a new model for Marx, or carrying over his SSU model.

This rock transformation is used AGAIN in Planet Robobot, seemingly emphasizing that the two of them are linked in SOME way. The only difference is that the two of them have been downgraded to common granite...

I guess the gold foil wore off? Tee hee...

4) Marx appears again in TDX's Kirby Master scene. Only this time, he’s sitting next to Magolor! (And Galacta Knight, curiously enough.)

While getting the “somebody” line requires playing RtDL extensively, it really does seem that HAL were more open to the idea to revealing that the two had some connection by this point, thus, letting them sit together.

<Screenshot from Meteorz>

4) Magolor slips up, in talking about Kirby in a way he only could have known from talking to Marx in the text of “The Starcutter and the Lying Wizard” (an official novel adapting RtDL’s plot.)

 The novel adaptation drops the “I know someone who knows you” scene, but it includes at least one line from Magolor hinting at the same idea...

--

--

--

Now, the English text above is from my translation of the novel, but you can read my explanation of said translation and why I think it still supports Marx being the one here - if you’re concerned I’m biased. (I won’t deny the possibility exists, but it doesn’t completely invalidate the idea either.)

5) Official makers of Kirby Merch, Ensky, has the two of them talking!

Back in 2017, Kirby_Ensky ran a popularity contest, the goal of which was to decide which characters should get more merch. (Waddle Dee won, btw.) 

Now, each candidate got a little shoutout tweet of their own. And Magolor's made special mention of Marx! (No other characters got this kind of call out btw.) The highlighted text says: 

"He was seen talking with Marx in the waiting room. Are they up to some trouble again...?"

The use of “again” suggests they have a history of working together.

6) The official Kirby twitter portrayed them together multiple times!

Often, they’re planning mischief. In fact, three of the pictures create a little mini-story (stretching across several years!) where Marx and Magolor plot to play a trick on Kirby by telling the puff that circling those mysterious objects you see all over Popstar 25 times will turn them into chocolate. 

They grin, seeing Kirby fell for it completely, with the puff eventually exhausting themselves (and all of Channel Dream Land) out with all that walking.

 However, when the duo try again, this time telling everyone that the star blocks you see everywhere are actually made of cake, they're caught in the act and forced to make a huge pile of star block cakes for their lie.

7) Re-ment’s Kirby-themed Hanafuda cards. 

Each card has a Kirby character or reference to something in Kirby on it. Marx and Magolor each have their own card and are part of the same "suit." What this means is they can be grouped together to create a match.

Not every familiar pairing is grouped together via suit like this, but it’s certainly interesting that they were. Especially as their art appears to almost fit together.

<Picture mine>

8) Re-Ment’s "Garden of the Stars: Afternoon Tea" 

Re-ment is better known for their figures, and they released a sweet set that has Kirby in a little hat and Waddle Dee with a frilly headband enjoying tea and sweets in the garden of the stars! It even comes with a signboard that has Kirby and Waddle Dee welcoming guests to the party. 

HOWEVER, the sign board actually has a secret reverse side which Re-ment later revealed on Twitter, featuring Marx and Magolor instead! It almost seems to suggest the two have teamed up once more and are planning some kind of prank to disrupt Kirby and Waddle Dee’s peaceful tea party!

9) The 30th Anniversary Music Fest

For the 30th Anniversary Music Fest, Marx and Magolor are paired together in both the merch (sharing a keychain design) AND the initial promo video. The promo video is interesting, because the only other characters to be introduced “in a set” like they are is the otherwise indistinct Waddle Dee trio. 

They also play similar instruments: guitar and bass.

10) The Marx costume and Magolor costume interact in a humorous way in this Super Kirby Clash video!

This particular video was posted on the official Twitter to advertise Marx’s equipment, a late game unlock. In the end of the clip, "Marx" is seen playing a trick on "Magolor," causing him to get squashed flat by the Blocky.

Here’s my translation of Magolor’s commentary on said tweet!

"If you could wish on the milky way, what would you wish for? I'd wish for galactic conque....err, I mean, for my shoppe to thrive! 

This equipment comes from a guy who tried to make a certain planet his own. It's incredibly powerful, but it'll make you want to play tricks on people! Hey, stop giving your friend trouble!"

...Similar to calling Marx an idiot early, he uses a rather dismissive form of address to refer to him here. He’s probably still upset about being smooshed. (Interesting too that said “friend” could very well be Magolor speaking on behalf of the Magolor-costumed Kirby. Aka, treating them as “friends.”)

11) Magolor's "Marx" outfit is "lovingly dedicated" to Marx.

Okay, okay. This sudden seeming evidence of a deeper relationship between Marx and Magolor coming out of nowhere in Super Kirby Clash isn’t exactly what it says in the original. (Gotta say, for whatever reason the original line turned out this way, I unabashedly love this version of it!) 

Though I'd like to take this time to point out that there IS an interesting theory with decent evidence (in JP) that Shopkeeper Magolor in Super Kirby Clash is apparently Magolor from the main dimension, transported to the Dream Kingdom by some strange means...!

EDIT: Theory was apparently confirmed true in an issue of Nintendo Dream.

<Screenshot from まるピンクのカービィ解説>

He's the only character to refer to Clash's Kirby as "Kirby of the Stars" - OUR Kirby’s nickname - and he makes a reference to his original villain speech, a reference no one but him could possibly get in this alternate fantasy world. (As you can see in the above tweet, Shopkeeper Magolor teasily mentions his ultimate goal in RtDL something that doesn’t mesh with his friendly, unassuming “shopkeeper” role in SKC.)

 Meanwhile, Marx doesn't make an appearance anywhere in Dream Kingdom, meaning the costume and the jester's exploits the costume speaks of may be Magolor bringing information about Marx from the main timeline into the Dream Kingdom-verse. 

So... Magolor knows Marx’s story AND what he wished for.

12) This official clip promoting Dream Buffet shows them interacting

Yet again, the two appear together in an official promo video. I heard it suggested this one could be "revenge" for the Super Kirby Clash clip, as it’s “Magolor’s” turn to interrupt “Marx” feasting on strawberries. This seems to imply that when they can't find other characters to troll, the two troll each other!

13) Lastly, the towers of Castle Magolor/MagoLand resemble Marx’s Wings

I initially thought that more of the castle’s design could be a reference to Marx, such as the shapes on the tower body resembling those on his hat, but as higher res pictures of the boxart have come out, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. (There is a blue and red spot near the entrance that has a sun symbol on it. No telling if there’s another tower with a moon symbol...)

But we can see the colorful tiles much more clearly, and they and the flags do bear the same rainbow pattern as Marx’s wings are shown to have in his official art, a pattern that Magolor otherwise has no relation to.

Will this coincidence lead to anything? ...I guess we’ll find out!

--

Phew! I do believe that's most all of it! You could also compare their attacks, which have some similarities, although that doesn’t say anything about them having met. Now, I may have missed some interactions elsewhere though, because as you can see, there are a few really obscure places where they show up as pair. 

(And there some that are so tenuous I didn’t think they counted, like the two of them having their Poyo Poyo Cushions announced together, or both being on the “villain” side in the Kirby werewolf board game. There’s also some of the Star Allies celebration pictures and other group pics that have both of them, sometimes even in proximity to each other, but I left those out since the concept of the Dream Friends blurs the line of who knows who somewhat.

Only mildly related, there’s also this clip from a Nico Video stream about Kirby Clash that says nothing at all official about the two of them, but is completely hilarious as two men on the right come to the awkward realization that Marx and Magolor’s plushies have fallen down in a very “suggestive” manner and how are they going to adjust them without drawing more attention to it.)

...And there you go! They’re hardly inseparable (as the above video shows, they’re VERY separable! XD )  but seeing them hanging out causing trouble together is a strangely common sight. Whether or not they knew each other in the past, it’s safe to say they “know” each other now.

Here’s hoping that these two villains with a history stretching back for over a decade will someday enact their lovable mischief together on the same screen!!

[themarkofoxin]

still time to delete your post. you were uninformed, that’s fine, but now you know that there is a pattern of racist behavior on dan’s end and we are right to be upset. him outright saying that he won’t tour in ‘third world countries’ like mx and brasil during a WAD show is racist. calling my home a third world country is racist. this is not in the past, you can say logistics all you want but dan outright said that he will not tour in our ‘third world countries’. it is not logistics. it is racism.

if i'm remembering correctly, dan did not "outright" say he just wouldn't tour in mexico & brasil. he made a tasteless, dismissive joke, sure, with the fans as the butt of the joke in the same way fans were the butt of the joke in many wad segments; it was insensitive and dismissive because the fans he was poking fun at weren't actually there and, obviously, have real frustrations with his behavior. but the meaning and implication of the joke was never that he actively avoided those places and would never go there--hell, they have been to brasil, to show a recorded version of ii and do a q&a. they had a mexico date for ii but it fell through, right? claiming he "outright [said] that he won't tour in 'third world countries'" is a mischaracterization as much as it would be to say "he outright said he hates phil" because he's said it in competitive gaming videos before. the key difference is he has failed to build a rapport with latam fans so it was insensitive and hurtful.

also, it is very much influenced by logistics. as much as it sucks, we absolutely cannot dismiss that. i was too sarcastic and dismissive in my additions to the post, and i've deleted those, but i stand by the original paragraph. regardless their (but especially dan's) racist comments, booking venues in countries where

1) english is not the predominant language,

2) they are not widely known,

3) once the venue learns about them they figure out they may be well past their peak in popularity and,

4) in some cases, it is relevant that they're gay and much more open about it than ii,

DOES actually make it significantly more difficult to convince a venue that it will be profitable for the venue to put on your show. most of the time, that is all venues are worried about. will people actually show up, or will these two faggots who peaked ten years ago draw in an audience of like, 20 people, and the venue will lose money when they could have booked a more profitable show? if the venue manager had to google them, are they really that popular anyways? the venue managers don't care unless they are certain they will not only break even but profit from dnp more than they would profit from literally anyone else they could book that night. why do you think they were able to do locations in asia for ii, but don't have them now (yet)? in 2018, they could reasonably argue their profitability, and even that wasn't enough in manila.

i am hoping, genuinely and from the bottom of my soul, that they will use the speed at which most of their shows sold out when the tickets went up to prove to venue managers in places other than the US and europe and commonwealth oceania that it is worth it. i hope they try very hard, and that they're able to add more dates. it certainly seems like they want to. i think it's also likely--whether it's right of them or not--that their experiences in MX & manila have led them to believe it's better to stay entirely quiet before they're absolutely sure they can announce a date and it will work, which makes it look like they're not communicating at all, but they may see it as them saving people from getting their hopes up if it doesn't work out. idk which is better, honestly. it at least seems to me like they're telegraphing that they're trying to book in other regions

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: April 2024

Ooooooooh it's getting warmer and sunnier and the days are getting longer! Yet I still stay inside to read and watch tv and stuff.

……….FILM……….

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) Loved it. A comedy that is so generous with the types of humour (sight gags, absurdist stuff, one-lines). Watching it I was thinking "oh this reminds me of watching Elvira" and then Cassandra Peterson shows up in the biker gang! Loved the whole thing.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) I've been meaning to watch this ever since Sam Bosma shared the incredible poster he did. If I didn't know Hayao Miyazaki directed this then I would've spent the entire runtime thinking "whoa real Hayao Miyazaki vibes here." Great standalone film if you know nothing about Lupin III.

……….TELEVISION……….

Fallout (Episode 1.01 to 1.08) Having never played the games, I was really interested if this series would work for someone like me. It took a bit to connect and it mostly landed. Not bad at all but it hasn't really left a lasting impression.

Succession (3.05 to 4.02) Can't believe it's almost over. What I appreciate about this series is that it knows the show is at its best when the core trio are together and does everything it can to highlight this. But never forget that they are all awful people. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.14 to 1.17) This adaptation of the comic continues to be excellent. I hope folks dig the show so much that they decide to read the series as it offers a few more character details that are fun to discover.

X-Men '97 (Episode 1.01 to 1.07) Wasn't a big fan of X-men (comic or the show) as a kid but heard enough good things that I figured I'd check it out. While I'm not immune to the nostalgia of the intro, I really do think the show is fantastic. The story feels dramatic and just mature enough to allow for great character moments and the animation is top-notch. Really glad I gave this a shot.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Why I (Used to) Hate Video Essays by Extranet Shaquille and Yellow Paint by Caleb Gamman Just a coincidence but these two unrelated videos both veer away from their main topics to become a study in...media consumption/attention culture/the struggles of existing in our current times. (Video Essays) VIDEO (Yellow Paint) VIDEO

……….READING……….

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (Complete) This feels more like the first Christie book I read (There is a Tide, still my favourite) in that there are twists and turns around engaging characters. Plus the victim was such an engaging villain. Based on the handful I've read so far, I think this would be a good entry point into Christie's works.

A Spectre Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto by China Miéville (Complete) After hearing a number of interviews with Mieville I was really excited for this but found the whole thing...frustrating. Maybe I'm not smart enough or maybe I'm not the target audience, but I don't really know who this book was written for. My gut tells me the writing is practically impenetrable unless you have a masters in English and that doesn't feel like the right fit for the subject matter. If brevity is the soul of wit then I'll leave it there and just say that the last couple pages, written clearly and with conviction, did more for me than the previous 150+ pages.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 13 (and also Volume 6) by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Rereading and also catching up on the latest volume! It's nearly over! Volume 13 is the penultimate chapter and I'm still impressed by how consistent the characters, humour, and dedication to theme this series remains. Really really incredible.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Tuesday crew is picking off the invading Elves fairly effectively but at what cost? And what are the repercussions of an act like this? Only time will tell. Also you can read all about their adventures here!

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 crew continues to dig into the mysteries of the mud banks but might get sidetracked by the fame and fortune of wrestling.

And that's it. See you in May!

[davekat-sucks]

Although Vriska will probably live after stepping into the plot point, I still think there could be a possible narrative reasoning for killing Vriska off.

Vriska is the thief of light. One who steals knowledge and luck, using these attributes for their own benefit.

Naturally, thieves are aggressive and independent and usually desire control and wealth. Light players often like to search for or create new knowledge to enhance their intelligence as a means to flex control over the narrative. In the case of passive classes (like Rose making the GameFAQ or Aranea’s bookkeeping on her friends and leprechaun romance) they also would try to subvert fate using knowledge. Rose destroyed gates, Aranea steals the ring of life. Rose breaks the narrative of Sburb’s game mechanics, and Aranea trues to break the narrative of the alpha timeline.

Active light players, well, Vriska, obfuscate knowledge, like when Vriska kept Kanaya out of the loop on her attempt to swoon Tavros.

How does this all connect?

Well, Vriska, the light player, exerts control and authority wherever she goes as a thief, and uses knowledge and luck as her tactic to exert narrative power. As an active light player, she can obfuscate and hide knowledge from outside observers, acting as an extra coat of camouflage for the candyverse.

Interestingly enough, by absorbing her into the plot point, all the relevance, luck, and knowledge she stole is dissipated into the fabric of the Candyverse, and since she is a character who is always relevant, the candyverse becomes relevant by absorbing Vriska’s essence.

That would be an interesting idea. Part of me though is a bit skeptic because past events in the series also shown that Light Players is not actually about relevance. See how Rose fall into alcoholism and does absolutely nothing after Act 6. She's even a nobody by Post Retcon. Aranea disappears after her villain arc moment and nobody mentions her again. Vriska lost the hero title when it was TAVROS the one who rallied all the ghosts to fight against Lord English. And don't even say she would be the one to take down LE as well. Because by Epilogues, it is shown she couldn't beat him. It was DAVEPETASPRITE who would sacrifice itself to beat it and NOBODY else would know it was them. There's a chance that it could be about this to Vriska. That though she is part of the mission, bitch won't actually get the cool epic moments she desires or wants. It would be other characters who get it or worse case scenario, happenstance occurs without her influence. Though that's just my thoughts because of how Andrew Hussie and WhatPumpkin had treated the aspect within the narrative. Just like they did with John as a Breath Player. Breath was never about freedom and the writers mock us of thinking us. Maybe it will be different for James Roach and HICU since they want to be in at least good graces with the fandom. James Roach too was even the one who suggested the classpect book to Hussie and has plans to explain more about the classes in HSBC despite the short summary. But I wouldn't hold my breath for it.

I'm sick of Vriska saying she will do shit to become a hero and nothing comes of it. Vriska created Bec Noir, forgets about him for Lord English. Even when focusing on LE, it was Tavros who made the ghost army in the first place. And by Epilogues, she wouldn't be the one to kill him, it was a fused kernelsprite. What will the bitch actually do this time that will have people, both in narrative and audiences, kneel to her for doing an action to show she is a hero despite being an awful person? Call me a jaded bitch. Cause why did they have to drag us along seeing how shit and worse things have gotten along the way that would lead up to the cool moment? Especially one not many worked for? Even if it's to soon disclose all the horrible mistakes that Hussie and WP did, it would have been better to just do it so early in the beginning when they took control of this dubious canon series. There's no need to give one single damn respect to Hussie or certain members of WhatPumpkin for what they had laid out in Homestuck 2. It's better to wipe it out sooner than to continue on building on top of the crap in the first place.

[warriornunusa]

Additional INFO from the Warrior Nun Substack Newsletter (link below so YOU can verify it yourself)

Anticipated questions:

What is the news?

+We were not told what the news is, just asked to share it.

Sounds like a leak to us!

Who told you?

+We have promised not to disclose that information.

No one want's to get sued. Fr fr

When will we get more info?

+At or around the 15 million announcement from Simon, in whatever form that takes. (which will likely be in the days after the actual goal is reached, as a reminder)

Does this mean Simon knows? What if Simon is the source and he is just waiting to get permission from AppleTV's legal department to tell us?! Delusional, maybe... but.... At this point anything is possible.

Is this just leading the fandom on?

+No. The party that disclosed this information is a credible source.

And they know they would be at the mercy of an unhinged fandom.

Who is it?

+See #2.

Being sued is bad. noted.

Why is this news coming from here instead of Simon or someone else?

+The nature of our work, in partnership with the OCS Newsletter, means that we communicate daily with fans, cast, crew, and other interested parties. As part of that process, we are one point of contact for those folks to reach out to when there's news to share.

Okay now, this actually makes sense. If you are a whistleblower you don't share the leak on your own personal pages or make a new one just to spill tea with zero followers. Not if you are serious about your info. You get people with a network to do the work for you. (sounds familiar) At the very least one with an email list.

Overall this is cautious optimism because who knows what the news could be. Some theories we have:

Comic/Graphic Novels: plausible, given the history of WN. Would be good to align the current creators with the NF series.

Novel Series: very plausible, Dean English was on the OCS Conclave with a WRITER next to him. People. 💥💥💥

Expanded Universe: very plausible, in the same panel with Dean English and the WRITER, they revealed they were working on the long-term story of Warrior Nun. That's not just a movie or a final season of WN.

Movie: plausible, while disappointing, look at ALOTO... Final 4 episodes, which works out to be a long movie. Other cancelled series have also gotten wrap up movies. So long as it's Avatrice focused we can live with this.

Podcast: unlikely, this would be a huge slap in the face of the fans and one would think the source would not be dumb enough to hype up a podcast. While great for the Doctor Who fandom, WN fans only want one thing.

Literally Nothing: very unlikely, as mentioned above the source is not willing to risk their own flesh by pissing off a very angry audience. Also, the person in charge of the Substack is not some random fan. You can see on the tweets that link to the newsletter the name Trust Insights (because tw hates Substack links so they had to reroute the click.) See Trust Insight's case study clients... https://www.trustinsights.ai/expertise/case-studies/

Netflix Repentance: plausible, but very skeptical about this one. Even with NF recent "change of heart" around their viewing metrics (as of 3rd week of June) they have shown a consistent ignorance of audience demand. But who knows, maybe they are just broke enough and need the money to pay some overdue bills.

AppleTV/Streamer Pick-Up: plausible, now this would be one impressive shake-up during the WGA strike that is still ongoing. And unprecedented because, as we all know, NF doesn't sell the rights. (But then... how can Dean talk about books... and how can Simon say Dean is the person to ask about Video Games... And why would Simon say "the people who own the rights" but not name NF in Empire Magazine... while being very clear that he (Simon) can't get the season 2 bloopers because NF owns the footage... nah, must not be important.) Complicated legal things. But doesn't mean NF couldn't lease out WN to another platform and that platform could make more content... hello HBO/NF deals. Again more delusions.

So all that to say... Something is happening. We don't know what, but you don't send a fandom into hype unless you have something really good.

Because if it's nothing - you will lose that audience

Note: all of the above can be verified via Twitter search, www.warriornun.com press releases, AngeChat's and BeMoreSuper's interviews on YouTube, OCS Conclave Videos on YouTube, the OCS Newsletter, and of course the DAILY released Substack Newsletter.

https://savewarriornun.substack.com/p/savewarriornun-news-and-data-2023-023?sd=pf

[fishareglorious]

If someone were to be deciding between either limbus company or reverse 1999, which would you recommend and why? What would you say are the pros and cons?

I enjoy both R1999's and Limbus' story and gameplay, and both its cast of characters remain pretty intriguing enough. But I will be upfront about the fact that I will a little more biased on R199 since its currently filling up the spaces between my neurons currently, and that I've dropped Limbus months ago due to the company's actions towards its workers. All in all, if you want to play Limbus, all I ask of you is to not give the game any real-life money.

I really do want to give both games a fair chance, so I would say my verdict would be for you to try both games and see if like one or even both?

A whole ass essay under the cut:

Anyhow, when it comes to recommending it, I.. would say to a general audience, R1999's more palatable? Limbus' contents (see: its giant trigger warnings screen when you start the game for the first time) aren't quite for everyone, so if any of these aren’t for you, please take care of yourself.

Limbus gameplay is something that plays in my head even if I haven’t touched it in months. The difficulty spike is infamously vertical, but if you enjoy a good challenge, figuring out battles is really gratifying. Probably is one of the things I really miss about the game, as much as it did frustrate me to the point of insanity.

For the characters, I did really like the fact all of the playable characters take inspiration from classic literature (ie, Ishmael is inspired from Ishmael from Moby Dick, Heathcliff is from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Faust from Goethe's Faust, Gregor as Gregor Samsa from Kafka's Metamorphosis, etc.), and the setting of the City as an ultra capitalist hell that has SCP-esque creatures wreaking havoc after the downfall of an eldritch horror energy company is a very fascinating and intriguing world.

One of the big things I can think people praise about Limbus is that almost all gacha content are actually obtainable with enough grinding; barring the pretty new Walpurgisnacht content, which I think is limited?

The game has utterly banger soundtracks including original songs from Mili is spectacularly weaved into the boss battles, sound design that is immaculately crunchy in a satisfying way (I. admit I sometimes open some character's attack audios. for fun at one point. let us ignore i am the guy obsessed with outis and I play her voicelines because she's. her.) and top-notch voice acting. While it doesn't have a english dub, but I think even if they had one I don't think they'll come quite close to the korean VA's performances.

I may not have touched the game in months but I do still carry a fondness for these gang of murderous morally gray-to-black bastards and their sad sopping wet amnesiac manager.

And let's get to R1999. It's been taking up space in my brain for a while now. The cast of characters are certainly interesting, and there is lore jam-packed into almost every bit of the story. The whole world and the ramifications and effects of the Storm pose an intriguing conflict and I'll surely be tuned in to how the main story will turn out. The events are also a joy to watch and play.

As for the gameplay, if the levels aren't kicking your ass and you're evenly matched with your enemies, I really do enjoy the process of strategizing how to defeat the enemies. Unlike Limbus flinging you out into the world and into the battle; the tutorial on how R1999's battle mechanic certainly eases you better into knowing the basics. My only complaint in here is that the end-game grind is horrific. Farming for stuff for your characters in the highest levels will have you ripping your hair out (at least, that was my experience), but at the last going through the main story content doesn't actually require you to be on a high level with your roster of characters.

I appreciate how it does look like a lot of things in R1999 take context from actual historical things that have happened, though unfortunately I'm not really that much of a history buff to fully get some references and appreciate it, which is a bit of a shame.

The game's soundtrack is simply chef's kiss. I admit I don't really have audio on when i play casually, but when I do have it on while playing through the story, the music really does deliver and drive in what the game wants you to really feel during scenes. The music in chapter 3's various chess scenes drive in Constantine's scheming and the buildup of dread as you see it all unfurl before your eyes. The solemnity of the music in the final scenes of chapter 2. A ping pong game being somehow incredibly intense. That one OST that plays whenever someone goes silly time. Green Lake's absolute bop of an OST can I just link it here man. R1999 composers giving y'all a big plate of your favorite food.

Anyways. I think this has like. gone on and on and I am not good with writing conclusions so. To say what I said at the very start, I think you should both games a fair chance, so I would say my verdict would be for you to try both games and see if like one or even both? Up to you.

Most of all have fun and don't give into the gacha addiction. That is all.

[absolutebl]

Hi!

I have seen calls by Western (mostly American judging by English accents) fans to stop using the words Tsundere and Seme or other non-English labels related to BL. Critics have stated this alongside requests to stop using terms “top” and “bottom” as they are antiquated and limiting in their use, stuck in a gender binary and the roles that come with it, and hetero-centric.

As a queer, white, American BL fan, I am hesitant to comment on any part of queer culture that isn’t mine. I don’t particularly use the words mentioned but that has more to do with being new here and not remembering them than it does any conscious boycott. I also am hesitant to criticize queerness and how it it is expressed in culture outside of my own. For example, the use of the term “wife” in Thai BL to refer to a male partner. I don’t really know about Thai queer culture so I don’t have enough info to comment.

Anywho, I’m curious what your thoughts are on the Western, queer lens and critique of BL? It seems short sighted to me in my minimal exposure. I’d love your thoughts.

Love your blog! Keep up the awesome work.

seme/uke isn't queer (sorry, but its not terminology that belongs to, applies, or even should really be used by the queers to apply to our community in any way, certainly not applied to other queers *shudder*) its narrative terminology, as in pop culture or lit crit. Which means, by its nature, it is designed to talk about characters and archetypes, not real humans. Avoid applying it to real people and it's fair game IMHO. The problem is fans conflating it (or BL characters, for that matter) to real human beings. And that's fandom's fault, not the syntax. 

I really don't like the pillarization of words, (and I can’t STAND attacks within the community, like seriously don’t queers have actual - ya know - rights for fight for and non-queers to police these days, why all this infighting?) especially when there is NO alternative narrative word choice that doesn't impose a queer lens onto stories (BL or yaoi). These narratives are still, in the main, NOT queer, and not intended for a queer audience. In other words, can a critic of the terms seme/uke come up with something better than seme/uke? Until they do, I think it’s fair to apply these words to narrative analysis and discussion as long as the user defines them and knows their history.

Western queer lens critique/approach is fine IMHO so long as the critic understands their lens, bias, and cultural immersion issues (as in, limits to comprehension and socio-political, linguistic, and regional bubbles). Or makes an honest attempt. 

The point of healthy dialogue around pop culture is to encourage research, linguistic and otherwise, and understanding, travel (actual, mental, emotional, or fantastical), immersion, and openness to alternate cultures, social dynamics, and ways of perceiving the world. (And I do mean perception.) So long as all that is occurring because of these narratives, then the narratives are doing their pop-culture jobs.

With the possible exception of Japan, BLs are being expressly produced for a global market (now) therefore they not only can be but should be critiqued (in the academic sense of the world) by global audiences based in different cultures (and with different lenses). 

BL is pop culture entertainment intended for a global market (as, indeed, is Kpop). It’s like publishing a book and not expecting bad reviews. The thing has gone out into the world to entertain, and entertainment by its nature it is what the audience makes of the experience. The resulting pop culture phenomena IS a dialogue between creator/artist and consumer/audience. Otherwise why put it out into the world in the first place? 

This goes into one of those old arguments about separating the art from the artist. Does the art itself have its own autonomy? Will harry potter always be colored by JKR’s behavior? Ender’s game by Card’s? Lovecraft by Lovecraft’s? 

I am one those critics who believe that the experience of art and entertainment is what the audience makes of it, but that the origin should be taken into account as well. These aren’t mutually exclusive. The nature of intent is in play in both directions. The creator may intend one thing, but the consumer can and will end up reacting to whatever they make of that creation. They will take away what they wish from the experience. They will bring their own bias and life experiences to their enjoyment of any piece of media. Which is why no media satisfies everyone. 

In other words, the creators of the thing and what they intend is in play, but so is the intention of the audience. Some viewers go into BL with the intent to find flaws and to criticize (in the online sense of the word) and many of those are queer folk. 

Also, negativity always gets more online attention than positivity. 

I guess all this is say sure “everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” but if certain persons feel entitled to express that option in public, I’m equally entitled not to give it any weight if it’s ill informed. 

QED 

[timemachineyeah]

Hi, I really appreciate your points on Madoka! Thank you for providing that insight that is so desperately needed! Because I am so sick of dudebros acting like it's better than female-empowering Magical Girl works aimed at girls, or how whenever I or somebody else critiques the storytelling and message we just get told "Madoka is perfectly feminist actually and if you don't think so then you're just too stupid to understand how DEEEEEEEP it is go back to your stupid sweet and fluffy anime that's for GUUUUURLS" or alternatively "oh so female characters can't ever suffer ever and have to be happy all the time ever or it's misogynistic trash?!?!?!?! check and mate bitch" like I am just so tired. I'm glad to see your posts even though some of them are quite old. I have to say thank you once again for your genuine critique of Madoka because at this point I feel like I'm being punked whenever I talk about what's wrong with it.

Sorry! I saw this earlier and completely forgot to answer!

My few posts have given me a reputation as a Madoka hater (and, fair enough, because I certainly don't blame anyone who is. Please hate Madoka all you like). The truth is I really do like the original show quite a bit, but YEAH.

YEAH.

I think the thing that gets most exhausting for me, over and over, is bringing up these criticisms and being told, "No! Because Madoka fixed all that!" and even ignoring Rebellion (which I am inclined to do anyway), the girls still die.

They die.

The happy ending is a montage of girls dying. Which is a happy ending only because what they were getting before (specifically as a consequence of choosing to be a magical girl) was a fate worse than death.

And it's worth noting how the incubators are portrayed. They aren't portrayed as malicious. They aren't "evil" in that sense. What they are is practical and indifferent. They are taking advantage of inherent factors in the universe, not creating those factors.

Which means that there's something about PMMM that is saying, this is reality. At least in this fiction, this is the reality of femininity. And it is inherent to femininity! Kyubey even explains - it's weird! But only teen girls are like this! That's why we use them!

I think it's fair to be like, hey, that's fucked up. What kind of gender essentialist fatalism? Bro?

And it's also just denial to pretend it isn't about fanservice or a male audience.

As anyone who's been on my blog recently will know, I'm kinda super into Love Live! right now. It's cute. It scratches an itch.

And there's a lot of plausible deniability built into it, and a lot of pushback from English speaking fandom about it, but, uh, Love Live! is an idol game but it's also a waifu collector.

It's also a catalogue of nonthreateningly sexual anime teenage girls specifically designed to appeal first and foremost to lonely awkward Japanese young working men with disposable income.

And, idk, knowing that doesn't impede my ability to find it cute and wholesome and fun and escapist. The fact that it is that does lead to some of creative decisions that make the series less fun for me (it's not very diverse, for example. The yuri elements are subtext for another. And I either wish the girls were less sexualized or older, personally). But I'm not going to deny what it is.

I'm not even particularly interested in shaming the men its aimed at for liking it, or shaming the creators for making it that way per se (well, okay, sometimes I am interested in shaming the creators a lil bit). But I do think most the things about it that read as feminist to me as an American read that way because I am so far outside the original intended subculture. And I think the same is true about Madoka. You can absolutely read feminist messages in it. I certainly do. But placing these works in their original contexts tells a very different much more... regressive? picture. They were not made for women and girls. They are not made to uplift women and girls. They CAN! And they DO! Both in Japan and elsewhere! But that's anywhere from (at best) a secondary market to (at worst) a complete accident.

It's hard for some people to wrap their heads around because in America at least I think the idea of a "cute" (even if that's subverted in Madoka) media starring a large cast of only girls being for men is pretty alien to how we do stories and marketing. Here we understand playboy magazines and swimsuit editions, but we don't understand men collecting merch of a cute fictional girl they like. It would be seen as emasculating.

We understand the reverse. We get that boy bands and anime like Free! can be aimed squarely at women while being comprised entirely of men or male characters. Which is part of why I'm not shaming the male audiences, because... desiring anime tiddy isn't inherently predatory anymore than a lady desiring anime ass. And that's a crass way of putting it anyway. We don't frame hanging a boy band poster up that way, or playing a game like Mystic Messenger. It becomes more complicated because we live in a complicated patriarchal structure that protects and empowers men and women differently and unequally, but that seems like a poor reason to try to tell individual men they aren't allowed to enjoy things in a way that is obviously natural and parallels how... most humans like to enjoy some things sometimes.

But that also doesn't mean we can't look at those broad cultural patterns and... make observations. And have criticisms. And talk about how it affects people, and the back and forth between media and culture.

But, Madoka is for men first. The girls' suffering is a form of male gaze, and pretty unambiguously a kind of very very softcore torture porn for male gamer types. That's not a judgment against it, that's just its literal intended share of the market. It's a pretty easy read if you understand the context in which it was released and the culture it is coming from and catering to. My Little Pony is a little girls toy franchise. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sells toys to boys. Home & Gardens is for housewives. Top Gear is for car dads. These are true even if other people like them. When an adult fan of children's cartoons (I say, as an adult fan of children's cartoons) tries to say, "But it's not really a kids cartoon!" I feel about the same way I do when a feminist fan of some clearly male-centric media says, "But it's not really!"

And that's - own your shit. Own it. It's fine. It's fine to like it. It's fine to love it. It's fine if it means the world to you. It doesn't mean there's something wrong with you if you like a media that maybe isn't the most mature or progressive masterpiece out there. Just don't pretend there's no validity in obvious criticism. I love some real garbage made by real garbage people. I have survived.

Madoka exists in a fictional universe where the laws of that fictional universe are that 1) girls are uniquely emotional, 2) that emotion and their own aspirations can easily be harnessed against them in such a way that in the best possible universe all it does it kill them. In the normal universe it turns them into evil witches. That's just true. That's the world. I'm allowed to look at that, especially in conversation with magical girl media that came before, and go, "you know what? in that context, that's pretty fucked up" and it doesn't even mean that I stop liking the show, so I don't see why everyone else has to get so defensive about it.

(Y'all have no idea. Those posts are old now, but I got so many asks. I had to block so many people. I'm not trying to take your precious anime away calm down.)

Idk if I completely agree with the tone of my original posts - there's a little bit of offhanded vilifying of "men" as a shorthand for... all the bullshit... and I no longer love that language. I love men. Men are people. Some men can be shitty, but shitty individual men and patriarchy aren't the same. But I do still agree with all my broad points.

Plus, yes, also. The thing of a new (often male) fanbase getting into something you've been into for a long time with some new entry and acting like it both invented and fixed everything about the genre (PMMM and magical girls, Friendship is Magic and girl cartoons, Stardew Valley and farming sims) is frustrating, and to hear many an incurious nerd tell it, magical girls were floundering before Madoka! And I hate that.

Anyway, oops, I went on a little rant. That still makes it look like I don't like Madoka. I actually really do like the original series. I have rewatched it multiple times and probably will again. I even tried to play Magia Record (briefly - I couldn't really get into it). I can't speak to the many many spinoff media - but those have so many different writers and so much different lore that I think it'd probably be hard to try to pin any kind of single ethos to the franchise as a whole any more. But while I couldn't get into Magia Record I'd bet there's a short manga story or something that I'd love at this point. When you make like 200 magical girls or whatever that's bound to happen.

Thanks for the ask. Sorry Madoka fans are still so hyper defensive apparently. I hope you are able to survive them and find some better magical girl series out there. <3

[booksandchainmail]

Hugo Best Graphic Story or Comic Finalists 2024

To start out with a disclaimer: I have not read the Saga volume. I was last caught up with Saga in ~2018, I'd have to reread it all, and there are only three days left. Normally I try not to vote for categories I don't fully know, but it's already won a Hugo, and been nominated for most volumes, so I don't feel too bad about leaving it out.

Rankings for the others:

Shubeik Lubeik This absolutely slapped. I started reading it not knowing what to expect, and very shortly went, "oh, this is Art". It's a story in three parts, set in a modern-day Cairo in a world where wishes are bought and sold, centering around the three valuable first-class wishes a kiosk vendor inherited. It's deeply funny in places: I kept reading parts out loud or showing pages to explain why I was laughing. It's also deeply sad: the central characters are all grappling with the kinds of problems a first-class wish might address: grief, and depression, and the prospect of loss. In particular the first section was deeply moving, starting with a loss and then unfolding the weight of it. This also feels like a story taking full advantage of its medium: the middle section in particular uses frequent graphs to great effect, but throughout I was struck by how it uses varying line weight for impact. I am not someone who often notices much subtleties of art, but individual pages kept striking me as the kind of inkblock print style I would frame on a wall.

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons First: the art for this is gorgeous. It's lavish to the point of being overwhelming, in a way that is entirely appropriate for its mythical subject. This is a superhero comic, but only technically: it's a backstory for DC's Amazons which means it's mostly greek mythology. I don't know enough about existing DC lore to be sure, but I get the sense that it's patching together multiple contradictory backstories from comic history into one thematically-consistent origin. The story isn't complex or particularly subtle (which admittedly is not what you go to a wonder woman comic for), but it really shines in the depictions of the goddesses, at once very human in their interactions and alien in their being. There are some great panels where small art changes shift them from human to animal to spirit.

Bea Wolf This was very cute! A retelling of Beowulf aimed at small children, that nevertheless keeps the vocal patterns of the original old english. I was extremely not the target audience for this, and I can't say I was deeply moved by it, but I respect the craft of it and really like the concept.

The Three Body Problem, Part One This was... fine? It is very very clear that it is an adaptation, and I honestly don't think the format is adding anything. It also cuts off rather abruptly, in the manner of adaptations whose source materials does not neatly fit into the size range of the new format. I think in particular the fact that the back ~1/3 of this is the main character playing a VR game, but we don't get any payoff of the significance of the game works against it. I have no desire to continue with this graphic novel, but might check out the original

The Witches of World War II I think I am being unfairly harsh by ranking this last, but also I stopped midway through reading it to wonder if I maybe just didn't like graphic novels as a format, which I think is a bad sign. The plot was hard to follow to me, especially at first, and I found the characters generally uninteresting. The pacing also seemed strangely compressed, but that could be common to the format. The most interesting part to me was the afterword, which explained that all the characters were occultists who offered to do anti-nazi magic in real life, but I think the comic as a whole would have read better if I had known that going in. Also, having read the afterword, I am baffled at the fact that it seems to have changed many of the characters/historical figures to the point of unrecognizability for no clear reason. I also really did not like the art style.

[heavensbeehall]

"Mockingjay", Chapter 16

Part 2: The Assault

Chapter 16: Katniss comes back to consciousness (again!) after being shot and remembers the "Stay with me"/"Always" exchange with Peeta from the second book. Johanna Mason--what a queen--shows up to steal some drugs from Katniss. Johanna is addicted to "morphling" now, but in a fun way. Katniss and Gale fight about killing people but District 2 is now in Rebellion hands. Even though she lost a spleen, Katniss is made to return to work. Plutarch talks about "Panem et Circenses" for all the English teachers in the audience. Annie and Finnick are getting married! Katniss is stunned when the cake is wheeled out and it was obviously made by Peeta, who has been getting better after his first breakthrough. At midnight she goes to talk to him (and I have questions about why the staff at 13 is all around at midnight but they are not addressed. Perhaps they wanted a good Hanging Tree reference for this uncomfortable encounter). Peeta is pissy which I will allow since she was tortured for weeks. He sees Katniss through a new lens. She thinks it's "the truth" because she hates herself and is depressed and clearly needs medication--not to the responsibility of a rebellion. But it's more like he sees her through Snow's eyes now. (That women are not to be trusted and love makes you weak.)

Thoughts:

-- This book depresses me a bit and my own mental health hasn't been great lately. I should remind myself there is more Johanna. Because I really do like the part where they are roommates.

-- When Johanna calls Gale "gorgeous" and then laughs, it makes me think she is messing with him the way she did with Katniss in book 2. But I don't know if she is messing with Katniss or Gale, actually.

Quotes:

"You should have been the Mockingjay. No one would've had to feed you lines," I say. "True. But no one likes me," she tells me.

Given that Suzanne Collins has said they have tried to use previous victors (she particularly cited Finnick) as a rallying point for rebellion, I wonder if she says this from experience. The way Johanna won--by pretending for the camers--is actually quite smart. She used the game against the Gamemakers. Her "act" would be mostly in things we know Snow added to the Hunger Games--the interviews, the betting odds etc. If they had just thrown her into an arena, like 1-10th, then this would not be possible to do. Nor do I think crying or being sad to fight to the death is abnormal. We have seen Lamina (also a female tribute from 7) portrayed as somewhat weak during her Games but be mentally tough. I imagine it was easy to dismiss Johanna. But then when she won, it seems (as with many reality shows) she was not lauded for her cleverness but instead portrayed as a liar and a bitch.

Does anyone have strong headcanons about Johanna? For some reason, I assume she had siblings that were killed. Possibly because of how she interacts with Katniss and Finnick, like she is used to having someone close to her who is her age. But that person or persons is gone now.

Somehow staging some perverse wedding between Peeta and me. I haven't been able to face that one-way glass since I've been back and, at my own request, only get updates about Peeta's condition from Haymitch. He speaks very little about it. Different techniques are being tried. There will never truly be a way to cure him.And now they want me to marry Peeta for a propo?

I read a fanfic about this once. Anyway, you will note that Katniss instinctively assumes Plutarch will use her the same way Snow did which doesn't reassure me much about Plutarch's vibes.

... the music is provided by a choir of children accompanied by the lone fiddler who made it out of 12 with his instrument...

We think this is Clerk Carmine's fiddle, yes? I don't know where you would buy a new instrument in 12.

Sure enough, Greasy Sae grabs Gale by the hand and pulls him into the center of the floor and faces off with him

Get it, Greasy Sae! (I do not necessarily hold to the theory that Lucy Gray is Greasy Sae, but I do think--since she sells her wares at the Hob and has been around awhile, she would probably know the most about the Covey. I'd love to interview her for my fictional documentary about the history of the Hunger Games.)

"I must have loved you a lot."

I would like to think that Peeta need not be "in love" with Katniss to give her some bread. It's very "Snow-like" to assume that he would only do that if he was in love with her, and the love was like tricking him into something (which I think is how he comes to see everything he did for Lucy Gray, as some grand manipulation) when it's just normal to not like seeing someone else suffer.

[lilac-udon]

The why do I need to use English to explain

Thoughts about the friend group, auby for now

I OVERTHINK OK

Sometimes I think about Aubrey, she is a tricky character to talk about , and in this friend group I don’t want to argue more about her. I’m going to sounds very petty, I don’t judge her much i just want to list out how I feel.

Summary, because auby took the album but the plot give it back doesn’t means its ok

The action of Aubrey taking basil photo album

Aubrey apologized to the friend’s group for her awful behavior towards basil, of not knowing the whole picture, so in her mind, she is in the wrong bullying Basil, however I hardly felt the sincere apology towards basil because we don’t have the time , besides the possibility of after hospital she might re apologies, for four years, and for the audience we know basil wrong Aubrey but not Aubrey(the feeling of Aubrey action is justified, and basil let it happen is due to what basil done to mari, from my view). But see it in another way, in her perspective, she even admitted she didn’t understand basil that time but now acknowledges it, it was brief, very brief that she probably if not hero an older person she actually respected and heard, she would just brush off the action of taking basil photos album . I know everyone is coping with their way, when kel came, her first defense was is the friend group abandoned her. What I’m saying is, the photo album she knows how important it’s for basil, and vaguely understands the idea she is being unfair to Basil, all those FOUR years she still has this attitude of I have the right to not give, not even hear SUnny wishes out for the return oc the photo album (who should in everyone knowledge suffer the most) she kept the picture for herself ,yes, but also not even let Sunny to see the album and throw them). The throwing always photo album don't felt that bad because KEl , sunny get it baCK.(I want to point out how bad it will be if there is no photo album How bad dose it felt ,if not for the plot let the audience forget about that.) even if I put it lightly if she only ignores Basil, and does not do any other bullying, she still views, mari, the photo album as hers. There is a lot of part of the writing meaning her actions but cut up with other stuff because, we can't make the plot too uneasy for the morning part, understandable, but please don't just forget it. But I know she is 16 and very realistic actually, that is how real people act, and I like her writing even though everyone says it’s not enough. I like her flaws and kindness, but also annoying when people view her as only a cool bossy girl, but everything is has a reason and it ok. She is not rational. It’s cool how she acts, yes, and I believe she might not be this mean but act tough due to the hooligans is around , just wanted ppl to know she is pretty shitty too, but everyone ignored this because they just wanted all of them to be kind and all that friendship is smooth, magic.

As a basil defender, I’m so salty of how everyone treats basil to be honest, sunny, basil even kel I nitpicking the hell of it please don’t take me serious

I don't hate her I just felt her character is warped due to mainstream keeping it healthy, and we cannot say any touchy stuff, everything needs to be forgiven or completely not when I finished the game I had so much emotion, and I understood a lot of things the game didn't say out loud and ppl will understand, but man I felt like soooo much stuff people isn't acknowledging it, they are just straightly forgetting it exists , everyone is good person , and keep on shitting on basil, maby sunny

[seraphtrevs]

I am from Asia and here audience has WAY worse opinion about Skylar, to a point that I basically only read English analysis/essays about BrBa. We don't have "video essays" yters but "season summary videos" yters, and when one of them talked about Skylar, let me quote: "you've been married to Walt for decades, yet you could ever not tell that Walt did NOT kill Hank. Shame on you and you don't deserve Walter. If you were married to Gus, you wouldn't even have any chance to murmur like that".

Well it genuinely disgusts me bc (A) to Skylar's knowledge, her husband is now capable of truly heinous crime (like bombing a nursing home) If Walt escaped from Hank of all people, that MUST mean Hank is dead. It's totally understandable to think Walt murderred Hank. (B) Even only considering BrBa, it's heavily impies that every sherd of Gus' soul is only dedicated to Max! WHY WOULD GUS CARE MARRYING A WOMAN? (C) despite of all her irrational decisions, Skylar is a victim of Walt's abuse, which is in full display in S5E4 "fifty-one". This fucking yter doesn't deserve any women in his life.

Pardon me for long rant but I really need to speak to someone about my unnerving feeling. And I remember you mentioned that your husband LOVES Skylar and Gus at the first sight when watching BrBa (So I assume here is a little safe place for this rant!) Plus Skylar tried to be Walt's "detail-oriented and competent mafia wife" in first half of S4, so even it's canon that Gus threated to kill Sklar, I feel like Gus would have treat her like Lydia if they've ever cooperated in "the game".

You are so valid, anon! My ask box is always open to Skyler defense. I'm so sorry you had to see such an awful take. Unfortunately, media that criticizes and satirizes toxic masculinity like brba does is often misinterpreted by men who are too steeped in the mentality themselves to understand that you're supposed to see Walt's insistence that he's doing it for his family is hollow. They even explicitly have Walt state, in the end, once and for all, that he went into a life of crime because he enjoyed it.

They also made it pretty clear that the traditional masculine "responsibility" to provide for his family is actually in many cases more of an exercise of ownership and control than it is a selfless act of love. The guy you saw seemed to think that Skyler owed Walt loyalty in spite of the fact that he made her a criminal against her will. Toxic men think they are owed deference and obedience because after all, aren't they the ones who are working and sacrificing for the good of the family? Aren't they owed gratitude?

Walt was so fixated on this idea of being king of his own castle that he never considered that once he died, Skyler was perfectly capable of getting a job that paid well enough to get by, especially since she would have a lot of help from Hank and Marie. But that idea was so distressing to him that he'd rather enter a life of crime than to allow Skyler to take care of herself.

I don't even know what to say about the Gus stuff - how bizarre!