#from twitter sorry if it was originally posted from someone on this site

[bbcsherlock]

[yuri-is-online]

Reading the Room at a 5th Grade Level: MC's Curse and Taiga's Memory Issues???

Hi. My name is Yuri and I am an idiot. You see, when I downloaded Tokyo Debunker and I saw what happened to the MC I was confused. "Why did everything go red?" I asked myself. "It's like we were in another dimension!" I unhelpfully said at some point probably. Well I finally googled the name of the station the MC said "was not her usual stop" and guess what? I should have done that way fucking sooner because it's related to a Japanese urban legend, much like Takeru in Episode 2. And helps me with what I noticed yesterday while I was re-reading the Hotarubi episode.

This post contains spoilers for Hotarubi's Episode, viewer discretion is advised.

When the MC is contacted by the spirit who allegedly curses her she is riding the train home from a concert. She receives a text message from someone with a spider lily profile picture, in English their user name is "Mina." Before we are confronted by Mina, the conductor announces that the train's next stop is Kisaragi Station, a station that dear reader, does not exist. It's also extremely famous! But I am not smart or up to date on horror things so I didn't know (⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄) so sorry if this is all stuff you guys already knew.

Kisaragi Station

The original post about Kisaragi station was, as best I can tell, made on a site called 2chan, which is a Japanese anonymous forum. I was able to find a post about it on r/nosleep from 2019 which claims that people started posting about it on reddit in 2010, and another post on Quora translating a thread that was posted to twitter. There are a few common themes to the urban legend, but there are three I find particularly relevant to our situation.

The station is believed to be on the border of our world and the "other world." It is possible to leave the station, we will get into how in a moment, but attempting to leave it by following the train tracks will get you killed. Especially if you attempt to cross through the train tunnel, that will take you across the point of no return. The original post describes hearing the sound of drums and bells, similar to a Japanese festival, that get louder the closer you get to the tunnel. Accepting rides from people in the vicinity of the station will also kill you. Cell service is active in the area, but you aren't able to find location information and people will not be able to find you. The anomaly on the train we see isn't tied to Kisaragi Station as far as I can tell, and I have been combing through various yokai to see if I can find anything like it but so far I haven't had much luck.

Back to how to leave the station, you have to light something on fire. Specifically something that causes smoke. Paper seems to be the most common suggestion. It's a small detail, but since the game starts with us seeing the school on fire I thought it was an interesting thing to note.

I added Taiga into the title of the post as in the translated twitter thread, the concept of memory loss the longer you stay in Kisaragi is brought up. We never actually see Taiga leave the station, and the MC only leaves it because Haku does something with his artifact. In Episode 5 Haku says he was not using his stigma to put the children's spirits to rest, implying that spiritual energy adn stigmas are different powers he can use. I am going to propose something kind of crazy at the end of this entire post about Haku, but for now just dealing with the facts presented in game he specifically says he "cordoned off" the area. Does he mean that he took the train to Kisaragi station? Or was MC always going there? And if he was the one responsible for doing that then uh. How did Taiga leave the station and get back to Darkwick? Was he trapped there and did he wander around for a long time, doing permanent damage to his memory in the process? Or am I over thinking this and he lost track of the anomaly and lit something on fire so he could leave. I like the idea of him lighting the station on fire and the ghosts asking him to leave, but that's probably not what happened lol

Red

When the train reaches Kisaragi Station in game, the color pallet swaps to red. Much like it does in Episode 5 when MC receives a certain visitor:

We learn later on that this is Zenji, and that Zenji is dead. MC seems to be reacting to his presence and I would like to think that the color choice is deliberate. If we go back to Episode 2, Takeru only has light amounts of red shading around him in his comic panels, when he kills the streamer and when Alan beats the shit out of him are two that immediately come to mind. Interacting with him does not turn the world red like interacting with Zenji or Kisaragi Station does, further strengthening Leo's conclusion about him being a Talupa and not a ghost as this red tint seems to be used for when MC is interacting with the spirit world. Which I am once again asking, how did Taiga get home from Kisaragi Station? Did he carjack a Taxi ghost?

This raises some questions about the anomaly that cursed MC. Is it a ghost and is it something unique to Japan? And if neither of those things are true then why was Haku there? I can think of two reasons for him to be there: the first is if he is there to keep an eye on Taiga for Cornelius/the Institute because Sinostra is on probation but they need him (he was specifically assigned this mission because of how aggressive he is) or it was meant to be a Hotarubi mission because it fit their criteria but Haku couldn't handle it so they arranged for Taiga to come along with him. That last thing is sort of countered by Haku saying that he doesn't think Hotarubi would be able to help with the MC's curse, but he could be lying about that I suppose.

Anyway who wants to hear my really stupid out there reason for why Haku is there-

The Part of the Show Where I do a line of coke Cope

So hear me out, what if Haku's stigma is time travel. So in this post on the subreddit donsaadali suggested that the powers you pick from in the personality test are powers the ring could give MC. I had the thought before that maybe it was a list of stigmas that the various characters had completely forgetting about the time travel line. But it does sort of fit with my line of thinking: make people follow my orders? That's Jin. Elemental powers? Towa. The others: extreme luck, never having to sleep, shapeshifting, and gravity control aren't ones that we have concrete information about but I am tempted to say that "extreme luck" could be Taiga, as turning things into ammo struck me as a quality of his artifact and not his stigma but I'm not really convinced of that. Anyway, if Haku can time travel, he could go back in time, pick up MC, and bring her back to Darkwick even if that's not what happened in the first place and Taiga was the one who brought her back the first time! But why he would do that is lost on me. Well not completely lost, I do think he wants to "help" her but with what and why is not something I have a theory on just yet.

To be clear, that was just me spitballing. I do not really think that Haku's stigma is time travel, there isn't enough evidence for me to think that. I do think that if there is a timeloop going on he is probably aware of it, but again. I don't know why.

Sources

Translated original post (x)

The above post also has a youtube video linked at the top if you want an audio version of the post and some other train related stories

Translated Twitter thread (x)

Shitty r/nosleep post (x)

[notfreetoday]

MPW Ep 2 Subtitle Corrections

Subtitle Corrections: Ep 1 here

Cultural/Language Tidbits: Ep 2 here

Same translation disclaimer applies. Thanks to everyone reading the first post and geeking out with me in the notes, I really appreciate it XD Ok, Ep 2, let's go! Sorry in advance for the length!

If you're wondering why Yoh's freaking out about the rainy season even though they've been together for 3 years, the manga artist posted a clarification on twitter:

By the way, “it’s been 3 years since then” – that phrase refers to it being 3 years since that conversation regarding the slave contract. As for living together, they’ve only just started (to do so) around Mar/April*, so (at this point) it’s only been a few months (for them). What if (I) got it wrong…. I remember making a note of it, but the file that I wrote it in and passed over (to the crew) couldn’t be found right, so… (was it) a dream?” *Japan's rainy season comes around June/July, so this means that this is the first rainy season these two have been experienced together.

[Y: まずっ] Y: Tastes bad In case the original "that sucks" sounds like Yoh might be talking about the news of the young forecaster - he's really just talking about the food here.

[S: 遅くなるからいらねぇっつっただろう] Original: I told you not to bother since I returned late Mine: I told you I wouldn't need it cause I'd be late right? This is actually a pretty harsh sounding line tbh. It's sort of inkeeping with Segasaki's curtness, but still pretty harsh - so this tells us he's tired after a long day, and explains the frown on his face that Yoh just wipes away with his cuteness

Nikujaga literally means meat and potatoes. It's a stewed dish and a very well-loved comfort food. Super easy to make too (link goes to an easy to follow recipe, and the site also explains a little about the dish).

[Y: 本当、顔だけはいいよな] Y: Really, it's only his face that looks good.

I've talked about this in my cultural/language tidbits for this episode (linked up top) but I'll add it here for completion's sake

[Y: あ、いや。なんでもない…です*] (Ah, iya, nandemonai…desu*) Y: Ah, no, it's….nothing* Yoh let's his sentence trail off before tacking on a "desu" at the end. "Desu" is an ending verb characteristic of "polite" speech, which Yoh doesn't use frequently with Segasaki (in fact, by this point, he has not used polite speech with Segasaki at all, except for maybe saying the full form of the word "welcome home", and even that's pushing it). Here he adds it at the end as an afterthought (the polite form of "iya" would be "iie", if he had wanted the whole sentence to be polite from the get go), which tells us that Yoh's feeling a little off-kilter here, and does introduce the slightest distance between him and Segasaki. We'll see this distance increase as the episode goes on.

[Y: いや、どう考えても食べ過ぎだろう] Y: No but, no matter which way you look at it, (he's) eaten way too much hasn't he? Btw, if your hair started standing at the spoon scraping the pot - in the manga artist's post about visiting the shooting venue (as well as during Ep 1 twitter space) it was mentioned that Mashiko, the actor, can actually cook, so during filming they had to tell him what someone who can't would likely do, and also asked him to do the housework poorly (because Yoh's not supposed to be good at cooking or housework hahaha)

この人*、明日も朝早いんだよな。たぶん。 Original: This guy, has an early morning again tomorrow. Probably. Mine: This person*, has (to leave) early tomorrow morning too. Probably. *The word here is "kono hito", literally "this person". There's actually nothing wrong with the translation "this guy" tbh because that's a fairly neutral term in English, but I'm highlighting it here because in his monologues, Yoh usually refers to Segasaki using much rougher language, such as "koitsu, aitsu", except when he addresses Segasaki directly in his head. I'll talk more about how Yoh addresses Segasaki in the analysis post, but for now - this sentence hints that Yoh has clocked Segasaki's tiredness (subconsciously or not) and is feeling a little bad for him. Then again he quickly hides that by adding on "probably". (Adding the word "probably" behind your sentence is a common way to express doubt/negate what you just said, and incidentally is commonly used by comedians to deliver a punchline).

[Y: あの*…あの…寝るなら部屋でとおもって。] Original: Um… Hey… You should go back to your room. Mine: Um*... Um... if you're going to sleep then, (it would be better to sleep) in your room - at least that's what I thought...

*"あの…" (ano…), translated as "um" here, is a common sound you use when you want to get someone's attention but don't want to sound too demanding - it actually isn't being polite per se, but it does show the hesitancy with which Yoh approaches him. Contrast this with the way Segasaki gets Yoh's attention (so far it's just been "Yoh" or "Oi" - the latter of which you would NOT use unless you were close to the person, or looking for a fight).

As a general rule of thumb, the level of politeness in Japanese is directly correlated with the length of the sentence and just how far you can beat around the bush. So, Yoh's suggestion that Segasaki goes to sleep in his room is literally just "if sleeping, then room..." and everything else in that translation is assumed. He may not being using polite speech forms here (that would be "to omoimashita" instead of "to omotte") but this is still a common way to be polite because he's making a suggestion that is so mild Segasaki can choose to ignore it. This is a great example of Brown & Levinson's "negative politeness" which we'll revisit when analysing their speech patterns, and which you can read about in entirely too much detail here (free to read).

[Y: じゅあ、俺は寝るので** あの、その、そういうことで、おやすみ] Original: Then, I’ll go to sleep. That…sort of thing. Good night. Mine: So then, I'm going to bed, therefore**... Um... that... with that... night!

"Therefore" is an awkward translation for the word ので (node), which is more often translated as "so". I've chosen to use that word because "node", whilst again not a polite form per se, is less colloquial than the more commonly used "から(kara)", to mean the same thing. It tends to pop up more in writing than in speech. "Therefore" doesn't make a sentence polite/formal in English, but it's definitely less colloquial than using the word "so". The use of "node" is just that tiny bit out of place in this sentence paired with the informal pronoun "ore" for "I" as opposed to the more formal choice of "boku".

Again, Yoh answers Segasaki properly here with a "はい (hai)" as opposed to his usual "un" (which is a sound that expresses agreement), when told that Segasaki will be late again. There actually aren't very many moments where Yoh does speak politely to Segasaki (he's definitely rude when he talks about Segasaki in his head hahaha), so these moments stand out. This whole short exchange, together with the random -desu he added earlier, just make Yoh's sentences a little more stilted/awkward, and more distant. Individually they don't deserve much mention at all, but together, and in the context of his jealousy, show just how unsure Yoh is about where he stands with Segasaki.

[Y: あの人の帰宅が遅くなり] Y: That person returned home later and later

"That person" - similar to the above usage of "this person". This sentence is incomplete - the verb form of the last word - 遅くなり (osokunari) indicates that there should be a second part to the sentence (the "completed" form would be osokunatta). But after he says this, there is a pregnant pause, as Yoh puts his phone down and continues cooking alone. The pause continues all the way into the next scene, before the sentence continues, highlighting the loneliness that Yoh feels.

[Y: 当然、触れられることもないままに] Original: Of course, he did not touch me at all Mine: (and) of course, (I) remained untouched (by him) as well

The literal translation for this would be "(the situation in which I) was not touched (by him) continued on as well". Yoh uses the passive form of the word "touch", which places the emphasis on Yoh "receiving" the action of being touched as opposed to placing the emphasis on Segasaki "carrying out" the action of touching Yoh. Consider the difference between the sentences "I was hurt by him" and "he hurt me". The former is the passive form, and is super common in Jp, much less common in Eng. If this is confusing - welcome to Jp grammar just know that the emphasis of this line is more on what Yoh does not have, rather than what Segasaki has not done. It accentuates Yoh's feelings of emptiness and loss.

Y: すっかり日々は過ぎて Y: The days pass by completely ...

Similarly, this sentence is "incomplete", and is instead continued by Segasaki walking in and telling Yoh he'll be late again. (This whole bit just hurts my soul tbh, Yoh is so lonely. )

This is a teruteru bouzu aka a charm of sorts for good weather. See the cultural tidbits post for Ep 2 linked up top for more info!

This is said really strongly, and gives the "what the hell are you doing" feel. Yoh's truly upset here.

I try not to care about some of the subs in these side conversations because they don't add much to the main story and these posts are already too long, but this sentence should really be "Dammit, maybe I should (go) troll the chat" (and the previous sentence should be "If this was broadcasted in a certain country it would be instant death" aka N.Korea ^^;) and I just think it was a nice touch to hint at the fandom wars/flaming that goes on between fans hahaha

[Y: しんどい] Y: This is too draining The word here used is "shindoi", which is a term used when you're feeling mentally/physically exhausted/drained, and carries a sense of frustration (at feeling this way) and sometimes (emotional) pain.

This. Is. Huge. Segasaki does 2 things here - one, he rejects an after-work meal, which you rarely do because Japan is all about the group and rejecting a group invite, to welcome a new member, can make you seem like you aren't a team player - two, the guy who invites him is his senior, which you can tell because Segasaki sticks to polite speech forms whilst the other guy does not. It's still relatively casual, so you can tell he's got a good working relationship with them (probably why he's not worried about rejecting them) but still. In Segasaki's world, Yoh is the No. 1 priority.

This is more accurately "WTF". There are many sounds in Japanese that aren't exactly words, but carry a lot of meaning - "Haa?!" is one of them, and is a very rude way to express a lot of anger and shock. Please, never say this in real life. You will royally piss off whoever it's directed at and if you are outside a Shibuya bar you will get punched.

The word used here is てめぇ (temee), which is a really rude way to say "you", and has the same energy as "you bastard". Segasaki usually uses the informal pronoun "omae" for "you" when he talks to Yoh, he's definitely pissed off here.

This is the same word, "shindoi" again.

I'm going to put the rest of the whole argument here with just my translation because it's too long to screencap the whole thing.

[S: 何なんだよ？このエロい惨状は Y: うるさい。 Y: 俺は売れっ子エロ漫画家になるんだ S: なんだそりゃ。おい *takes away beer can* Y: 売れっ子さんが　シコリながらネーム描くと　いいのができるって言ってた S: なんも描けてなかったぞ。 S: おい、だめだっつってんの S: 飲みすぎ　出すもん出して　寝てただけだろう Y: 黙れ！ Y: 俺はエロくて　抜ける漫画描いて　いっぱい稼いで Y: 早く　こんなとこ出ていくんだ S: はあ？　おい、お前　どういうつもりだよ Y: どうもこうもないよ！ Y: 平気で抱かれてると思うなよ 。 Y: 俺のこと、好きでもないくせに Y: 便利な奴隷としか思ってないんだろう？そんなにやりたきゃ隣のキャスターとやってろよ S: お前　さっきから　何を... Y: 俺はあんな風に笑いかけられたことない]

Breakdown: S: What's up with this? This lewd disaster of a scene Y: (You're) annoying! ["うるさい (urusai)" is often translated as "shut up", but it literally means someone is being "noisy", and here is more of a complaint that Segasaki is being bothersome] Y: I'm going to become a hot-selling erotica manga artist! [the word used here is 売れっ子 (urekko), which literally means "someone who gets huge sales" and mostly refers to idols, entertainers, TV personalities etc. So Yoh is not just saying he's going to become popular, he's saying he's gonna be like a celebrity manga artist, which is why Segasaki snorts a little at this] S: What's with that? Hey. *takes away beer can* Y: The hot sellers say that if you jerk off whilst drawing your storyboard, you'll come up with good stuff [urekko-san is a pretty cute way of referring to these popular artists] S: You've not drawn anything, you know? [this is said with a really indulgent air, which contrasts directly with the more authoritative tone of the next line] S: Hey, I'm telling you no more *grabs beer can* S: You drank too much. You just shot what you shot and then went to sleep didn't you? [And this is back to an indulgent tone - also, everyone knows Segasaki is talking about cumming here, he just doesn't actually say it so directly] Y: Shut up! ["黙れ (damare) - contrast with "urusai" earlier. The former is used much less commonly and really does mean to "be quiet". This is why Segasaki pauses and looks at Yoh. Up until now Segasaki just thinks Yoh's gotten drunk and is whining cutely, but this word means things are serious.] Y: I'm going to draw manga that is erotic, that you can wank off to, and then earn lots of money [this is a call back to the conversation with Man-san over the phone in Ep 1, which I did not include earlier because I didn't think it was important to the story when Yoh says "the work that was released last month was amazing! There was a big buzz around the topic "I can't wank off (to this)" - Yoh was being sarcastic here, meaning that he got reviews that his work wasn't erotic enough] Y: and leave this sort of place soon! S: What? Hey - what (the hell) are you thinking? [Again, "haa?" here shows he does NOT like what Yoh's saying, but he does soften the end of the sentence with a "yo"] Y: I'm not thinking of anything! Y: Embracing me so easily - don't think you can (keep on) doing that [again, this is the passive form, so the emphasis is on Yoh being embraced, and here has the nuance of "don't think I'll just (keep on) being fine with being embraced (by you) like it's some sort of norm"] Y: when you don't even like me [this line has quite a bit of bitterness in it - the emphasis here is strongly on Segasaki and his apparent "non-liking" of Yoh my english is dying.] Y: You think of me as just a convenient slave, don't you? Y: If you want to do it that much, go do it with that forecaster next to you! S: You... from the start... what have (you been saying?) Y: I have never been smiled at like that before [again, this is in passive voice]

It's obvious from the acting alone that this entire argument is pretty emotionally charged - this is also reflected in the language because Yoh uses the pronoun "ore (I)" a lot. Pronouns are frequently dropped in Japanese - often you can go an entire conversation without ever uttering the words "I/me" or "you", in part because the pronouns are assumed and also because emphasis on an individual can come across as too selfish/narcissistic or direct. Segasaki uses them often enough with Yoh, which fits his personality, but Yoh normally doesn't. So, when he uses "ore" here it stands out - his plans to be successful and leave, his feelings, his interpretation of Segasaki's actions - all of the emphasis is on his own self. The message is very clear - Yoh is hurting a lot more than he is blaming or accusing Segasaki.

[Y: もう疲れた。あんたといると疲れる。嫌いだ S: お前　酒入るとめちゃくちゃしゃべるんだな Y: ねぇ、何で雨の時はだめなの？ S: はあ？　だって、お前が言ったんだろう] Y: (I'm) tired out. When (I'm) with you, (I) get tired. Hate it. [We've lost the "I" pronouns here, because the emphasis is on the extreme sense of physical and emotional fatigue as opposed to Yoh himself, and on how much he dislikes that feeling. Of note, "hate" here is closer to "detest/really dislike" - the word is "kirai" - which is not as strong as the word "nikui" which we talked about in Ep 1 when Yoh said he hated the part of him that always listened to Segasaki. Also, this is the first time Yoh has addressed Segasaki with the pronoun "you" out loud - he uses "あんた anta", which he also used in his head in Ep 1, after they did it. Again, we'll talk about this in the analysis post in the future, but for now just know that this term is usually used between older couples.] S: You... once you start drinking you really start talking huh? [literally, you "become able to talk"] Y: Hey...why is it when it rains, (we) can't do it? S: What? Because, you said so didn't you? [the last "haa?" from Segasaki! This time expressing his surprise and slight indignation.]

[S: 俺は優しいんだ] S: I. am. Kind. Great example of Segasaki's use of the "ore" pronoun here to quite literally emphasise how great he is. "優しい (kind)" in Japanese carries the connotation of being thoughtful, anticipating the other person's needs and wants and then meeting them etc. It's a characteristic that people often say they look for in their potential partners.

[S: そもそも、なんだ先の言いぐさは 好きじゃないだの　出ていきたいだの お前　俺のプロポーズを受けといてよくそんなことが言えんな S: 養ってやる*っつってんだ　プロポーズ以外になに] S: In the first place, what was with those things you said earlier? That you don't like me, that you want to leave... You... that was rich, saying all that after accepting my proposal. S: I was saying I'd provide and care* for you. If that's not a proposal than what is? ["養ってやる" is a pretty possessive way to say I'll provide for you - it's the same word used when referring to parent providing for a child, or an owner providing for a small animal. It's not rude per se, but it does imply a power imbalance. Segasaki actually sort of has a point here because... this is not something you say to someone else unless you're in a relationship ^^;]

S: ていうかお前、俺のこと嫌いなんだ S: どうなの S: Actually about that... so you hate me huh? S: Which is it?

S: ふーん。あ、そ S: Ohh..? I see. ふーん (Ohh..?) - Segasaki says this a lot, especially in this episode. This is another one of those sounds that isn't a word but carries a lot of meaning. It has a dismissive sort of tone to it, like you've already assumed something or when you're pretty nonchalant/not impressed about whatever the other person has said and are just playing along with them by giving them some attention (so again, if you use it wrongly, it can piss people off). Segasaki uses it whenever Yoh goes mute or shy, as a way to tease Yoh - though Yoh seems to think Segasaki is dismissing/not interested in his answer. あ、そ (A, so) - again, Segasaki says this a lot - can be interpreted as "oh really?/I see/is that so?" - Combined with the above, you can see why Yoh often thinks Segasaki isn't interested in his answer, and even when he does recognise it as teasing, he gets too flustered to do anything about it.

This seems to have gotten longer, if you reached the end - congratulations! I hope this makes it a little clearer why it's so obvious to us as the viewer that Segasaki is really quite patient with Yoh, and is waiting for him to come to terms with his feelings, but at the same time so confusing for Yoh, because of the way many of these interactions can be read both ways. In Ep 3, we'll really be able to get into their dynamics because they've got so much more interaction together.

[mikey-stardust-way]

Wait, wait, sorry to ask us or bring up that loser again But his ugly profile pitcher He used in all social media Is traced over over a sonic character from the IDW comics I heard rumors that he was stealing art Mostly just IDW characters and drawing them Then there was another rumor that you've been stealing some other characters and tracing over them Is like real artist like stealing their work And I know he did. The one time still are From a talented sonic artist which I won't name. I'd rather keep your identity safe Someone didn't do that.

It's Okey you can bring him up! Sure he's an ass, but there's SO MUCH ABOUT HIM!

So, I am blessed with the power to Google extremely well~ and he 1. Uses the same name on basically everything and 2. SAME PROFILE!

He's of course on Twitter, Tumblr, but also has a YouTube channel (as many people have an account) which all he does off it makes shitty comments on other YouTube videos...(typical troll behavior)

He has a DA which has a diffrent profile but I KNOW It's him becuse he likes those stupid ass, "Everytime IDW contradicts the games" and other post among his.....odd fetish stuff.

He also has two other sites, which he's one. One of them definitely is so strange and very old internet? And SO HARD to navigate and where he posts and likes a lot of well fetish stuff and the more odd underage sonic character content- namely a couple Cream the Rabbit things. (Not giving the sites name because I forgot)

Then he's on a more popular well known easier to navigate furry website, same name and all, with a self-posted galley of maybe one original work? But traced IDW character sheets? And an image of Kinetic and Pulse, who I assume is surge but... different?

He's not been active posting wise on a lot of theses but of course lurks and likes/favorites and saves things. He's a bit more active on the writing website vs the art ones.(as in posting)

(But wait! There's more!)

I heard the rumor of him tracing/recoloring and it sent me on a wild hunt and I found SO MUCH on him. He's wound up on Reddit forms a NUMBER of times, people from years ago know of him, he's been kicked off and blocked on so much, it's WILD.

The only good thing I've seen him do, is a decent speech bubble edit of the IDW comics which was alright. Otherwise, he bitches and nags day and night which is sad.

He's said he could rewrite them, and there's was a little bit of him genuinly invested in wanting to essentially judt fix speech bubbles- but he gave up on it and has since then gotten on a porn kick of "Oh the SEGA/IDW writers made this for porn!! Ahaha!" Which is gross to me and not true.

Like the sceans in question are those silly more childish fight scenes of fighting, and it's meant to come off as wild and a bit cartoonish- IT'S A COMIC BOOK OF SONIC but anyways either here nor there-

RIP to the one artist however, I'm sure they were and are amazing! Takes a lot of make an IDW/Sonic character- (and I've been drawing them a lot lately and it ain't easier by much....)

Anyways that's all the stuff I have on him...so far..

He can be boiled down to- "Grown ass man obsessed with X fetish and is full of brain rot needs to touch grass severly"

[darkinerry]

GIF COLOURING EXAMPLES

I was inspired by @bizarrelittlemew and @saltpepperbeard posts [x][x] to make a gif comparison myself too :)

I do like the idea to show the differences between original vs edited gif; and the way it spreads awareness about the amount of time & work that goes into making such gifs. As Jodi said: "It’s not as simple as feeding frames into a program and *poof*, you’re done." ✌🙂

So, here are my examples :)

(the originals -on the left- are after trimming/cropping and added slow-mo, but the image itself is not touched on them) (also, sorry if they're slightly out of sync, I tried)

My own process is two-step. It starts with Sony Vegas, where I cut/trim the clip I want from the video/episode; usually I slow it down (in case of the Taika clip - I also added video stabilization), and I do the initial colouring and sharpness effects. Then I render the clip and move it to Photoshop where I crop it and add/play around with more effects/adjustment layers; contrast, levels, curves, colours, etc. So, quite a bit of work 🙃

And seeing something you've poured time and effort and heart into creating, taken and posted elsewhere without a word of acknowledgement/credit, is not a great feeling at all.

Again, quoting from @saltpepperbeard:

"It’s a process, and it’s a form of art. And just as you wouldn’t re-post someone’s fanfic, someone’s video, or someone’s music, please don’t re-post gifs without credit! Reblog from the source, use the add gif function, or include the artist’s @ if needed be! It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s appreciated more than you know." (and if you use a different site, like Twitter, you can throw in a link or mention the gif creator username). 💗

[artharakka]

Are you okay with people using, reposting or editing your art with proper credits? :3

(I'm sorry if this has been asked, I can't find anything mentioning this!)

Thank you for asking 🧡

Hmmm I think it depends a bit of the case? I think you here have good intentions, but since "using" is very broad term I'm going to answer kind of broadly here and not just yes/no in case someone else would refer to this ask at another context.

So, all of my works are copyrighted under Finnish/EEA copyright laws. The copyright is created and valid automatically from the moment of creation of the art piece (and it also includes sketches I've posted on Patreon, for example). My answers are based on those copyright laws and on my personal preferences within those.

(under cut as this got long)

USING: I'm ok with most personal use. That is, for example, printing out a single image for personal use or using a picture on your blog header or as personal playlist (spotify etc) cover art AS LONG as it is not a piece commissioned by someone else.

If you own a print you have ordered from me, you have also right to display it publicly (i.e. posting a photo of it). Owning a print doesn't however mean that you get right to print more copies for sale.

I'm not ok with my art used in buyable products or copies of my art sold by others than those I've individually authorized. I have copyright even to commissioned pieces, so even those cannot be used in products without my consent. If you'd like to use my art on products/covers or otherwise do some kind of collaboration, send me an email at artharakka(at)gmail.com and we can discuss prices and royalties.

REPOSTING (public display): Usually I'd say I prefer people reblogging (through the little arrows at the bottom of the post) rather than reposting it (meaning making your own original post with it). If you'd like to post it on other social media sites besides tumblr, I do have Instagram (also @ artharakka) where I post my art and I'd prefer if no new art of mine ends up on twitter/x/whatever.

However, if you'd like to do a collab of my art or with my art, to do reference/shoutout post or a moodboard for your characters etc., I'm ok with reposting as long as I'm mentioned as the artist. Though here you are also bound by the laws' moral obligations which means no putting my art "in context that could be offensive to the artist" (very broad and case by case point but I bet mocking me is not your intention)

I'm also ok with using my art in noncommercial contexts i.e. as figures in articles or school projects.

EDITING: I'm ok with most edits, again, as long as it isn't offensive to me. (And offensive meaning mostly not aiming to mock me or use in contexts that would show me in bad light, but also don't draw smut of my characters without asking). Im ok with, for example, removing a background from some piece, but in that case you have to remember that I still own the copyright. If the edit / modification of the idea is original enough, it might become it's own piece with own copyrights (again, I don't own themes or ideas and sometimes I also borrow compositions/themes from older art).

TLDR: I'm ok with most things not offensive and that you don't aim to earn money with. Credit is welcome and I prefer as direct link as you can provide. Commissioned pieces are off limits without the commissioner's consent.

For individual case questions you can send me message, email or another ask!

[golbrocklovely]

have you seen the crowd on twitter trying to get Sam and Colby cancelled and sued for 'not doing enough'? It's wild and makes no sense to me, they're doing plenty, they don't need to give us everything, what are these people on?

i'm happy someone sent me this bc i do have some opinions on it lol

see the thing is, it's not even that they "aren't doing enough", ie related to xplrclub, it's that they aren't talking about things that matter. the main two being palestine and george/wilbur being creeps.

to be mad at them for all three of these things, as if somehow they are all on the same level is ridiculous and such an online take, it's not even funny.

but here, i'll break down how i feel about all of this.

as i've stated before, snc don't have to comment on palestine. i know a lot of fans want them to say something but reality is nothing will change if they say free palestine or ask for a ceasefire. snc do not hold that much power, they aren't besties with the president. stop asking influencers to do something. this genocide has been happening for a long time, well prior to the october attacks. it's not snc's job to inform the public on worldwide news. it will not change what is currently happening. palestinians are being murdered and you are making this about snc. stop doing that. who you should be truly angry at is our government and the fact they keep giving OUR TAX DOLLARS to the idf. be upset at that. call your congressmen. donate. stop making this about snc, oh my god.

(and if anyone reading this doesn't agree with me, that's fine. but just know i'm not gonna change my mind on it. who cares what snc think about a genocide??? do your part, help out how you can, and keep it moving.)

the george and wilbur thing…. look, i get fans wanting them to unfollow them, but most likely that's not gonna happen. not bc snc support them, but bc snc never do shit like that. they don't get involved in things that aren't related to them. and this is one of those instances. why do they need to denounce two ppl they aren't friends with and only collabed with, max, twice? you wanna be upset with them about this, go ahead. but don't hold your breath.

also it would be incredibly idiotic for them to comment on something like this. and again, you are making a situation that has nothing to do with snc about snc. stop doing that.

xplrclub. imma be honest with you, this is the one that i find hysterical, just bc of how far fetch it is.

i read the original post that started all of this, or at least that was recently created about all of this. i'm also on xplrclub and saw a fan asking basically all of these questions, and then getting a reply from a mod telling them that snc have account managers that probably tell them when to comment on things, and then when that wasn't a good enough answer, said fan asked for an admin. and idk what happened afterwards.

but let me make it abundantly clear: you can't sue snc for "not doing enough" lol that's just not a thing

first off, they haven't even been charging us for a while. so you're not paying for any of the content as of right now. which i think has caused ppl to think that xplrclub has always been free. but now that they plan to charge us in 2 weeks times, ppl are upset that this is all the content they're getting. but snc laid it out loud and clear on the site of what we're getting: multiple camera roll vids a week, a podcast and livestream a month, and a giveaway a month. and then exclusive content like once a week i think. that's all laid out on the site. if you don't want to be charge $19 a month for that… then don't sign up. it's an exclusive club for a reason. not every fan can afford it. you're not owed a spot in xplrclub. sorry. that's just how the world works.

but what makes all of this even dumber is these fans want to sue snc or at least let them know that "without your fans you would have nothing" as if snc don't already know that. and they're talking about "all we need is 40% of ppl on xplrclub to leave, and then they would have to shut it down, which means we can sue them bc we're not getting what was promised to us"

again, not how any of this works. not to mention, any fans that believes this 10000% wasn't around when metalife shut down in like three days time with basically a paragraph and an email notice lol but that being said snc also gave refunds to those that were charged for the month it shut down

if snc lost a huge amount of subs on xplrclub, they're allowed to shut the site down then if they weren't breaking even or were losing profit from it. the only reason you would be allowed to sue them is if they weren't giving you any content but kept charging you anyway. or if somehow there was a data leak and ppl's card information got out there. that would be a reason to sue. but that has not happened, and most likely won't as well.

not to mention, but there are over 1000 members on that site as we speak. 40% would be a significant dent, sure; but not enough to close the site down. there would still be hundreds of ppl on the site. you would need over half of the users to dip out, and baby that just ain't happening lol

there was also this whole argument about how if snc were sued "tv and film laws" are really difficult and they would be in a lot of trouble and all i gotta say to that is……… wut???? snc aren't on tv or film???? do you guys think they are characters or something, actors acting in their vids??? when snc call their content "movies" they don't mean literal movies, they mean length wise, babe. like i want to give some benefit since i know some of these fans are really young and don't know better but like… google is a thing.

i just…. it's always something with this fandom, you know. there can never be complete peace. i can't have a single day of fun without there being some shit storm brewing on the horizon. i'm so totally done with it lmao

[kyluxtrashpit]

So I’m having another… let’s call it an internet crisis. A thing that typically happens when I have Big Problems I can’t do fuck all about which means now it’s time to get Really Upset about problems that are comparatively small but do affect my daily routine (sorry again for no cut, I still can’t remember how to do it on mobile and I fucking hate hate hate the desktop post editor as much as someone can hate a piece of code)

It’s… getting harder to use tumblr. This isn’t about the sidebar, I don’t actually hate the sidebar cause we used to have a sidebar on the other side and I’ve missed it every since it left, but it’s about other things. A lot of things, but I won’t get into them all right now. For me, the new post editor is just. Really fucking difficult to use. If you’re just doing an unformatted, unplanned ramble (like this) or a little shitpost, it’s fine, especially if you’re on mobile (somehow the shitty mobile editor is now less shitty than the desktop editor, how tf did that happen), but if you’ve got multiple paragraphs and literally any formatting is needed? Well, you’re fucked, quite frankly, it is the most dense and convoluted post editor I’ve seen in like roughly 2 decades spent online. I’ve never seen anything more counterintuitive and difficult to use

And I’m sitting here with all these twitter posts I want to move. Some are little and would be easy. Others are a lot longer and more complicated and would shove me into that formatting hell I despise so much (and given how much feedback and unanswered asks to wip I’ve sent with no improvements, I’ve given up hope of it ever being made better). Like god I really, really want to save those posts but is it even worth it to do it here? But where else would I do it?

And the secondary layer too is… there’s no fucking posts here. No engagement on posts either most of the time. 90% of my posts come from my archive cause the kylux and Kylo (plus a few others I check less regularly) tags have very few daily posts and there’s hardly anything on my dash anymore. My original posts maybe get 10 notes on average, and these posts are ones that sometimes got near triple digit rts alone on twitter. Just seems there’s exceptionally few people here to enjoy them

And I’m still on twitter. It’s slowly dwindling but it’s still slightly more active than here. I’m on pillowfort and bsky too and they are truly dead (unless you’re a furry, good on the furries for populating every site in existence). There’s just. Nothing anymore. Maybe my fandoms are just dead but it feels like the meme about passing around the same $20 among friends cause capitalism is destroying us except with posts and likes

Idk. I feel like I don’t have an online home anymore. 90% of my socializing is online and 100% of my creativity is expressed through fandom and. I don’t know where to do that anymore. I have friends I chat with on discord and I love them but it’s… it’s not the same as a whole community, you know? And now that our homes are falling apart with every sign pointing towards imminent foreclosure like. What do I do. I know I’ve been through site losses before but. It feels different. Something new and shiny always came along before the end. I fear that’s not coming and we’ll all just be lost

Idk. I don’t have a conclusion. Twitter is doomed. I hate how the new owners are running on tumblr and I’m still posting here more out of a desperate desire to remember what community felt like than any real actual want to do so. The new sites have nothing going on. Idk. I feel lost. And maybe it’s the 15 other problems I have going on right now and hormones and shit but. I just don’t know what to do and I’m scared of what the future looks like for online communities and how alone I’ll be if I lost them (even though in reality I already have lost them aside from a small handful of people)

[theyhitthepentagon]

hope this isnt weird to ask but do you have any tips on how to start using tumblr regularly... i cant seem to get used to this sites layout but i prefer doing anything than to stay on twitter

download extensions. i use dashboard unfucker and xkit rewritten to fix the websites layout and ublock origin to block any other stuff like ads. for mobile i use the website version instead of the app (not by choice but from what ive seen the app is awful anyways sooo? idk). not a EEQUIREMENT i guess but i strongly recommend going into settings and turning off anything related to an algorithm. ALSO ALSO not required but i strongly recommend making your likes and followed blogs only visible to you

as for rhe social aspect, i started getting into tumblr more through fandom. as much as i hate to admit it this is a very fandom centric site. if u like what someone posts follow them and if you dont then dont follow them. theyll do the same and thats how you get ur mutuals. dont be scared to send people asks or reply to their posts because i assure you everyone loves to receive asks...

once u get mutuals and start following people youll start to use the site more (i did anyways). its kinda hard to get out of the mindset that twitter puts you into when it comes to interaction but youll get used to it after a while truuuuuust. sorry if this doesnt answer questions BTW

[writebackatya]

Sorry you have to receive another message about this situation again but

Was there any proof of Shelly grooming anyone?screenshots or anything like that? I feel it’s not very good to accuse someone of that if there is lack of proof that they did so in the first place

Personally, I will no longer be interacting with Shelly due to their interaction with problematic and gross creators but still I felt this needed to be said

Thank you for discussing this; I do feel this is important and thank you for your time

There is no reason to apologize. We all need to be smart about this and make sure our facts are all straight

As for the grooming, in the time I’ve spent searching through Shelly’s art, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, and their art mutual’s Twitter profile; I found no evidence of grooming

I don’t think in any of my posts I accused Shelly of being a groomer, I did however put the tw tags of grooming just because there were mentions of it. And I think in my first post I wrote that anonymous’ accusations were accurate without specifying that it was about their Pokémon art and the people they associate themselves with. So I’ll be sure to go back to my original post and clarify that

I will say that when I got the original message I was working 2nd shift at my job, but it was not a super busy day and I had access to my phone and wanted to get to the bottom of it right away. I did get some interruptions and I did not feel all too comfortable looking through NSFW content of any kind while at work so my research was not the most thorough but I stand by that it was enough for me to let anonymous’ concerns be seen

I will reiterate my findings here. When I was searching through Shelly’s DuckTales artwork I didn’t find anything that made me raise an eyebrow. Any artwork that featured the young characters or characters when they were younger were in no way sexual. The only NSFW artwork I found was with the adult characters. I know everyone has their standards but I personally don’t see anything wrong with NSFW stuff when the character is an established adult

While I was on Shelly’s Twitter I decided to look into their art mutual’s Twitter page that anonymous mentioned and there I immediately found (thankfully) blurred out images of NSFW featuring the kid characters of DuckTales as well as links to the full art. Besides that I found that that artist made various edits to some of Shelly’s NSFW DuckTales artwork. And before you ask, yes I can confirm the two were mutuals following one another and this person wasn’t just a fan of Shelly’s art

After I came across that I just wanted to be sure if Shelly themselves has ever drawn anything that would raise any red flags. I went onto a furry website that I knew reposted art from the sites anonymous mentioned that I did not have access to. I went ahead and searched under Shelly’s name

Again, the DuckTales artwork did not raise any red flags in my book since all the NSFW stuff was with characters like Gyro or Mark Beaks, two characters that we know are adults. It was when I got to the Pokémon art work that the red flags were raised for me

There were a lot of sexual artwork featuring the Pokémon creatures and a good portion of them featured ones I considered cutesy such as Eevee and other little Pokémon that can easily be interpreted as young

The one artwork that made me end up my research and just respond to anonymous’ message was one that featured a Pokémon (I don’t remember which one) and a human character. After clicking on the picture I went down to the tags and saw that the human character was Silver who is a trainer and as far as I know, all the main trainers in any Pokémon games are children

Now past artwork might not be enough for some and that’s fair. Stuff we post in the past may no longer reflect who we are now and Shelly’s current artwork (or at least the stuff I have seen) did not raise any red flags for me but their association with that one DuckTales artist did. And I felt that was enough to warn the younger fans in this fandom about Shelly

Before all this happened, I will say I didn’t personally know Shelly. My interactions with them consisted of me liking and reblogging their artwork as well as a recent WIP preview they wrote

The only time I think they spoke directly to me was on a poll I ran on Tumblr. It was my “How did Della “greet” Gyro when she got back from the moon”. The poll’s options consisted of different acts of violence and pettiness from Della that she would do to Gyro that I felt were just cartoony and in no way mean spirited

I remember I did that poll because I always saw posts from the fandom like “Oh Della deserves to punch Gyro at least once” so I thought it’d be fun to do a poll on what Della did to get her revenge on Gyro for his black licorice gum. I didn’t want it to be too extreme or mean spirited so I tried my best to come up with violent and petty actions that I could see Della doing that were just cartoony. I even threw in a “the two just sat down and had a nice conversation with one another” as an option cause I wanted to be clear “I don’t hate Gyro”

Well Shelly saw the poll. She responded to it on her personal account and thought the poll was mean spirited towards Gyro. I don’t recall everything what their comment said but I do remember that what they wrote sounded very angry and seemed to take the poll really personally

Now to be fair, Shelly doesn’t know me and I can see how one can interpret that even if it wasn’t my intention. To show that the poll was in all good fun and that I don’t hate Gyro I replied to their comment with “but black licorice” because yeah, that’s a lame excuse and it’s the only reason Della is mad at Gyro. They didn’t respond.

A week went by and the results came in, the winner of the poll was “All the above”. After the results came in Shelly once again commented on the post in a rather condescending way, along the lines of “I don’t see why people voted for what they did when Della was to blame but whatever!” I didn’t respond

After that I wanted to show there was no hard feelings from me, so whenever I reblogged their stuff I tried my best to remember to add comments in the tags

Yes I could’ve reached out to them, but I’m bad at doing that to people I don’t really know. And looking back on everything, I’m glad I didn’t

[amalasdraws]

amalas! you're such an inspiration for so many of us, not only with your art, but also with who you are as a person

sorry if this ask comes off like rude, if so please ignore it, but I'm wondering if you have tips for someone who wishes to go from mildly popular in a fandom, to having engagement with original art. I seem to struggle a lot with that here, on tumblr

thank you for your time! keep being amazing <3 uwu

Hey hey, Awww thank you! I'm not sure I am (/)///(/) but I try my best! Sorry for the late reply. The question is not rude at all, but I thought long about how and if I can answer this and what a good answer would be. And I think I don't have a good one. I can however speak from my own experiences and share what I know and worked for me.

Social media and sharing art is tricky and I still don't get the "rules" or what works. And many things can be true at once! There is luck, and posting at the right time, and hitting someone the right nail and vibe, finding your people, having "the right" people to share your work and spread it. And it's work. One thing I mostly realized over the last two years is that there is a reason companies have social media managers and trying to keep up and relevant as a freelance artist is work! But I think this applies more for a freelance art business and for platforms like twitter, instagram, artstation etc. Sites with weird algorithm and short living posts. Tumblr is different and I think going into all my freelance hustle is also not what you are asking for and I'm getting off track :D

I think it's important to understand that when you are known for one thing, fandom art in this case, you will have followers who are only there for this specific fandom or ship. And you will lose them or not having support your original art. And that is okay!! But there will also always be people who are there for your art! And already having a basis of people who like your art due to fandom work is a great start!!

Now you just have to win them over for your original art!! And this can take time but if you are consistent and want it, just do your thing!! Be patient and do what you like!! And with this you will attract the people who are there for your art and characters! They will see your genuine joy and interest! And this will always attract people and pull them in!

I think in my case it helped that many of my fandom, or rather iwaoi art, was already close to my original art! I lend a lot from my first oc version to iwaoi and put a lot of my own interests and things into them! This made my iwaoi out of character for some, but I already managed to get the people who are interested in this kind of vibe and style. So the switch to my ocs was probably kinda smooth.

But overall I can say that me putting so much of myself and genuine interests and love into my art def attracted people and people with similar interests! Original art or even art for a ship or fandom you love has that! This special spark and someone behind who loves doing it. And it will shine through!! And if it doesn't work right away, give it time! Really! Do your thing! Be unapologetic you!! And the people who want that will come!

It also always helps to tell a bit of a story. Do you have special characters? Is there a story? You don't need to share all, but dropping small glimpses into their world within your art and maybe in small texts posts def help people to connect to your art and get interested!

But beyond all that, please understand that social media is tricky! And giving out advice is super hard because sometimes the little spark of luck is missing. Promotion and getting out there is work and tricky! And a lot of things won't come quick! Don't just do it for the likes and notes. And I know this is easier said than done!! And believe me I am not above this! we all want the engagement. But there needs to be an inner will that goes beyond that! That makes you enjoy doing it! Enjoy to draw and enjoy to put the work in on social media. To engage with people and share and not just for likes but because you like to do it!

And sometimes things will be slow and not work out right away. Just keep going and enjoy the journey!

I'm sorry, this got long and I feel I didn't really say anything helpful. As said, answering this is super hard!! And I never know how to cut myself short and give precise short answers!

On a last note: If you want to come off anon I'm happy to have a look at your art! Maybe I can give more insights when I see it on what and how could work. Or I can just reblog it and maybe have some more people see it! but this is just an offer and I totally understand if you don't want to!! No pressure!

I wish you all the best with your art!

[dapolyshipping]

2023 Updates & Changes

The DA Poly Website has been fully updated for 2023, and boy were there a lot of updates to be made. Please read through the changes below the cut and let us know if you have any questions. Also don't forget:

Nominations open in just over a month!

Changes

Communications

After a lot of thought and consideration, we've decided to shut down the exchange twitter. We're sorry for those of you who use that as your main source of news, but the platform has become openly hostile to small projects and creators and it's going to be impossible for us to post there and ensure you actually see our updates. Instead, you can follow our announcements in the following ways:

Our Website We have added a blog to our website which will have an archive of all of our posts from today onward. You can follow the blog in your RSS reader of choice! (Have no idea what RSS is? I highly recommend the in depth blog RSS for Post-Twitter News and Web Monitoring, but you can also find a more bite-sized intro on mod enigmalea's website here.)

Tumblr Our tumblr will continue to host announcements and information about the exchange and will continue to host Poly Sharing (the new name for the former DA Polyshipping Day/Week).

Mod enigmalea's Mastodon If you're on Mastodon, enigmalea will be posting updates there. If you'd rather not follow them directly, you can also follow the dragon age chirp.social and gup.pe groups and see the updates that way!

The Hanged Man Dreamwidth & The Hanged Man Pillowfort If you have an account on Dreamwidth or Pillowfort, we'll be sharing updates in The Hanged Man communities on those sites!

Fandom Calendar Dreamwidth We will be posting a schedule and reminder for each stage of the exchange on Fandom Calendar!

General

Polyshipping Week info was renamed to "Poly Sharing" and updated to reflect that we reblog DA poly content at any time!

Collections for the exchange will remain open at all times for additional treats. If you have a prompt you still want to write from any previous years, feel free to do so!

Website has been updated with all new info. The tumblr pinned post has all updated info, as well.

The AO3 collection now features a short version of the FAQ to save space. Please refer to the website for the in depth FAQ.

The countdown was removed from the tumblr layout. The website homepage still has a countdown!

The website was updated to show all deadlines in your local time.

Rules Updates

The rules have been updated to clarify that previously posted works cannot be added to the collection. An exception to this might be a transformational work of a work already in the collection (for example, if someone makes a podfic for a fic in the collection and doesn’t add it to the collection initially, it could be added later.)

The rules were also clarified to disallow works which are entirely AI generated. Our Exchange Info gives a more detailed explanation of what we mean.

Nominations

There have been no changes to nominations.

Sign-Ups

Sign-Ups require a minimum of 3 ships for requests and offers instead of one. We've received sign-ups with very limited requests and offers lately which makes producing a match very difficult.

Sign-Ups now allow for up a maximum of 60 ships requested and an unlimited number of ships offered. Please see Tutorials - How to Sign-Up for more details.

Your requests cannot consist of entirely ships which use a DNW to limit your creator to creating for only your OC. For at least one of the three ships you request you should be open to receiving any OC (generic, one created specifically for your gift, or your gifter's OC) or should be a ship which has no original characters. Creating for other people's OCs is complex and is not something that everyone is able or willing to tackle within the context of an exchange, so participants should be willing to be flexible for at least one request.

If you are requesting art of your OC we ask that you have more than one reference for both face and body. Otherwise, artists may have a difficult time filling your request.

Other Exchange Stuff

Last, but certainly not least, the mods will be posting a separate Treatless list this year. The link has not been added anywhere yet, but will be shortly after sign-ups close!

[menalez]

Dude the Al Jazeera journalist is the one the claim originated from, and if you cared you could have hunted down that information yourself instead of going all "but what if this is as fake as the babies Israel claimed were thrown in ovens by Hamas?" which is still really gross. And I NEVER acted like "there are no journalists in Gaza," I said it was nasty to DEMAND independent verification from a journalist when so many journalists have been murdered by Israel and the remaining journalists are being targeted with assassination attempts from Israel along with all the other dangers of living in a place where an active genocide is being committed against them. My point was that going "prove it!" whenever someone talks about the atrocities going on in Gaza is insensitive to the struggle of the people there. Especially when you compare it to the projection and lies of Israel (idk if you know but the origin of the "babies thrown in ovens" is that it's something Israelis did to Palestinians). It's the whole idea that no Palestinian can stand up and say "this is happening to us" without you casting doubt on their stories and comparing them to Israel's *proven* lies. That IS gross. Sorry you can't handle criticism on any level.

Dude the Al Jazeera journalist is the one the claim originated from, and if you cared you could have hunted down that information yourself instead of going all "but what if this is as fake as the babies Israel claimed were thrown in ovens by Hamas?" which is still really gross.

right bc u went thru my search history and saw i didn’t try to verify it myself right?

literally nothing came up besides that tweet! i tried to verify who the guy is too and couldn’t. the original tweet shared is not of the gaza aljazeera journalist who originally discussed it and that didn’t come up when i looked up the info provided.

so “waaah u should’ve done this before saying a tweet isn’t a reliable source 😤” i did.

And I NEVER acted like "there are no journalists in Gaza," I said it was nasty to DEMAND independent verification from a journalist

i mean u did but “demand” is a funny word when i simply said in the tags that i’m sure various renowned middle eastern news sites .. like yknow aljazeera which u then brought up (& could’ve brought up without the performative outrage frankly but whatever) would happily report on this and verify these claims, whereas some random man on twitter claiming something would not hold up comparatively. it’s literally some guy’s written tweet. sorry i think serious claims need more backing than a random guy on twitter’s tweet being posted as proof. my bad. how evil.

when so many journalists have been murdered by Israel and the remaining journalists are being targeted with assassination attempts from Israel along with all the other dangers of living in a place where an active genocide is being committed against them. My point was that going "prove it!" whenever someone talks about the atrocities going on in Gaza is insensitive to the struggle of the people there.

have i gone “prove it!” whenever someone talks about it? i said a tweet from a random dude is not a reliable source to a very serious and major and frankly narrative-changing claim.

u can try to act like u have soooo many morals underlying ur behaviour but u literally just felt the need to bully me for pointing out a tweet is not a source & then claiming this outrage was bc i’m being very insensitive and somehow am not aware of journalists being killed in gaza despite me posting CONSTANTLY about gaza.

Especially when you compare it to the projection and lies of Israel (idk if you know but the origin of the "babies thrown in ovens" is that it's something Israelis did to Palestinians). It's the whole idea that no Palestinian can stand up and say "this is happening to us" without you casting doubt on their stories and comparing them to Israel's *proven* lies. That IS gross. Sorry you can't handle criticism on any level.

but this wasn’t even a palestinian saying “this is happening to me” it was an unknown guy saying another unknown person saw another unknown guy experience something at the hands of unknown IDF soldiers at an unknown timepoint and it’s something so extremely serious and severe that it does require further information than just taking that claim as fact. like be fr for one second.

sorry i did not magically find the source of the unknown guy’s vague claims when searching for it before pointing out that this is an unknown guy’s tweets that can’t be used as actual proof of anything. sorry for caring about the conflict enough to want actual usable sources on this serious claim? like idk what u want besides to shame me into believing anything i see on twitter as somehow truth just bc it aligns with my beliefs. my bad for trying to be factual and share only factual info and point out when info cannot be yet deemed factual. how evil of me. my bad for not grovelling and saying ur right for unreasonably lashing out at me

[obi-nob-kenobi]

Fandom AU || Obikin

Original thread on twitter

Hello_There_Ben is an (in)famous ao3 writer. The king of Dead Dove for a popular fandom. Hes been friends with artist Darth_Vader for years on tumblr. After 5 years they meet in person at a convention, seeing each other for the first time. And fall in love.

Hello_There_Ben Aka Obi-Wan Kenobi is a corporate lawyer. But since he was a teenager he’s been writing fics and posting them on every site you can think of until finally settling on ao3. Though he knew his fics aren't for everyone, to his surprise he’s gifted with art!

Darth_Vader aka Anakin Skywalker is a recent engineering masters student graduate, but back in undergrad he would stress draw. One day he got curious and went into the DDDNE tag of his favorite show, and came across Hello_Ben's fic and HAD to draw for him.

aka a very self indulgent AU but also an obikin meet cute 

After they began talking. A lot. Ben gave him tips on surviving College (it's been a while for me but you'll get through it) just as Vader stayed up and talked with him during Ben's divorce (I'm so sorry, seriously what can I do for you?) But they never saw each other's pictures.

That is until Anime Coruscant comes into town, just a 20 min bus ride from Obi-Wan's townhouse. Vader messages him that he has an artist table at the con and maybe they can finally meet up. Obi-Wan used to go to that con, stopped when it got too big, but bought his ticket. 

And the day of the con the nerves set in. He's finally gonna meet his online friend for the first time. Is he gonna get weirded out he's older (even tho he's never hidden his age, just had 30+ in his bio)? And when he finds Vader's table he's met with the most gorgeous man.

Which only makes him EXTRA nervous. Obi-Wan is in a casual-ish cosplay of their fandom (idk maybe he writes thorki or Hannigram) and he's getting self conscious of how he looks. He also has some coffee and pastries as a snack for Vader as a "hi glad to meet you" offering.

He approaches his table just as Vader finishes a purchase with a customer. He looks at Obi-Wan with his gorgeous blue eyes and handsome smile and Obi-Wan chokes on his tongue as he just spurts out "hello there" And Vader recognizes him immediately "Ben??"

Vader reaches over for him across his table. Almost knocking over his own display in an attempt to hug him "it's so good to meet you!!" And then Vader drags him over to his side of the table, and oh Vader is taller than him. Tall and handsome and full of sunshine.

Vader sells mostly prints of his work seen all over tumblr and Instagram. He also has cute stickers and buttons related to fanfic stuff (friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, Dead Dove etc) and he's getting a good amount of sales! But now all his attention is on Obi-Wan.

"Thank you for coming, I didn't expect you so soon. How's the con? Did you get anything yet?" Vader talks excitedly, already out of breath when he finally asks "oh, I didn't even ask if Ben is okay to call you by. You can call me Ani, or Anakin." A beautiful name for him.

Obi-Wan manages to get his own name out and Anakin's smile is so bright now learning it "Obi-Wan? That's such a cool name!! Why go by Ben?" It was a nickname growing up, but also more anonymous since he's a lawyer. Don't need clients to find his ao3 and tangle it with his work.

So the con goes well, Obi-Wan stays with anakin and helps him with his table. After they eat at Denny's just to talk more and it's really like talking to an old friend. Despite their age difference and distance everything they do is comfortable. Anakin has to get  To his hotel soon and pass out. He explained he actually drove 8hrs to the con the morning of set up so he's exhausted and its catching up on him. Obi-Wan walks with him to his hotel... only there's a party going on. And Anakin isn't sure where he can sleep.

He didn't know anyone else coming to the con, but he saw someone said they had room for one more to help pay and he took it, since the cost would be much less than a hotel by himself. But the host of the room had other people over. "Absolutely not, you're staying with me"

And Anakin looks at him, shocked but grateful "Are you sure? I don't want to inconvenience you." "Do you want to sleep on the floor? Come on" So taking Anakin's car they go to Obi-Wan's house. And he's already dotting on Anakin, giving him a fresh towel and--

Offering snacks but Anakin laughs saying this was more than enough and he owes Obi-Wan a lot. Obi-Wan jokingly says to join him for dinner again tomorrow night, and Anakin replies "Thai or sushi?" 

 "Thai" 

"Its a date" and then disappears into the shower and Obi-wan is FUCKED

TBC 

[fromdarzaitoleeza]

idk if this is helpful for your situation but it seems like you can put in a request to the site provider itself to remove your work from someone's page.

this is the DMCA for twitter: https://help.twitter.com/en/forms/ipi/dmca

not sure how to share the tumblr post it's originally from with you but I reblogged it recently, so it's on my page if you wanna see it.

good luck and sorry this happened to you!!

I don't understand how Twitter works but I will definitely look into it

You have my thanks !

[pain-in-the-riri]

Twitfic I posted on Twitter last night :) Enjoy!

I'll probably write a follow-up later this week, might throw it on ao3 also

----

The first time Ed sees Stede walk by his construction site, Stede is wearing a too-tight button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

When Ed whistles at him, he expects Stede to follow Standard Catcall Procedure and keep walking his fine ass to his destination.

Instead, Stede meets his eyes and, face questioning and dopey smile plastered on his face, walks up to Ed and says, "Can I help you?"

Ed, is caught off guard, but not one to be easily flustered, leans into it. "You can tell me where you've been all my life."

"Oh, well. In Auckland mostly!" Stede says, then with a curt little wave says, "bit late, actually, can't stay to chat just now," and walks away.

Ed's not 100% sure what just happened, but he can't stop grinning for a few minutes afterwards.

The second time Ed sees Stede it's only a day later. Stede is wearing a tight black turtleneck and looks like a sexy brick. Ed is into it.

"Hey, Blondie!" Ed leans over a barricade, "Couldn't stay away from me?"

Stede swivels in place on his fancy wingtips. Ed hadn't noticed the dimples before and they're really doing something for him right now.

"Oh hello, uh," Stede appraises Ed for a second looking for appropriate nickname material, "Doodles."

Ed snorts, his eyes flick down to the tattoos on his arms then, amused, back up to Stede. "What did you bring me in exchange for distracting me from work two days in a row?"

"Oh, uh…" Stede pats down his pockets and produces a lollipop. "How's this?"

Ed takes the lollypop, unwraps it, and puts it in his mouth as seductively as he can possibly muster. "Perfect," he says and winks.

"Okie dokie!" Stede says, and walks away. Fuck!

Day three comes and goes Stedeless.

Day four, Stede looks stressed and Ed catches him just as he's about to storm past the boundaries of the construction site. He figures he'll lay it on real thick this time. "You look like you could use a glass of whiskey and a massage, mate."

"I could use a whole bottle," Stede grumbles, barely making eye contact, and stalks away.

Ed attributes today's failure to Stede's bad mood and tries not to let it get to him.

Three hours later, he's checking inventory when a blonde aura hovering in his peripheral vision catches his attention over his clipboard.

"'scuse me," Stede says, waving him over to the side walk.

Well well well, this could be interesting. Ed saunters over to the blonde as casually as possible. He clears his throat a little bit and flips through his clipboard casually. Can't look too eager. "Sup?"

"Sorry to interrupt," Stede says, crinkling a paper bag in his hands.

"I can squeeze five minutes in for you, Blondie," Ed says, "Or ten."

"I couldn't stop thinking about how rude I was earlier, so I brought you this."

"Oh," Ed says. Okay, he wasn't expecting that.

"I just had a bad day, I didn't mean to be short with you," Stede says and hands him the brown paper bag.

Ed peeks inside and it's full of madeleines from the bakery down the street.

"I hope those are okay!" Stede says.

"Yeah, 'course. They're great. Thanks." Ed says. "Didn't have to get me anything."

"I know, but I didn't want my bad day to turn into your bad day."

Ed's original plan of putting an end to their little dance over the past few days and asking the blonde if he just wanted to go make out behind the equipment shed now seems highly inappropriate so he keeps the idea to himself.

"Right," Stede says, when Ed doesn't quite respond beyond looking between Stede and the paper bag full of cookies in his hands. "See you tomorrow, then?"

"Yes, sure. Tomorrow," Ed says. There is a level of genuineness to this increasingly bizarre multi-day catcall that is making Ed feel a little bit scrambled up inside.

It's totally fine to develop a crush on someone you catcalled, Ed thinks, as he systematically devours the entire bag of madeleines in the span of 15 minutes.

He catches himself hoping Blondie's day got better after he left.

The next morning, Blondie shows up with two coffees in his hands, wearing a black graphic tee with the words "I Believe" printed on it, below a cartoon image of a UFO.

"Morning, Doodles!"

"Heya, Blondie," Ed says, not bothering to hide his excitement to see the weirdo popping up so early in the day.

"Not sure how you take your coffee so I put some milk and got you a pocket of sugar packets." Stede says, handing Ed one of the two coffees in his hands. He follows this up with a promised handful of sugar packets from his pocket.

"A pocketful is the exact amount I usually put in my coffee, that's perfect." Ed says, and grins when that elicits a laugh out of Blondie.

"Welp, I'll see you later!" Stede says, deposits as many sugar packets as will fit into Ed's free hand, and starts walking away.

"Well, how much later?"

"Oh," Stede says. "Well, tomorrow is Saturday so probably on Monday? If you're still here?"

"I am," Ed says, and pauses a second to weigh whether or not it's a good idea to push further. "What about, uh, tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"Yeah, you know. If you're free."

"You'll still be working tonight?!" Stede practically yelps. "Why is your work day so long!"

"No, no," Ed snorts a laugh, this guy's crazy. "No I mean AFTER the work day. If you wanted to maybe, I don't know, get drinks?"

"Ohhh," Stede says. "Well…wow. Drinks? With you?"

"I mean…yes?"

Ed is suddenly severely suspicious of his gaydar. He is questioning everything. Why did he even catcall anyone? He's a lot of things but he's never once thought of himself as someone that plays into stereotypes, especially ones as generic and boring as "catcalling construction worker".

"Do you mean like, with your friends?" Blondie asks.

Fuck!

"Uh, if you'd like?" Ed says, and does a cursory glance around the construction site. Ivan and Fang are on today, he could probably convince them to come. "Or if you want, maybe, just…us? Up to you. No pressure."

For a long quiet moment Ed is afraid Blondie's about to flee, but then he says: "Yeah, just us sounds lovely, actually."

"Oh, good. Great." Ed says. He feels a small wave of panic wash over him when he realizes just how disappointed he'd have been if Blondie would have said no.

"Here," Ed says, and fishes a slightly crinkled business card from his back pocket. He hopes it's not too grimy looking for this chronically pin-perfectly dressed guy before him. "That's my cell, so, uh, give me a text or a call? I'm off at 6."

"Wonderful!" Blondie says.

"Great. I'll see you later then," Ed glances at the name on his coffee cup. "Steve"

"Stede, actually."

"Sorry, Stede."

Stede chuckles. "What about you? What's your name?"

Ed holds out his coffee cup to Stede in invitation and Stede clinks his own paper cup against it.

"I'll tell you if you show up to our date later," Ed says, winks, and walks away without looking back.

He's pretty proud of that one, he thinks it was a rather suave exit.