#if anyone has other screenshot comparisons post them

[autumnsxxangel]

SandRay are an homage to Wong Kar-Wai's Happy Together and in this essay I will..

...actually explain it because I see people catching his homage's to Western queer media, but not really his shout outs to Eastern queer media.

I assumed there would be allusions to Happy Together when I first saw the trailer, but this last episode centered around Ray really cemented it for me. After all, why would P'Jojo reference all these Western queer shows and not talk about what is probably the most iconic piece of Eastern queer media ever?

Wong Kar-Wai & Happy Together

For some background information, Wong Kar-Wai is a famous and insanely influential Hong Kong filmmaker. If you're a film nerd, you probably know who he is and recognize his style. If you like film and metas, I would recommend watching some of his stuff because afterwards, you'll realize just how much influence he still has on modern media, especially in Asia. Stylistically, he's known for rich color grading; thematic usage of music; an unending sense of nostalgia, heartbreak, and missed opportunities; and dialogue that mean nothing on the surface because everything meaningful is boiling just under, left unsaid (If you've watched Everything Everywhere, All At Once, the entire actress universe sequence was an homage to Wong Kar-Wai). His actors always do a phenomenal job because so much of what they need to portray can't be communicated through words. It makes sense why SandRay, aka FirstKhao, were chosen to represent Happy Together as they are the strongest actors out of the group.

Happy Together, simply summarized, is about two men, Ho Po-Wing and Lai Yiu-Fai, who are in a very tumultuous relationship. They end up in Argentina because they wanted to visit the waterfall that's on a lamp that they own. They get lost, end up using all their money, and have to figure out a way to get back to Hong Kong. While there, they break up, get back together, and break up again.

The movie was released in 1997 and is still ranked as one of the best queer movies of all time. The two main characters are played by Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung. You might recognize Tony Leung as Simu Liu's dad in Shang-Chi. Leslie Cheung was in Farewell, My Concubine, and was famously a bisexual man with a long term male partner. This is significant because it was virtually unheard of to be out and open at that time (he made his relationship public in 1997 though he had mentioned bisexuality in earlier years), especially in Hong Kong which was, and still is, very homophobic. Leslie received a lot of hate for his sexuality and androgyny. (If you're interested in learning more about Leslie as a queer Asian figure, this is a good video essay that goes over his work and his life).

Sand as Lai Yiu-Fai

Fai's, and in turn Sand's, character can be summed up by one line, "One thing I never told Ho Po-Wing was that I didn't want him to recover so fast. Those were our happiest days."

Both Fai and Sand are very static, straightforward characters. They stay above board for the most part and work a variety of jobs to survive. They have their morals about what is right and wrong, which unfortunately is both of their downfalls.

In Happy Together, Wing breaks up with Fai because he is bored with the relationship. He basically says, "I'm bored being with you. Let's break up. If we happen to meet again, we can try again." Then he leaves Fai stranded on the side of a highway.

Later, he reappears in Fai's life. The first encounter is a fight, much like Sand and Ray's first meeting in the bathroom. The second encounter is because Wing gets beaten up. He goes to Fai because he knows Fai will feel obligated to take care of him and he does. It becomes the beginning of their rekindled relationship.

Similarly, Sand has a strong sense of obligation. There are already metas out there about how Sand has a bit of a hero complex. He sees Ray too drunk to drive and he had to step in. He doesn't just take the keys and order a taxi. No, he takes the keys and drives Ray. Sand sees Ray being all sad and pathetic and he can't stop himself from helping. It makes him feel useful. It makes him feel needed.

Both of these men are caretakers. They show affection by providing care. Sand ends up cooking for Ray just as Fai cooks for Wing even when he's sick. As an added bonus, they both make fried rice.

Both Sand and Fai are characters that stand completely still. Ray and Wing always know where to find them. Sand can always be found at YOLO and Fai is at his apartment. Because of this, Ray and Wing come and go as they please. They know that Sand and Fai will take them back...until they finally don't.

Ray as Ho Po-Wing

Starting on a base level, both characters are bratty, needy, promiscuous, spoiled, and selfish. But most importantly, they both share a love of fluffy cardigans.

(I also have a theory they keep putting Ray in wife beaters as an homage to the 90's HK cinema style because otherwise...I just don't understand why, as a rich asshole, he's always in wife beaters. By Thai BL logic, he should be in shirts with too many buttons unbuttoned.)

Wing and Ray are both the ones controlling the pace and direction of the relationship. They come when they need someone to nurture their wounds, both physically and metaphorically. They leave when they're bored or have things they deem more important. They both initiate intimacy and won't take no for an answer.

Wing does this by first trying to join Fai on the couch and then chasing after him to the bed and begging him to let them sleep together.

Ray does it by continuously getting Sand to get in the car with him and then using his puppy dog eyes.

They are both also very, very pouty.

Wing's line is "We could start over". He says it every time he comes back after he's the one that ends the relationship. Fai always fights taking him back, but he always does it anyway.

Ray doesn't really have a line yet (unless you count his "na na naa~"s) but he bats his eyelashes and so far Sand has given into him every time. Sand keeps trying to set boundaries, but the moment Ray begs a little bit, Sand crumbles like a house of cards and lets Ray have whatever he wants.

Relationship Parallels

Wong Kar-Wai is known for making movies about star crossed lovers who are meant for each other, but aren't meant to be together.

Like Wing and Fai, Sand and Ray fill in each other's cracks in a way that complements each other. However, because of the nature of the cracks themselves, them complementing each other is exactly what makes the relationship so toxic. One stays and one goes. One takes and one gives. One is steady and one is flighty.

Most of what I wanted to say about the parallels between their relationships is in the character comparison. What I'm more interested in is the future of SandRay's relationship, especially if they continue to parallel Wing and Fai's in Happy Together.

Obviously, Wing and Fai don't end up together at the end. It wouldn't be a Wong Kar-Wai movie if they did. What is interesting is that Fai's relationship with Wing eventually pushes him into becoming something angry and spiteful. Once Wing heals, Fai knows that he'll become bored and want to leave. In an attempt to get him to stay, he steals and hides Wing's passport which is insane because they are both gay men stuck in a foreign country where they don't speak the language.

Wing, of course, leaves anyway.

There is also a third character, Chang, whom Fai ended up liking. These new feelings are what eventually pushes Fai to leave Argentina and move on from Wing and move on with his life.

The question is, if SandRay follows that same path as Happy Together, what will be the passport that Sand tries to hold over Ray and who will be Sand's Chang?

Stylistic Parallels

Smoking

Making Ray and Sand smoke is definitely an homage to Happy Together with the added bonus of being a metaphor. For the most part, we rarely see characters, especially main characters, smoke in Asian media because smoking is reserved for 'bad' characters.

Cigarettes in Happy Together represent boredom. Fai and Wing smoke at the beginning before they rekindle their relationship because they are just moving through life. Once Fai and Wing get back together, cigarettes stop making an appearance. It isn't until their relationship started deteriorating that we see the men smoking again.

This can also be said about Sand Ray's relationship. They started their 'involvement' with cigarettes. However, the last time we actually see them smoking is in ep 2 right before they hook-up. Since then, we have not seen either of them smoking. This probably means that we'll see one or both of them smoking again when their relationship starts to break down.

(In the preview for ep 5, there is an ashtray in the background on the balcony so let's see if Boston finding out about them is a catalyst for them to start breaking down.)

And of course, there is the added homoeroticism of asking for a light.

Ray's Opening and Closing Scenes

Ray's episode is really what made me go "I see you P'Jojo".

Ray's episode starts with a shot of him isolated and in emotional pain. The camera is claustrophobically close and it keeps moving around. He has a little voiceover opening. It's calm, it's contemplative, it's a little existential, and it is irrevocably sad. If that is not a Wong Kar-Wai staple, then idk what is. Even the song that starts playing gives me 80s, 90s Cantopop vibes.

Ray talks about how Mew being his emergency contact and the one he goes to. Fai talks about how Wing always comes back to him and says "Let's start over".

The movie and the episode ends with both of them once again isolated, alone. They've been through an emotional journey and they've technically moved on. But there's always the idea of not being able to fully let go in Wong Kar-Wai's movie. So just like how Fai has physically removed himself from Wing, but not emotionally, has Ray actually fully removed himself from Mew?

Cinematography

Then there's just a collection of scenes that reminded me very heavily of Happy Together and Wong Kar-Wai's style. I would have added pictures from his other movies for comparison, but Tumblr only lets me put 30 images in a post and I don't want to make a 2nd post.

This scene is specifically from the 1st trailer so I hope they keep it in the show.

This one I call the inevitability of falling. Both Sand and Fai realize they're fully committed to their decision to take care of Ray and Wing here.

The end title card

Actually, all of the end title cards give very Wong Kar-Wai vibes. Look at that saturated, neon color grading. Look at the elongated shots. The intense feeling of isolation.

I'm assuming we'll get all the characters at one point, but so far it looks like the end credit cards indicate who the narrator of each episode is.

Anyway, that's it for me! Sorry it was so long and rambling. I tried to organize my thoughts but as I was thinking, more thoughts would pop up and I'd get distracted. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[gayvampyr]

i don’t know what else to say except that AI art is no longer simply a source of creativity or a wonder of human creation. it has become actively hostile and destructive toward the very thing it pretends to uplift and celebrate. it is void of any human element, any soul or ounce of emotion or self-expression. continuing to use AI art knowing that it comes from theft and robbing artists of their livelihood is disgusting. they need your support now more than ever. stop giving these thieves your money and admiration.

[Image descriptions courtesy of @cryptid-deity: a series of screenshots from Deb JJ Lee’s twitter, @ jdebbiel.

Image 1 is a tweet that reads, “this... this is fucking sad. I don’t know what to do.” Included with the tweet are two images; one is a screenshot from a private text message conversation, the other is a collage of AI generated art that was sent to Lee in the text conversation.

Image 2 is a screenshot of only the text conversation, which shows multiple messages that were sent to Lee. There is a collage of AI art, then a text message that reads, “Sorry to bother you. It looks like someone on an AI subreddit is making a custom model and it reminds me a lot of your work. He isn’t telling anyone where the images are being sourced from.” Following is another collage of AI art, followed by the message, “Here’s another one.” The last message is a link to the subreddit.

Image 3 is another tweet that reads, “Oh so it *was* me,” with the word ‘was’ between asterisks for emphasis. The tweet includes two screenshots from the subreddit.

Image 4 is one of the subreddit screenshots. It is a post that reads, “Dreambooth model release! Say hello to kurzgesagtish!” Under these lines is a Reddit message that reads, “Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it.”

Image 5 is the other subreddit screenshot. This post reads, “Results I got with a custom dreambooth model.” This post has the same deletion message as the former.

Image 6 is another tweet by Lee, which reads, “For comparison, here’s my art vs artist. I’m gonna cry.” Included is a collage of 8 works by Lee, which frame a photo of them. They follow up this tweet with another tweet, which reads, “If I see anyone I know using AI Art, they are dead to me.” The tweet includes multiple comparisons between Lee’s original art and an AI generated art piece based on it, judging by the subjects, colors, and lines.

Images 7, 8, and 9 are the examples from Lee’s tweet.

end description.]

[beaniegaebie]

i don't really have any solid conclusions about this yet but i noticed A Thing in a rewatch and i haven't found it mentioned elsewhere yet so here we go

(apologies for the appalling image quality you're about to see, i can't screenshot easily rn pls bear with)

OKAY so in the scene where crowley confronts gabriel about "shut up and die", something about the arrangement of book stacks caught my eye a little

the majority of the books are angled so that we mostly just see the page edges and not the spines clearly, EXCEPT for a particularly shiny and familiar colour combo right here-

but nothing too weird going on there, i thought, crowley coloured books in a bookshop so what? right up until i registered crowley's line when we get a closer look-

hhhhmmmmMMmmmm yes yes "everything just the way you wanted" huh, very interesting considering that we know how much thought goes into props huh

and for most of the shots we get of crowley in this position those freaking books are just quietly nestled right there in the corner-

look at that god damn framing i fuckin see you, you glorious bastards

so i paused to see if i could figure out what the hell was up with those fuckers and this is when i absolutely lost my mind, your honour

A and C you say?? in crowley colours???? framed like this?????? localised entirely within your kitchen???

anyway long story short they're two books from an Agatha Christie Crime Collection set (24 volumes, three stories per volume) and guess whats on the mfing front covers I'm-

(its a rant for another post but when paired with this other set of initials spotted in s2 i want to scream actually)

ANYWAY back to the books, through an absolutely unhinged comparison of the formatting of gold text blobs i reckon the two we have here are:

(on top) The Pale Horse; The Big Four, The Secret Adversary

(on bottom) 4:50 From Paddington, Lord Edgeware Dies, Murder in Mesopotamia

(I'm fairly confident but if anyone has a better image to confirm/correct this pls do)

now here is where I'll need a bunch of help from some Christie-heads out there bc I haven't read any of these and I've only seen the tv adaptation of one of them, so i dont know for sure if these are like A Clue, or A Cool Thing, or if I've just fully brainrotted myself into a fun lil corner here? wa-hoo

but here's some initial stuff that jumped out at me after skimming the basics:

(some of) the titles: Pale Horse/Big Four - death's horse ofc, the four horsemen mayb? the them+adam?? ; Mesopotamia is a very biblical choice bbz ; 4:50 From Paddington- azi likes trains i guess? idk that one's tenuous lmao ; honestly no idea with the other two but Secret Adversary feels a tad ominous

iirc Big Four just has kind of an unusual history, it was initially twelve short stories that she later compiled into one, and it was published fairly soon after christie's mysterious disappearance/reappearance

in Big Four, poirot fakes his death at one point and doesnt even let hastings in on it and I'm hoping sure its totally irrelevant to the ineffable bois

part of the Pale Horse story is a group of assassins that basically try to pass off all their murders as being actually caused by like ✨satanic powers✨ which is interesting

christie knew a fUCkton about poisonings thats why she wrote so many into her work and, while i don't believe the poison coffee theory myself, it sure is an interesting link with how cyanide is associated with almond smell/flavour and that metatron chooses almond syrup in particular

(ALSO random side note that is mostly meaningless but I've worked in a good few uk coffee shops and have never worked anywhere that stocks almond syrup; almond milk yes, hazelnut syrup yes, but never almond syrup...? prob just the places i worked though lmao)

EDIT forgotten point: I've seen some speculation that the bently's plate reading "CURTAIN" could be a reference to poirot's last story, along side that alternate scene of crowley ordering the sherry for "miss marple", its just one too many agatha christie references for my melted brain to handle and I'm SUS

so this is where i run out of idea steam and hand it over to you lot because i have no clue what this could mean, if it even means anything other than a cool set feature

is there something here actually or am i yelling into the void just for fun?

who knows, who cares!

[yvnaology]

oh my god,,, can you explain the bfajax situation??? I don’t understand what’s happening qwq

hi there anon! i’ll explain the situation as thoroughly as i can, @/bfajax was getting attacked because they flirted with a minor (i won’t drop their name, apologies.) — said minor was 15 and people accused him of being a “pedophile”, which he denied by claiming that he had experiences with such at a young age and therefore would never bring upon the same experience to another person. however, people began to make awareness posts on them by stating that he shouldn’t cross the boundaries between adults and children, along with him allegedly offering a fivesome to a few minors - i have a screenshot of this.

this was their response to this anon calling them out for a comment they made towards the 15 year old, who again, i won’t reveal the identity of. their interactions here don’t match what @/bfajax said about only giving the minors “pet names” and nothing sexual occurring between them. @/bfajax excused their behavior by comparing it to names people supposedly call BTS (sevensome, gays, etc.) and saying that’s what he meant.

this was his response to an anon who found the comparison between the two incredibly strange.

along with this, a lot of his mutuals who defend him haven’t heard about the minor he offered a “fivesome” to, only assuming that people are angry because he uses terms of endearment with said minors when the main issue stems from the “fivesome” comment and their interactions with them. if you know the minor i’m referring to, please do not give away their identity or comment their @, i’m unsure if they deactivated or have a new username.

to my followers, mutuals, or anyone i have interacted with - i don’t support this person and if you do, you’re free to block me and get it over with.

[ EDITED ]

someone (a minor, keep in mind & i will not reveal their identity) reached out to me explaining that @/bfajax ended up sending them an ask from his nsfw blog as shown in this screenshot.

as you can see, the person confirmed they were a minor - and that @/bfajax intended to follow his mutuals (majority that are minors) from that blog. he continued to ask the person to block the regular writing tag from the nsfw account and stated he’d make two separate tags, but he shouldn’t be following minors from a nsfw account in the first place.

[ EDITED AGAIN ]

i had a long conversation with bfajax, and he wasn’t helping his case and instead only made it worse. he continued to deflect what’s being said about him (using other people as reference) and outright admitted that he’s been lying about his age most likely to save himself - either way, he has had a nsfw blog as previously shown.

[ EDITED ]

his new @ is kaevirch !! if you’d like to go ahead and block that account too, go ahead. as for how i was made aware of this - the @ mentioned in the pinned post was his old account that he showed me when we talked - he used to go by zeke.

[hilkaro]

Quite an ordinary graphic analysis, really.

Gato posted a new artwork of Fox, and since I'm quite normal when it comes to this guy, I'll do a little analysis and share my own assumptions about the overall appearance (as I get the impression that what is generally available is only a fragment of the whole; I don't know what the patrons saw, and if there's more, I envy them).

I'll start by saying that the artwork is very dark; I had to lighten it to see the details better.

I assume Fox is lying in his studio, where he streams. He's wearing his costume and mask. Besides him, you can also see a choking collar with protruding spikes and a gag with a ring. Both of these items are well-known to us, as they were props he used during a certain scene... I wonder if there's a tentacle somewhere outside the frame.

As for Ren himself, it seems like he's lying on his back, probably beneath me, you, or anyone else... it doesn't matter, and he's looking up. His eyes glow in the darkness, indicating that, unlike me/you, he can see everything perfectly. His ears are lowered. I don't know about foxes, but I have a cat, and he flattens his ears when he's nervous, dominated, or wants to make more room for my hand when I pet him on the head. In this case, I assume it's not about petting or anger—Fox's eyebrows are slightly raised, not furrowed. So, I assume that in this situation, the beastkin is submitting to me/you as the dominant person, in control of the situation.

One of his hands is visible, holding a knife with a very thin blade. It seems to be a different knife than the one he used in the game. The internet claims that this type of blade is good for... filleting. Hmmm. The sharp edge is directed towards me/you, but I don't think it's a real threat or defense on his part. Rather, it's a reminder that despite the situation, Fox remains vigilant and ready.

I would like to go back to his eyes, which seem to be heavily swollen, as if he had a lot of loose skin on the lower eyelid. I understand that this may be due to perspective and how the skin, especially loose skin, works when lying down, but in my opinion, it ages him significantly. For comparison:

Perhaps it's because of the mask, which tightly encases his face, the lack of adequate sleep or hydration, or overworking; I don't know. The fact is, the lower eyelid looks swollen.

That's all that is visible. Now, what is not visible. I'm almost sure that his other hand is raised and lies next to him with the palm facing up, in a gesture of submission and helplessness (in contrast to the other hand). I hope this side is the "nicer" one (similar to other pillows), and here we only have, for example, an unbuttoned pants button. On this "spicy" side, I would like to see more of his body (and fur), as it was in the game when he visited the player between shows. I feel that this Ren has more confidence and has accepted his body enough not to be ashamed to show it. It would be a shame if Fox decided to show only his penis, at least for me. And I hope that if the other side exists or will exist in the future, it will be bright and in color, as if it took place in a cell in the bunker.

That's all that came to my mind. If anyone has any further thoughts, please write; I'll gladly read them. After all... normal people should support each other when it comes to Fox, heh.

Fox belongs to Gatobob. The screenshots come from the game The Price of Flesh and from Gato's Twitter.

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Alright, question. Does anyone know what these graphs that show up throughout Double are? They're driving me insane because the only thing I can think of them being is brainwaves, which has Implications (aka Trikoto coping). It doesn't look perfectly like it, but I think it's the best match.

Like, here's the thing. First, they look like functions, except both sides of the "y" axis are positive??? Which makes no sense, obviously. That makes it hard to figure out what they're supposed to be, since I don't know any graphs which are Like That. My only guess is that it means the value displayed is always positive or doesn't matter, meaning the plus signs are there only to indicate it's a graph, but it's not fantastic. Again, if someone has better ideas, let me know (and it's probably a good idea to check the notes of this post in case I'm being stupid btw).

But let's look. There's two distinct type of "functions" which appear; sine-like functions (wavy) and "spiky" functions. Here's the issue with that. Sine functions appear fucking everywhere in nature, so it's not like that really helps narrow down what we're dealing with here. And spiky functions like that just- they're nowhere to be found. I literally did a reverse image search on a Paint reconstruction to see if anything in the internet looked like that, but I was only finding electrical systems (icons, not graphs) and stuff that Does Not Look Related. So what are they?

Again, I'm not sure, but take a look at one of the contexts in which they appear.

(I apologize for the youtube scroll bar there, I can't be bothered to get these screenshots without going frame by frame)

On the left, Mikoto is sleeping with a sine wave next to him. On the right, John is awake with a spiky graph. The imagery of sleeping and dreaming is very prevalent in Double, as a lot of times (including the scene I'm referencing right now) switches between Mikoto and John are indicated by "Oyasumi" ('good night') for Mikoto and "Ohayo" ('good morning') for John (mostly, depends on exact theories). Not to mention all the times the word "dream" shows up, etc. Just look at the MV, it's filled with this type of imagery.

Which is what got me thinking these graphs could be approxiamates of brainwave graphs.

Notice how Gamma and Beta waves, associated with wakefulness, are pretty spiky. Not as sharp as whatever the fuck John's got going on, but pretty spiky nonetheless. Meanwhile, Theta waves, which some sources claim is associated to light sleep, looks vaguely like a sine function if you look at it with one eye closed.

Honestly, while the comparison is not perfect by any means, the fact it relates to so many of Double's themes like sleep and exploration of the mind makes me think this is the most likely thing. I reiterate, I am not completely confident on this, if you have better ideas let me know.

And this interpretation does work with most of it's appearances without much issue. We've already seen the "John is awake" thing:

(Note: For this post I am only taking into account things between the plus signs. Other scribbles can be interpreted as just that, scribbles to indicate a chaotic mental state, and will thus be disregarded)

It shows up alongside (presumably) John again in the "that'd be good" image flash.

And there's also this? Which I'm not sure qualifies. The plus signs are over the entire scene, while the spiky function is only on part of the scene.

Which makes me think it wouldn't quite count, but I can't be sure.

But you may have noticed I'm sort of ignoring the elephant in the room. Look at the graphs which appear alongside Mikoto:

There's usually two overlapping functions (if you ignore another two-function graph appearing at the very end of the "Mikoto is sleeping" scene). Which I imagine doesn't quite make sense even with DID (I mean, by definition a function cannot have two f(x) values assigned to the same 'x' value), but this is a symbolic function, it doesn't have to literally work. And if they are brainwaves, they would likely represent... co-fronting, presumably? Which sorta doesn't work unless Trikoto is real, as we never hear of John co-fronting ever. Doesn't help that the final image flash, as you can see, a few frames later gives a third function in a separate graph, so 2 + 1 imagery.

And it actually works pretty well. The first scene where this happens has two sine functions, one of which has higher frequency at the start, but slowly loses frequency until it fully overlaps. And in that moment, Mikoto wakes up and there's a switch to John. The deeper the sleep, the lower the frequency (<- massive oversimplification). So, Mikoto, who is already asleep at the start, probably has that sine function which doesn't change, and a second alter goes to sleep, going dormant.

Which fits, because later, when Mikoto is awake and panting, one of the functions is spiky (awake) while the other is sine-y (asleep). So there's a dormant alter here. But we then see a graph for presumably the alter right after, which is spiky and awake. Thus, the alter that's dormant is neither Mikoto nor the alter on the ceiling, therefore Trikoto.

That covers all the times these graphs appear in the MV (I checked. I have issues). So, again, not certain of any conclusions, but brainwaves is sorta the best I can come up with at the moment. Anyways, thanks for reading and take care!

[tainbocuailnge]

German Dark Knight quests

This is an English translation of the German script for the level 45 and 50 dark knight quests (and some extra bits at the end), meant as a supplement to the translation of the Japanese script found in this and this post showcasing the large differences between Japanese and English Fray’s characterisation. Since haillenarte mentioned in their posts that the German script usually stays closer to the Japanese script than the English script does, and I can’t read Japanese but can read German, I decided to check out the German version and translate it for comparison.

UPDATE: Please check out my translation website! I have the entire dark knight questline translated on there, including an updated translation of what’s in this post, as well as many other scenes from the rest of the game.

Since the English script is already in the other posts I won’t put it in here too, but I will separate it into the same blocks as the other posts for ease of comparison. I’m also sticking to gender neutral pronouns for the WoL, though German is a highly gendered language so all the screenshots of the German script will reflect me playing as a male au ra. It’s been a hot minute since I formally studied German so if you spot any glaring mistakes by all means correct me!

Level 45 quest - What must be said

Fray: It’s your life and it ends again every minute... I’ve been thinking again about what you told me about the voice. Fray: Someone is trying to get through to you. Someone who needs your protection. But we don’t know any more. Fray: We have to perform another ritual as soon as possible. Maybe that will give us a clue about who the voice belongs to. Fray: After all, the voice resonates within your heart. Do you have someone you want to protect? More than anyone else? Fray: ...Sorry. I don’t feel very well lately... I’m alright. I’m just a bit tired. Fray: So, when you’re ready, we’ll perform the next ritual. Fray: Show me what you’ve learned. I’ll wait for you at Moraby Drydocks.

Fray: Do you remember? The sea... Fray: I told you before that I went on a journey once. With someone who... A terrible danger awaited us at sea. Fray: I wanted to stop them. But we’d already drifted too far apart. There was no stopping them from getting on that damn boat. Fray: It was like I was dying. They were the person I wanted to protect more than anything in the world. But my words didn't get through to them. That's why I'm...

???: What’s that? Isn’t the Maelstrom there to help us? ...I’m in need, goddammit! Styrnlona: The Maelstrom isn’t responsible for that. You should turn to the Yellowjackets when reporting something like stolen wares. Demanding dealer: The Yellowjackets... Before they get around to my case my newborn son will be an experienced sailor! Perhaps even admiral! Styrnlona: Hey, you! Aren’t you [your rank at the Maelstrom] [Name]?

Strynlona: You did us all a great favour when you defeated the primal Leviathan. The citizens of Limsa Lominsa are forever grateful. Demanding dealer: Whaaaat? There’s a real hero standing before me! Demanding dealer: You’re a godsend. I’m in a real bind and need help. Demanding dealer: A nasty Qiqirn has stolen all my wares! [cry] What do I tell my clients? [sob] I’m going to lose my good name as trader! [sniff] Fray: Do you remember what I told you last time? You can’t help everyone. You can’t carry all the world’s suffering on your shoulders. Fray: The Yellowjackets will take on his case soon enough. You should worry about your training as a dark knight instead and find a worthy opponent. There’s more important things at stake... Demanding dealer: Don’t leave me high and dry! If you don’t help me, no-one will!

>Yes, or nobody will help him.

Demanding dealer: You’re truly a hero! Thank you! Demanding dealer: The Qiqirn that stole my wares has to be some kind of leader or chief... It’s bigger and stronger than the others.

>No, I can’t help everyone.

Demanding dealer: But... didn’t you just say you were looking for worthy opponents? Demanding dealer: The Qiqirn that stole my wares is a real big guy! Bigger and stronger than the others. A leader or chief, I would say.

Demanding dealer: I saw it walking towards the salt strand, the Qiqirn have a camp there. Please bring my wares back! Fray: It always ends like this... When nobody wants to help, the heroes have to go... You'll never become a dark knight like this.

Fray: Cut that thieving Qiqirn down to size. Doesn’t matter how pathetically it begs for mercy. It shouldn’t have stolen the merchant’s wares... Fray: We’ll use the opportunity to prepare the next ritual. Show me everything you’ve learned as a dark knight.

[Duty battle dialogue] Fray the Dark: There’s quite a lot of them... This’ll be a right bloodbath. Fray the Dark: Now we just need to get the wares! Fray the Dark: The wares are definitely in this chest...

Fray: We... have the wares... [groan] Bring them to the merchant... [huff] Fray: Me? I’m just a bit... exhausted... [groan]. Go ahead, I’ll be right behind you... Fray: Bring it to an end...

Demanding dealer: Hello, hero! Do you have my wares? Demanding dealer: Yes, that’s the stuff! Thank you, thank you. Let’s see if everything is there. Demanding dealer: Nooooo! In llymlaen’s name, I can’t sell these like this! Demanding dealer: Those Qiqirn put their dirty hands all over everything! I can’t offer this to my customers! Or even worse, they’ll demand a discount! Demanding dealer: What should i do? It’s the end for me! I’m ruined! I can say goodbye to that vacation in Costa del Sol... Demanding dealer: I know! I’ve got a hero standing right in front of me! You’ll deliver me new wares in a snap! Demanding dealer: The skin of a dangerous monster... A treasure from a trap-filled ruin... A lock of hair from a primal...

Fray: ENOUGH!! Fray: Does it ever end? Is Eorzea populated entirely by children? Can nobody do anything on their own anymore? Does everyone have to keep begging the heroes for help? Fray: [Name] is also just a [your race]! With their own feelings and interests. Axe blades and thunder magic also hurt them! Nobody thinks about that, huh? Fray: We keep fighting for other people... Like back then, at open sea, against that watery primal... Fray: “We’re not chosen! Let the chosen one fight!” - Pah, you’re just hiding behind those words! What are you doing for Eorzea anyway? Fray: If you lot didn’t keep bringing in your troublesome business [Name] would’ve long since been a more experienced dark knight! Ugh, for real!

Demanding dealer: Who just blows their lid like that? I’m terribly sorry, adventurer... Styrnlona: What the... [Maelstrom rank] [Name], your anger isn’t entirely unfounded, but... Styrnlona: ...A short walk sounds like the right thing to cool your head. Have a good day.

Fray: That just had to be said. Don’t you think? Fray: Seriously, such an ungrateful lot...

>All that matters is the voice.

Fray: Right, the voice. You can’t ignore it. That would mean ignoring your own existence. Fray: I even know who the voice belongs to... Fray: But I can’t tell you who it is. You have to find out yourself. Fray: Well, let’s continue. Stick your hand out...

>I want to become a real dark knight as soon as possible.

Fray: You’re already a real dark knight, [Name]. The dark power, that’s real. Fray: But remember what I told you in the Brume? That you have to face your feelings if you want to walk the path of the dark knight - if you want to survive it? Fray: You’re not at the goal yet. There’s a place in your heart you still haven’t reached. But the voice will help you with that. Fray: Well, let’s continue. Stick your hand out...

>You’re completely right. It had to be said.

[Fray makes a surprised gesture] Fray: You also think I’m right? That’s great, [Name]! Fray: I know it’s not in your nature to lash out like that. But you can rest easy leaving that to me. Fray: I’m glad you’re finally realizing it... Fray: More important right now is that you find out who the voice belongs to. And what its true meaning is. Stick your hand out...

???: The weak call for you, [Name]. As they always do. ???: They call, they scream, they wail... So loud that you can’t hear your own voice... The pain... The anger... The sadness... Nobody wants to hear about those. ???: But you. You will listen to it. ???: You hear my prayers.

Fray: [Name]. Fray: You heard the voice, right? Fray: You don’t have to tell me what you heard. But I’ll ask you one thing: Are you prepared to give up everything to answer that voice? Fray: Your status, your fame, your fortune - everything? Only after losing everything will we have the freedom to do everything. If you’re willing to do that, then... come with me! Leave this Eorzea! Fray: Here you will never be able to fulfil your purpose. To be truly free. Here you will forever have to concern yourself with others. But if you turn your back on Eorzea - you can go your own way. Fray: You don’t have to answer right now. Meet me at the usual place when you’re ready. I’ll wait for you.

Level 50 quest - The knights’ core

Fray: [Name]... There you are again. I was already expecting you. Fray: ...Ugh... We don't have much time left. We have to travel again soon... Or it'll be too late. Fray: Too late for you... You don't understand it yet, but I want to help you. I'm starting to doubt whether you're really prepared... But we'll see. Fray: We'll meet at the Gates of Judgement. Call my name and I'll come.

???: That voice! Isn't that [Sir/Lady] [Name]? The hero of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn? Brave knight: Forgive me. I belong to Lord Drillemont's troops from Whitebrim Fort. Everyone in my regiment knows your name. Brave knight: It can't be a coincidence that I meet you here. It's the Fury's work! She wants you to help us. Nervous knight: A bit to the south from here lives a crowd of Gigas. They've been showing themselves in the region increasingly often and frequently raid caravans. It’s likely they intend to expand their territory. Nervous knight: The troops at Whitebrim Fort are well armed, but the Gigas are numerous and better suited to the cold than us. Nervous knight: They're better organised than other Gigas too. If we can disable their commander their advances will likely cease for now. Brave knight: Indeed. Our commander underestimates the danger and refuses to send troops. Please, won't you help us and hunt down the Gigas commander? Coeus the Loudmouthed, they call the beast. Then our problems will be solved.

Durendaire knights: Please help us. Durendaire knights: What could be more important? Please help us! Nervous knight: Thank you! You’re a hero! Brave knight: We believe we have a trail. Follow us!

Fray: That’s enough.... That’s.... ENOUGH!!!

Brave knight: That’s the place. We believe Coeus the Loudmouthed will come through the pass. Did I mention he’s always accompanied by his two bodyguards? They of course also have to be defeated. Brave knight: Keep watch a little further down the pass. The leader of the Gigas won’t be long. May the Fury preserve you!

Brave knight: You’ve defeated the Gigas’ leader! Thank Halone and you! Brave knight: That should stop their advance. We can easily deal with the few remaining unorganised Gigas. And if not, we know who we can ask. Brave knight: You have our thanks. We will inform Lord Drillemont of your deeds. Brave knight: And our comrades will hear of your heroic deeds too! They’ll all look up to you, if they don’t already. Brave knight: The troops at Whitebrim Fort can use any boost to morale they can get. Your willingness to help us will bring new courage. Brave knight: That reminds me... Could you perhaps autograph my shield? My name is...

???: March, march! Return to base immediately! Brave knight: What happened? Why the rush? Capable knight: Orders from above. Lord Drillemont heard that we’re working with [Name] and ordered us to return immediately. With them in custody, in fact. Brave knight: In custody? What’s the meaning of this? Capable knight: There have been... accusations. People are saying they’ve been spotted in the Brume... speaking with the corpse of a convicted heretic. Capable knight: I don’t believe it of course, but we both know how serious such accusations are.

Brave knight: Surely someone is trying to play us for fools... I mean, speaking with a corpse? Do they take us for idiots? Capable knight: Have you heard the accusations, [Sir/Lady]? They... have a certain weight, since they come from Temple Knights. Capable knight: It might be necessary... Ah, purely as a formality of course... To ask you to remove your weapon.

Fray: Ha, ha! “Remove my weapon”? After what happened in Ul’dah? Are they out of their minds?

Fray: Tomorrow will be the best day in your life, [Name]. Your breakfast will taste better than any meal you’ve ever had. Fray: That is, when you finally manage to look the truth in the eye. [Name], get ready for the evacuation of your soul...

Fray: You know already. You know whose voice speaks in your heart. You know who has to shoulder more suffering than anyone else in the world... You know who you have to save! Fray: Don’t act so surprised. Of course Fray was stone dead, right from the start. But you wanted it to be different. Fray: A sword, a crystal... All that was missing was a teacher. So you made yourself one. Fray: The soul crystal of the Dark Knight, in which all his experiences were stored. Your aether and repressed feelings... The pain that you locked deep inside your heart... All that suffering that you have to endure as a hero.... The fear that the Champion of Eorzea is not allowed to show... Those are the ingredients from which you made a new Fray. Fray: A mentor who could show you the feelings slumbering in your heart. Who could express these feelings for you, like you never could. Fray: You still don’t want to believe it, but you can’t deny it. You can’t deny what we have achieved. Fray: Haven’t I been good to you? I’ve given you a choice that none of your so-called friends ever gave you. Your so-called friends in the Scions or the Eorzean Alliance. Fray: The choice to say no. To not help. To think of yourself. To save yourself. I’ve given your innermost desire to say no a voice, and made sure you heard it too. Fray: Open your eyes! Look at me! Are you seeing it now? I... am you!

[Fray takes on your name] [Name]: Everything that happened until now was your story... [Name]: ...And everything that happens from now on is mine!

[Duty battle dialogue] Dark shadow: Fight me! As hard as you can! You can’t kill me, no matter how hard you try. Dark shadow: You can’t defeat me. I’m a part of you. Drillemont: [Name], I’ll help you! You helped us in our greatest time of need too. Dark shadow: Help them? Bet they’ll have to save you again?

Dark shadow: I... we were so close...

Dark shadow: That is exactly the problem! Dark shadow: Do you even know how ridiculous this struggle must look to the others? Dark shadow: Free yourself from the pain!

[Battle over] [Name]: After a battle everything else in life is turned down in comparison - you can deal with anything. [Name]: I made you strong. I have... given you all your strength... [Name]: Recognise the irony of your existence: Your strength is the cause of your pain. It makes you a hero, and as a hero you’re doomed to suffer.

Knight: [Name]! We’re with you! Cenota: [Name]! Believe in yourself! Believe in us! Clotairion: We know who you really are. Don’t forget that!

[Name]: They stand at your side... while you carry their pain. [Name]: But that’s what you want, isn’t it? You want to suffer. You’re always looking for someone whose pain you can carry. That’s your nature. [Name]: The nature of a dark knight. It’s your fate. Nobody will ever do it better than you... [Name]: You seek this pain. You seek that suffering. [Name]: You’ve brought the last offering. So take this reward... [Name]: [Name]... [Name]: [Name]... I’m the part of you incapable of being a hero. Hide me. Deep in your heart. [Name]: I will speak to you again. Because I know you’re stronger than me.

[Name]: What belongs together comes together. [Name]: I’ll return back into you and give you the power to protect the world. I’ll cry your tears. I’ll carry your burden. I’ll be your rage. [Name]: Let’s go on a journey together again.

Capable knight: We have you back, Halone be praised! For a moment there I thought we’d lost you to your innermost demons. Capable knight: I don’t really understand what happened here, but Lord Drillemont doesn’t seem too angry. Fortunately nobody was permanently injured... Capable knight: First up I’ll make sure Fray’s body is given an appropriate burial. Capable knight: And you? Are you sure everything is okay? You were a little... confused. But what am I implying... Forgive me, my lord. And farewell.

Notes and commentary:

"Das ist dein Leben und es endet jede Minute aufs Neue” is a quote from the German dub of Fight Club apparently, though I never watched it in any language so I have no idea what the context is.

German has formal and informal pronouns, but the only character in these quests to use formal pronouns for your character is the capable knight. That said, everyone still speaks fairly politely to you except Fray, who speaks so casually to everyone it crosses into being rude and overly familiar.

Personally I like German Fray a lot. They feel like the best of both worlds, keeping the emotional vulnerability of Japanese Fray while adding some of the bitter anger English Fray has. They also have a certain awkwardness to them that is really endearing, and which I’m not sure really comes across in just these two quests even with the lame breakfast oneliner. The lv35 quest has this exchange which I really like.

>That voice I heard. Who is speaking to me? >Why were you being accused by the High Tribunal anyway? Hmmm? -->Wild playing and endangering the elderly - shouldn’t that be punished severely? (This is the excuse the temple knights used to take away the old woman’s granddaughter)

Fray: R-really? But things like that just happen when kids play... Fray: A-haha, I get it! You made a joke! You really got me there. Seriously though, what do you want to ask me?

What stood out to me about German Fray next to the English one (and my limited knowledge of the Japanese one) is that they’re a bit of a jokester, though it doesn’t really show in the last two quests because they’re getting desperate. When you free the prisoners from the Amal’jaa in the lv40 quest duty, the enemy yells “You’ll pay for this with your blood!” and Fray responds “Send me an invoice!”

There’s also the exchange with Fray when you learn what happened to the old woman whose grandchild was taken in the lv30 quest, which in English goes like this

Fray: They might spare the girl, you know. Leave her with a few scars and a lifelong lesson. Fray: ...Or, we could beat every single one of them within an ilm of their lives and rescue the girl. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? [You nod, and Fray smiles] Fray: I knew you would.

and in German goes like this

Fray: Are you the dark knight that will stand up for this old woman? Think about it carefully, since it might cost you your head. Fray: Think about the enemies you’re facing, and the wounds they will inflict on you. Think about how you could just turn around and go lie in a warm bed, and nobody would suspect you. [You nod, and Fray smiles] Fray: I feared as much.

In the Japanese and English versions (and French, since French drk is just a direct translation of the English one) the original Fray legitimately lost his trial by combat, but in the German version the trial was rigged. The Ishgardian Citizen describes how Fray was winning until Halone herself struck him down with a pillar of fire - someone in the audience mumbled that it looked suspiciously like a Flare spell cast from the direction of the jury, but naturally the citizen immediately reported that heretic to the inquisition for doubting Halone’s judgement. The reason I even read the German version was because I got mad about translators making some shit up wholesale, but I have to admit I do like this particular thing that translators made up wholesale.

It also turns out Fray writing in the quest journal is unique to the English version! I really missed their commentary when I checked the German journal and it just wasn’t there. Another win for making shit up wholesale I suppose.

I’ve been told the scripts for different languages of the game are written concurrently rather than first in Japanese and then translated, so it’s not entirely fair to claim any one of them as the original that the others are unfaithful translations of. Even if that’s the case I still don’t think the different language scripts should be so wildly different in meaning from each other, but putting that aside I do like having these varying takes on Fray to rotate in my head and I wouldn’t have any complaints if the way they were implemented was through supplementary material like short stories or a manga or something.

I also think each version of Fray has something good going for them, and that they become better when put next to each other. I like how the English script has even your repressed feelings be so repressed that they cling to their front of smug superiority and righteous anger until the very end, and only manage to really express themselves in the journal where nobody would ordinarily look. I like Japanese Fray spilling their whole entire heart out and sounding permanently on the verge of crying from how desperate they are despite their imposing appearance. And my personal favourite is German Fray for how much they feel like genuinely just a regular person who’s in too deep and has no choice but to keep doing what they think is best.

[itsbeenliketenyearsitsprettywild]

What if... Kazui’s victim WASN’T his wife?

So, I just connected some dots about Kazui’s videos and various points of symbolism in it, and If I’m right.. Kazui might’ve been pulling the wool over our eyes way further than we thought, guys. That is to say: What if his wife’s death was in reaction to his original murder?

(rest under readmore!)

Part 1: Kazui, René Magritte, and the Art of Misdirection

One of the things Cat made sure to make clear to the audience was that we have to take everything Kazui gives us with a major grain of salt. This is shown multiple ways; the illusionist persona he takes on for most of the video, the fast-paced sequences meant to obscure important details, the fact that it involves multiple René Magritte references, etc.

Though, speaking of René Magritte... anyone remember another of his famous works?

That’s right: Kazui’s mind might be feeding us a narrative more deceptive and treacherous than we think. And this will all unfortunately be ignoring the fact that ‘une pipe’ is French slang for ‘a blowjob’.  don’t blame me, blame Kazui’s subconscious

Just to be clear: I still think the visuals Kazui gives us and the clues he sets up for us are very important to consider. It’s just that the obvious picture they paint isn’t entirely accurate.

After all, while he may be one of the prisoners that the narrative has been clear about being an intentional liar/deceiver, the way his mind portrays these deceptions is very different from how MILGRAM’s other liar, Shidou, goes out of his way to deceive us:

Shidou’s method of deception is more obvious while at the same time being more obtuse: he makes copious use of visual symbolism and metaphor. The building blocks he uses are, by their nature revealing to us his subjective feelings and personal truth with regards to a subject, while the objective reality of what happened takes a back seat. In doing so, he’s still honestly revealing that everything we’re seeing at a given moment is important. It’s just that, what anything we’re being shown is actually supposed to convey, that’s for us to work out.

In comparison, the way Kazui sets up his lies?  Well, like any true illusionist, it’s all in the presentation and setup.

Part 2: The Man(’s Wife) Behind the Curtain

So, given that Prisoner 007’s main tactic for lying to us is misdirection, this means one big foundational aspect of truth is immediately doubtful: Anything Kazui directly tries to tell/convey to us is immediately questionable and likely not entirely accurate.

You see, one of the best ways a stage magician can misdirect an audience is through an misleading framing of events. They do this multiple ways - by stating what kind of trick they’re going to be pulling, letting the audience see what props they’re holding as the trick begins, and noting where the conceit of the trick isn’t (ie; the classic  “Nothing up my sleeve!” line).

In doing so, the audience is primed to see everything they notice from a particular perspective. That way, even if they DO glance at the trick the magician is pulling, they’ll still be unlikely to understand exactly what they’re seeing and have ‘the magic ruined’ for them.

So, any big conceits and large framing devices Kazui draws our attention to probably aren’t being utilized the way they seem to be at face value. If we want to the truth, it’s gonna be in the slower moments where Kazui isn’t talking to us. Or, in the moments that he is, the most important parts are the little things that go by too fast for up to keep up with.

As an example, look back up at the most recent screenshot I posted. Notice anything that’s a bit harder to immediately parse compared to everything else?

Yep, that little French blurb tucked between all this bigger, flashier stuff. Just based on the captions, it’s easy to pin them as the lyrics translated to French, right?

Wrong. 

While the lyrics and visuals seem to be painting a picture of Kazui eventually coming into conflict with his innocent wife, the second line in French... could almost be taken as a... statement of solidarity? It’s written in past tense (as compared to ‘we will be better’), but is still much more equal and affectionate on both sides than the simple ‘victim-criminal’ dynamic would lead one to infer.

Not to mention... wasn’t it implied they talked about all this and largely resolved it back in half?

And indeed, it was! Starting from 2:18 going to 2:36, we get the green apple (which seems to represent Kazui’s hidden nature) sitting on a table onstage with the spotlight shining directly on it. The truth about Kazui has been put front and center where it can readily be seen. And what do we see as we pull into the foreground?

Not a fight, or a clash, but Hinako reaching out and comforting Kazui.

For all he’s told us that confessing the truth is what lead to ‘her’ death, the actual (notably subdued and understated) moment we see where it seems like he’s finally admitted what he’s been hiding his entire life, she responds to his truth with a very small smile.

A hand on his cheek. More than anything else, it’s this moment that resonates with that ‘we would do better’ that Kazui tried to slide past our radar.

But if that’s the case, it raises a very important question: If it wasn’t actually the truth itself that caused everything come crashing down, what did? If this was still everything being fine... 

Then, what moment was represented by all of this?

What, exactly, was this ‘dove’ Kazui tore apart with his teeth that drove his wife to react with horror and despair?

Part 3: Green, the color of hidden truths

For all that Kazui’s intentional deception of the viewer is near exclusively done through misdirecting the audience’s attention or misleading our perspective, there’s still a lot he’s only willing to tell us through symbolism. The most obvious case of this, of course, is Kazui’s green apple, reflecting his true nature he’s hidden away for most of his life.

But did you notice the color coding he also uses throughout most of Cat?

On the most basic level, we can see this utilized as a way to differentiate relevance to characters: Kazui represents himself with blue, and Hinako with pink.

See? 

As such, the colors Kazui uses in backgrounds, in drawing characters, and to write out text can be very important in deciphering what everything is supposed to mean. The problem is that he uses a lot more colors besides just pink and blue, with us currently not knowing what any of the other colors mean.

...Well, besides green, at least. He’s already made it pretty obvious that green represents hidden things that Kazui (on some level) doesn’t want discovered.

...But, wait. 

If so....

...Why is this one woman in the wedding audience wearing a green dress?

Most of y’all probably already know this, but I recently made a post where I drew the conclusion that she’s actually the wife of Kazui’s childhood friend, the bartender, with the bar scene in half being their introductory meeting so they could get to know each other better.

One of the things I didn’t bring up in that post was the fact that we seem to watch her get absolutely sloshed during it.

Which. Certainly is a choice? Going out all dressed up to where your hubby works, to meet the guy he’s been best friends with since childhood, and you decide the best way to make a first impression is to get hammered and start having to lean against this relative stranger just so you don’t fall off the stool? 

Don’t worry, my theory isn’t going the roofie route, so no need to fret over that.

Instead, the question I started considering was, “Why would she feel the need to start drinking so much?” And, in general, there’s a few different reasons why someone might decide to get seriously inebriated; to blow off steam, to forget your problems, to fuel a budding alcohol addiction, etc. 

But the reason that made the most sense to me in this context was drinking to settle the nerves. 

Sometimes, when people feel tense or awkward when socializing, they’ll start drinking alcohol as a way to calm themselves down and make things less tense. Booze is a well-known social lubricant, after all; knock enough back and suddenly you’re everybody’s friend! 

But, to feel the need to go that far just to keep up a conversation with the guy your husband is closest to... She must have felt REALLY uncomfortable, for some reason.

Which brings me back to her wearing the color of intentionally hidden secrets at Kazui’s wedding.

I think she had a feeling about Kazui’s true nature from when they first met. While the thought of it made her uncomfortable, largely as to what might mean for Kazui’s dynamic with her husband. However, she didn’t want to come out and confront him about it in such a public place (and where her spouse works, no less!), so instead she just kept drinking. The wedding... to be honest, I think the wedding reassured and assuaged her doubts for at least a little while. 

After all, he and Hinako seemed to be seriously happy and in love! It wouldn’t feel anywhere near as sincere if the groom was secretly ‘like that’, right?

And at some point during that time (don’t remember if we’ve been given an official marriage length for them or not; please let me know if we have) Kazui confessed the truth to Hinako, who largely just took it in stride and stayed by his side through thick and thin. 

‘It’ only occurred after all that had already happened.

What’s ‘it’, you ask?

Well... the truth is, I have no way of knowing precisely what ‘it’ was; it’s the biggest truth Kazui is hiding from us, after all, and a magician would never reveal his secrets so easily. What I do know is that it likely involved the bartender’s wife directly confronting Kazui, with Kazui doing something drastic in return, likely to better keep his secret hidden.

And, for all I can’t tell you precisely what ‘it’ was, whether ‘it’ was threatening someone or the actual murder Kazui was put in Milgram for, I CAN readily point you to how Kazui viewed ‘it’:

And it was only after discovering whatever the above represents that we see Hinako react like this: 

But, with all this in mind, I think Hinako’s potential... murder? suicide? whatever it was? ... is far less about whatever ‘green apple’ Kazui was hiding, and far more about how far he was willing to go to keep it hidden. 

TL;DR: In keeping audience misdirection in mind, Hinako finding out about Kazui’s true nature more than likely isn’t what lead to the ‘murder’ Kazui is in Milgram for. If anything, it was likely the wife of his childhood friend confronting Kazui about his secret that lead to where things ended up; from what we can tell, Kazui had already told his wife his secret, and that hadn’t pushed her away.

[cyle]

you said that there is no inbalance between likes and reblogs, and that people made it up. how can you be so blind when it is so, so painfully obvious? this used to be a blogging site, but no one reblogs anymore, and most of the art/edits go unnoticed. and this is not just me, all of my content creator friends are experiencing the same thing, many of them even quit editing because no one even reblogs anymore, and the content never gets spread around. the only stuff that gets lots of reblogs nowadays are funny shitposts or tiktok/twitter screenshots. fandom gifsets only reach 2k+ if they are on the trending page. are you aware that this site is no longer the home of fandom, but the home of shitposts and leftovers from other apps? if likes AT LEAST showed up on dashboard like on twitter, it would do miracles to us. please consider making changes to the like button before you lose all your content creators.

i believe you must be referencing this and this?

first, i don't believe anyone "made it up". i know people (including other members of tumblr staff) are worried about this, and for good reason. but let's break this down a bit more.

your specific screenshot is a cumulative total over time, and reblogs repeat much more often than likes, since people can reblog many times and can only like once, so of course the further back you look, the more the ratio will be better for older posts. also, the interface back then didn't even separate the like count from the reblog count, so how would anyone in 2015 even know the ratio? probably by looking at their activity, but even then, if you're actually a popular blog, you're probably drowning in activity items and can't "see" the ratio.

i can almost guarantee you that if you were counting the ratio for the first 3 months of a post's life in 2015, and compared it to the first 3 months of a post's life now, you'd see very little divergence in the reblog-to-like ratio. i literally have access to see this ratio across the whole platform over time, it's part of my job, and i can't find strong evidence that the ratio has changed. i was really worried about this too!

the big caveat i'll concede is that for some individual blogs, the ratio may be different today than it was 7 years ago. if you're comparing tumblr in the universe of 2015 to tumblr in today's ecosystem, you're in for a hard comparison no matter what, because the world is not like it was in 2015. that's not altogether a bad thing. times change. we have to adapt with it. some blogs that were popular in 2015 simply aren't going to be as popular today; and likewise, some popular blogs today wouldn't have been popular in 2015.

also, "if likes AT LEAST showed up on dashboard like on twitter, it would do miracles to us" -- they do! it's called "Based on your likes", and you probably didn't realize you turned it off in your Dashboard Preferences, so you never see it. it's on by default for everyone, unless they turn it off. it's a really amazing discovery mechanism for many, many people on tumblr. that's part of what we've been trying to do to adapt the platform to any such changes in behavior over time.

regardless of whether or not the ratio is changing, though, i definitely agree with you that there's more for us to do to try to keep content creators around. making it clearer how content spreads around the platform is definitely one of those things. stay tuned, because there are lot of improvements in that regard that we've been working on. but they don't look the same as what we may have done in 2015 tumblr terms, they look closer to what other mainstream platforms do today.

[morguemaw]

Important.

So. I wanted to make this post, and my brother, and girlfriend have supported me. My brother knows this entire situation, but i wanted to come out about it because it has dealt alot of mental toll on me, and im scared of this creator. No, i dont want to interact or start drama. No, dont mention me to him. No, i dont want his apology. No, i dont want any pity. I just want to tell my story because it happened before, happened to me, and just because he has a "soft gay boy nice boy" attitude does NOT mean it wont happen again. What ill go over in this post roughly/you will get the impression of is;

Why i hate comparison

Why im fast to jump at conclusions/be defensive

and Why i mention my trauma with the UTMV community, specially under posts regarding art, art style, characters or character design.

And no, im not even posting this to try and tell people im some snowflake who cant handle criticism or compression, this is targeted to the people who have ill intent with those and go as far as to label things others do as copying or ripping off.

Yes, im okay. Yes, im going to continue what i do. No, im not wanting to send anyone after him. Please, just read what i have and understand that the way i am is because of something i have kept to myself and only 2-4 other people for the past 5 years.

Introduction.

To get it started, ill be calling this creator, he/him, by his publicly known name. However, ill also possibly switch from his name, to part of his username/nickname.

This creator in question, is the content creator named Lizherubones, also known as TwistedBones, thebastardbutcher ( here on tumblr, too. ) , ButcherZone, and his oldest username, Zippy3006. He sounds familiar because he was one of the bigger creators in the UTMV, back in the dark ages of fontcest being the normal. However, i will call him William, as that is his name, and its public information. He also goes by Will, so im sorry if i call him any variation of those names/usernames.

Other things you may read about in this is an old discontinued app called DoodleClub, a OC of mine named Ezher who is the reason why im making this post, as i wanted to draw and post him again, but the timeline will be abit scattered as trauma and blocked out memories happened because of this, however another important person, despite being lightly mentioned is another victim who i will simply call Az as of right now.

Ill try to keep this as short as i can within reason, there will be time gaps, there will be references to previous things mentioned, and if it gets rough i may even stumble on how i type and mention things too soon or later on, im very sorry.

The Start.

During the time of 2015-2016, i had first found Undertale. During it, i joined a app called DoodleClub, its where i met my brother, Glitchy. During this time, i had also joined Tumblr. With the rise and popularity of Undertale, i had seen alot of artists, some other popular names you may recognize is NSFWshamecave, BlogTheGreatRouge, and a few others whom aren't important to the story other then to get the gist of it, Lizherubones was one of the artists i had encountered, and grew attached to. I adored his style. To me, it was a perfect mesh of cartoony and pleasing aesthetics and anatomy that i just.. Well i loved it. This is when i got stupid. On DoodleClub, i would post artwork of either 100% traced or partly traced artwork of his, along with my own where i weakly attempted to mimic his style. Soon tho, i got too comfortable. Sometimes i sent him asks on or off anon, i drew him fanart, and on DoodleClub i even changed my username to "Twisted Bones", because i really liked that name. However, sometime a user, who i will just call Nutty for right now since its what i remember them by, they found out. Slowly, a few others did, and Nutty ended up reporting me to William. Now during this i never got screenshots, one screenshot i remember Nutty posting was one of William saying i was a loser for tracing, or something similar but equally short.

This ended fast, as people were on my side. But it didnt end there. Same day Nutty reported me, and word got out, i decided to confront William myself. I explained that i was sorry, i wouldnt do it again, and i saw him as a idol and wanted forgiveness. I was terrified and at my grandmothers trying to hide me talking to a almost 30 year old man about traced work. The first trauma tick with him, was when he threatened legal action against me, saying and i quote, 'Your parents will have to pay alot of money'.

May i tell you a few things;

I was a CHILD at the time. 11-12 years old, not even classified as a Teen yet. I couldnt legally be sued.

He lives in Chile Brazil, i live in Michigan USA. After about a year, and also after a third situation that happened that caused me to do alot of at the time feeling smart teen research, he couldnt have even attempted a law suit because of the fact i wasnt making money off the traced work, and that the laws are different in both states and countries regarding copyrighted content. Not just that but.. He was too far, and would have to come to me. Which again, different locations = different laws, and so on.

As stated above, i made 0 money or even thought to off his traced content. In my mind at the time, i just traced to learn the style, and ill even say it that from what i remember, i didnt trace enough to have it be my main thing.

After this, he commanded me to delete all my work, and to never return to the internet. Which i did.

Return of the Deja Vu (Instagram Arch).

Skipping to 2017, my slow return to the internet. I had gotten Instagram and decided i still wanted to draw. However, like a cow being branded, his style still stayed in my mind. Though, this time it was just muscle memory.

During both this interaction and the previous, both times William had stated his art , characters, and even worse the colors used on them were copyrighted.

In the end of this, because the more important one comes next, is people kept tagging him in my work. Saying it was familiar, asking if it was his characters, ect. Which lead to him messaging me on my now forgotten account, once again threatening the law to me. This time, however, i just told him to leave me alone as i wasnt doing anything. He had also made comments and remarks on my artwork like, "This just looks like a human version i did", or "Looks like a draw i made." ect, ect. I had made a very old, possibly lost Reddit account talking about this, which was made just within the same week of him telling me these. This situation ended fast, mainly because i went inactive on this account. If the name Zure/Zhure sounds familiar, that was apart of my user at the time.

The Big Blowout (Twitter Arch).

This is where my links and pictures come in. All are screenshotted from Twitter. This is also where i can provide more proof of things. I will mostly gloss over everything, as its foggy for me. The timeline is roughly 2019. On twitter, i still was ignorant and blind to this all. Rose tinted glasses. I wanted to just be seen by someone i looked up to and just get a small sorry if he even felt any pity. On Twitter, i began posting. I began to also like his art, but never followed. Just to try and gain his attention. This ended badly, however. After i first not only made a suggestive Human Swap Sans, at the time not realizing at this point what i was doing was taking inspiration from him rather then trying to copy, but i had also made a OC named Ezher.

Ezher was the main breaking point.

This is Ezher;

As you can clearly see, yes, he looks alot like William's own OC, Rheiz. , However, i remember clearly the source of what i liked most about Rheiz was the marks in his hair and the dark to light hoodie he wore. Something extremely important, but when i made Ezher, William was a faint memory to me at the time. So when i say source pf his OC, it was a distant memory and i didnt think much when i created him. Off topic note, but turns out that while talking to someone William considers a close friend, all i did was make Ezher half red, half blue and that made Ezher original. Who knew a color tied his fate. Sound familiar? Thats because mentioned earlier, William told me previously that he had characters that were copyrighted. He also mentioned that using the same colors as his characters was wrong, too.

Ezher will be getting a update and will be coming back. When Will found out about this, is when shit hit the fan. I got many, many @'s like this;

^ Mind you in the last screenshot, i was trying. I really was. A user named SnoweyBones also made a message on their Twitter, telling people to report me. This got my acc taken down. This is only a small part of what i personally could find. I roughly remember screenshotting the DMs + others, but they are either lost to time or something else.

If you couldnt tell, the gist of it was, William had made a post about me somewhere which in return led to a mob.

This scared me off the internet for abit, and i went into hiding for awhile until my brother started to give me more confidence, and i realized that everything that happened,

was all because someone was egotistical about a artstyle and monochromatic color scheme.

^ That was my old account. Very easy to find however, so it is what it is.

Things i found, Things you should know.

To once again clarify, im not seeking pity nor revenge. Im wanting to shed light and say my story about this artist, because this isnt the first time he has done this, let alone something terrible.

William has attacked another creator, this same creator he is following on Twitter and acting like nothing happened.

There was a situation creepily similar to mine that occurred not too long before my own. Similar insults and similar situations.

v link

William has a history of attacking other creators. His reasoning is that his own trauma is the cause of his actions. I have trauma with him, and the furthest i ever went was when someone used my characters (in my eyes) unique name for themselves and created a sexual variant of my OC without my consent and proceeded to openly complain, insult, and suicide bait members around them because i rightfully called them out for doing something with something of mine i didnt like, didnt let them do, nor would have ever consented to.

To sum it up.

Im not doing this as revenge. Im not doing this as pity. Because again, a close friend of his helped me and made me feel better during his final attack on me and helped me still connect to a OC of mine.

Im doing this because its for me a traumatic experience and a reason why i tend to act the way i do. Im scared to post certain characters, art, or ect without the fear of him coming around or others comparing me to him.

Again, my OC Ezher was the starting point of this. I want to draw him and love him again, but im scared of William.

Even if i have a whole redesign in mind, even if he doesnt remember me or even bother with me, even if no one cares or even if the community now isnt so butthole tight about stupid things like similar color schemes or aesthetics, its still something that affects me and has affected how enjoy the fandom.

Repeating this, but im not even posting this to try and tell people im some snowflake who cant handle criticism or compression, this is targeted to the people who have ill intent with those and go as far as to label things others do as copying or ripping off.

[aemiron-main]

Look, @sayyourprayers I’m too tired to actually go through your whole weird little callout post but did you miss the part where my upset was regarding Dani’s ableist takes regarding personality disorders and her accusations of rapist apologism? If you want to talk about bullying, let’s start there.

Like I’ve said, I got dm’d screenshots re: dani’s weird ableist takes, (and hell, even if I DID go and hateread her blog, which I would simply say that I did), and my issue was never Dani making her anti-henry posts. My issue was specifically when dani started bringing comparisons to real-life mentally ill people into it & throwing around vague references to personality disorders while talking about people who “just want to kill,” and when Dani started making accusations of irl rape apologism when it comes to fictional character analysis.

I don’t know about you, but I personally think that contributing towards the stigma surrounding personality disorders & saying that people would forgive IRL rapists is worse than people snarkily responding to those things.

And also, what kind of cartoon villain do you think I am??? Send my hounds?? What hounds??? I’m not responsible for what other people, who I haven’t spoken to, say in Dani’s inbox. I didn’t send any anons to dani, I didn’t tell anyone to send anons to dani, and I’m not playing your and dani’s weird little victim complex games.

And also “posts not meant for them” if it’s on someone’s public blog it’s fair game to look at, you’re acting like somebody broke into someone’s fucking house over here! Get a grip please.

And just in case you missed it, this was never OVER A FICTIONAL CHARACTER, my point and upset was always regarding Dani’s comments re: real-life people and accusations. If anyone has an inflated ego here, it’s you. It’s so funny that you think you’re all suave and acceptable when you’re the one hating, but when others do it, or when others push back against weird rape apologism claims/weird ableist comments, suddenly you need to make a callout post? And yes, I also criticized Dani’s analysis and her making things up re: the show in my posts. Which, just like how she’s criticized my stuff and accused me of being biphobic etc. it’s almost like things that people post publicly on the internet are free to criticize.

Anyway, anyone who doesn’t want to be on my blog doesn’t have to be. And also, I’m going to go back to blocking you now that I’ve tagged you in this because frankly you’re just annoying as hell and I’d rather never have to see your posts again. Thanks. I won’t be replying to any responses to this.

[epickiya722]

I'm gonna let it be known that I do not care for comments like this...

This honestly feels backhanded to me.

How does anyone go about saying "the animation is garbage" but then turn around and praise other works and say the workers deserve better?

I definitely agree that the workers deserve better working conditions, there's no argument there. I definitely want the animators and crew to be able to go home without the risk of losing their jobs, damn it. I do not think the animators and crew should be overworked and stressed. That's unfair to them. And I agree that MAPPA has put out other beautifully sculpted animes.

But to say that the animation was garage for the recent episode(s)?

"They feel bad for their work", so you insult said work?

I definitely felt it reading posts from the crew saying "I wish to do better", especially since I write and often have those thoughts of my own. But the crew hasn't disappointed me so far with everything that so far has been up for this season.

From the animation shift where it looks more "manga" to the music that's stuck in my head.

Knowing they put out these episodes that I enjoy under such stressful conditions makes me feel for them. It does suck to create something even when you're feeling your lowest.

You don't feel like yourself and yet you push and push to work hard so you don't disappoint your audience. And even after, you still feel like it's not good enough... It's crushing to the mind and body.

And you know? I feel like the crew says they "could do better" because of people like this.

No matter how hard the animators and everyone worked to make these episodes the best they can, there are going to be people who say "it's garbage".

And that is so cruel.

This honestly felt like someone wanting to complain without reason. I say this because the tone and this was put under a fun little post about a comparison of moves between Sukuna and Itadori. Like a "this gives the same vibes as this" kind of way.

Now, granted, the pics I posted for that post were wonky. But that is on me since I was screenshotting MOVING scenes. You know how hard that is to screenshot MOVING scenes? It's gonna look weird, even when the animation is fluid and amazing.

That post is comedic, lighthearted, fun. I'm sure anyone who seen the post caught onto that.

Now before that post, I did make a post that talked about the animation. So... why not have made the reply there?? Because you just wanted to complain.

Not support for the animators and other members of the crew who work together to craft episodes for us to watch. Not show concern. Not show sympathy.

Just wanting to complain.

Caring about the animators and others who work under MAPPA isn't resorting to "their work was trash, they could do better".

Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if you want to say that the animation was trash, fine then. But think about where you're posting and how you're doing it.

If you want to complain, do in on your own blog or maybe on another post that shares your sentiment.

[thisismeracing]

https://www.tumblr.com/thisismeracing/736462766873919488/bonoreader-head-canons-cont-for-real-this?source=share

bono!reader head-canons (pt. 3)

even though bon is not biologically related to anyone in the paddock other than her dad, a lot of them see her as their kid because she really is. i think it’s hard not to grow attached to someone who is there, at your place of work, day in day out starting when that person is 5 years old. it also helps that said 5 year old is a little sponge for the work you do and is genuinely interested in it and can get so wrapped up in it but also still needs help tying her shoe laces. there was just this want to help raise this kid into the best possible version of themselves and if it took a small army to do so then so be it

other than english bon speaks: spanish (from nando), german (from toto, niki, michael,seb, etc.), finnish (from mostly kimi but a bit from val as well), italian (from toto, niki, and michael), and french (from toto as well) girl is multilingual and sometimes when she was very small her head got confused with all the languages and would start speaking in a different language each time she responded to what you said to her. because she could comprehend what she was hearing, but the wires in her brain just got a little mixed up

i think there is exactly one photo of max, mick, and bon all as babies and they all dont remember it but all the people around them see it and go “oh yeah! you did all meet that one time at that one race”

bon used to do work in bed. laptop set on her thighs or on the mattress in front of her, calculator somewhere in between the sheets, and a countless amount of work papers and documents strewn about. it’s a bad habit she developed over the years and knows it's bad but has never gotten around to breaking. that is until mick is over one day and he goes to get into the opposite side of the bed than she has gotten into and when he lays down he is met with an odd feeling at his back and when he investigates it’s her calculator. and before he can ask why it’s in her bed at all his eyes fall on her work laptop that is sitting in the gap between her pillows. at this point he has put two and two together and asks if she works in her bed and she sheepishly goes “maybeeeeeee” and god that look on her face is so cute so he pulls her into his space after removing the work related items and says “you may be cute but we are talking about this later” and then they continue their cuddle sesh with sweet nothings and stolen kisses until they fall asleep

[including this lil hc that i sent to you on email] bon has a teal ti-84 for work purposes and it’s always on her person and it’s a running gag amongst fans to grab screenshots of when it makes an appearance on camera and post it to their fan pages dedicated to her calculator of all things

susie taught her how to do makeup

painted a lot of peoples nails when she was younger, didn’t matter who you were. if you were around this girl when she was painting her own nails then you would somehow be sat across from her after trying your best to get out of the situation. (imagine toto with teal glittery nail polish just imagine)

loves to drape her arms around mick from the back and to kiss his head while having him in her arms

buys platform shoes on accident all the time. she pays attention to the design more than anything so when she wears them out she’s closer to toto’s 6’5” than before and in comparison her boys (her dad and mick) are just standing there 🧍🧍in their not tall statures

more of a mick hc than a bon hc but, mick’s wec and f1 helmets after they get together include a little something incorporated into the design of the helmet that reminds him and symbolizes bon [feel free to share any ideas on what it could be with me cause i cant really think of anything rn]

prefers to be the one driving when going somewhere and this extends to when traveling somewhere, by car, with mick. like this boy has tried to drive for his girl but she just wont let him so he’s just accepted his passenger princess fate

[i would just like to let you know this breached the a second page on google docs and that is how i knew where to end it]

☕️

Prev link

I love the fact that she grew around everyone because thats exactly as the saying goes: it takes a village to raise a child. it took the biggest village ever (aka f1 crew) to raise bono baby.

the fan page to the calculator loool this is something that I can totally see happening

I think for the helmet he would totally include a small calculator or even a cute draw of a sticker (to remind of when she was a kid and used to put them on everyones car), or a secret reference when theyre not public yet, maybe a doodle of something because she would totally doodle random cute stuff on some of the papers sometimes when shes distracted, and maybe she doodled a heart or a small cat, so mick will have this cat on his helmet.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

DnD 5e goblins and bugbears

are these designs racist? Well, as I am white, I can't really say I'm the expert on this particular concern, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone else point it out, so take this with a grain of salt.

They probably aren't intentionally racist designs. They do make me feel uncomfortable. I haven't finished my redesign for them yet, but I wanted to get this post started since I have other big projects to get to and if I just go straight to those, I will continue to forget about this one. So let's get started!

(image description: the official dnd 5e art for goblins and bugbears. They're related species, though the bugbear is much taller and covered in fur, while the goblin is very small and mostly hairless. they both have large triangular ears and a rounded hook nose with no bridge. The goblin has very yellow skin, the bugbear has very orange fur, and both have red-yellow eyes with flared eyebrows. Their weapons and armor look a bit scrappy, with bones and spikes and metal studs all over the design. notes on the image will be explained below. end description)

the fur color can probably be given a pass because it's fur, but the goblin's skin is so yellow. By itself, I don't think that would be enough to call it a bad design choice, but it is a little odd. what really makes me suspicious are the face shapes, especially the nose and eyebrows. And also the armor. There's not much armor, and it doesn't look like an exact match for any specific type of armor. Honestly I think it's a mix of inspirations, since the bugbear's leather skirt thing does look more like typical roman-inspired battle skirts. but there's enough going on with layered panels and metal studs, mixed with hide and bone and spikes for that "primitive" flair, that I do wonder a bit.

I gathered a few images that these designs reminded me of, as a visual reference.

(image description: both images contain screenshots of the huns from the animated disney Mulan film. The first image also shows old samurai armor and mongolian armor. the armor all has similar designs of layered metal and/or leather with metal studs all over it. The second image contains close ups of the goblin and bugbear faces with the animated film hun characters for comparison. They do all have similarly flared eyebrows and eye colors, as well as some similarities in the nose designs. end description)

Just, kinda makes me uncomfortable. Feels like someone should have double checked their work a bit before finalizing these monster designs. It's not blatant enough to be like, really on purpose, I don't think? I could be wrong, I very well may be missing some details. But the similarities to the hun designs alone are enough to make me say "oh gee, this doesn't seem right." Honestly, I think it's part of a larger trending problem with monster design. There are just some visual features that get used as the universal indicators that these creatures are Evil by nature. These features typically include some form of hooked nose, "primitive" armor, weapons, and clothing, and facial shapes that are angular and blocky, with a very heavy brow.

as a result of these common "evil" visual features, it's kind of inevitable that humanoid monster designs will end up feeling racist in some manner. It's much easier to avoid accidental racism with more animal or insectoid monster designs, but everyone always wants sapient-ish enemies they can use as cannon fodder, with even more humanoid final bosses. So they default to these visual traits again and again, because those are just the visual traits that have always been used. So it's an ongoing issue. Heck, if I tried to design evil humanoids from scratch for a job, I'm sure someone above me would request edits to give them the more obvious "evil" traits so they look more scary and intimidating. this is an industry problem more than an individual one. I hope I've helped point it out here, so more people can recognize it and add their own commentary.

I am also working on a redesign for these, in as close a stye match as I can manage. here's a WIP sample:

(image description: in the first image, a sketched redesign of the goblin and bugbear. Their noses and ears have been altered to look more bat-like, with prominent fleshy ridges on the noses that stick up away from the face. In the second image, the goblin is mostly finished with new colors and altered armor. It is now wearing a short leather wrap with strands of leather or hide hanging off the belt, alongside the arm bracers and leg bracers that were already there. Its skin is now a pale grey color and its hair has been redone as short bristly fur, with facial whiskers on the brow and chin. The bugbear has not been repainted, but it has been cut up and repositioned in preparation for the repaint. end description.)

fixed the poses while i was at it, making the goblin a little more dynamic and the bugbear a little more balanced. They're cave dwellers, so i went further with the bat-like features and the pallid complexion like other cave dwelling creatures have. It's going to take a while to repaint these, so this WIP will have to do for now. I hope it shows how a similar art style can be maintained while also making the designs a little more interesting and not so reliant on racist features.

[adachimoe]

Why is Fuefuki said to be Inaba?

In my Finding Inaba post, I mentioned the belief that Fuefuki was thought to be Inaba because of buildings from there being referenced.

I thought these were lost to time, but Hasino's old posts were still on the Wayback Machine. So here's some backstory on this:

In 2008, Hashino posted on Atlus's old website and recalled a time during Persona 4's development when he and other Atlus staff drove from Shinjuku because they wanted to visit the countryside.

They stopped at towns they saw along the highway and wound up in "some mountainous town". They walked around a random shopping district and took photos, some of which Hashino shared with fans.

After the 2008 blog posting and Persona 4's release, people investigated Hashino's photos of Atlus's visit to a "mountainous town" and figured out it was Fuefuki.

Someone took a pilgrimage to Fuefuki. Said person took photos around town and compared them with screenshots from the game.

Unlike the movie "Your Name" that uses locations like the stairs of the Suga Shrine, or even Persona 3 where Iwatodai is a stand-in for the city of Kobe (you can tell by the map), the shopping district in Fuefuki and its buildings and the town map are nowhere near 1:1 with the game. The old Isawa Onsen Station that resembled Yasoinaba Station has also since been torn down and replaced with a more modern building.

Based on another of Hashino's development posts that mentioned "a school near Fuji Q Highland", the same pilgrim also went to a school near Fuji Q hoping to find Yasogami High. Since it's a real school, they weren't allowed to take comparison photos. Fuji Q is still in the Yamanashi prefecture, but it's not in Fuefuki.

So we do know for a fact that Atlus used streets and buildings there as a reference, and also spoke to people on the street, but I'm not sure using buildings as reference should really be taken to mean, "that's literally Inaba". Like Hashino purposely avoided saying "We stopped in Fuefuki" when he posted first in 2008. (Also, I would find it very hard to take anyone's complaining about being stuck in the sticks seriously if they're a 2 hour train ride from Tokyo lol.)

In my case - I didn't want to just see buildings, so I skipped Fuefuki and went to the area said to be related to the game's mythology and also where an Inaba territory used to exist.

[para-atypical]

the lackadaisy vs hh/hb fandom debacle is super frustrating to me. Ive seen claims of transphobia, homophobia, with screenshots that are either lacking or irrelevent (some claiming that anyone defending lackadaisy promotes transphobic ideas and that hh is clearly the better option due to having gay characters) While, yes. I can understand that people accusing a person of transphobia after liking tweets from terfs on sports. Its transphobic in nature, and propaganda.

This is gross! It will never not be gross. However, people around Ze have stated that her opinion has shifted since liking these tweets (linked). She should informed whats wrong with these tweets, but shes not the one who said them. From what i can tell, she never sent this kind of rhetoric to anyone but the person she had discussed with. (Edit as of 2023.8.28: An announcement by tracy clarified that these tweets were not something that Ze believed in to begin with.) It is not a good look on lackadaisy, but accusing Everyone who worked on it being bad because of this one person employed by them is not right. What that would lead to is harassment of employees for working with a transphobe, not removing the transphobe. Accusing anyone that supported lackadaisy of being a terf leads to harassment of random onlookers who are unaware of the actions of an employee. This is NOT the creator of lackadaisy, this is not people supporting a show created by a terf, but it is being treated that way. This kind of stuff is Nuanced and people should be allowed to learn whats wrong and right before being attacked outright for listening to propaganda (thats what propaganda is supposed to do! Change peoples ideas!) However, liking tweets from a transphobe is Nothing in comparison to the comments made by Viv on a trans person.

please keep in mind that the dates are not present here. (linked)

This screenshot has been around for a while, sent out a couple days after the posting dates of the terf tweets- before the lakcadaisy accusations came. And yet i do not see many people share them around. Is it a fear of it not being the real vivzie? Has she ever addressed this? Will she ever address this? Is she aware of this being sent around?

Once again, This kind of stuff is Nuanced and people should be allowed to learn whats wrong and right before being attacked outright. But, attacking one person for doing the same thing as the person youre defending is weird! and strange! Can this be addressed before attacking another studio for the same thing?

(As an extra note, listen to trans people on this issue. Not all of us will say the same thing- many people will defend or accuse other people for different sentiments, no one is less trans or less valid because of their opinions on this. Do not treat them as such. We are all different people, explaining different sides of our story is important.)