#metatextual wankery

[prokopetz]

The constant rolling disaster that is Overwatch's game development aside, what really perplexes me about how Blizzard is handling the broader franchise is their continual insistence that a canon narrative exists in spite of their equally continual refusal to tell anyone what it is.

Like, okay, the events of the games aren't canon. Fair enough: the games are multiplayer-only, and you can't account for player actions.

Oh, and the animated short films aren't canon either – they're properly understood as in-universe propaganda, not depictions of actual events. That's a little high concept for you guys, but fine.

But surely the comics are canon, right? Well, no; some of the comics (we're not telling you which ones) were canon at one point, but the writing team has decided to go in a different direction.

My dudes, what is left? The weird Source Filmmaker porn? Is that canon? Well, apparently it's at least as canon as anything else!

[zarvasace]

Another Point in Favor of Vidow

By this point, many of us in the Four Swords manga fandom are aware of the relationship that is (or maybe isn't) implied between Vio and Shadow. I agree that it is up for some debate, but also my opinion is that the relationship is as clear as it can get, operating within the bounds of its context—that is, early-2000s Japan, kids' manga, the bias against gay couples.

This is just another pin on the conspiracy board of red lines!

The moon is present in three main places during the Vio/Shadow arc—very first (and most damning) when the two meet one-on-one, once in a panel showing the Fire Temple that the two are hanging out in, and once behind the two as they ride on the dragon to cause chaos. (Many thanks to @hauntinghyrule for helping me find those!)

There is a common belief in Japan that the author Natsume Souseki once told a student that their translation was wrong. They'd translated "I love you" as "kimi o aisu," and he thought it was far too blunt. He was a product of the Meiji era, and preferred the idea that the Japanese language should be more poetic and subtle. He then proposed the idea that instead of "ware kimi wo aisu," one should say "tsuki ga kirei desu ne" instead, which translates to English more as "the moon is beautiful, isn't it?" (You can read more about that, and why the guy might not have actually said it, here!)

You can see where I'm going with this.

Whether or not Souseki actually said it, the phrase is widely understood to be a sideways way of saying "I love you." The moon has a lot of meanings in Japanese culture and language, and I won't say that this is the interpretation, or if our lovely authors meant this at all, but they might have. They seem fond of hinting at it. ("We feel blessed that the characters' feelings came across so clearly.")

If we can read into the presence of the moon as presence of romantic possibility, what happens then? Well. A lot.

When Shadow first approaches Vio, he's seen hanging out on top of a pine tree with the moon bright and full behind him.

This isn't the actual manga panel, I don't have that right now, but this art was based on that specific scene, and you may recognize it. There are a few other panels this scene that Vidow shippers like to call out—Vio's apparent blush when Shadow casually moves his sword away (a power move regardless of intent that made me fall in love with him), or the way Shadow hangs on Vio when persuading him to turn to the dark side. If we can read the moon's presence as a hint towards romance, then it's pretty clear what's being implied here—there's an element of seduction.

The second place we see the moon is just after Vio and Shadow's heart-to-heart on the balcony, one of the only canon interactions between them during this period without a lot of plot happening. Here's the panel I mean:

Like hauntinghyrule pointed out, if the moon is visible here, it was likely present during that conversation. That feels like reaching, but I think it's pretty significant that we can see the moon in this panel, too. It's here for that bonding moment. It's part of establishing the tone and setting. If the moon is inherently romantic, then so is this scene.

And then the third panel that the moon is seen in is this one, Vio and Shadow flying on a dragon to bring chaos and fire:

If the moon means romance, then this is a date. They've had their moment, they're in love, all is going well.

It might not mean that much. I could be veering into atla-levels of overanalyzation, for sure! However, this feels like something that could definitely be intentional. "月が綺麗ですね" is understood to sort-of kind-of mean "I love you," turning the moon into a symbol of implied love.

And...it's very thematic, even if it isn't intended. Come on. The moon, hinting toward unspoken romance in some of the scenes where Vio and Shadow's dynamic is at its most stable? Dramatic. Amazing.

...You could read even more into it, and say that Vio is Shadow's moon—reflected light of the Hero or the Princess, guiding him to see the good, a desirable light in the darkness that Shadow insists he has to stay in. There's something lovely about that interpretation, too. :)

[burnbrighterthanever]

The movie Goncharov was never made.

- Iolithae Septimian, probably

[project-catgirlpillar]

Ushiromiya battler literally sooo postie coded

Like oh He "reached the truth at the Center of the Game Board"? And that makes him the "territory Lord" and He gets to write the narrative but If it contradicts itself the entire Board gets destroyed? You can Just say that He flowered it's fine lol

[fedoranon]

It's an Isekai isn't it

[daylightcommand3]

Originally I didn't care about Propoketz's Overwatch post. While it was factually inaccurate, the heart of it was in the right place: "Overwatch's story is relatively bare bones despite being a huge game for several years." One would expect that a franchise as successful would attempt to make progress on the story. Propketz was never exactly an overwatch fan. Just a verbose poster who had a passion for game design and "metatextual wankery". His post is mot likely misinformation created or parroted by false sources or a lack of attention.

Yet as details arose, the situation became harder to ignore. First of all, people were believing propoketz's misinformation. This was merely annoying. It's not a big deal if more people are bad-mouthing a game that has tons of other problems. Ultimately, its a small drop in the ocean of Overwatch's obstabcles.

What started to boil my blood was the reveal that propoketz was deleting comments correcting him. From what I saw, even polite comments correcting him were removed. This is not a problem for Overwatch however. This is a problem for him.

Propoketz has shown his true colors. I recommend unfollowing and even blocking him. (Reporting is completely unjustified in this situation). Just as Purplekoop suggested: leave no attention to him. He's shown all he cares about is looking smart and correct. No matter the reality of the situation.

Leave the Elon Musk type to his Elon-Muskness.

[thirstyforred]

fiendlies (fiendish friendlies), what if I recorded and uploaded to YT a long-form video essay/review about the book I'm writing Ascendant from Saov? while throughout the whole video never dropping the act of being a small but established BookTuber and not the author? would you watch the hell out of it?

[disworl]

...I wonder if you could do a ‘fic reinterpretation of Boku No Hero Academia where all the characters and setting stay exactly the same, but it’s written to be a Secret Princess narrative.

[andthentheywilleatthestars]

I really love the concept of tragedies that don't know they're tragedies. The House Bunny is an extremely bleak picture of the way the male gaze dictates the lives of young women. Left behind is a pitch black comedy of a man convinced so thoroughly that he's on the right side that he doesn't notice that the entire war is meaningless and that he's complicit in the slaughter of millions. Agents of Shield is the story of a young idealist being corrupted by the Cia allegory until it destroys her sense of morality and eventually her very identity.

[notarealwelder]

With almost all tracks in Touhou 15.5 being guest-arranged, apparently someone took the opportunity to canonize Night Falls, Evening Star version from Concealed the Conclusion! That’s neat.

I mean, compare: Original, CtC, 15.5.

[mrs75]

CARRY 12 KILLS FIZZ GAMEPLAY - WILD RIFT

[prokopetz]

Fourth-wall-breaking video game setting whose inhabitants are aware that only cutscene death is permanent, and have thus developed an elaborate system of customs and taboos to avoid accidentally triggering cutscenes in their daily lives. People have some intrinsic knowledge of whether the cutscene flag has been set, but they don't necessarily know why, nor are they automatically aware of whether they're one of the focus characters or whether they just happen to be in the vicinity, allowing for a wide variety of murder-mystery bullshit.

[loki-zen]

Who is your favorite character? Did this change throughout? How much knowledge do you have of general consensus on the characters?

Do you think Homestuck is a creation myth, a story about friendship, metafictional wankery, or all/none/some of the above?

Yeah it’s all those things plus some other stuff

I don’t have much knowledge of the general consensus at all, except that I know Vriska is controversial and that caring about the Dancestors is one way to define ‘a Homestuck (derogatory)’. I assume there’s a quiet ‘except Meenah and Aranea’ on that one although I’m not really sure? Maybe they hate Aranea cuz she’s fake Vriska or something. Meenah otoh is clearly the most interesting Piexes so if they want to include her they can suck my bad fish pun.

I find ‘favourite character’ hard to quantify bc it feels like a lot of questions in one?

Anyway I John is very well-executed (it’s actually really hard to write a character of the sort that he is that I’m genuinely charmed by) but my early favourites were Dave, and Terezi when she came in. (Even when she was just a trolly troll voice actually)

Vriska I took a little longer to warm to but she’s so much fun to play (I read most of acts 1-5 out loud, play-acting the dialogue scenes with @dagny-hashtaggart) and quickly gained ‘I love her she’s the worst’ status, and she did not stop getting more relatable in an ‘I’m this picture and I don’t like it’ sorta way even though Act 6, during which eg Dave got very little development until that rush job right at the end. Plus she stars in both the single scene that sticks with me the most in terms of its quiet emotional poignancy (I think it’s her last scene in act 5?) and my favourite scene in which the metatextuality shit is working for me (when she puts her foot down about getting to do the goddamn reveal of the treasure already).

Terezi comes back with a being fucking cool vengeance some way through Act 6, though it’s then harder to be interested in the version of her that didn’t do the cool stuff?

And Meenah is the best of the characters who only appear in the worst parts of Homestuck, as previously implied.

Overall? Idk probably the mayor he’s the best

[whetstonefires]

i can't remember who i follow spammed my dash with so much Scum Villain last week while i was feeling Out Of It that i was like

fuck it i'll

read the damn thing but i think it was a mutual so hi whoever that was lol

i'm like 5 chapters from the end and between the amateur translation, my unfamiliarity with any of its genres, and the couple different levels of metatextual wankery going on here i don't only not know whether it's 'good' i do not know whether i like it

but i do know i'm gonna read the fuck out of the fanfictions when i'm actually done because the aforementioned metawank means there's gotta be a lot going on there

[logicalabsurdity]

excuse me? hussie and co.? what the fuck was this metatextual wankery and why did i enjoy it so much

[thedarkbunny]

Thought of the Day

For the good of the universe, it’s probably best that @prokopetz and Tailsteak never meet. The storm of metatextual wankery would likely have dire and lasting consequences. On the other hand, given that they’re both Canadian and share enough hobbies that they’d (theoretically) know a lot of the same people, I can’t rule out the possibility that they already have.