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carriesthewind · 1 year

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Good evening everyone! As I said in an answer to a previous ask, there wasn't a public call-in line to listen to the Show Cause Hearing in Mata v Avianca (the ChatGBT lawyer case) today.

However, while we are waiting for a transcript of the hearing (because there was a court reporter! yay!) and a written decision by the judge, we did get this absolutely anxiety-inducing live tweet of the hearing:

(Caveat: this thread was not an official transcript of the hearing and should not be taken as such. It is possible the actual events and statements made in the hearing differ significantly from this report - i.e., take this with a grain of salt and reserve final judgement for the actual transcript.)

I'll put the full thread with some (light) commentary below the cut.* But the overall impression I am left with is that the judge seems to feel this pair of attorneys are treating their duty of candor toward the tribunal with the same seriousness with which they are treating their duty of competence to their clients. (And in this case, that's a very bad thing.)

*The full thread except for a soon-to-follow part 2 because I ran out of space for images again.

(All of the following screenshots are from the above tweet thread by Inner City Press @ innercitypress on twitter, made on June 8, 2023.)

Normally I would overlook that "you, personally," but in this case, you really get the feeling that the judge is concerned that LoDuca might just start talking about what Schwartz did again.

Establishing LoDuca's base of knowledge - he should know how to look up cases and check if they are real; he should know what a real case looks like.

The March 1 submission was the plaintiff's opposition to the motion to dismiss, where they first cited the fake cases.

How bad this answer is depends, I think, on LoDuca's wording here. Best case scenario, his statement about Schwartz was a specific statement about what inquiry was reasonable for him to do under the circumstances (which - for that first filing - I think is actually a reasonable argument. You don't expect your colleague to just make up cases). Worst case, this reads like him trying to wiggle out of his obligations. I will withhold judgement until I see the official transcript.

Rule 11, by the way, refers to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 11(b) states:

(If you remember the Order to Show Cause, we are dealing with a Rule 11(b)(2) issue here. Rule 11(c) allows the court to impose sanctions for violations of Rule 11(b))

Oh no, bad answer. (If anyone reading this is good at photoshop, I cannot express how badly I want a version of the "this sign can't stop me because I can't read" meme with the sign being the quote from defendant's reply where they say, "The undersigned has not been able to locate this case by caption or citation, nor any case bearing any resemblance to it.")

Oh that is not a good way of characterizing those orders. (Those were the orders, remember, where the Court said, "By April 18, 2022, Peter LoDuca, counsel of record for plaintiff, shall file an affidavit annexing copies of the following cases cited in his submission to this Court: as set forth herein. Failure to comply will result in dismissal of the action pursuant to Rule 41 (b), Fed. R. Civ. P.")

I would simply perish on the spot.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in my original attempted summary of "Varghese" - the first paragraph states that it is a wrongful death suit by the widow of the passenger. Then the second paragraph states that the passenger was denied boarding on a flight due to overbooking and thus missed his connecting flight and therefore incurred additional expenses. The case was such nonsense that I legitimately forgot about that inconsistency by the time I got to the end.

Your honor I plead "2 stupid 2 sanction."

(I believe the "different fonts" is in reference to the April 25 affidavit, in which the case names - and some of the surrounding text - are in a different font from most of the text in the affidavit. It seems like this is because they may have been copied straight from ChatGPT. See e.g., #3 below. It's hard to tell just based on this twitter thread, though.)

A short and simple answer! You did it!

"I have all the answers I need" is not a good sentence in this context.

Very genuinely: shorter is better here. At least I don't think he hurt himself with that statement.

Judge Castel: How do you conduct legal research?

Schwartz: I research cases.

Judge Castel: Do you read them?

Schwartz: Well, I may have once upon a time, but after hearing you ask that question in this context, I have decided to retire from the practice of law forever and also possibly sink into the ground and die. Also, by answering "yes," here, I just realized that I'm either admitting that I read the cases I submitted and therefore must have known they were fake, or else I just possibly committed perjury. Oh shit oh fuck.

Oh god I'm cringing myself into a pretzel just reading this.

Hey, by the way? You can actually use google (esp. google scholar) to do legal research. (It's not a good tool and you will miss things, but it will do in a pinch.) But. Um. If you know that...why didn't you double check your cases at very least on google when you were told they seemed to be made up?

So, once again, I am going to withhold judgement until I see the actual transcript. That said, if Schwartz did say this, I would like to compare it briefly to a part of the chat transcript he provided to the court. Here is the first question asked about the Montreal Convention in the provided transcript:

"analysis"

Oh god. I can't even provide commentary on this one. I hope this is worse than the actual transcript will prove to be. I'm reading through my fingers like I'm watching a horror movie.

"Misperception" (or "misconception") doesn't work once you have evidence that should cause you to doubt - like not being able to find a case that was supposedly published in the Federal fucking Reporter.

This is overshooting "2 stupid 2 sanction" into "too stupid to function."* You either looked for "Varghese" or you didn't. If you looked for "Varghese," it is not credible that you continued to have a good faith assumption that ChatGPT couldn't lie. If you didn't look up "Varghese," you just lied to the Court under oath.

*Just to be clear: for an ordinary person, this would be a very understandable lack of knowledge issue. A lawyer has no excuse not to know this.

Judge Castel: Mr. Schwartz, I think you have the fucking audacity to try to lie to me to my face in my fucking courtroom.

Honestly at this point I'm surprised he could still talk. I think screaming, "I'm melting, I'm melting!" as he vanished into steam, leaving his crumpled suit behind, would be an appropriate response.

NO.

Oh no, oh honey.

Ok. Two options here (again, assuming he actually fucking said "They said they couldn't find them," in response to the Court asking, "When Avianca said you cited non existent cases?"):

Schwartz is once again trying to purposefully downplay what the defendant's reply brief actually said and dodge responsibility.

Schwartz honestly, truly believes that when the defendant filed a reply containing the line, "The undersigned has not been able to locate this case by caption or citation, nor any case bearing any resemblance to it," they were just asking for assistance with their legal research?!??!

I honestly don't know which is worse.

Oh no....

Oh man, I haven't gone over it here yet, but I think that "I looked up the judge" is a panicked attempt at bringing up a talking point the Professional Responsibility Lawyers raised in their memorandum of law. (Again, I'm giving this reading of his response with the caveat that it is based only on this thread, not the official transcript, which might read very differently and contain different/more info.) The Professional Responsibility attorneys noted in a footnote that two of the judges listed in the "opinion," including the "author," were actual 11th circuit judges, and the other is an actual 5th circuit judge. My read of this footnote was as an extra little detail tossed in by the Professional Responsibility attorneys to try to dress up their argument that the "opinions" had various "indicia of authenticity."

But here's the problem. If Schwartz is telling the truth - if he was reading carefully and critically enough that he bothered to look up the judge (why would you do that if you didn't think the case might be fake?!) there is no way he could have missed that the case was gibberish. Again, if this is really what he said at the hearing, he either lied in the hearing, or he must have know the "opinions" were bogus when he gave them to LoDuca to file.

"Did it cross your mind" - if the court actually said this, oh my god.

Hey, that's the point that I made in my original post(s)!

This whole thing about the "+h" to "th" with the notary date is from the recent affidavits filed on 6/6/23, you can read them about them if you want, I'll be honest, I don't really care as much about the notary stuff so I'm going to skip it for the moment.

....and I've run out of space for images again. Part II to follow shortly!

#ai bs #2 Stupid 2 Sanction

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jokin-around · 11 months

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I made a Twitter thread about this, but I've been reading early issues of Batman lately and something I've noticed is how differently the contrast between Batman and "Bruce Wayne" is depicted

obviously, in many things today, "Bruce" (ESPECIALLY in fandom) is often depicted as a happy-go-lucky himbo in order to draw contrast with a grim and "tortured" batman

so how does this hold up when you look at older depictions? the answer: it doesn't. in fact it was almost the opposite.

way back in the very first issues of the official Batman title, Bruce Wayne, no matter WHAT he's doing, isn't the one who laughs and smiles, Batman is.

and these are comics that were published BEFORE the comics code authority caused a dramatic shift in tone

Bruce Wayne (or least the cardboard cutout refered to as Bruce Wayne) isn't nessecarily described as grim, but he isn't a very happy person either, he's still a rich airhead, but not so much a "himbo" or even a dedicated businessman, he's depicted as a BORED, uninterested, aristocrat:

this Bruce seems to spend of his time smoking a pipe at home or mingling with other upperclass individuals, that in-between we tend to see MUCH more often in modern comics doesn't seem to exist yet (in part because the batcave Is non-existent which I suspect has given him a bit more privacy as a character)

MEANWHILE Batman, who's investigates murders every other night almost seems to be having the time of his life:

the early comics seem to routinely depict the burgoise as cold, snobbish & bored, in contrast to batman who seems particularly expressive and joyful, for all we know Batman may partially exist as some millionaires weird passtime, but of course Bruce Wayne (the real guy, not the facade) is written as someone who genuinely seems to care due to his own past experiences:

but , with all of that layed out, one can conclude that when ppl say Batman is the "true persona" ect. originally, it wasn't (just) because of his coping or whatever it was because when he wasn't Batman he was forced to live life as a cold, "useless" millionaire:

"what if a rich a guy gave a fuck?" is still very much the base concept here, but what's surprising is how much BITE there is to it

the concept wasn't being proposed because it's like… a plausible thing to happen or attainable on a personal level, but because the rich reliably and consitently do not care

the rich ppl in this book, "Bruce Wayne" included, are not written to be envied as people. they're written to be insufferable. ppl with endless resources who are still somehow unsatisfied with life and choose to do nothing useful or direct with the amount wealth they've accumulated

but ofc it shouldn't be ALL THAT surprising, Batman debuted in Detective Comics in 1939…. ONE year after the great depression, Bob and Bill had more than a good reason to feel a bit bitter

but rolling back to the point of this analysis, whenever I say "let batman be happy" I mean "let Batman enjoy his job" despite the pain, despite the death, despite the murder, despite the hypocritical nature of it all and how problematic it may be because it's a life he also chooses, not just out of compulsion, but because it's hands on, direct & purposeful. it gives him something to do & it gives him a chance to punch a problem in the face (which may be good or bad depending on what that problem is, but still)

that kind of depiction is what set up the groundwork for nearly every deconstruction that's come since but it's so buried in time at this point that lines from characters claiming bruce "loves being batman" seem to ring completely hollow

tbh, I think the old way of depicting Batman can be ( and as been in some media) woven into the way he's depicted today, in the past Batman was an outlet for every emotion Bruce Wayne had to hide elsewhere, a symbol of empathy, fury and passion, for modern Batman, I imagine those three things still hold true, layered on top of an alter ego that allows a modern Bruce Wayne to be weird and damaged and dark.

so uh, ln conclusion, I think batman enjoying what he does to a certain extent is a crucial aspect of his character that's been lost and withered and forgotten about, let him a have a little fun, we can discuss the ramifications of all that when discussion seems necessary

#batman #Bruce Wayne #DC comics

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lacryem · 1 month

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— A surprisingly long and in depth look about symbolism in the recent G-Fantasy cover by Yana Toboso ✦

Including references, flower language, how to decode the meaning of flowers, and a little too much brainrot. As well my personal interpretation drawn from all the sources I looked at. And of course what all of means (and maybe hints at?) for Sebastian and Ciel… and maybe even Sebaciel?

Originally posted as a twitter thread, but threads suck and I forgot a couple things. so here now.

Disclaimer :

I don’t know FOR SURE that all these things were directly referenced by Yana when creating this art. But being a fan of her work for over a decade I've become familiar with her use of symbolism and reference, and believe myself to have a good eye for it at this point! I'm also pretty familiar with the use of flower language, including different languages, due to having been involved in a project about it and having to read wayyy too much about this.

Some of it also includes my own personal interpretation, but the meanings and info I based myself off of ARE factual. I think I made it pretty clear when referencing my personal interpretation. You're welcome to reach your own interpretation based off of the stuff provided!

And lastly, I'm not a sebaciel shipper. I'm not an anti (the complete opposite, actually) and have nothing against the ship, I like the narrative around them and how they're written but I don’t actively ship them romantically or sexually. So I'd say this is actually a pretty unbiased interpretation. Personal taste is one thing, but I don’t deny the author's intention and whats written in front of me! That is what this post is about.

Kuroshitsuji takes place in the Victorian period (1837~1901) in 1889.

The following are both important Victorian books on the language of flowers that I will be basing myself off of.

Language of Flowers by Greenaway Kate (1884), and The Language of flowers: An Alphabet of Floral Emblems (1857).

(Also, I’m treating Ciel’s rose as a deep red rose. Which is a bit different than red roses. But I am adding some relevant information about roses in general, anyway.

Now, on what they say about these flowers.

Deep rose, meaning "bashful shame". White lily, meaning "Purity and sweetness."

— The White Lily

Most people assume that the lily refers to Ciel's purity, and that’s a fair assumption. But I disagree.

Firstly, the one holding the lily is Sebastian. Holding it on his right hand, tilted towards the right. However what's relevant here is the VIEWER. From the viewer's POV he's holding it to the left. Note he also holds the scissors on his left hand, where he bears HIS contract seal.

How you hold a flower, what position you give it to someone in, changes the meaning of the flower. These context clues are very important. It tells us that 'purity and sweetness' doesn’t refer to Ciel, but actually refers to Sebastian (…sorta).

This may be a little confusing. Purity and sweetness, Sebastian?! I know, I know. bear with me.

These books provide poems to help us understand how you may interpret the intended meaning. The lily poem is about enduring trials out of love because of the purity and sweetness he sees in his lover's eyes and soul. I believe Yana directly references the poems I will include in this post in her new artwork.

— My Interpretation

the meaning of Sebastian's lily is:

"I do all out of love for the sweetness and purity within you."

Him holding it to the contact seal and cutting the flower could stand for him destroying this sentiment (affection within himself) that has arisen in him as a result of their contract by destroying the sweetness and purity—the source of it—within Ciel (consuming his soul).

Note: This is debatable, as 'reversed' almost always means upside down. But if you consider the lily facing away from the viewer as reversed then it could mean "impurity and bitterness" which fits pretty well with Ciel, and it being held against the contract seal which is a physical representation of his impurity, brought on by his bitterness.

— The Deep Red Rose

There something I find very interesting. The rose is in a teacup, standing in for tea (I think there's even tea alongside it in the cup.) From Yana herself we know that Sebastian's eyes are a reference to the reddish brown colour of tea.

Like I said, I believe this rose to be a deep red rose, which is a bit more specific than the meaning given to red roses. However I think the poem included for roses in general very much applies here.

I was going to add my thoughts but I found this interpretation that sums it up pretty well if you replace the carpe diem theme with a more "running out of time" or "impending death" theme, which seems to be a more accurate reading for this artwork.

Looking at the rose itself, it has no thorns or leaves.

It is not a youthful rose as its already fully open and losing petals. "No hope, and no fear" fits with the poem, the rose is basically an hourglass referring to Ciel. His fate is unavoidable, but this isn't a deterrent. He's dancing on the ledge.

The deep red rose means 'bashful shame'.

When you compare it to the lily, which is a direct proclamation, the deep red rose is a quiet confession one cannot verbalize.

Debatable, to be fair but given the tie in to Sebastian's eye colour and the fact that he is always the one pouring tea for Ciel, I believe the Sebastian to be the speaker here too, but this time speaking on Ciel's feelings (Hence why he's the one holding it) rather than Sebastian's own.

— My Interpretation

The meaning of the deep red rose Ciel holds, speaking about Ciel's feelings of guardedness, and in response saying:

"Abandon your bashful shame, and let yourself be admired without expectations (hope) or fear"

Sebastian speaks about Ciel's feelings, the deep red rose acknowledges his feelings but they remain unspoken.

The Waller poem is a plead for his beloved to seize the day, for time is short, and allow herself to be loved completely.

Her beauty is one to be appreciated, she is not meant to be a rose unacknowledged (unloved) in the desert.

Regarding 'expectations', I think this is more about rigid ideas of how 'appreciation' or 'admiration, might be shown or received. Sebastian and Ciel's relationship defies normality or 'expectations'. So this, too, would defy expectations a young boy like Ciel, or a traumatised boy like Ciel, may have.

From Yana herself, we know Sebastian's dedication and how highly he holds 'beauty', specifically Ciel's beauty.

The author of the poem proclaims that beauty not appreciated is not beautiful indeeed, and so he calls his beloved to come to him and be appreciated wholly during the invaluable, limited time they have.

We see the deep red rose's petals fall away, in my opinion not only symbolising the withering away of time, but also the crumbling away of this "bashful shame" that Sebastian ascribes to Ciel.

How Sebastian wishes to "appreciate" this beauty is debatable. How he wants to "admire" and "desire" (per the poem) Ciel is rather open ended. Wether it be in a romantic way, a sexual way or by consuming his soul.

However, I don’t think these are mutually exclusive. And consuming Ciel can easily be a metaphor for the former two.

— The Lily and The Rose

The Greeneaway book has this poem which im sure was directly referenced. This poem speaks about the lily and the rose in a direct power struggle and fight for dominance, until they eventually unite and reign as one.

Now when speaking about this "union", you could say it refers to their contract, but I don’t think so.

The contract ties them to each other, but it doesn’t necessarily unite them. So I believe 'unity' to be about the appreciation Sebastian speaks of Ciel opening up to.

"The Lily" and "The Rose" might be interpreted as directly representing Sebastian and Ciel, and the unity that would come from them joining and becoming a truly complimentary pair. I think a power struggle and fight for being the one in control is very accurate way to describe their current dynamic in canon.

It may also be interpreted as "The Lily" and "The Rose" as being representations of their feelings and ideals previously. And then it would represent these two conflicting expressions—a loud unrelenting and destructive devotion, and a guarded, bashful, unspoken reluctance— coming together and turning from conflicting to complimentary.

Or as it tends to be with these things, both!

Either way all of this is expressed under the sense of impending doom created by their circumstances and the contract. So there's a sense of urgency permeating all of it.

Also clear to me is a sense of internal conflictedness coming from Sebastian's message that is usually only hinted at like this, and some people end up overlooking.

Sebastian desires Ciel deeply, but having him would also mean not being able to have him anymore.

Sebastian is torn and that’s why he attempts to cut the root of his wavering feelings represented by the lily.

All of this makes me wonder about what's next, and if we will see these things said more blatantly. Foreshadowing with flower language and references like this, isn't exactly rare for Yana. I wonder if we will see this 'unity' come to be, and what necessary development Sebastian and Ciel will need to undergo to make it possible. As well as what shape it will take.

I also wonder very much about Ciel's perspective in all of this, as this was almost entirely from Sebastian's POV, but I think that's intentional. Ciel has his own goals and a lot on his mind. Sebastian's goal IS Ciel. So I assume he spends a lot more time thinking about Ciel and this kind of thing.

Thank you if you read the whole way through. Like I said before, even though the sources defending it are, my interpretation is not law and you're welcome to reach your own with the things presented.

Links for sources, including free public domain PDFs of the books mentioned are found at the end of my twitter thread.

— Thanks for reading! —

#sebaciel shipper friendly post #kuroshitsuji #black butler #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #sebastian black butler #ciel black butler #sebaciel #please refrain from ship discourse on my post. I don't care if fictional characters upset you. I'm looking at the source material here.

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mortalityplays · 2 years

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for those who are confused: copyright strikes aren't working on twitter at the moment so people are uploading entire movies in threads of two-minute clips, and yesterday someone anonymously uploaded Goncharov (1973), a little known Scorcese movie long considered to be lost media due to being widely banned on its release for sympathetic depictions of Russian organised crime, and the original print being destroyed.

the thing about Goncharov is that until literally two days ago almost nobody alive has actually seen it, but being a lost work by a famous director, lots of people have written about it. For decades it's been a popular niche in-joke among film critics, directors, etc to pretend that you've seen Goncharov and make reference to it as if its plot, themes, characters etc. are common knowledge. Which meant that naturally lots of people who weren't in on the joke ended up also writing about Goncharov, pretending they had really seen it.

fast forward to the insane situation of the past few days: SUDDENLY EVERYONE HAS SEEN GONCHAROV. Or at least whatever work print twitter user JWHJ0715 got their hands on and uploaded in painstaking 2-minute chunks. film twitter, being good sports, immediately got in on the joke and started replicating the old "Oh yeah buddy everyone's seen Goncharov" jokes but this time with the real actual facts from the actual movie, to the delight and confusion of everyone who was familiar with the joke but hadn't seen the illicit twitter uploads.

anyway nobody knows who the uploader is or how they got hold of the movie, but basically somehow we are here:

#goncharov

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penguwastaken · 2 months

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About Brainwashing in Danganronpa

Hello to all 3 of the people who see this account. A few months ago, I made a thread on hit website Twitter dot com about brainwashing in the Danganronpa Series. I discussed where it came from, how it works, and how the brainwashing of class 77-B was never a retcon. The thread got a lot of attention there, even getting a "debunk" on other hit website Reddit dot com (lmao). Due to that, there's been a lot of responses and questions. Since I can't really update a Twitter thread, I decided that I'd make the Ultimate™ Brainwashing thread and hopefully dispel any information on the subject while making my original points more clear and covering things I failed to cover. So here it is: Brainwashing in Danganronpa, how it works, where it came from, and how it was intended from the start. (a 🧵 except not really) *Massive spoilers for Danganronpa Zero, Danganronpa 2, Danganronpa Another Episode, Danganronpa Togami, and Danganronpa 3, as well as the series as a whole*

Danganronpa Zero: First Sighting

Brainwashing has its roots all the way back in the second official entry produced in the series, Danganronpa Zero. During the story's events, Ryoko comes across a secret cult made up of students from the reserve course. They're seen staring at a strange video, seemingly turning them and turn them into mindless zombies.

The video depicts members of the student council killing each other. Ryoko is stunned while watching it. She can barely look away, but eventually through force of will she does. This same video is later used to convince the reserve course to rebel.

The way it's described to work is that it uses their “pent-up emotions,” implying that their emotions played a role in its effectiveness. It's also worth noting that the novel itself refers to what is happening as brainwashing, making this objectively the first depiction of brainwashing in the series right from the second entry.

Danganronpa 2: Now it Gets Dubious

Our next instance of brainwashing comes from Danganronpa 2. The concept is brought up multiple times, such as when Makoto states that the Ultimate Despairs were brainwashed or how the Neo World Program is good at treating brainwashing, though the details of what brainwashing actually means in this context are kept vague.

It's also worth noting that Danganronpa 2 was being written around the same time as Danganronpa Zero and Kodaka wanted concepts from the novel to appear in Danganronpa 2, likely so readers would feel validated. This is why things like Izuru Kamukura and the reserve course play huge roles in Danganronpa 2, it's not too much of a stretch to say that the same applies with brainwashing. One detail we’re given about the brainwashing is from Monokuma, who states the Ultimate Despairs were brainwashed by Junko taking advantage of their feelings. Specifically love, hate, grudges, and "anything really". If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s exactly how the brainwashing video from Danganronpa Zero was described to function, using their pent-up emotions.

I should mention that Monokuma and Junko are known for being unreliable narrators who often stretch the truth, exaggerate things, and use hyperbole to manipulate people into believing their narrative. Monokuma describes the Ultimate Despairs as “nothing more than Junko’s limbs”, which contradicts the existence of characters like Nagito. Who, while in his despair state, did not work with Junko nor did he look up to her (at least in the normal sense like the other Ultimate Despairs). In fact, it would have been impossible for them to really obey any of Junko's orders as Ultimate Despairs because Junko was trapped inside of Hope's Peak with minimal connection to the outside world. This isn't a definitive "Monokuma is lying" statement, but just note that his word isn't 100% reliable. Meanwhile, someone like Makoto who outright mentions brainwashing, is a much more reliable source.

Danganronpa Another Episode: More Brainwashing! (kinda irrelevant tho...)

The next time brainwashing is used is in the next entry, Danganronpa Another Episode. Though its purpose in this discussion isn’t the most useful, as the brainwashing is caused by Monokuma helmets, which don’t have their functionality explained. I figured it was worth mentioning and describing at least, as its another example of brainwashing at least.

I did figure it was worth adding how the brainwashed children act. They obey the Warriors of Hope’s every command, as if they have zero control over their actions. This is different from how the Ultimate Despairs act, who still some free had free will after presumably being brainwashed judging by the actions of Nagito, who is also in this game.

Danganronpa Togami: I Hate My Life

Okay. As mixed as my opinions are on this novel trilogy, it does feature brainwashing. In fact, it might feature one of the most detailed and important descriptions of brainwashing in the series, and even outright CONFIRMS that class 77-B were brainwashed (sorta).

"Hey um... Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu... what do you mean by 'sorta'?" Well my uninformed reader who I guarantee has probably never read this book, there's a twist. I regret to inform you that the canonicity of Danganronpa Togami is rather questionable, as it depicts an extremely unreliable narrator’s warped viewing of events due to this thing called the K2K system, which means not everything in the novel is meant to be taken literally or at face value.

This doesn't mean that everything should be discarded or immediately dismissed however. This just means that we have to use our brains a little and decipher what the hell Yuya Sato was cooking when he wrote this novel trilogy. In the novel, we discover the existence of the elusive despair novel. When read, the novel will turn the reader to despair and inflict them with the despair disease. This novel is what's used to plummet the world into despair, as well as being what caused the class 77-B to become the Ultimate Despairs. There's no known ways to avoid it, once you read it, it's joever. 😔

As I said earlier, the events of Danganronpa Togami can’t be taken literally. Due to this and prior context, we can safely assume that the despair novel is most likely the K2K's warped idea of the despair video from Danganronpa Zero. Instead of being a book being read that brainwashed people, it was a video being watched. What makes me so sure? Well let's look over the similarities. The way the despair novel works is that it uses cruel words to overload the reader with negative emotions, causing them to snap and turn to despair. That sounds almost exactly like the despair video, overloading the viewer by manipulating their emotions until they turn to despair. This connection's a little bit of a stretch but I'll bring it up anyways. The technology used in the despair novels was originally to bring hope. (Take notes, it will probably be important assuming you buy this connection.)

Essentially, the despair novel works the exact same way as the despair video, but instead it’s a book and you read it instead of watching it. This means that class 77-B and the rest of the world were most likely brainwashed via the despair video, and that is what caused the class to become Ultimate Despairs.

Danganronpa 3: The One People Really Don't Like

And all of this brings us to the most detailed yet controversial usage of brainwashing: Danganronpa 3. Many assume that the anime’s usage of brainwashing is a retcon, contradicting the words of our holy savior Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair High School. However, I’d like to debate that. In fact, I'd like to finally put a nail in the coffin of this really stupid debate and finally show you that Danganronpa 3's depiction of brainwashing is exactly how it has always been described.

In Danganronpa 3, we are introduced to Ryota Mitarai and his anime. Using the power of subliminal messaging, it heightens the viewer's emotions and makes them more powerful. What was once a slightly emotional scene is now a complete tearjerker fully capable of tearing at the viewers heart strings! While he acknowledges that there are unethical things that can be done with this technology and it's technically brainwashing, his goal is to use this technology to make the world a better place, even if it can be dangerous. If that sounds familiar, that's because it's what Hope's Peak tried doing with the despair novel in Danganronpa Togami. Though I'll admit, this single point is a little bit of a stretch as there are differences. I just figured it was worth at least a mention.

Using her analytical prowess, Junko gets a rough understanding of how the technology works, so she develops the despair video, featuring the student council killing each other overlayed with subliminal messaging technology to make the despair felt while viewing the video stronger.

The video works on Mikan, however Junko fears that the video may not be powerful enough to fully go through with her plans due to not understanding the technology nearly as well as Ryota does. Because of this, she forces Ryota to create a better, more powerful despair video. A despair video v2 if you will. Junko’s fears weren’t unfounded, as we discover that Chisa had the mental fortitude to resist the despair video, similarly to how Ryoko was able to resist the same video in Danganronpa Zero. This is exactly why Junko needs a more powerful video, one that she knows can’t be resisted.

"Ermmmm, Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu, how come Ryoko and Chisa are able to resist the despair video but Mikan and nobody in the reserve course could?" Good question, the answer is pretty simple. As mentioned before, the video takes advantage of the emotions of the viewer. Mikan is already pretty weak minded, so there wasn't much issue in controlling her. The reserve course already hated Hope's Peak and would take any reason to hate them more, so a video that shows them the sins of Hope's Peak would affect them as well. Ryoko and Chisa have no connection to the reserve course however, and neither are particularly very weak emotionally. Ryoko has the analytical prowess of Junko and Chisa is just a very strong willed person in general, and paired with Junko's lack of knowledge about subliminal messaging when creating the video, it's pretty obvious it wouldn't be that effective on them. All the more reason for Junko to force Ryota to make a better despair video.

The despair video v2 that Ryota is forced to make comes in the form of Chiaki’s execution video, where the stronger subliminal messages paired with witnessing the representation of the happiest moments in their miserable lives and their closest friend suffer makes class 77-B unable to resist. Ultimately this causes them to finally snap, being overloaded with despair, and now they turn into the Ultimate Despairs. (side note this is so freaking cool idc what anyone else says)

This resembles Monokuma’s explanation from Danganronpa 2. Junko used class 77-B’s emotions and years of getting closer against them to turn them to them to despair. Now featuring the added context of her using the video designed to manipulate people’s emotions. This depiction of brainwashing fits perfectly with the information provided throughout the series, even down to the little details. It’s so close in fact that I can say without a doubt that Danganronpa 3 did not retcon anything. “But Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu, that isn’t how the video is shown to work during Hope Arc. Therefore it actually contradicts previous entries and is inconsistent!" To that I say, you’re correct! ...at least about the hope video functioning differently, but that doesn’t make it inconsistent. The hope video behaves pretty differently. Instead of overloading the viewer with negative feelings, it simply just shows them a repeating video loop that turns them into a mindless zombie, likely caused by even stronger subliminal messaging. The people affected can also snap out of this state with some time, as seen with Aoi.

The reasoning for this is actually pretty simple, it’s just different technology entirely. It’s stated that the hope video was developed later on after the despair video. If anything, it behaves very similar to the Monokuma masks from Danganronpa Another Episode, which we also already established uses different technology. The hope video doesn’t contradict the despair video at all because they both use completely different tech. This can also be seen with how the despair video uses subliminal messaging, meanwhile the messaging in the hope video couldn’t be further from subliminal. There is no inconsistency, just two different things.

The reason the hope video needed to be broadcasted everywhere was so that since it would be airing everywhere, nobody would have time for the effects to wear off or resist it. This would turn the world into mindless zombies who obey every command, similarly to the Monokuma kids. It's just that now they don't have to force bulky helmets onto everyone.

Debunking Common Arguments

With the hope video out of the way, I think it’s very safe to assume that not only is the despair video’s functionality very accurate to previous descriptions, it’s also always been the reason for the brainwashing of Class 77-B, long before Danganronpa 3. Even if you disagree and think the cause of brainwashing was never explicitly mentioned in Danganronpa 2, there's still the fact that Danganronpa 2 outright says it was brainwashing. So even if a video wasn't the direct cause of it, them being brainwashed was still always intended (though given the context, I'm certain that the video was always the culprit). Many point to this line where Kazuichi asks why they became the Ultimate Despairs and Makoto says he never got an answer to debunk this. But... this doesn't change anything. He asks why they became Ultimate Despairs, not how. And this is completely ignoring the fact that Makoto clearly has done his own digging into the situation, he discovered the Remnants of Despair were hiding among Future Foundation after all. The Future Foundation had access to brainwashing videos, they found them, so of course Makoto is going to know about the brainwashing. But that's not what he's asking about, he's asking about the why. That's what he doesn't know.

Many also point to Mikan stating that it was her many human relationships that led her to being the way she is. Once again, this changes literally nothing. Mikan was the only one of the remnants who actually knew Junko, she was the only one who spent time with her because she was the first subject. This is why she gets more attached to her, and even why she'd believe what Junko would tell her when they spent time together. Monokuma also says that Junko used "hopeless methods overflowing with charisma and humor" to control the masses. I don't even know why I have to address this, but this statement is so vague you can interpret it as a million things. Like for example, this is how she got Ryota to work for her. While pretending to be Makoto to manipulate the people in the trial, Junko tells them that they all became Ultimate Despairs while coming into contact with her at Hope's Peak and they were subjected by her terrifying influence. Again, ignoring how vague "terrifying influence" is, this is literally Junko trying to LIE AND MANIPULATE them. This is quite possibly the worst example you could have used because we know for a fact that she is lying to them while pretending to be Makoto. There's other examples of Junko trying to manipulate them, like mentioning how everyone hated them and their all Ultimate Despairs at the end of the day. But that's just what this is, manipulation. You would think that the "Junko manipulated class 77-B" crowd would understand that saying "everyone hates you but I saw your potential" is literally manipulation 101. Some say that the brainwashing turned them into mindless zombies and eliminates all blame from their actions. While I would agree that it does make them less at fault, they still have the ability to make choices and still have free will. Their original personalities haven't been overwritten, their brains were just rewired to crave despair. They're still each their individual person with their own ways of feeling despair, and characters like Chisa and Nagito show that they regain their free will to an extent.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

This whole debate stems from people misunderstanding Monokuma’s words and going along with the popular interpretation, which turned out to be wrong. Whether you like the use of brainwashing or not, it objectively isn’t a retcon as it's been developed ever since Danganronpa Zero. Personally, I love the use of brainwashing. I think the way it's developed throughout the series and its usage in Danganronpa 3 is super interesting. If you disagree, that's fine! Heck, if you choose to headcanon that Junko manipulated 15 individual teenagers into all becoming despair hungry terrorists capable but ending the world and fighting off every military in the world in less than a year, that's cool too! But the truth is, Danganronpa 3's brainwashing is canon and it's also not a retcon nor does it contradict anything. Contrary to popular belief, Kodaka was involved with the writing of the anime. He provided a large draft and outline of the plot and oversaw its development. He produced the anime, he did his homework, he knew what he was doing. I'm sure if Kodaka intended for them to all be manipulated one by one, that's what he would have went with. All information implying that it was manipulation is very few and far between and questionable at best, not to mention outweighed by everything implying it was brainwashing. Mind manipulation stuff is not new in this series, its been around since the first game and brainwashing was established in literally the second entry ever produced. Whether you love it or hate it, think it's the best thing since sliced bread or the death of the series, brainwashing was the answer the whole time. Some people just never noticed it, and instead of acknowledging that they were wrong, they stuck with a headcanon that they believed so much and jumped to the conclusion of "retcon". I hope this mega post managed to inform some people, maybe change some minds too. If you still don't buy it, then I guess there's nothing I can do. Thanks for reading all of this though, I tend to yap a lot about this franchise lmao.

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felassan · 6 months

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Photos of the Dragon Age OST vinyl booklet artwork have appeared online [source]. they were posted over on Reddit in the same thread/by the same user as the post with D'Read Koda in it (Reddit user LegendeRRisCZ17), in an update to said post.

for context, this is what we had seen previously of these art pieces, with the images being skewed and only some being in view. Twitter user Kiranox (@/veranox) was able to do some cool photo manipulation and unskew the skewed ones, but there were still images we hadn't been able to even see to try to unskew in the first place. [previous posts on these art pieces and the vinyl art in general including the cover dragon pieces, so that I'm not repeating myself supermuch in this post more than I am already: one, two, three, four]

in a previous post I wondered,

perhaps there are two pages for each PC/main game - HoF & DA:O (hence the Warden image on page 1), Hawke & DAII, and the Inquisitor & DA:I (hence the Solas Hermit symbols on page 6)? since this 'booklet’ comes with the vinyl, and the vinyl contains music from all 3 past main games

and it seems this may be the case, as here we can see:

left: Grey Warden imagery - griffon, Joining Chalice with darkspawn blood drop, sword. calls to mind sigils/heraldry of the Grey Wardens. right: this pattern resembles the map of the Fade in DA:O. - the Hero of Ferelden & Dragon Age: Origins.

left: A diving bird, bearing a resemblance to Hawke’s tarot card in DA:I. In the background the sigil looks like Kirkwall heraldry. right: this pattern brings to mind the ‘companion grid’ from Varric's book in the interrogation scenes in Dragon Age II. - the Champion of Kirkwall & Dragon Age II.

left: the iconic Inquisitor helmet, the Inquisition hairy eyeball symbol, sword. right: the 'four circles' pattern looks similar to the pattern on Solas’ Hermit Tarot card. (and in the middle is the sense once again of an eclipse - in the very center, a sun-like shape/representation of the sun. and behind that, two overlapping spheres/two shadowed spheres. like we've seen in the in-game cinematic and elsewhere) - the Inquisitor and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

as for the shattering eluvian image (and the two images of dragons from the covers), I talked about them here and here so I won't repeat myself. but I guess this one represents some of the story of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. makes sense, there's a disc of DA:O music, a disc of DAII music, a disc of DA:I music, and then on the last disc it's bonus dlc tracks and bard songs from DA:I, but the last one is the one with D'Read Koda, so functionally it could be seen as a 'DA:D disc'.

the images also confirm what was written in the Reddit post before about Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe and the track called D'Read Koda.

[credit and source link: Reddit user LegendeRRisCZ17, link, via]

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #solas #long post #longpost #fenris #the fenaissance #dragon age: dreadwolf spoilers #tag just in case #there could be more to the images but this is what i got from a quick look rn ^^

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literallysatanofficial · 2 years

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Alright, I'm going to attempt to hopefully clear up a few misconceptions and assuage some worries about this Disco Elysium sequel and the general situation at za/um right now.

I see the shitshow that is unfolding on social media, and as someone who has known about this whole disaster for over half a year now I'd like to weigh in on it and provide some context for everyone who may not know the full story.

First off, Robert Kurvitz was fired at the end of last year. December 2021. As is strongly implied on Martin Luiga's twitter, the reason for this is greed (calling them "money men" and "crooks" and other similar statements for like, months now), and the executive producers, Tõnis Haavel (who has previously been tried for fraud) and Kaur Kender (who has previously been tried for... other things.) screwed everyone over. Kender provided funding for the game, as the majority of the original za/um cultural association did not have the financial means to.

The original za/um cultural association consisted of Robert Kurvitz, Jüri Saks, Martin Luiga, and Aleksander Rostov, originally founded in in 2009. The group, along with Argo Tuulik, played many different ttrpg campaigns over the years, several of them set in Revachol (centred around Precinct 41), and slowly built the world up from there. Kurvitz released the book The Sacred and Terrible Air, set 20 years after Disco Elysium, back in 2013* but the novel flopped, and it was decided that they would make a video game. Rostov has always been more than just an artist for Disco Elysium, as you can see from the dev threads he frequently updated promoting the game, as well as on his personal instagram, tumblr sketch blog, and several other accounts he used while the game was first gaining traction.

*The most notable credits for TSaTA are as follows:

Author: Robert Kurvitz, Editor: Martin Luiga, Cover Design: Aleksander Rostov, Worldbuilding: Robert Kurvitz, Martin Luiga, Kaspar Kalvet, Argo Tuulik. Helen Hindpere and Kaur Kender also appear in the credits.

I say this because some of the staff at za/um are now accusing fans of being unable to overcome the "auteur theory" of it all (ie. seeing Kurvitz as the singular creative mind behind it all) but the fact is that they have now lost not only the original ttrpg campaign's game master, The Sacred and Terrible Air's author, and Disco Elysium's lead writer/director (Kurvitz) but also their lead writer for the Final Cut's political vision quests (Hindpere) as well as their "co-founder" and art director/designer (Rostov). They are all CREATIVE LEADS, and not just well known only for their reputations/titles.

Luiga himself (who originally broke the news) was an Elysium world builder and provided much of the pale and innocence-related lore. He was also a part of the original tabletop campaigns (Chester McLaine is his player character!), but left midway through Disco Elysium's development due to creative differences (or as he says, "bad vibes" at the company). He is credited as an editor, but claims to have written a good chunk of the text in the game, including much of Joyce's dialogue about the pale. I have seen people discredit him due to his early departure, but Rostov also tweeted out confirming that he, along with Hindpere and Kurvitz were no longer at the company, with no additional comments. Rostov also posted a drawing on his twitter several months back depicting a man jerking off over an NDA, so take that as you will.

So what does this mean for the future?

Luiga has said that he has hope for the sequel, which could either mean that the script was finished or nearing completion before Kurvitz was fired (likely, and fits a pattern in the industry) and it's just a matter of finishing the actual game development aspect, or it may be that he has hope for the original za/um creatives to be able to re-acquire the IP.

I think it's worth pointing out that the original pitch for "Disco Elysium" was actually "The Return", and Disco Elysium was meant to be the smaller-scale prequel to introduce players to the world. Considering that the team was planning on this sequel all along, I think it's possible that a large amount of the "original" game was written years ago, so it's not all that far fetched to believe that the basic outline may be finished, or even that a large portion of the script already exists. Keep in mind that there are a large number of writers for both Disco Elysium and The Final Cut, and it may still be possible to work with a base that the others provided. We have no idea how far into development the sequel may be. Of course, proceeding without three key members of the original team is kind of a kick in the balls, and imo really quite disgusting, especially with how long the company has been keeping their departures secret (dishonesty is not a good look lmao), but it may still be canon, true to the authors' vision, and genuinely a good game in the end.

Argo Tuulik, original Elysium world builder and part of the old ttrpg campaigns, as well as a main writer on Disco Elysium, is still working at za/um. Justin Keenan, former writer on The Final Cut who wrote the political vision quests alongside Helen Hindpere, still works at za/um (and has been promoted to lead writer, according to his LinkedIn), as does Kaspar Tamsalu, who painted several character portraits, (René and Gaston) and worked as a concept artist on the original game. Plenty of the original creatives still remain. The sequel could very well still be in good hands at the development level, even if the higher ups are "crooked".

So, in conclusion... If this game comes out and they still haven't worked things out with Kurvitz, Rostov and Hindpere? Honestly... fuckin' pirate it. But it is very likely it could still be a great game that plays out as it was meant to! All that being said, FUCK za/um as a company, don't support them through Atelier or their merch store. I wish everyone luck if they do attempt to get the IP back, and I sincerely hope this fan pressure will help get things moving for them.

#disco elysium #ada speaks #if anyone would like sources i can supply them #i just didnt want to bog down the post with links just in case it doesnt show in the tag #im leaving out a lot of shit for Reasons but i hate to see people upset because i do genuinely have hope for the future of elysium #but i will vouch for the quality of the sequel myself.#some minor updates as i accidentally stated argo was part of og za/um

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mapoeggplant · 1 year

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shima’s development and character core // skip to loafer spoilers

if you’ve been following me, you know i like to pay a closer attention to shima’s growth and development, specially related to his relationship with mitsumi. that being said, i want to talk more about how much he changed after the breakup.

since chapter 46, i’ve seen a lot of changes in shima’s reaction, focusing way more on him double questioning himself and his feelings related to the way he treats mitsumi.

it’s painful. mitsumi was his first female friend and the first time he ever felt like taking a step further in his own, not accepting what it was given to him. and he lost that. and he thinks he lost it because of his own mind and insecurities, blaming himself for everything.

mitsumi, the person he loves the most (platonic or not), is distant from him. and this creates a whole new book of feelings: jealously, guilt, self hatred and impulsiveness. and that can be seen when he stands up for people he love, something he would once just not and smile.

but does he really has the right to do so?? is it honest for him to correct someone when he was the one who was once “using” with mitsumi without knowing his feelings first? is it fair for him to feel like this? is it fair that he be heard?

yes, he is hurt. it’s clear in his eyes, specially his last scene on chapter 50. he’s hurt but not by the things people did to him: he’s now the one who inflicted pain and doesn’t know how to get back what he lost. that’s because he doesn’t KNOW or even ALLOW himself to it.

what does it mean to love someone romantically when he never once felt jealous? what does it mean to care so much for someone when he was never cared to? what does it mean to give up of someone you love so dearly if he can’t even let it all go? how does one stop making excuses?

shima is a character written beautifully, specially because of his slowly but steady growth. he’s learning, finally having a life away from his trauma and away from people who chained him. he’s finally allowing himself to feel pain, now he needs to finally allow himself to be loved and to be heard. to build one’s confidence is hard and tricky, specially for a boy who never had a life of his own. to build a castle with only sand, one needs to be open to have it all crumble. he just needs to learn how to build it again.

what i love the most is how he never blamed mitsumi, not even once. i know there’s nothing to blame mitsumi for, but i’ve seen over and over again romantic stories blaming the girl for the male insecurities. but no. not right now.

his battle is his own, so his soldiers are the ones going to war, not mitsumi’s. he’s not the one to be pitied, nor is she, nor anyone. blame isn’t something to be shoved at someone, specially not to the girl who has nothing to do with HIS traumas.

i like and admire this about takamatsu-senpai’s writing. she doesn’t shift the blame or even makes shima the “good guy”. mitsumi isn’t a monster for standing up for herself - in fact, she should be celebrated.

shima is his traumas. shima is his mom’s expectations. shima is the empty house he comes back to everyday. shima is the boy who’s trying his best to finally understand his feelings and go after the girl he loves the most.

🌟 thread originally posted on twitter!

🌟 this is a flux of conscience! please forgive my gramatical mistakes

#sousuke shima #skip to loafer #skip and loafer #iwakura mitsumi #shima is an easy and hard character to analyze at the same time #he's my son so that's why I get him #i also love them so much #and I love shima a lot #please go easy on him #that's all I ask #duckmetas

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secretmellowblog · 10 months

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I hope tumblr doesn’t die because No other social media site is as good for long, thoughtful, nuanced analyses of media. Yeah tumblr is also full of dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts, but you can make dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts anywhere —-there are no other popular social media sites that let you easily format and share long essays on the media you enjoy, and then have conversations around those long essays.

Fandom on all the other big social websites just seems so utterly …shallow. And it’s not because people on other websites aren’t thoughtful or don’t have deep things to say, but because these sites’ formats do not allow for any kind of long nuanced conversations.

Tiktok? Things have to be crammed into a super short video with an attention grabbing headline, and you can’t hyperlink sources. Instagram? Everything has to be in an image format with strict limits on length, and nothing will be shown to your followers anyway because of how Instagram’s algorithm works, and also no hyperlinks. Twitter? Strict character limits, and if you split it into threads it means someone can retweet a part of your essay completely out of context, and also very little freedom with formatting.

It frustrates me so much. If I go into the Tumblr Les Mis fandom I’ll find really compelling long essays on the original novel (including essays being written for the ongoing book club) on the story’s historical context, or the parallels between different characters and their narrative foils, or the way the politics were defanged for certain adaptations, or the way Victor Hugo’s personal life and failings affected the novel. But on tiktok I’ll get the same five shallow stale jokes from 2013 over and over, or maybe the same “DID U KNO THAT IN THE MUSICAL JAVERT AND VALJEAN SING THE SAME LEITMOTIF” style of basic Intro To Les Mis 101 For Babies media analysis (which is what Tiktok considers deep media analysis), or stale “LOL JAVERT ACTS GAY” style jokes as if we’re living in the early 2000s and calling a character gay is still a funny punchline. And it’s impossible to have any kind of deeper thoughtful discussions than “DID U KNOW <x Kool Fact>” or “lol <shallow observational joke>” on tiktok because the platform just isn’t built for building niche communities around in depth conversations. it’s built to churn out bland generic content for as wide an audience as possible, which means pointing out a small detail like an Easter egg and calling it “cool” is deep media analysis, because you cant have longer more in depth conversations without alienating people. And I hate it. Bc like, it’s not because there aren’t smart clever thoughtful people on Tiktok— there are—it’s because Tiktok isn’t built for these conversations, and anyone who wants to have them has to really fight against the things the website encourages or prioritizes!

Or like, if I go into the LOTR fandom on Tumblr, I’ll find tons of extremely long analysis and fanfic, and analysis of queer readings of the story. On Instagram people will still shriek in terror if you suggest the characters are gay, and most of the popular lotr posts are stale memes recycled from like 2007. There’s really no room for thoughtful media analysis, and even if you did create it, instagram’s algorithm would make sure no one saw your post anyway.

And everyone’s going to say “the algorithm shows you what you’ve seen before so maybe it’s your fault ~” or whatever but i do look for things I want! I do! “The algorithm” doesn’t know me or what I want or value or care about beyond this meaningless surface level.

The only thing that was worthwhile about these sites was the great visual art people were creating, but now the websites are overwhelmed with meaningless soulless machine-generated AI glurge, and it sucks. It just really, really sucks.

I’m honestly confused about why people don’t use tumblr….There’s no character limits! You have freedom with post formatting, and can insert images throughout textposts to illustrate specific points you’re making beneath the paragraphs where they’re necessary! You can add hyperlinks, linking to your sources! People can reblog your entire essay and share it, and then add on with commentary that then becomes part of a larger conversation! People can find your stuff through the tagging system! Reblogging means posts stay in circulation for years instead of being dead 30 minutes after they’re uploaded! If you want to have genuinely interesting text conversations about a piece of media, there really isn’t a better social media website for it anywhere.

To be clear, I’m definitely not saying Tumblr media analysis is *always* clever and thoughtful or etc etc. there are shitposts and nonsense here too (plenty of which I’ve created lol.) I’m saying that Tumblr gives people the tools for in-depth insightful analysis to happen. Whether people choose to do it or not is their own decision XD. But the reason lengthy in-depth conversations and book clubs are even possible here is because Tumblr is built for allowing these conversations to happen, in a way other sites simply aren’t.

It’d really suck if it died, because it’d be a huge blow to…being able to easily find long insightful in-depth media analysis written by fans. I currently don’t think there’s anything that could replace it.

#tumblr #I’m currently working an overlong essay post #comparing the locations Hugo references in Les Mis #with the photographs taken by Charles Marville in the 1860s of those very places #and just thinking “wow this would be hard on other sites

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txttletale · 1 year

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nothing about ai art is new

[we’re sitting in a taco bell drive through and ive abused my control over the aux cord to make you listen to indie rock classic apollo 18 by they might be giants for hours on end]

so there’s been a lot of yammering on about stable diffusion and how it will revolutionize/destroy/democratize/annihilate the world of art, depending on which impassioned twitter thread you read. what they all have in common though is (incorrectly) treating this as some radical new shift, an unprecedented leap forward caused by cutting-edge technology. this is wrong: nihil sub sole novum.

this post is not about:

ip law

whether ip law is a good thing (no)

whether ai art is Real Art (what is this girls 1917?)

how AI art actually works (as far as i can tell, like this)

this post is about

karl marx babeyyy

so in a sexy little number called wage labour and capital, carlos marx lays out some of the foundations of marxist theory. these include the labour theory of value (that the value of a thing, whether expressed in the use of something or in its exchange for other things, is only created or increased when a human being performs labour. e.g. fabric + hours of human life = clothing, which is both more useful and more valuable in exchange terms than the fabric) and the division of labour

to make a long and well-written argument short and poorly formulated (seriously, read the original, it’s like 25 pages), the price of a commodity* rises and falls around a base price that’s based on the cost of production. ‘wages’ are simply the term for the price of the commodity of ‘labour-power’, or hours of human labour**--and therefore, they rise and fall around the cost of producing human labour.

now, how much does that cost? pretty simple. first there’s the basic costs of the labourer continuing to survive day to day. then there’s the costs of them having children who can grow up to be labourers and keeping them alive too. finally, there are the costs of the labourer’s training, and these can far outstrip the first two. it’s expensive for a capitalist to hire a digital artist because the cost of producing digital artists (the survival of a human being + years and years of practice) is high--so the commodity of their labour power is priced highly.

however, marx also succintly explains supply and demand--concepts everyone’s probably semi-familiar with. when there are many sellers of a commodity, they compete for buyers by offering their commodities at lower and lower prices.

bearing in mind that ‘wages’ are just the price of the commodity of human labour-power--this means that technological development in production has a twofold depressive effect on wages: not only are less people employed (if a capitalist can produce twice as much of a commodity, they’re not guaranteed twice as much of a market--so they will instead tend towards producing the same amount at half the cost), but more people are capable of doing the work. so for the same process of production, there are more people capable of doing it, and less people needed to do it. as marx puts it:

“The greater division of labour enables one labourer to accomplish the work of five, 10, or 20 labourers; it therefore increases competition among the labourers fivefold, tenfold, or twentyfold. The labourers compete not only by selling themselves one cheaper than the other, but also by one doing the work of five, 10, or 20; and they are forced to compete in this manner by the division of labour, which is introduced and steadily improved by capital. Furthermore, to the same degree in which the division of labour increases, is the labour simplified.

The special skill of the labourer becomes worthless. He becomes transformed into a simple monotonous force of production, with neither physical nor mental elasticity. His work becomes accessible to all; therefore competitors press upon him from all sides. Moreover, it must be remembered that the more simple, the more easily learned the work is, so much the less is its cost to production, the expense of its acquisition, and so much the lower must the wages sink – for, like the price of any other commodity, they are determined by the cost of production. Therefore, in the same manner in which labour becomes more unsatisfactory, more repulsive, do competition increase and wages decrease”

when marx wrote this, he was talking about artisan craftsmen who made goods by hand in small workshop. since then we’ve seen this exact process sweep across every industry, devouring the manufacturing sector, now creeping second by second into the white-collar service economy. now, we are seeing this on the horizon for artists--there’s far more skill in creating AI artwork than some people give credit for, but it is ultimately in terms of time and accessibility easier and broader to do--it will have these effects if it is able to produce output on par, or even just slightly worse than, professional photographers and artists, for a fraction of the cost of labour-power.

so, like, why have i just written all this? to point out that the phenomenon people are scared of wrt AI art driving already precarious working artists into poverty is not some new and endemic technological horror. it is a social process that’s been ongoing for centuries--and the productive forces are not going to roll back, because capitalism demands ever-rising profits which demand ini turn ever-lower costs of production, including (especially) lower costs of production of skilled labour. if you are trying to stop stable diffusion AI tech from being used then you are trying to stop the horse by pulling on the reins of the cart.

if you are scared that AI art is going to make your passion and profession economically worthless, the tools themselves are not your enemy--it is the system that decides how these tools will be used, that art becoming easier to make is a vector by which to divide and precaritize working artists instead of to broaden access to the joy of creation--in the same way that industrial production has been used to create the system of wage-slavery instead of providing for all, in the same way that will repeat over and over again until the system that allocates resources and labour to maximize profit instead of human welfare is toppled and replaced

[the drive thru employee politely clears their throat. i turn to them and say ‘oh i didnt want anything i just like the smell out here’ and drive away directly into a lake]

*in marxist terms, a commodity is anything that: 1. has use value, as in, someone wants to have it and use it--eat it, wear it, play with it, watch it-- 2. has exchange value, as in, it can be exchanged for other commodities (price is a reflection of this exchange value through money), 3. has value through the application of labour power (someone has worked to produce it. even raw materials count--coal power plants don’t buy coal that’s still in the ground)

**engels explains the distinction between labour-power and labour in the introduction to the 1891 edition:

“What the economists had considered as the cost of production of “labour” was really the cost of production, not of “labour,” but of the living labourer himself. And what this labourer sold to the capitalist was not his labour.

At the most, he could sell his future labour – i.e., assume the obligation of executing a certain piece of work in a certain time. But, in this way, he does not sell labour (which would first have to be performed), but not for a stipulated payment he places his labour-power at the disposal of the capitalist for a certain time (in case of time-wages), or for the performance of a certain task (in case of piece-wages). He hires out or sells his labour-power.”

#ai art #aiart #stable diffusion #communism #long post

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evans-heaven · 2 years

Text

Feelings; Joseph Quinn

Part 2 of Touch!!! I cannot thank y’all enough for the response on that fic. I never used to get that many notes on my writing in the past, so to have it happen is just the best. Anyway, you and Joe confess your obvious feelings for one another in this one, but not before a little self indulgence on my part lmao. Prepare for a repost if this doesn’t show up in his tags like last time bc tumblr is a mess.

Read Touch here

More moments here

Read Scene here

Pairing: Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, pining, FLUFF, touching (a lot, seriously,) reader is an overthinker but that’s okay, subpar written confession because I’m burnt out y’all, unedited for now

WC: 2.5k

Ever since the D&D game video dropped, Stranger Things’ corner of the internet remained a complete and utter mess. It graduated from the YouTube comments to damn near everywhere else. Wherever you turned on any social media app, there was a TikTok edit, a Twitter thread, a YouTube compilation, or a link to a Cosmo article, all about your moments with Joseph, which happened on camera. Things were already pretty hectic with the events and ships happening within the show, but when speculation grew of a romance happening outside of the show, well, the public took it and ran with it.

Things between you and Joseph stayed relatively the same, platonically attached. It was as though millions of people weren’t talking about how ‘obviously into each other’ you two were, granted he even knew about that. Nothing changed for you personally, either. It wasn’t like you were unaware of your growing feelings for Joseph before people started noticing. Your racing heart and unstoppable smile whenever he laid a gentle hand on you, or was simply just around you, was enough of a giveaway to yourself.

One thing was for certain though, you weren’t going to say anything. You felt like you had done a pretty decent job keeping your feelings masked. You had a good, comfortable thing with Joseph going. You felt secure around him-content. Nothing should have to ruin that. Keeping quiet and convincing yourself he didn’t feel the way you did was the best option. Plus, dating co-stars was a big, fat ‘no’ in Hollywood. A somewhat outdated rule, sure, but you intended to adhere to it.

No matter how hard it was starting to become.

And you were reminded of just how hard it would be, by your current situation.

The two of you laid in your room in your Los Angeles apartment, Top Gun playing on the television across from your bed. Joseph was propped up against the quilted headboard, his arm securely around your body as your head laid on his chest. 10 minutes prior, he noticed you were nodding off and opened his arms in a wordless invitation-like always.

“You’re not mad this is putting me to sleep?” you had asked, halfway smirking. You burrowed your head into his plaid shirt, the smell of his cologne flooding your nose.

“Why would it?,” he asked, rubbing your shoulder soothingly.

“Well, it was my idea to watch this movie,” you said. He had been begging you to go see Top Gun: Maverick with him since it came out, and you agreed, though you wanted to watch the original first. So, you made a night out of it, and about two hours prior, he showed up to your door with kettle corn and sour skittles, and you supplied the wine and pizza.

He was particularly excited about the latter. Even if it had been a few years since he had to give up pizza to lose weight for Eddie, he still felt like he had to make up for all the lost pie. He immediately dug in, and you remembered swiping away some sauce from the side of his mouth with your thumb, which he had swiftly licked clean for you.

That, you blamed on the wine.

“True,” he admitted, fingers crawling down to your rib cage, making you shiver a bit. “But I’m not going pass up on the opportunity to hold you,”

You couldn’t reply when he had said that, you just remained completely still and quiet. Though, the tingling in your cheeks at his words indicated that you were not as unbothered as you wanted to seem.

It wasn’t a secret that the two of you loved each other’s embrace, though neither of you had ever said it outloud, either, at least to one another. The only time you could remember was one time on set when, during a break, you had your arms wrapped around Joseph’s shoulders while he sat in a director’s chair, his fingers laced with yours as you spoke. Gaten jokingly made a comment about your constant attachment to each other, and Joseph had simply said, “I rather enjoy that constant attachment.”

A photo of the two of you in that position was posted on the Stranger Things instagram story, along with various other BTS photos. It was only the back of you, but, like any other relationship speculation, it was all anyone needed to turn an inch into a mile. God forbid two friends hold each other in a way that is actually very platonic, thank you very much.

Joseph’s hand dragged down further, meeting your hip, dangerously close to your backside, pulling you out of your thoughts.

“You fall asleep on me, love?” he asked, and you quickly recovered from his previous words, his actions, and his pet name for you, and shook your head lightly.

“No, I wanna at least wait for the movie to….,” you trailed off, looking up at the screen to see the end credits rolling. “...end,” you deadpanned. You didn’t realize that much time had passed. “So much for that,” you shrugged.

Joseph chuckled as you stretched across him to grab the remote, and switched the TV off. You got up and began gathering the dirty dishes-the plates, wine glasses and the popcorn bowl. You made your way to the kitchen and heard his footsteps coming after you.

You began loading the dishwasher when he spoke. “Did you enjoy it, at least?” he asked.

“I enjoyed seeing a young Tom Cruise,” you laughed, and it was true. That was the only thought you remembered having, that 23 year old Tom was hot. Deuxmoi asshole allegations be damned.

“Fair enough,” he said, and you heard the teasing edge in his voice. “I’d love to stay and have a one-sided conversation about the movie, but I should get going, I have a meeting in the morning,” he said. You turned around and saw he leant against the counter, arms crossed.

You smiled, ignoring his little dig at you, knowing it wasn’t serious. “Ooh, is that face gonna grace the TV screen again soon?” you teased. You were a little disappointed, though, almost wishing you had fallen asleep. He always stayed over when you did, mostly because he’d doze off shortly after you.

He chuckled and shook his head, stepping forward, arms opening. “Maybeeee,” he drew out his answer as you happily walked into his embrace, arms locking around his torso. One of his arms wrapped around your body, the other held the back of your head, pressing your face into his collarbone.

It didn’t matter how many times you had been in his arms, the goodbye hugs always made your nerves explode the most. The two of you always embraced like the other was going on a month long trip to a place with no wifi, cell or postal service.

The two of you loosened the embrace after what felt like forever, but your arms hung around each other still. “You know I really would stay if I could,” he said, taking your chin in his grip.

“I know,” you nodded. “But, you have casting directors to wow in the morning,” you smiled.

“Let’s hope I do,” he replied, grinning. “Have a good night, babes,” he muttered, staring down at you intensely.

“You too,” you said back just as softly, butterflies flittering in your stomach.

When you thought he’d turn away and leave, his hold on your chin remained, his hanging mouth open as though there was more he wanted to say. The words, however, seemed to die on his tongue. His large brown eyes examined your face, quivering as they did.

“You good, Joe?” you asked, tilting your head.

He hesitated, literally freezing up for a second, before he snapped out of…whatever it was, and shook his head. “Yeah, I’m alright. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he mumbled out quickly. He released you entirely and speed walked towards the door, sliding out quickly as you looked at him in confusion. The door closed behind him, quiet harshly.

“Okay, then,” you said to yourself as you stood there, staring at the brown wooden surface.

Did he just shut your own door in your face?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You hadn’t mulled over Joseph’s odd little moment before he left for too long. It was after 1 AM and you were too tired to overthink about that man. You hopped in the bath for a quick shower, changed into some lacey pajamas and crawled back into bed.

You were making yourself comfortable when the sound of rapid knocking on your front door made you jolt up. Before you could wonder who the hell was showing up at your door in the middle of the night, the knocks became more insistent. You threw the comforter off your body and got out of bed, making your way towards the door, turning the living room light on. The rapid fists landing against the door made it vibrate, and you knew you weren’t the only one it woke up. You expected a complaint from the Karen next door in the morning.

You unlocked the door, surprise replacing your annoyance as you saw it was Joseph, looking frantic, leaning against the door frame, supported by his forearm.

“Joe? Did you forget so-” you began, but he cut you off.

“I need to tell you something,” he said, looking into your eyes. His own held a look of desperation within them.

“Okay….,” you said, stepping out of the way so he could enter. He walked in slowly, hands rubbing nervously at his jeans. You heard him let out a couple of heavy breaths.

“Wanna sit down, have some water?” you offered. It had been a while since he left at first, and from the looks of it, he obviously ran back here to tell you whatever it is he had to tell you.

“No, no, I just…have to get this out,” he turned to face you, visibly hyping himself up, and any tiredness you had began to fizzle out, because this was obviously eating at him. Your brain began to swarm with the possibilities of what he could be wanting to tell you, trying and failing to ignore the negative, outrageous shit that your anxious mind conjured up. For some reason you began to think he was going to tell you to fuck off of and that your little relationship was stifling and burdensome.

Fuck you, anxiety.

He put you out of your misery, somewhat, when he started talking, the words tumbling out rapidly. “Okay, so, I’ve been trying to come up with an entire plan on how I would do this, what I would say, when I would say it. I’ve felt this way for three years now and it’s killing me to keep it to myself any longer-”

You furrowed your brows, and held up a hand to stop him. “Joe, slow down-”

“-and now, here I am trying to spill my guts to you in the middle of the night after running back here, looking like a proper idiot, and you’re probably wondering ‘what the fuck is wrong with him’-”

“Joe, can you-”

“-and I’m wondering if this was a mistake, should I not have listened to those comments on YouTube I spent hours reading, talking about the way you look at me, maybe it give me wasted hope, am I about to ruin everything between us because you won’t feel the same way I do,”

Your eyes widened. You didn’t try to stop him again, because you physically felt frozen.

He breathed in, his chest puffing out. “But I just need,” he stressed, “To let you know this. It’s become physically painful to be around you and hold it in now,”

A beat or two of silence passed as the two of you just looked at each other, you with anticipation, him with determination.

“I love you, Y/N,” he finished breathily.

And just like that, a moment you could only dream of in recent years, was finally happening. Your eyes were still wide, but a smile pulled at your lips, your gaze unwavering.

“From that first table read, I loved how easily we clicked, even if you seemed so shy at first, but I love how vivacious you became. I love how close we got, and how that closeness just increased by thousands,” he uttered, he took a step towards you, but he paused again.

You began walking toward him, face relaxing. He continued.

“I love how much we make each other laugh even when whatever it was, wasn’t that funny. I love movie nights with you, even though you never stay awake long enough for them. I love how I feel like I can tell you anything, even when I get scared and ramble way too much, like I did just now,” he paused and chuckled as you stopped dead in front of him, a good inch between you. You looked up at him, lips folded in, eyes searching his face, waiting for him to finish.

He laid a large palm on your cheek, thumb resting at the corner of your mouth. “I love your beautiful fucking face, and this goddamn smile,”

He dropped his hand and took yours with it, lacing your fingers together and looked at the entanglement for a second. He squeezed your hand, fingers pressing into the back of it, almost like he wanted to ground himself and make sure this was actually happening.

“I love how it feels when we touch each other, and I don’t know if you’ve felt it too, but its literally the best fucking feeling in the world to me,” he spoke.

Oh, you felt it too, alright.

“And it's what told me the most, that I was absolutely, undoubtedly, 100%, in love with you,” by the tone of his voice and finality within it, you knew he was done.

You realized you had become numb to any nerves you thought you would feel during a moment like this. You thought your heart would beat so fast your body would tremble, and you would’ve choked on your own words so badly it would hurt. Somehow, hearing his confession gave you the assurance you needed in yourself, and you didn’t doubt him for a second. Your overthinking ceased in its entirety. You nearly regretted driving yourself crazy trying to suppress your feelings. He was here, in front of you, telling you how you felt, echoing every word you ever wanted to say to him.

Your sudden boost of confidence led you to take charge of the next move. You undid your hand from his, and draped your arms around his neck.

“You done?” you asked, beginning to lean in slowly.

His hands gripped at your waist, tugging you closer, almost desperately. “Yeah,” he whispered.

“You sure?” you asked, lips so close to his that a soft breeze could bring them together.

“Yeah,” he practically whined.

“Good,” your voice came out barely audible.

And without another word, you pressed your lips to his own, pouring in every inkling that you could, that you felt the same way about him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m sorry for leaving y’all hanging there at the end, but I wanted to leave the rest of the night open for interpretation😙 I am also, like I said in the warnings, burnt out 😅 so this will most likely be last fic for a while, at least until volume 2 comes out. But thank you Eddie and Joseph for reminding me how much I love writing. I’ve missed this shit so much lol.

Hope you all enjoyed💕

#joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x fem!reader #joseph quinn imagine #joseph quinn fic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagine #joseph quinn

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valrnyx · 5 months

Text

Forever Discourse: Link to Original Thread + More

This post contains links to the original Twitter thread as well as other posts that provide evidence or context to the situation. (This post will continually update with anymore information that is found)

January 10th Update: Forever has been kicked from QSMP. He has made a third and final? video in response? to the situation. There are English subtitles. (I have not watched the video yet beyond the first minute)

https://x.com/forevitao/status/1745104252672856501?s=46

With this post, I'm gathering evidence both for myself and others. In my opinion it's best to gather as much evidence and context as you can and form your own opinion rather than just listening to what others say. Get as many sides as possible.

TW: Pe*ophilia (it truly varies between posts but most have their own tw’s)

To start, here is a post that I think sums up what’s happening (from what I can see and what I’ve read so far): https://www.tumblr.com/anachronistic-falsehood/738711971942334464/hi-sorry-i-dont-have-twitter-but-do-you-know-why

I think I managed to stumble my way into the original Twitter thread. For any interested, here’s the link… (it’s all in Portuguese obviously) (if this is not the original thread, let me know): https://x.com/diaboier/status/1743153136523472904?s=46

I also found another thread that seems to add more evidence or summarizes the thread? Yet again, I don’t speak Portuguese so I’m not entirely sure: https://x.com/morningcriw/status/1743164198928978127?s=46

Someone sent in a Google doc with a lot of Forever’s old tweets translated (this seems to be accurate. I started Google translating some of the screenshots from the original accusation post and they match up with the translations in the doc): https://docs.google.com/file/d/16RKc9968cA8Ybc8Hw7Dl2cevO3w52mZx/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msword

I also just saw this pop up. It’s discord screenshots translating a tweet of the supposed victim. I say supposed as there’s no real evidence to show that it’s really the victim (All the twt screenshots have the usernames and pfp’s blacked out, for good reason): https://www.tumblr.com/magicalmanhattanproject/738731128507285504/id-discord-screenshot-the-first-messages-from

Here are two tumblr posts translating what Forever said in response: https://www.tumblr.com/imnotasweetie/738727736369102848/a-friend-of-mine-who-is-a-portuguese-speaker-did

https://www.tumblr.com/pamela-lntt/738713715054116864/translated-statement

I originally took these off as an anon said that it’s not great and that cultural context doesn’t apply to these kinds of things but after looking around a little more I think it is. Cultural difference is not an excuse, but nonetheless it’s an explanation. It still absolutely does not excuse his actions though. I have no way to verify if any of these are true though. Please keep that in mind: https://www.tumblr.com/thesmpisonfire/738775397927469056/that-one-brazilian-person-in-the-tag-with-the-very

https://www.tumblr.com/anachronistic-falsehood/738780432119808000/the-forever-situation-is-lacking-a-lot-of-context

https://www.tumblr.com/lonelyspacedragon/738779192959844352/the-one-and-olny-thing-i-will-say-about-this-as-a

https://www.tumblr.com/valrnyx/738784381189144576/cultural-differences-are-absolutely-not-an-excuse

As of January 6th, Forever has gone live to address the allegations again. Here is a a overview of what he said (I have no way to verify if what is written here is true): https://www.tumblr.com/dumblemonade1/738790758479527936/so-he-hadnt-seen-all-the-tweets-about-the

https://www.tumblr.com/imnotasweetie/738807755379474432/alright-fellas-here-is-the-full-translation-of

Please give Quackity and his team time to decide how they’re going to handle this. They’re human too. This post says it better than I can: https://www.tumblr.com/trashfangirlsworld/738796977181032448/i-dont-have-much-to-say-about-the-situation-with

https://www.tumblr.com/54625/738805511556939776/im-not-gonna-talk-about-the-whole-foreve

Apparently a host of CC’s have unfollowed Forever on Twitter: https://www.tumblr.com/magicalmanhattanproject/738802843036844032/more-developments-on-the-forever-situation

https://www.tumblr.com/weallpartyatybcpatricksfuneral/738805954396798976/hi-i-bring-you-context-some-people-on-twitter-dug

A post that’s close to my own thoughts about the after effects of what’s happening: https://www.tumblr.com/murky-tannin/738809119351390208/there-are-a-lot-of-bad-things-about-this-situation

If your are an English speaker, take a step back as well as a deep breath. Let’s not jump to any conclusions or huge actions. If you are able and willing, take your time and do your own research. Don’t believe the first thing that’s said. Misinformation spreads like wildfire. Especially when the discourse isn’t in your native language and are relying on others and Google translate.

Be mindful of your words and support victims. Words can have a huge impact on someone even though you can’t see it. This post says it better than I can: https://www.tumblr.com/cupsmp/738692732272394240/also-once-again-in-any-situation-please-support

Everyone please be careful with your mental health. Take a break from social media if needed, get some water, something to eat, and take a deep breath. Go outside or talk with your friends. We will make it through this.

#forever discourse #forever situation #forever player #qsmp forever #qsmp discourse #qsmp

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mageknight14 · 8 months

Text

Shoka Had a Hard Life: A NEO TWEWY analysis post

Posting yet another analysis thread from Twitter into a Tumblr format.

In a cast full of interesting and fleshed-out characters, I find Shoka to be one of the most fascinating in how she's written and one thing I find really interesting about her character in NEO TWEWY is how her prickliness serves both to protect herself as a façade and also speaks to real genuine facets of herself and how it doesn’t fully go away like some people would claim.

Throughout NEO, it’s heavily implied that Shoka didn’t exactly have the best life before she had joined the UG, to the point that she would rather stay in the afterlife than go back to her old life. Based off of some of her comments, reactions to Rindo’s insinuations about how she must've hated being a Reaper and was forced into it, and her not being as broken up over Shinjuku compared to others, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that she came from a broken home, one where she was powerless when it came to the choices in her own life.

So much so to the point that she didn’t mind flat out erasure as opposed to going back. However, when she had gained actual control of her life for the first ever, she fully embraced it, going so overboard with her newfound power that she had become a Reaper due to her prowess. In a lot of ways, Shoka shares a lot in common with Joshua in this regard when you consider the backstory he told Neku, with both of them feeling trapped and powerless in their lives and being heavily implied to be suicidal. However, whereas Joshua came to know about the UG through outside means (Hanekoma) and actively chose to put himself into the Game, it’s implied that Shoka didn’t know anything about that life before she had lost her own and when she had come across actual power and the ability to have some actual agency, she jumped onto the opportunity.

The rules of the Shinjuku Games demand that in order to get ahead of life, you have to become brutal and ruthless just to stay alive, which is a mindset heavily inspired by Shinjuku’s focus on business culture and sociality. I think it’s pretty telling that one of the key rules in Shinjuku is that once you're out of being a Reaper, Erasure is your only choice. Not even playing to come back to life, like Beat did in the Shibuya Games, just flat-out Erasure. If you can’t keep up, tough. Much like the original TWEWY's Game, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Because of this, it should come to no surprise that due to a combination of this harsh environment and her own home life, Shoka came to enjoy lording her power and taking out her frustrations on others. You can see this with how she thoroughly enjoys kicking the shit out of Motoi. Not just because she was aware of how he was manipulating Rindo, her best friend (though that’s certainly part of it) but because she was taking out her frustrations after having to deal with her feelings of being caught between said best friend and her found family.

When it comes to children with broken homes, they are prone to imprinting on any adult figure that interacts positively with them and in Shoka's case, this is exactly what she did with the Shinjuku Reapers. Note how the first thing she asks of Ayano after her first day of training with her is for her to never leave Shoka. And at this point, you can hardly blame her. Even with her newfound powers and lease at life (or un-life if you will), she's still a kid amongst adults with loads more experience than she has had at this point of time. And after this, she ends up becoming attached to the Shinjuku Reapers as her newfound family, and she even admits as such to Rindo (except for Kubo because he's a prick.)

This is a very big contrast to how the Shibuya Reapers from the previous game worked, with the majority of them, except for Uzuki, Kariya, and the Def March, all being prone towards stabbing each other in the back if the opportunity presented itself, like Konishi and Kitaniji, Sho and just about everyone, and Kitaniji and the Reapers in general. By comparison, the Shinjuku Reapers all care for one another and its' implied that the rules of Shinjuku's Reaper hierarchy allowed for the Reapers to become less emotionally detached and able to form genuine connections with one another.

You can also see from the way that she snaps at Rindo and Ayano and some of her battle quotes that Shoka has a LOT of pent-up aggression and anger issues bottled up inside, as well as some self-loathing and resentment for when she lets those aspects out.

Combine this with how Ayano likes to gaslight her in an misguided attempt to keep her safe, her friends/family more or less turning away from her to keep up the illusion of the Game, and it’s no wonder that the girl is an absolute mental wreck.

And that's not even getting into her passive suicidal ideation. She has little-to-no regard for her own life unless it concerns that people she cares about and even then, she’ll still toss it away for them. Ayano is possessed and is about to attack the party? Shoka throws caution to the wind, ignoring Rindo’s warnings, and almost gets herself killed. Her reaction to her inevitable Erasure at the end of the week due to her not being a Reaper anymore? She’s more concerned about how it will effect Rindo rather than how she’s going to, well, fade away from existence. Hell, when Shiba offers her a chance to become a Reaper again, she refuses, not wanting spend another moment of her unlife watching life around her pass by. And that's not even getting into how her Telewarp power transports her to high places, usually over the edge of a building...

And even when she does join the Wicked Twisters, she still doesn’t tell Rindo the truth because of what will happen to her at the end of week 3. She didn’t want Rindo to go through the heartbreak of finding out that he got to be with his best friend before she inevitably dies at the end of the week and was content to die without him ever finding out. It was only when Erasure seemed inevitable for ALL of them (which isn’t helped by how the Noise gets stronger with each time jump) in the second-to-last timeline that she goes “fuck it” and tells him the truth.

So, with all of this in mind, it's no fucking wonder that she latches on so quickly to the Rindo and the Wicked Twisters, both as Swallow and her IRL self.

Imagine this; the small new life you've created for yourself after escaping your depressive old one implodes because your boss has seemingly lost his mind and helped blow up your city, one of your friends (Tsugumi) gets lobotomized into a robot and your boss tells you to fuck off instead of telling you why, another friend (Susukichi) gets conscripted to be a fake player all day every day, the boss's best friend (Hishima) has pulled away since he went crazy, the woman who you see as your big sister and has been taking care of you this whole time (Ayano) has to take his place instead, and then there's the creepy old guy (Kubo) you always hated.

You then have to spend every day for years on end supervising a BS game where nothing matters because your boss will just declare his own secret team the winner every time anyway and all you do is supervise the players you've been assigned to and make sure they keep marching into the meat grinder day after day by upholding the lie that they could win the game and escape. Over time, you start to realize you are complicit in the murder of probably hundreds of people all so you can blow up a city and murder millions more. You then lose faith in the mission but have to keep going along with it because no one is willing to betray their old friend even if he's nuts now. Your honeymoon phase with your powers is over because what's even the point when you can only use it on small fry players that can't challenge you at all and your friends have all been pulled away from you and so you probably spend most of your evenings alone.

And your one reprieve from all of this?

Talking to the one online friend that you met through a PokemonGo Clone and giving them some life advice.

Imagine spending some years of your life in a broken home TWICE and then coming across a group of people who not only accept you for who you are but also promise to be there for you no matter what and comfort/stand up for you however they can.

And it’s through their influence that you can see Shoka’s hidden kindness (which was previously hinted at with her interactions with Rindo as Swallow as well as the little ghost Shinjuku girl) shine on through when put into a positive reinforcement environment.

Hell, just compare how she initially reacts to sidequests, from begrudgingly helping out others when on pressed time to jumping onto the chance to help people out.

Of course, none of her issues just end up going away overnight. She still has a lot of she needs to work through but she’s actively trying to improve on herself.

I think the most impressive thing about all of this is that none of these traits feel contradictory. Like a lot of characters in NEO, Shoka is written like an actual human being whose certain personality traits manifest more prominently depending on the context of a situation. Like you and me, they aren't 100% consistent. Their personalities are steady but they react a little differently day to day depending on how they're feeling, in a way that feels genuine. Forgive me if I sound pretentious but the TWEWY devs just get people and how they act.

Shoka in particular is a great look at the effects a positive and/or toxic environment can have on a person and their outlook and I’m legitimately impressed by the level of nuance the writers had when it came to her (and this goes for the NEO cast in general, really) character.

#neo twewy #neo the world ends with you #twewy #the world ends with you #shoka sakurane #shoka twewy #analysis post

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