#which also doesn't affect sold copies so it really doesn't make a difference

[dnallohleoj]

So there was a post that was shared a couple days back talking about how People are talking about Godot and completely ignoring Unreal and that the reason for that was because Unreal could easily decide to do the same thing in the future if Unity makes good money off it, even if they implode afterwards.

I apparently didn't bookmark it because I was gonna reply to them directly but now I can't find it so... of course that's how it go. But anyway, while I can't say this with 100% confidence, I don't think we have to worry about Unreal following suit, and citing that as the reason Unity devs specifically are switching to Godot feels like a complete misread of the room to me.

Unity supporters always preferred it to Unreal because of how lightweight it is out of the box, and because it supported more than one programming language. In the same way Unreal makes it easy for an artist with little programming knowledge to jump in and start making a game, Unity allowed Programmers with little artistic sense to jump in and start in a way that Unreal actively gets in the way of.

Also, In order to make a game in Unreal for low target hardware, there are a million settings and features you have to go in and turn down or shut off completely, and if you want it to run on a Windows XP-era laptop, you'd basically need to rewrite the shaders in the source code. Unity's the engine you used if you want to be able to show Grandma what you do for a living. Grandma will basically never be able to run an Unreal game. Incidentally, Unreal also requires more of the computer running it, so it requires a much larger hardware investment upfront.

At the moment, Godot is as lightweight as Unity was, even if that's partially because it's missing a ton of features due to how new the engine is. THAT's why there's such a conversation surrounding Unity to Godot. Anyone who needed Unreal is already using Unreal, and existing Unreal devs aren't exactly affected by something Unity's doing.

COULD Unreal decide to copy the Unity per-download model down the line? Yes, and there'd be little any indie dev could do to stop it. But that's the thing - People love to say Epic got as big as they did due to Fortnite, and that may be partially true, but realistically, Epic Games gets a cut of the sales from nearly every AAA bestseller from the past decade, and increasingly, that includes foreign games. Do you really think all those major corporations, many of whom still also own and maintain in-house engines, would hesitate to drop Epic if they decided they were going to implement a similar per-install fee? You think it's bad for the indie who sold tens of thousands of copies and earned $200K? How do you think the Square Enixes and the RGGs and the Respawns and the BioWares who sell tens of millions and clear $200M+ are gonna feel seeing that $2M+ fee get tacked on when Epic's already getting 5% of every sale? No, it's not gonna affect their bottom line as much, but at that level, they HATE paying other people! Just on principle!

AAA studios would also collectively have the power to say, "yeah, we're not paying that for games made before that went into place" and Epic absolutely could not afford to take each and every one of them to court.

Again, could still happen, would still be devastating for the indies affected, Wouldn't even put it past Epic to implement a different policy for its existing corporate partners, I'm just saying, I have my doubts.

And that's also in part because Unreal's royalty model is less hostile than Unity's to begin with. As far as I can tell, Unity expects you to upgrade to their pro plan when your game makes $100K, which is currently $2.5K-4.5K/yr, on top of the per-install fee. A clean royalty would have been less painful. Unreal, on the other hand, doesn't start collecting their 5% royalty fee until after your game's made $1M, and I've seen estimates saying the runtime fee could amount to a 15% royalty, all said and done. Again, all subject to change at the whims of people who don't care about us in the slightest, but Unity has been making itself more expensive to use for mid-budget games over the past few years anyway. Unreal has not followed suit.

I cannot stress enough here, I do not believe Epic is on your side. There's just a LOT of additional factors to consider which makes the likelihood of them copying Unity's ill-advised fee seem pretty slim.

[wetbloodworm]

#bg3 spoilers #bg3 dark urge spoilers

can't sleep, let's talk about sabine instead

discussing aasimar vs tieflings

so i know there's the whole 'aasimar are good, tieflings are bad' association that like even WOTC eventually started emphasizing is not true. MY recent understanding of the difference is 'aasimar 'descend' from celestials/deities/etc, tieflings 'descend' from fiends/devils/etc'. so alignment doesn't come into it at all, even in their ancestry, it depends more on the like... species of being that had an affect on their bloodline.

(the forgotten realms wiki is telling me that alignment of the ancestral being IS the thing that determines which they are, so like tieflings can come from deities if the deity is evil-aligned. i am choosing to ignore this completely.)

so with that understanding, sabine! sabine is half-elf in the game but as i develop her more, y'know what? i'm deciding she's an aasimar. i think like, it's difficult to determine whether she's technically full aasimar or if there's some kind of balance between that and half-elf, because she was created rather than born. she is a direct piece of bhaal, molded to be his idea of what a half-elf was (or for durges in general, whatever their species is). in sabine's canon, half-elf was picked because she could go (mostly) unnoticed and (mostly) accepted in most communities. so his blood is the only thing that runs through her veins, no second parent involved. and not only is his race not determined anywhere that i'm aware of, i feel like he's so far removed from mortality (or at least full mortals) that his original race before ascension doesn't matter anymore, so it wouldn't matter even if sabine WAS born more traditionally.

i think when it comes down to it, sabine is only half-elf in the way she's built, mostly. she's made to look like one, but her divine blood means she's really more of an aasimar or something adjacent to one than anything. i mean when it REALLY comes down to it her species is 'bhaalspawn' in a way others with the same father/lineage don't experience. others who were born traditionally could be a genuine half-elf or tiefling or orc or whatever with 'bhaalspawn' describing their lineage more than their species. being scooped out of a god does weird things to What You Actually Are, i feel like.

so! she's got aasimar-like traits. half-elf ones, too, but that's like. mimicry more than anything, y'know? anyway, i've copied ez and made a checklist out of the aasimar traits and tiefling traits pages because i like them a lot. i've gone through and edited the language and some details to appeal to me more, and i'll continue tweaking the list as i go along and adding more traits i think of. the two lists are combined here b/c the originals very strictly stick to 'aasimar have good blood/are good' and 'tieflings have evil blood/are evil'. so just mash 'em all together, why not. will use the checklist going forward with characters like these when i want to give them some extra traits.

here's a screenshot of sabine's list so far. i am absoLUTELY not done coming up with stuff for her but i'm impatient and want to share now lol pic should be able to be enlarged

the colors just represent sources, blue for the aasimar traits list and red for the tiefling traits list. green for stuff i've added, purple (maroon?) for what's specific to one character.

one thing i like doing with her is making seemingly positive effects/traits actually sinister. babies stop crying and you think they're soothed if you don't look too closely at how they're responding. people sleep so soundly around her but that's to make them more vulnerable. i want more of those.

might get rid of the shadow and humanoid-shape-to-blind-people one. not sold on them.

i also like the idea that sabine wouldn't know she has black bones until she's in the illithid colony reading the research notes about the various autopsies and other ~explorations~ that were performed on her. her just like MY BONES ARE BLACK? WHY ARE MY BONES BLACK?? WHY ARE MY BONES BLACK!!!!!! which is often her reaction to things she discovers about herself.

the black marks when touched one might get tweaked to more like the original trait where the marks left are black rather than bruise-like. something even more clearly unnatural. also, her discovering that when she's pulling gale out of the. the thing. and she catches sight of her palms.

the smelling of blood one is arguably at least partly canon. the ghoul started shouting about delicious blood when it went to test her.

okay i'm done for now. ty. for your time. i may be back with more later.

#sabine tag

[beefmastersblog]

Otaku, Japan's Database Animals

I actually think this was my favorite reading so far, mostly because of how easy it is to apply it to anime that I have seen.

It basically talks about anime in postmodern society, the ways in which it is different than in modern society. In postmodern society, simulacrum becomes dominant, which is neither original nor copy, and even some authors get involved in producing these. We see this as authors produce stories that are separated from the actual canon world of their piece, but they are still written and created by the original creator (kind of like OVAs or special edition manga that are a subsequent story that doesn't affect the real medium at all).

This reading also talked about the identity of otaku. Otaku can in fact distinguish between fiction and reality, but their preference for fiction is tied to their identity.

Another key component of this reading is the idea of narratives. Modernity is ruled by the grand narrative, one overarching narrative that affects the way people behave. In modernity, cultures could be viewed by a tree model, with people being determined by the grand narrative. In postmodernity, that tree has collapsed completely. Instead, there is a double layer structure where there is both the outer layer which has the simulacra and the inner layer which has the database. Otaku in this postmodern society create their own small narratives. But there is also something known as the grand nonnarrative, which is a form that exists beyond the small narrative but doesn't have any narrative form.

When the shift occurred from the tree model of the modern society to the database model of the postmodern society, it left a lot of people who grew up with the database model very confused. Therefore, we now have a generation that needs fiction to substitute for lost grand narratives, and another that consumes fiction that doesn't need it in the same way. These two groups of people both make up otaku culture. The grand narrative cannot be sold. Rather, products make up a portion of the grand narrative of a series and otaku buy these products as an effort to approach that overall grand narrative and see the whole picture. But when it comes to narrative consumption, some people create knockoff goods (their own that look exactly like the original) while others might create an extra character or something like that in the same exact format and style of the original. In that second case, the new good has just as much value as the original ones, and the distinction between real and fake gets more blurred. This can be seen with fanfictions created by people online who have no connection to the original work. People buy these and read them, and many times they are valued just as much as the original work.

I also thought it was very interesting the way that most anime doesn't actually have a unique style, rather the styles were designed from the most popular looks of other anime (ex- antennae hair sticking up, glasses, cat ears, maid costume, similar hairstyles and outfits). Many works now focus more on being able to get that "moe" desire from its viewers, since it is that, rather than the work being actually good that drives people to buy the merch. I definitely see this as applicable even now. I know at least for me personally; the attractiveness of characters does make me want to buy the merch. Now we also see instances of quoting, where you will see certain characters that are made to resemble another popular character in order to get fan attention. Although the examples they gave are a bit outdated, I definitely see this in modern anime, and I notice that a lot of these characters tend to actually be voiced by the same person. I'm going to give an example using an English voice actor, since I am not really well versed in Japanese ones, but J. Michael Tatum voices Kyoya from Ouran Host Club, Sebastian from Black Butler, and Iida from My Hero.... all very similar characters in appearance and mannerisms. I think that could be an example of quoting.

There is one specific franchise in specific that I have actually been thinking of throughout this entire read, since for me it is what is most applicable. It's an anime/manga series that adapted from a visual novel, called Diabolik Lovers, which on its own is not a quality series at all. But the characters are visually appealing, and the creators of the series and visual novel capitalized on that. You can tell they invested a lot more money into the art (which I actually think is really good) than they did into the plot of the show, as there really isn't a plot at all.

Photo Reference Here:

There are probably around 10 different games for the franchise, two anime seasons, and a lot of different merchandise, both official and unofficial. The creators even had the voice actors record music to go with some of the games for each character and there are A LOT of songs. But the plot is not specifically unique it is a very standard reverse harem with vampires. The girl has no personality. But the reason this franchise still continues to put out these things is because people keep buying it (I will admit I am one of these people). You can also see a wide array of fan-based works published on different platforms, creating a grand nonnarrative out of this piece. I'm sure there are plenty of other pieces that have had this same pattern, but to me this example stands out simply because of HOW BAD the plot of the franchise is and how successful it was both as an anime and a game. But as a case study, it proves a great number of the arguments present in this read so I thought I would mention it.

Overall, this was a cool read. I liked it and I enjoyed learning more about otaku culture and what this means for the future of anime and manga.

[raviniaraven]

It's kind of frustrating that the arguments against AI went from the incredibly valid claim of "this is using art without permission and imitating artists' styles in ways that affect their income" to "any and all AI creation is terrible and people who use it are all money-grubbing assholes"

I think that if we want to be professional artists we need to be more educated on copyright law and what different copyrights mean. For instance, artwork older than 100 years is largely in the public domain and can be used; you can separately copyright a photograph of that artwork, but the art itself is free to use, distribute, sell, and alter.

For more modern art and current artists, I did some digging into the Wikipedia page on Creative Commons:

A lot of people online upload their art with a Creative Commons license: this is described as "when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that the author has created". If your work was uploaded with a Creative Commons Attribution license, that clearly states that others can use your work, it just has to be sourced as from your art. So, if an AI trains off of your art, they just have to openly state that it trained off of it. If you don't like what they're doing with it, use a different license on it that prohibits altering or profiting off of it.

Most people intend to use a Creative Commons NonCommercial, which instead "bans commercial use and requires you to release any modified works under this license". Notice the difference that the "noncommercial" adds to that? The Noncommercial means that they can't profit off of it, and states very clearly that they can't use it for anything that would create a profit.

I also don't see much art anywhere that uses the "No Derivative Works" section of these licenses, which is the part that would prevent creating any transformative art with the image (so, for example, if you didn't even want people making AI trained off of it without any profit). As much as people like to claim it's straight forgery, an AI is transformative art in the definition of the term, taking an existing artwork and making another image derivative of it; this of course assumes that the person creating the derivative art makes something different enough to constitute a new work, which is an issue modern art has been arguing back and forth for over a century (just listen to anyone talking about Pop Art and Warhol)

This is a Creative Commons copyright chart from the Wikipedia page I linked earlier, with the top being Public Domain and the bottom being All Rights Reserved. If you don't want anyone doing anything with your work, you need all of the boxes ticked in order to make sure it isn't altered, copied, remixed, or sold. If you don't have that license, that is why your art can be used as a source--because you didn't say the image you openly put on a public platform couldn't be used that way.

So basically, I think that if people were willing to make copyright distinctions more widely known, then it would be much more possible to use an AI that didn't use things that were under the "No Derivative Works" category. But people aren't listing their works as that, and then they're getting angry when that doesn't apply to their art.

Do I think that this is the fault of the artist? Not really. But do I think it makes the AI trainers awful, thieving people? Also no. Copyright is made to prevent the theft of something that you've created, and it's important to legally label where your art stands; if you don't say "hey you can't make and sell derivative art of this", you don't really have much of a foothold to say you don't want someone selling derivative art of it.

I honestly want the art and AI communities to work together to make both more unique, original, manmade art and also more cool AI generated images. I want to see a world where an artist can say "yeah I drew this but I couldn't manage this one detail, so that's AI generated and blended in" and that's not seen as shameful or disgusting. I want AI folks to realize that if they get the proper permissions, they get better art to source from.

I just think it's a really nuanced issue being presented as a black-and-white, one or the other scenario when we could do so much with both.

#not tagging bc i dont wanna start a fight #made a few edits for typos

[potteresque-ire]

Hi! I have been reading your posts and responses to anonymous and I am inclined to comment on your broadly realistic views and detailed analystic answers and let us not forget your ability to be warm in putting forward your opinions. I am truly a huge fan. Thank you for being a station for various answer seekers.

If you have time and patience, please elaborate on the situation GG is still facing post 227. Recently I read various comments insinuating GG copied DD for Douyin night which is absurd but the implication that only one party is still being targeted unnecessarily raise hackles of a lot of solo fans. And I, under any circumstances, DO NOT believe the involvement of the other party. Firm believer of BJYXSZD.

My point is what is being done to stop these antis from targeting GG. Since one of the motive to target GG is to severe the relationship of GG and DD, IMO at least. Does constant attack (external stimulus) on GG (belittling him by comparing him to DD) may have the possibility to effect their relationship (internal reaction)? Objectively yes, but given your perception of their relationship, what is your opinion in this matter, however subjective it may be?

Moreover, how much extreme and sometimes irrational analysis done by bjyx community can lead to harm to both of them especially GG?

Also, I have seen DD being the captain of BJYX in various circumstances but also throwing off people from their old predicted/maintened theories especially in case of Kadians. I am not sure how much to trust these 'candies' since he has a reputation of not giving a f*** of others opinion. So why would he post GG related or non-related content with same kadians. I mean if he posts private content with GG related kadian then why post promotional content with GG related kadian. Does it imply that kadians are related to GG or not or he doesn't care and we are thinking too much. I am not sure what I am writing now, maybe multitude of thoughts poring out here. I am extremely sorry for that.

I do not know whether people believe or not but 1st post by GG yesterday had initials YB in the circle. Not at all explicit, and depends on believers but I felt like he was just trolling BJYX, it may be good naturedly but after his promotional brand picture of shrimp in bunny's hand. I do not know I just felt, dissappointed/bitter/unsure about all of this. I think it is normal to feel this way from time to time even for SZD because along with emotional investment we have rational perspective which is necessary to scrutinize evidence(maybe) from time to time.

I whole heartedly apologize for writing an essay length ask, this is the reason I wanted your patience 😅.

If any other blogger wants to add or comment on this please feel free to do so. Your suggestions are highly welcomed. 🙏

Hello Anon!

I take it that your questions about safety are concerned about the behaviour of c-solos and c-turtles? International fans aren’t likely to put Gg and Dd at any risk. That said, however, frequent fighting among i-fans would likely drain Gg and Dd’s international fanbase, as many fans do not enjoy being a combative atmosphere (I, for one, will run away as quickly as a turtle can run!). Lost i-fans can’t be easily replenished, whether they’re turtles or solos ~ The Untamed, as a foreign language show so beloved that fans are willing to scale tall language and cultural barriers to understand it, isn’t something that comes around often. (stanning Gg and/or Dd does take a lot of work!)

About the arguments. I probably only know about a fraction of them since I do not interact directly with fans outside Tumblr . As far as I can tell, however, recent arguments among c-solos and c-turtles have been ordinary fights, and also, fairly “bi-directional” between the solos (ie. I don’t think Gg or Dd has been relatively exempt from attacks compared to each other). 

These arguments can be heated and some of the attacks may sound vicious, but there’s nothing much to worry about from a safety angle, as they haven’t caught the attention of those outside the fan circles.

The theorising by turtles are also not inherently dangerous. c-turtles have mostly been careful about keeping their discussions among themselves. The only risk it may lead to in the future, that I can think of right now, is the associated YiZhan content on China-based websites (ex. Bilibili, Douyin), which has become fairly plentiful. YiZhan candies used to be relatively obscure given the guidelines of CP fans to keep them among themselves (they call this practice 圈地自萌, literally, drawing a circle on the ground and have fun in it by oneself). These days, however, anyone who’s curious can get a good sense of YiZhan’s story by browsing Bilibili. 

This probably contributes to the continued growth of the turtle population; however, some of this content is created by non-turtles who seek viewership and have little concern over Gg and Dd’s safety. They are the ones who re-upload the BTS, for example, despite the repeated pleas and warnings by the “站姐”s—the superfans who take/purchase these videos—as well as the turtles to not do that. If these content creators go overboard, there’s a possibility that YiZhan content may get caught in the government’s “Eradicating Pornography and Illegal Publications”（掃黃打非) movement. The movement originated in the mid 2000s, and its recent waves have been used as pretext to remove LGBT+ and BL content on line (I will eventually set up a post re: those events). Just last month (2020 Dec), Bilibili has been explicitly named by the government for hosting questionable materials, which means it’s already under scrutiny. Sweeps performed on an entire website are usually broad-based enough that no specific individuals are targeted; however, the government also encourages, with financial incentives, the reporting of specific content and has set up a dedicated website for doing so. While all YiZhan content has no direct relation to Gg and Dd, removal of such content may cause an over-reaction from fans, which can, in turn, lead to accusations of poor fan management by Gg and Dd. Most people will also assume the YiZhan content to be created by turtles.

(Another example of how an alleged turtle mis-step can get the YiZhan fandoms and Gg and Dd tied to the 掃黃打非 movement: a few days ago, a Weibo post showed a photo of a hardcover version of an explicit BJYX fanfic, reportedly sold for profit, and GG haters were calling for an arrest for “illegal publication.” So far, there’s minimal noise on the issue, so it isn’t something to worry about. It can also be fake news, which is so bountiful on the platform and on every aspect of daily life that most die a very peaceful, very well-deserved death.).

Whether fan arguments / theories may affect Gg and Dd’s relationship (assuming they’re in a relationship) … my guess is, not much. Gg and Dd are busy people, unlikely to closely follow their fans’ discussions. Again, I expect effects to be felt only if the arguments get out of hand ~ as in, if they begin to involve the public and/or the government.

As for the question about what is being done to stop Gg being targeted: fan wars are incredibly common in China (as in everywhere else), and Gg and Dd’s aren’t special in that sense ~ it’s just that as turtles, we know about those surrounding Gg and Dd and they feel significant to us. No individuals can stop a fan war ~ all we can do is to not join these wars ourselves.

Personally, I think the international fan base of Gg and Dd, as solos and cpfs, have more chance to achieve peace than its Chinese counterparts — if they choose to want that. Popularity in China is not only quantified (which is likely true everywhere, by marketing departments), but very visibly so. Sales numbers, votes, traffic attributed to each idol are frequently released to the public, possibly to foster competition among fans and drive these numbers further upward. c-turtles’ demonstrated strong performance in pushing these metrics has made them a target to those who wish to have usurp their consumer power. They, therefore, have good reasons to be wary of anyone who try to sway them from their “turtle-ship”, whether to turn them into solos or to lure them into an entirely different fandom. The swaying messages are also not always obvious, not always a direct “your cp suck”.  They can be subtle, many even come from netizens who appear to be fellow turtles, who may say “oh, maybe we (turtles) are wrong” or “we have to be realistic; Gg and Dd will never look at each other publicly again”—messages that cast doubt and sink morale in a fandom that’s already running an uphill battle. Remember: traditionally, CP fandoms are not expected or welcomed to last, and solos have been happy to (correctly) point out that the BTS, the origin of the most solid “evidences” of BJYXSZD, are getting older by the day. c-turtles can’t expect anyone else to help defend their ship if something happens, given CP fandoms’ lack of respectability, given YiZhan being a real person M/M pairing that is often frowned upon. So it’s understandable, to me at least, why c-turtles are on guard, and occasionally, clash with those who they feel may be trying to take away what they love.

i-turtles, I feel, don’t have that many reasons to fight. We don’t really have other fandoms (for example, the up and coming danmeis—the adapted BL dramas) vying for our attention (and wallets). No one can put an expiration date on the YiZhan communities except ourselves.

Another way to see this is: we—as in, the combined Gg + Dd international fanbase, the solos + CPFs—are lucky in a way the fans in Gg and Dd’s home country are not. Collectively, we’re much further removed from the pressure to perform as fans, which is immense in China with their fan circle culture and fan economy. i-shrimps and i-motorcycles ~ some of you are reading this, I think? (hello!) ~ here are my humble thoughts: the solo/turtle ratio of Gg and Dd’s international fans doesn’t make much of an impact on Gg and Dd’s star status, on the popularity metrics that matter. Our spending power is limited outside China’s borders, and while Gg and Dd likely love us equally as fans, our adoration for them doesn’t really matter much, if at all, to the production/media/commercial companies that control the trajectories of their careers. 

Along this line, the turtles’ “double loyalty” doesn’t have much of an ill effect, because there are few popularity contests here that mean much; few times (if any) when the turtles must face the dilemma of whether to vote for Gg or Dd because only a single vote is allowed; few situations where they have only x amount of dollars and must split it equally between Gg or Dd’s endorsements. There’s also much less cause to worry that i-turtles may draw the attention, or ire of the Chinese government ~ the whole international fanbase is too far away, too spread out to destabilise the regime in any way.

What the turtles do have in common with you, the solos, is their knowledge, their love for Gg/Dd. Knowledge, in particular. The people who know about Gg/Dd are still far and in between—at where I am, at least, and my guess is, it’s likely true for many of you too. Think of the turtles as people who you can talk to about your favourite star in places where few people know about him, can help promote The Untamed  far and wide—many people still haven’t heard of the show, and they deserve to.

For the turtles ~ no one can take away our turtle-ship identity, as long as we don’t give it away. No one can report on the our communities to the government and get them dissolved. Our votes, our spending habits are no one else’s business but ours here.

So, Anon, here’s what I think, and these are all very personal opinions, very personal decisions on how to navigate fandom …

I truly hope that we, as the international fanbase, can try to use this luck that we have. Make our communities not mere copies of their (combative) Chinese counterparts but something different, something with our own flavour, something with more peace and less fighting.

Specifically, I see little cause to try to persuade/dissuade anyone to be a solo/turtle. I find them… not the best use of time. Why? Because frankly, neither solos nor turtles have a better grasp of who Gg and Dd are. Neither solos nor turtles have a truly good grasp of who Gg and Dd are. These discussions are therefore bound to end up with more ill will than conclusions, since both sides are short of facts.

We’re all short of facts as audiences, who’ve all only seen a tiny sliver of who Gg and Dd are as human beings.

I don’t mean Gg and Dd’s star image is fake ~ it’s just that, their star image is their “work face”, and even I, a lowly turtle, must act somewhat differently in my own office. It’s part of being professional.

Gg and Dd’s star image are their professional face, and no professionals worth a salt truly ignore other’s opinions, especially when the profession is being an entertainer whose job is to face and hold the attention of the public. 

This is true for Gg; this is true for Dd.

Social media accounts are also part of Gg and Dd’s professional face ~ whatever is posted on there will be scrutinised by millions of fans, and they know that. The posts do provide some insights about Gg an Dd’s personalities, but they can’t be expected to show a complete picture. No parts of these posts, therefore, whether it’s the content or the kadians, are sufficient evidences for / against any aspect of their personal lives (especially as private an aspect as their romantic lives). Anon, you mentioned promotional marketing materials, and here’s my understanding of them ~ ambassadors such as Gg and Dd have minimal control over their design. The shrimp-holding bunny you’re referring to, for example, is very likely provided by the company.

However, may I also add this? Please try to not think of the shrimps / motorcycles as enemies of the turtles. Millions of people are behind each of these labels, and true for any group of this size, a fraction of its members are bound to be annoying. A small fraction may be awful, even. But they don’t represent the entire group. The shrimps are not only Gg’s fans, many of them have supported him longer than any turtle (since turtle-ship can’t be older than 2018); they’re also the reasons why Gg is in the industry ~ they voted for him in X-Fire. Likewise, a subset of motorcycles have been with Dd since UNIQ; they were there when the Korean ban effectively dissolved his group; they stuck with him when he was attacked for taking on the role of LWJ.

We’re all Gg and Dd’s fans, if you ask people outside the fandom. Remember: few outside China understand why heated arguments can occur between a bunch of shrimps, turtles and motorbikes. (It sounds a bit kafkaesque, just typing it out.)

It’s important not to lose sight too, that Gg and Dd’s social media accounts, where many new candies are found, primarily function as bridges of communication between them and their fans. These accounts do have different degrees of “professionalism” ~ Weibo and the official accounts being more formal, and Oasis, Douyin being more laid back and intimate; still, they all serve similar purposes. They’re not candy generators, or a script Gg and Dd have an obligation to follow to confirm / refute BJYXSZD.

Also: these accounts are accessible and watched by the public, not all of whom are friendly to Gg and Dd.

Re: Gg’s drawing on Oasis. He used the account as it’s intended for—to interact with his fans (the caption of the first draft was an unspoken invitation to shower him with ideas) and maybe, to show off a little (it was a very nice piece of artwork ~ a comment that I, sadly, haven’t seen much of). I doubt he posted his drawing because he wanted fans to carpet-search for traces of Dd in it (even though he probably expected that would happen); I very much doubt he posted his drawing because he wanted his fans to fight over scratch marks or black dots.  

If these fights keep happening, I can imagine a possible outcome. He’ll stop showing us his drawings. His social media accounts will become less and less personal, as they already have.

I’ll share with you my thoughts about candies too, while I’m at it. These are probably not-so-popular opinions, so please take them all with a grain of salt.(Salted caramels? 😊 )

I haven’t looked at why candies are called candies, but I find the name appropriate for how I think of them ~ candies are 1) neither evidences or truth, 2) sweet, 3) treats (non-essential, not like the main course).

The first point is, perhaps, the one I try the hardest to keep in mind. There are posts out there claiming the candies as made-beliefs—generated from edited pictures or videos, exaggerated translations, and their interpretations forced by “guidances” in the annotations/narration. There are also posts claiming that turtles are deceivers, or have been deceived by brainwashers who maliciously created these make-beliefs. A turtle may assume these posts are all lies, all made by antis. 

But, speaking turtle-to-turtle, I’d venture to say this … there’s some truth in the *first* statement. Many candies do, indeed, taste different if their taster returns to the original source—not necessarily unsweet, but less sweet. Candies, remember, are generated by fans like you and I. Same for c-candies ~ they aren’t endorsed by Gg and Dd, aren’t necessarily closer to the truth just because of the relative proximity of their birthplaces to their leads. 

Candy generation is The Tradition of CP fandoms. It’s a celebrated skill, and who doesn’t want to generate a candy that will be talked about, that will be part of the BJYX canon, for as long as the fandom lasts? Some fans are, therefore, also more … efficient in the “marketing” of the candies they generated — in persuading others that their candies are evidences, the truth. “Guidance” photos and videos (which pinpoint the place to watch, sometimes with appropriate sound effects for emphasis) have come about that way, and because they’re easy to digest—especially where language barriers exist—they end up spreading to i-fandoms.

These photos and videos may look more professional / trustworthy, but they often have an additional layer of subjectivity ~ on top of the already subjective opinion of what makes a candy. Translations (of BTS, fake rumours house content etc) also introduce a subjective element. Word choices can significant modify the tone of a conversation; speakers of different Chinese dialects may also have different interpretations of the same phrases. Example: I, as a non Chongqing/Sichuanese speaker, can guess the literal meaning of the “puppy” term Gg used for Dd — 狗崽崽 (gou zai zai) — but I also had to rely on others to tell me how endearing the term is; me being a Chinese speaker actually doesn’t make my interpretation any more valid, or authoritative, in this scenario, because my dialect doesn’t use this term at all. 

It doesn’t mean the people who’ve put in the work have any less-than-good intent; the vast majority of them come from a place of deep love. It’s just that we all carry our own perspectives, and as fans, our strong emotions in our fanworks.

This is why candies are often insufficient as good “points” for arguments, why they fail to convince non-believers, sometimes to the disappointment of some turtles. As evidences, they aren’t objective enough; they’re also often touch upon the assumption that’s mark the fundamental difference between solo and cp fans — the assumption that Gg and Dd are (not) together. Take, for example, this segment from a (polite) ask I got from an anon solo:

All the matching clothes, jewelry, shoes etc. Stopped being valid candy when I realized that the brands have popular stars "endorse" their products. The lightning pendant? Other actors have also worn it. Does that mean they are in a 3-way with (Gg) and (Dd)? Probs not.

Solo anon was correct! Brands have star endorsers, and other entertainers have, indeed, worn the same lightning pendant. The implied argument is also valid: people who don’t care about, don’t even know about each other can wear the same things. Most of us do that on a daily basis with our mass-produced garments.

However, a counterargument can also be made to the statement above, and easily: even the most precious, most beautiful wedding rings (say, from Tiffany!) are not exclusive to the first RL couple who bought them. It doesn’t mean the first RL couple is sleeping with all the couples who bought the same rings afterwards, doesn’t mean those rings aren’t significant to every one of these couples as romantic mementos. More often than not, couples wear matching things not because these things are exclusive to them—because how often can one find things that only exist as a single pair in this world? They wear matching things because they want to see something on themselves that remind them of their significant other and so, as long as the things aren’t so prevalent that everyone is wearing them, they can already serve their purpose.

But you see, Anon, that arguing over this would’ve been a waste of time? Because the solo came in with the assumption that Gg and Dd were not a couple, and the counterargument was made with the assumption that they were. The pendants alone are insufficient to prove either side correct or wrong. No one knows why those pendants ended up on Gg and Dd’s necks, except Gg and Dd and their teams. If I were to argue with anon solo, we can go on and on and on until we’re both left with bitter tastes in our mouths and WWX-red in our eyes, and forget the one thing that really matters: we’re both Gg’s fans.

(We could’ve spent the time talking about how that scene in The Wolf with Ji Chong throwing Zai Xing in the water is ❤️.) (I can’t believe the script waited 30+ episodes to do it. 😂)

This leads to my second point, Anon. Candies are meant to be sweet, and they’re meant to be sweet for you. In Chinese, a term for an expert candy person is a 嗑學家 (the candy-eating in CP fandoms is called 嗑糖 (ketang) ～ with 嗑 ke denoting a specific form of eating that requires breaking something open first with teeth—such as watermelon seeds; a 嗑學家 is a 嗑 (ke)-ologist). A 嗑學家 isn’t someone who can recall the longest list of candies, or spread the most candies around, or convince the most people that the CP behind the candies is real; they are those who can find their own candies in a source material, and be overjoyed by the sweetness of their discoveries without outside help. To me, at least, this term encapsulates the subjective nature of candies ~ what’s right for you may not be right for me and vice versa, and that’s perfectly all right. In other words, there are many candies out there but you’re not required to believe in all of them; instead, you’re free to choose candies to your own liking, compose your own version of the BJYX canon that you love, that you find sweet.

Wait, but you may say. Doesn’t that make my canon fantasy? Yes and no, because candies are based on real events. They’re interpretations, which sit somewhere between reality and fantasy. They’re like … opinion shows on news channels.

But what if I need to convince people of my canon —

Your “opposition”’s canon is as fantastical, and as real as yours — maybe it isn’t, but neither of you have a way to prove it one way or another.

Wouldn’t solos call me delulu, or clowns?

Maybe. But one step outside the fandom, and all of us fans—solo and cpfs—are delulu, clowns.

(That’s why while I’ve used the cpn label, I haven’t called myself delulu, or a clown. Anyone who thinks I have the truth about the love story about a pair of idol I haven’t met from thousands of miles away … the joke’s probably on them, don’t you think?)

Of course and again, Anon, this is only my take! I like candies precisely because I like to watch the real-time generation of candies, which ones different people claim as their own, which candies fall away and which stick around in the fandom over time. As a fic writer, this ship has gifted me with a treasure trove of information ~ what do people think of as romantic gestures, as give-away signs of love? The fun/amazing part of BJYX is that candies are available for so many different answers to these questions. Some people think of longing gazes and sweet smiles; some think of touches that can’t be helped (the many, many, many “fights”); some think of service (buying foods, designing clothes); some think of caring about the other’s well-being (throat candies and dumplings + noodles + crackers); some think of being The Other’s One and Only Exception (Dd being so talkative around Gg, Gg being so … fussy around Dd); some think of expressions through the arts (songs, drawings, dances); some think of grand gestures (the wave heart in the ocean); some think of matching clothes and symbolic accessories (rings); some think of birthdays and anniversaries (314, 622, the first snow); some think of sharing life’s hassles and small tidbits (fake rumour house); some think of … just looking VERY good together. Etc etc.

Some think of a subset of these, some think of all of these…

(Personally, I’m a very picky candy eater. I know about many of them, but only a small fraction impresses on me.)

(Still, I love watching candies. I love watching the joy of people sweetened by them ~ or, when c-turtles exclaim kswl! — the short form of ke si wo le! 嗑死我了! I “ke”ed so much I’m dying!)

This gets to 3), Anon, and I apologise to you too, for answering your not-essay-at-all with an essay! Candies are, to me, treats, and I don’t expect them to come at any frequencies higher than treats do. The reason isn’t because I don’t like candies ~ I enjoy watching them, as I said, even if I don’t eat many of them; the reason is because I don’t expect anyone’s romantic love to leave a trace in everything they do. For example, if I truly find myself in a SZD/SJD discussion re: Gg’s drawing, I’d say the lack of Dd in Gg’s self-portrait doesn’t really mean much. Even if Gg and Dd were head-over-heels in love with one another, Gg doesn’t have to put Dd in everything he touches. Likewise, Dd doesn’t have to present a consistent, or decipherable story with his kadians. This is true for the real-life couples around us too, isn’t it? They don’t perform every single act in life leaving a noticeable trace of their significant other. And the misunderstanding that couples do that — that their romantic lives take over who they are as individuals — IMO, partially explains why people who choose to not to date or marry, people who’re aro-aces, often have a difficult time convincing others that they’re complete humans. Romantic love is, of course, very, very important and can be life altering, but it also isn’t everything about a person ~ especially not if a person who has a career as exciting as Gg’s and Dd’s. Gg and Dd who also have friends, family, (many) talents and interests …

(And lots of ugly icons on their cell phones. Yes, I’m talking about you, Gg. That long-armed Pepe from your 2018 snowless Beijing post will give me nightmares…)

#pie metas #pie answers #yizhan #BJYX