The way adult fandom people hold indie online creators and cartoons to a much higher standard than their actual local politicians. You could be putting that energy into terrorizing and protesting conservatives at your town hall and actually make a good material impact on the world but instead you're background checking everything the trans woman who made the amazing digital circus has ever said
The point isn't "stop criticizing indie artists" or "defend your favorite show under this post". I don't even watch Digital Circus and no one is above criticism. Literally every indie show is getting torn to shreds on twitter right now and I'm not saying this to defend anyone I don't know. The point is "someone who actually has the power to kill us all and get away with it deserves way more ire and accountability than a cartoonist and I expect grown adults to understand this"
the Relationship Ambiguity Zone™️ is a beautiful place to be. safe place to put your characters. put all characters into Relationship Ambiguity Zone. is that guy your mentor or your dad? Ambiguous!!! are you friends or enemies? Ambiguous!!! is it romantic? is it platonic? is it sexual? Ambiguous!!!!!!! never categorize anything ever in the Relationship Ambiguity Zone. just make them fucking weird about each other.
A YA romantasy writer filed suit against another writer for copyright infringement, and as is always the case with these things, she padded her claims with delusionally spurious examples. The judge issued a 160-page ruling against the plaintiff where you can tell from the start how resentful they (or whatever clerk actually did the work) are to have been forced by duty to have read the works in question.
Foreigners will never understand how someone like Rawhide Kobayashi would immediately become a beloved local fixture in whatever small American town he ended up in.
every single time someone pulls the "How would you AMERICANS like it if someone came to AMERICA and" reversal, the answer is always "we'd fucking love it"
I just Googled the Swedish-Japanese guy in the OP, and according to this interview, his Japanese name was given to him by the master gardener he was apprenticed under:
“The family name ‘Murasame’ was given to me by my master. The given name ‘Tatsumasa’ is a combination of ‘dragon’ (tatsu), the [zodiac] year when I was born, and one character from my master’s name,” says Murasame."
So I think maybe it's less like naming yourself 'Brandon McFreedom' and more like moving to the states to work under a veteran car mechanic named Bud McLean, and then having him turn to you after a few years on the job, and say "Son, it's time for you to become an American so you can open up your shop. And when that day comes, I think the world should know you by a new name: McLeo GM Corvette."
Yeah sure Tumblr is a hellsite but I know someone who wrote a fanfic in the 1990s that someone else didn’t like, so when she was selling printed copies of the zine with the story in it out of her hotel room at a convention, this other woman STOOD IN FRONT OF HER DOOR TO REFUSE PEOPLE ACCESS. Because the story featured a ship she disliked. And I feel like somehow, 10,000 Tumblrs still can’t compare to that level of Extra.
I’ve actually heard about this event [or a similar event, which I can believe] from someone who was trying to get into the room to either buy the zine, or visit with the writer, or just see what was going on [idr]. Apparently it was quite the talk of the bar that night, and resulted in several heated [re: drunken] debates over whether Door Stander was violating Writer’s free speech, or if removing Door Stander would have violated Door Stander’s free speech.
Me, at the time, a 19yo with very little understanding of the law: “I mean…was it?”
Fandom Friend, who was a 40-something lawyer: “I’ll tell you the same thing I told everyone in that bar. No one was violating anyone’s free speech. Bitch was just being rude, and worse, obnoxious about it. You ever act like that in public, be aware you’re not changing anyone’s opinion. You’re just giving them a brand new opinion about you.”
It was a very formative conversation in my young adulthood.
Same person also told me to never mix coke and acid. Which was also pretty solid advice.
trying to bed a knight like: *unbuttons your jupon* *unbuckles your cuirass* *unbuckles your gorget* *takes off your hauberk* *stops to catch my breath* *unbuttons your gambeson* *takes off your shirt*
#the reason that lab safety regulations are the way they are is because literally all chemists are like this #as in 100% of them #no exceptions (via @prokopetz)
His eyes were open as he realized that it had been a dream. Right after the relief sank in, Dist noticed that tears were falling down his face.
I suppose I had that dream again…
Dist wiped his tears and got out of bed.
He’d dreamt about running after Jade more times than he could count, but when he woke up crying, it was always after this particular dream. The dream of when Jade looked colder than Dist had ever seen him, and said the words of parting.
When Dist had still been a member of [the Malkuth army], Jade always said “then I’ll take my leave” or “farewell” when they parted ways at the end of the day. When they were younger, Jade would often ignore him, at best saying “later” when Dist wholeheartedly called after him; due to this, Dist had been happy that they were getting closer in Malkuth. But on that day - - with a face colder than Dist had ever seen before, Jade said “goodbye”.
Dist immediately sensed that Jade had abandoned him.
Back when he was still going by the name of Saphir, he had viewed Jade as practically like a god. Even though they were both the same age, Jade demonstrated excellence in anything he set his mind to, so Saphir naturally idolized him and was always working hard to be like him. So of course when Saphir heard that Jade was enrolling in the Malkuth Army Officer Academy*, he didn’t hesitate to follow him there.
After they graduated, Saphir was ordered to join Jade in his research. That was of course formicry – the technique of making replicas. It would be no exaggeration to say that completing this research was the reason Jade and Saphir had enlisted in this army.
After all of this--
“You can’t mean that after all of this! You’re stopping the experiments now?”
“Yes. Formicry will be forbidden. Even these experiments will not bring Nebilim back. I should have been aware of this; I just did not admit it. Now I know we have been worthless all this time.”
Jade’s face and voice were dispassionate, as always; his icy tone was the same he would use describing what eggs he had decided to have for breakfast.
“It’s not worthless! Professor Nebilim will come back to life! I know you can do it, Jade. And I’ll be here to help you!”
Saphir got frantic as he tried to hold back Jade. If he left, everything would fall apart.
“I have no reservations about stopping. This decision is final.”
Saphir felt like the ground was falling away beneath his feet.
For a long time, he had been thinking something was wrong. Whenever Jade read a letter from Peony, or returned to his hometown on some occasion, including the times he met Peony in person there, Jade would take on a pensive expression without fail, get lost in thought, and neglect his research. Now that Saphir thought about it, he could see the common link was Peony, that aggravating son of the emperor who flaunted his status as another childhood friend. He must have been convincing Jade to give up formicry.
“...I get it. Peony told you to stop, huh.”
“I have decided this of my own free will.”
“No! The Jade I know wouldn’t say this!”
“What exactly do you think that you know about me?”
“Ngh...”
“I have no intention of living without responsibility for my own actions. Professor Nebilim was killed by me.”
They’d been keeping this secret since they were children, and Jade said it out loud without a hint of unease.
This was Jade demonstrating his rejection of fomicry. I have to stop him, Saphir thought. Jade wasn’t acting normally. Ever since losing Nebilim in his childhood, Jade had changed. Saphir couldn’t say what it was, but something wasn’t right. That was what had made Saphir think that they needed to revive Nebilim. Saphir did love Nephilim as well; and he thought that if Nebilim came back to life, Jade would go back to the way he was before.
“...don’t do this, Jade.”
“And all because I refused to acknowledge that mistake, I immersed myself in research to revive the dead.
Jade continued to speak without paying any heed to Saphir’s words.
“Stop it…”
“However, I have concluded that the research was worthless. The dead cannot come back to life. A reality that was always completely apparent. That is why—”
“No! Stop!”
For the first time in his life, Saphir opposed Jade. He grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Jade, even though he’d been slammed against the wall fairly hard, did not so much as blink, and he gathered his words.
“I have decided of my own will to forbid fomicry.”
In that instant, Saphir felt the energy drain out of his hands.
Everything was breaking down. Slipping away from him. After he had finally gotten truly close to Jade, Saphir knew that a chasm had instantly appeared between them.
No, Saphir might have just been fooling himself about them getting closer.
“I won't accept this... I'll continue the experiments, even if I have to do it alone.”
“I will make you stop.”
“No!! Ever since Professor Nebilim died, you've changed! You no longer truly smile, or truly get angry, or say what you truly feel! If the professor comes back to life, you will return to how you were!!”
“...Saphir, I will not return to how I was. People change. That's all there is to it.”
“You’re wrong, Jade! You don’t know it, but you’re suffering. I can help you, Jade! Because I’m your closest friend!”
“What is this ‘close friend’ of whom you speak?”
“In any case! I won't acknowledge it!!”
“No matter what?”
“No matter what!”
In that moment, Jade abandoned Saphir.
Dist stretched his neck to push away the memory from his dream.
Jade in the present was not the Jade that Dist had admired.
And Dist in the present was not simply chasing Jade from behind – that had been Saphir.
(The fomicry will be completed very soon. That will surely make Jade see the error of his ways.)
When Jade returned to his old self, he would take back that word “goodbye”. That would make everything the way it was in their memories of happier years past. Jade, and Jade’s sister Nephry, and their beloved mentor Nebilim, and Saphir.
(And I shall let Peony be there too. I’m magnanimous like that.)
To make that dream a reality, Dist set out to begin another day.
-
Note: The manga "Tsuioku no Jade" depicts an abridged version of the same scene, claiming it's a deleted scene from the game. Comparing the two versions, with the bolded sections what was not in the manga:
“…Saphir, I will not return to how I was. People change. That's all there is to it.”
* “You’re wrong, Jade! You don’t know it, but you’re suffering. I can help you, Jade! Because I’m your closest friend!”
* “What is this ‘close friend’ of whom you speak?”
“In any case! I won't acknowledge it!!”
Regarding "close friend", the word is shin'yuu. Although this can describe a tier of friend, it can also be used in a singular context pretty obviously "my best friend", so I think Saphir wanting it to mean "your best friend" in this moment made sense for his character.
"In any case", a reply to the dismissal of Saphir's status as his close friend, is really funny.
Incredibly violent take of mine but I actually don’t think you need to relate to a story in any way to enjoy it. You can enjoy a story even if you can’t point at a character and insert some aspect of your personality or identity into them. In fact I would argue the need for a character like that to be present in every single story you experience is a sign of stunted growth.
