#good discussion

[klcthebookworm]

I just found this take from Cinema Therapy. And I've been away from Tumblr for over a month so have no idea if anyone else has seen it.

[gunlord500]

Kinda random, but reposting my Twitter thread about how despite their loudly proclaimed superiority, conservatives haven't made as much of a splash in culture and the arts as they say they should. Check out an except from this essay a righty wrote on his blog, concerning the literary influences of the old Dungeons and Dragons games:

I was reading this essay by a righty extolling, as they usually do, the virtues of Old Books, especially those written before everything went "woke," in this case being the guys who inspired Gygax in making AD&D-Vance, Howard (conan), etc. (2/14)

This isn't uncommon on the right, obviously, but what really interests me is his attitude to the Old Books, which reflects something often seen on the right, and which, in my view, is a reason they tend to undermine themselves in the arts. (3/14)

Look at how he talks about classic 80s D&D authors who nevertheless weren't the 60s-70s inspiration for the game themselves: Weis and Hickman were just imitations of the "Platonic Form" of Vance. (4/14)

It's very common theme in right-wing thought: That there was some Golden Age in the past, or in this case some Ideal, and everything since then/farther than that is just a decline and the best we can hope for is just imitation (5/14)

Now, right-wingers like this guy always make a show about how they're making fiction/art that Sticks It to the Libs by consciously imitating the Glory Days of the 80s, or even before that, the mid-century pulps, before Woke. (6/14)

Here's the thing, though: Their very worldview gives their prospective customers a perfect reason not to actually buy anything they make, for the reasons laid out, or at least alluded to, in the guy's post I screenshotted. (7/14).

The old greats--Howard, Vance, etc.--were closer to the Great Story than we are? And even non-woke masters like the Dragonlance authors were just shadows of Vance? So why should we believe you, o rightwing author, are any closer to greatness? (8/14)

Yeah, you don't know what you're missing out on if you've only had reheated dinners. But the right-wing artist, by his own admission, isn't providing anything but a reheated dinner-the real good meals were and are the original Vance, Howard, etc. (9/14)

So in that case...why should I ever buy anything from this guy, or Vox Day, or Castalia house, or any of the rest of them? I can get the original Good Old Books, rather than just imitations, much cheaper (and in many cases free) (10/14)

"Woke" authors nowadays, on the other hand...you can say they're unskilled, you can say they're completely callow in their lack of knowledge and appreciation of the past, you can say they're nothing compared to the greats, but...(11/14)

You have to admit they're much better at marketing than their adversaries, the 'traditional' righties. They can at least make the case they're making something new, even if it sucks or even if it actually is just a crappy imitation (12/14),

And thus, the people listening to them will be motivated to actually go out and buy their work, whereas a conservative writer's fans will just go back to the Good Stuff of Vance and Howard rather than shell out for an imitator. (13/14)

You do not have to be a genius to figure out that the lefty's approach will lead to more sales and thus more reach in the culture over the long term. 14/14 (END)

[onesheeptwosheepandachicken]

Honestly, it's JUST the RWBY rewrites that are like that.

I watched an hour long rewrite of KH3 that basically just spread out all the character development over the entire game instead of just at the start and end.

Miraculous Ladybug fix fics and rewrites vary in quality, but the same basic idea remains.

There's a reason I think a RWBY rewrite made by someone who actually LIKES the show could be good, because the first Volume...

Isn't.

That’s...a controversial statement.

But!

I do understand where you are coming from.

Btw...WHAT IS the plot of Kingdom Hearts?

[red-lads]

Yaknow I’ve been thinking about the Sirin and HoS parallels for days, I would be really excited it that’s. brought up. Because like— if you consider K-423 to be an amnesiac Sirin she did exactly what Dark Fu is trying to do!

Sirin landed in a new empty body and “became” Kiana, the child she dreamed to be during the 2nd Eruption, no thanks to Siegfried’s A+ parenting (I like him but good job being unable to accept you have obtained A Different Individual Who Is Your Daughter and fucking things up for her by conflating her with OG Kiana... I dont rly blame him, he was in a tough place, but he fucked up.)

And Dark Fu is trying to become Fu Hua, for the same reason even— she wants love and validation, it’s stated black on white in the QnA. She’s doing this for lack of identity of her own. Would K-423 have been happy as Sirin Kaslana? Well... yeah. She didn’t care what the name was, only that she got one and that her father loved her, but that’s the cards she was handed. Her dad only managed to love her when she became Kiana Kaslana enough.

Of course K-423 did NOT know about Kiana. She had no idea she was replacing someone. It’s not her fault, it’s the fault of the adults around her at the time... but it’s still what she’s been doing.

Here Dark Fu tried the same thing. She originally doesn’t know she’s replacing Fu Hua; she has good reason to believe she’s the original, everyone treats her as such, the Will of the Honkai itself is implied to be tricking her, etc. The difference is that she is soon directly confronted about the lie.

It’s kinda like if the OG Kiana showed up and told K-423 “You stole my name and my life, I’m the original.”

And then Dark Fu lets K-423 choose. Who’s the real one? The “original”, or the one who is physically playing the role? (She be seeking validation and love from a “friend” but Tuna has had enough. Oof.)

The game is very clear in this case that Dark Fu taking Fu Hua’s identity is wrong. K-423 herself explains to her that she’s not the Fu Hua she knows, and no matter how much better she might or might not be, what’s important is it’s not her, so she can never replace her.

I want her to eat those words later. Because that’s exactly what’s she’s been doing, only for much longer. (Though to be fair, her existence does not directly threaten Kiana’s like Dark Fu’s does, since they have separate bodies. Otto this would be a good time to grow another clone.)

There’s been a lot of themes of dual personalities in hi3 so far, but most of these are the same person with a fission, so the solution is to bring them together... what do you do when you have two distinct people trying to fit the same box instead? Dark Fu already tried fusing with Fu Hua; she can’t do it. This time, integration may not be the answer...

I don’t know how they’re going to handle this situation but I sincerely hope nobody dies ;w;

Hmm I agree very much with the parallel. between dark fu (I call her 8th) and K423.

Tho personally I think K423 as a half of Sirin soul from 2e. So when Sirin make her wish, her soul got separated where half of it wake up and become K423 and other half (that is filled with hatred and vengeance) slumber deep inside. K423 experience such a different live that her soul shapen into its own kind, but still have similarities to HoV soul. So they are kinda like 2 sides of the same coin

And the problem of why Siegfried give K423 Kiana name. I think that Sieg (perhaps unconsciously) want K423 to be his og daughter. Firstly because He is not in the best mental state and second because he thinks he will never have his og daughter back (so why not just give this child I got, my og daughter name right).

I have also discussed this to my friends and their personal opinions is that A) Sieg thinks that K423 deserve her "birth name" and that his og daughter is death B) "I'd say it's a combination of factor between he being shitty father, always drunk, and perhaps that he's bad at naming thing." -quotes taken directly from them.

Also at the time of naming Sieg only knows that K423 is his daughter clone physically, he doesn't know that otto mix and match K423 DNA. So even if he give diff name, it won't be Sirin.

The part where you say " I want her to eat those words later because that's exactly what she's been doing " Can you elaborate? I don't understand who you mean and why

[majimemegoro]

re: okudera, japan has a bigger diversity in looks than the west likes to make it out to be. japanese people have a wide range of noses, some even being coded as "white" by outside, potentially coming from the mix of the ainu ethnic group from the hokkaido region. while they are obviously video game characters, i don't think it is meant to represent white features, but just a reflection of the diversity in japan. just like other parts of asia, it is not homogeneous.

yeah i mean this is also definitely true. whether or not western features are seen as desirable, the yakuza series isnt final fantasy and we should expect that characters would look plausibly japanese to a japanese audience (unless its a specific plot point, of course).

it's a fine line to balance a) a recognition of how eurocentric beauty standards affect (the depiction of) people who arent white or european, and b) the necessity of not accidentally flattening nonwhite groups to homogenous and/or overly exaggerated racial stereotypes.

[youmakemefeelblu]

He don't care for me

But he cares for me

And that's good enough.

We don't talk much or nothin'

But when we talkin' about somethin'

We have good discussion

[heatedrivalryy]

so,,,let’s discuss julian blackthorn