#I literally put a note in the post WITH A LINK

[spirithunter]

Fan-translation Plagiarism for DM Vol.1

I've noticed similarities between a Death Mark manga translation that is currently being worked on by @lamentations-lighthouse (aris on Discord) and a translation done by @kasmis, posted on Tumblr in 2022.

Enough similarities that I suspect kasmis' existing translation has been lifted directly in parts of their translation. I spoke with kasmis about it and she’s aware of the situation and shared some more info from her side.

You can view kasmis' original translation here. On the first page, you can see the disclaimer about working with an existing scanlation group with plans to publicly list the final version on an ad-free manga sharing site (added once she was made aware of the situation). I won’t go over all similarities, but this second translation in question is available on a public Discord and can be compared there. I wanted to point out three instances that I think are particularly noticeable, but I encourage anyone who is curious to look for themselves.

Pictures & Evidence under the cut.

1st comparison: translation notes

The translation notes shared between the two versions regarding the way characters speak is similar both in content and flow. They also both come at the end of Chapter 2.

kasmis' translation:

other translation:

I think this is also worth mentioning considering a comment made by lamentations-lighthouse in their Discord where they make a very blatant error determining who is speaking during a panel in a Vol 2 extra, when they spent an entire translator’s note going over how the characters talk. They incorrectly assume Banshee is the speaker, when it’s obvious with a working knowledge of Japanese that the speaker is female and likely Yasuoka, the only woman in the panel (again, aris is lamentations-lighthouse, Kiu is the current editor who is not on Tumblr):

2nd comparison: "guess we're in the same boat"

One of the lines from Chapter 2 is lifted directly from kasmis' translation. This isn't a matter of translating the same material and coming to a similar conclusion, as the original Japanese line is completely different.

In the bottom left corner, Mashita uses the expression "腹をくくる" when talking about the Mark. His line (very) literally translated would be something like "Looks like I should prepare for the worst, too"

kasmis has gone on record with me saying she took some creative liberty when translating this bubble, using it as a callback to a line of his from the actual game (the scene from the car ride back to the mansion where they're having this same conversation). Additionally, she was very clear in stating this change was purposefully made to act as an indicator of if someone was using her translation without her permission, as a translation not referencing hers would likely translate it differently. In her words: it’s a phrase that doesn’t get spit out neatly when put through machine translation, but also is easily understandable to anyone using a dictionary for reference. The term for “being in the same boat” as someone is entirely different (一連托生) and is not a logical conclusion when going solely based off the text. Here is a link to the site in the second screenshot showing an explanation of this phrase by native Japanese speakers offering English advice. The phrase has the same translation when entered into a Japanese dictionary as well.

kasmis initially didn't translate the line such a way either. Here is a comparison from her first draft (which was copy-pasted from her individual chapter translations she did back in early 2021) and the eventual change later that same year. The part in question is underlined:

Here's the comparison between the most recent version of her translation and the other translation:

Even if this group were employing a similar strategy, the chances of the "indicator" line being exactly the same is hard to believe.

3rd comparison: XX/XX/199X

This observation is somewhat minor, but the date format used throughout Chapter 2 is the exact same one used by kasmis in her translation, just with the order switched around. In the raws, the dates are written as "O (Month) X (Day)," aka censored placeholders for month and day, with no mention of the year. kasmis stated she decided to use the 199X/XX/XX format to better relay some of the info from the game (the year 199X being mentioned in the diary seen after the final confrontation). While this team may be doing the same, it's odd how it's exactly the same.

Raws for comparison:

kasmis' translation:

other translation:

Public Bashing of kasmis and Proof of Knowledge of Her Translation

kasmis was contacted by @buffaloborgine about using her translation in their project, but she stated she was working with a separate group and that she did not give them permission to use any of her translation in their own project. This user is currently working on a translation of Volume 2 of the manga. For transparency, in the 3 day gap between messages seen below, buffaloborgine joined lamentations-lighthouse and Kiu’s group, so the relationship was not established initially. buffaloborgine did not disclose however they were collaborating/in contact with lamentations-lighthouse, when in fact both are now moderators in the discord where the new translation is being uploaded. kasmis followed up with buffaloborgine once she was made aware of this connection. Below are her initial answer to the offer (note dates) and the follow-up messages (screenshots taken on 4/24):

buffaloborgine discussed their conversation in the Discord server (screenshots taken on 4/24):

They later followed up complaining about kasmis’ reply publicly in the Discord while omitting similar relevant details (screenshots taken on 4/24):

Again, note that kasmis’ reply was only 3 days after this initial explanation, not 1-2 weeks as they originally stated. Though this gap doesn't really need an explanation in my opinion, kasmis agreed to allow me to share that she was in fact in preparation for a medical procedure and was not available to answer messages at the time. She sent her follow up message regarding lamentations-lighthouse's translation because I informed her of buffaloborgine's presence in the Discord server.

The messages from buffaloborgine to kasmis also appear to show the team had direct knowledge of her existing translation, as the editor in question is Kiu. At no point did any individual besides buffaloborgine reach out to her about potentially collaborating or using her translation in any way. aris/lamentations-lighthouse claimed to have no knowledge of the translation and similarly shamed kasmis in their public (reiterating this fact) Discord, where all of these messages are available to anyone who joins (screenshot taken on 4/24):

For this reason kasmis decided not to reach out to lamentations-lighthouse directly as they already publicly denied knowing anything about her translation.

I think it’s also worth pointing out, since the SH Reddit has been mentioned, that kasmis shared her translation there as well last year. The comment can be found here. As a relatively inactive subreddit, this post and her comment are not hard to find.

If anyone mentioned in this post wants to go on record in response, something as simple as posting the version history from their working draft (as seen in kasmis’ Google Docs screenshots, for example) to show that they aren't simply modifying her existing translation could help clear up any confusion. lamentations-lighthouse stated in the Discord that they use Google Docs to communicate with their editor, so showing their process should be fairly simple (screenshot taken on 4/23):

Disclaimer: kasmis and I are friends and she provided input and helped write parts of this post. This post is not meant to be an outright accusation, nor is it implying that lamentations-lighthouse’s translation is a one-to-one copy of kasmis’. I wanted to draw attention to the similarities between the two translations, kasmis’ experience, and the available information we have. All screenshots and images shared here are unedited besides cropping, redacting the information from third parties, and marking relevant points. Time stamps marked as “today” have the associated date attached to them in the description. The relevant Discord server is publicly available at the time of posting and all conversations screenshotted are available in public channels.

#death mark #spirit hunter death mark #death mark 2 #shibito magire #kazuo yashiki #satoru mashita #spirit hunter series #shiin #death mark manga #hanahiko death mark

[currentlylivingonaprayer]

my favorite sherliam fanfics

In no particular order

doing one of these again, even though literally nobody is asking for them

~~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47340676

Garden Of Blood by Kiarrionss and luvviexq

A sherliam hanahaki disease fic, but it's somehow much more painful

Hello Police, Yes, this story right here. *aggressively points at phone* It made me laugh and blush and cry and rethink what love really was and realize that I will never be loved like this in my life. Amazing work. I absolutely loved it. One of my absolute favorites.

~~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32692183

floriography by jellyfen

Liam becomes the new target of a serial killer. Sherlock is there to help him find out who the killer is.

What would this list be without this story. Ive read it at least 4 times. It's number one on ao3 for a reason.

~~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/41868567

mosaic broken hearts (we learn to live with the pain) by iridescentsung

sherliam may or may not have accidentally adopted a child after they started to live in America and finally sorted everything out between them.

Really, really beautiful and I only recommend it.

~~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31359539

Laws of Gravity by @glanceart

They survive the fall, battered and on the run. They find themselves at the mercy of a noble whose motives are misled.

I absolutely adore this story. The way both of them are struggling to live on after everything and learning how to deal with the difficulties of living a simple life. It ends on a good note.

~~

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35645362

Hangman's Dilemma by Averylostcause, Cutie_Pi3

Sherlock catches Liam and puts him behind bars, only to realize how much he hates this and teams up with the Moriarty gang to get him out again. Louis tries to stab him multiple times, for realizing it so late.

I just finished this. It's sooooo sweet. Alternativ titel: sherlock just straight up not having a good time for 48k.

~~

I know, there's still so many more and I will add to this list as it continues, but this is it for now.

I don't know why, but somehow all sherliam fanfic seem to make me rethink what love is. Also, it's not a good sherliam fic, if you don't have a case to solve.

As always: if you know any of these authors here on tumblr, please tell me, so I can link them to this post. Please check out their stories and show them the love they deserve.

Also, if you have and sherliam stories you enjoyed, PLEASE TELL ME.

#yuukoku no moriarty #moriarty the patriot #william james moriarty #mtp william #mtp sherlock #sherlock holmes #sherliam #Sherliam fanfics #ao3 #fanfiction #fanfic #fanfic rec

[atthebell-moved]

hi, i completely agree that the fandom has a problem with misogyny and often fails at self-introspection. my question is, do you have any resources/tips/thoughts on how to be better about it? even, how to recognize it in yourself the first place? "ok i'll stop being a misogynist now" is a lot easier said than done, especially for people who might not be that educated on the subject, and majority of the people in this fandom are quite young as well.

this is long as fuck and possibly somewhat incoherent bc it took so long to write but i did my best

my biggest tip for people who don't know much about misogyny is to look at your own behavior and learn how to clock what you're doing as sexist.

are you criticizing a female creator? think about why you're doing it, what the actual beef you have with them is. if it seems to be just a sense of discomfort or thinking they're annoying or overly loud or pushy, think about male ccs who act the same way and why you dont consider them annoying. are you annoyed with them for being on a male cc's stream? why? does it feel like theyre taking up too much attention? do you get annoyed with them for talking too much or flirting with guys? for gaming especially-- do you get annoyed with them for not knowing something or being "bad" at a game? think about why that is and why its just funny when a male cc is bad at games or doesnt know something.

a HUGE problem i see in this fandom is the Madonna-whore complex, repackaged as the little sister-racist dichotomy (kudos to @yourlittlemenace for that phrasing).

if a female cc is deemed to be "playing nice" (doesnt talk too much, is "nice", streams with male ccs but doesnt flirt with them, isn't "overtly sexual"), she's the little sister of the group. all the male ccs "protect" her, she literally folds their laundry, she doesnt call out how people treat her, and the fandom pretends that this is a normal and cool way to treat women who are public figures. this also goes for mom/big sister/etc. if you think you haven't done this, think about all the aus where you've forced puffy into some kind of maternal or sisterly role when it made no sense. then think about how pissed people got when she decided not to be the server therapist and was "mean" to Tommy (in lore, with permission. that she didnt even need to get. see that clip i rbed earlier from her podcast.)

if the fandom decides she doesnt play nice, if she flirts with male ccs too much or stands up for herself or points out how unfair it is that she's being treated this way, she gets demeaned, harassed, and shunned by the fandom. consider, again, puffy. consider how niki flirted with wilbur and talked about misogyny and got called a racist for *checks notes* "speaking to schlatt and fundy" and "not being a native english speaker". she got called a slut and a queerbaiter for kissing another woman despite being bisexual.

consider how hard people went down on hannah for having said the r slur several years back versus how hard they went on dream for the same thing. and how people dug it up as a direct response to her being on stream with dream. consider how every time hannah talks about how unfair it is that the mcc subreddit treats her like trash, she has to delete all her tweets bc they harass her to hell and back and act like she's an asshole for pointing out their hypocrisy.

the fandom doesnt do this across the board; i shouldnt have to say this, but its not an everyone versus no one issue. some people do this outright and loud, some dont seem to realize theyre doing it, and a few people dont do it at all (incredibly rare, i can count on one hand the number of people who genuinely seem to try to avoid these issues, which is why im complaining).

in terms of lore, have you ever once done analysis on a female character? why do you think you haven't? the bechdel-wallace test is an (imperfect) way of gauging how a piece of media ignores women and prioritizes men. think about the fact that there are FOUR female ccs on the DSMP and they are continually ignored in favor of male characters. consider that puffy and aimsey both talked about trying to do genuine lore and getting shafted, either because no one was online and wouldn't put in the effort to stream with them or because they received insane amounts of criticism for breaking anything on the server, despite the clear lack of "no griefing" rules and the precedent that you can blow other people's shit up (tommy leveling one of puffy's builds, amongst many other examples).

a quick thing about ships: have you ever wondered why m/m ships are so popular? the general consensus amongst people who care about feminism and are into fandom studies is that for a long period of time, m/m was hugely popular because women are so rarely written as full and complete characters in any media. so people took to engaging with m/m ships and writing about them because they were the most fulfilling relationships, and because misogyny led them to be predisposed to be uninterested in female characters.

say an m/m ship is incredibly popular, something like, i dunno, john watson and sherlock holmes from bbc sherlock. lets also say the canonical media presents one or both of the characters with a female love interest. how do you think a fandom that prioritizes m/m ships and is primed to be disinterested in women as characters (either because of our society's role in teaching people that women do not matter or because of fandom's history in assuming female characters are not fleshed out) is going to react? if you said theyre going to send undue amounts of criticism her way and act like its an act of homophobia to give a canonically straight character a female love interest, congrats, you've figured out a huge component in fandom misogyny. take this, amplify it over several decades, and add the psychic damage that supernatural gave society. queerbaiting is bad but mistreating female characters in service of nonexistent queer relationships is also bad.

this is relevant in general but i also believe its relevant for the dsmp because of the complete lack of m/f ships. aside from phil and kristin, who are literally married irl and kristin isn't even on the server, there are no m/f ships that involve female creators. this is not, despite what you may think, due to the inherently yaoi nature of minecraft roleplay. this is because the creators, including the male ones, are afraid of the blowback of m/f flirting and how fucking awful people are to female ccs anytime it happens. once again look at niki. as another example, consider how notfounders harassed the living daylights out of mxmtoon for flirting with gnf on twitter. if i was a cc i would avoid it like the plague too considering how happy people are to dig shit up about them or accuse them of being a slut or an attention whore/"pick me girl" for speaking to a man.

one last thing, this is more about fanart than anything else but stop drawing women to look like teenage boys. the amount of fanart i see where i literally cannot tell if someone has drawn niki or tommy is fucking insane. niki has curves. draw her with them. if you cannot draw women or people outside a very specific body type you cannot draw. fatphobia and misogyny have a clear overlap.

i cant think of anything else and ive already spent forever on this. look into feminist media analysis. think twice about how you react to female ccs & female characters. consider not just what characters have interesting stories but who is allowed to have interesting stories. you might be neglecting someone who has a lot going on because you're dismissing a female character as inherently less likely to be interesting. you might not even know someone has an interesting story because the fandom neglects it so completely.

as a final little note: like i said earlier, if you're not familiar with gender & sexuality studies, you may not know this, but homophobia and transphobia are rooted in misogyny. the idea that gender is immutable and rigid is because of the patriarchy. this is why gendered slurs are used against queer people and why queer men in particular get accused of and demeaned for being feminine. your understanding of queerphobia is incomplete without considering how sexism plays a role.

also go read everything rayne fisher-quann has ever written but especially this piece on getting woman'd and listen to you're wrong about

#asks #anons #misogyny in fandom #i cant think of a ton of specific links to provide because my understanding of feminism is like. so entrenched #like ive been doing it basically since i got on the internet #and i also studied it in university so i dont want to send like. meaty academic texts necessarily #ill look and see if i can find any other helpful sources though and feel free to add on #also i want to note on that last bit that every time ive talked about this ive mentioned that this fandom runs quite young #and i acknowledge that i literally studied this for like six years #so i have a leg up. but it does feel genuinely like people are putting on blinders to avoid talking about it #which is why it feels like its bc feminism is cringe right now or something #this is. not well written but im honestly so sleepy i stayed up til 3 working on orders ahhhhh #banger posts

[brittlebutch]

Watching a video essay presented by an autistic woman and experiencing raw allurement in the way she lounges casually around her house; like seeing body positions, hand gestures, and other 'oddities' (at one point she sits holding a large bottle of laundry detergent balanced in her hand in a way that resonates so intensely i audibly screech) that not only cause intense "Self Recognition Through the Other" feelings in a very validating way but also untold amounts of "You're reminding me SO much of the friends I used to have as a kid"-esque attraction that i keep forgetting to pay attention to the actual crux of her essay because all i can think is "g-d i need to start meeting irl autistic people again"

#N posts stuff #i was bullied on and off as a child but largely did not care bc a Lot of the friends i managed to make at a variety of my schools #were other girls who were Unquestionably autistic even if no one acknowledged it; none of whom i stayed in contact with bc #i moved so often (bummer) #anyway i spent all week trapped in corporate office hell and her body language is like a literal breath of fresh air #this essay is going to turn into one of those videos i watch on repeat for inexplicable reasons an incomprehensible number of times #i put the link in the notes; it is a really good essay about like #the intersection of the autistic and the nonhuman #don't get so thrown by the title that you don't watch it its really good lol #not just for the clips where she holds the detergent

[kegareki]

girl i am worldbuilding things that you have never even thought of

#keg wrecks #this is specifically about me mapping out typical yin/yang ratios for satsuverse since satsuki skews very yin #also. ive given up. i was writing side stories for pre-canon era stuff for satsuverse as just fun background stuff #but i had to make a different third teammate for minato since shionverse & satsuverse are mutually exclusive #and it turns out that the third teammate wanted to be in anbu & was the one to encourage minato into putting kakashi into anbu #but her existence means EVERYTHING is going even MORE canon divergent #like i knew that satsuverse was basically 'universe b' of canon since im worldbuilding so much uchiha shit #but now it's literally like. LKSGKDFJSDK it's drifting even further from the canon world state #so im still figuring shit out #when i start posting satsuverse on ao3 i will be the person linking my tumblr in the end notes and going 'please talk to me abt my au' #'ive spent literal years worldbuilding for it & so little of it is going to be in the actual fic' #alas. that day is not today

[mxactivist]

Support the BBC for having a trans character in recent episodes of 'Doctor Who'

Apparently the BBC (UK) has had 144 complaints about a recent episode of Doctor Who because it contained an openly trans character.

I've made a complaint to the BBC that there weren't enough transgender characters in Doctor Who. I would love if 144 other people did the same thing. Here's the link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint

(For your easy reference: "The Star Beast" aired on 25/11/2023 on BBC One, and the trans character is called Rose.)

Please note that the complaint form asks for your UK postcode, so only UK folks can join in with this - but if you suspect you might have any UK-based followers, maybe give us a reblog to boost the signal?

Edit: I'm told that you can fill in the form even if you're outside of the UK, because the BBC provide service to many countries other than the UK, including the USA! Go for it. :D

Reply to confirm that you've done it, so I can keep a count!

Here's my complaint:

I recommend:

Avoid sarcasm or irony. Assume your post will be taken literally. If you are clearly joking or being mean you will be ignored or misunderstood.

Include some gratitude/appreciation. It's pretty great that they included a trans woman in a positive way, and they should know that they have explicit support for that.

~

Edit again: I'm seeing some concerns in the replies/reblogs that the BBC might not distinguish between "less trans people, please" complaints and "more trans people, please" complaints. Rest assured, this is nothing to worry about - the BBC publish fortnightly complaint reports, and they do pay enough attention to know when a complaint is in favour of or against trans inclusion. In fact, their 20 November – 3 December 2023 report is where the various news articles are getting the 144 complaints figure; that report says there were precisely 144 complaints that they have categorised as "Anti-male / inappropriate inclusion of transgender character".

That means the next complaints fortnight window is 4 December - 17 December. We have 8 more days to beat 144. By my count, over Tumblr, WhatsApp, the Fediverse and Telegram, we have 85 so far, which is well over halfway there.

Also, when you've done it, please reply to confirm you have done it, so that I can count us!

Thank you, everyone!

~

Edit, 2023-12-11, 1am UK time:

We did it! I've just been counting up responses, and it looks like sometime yesterday evening we hit 144 complaints/comments in favour of Rose Noble and more excellent trans characters in Doctor Who! (We're actually up to 157 now, fantastic.)

So, my next plan is to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the BBC sometime in the next few days, asking for complaints and compliments figures. Then I'd ideally (energy and time permitting) like to put together a press release that I can send out to the publications that promoted the tiny "144 anti-trans complaints" figure, showing them that there has been far more feedback in favour of trans representation than against.

I'll keep you posted.

#armchair activism #projects #trans #BBC #Doctor Who

[b0mblover]

low doesnt mean 0

By: J

Cw; denouncing (the christian one specifically) god.

Religion (its entirely about me and my mothers fights about religion)

Probablt dont read this if you’re religious, or do, your life.

your proof of a god- starts and ends at my birth- and his death

“your chances were so low they mightve well have been 0” “its near impossible that you were born perfectly healthy” -except i wasnt, it was 14% chance, not 0% there was still a chance- if theres a ball to gamble, then theres always going to be some kind out outcome, no matter the unlikelyness of it all.

“What do i have to do to prove to you that theres a god”

change the past, change the past, 

“you have no proof that hes not real”

if “he” were, why can i not see? why did that happen? why is life the way it is?

“If he isnt real then how did XXXX happen?”

because. there was the physical possibility, just as everything else, there was the possibility to become whatever i call myself at this point in time, there was the possibility to meet the people in my life, there was the possibility to be happy. My so called “luck” has nothing to do with it, your so called “god” has nothing to do with it, to be harsh, however, “everyone is unique” sure, lets go with that, youd say the exact same line with any other people- as long as they were vagely good people, even if they werent, you said it still then. “The you dont value them” i love them, no matter what? of course i don’t believe that they’re replaceable, ive already learned, however, theres no such thing as “the perfect friend group” for anyone, sure, some can be much better or worse, but as you said “everyone is unique” so, if theyre all different, you cant compare then to each other- theyre separate people, with completely different lives, you, as an outsider in my life, have no say of whos better in my life or not. 

If your so called “god” is real, then why is this low-end still manipulating me? -次

(funny thing, i wrote so many more tags than whats showing up- apparently theres a tag limit!)

#A little treat for the people who scroll through my blog since im not linking this to anywhere #yes i put j/次 in twice. its because how i format. this was supposed to be a drabble in my notes app. sometimes i just need to have it wrote #that i wrote it. to feel real or whatever #fun ish fact! there was a low % of me being born. and my mother loooves using that as a “god is real” argument. #literally ignoring what a % means. like maybe id vagely believe you if it was 0 but it wasnt?? #sho if your some how reading this #Hi #and sen whos probably reading this? #Hi bae #god theres so much shit on my mother that i could just expose #yk might make a thing on that. itd be funny #(chill she ruined my entire and i mean literally my entire life. i couldnt give a damn about her feelings. she deserves it) #why do my fingers smell like caramel atm?????? #ive just been laying in bed??? we dont even have caramel???? #god i love ranting in the tags #did you guys know that im veeeery gay and have a crush on [redacted]? #yk what might aswell post my life update in the tags #Tw! my entire life #basically i have a crush on one if my friends. which is already painful enough for me bc my mother teases me about if i do and i keep sayin #that i dont bc i didnt. and i do now so i cant let that slip. anyways. theyve been showing up in my dreams more and more. literally this #and its kinda embarrassing? bc i really hate being in love (ik shock to someone probably) its bothered me allll of my life #and usually id just yk ~confess~ and get the feeling to go away over time #but it isnt going away and no way in hell am i telling them bc yk. were friends. and i sure as hell dont wanna ruin that or make them #uncomfy. so whenever i talk to them i feel all weird bc yk. i dont wanna fuck up and flirt with them or smth (even more annoying bc i #normally flirt with my friends even if i dont like them romantically) so i just dk what to say to them. bc i obviously wanna talk to them #but i get a pit in my stomach. weve talked for months idk why i feel like this now #plus idk how to get rid of the feeling. someone just bash my head in already please. #[redacted] im so sorry. for everything (shut up with the “you did nothing wrong” idc if i did or not) (scratch that. it goes for everyone) #the urge to post my main on this is consuming me but i wont bc… well uh 🧍 ~things~ #J’s misc shit

[icykalisartblog]

DDoS Attack Against AO3: Correcting Misinformation

Normally I don't make any posts like this, but I have an interest in cybersecurity and sadly I've seen people are being really ignorant about this recent DDoS attack against the site AO3 (Archive of Our Own), so I thought I'd remind people of a few things:

Anonymous Sudan appears to have no actual link to Sudan at all, or to any previous hacktivist groups that once operated there. This masquerade is probably based in anti-immigration and other racist sentiments, and utilizing those sentiments in other people to scare people and set up Muslims and Sudanese people as a target. This should be obvious from the language used in their note, but this was already known prior to this particular attack.

This so-called Anonymous Sudan has actually been very active recently—remember that they claimed to attack Reddit, Flickr, Riot Games, a huge number of Microsoft web portals like OneDrive and Outlook, etc. before AO3, so AO3 was totally a logical target for them since they've gone after smaller entities before. DDoS attacks like this are easy for any script kiddie to set up, so it's not weird that they'd go for a smaller target like this.

Honestly this group of posers probably just wants money, everybody. They sent AO3 a ransom note asking for Bitcoin (and just in case people don't know, do not pay a ransom if at all possible if this ever happens to you).

My advice to people who've noticed this attack is two-fold: calm down since this is part of a larger pattern that has literally resulted in basically no loss for the end-user of any of the sites, and... I don't really know a better way to put this, but don't believe everything you read. A religiously-motivated hate group wouldn't use terms like "LGBTQ+" and "smuts," and it's so blatantly obvious that the timing of every single one of these attacks is being used to smear Muslims and Sudanese people if you think about current events for like. One second. And if you look up Anonymous Sudan, you'll see their string of attacks and how all experts know that they have nothing to do with Sudan at all. Even AO3 itself told everybody that the group is lying about their motivations... though I think I'd go further than that personally because even their name itself is almost certainly a total sham.

To be clear: this post isn't targeted at anyone in particular. I've just seen a lot of people falling for this overall or not realizing this is part of a pattern, and I also wanted to remind everyone that this isn't anything to be concerned about. What is something to be concerned about is not doing research or thinking critically and then unwittingly spreading racist ideas.

#Ao3 #archive of our own #DDoS attack #cybersecurity #islamophobia

[retellingthehobbit]

Retelling The Hobbit Chapter 16: The Song of the Lonely Mountain First chapter / Previous / Next

To view full comic: Webtoon/A03 / Tumblr post with links to all chapters

Other blogs: TikTok/Instagram/Tumblr Sideblog

*crumbles into dust after finishing this* Thank you for reading! This The Hobbit webcomic adaptation thing takes a lot of effort to put together and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate every comment. I also really appreciate the people who’ve spread the word of this comic to their friends! <3

And finally, we’re at the Song of the Lonely Mountain! Within Tolkien’s canon, The Hobbit is an in-universe book that was “written” by Bilbo Baggins, who occasionally lies/embellishes/exaggerates things. The tonal differences between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are explained by Bilbo and Frodo/Sam being different kinds of storytellers, with different relationships to “the truth.” This idea is the core of how I’m adapting the novel!  Bilbo is an unreliable narrator who is literally ‘drawing’ from his own limited experiences;  the different art styles reflect the different perspectives of other characters.   The “dwarf art style” in this chapter is inspired by stonework/metalwork in general— but especially by a mix of art deco, Celtic art, and European folk art. 

The central tension of the comic is between Bilbo and Thorin, who each have wildly different ideas about what kind of  story they’re in. Thorin is in a grand fantasy epic, while Bilbo is in a lighthearted children’s book adventure.  The tragedy is, obviously, that only one side of the story ever gets to be fully told.

On a sillier note, a few years ago I had my first gay crush on a lesbian who sang while playing the piano. This chapter is dedicated to the piano lesbian. I hope they’re doing well, wherever they are. XD

I think I might need a bit of a break but I’m hoping for the next chapter, titled “Dawn,” to arrive on January 13th. And your comments/support really do help motivate me to get more done! ^_^

#lotr #the hobbit #bagginshield #the hobbit comic #retelling the hobbit #lord of the rings #thorin oakenshield #bilbo baggins #YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET #anyway *crumbles into dust* #the slowest burn bagginshield fic of all time??? #it will become canon in approximately 84 years #i would say its the most high effort fanfic in the hobbit fandom but ive got lots of competition for that #god works hard but Hobbit fans work harder and etc etc #long post

[mystigaron]

IMPORTANT FINAL EDIT: THE PARTNERSHIP AND UPDATE PLANNED WITH IT HAVE BEEN INDEFINITELY SUSPENDED. i might delete this post within the next few days i'm still not 100% sure if i should or not especially since the information on it about ludeo is still relevant. however rain world has halted working with them and the update planned to implement the feature is not going ahead. thanks to everyone who spoke up and helped getting this out there and to the attention of the developers and akupara

i haven't seen this up until this morning and not all that many people within the rain world community seem to be talking about it but

it's come to my attention that rain world has recently partnered with a company known as ludeo for the game's newest update. this was tucked away in the replies of their rain world art month post

ludeo is an israeli company run by two brothers based in tel-aviv. this is incredibly disappointing and fucked up to be doing during the on-going genocide israel is committing in palestine and the surrounding regions and i quite frankly do not care if it turns out this was just down to "poor research" and was an "accident": you can quite literally look up the two founders' names on linkedin and find out where they are based in under a minute. there are no excuses for this

another point of note about ludeo that i find upsetting is that a lot if not all of the images used on the company's site to advertise this product are 99.9% guaranteed to be ai-generated

while this is absolutely not the main issue at hand here as promoting your partnership with this company at this time is already fucked up enough to begin with, going and hiding this post within the replies of another promoting your art month event to the artists within this community is so astoundingly ironic and ignorant

i am not trying to suggest that there are alterior motives behind putting this post in the replies of another about a community event rather than making an entirely new and separate one dedicated exclusively to information about this update, but i do find it strange. i woke up to finding out about this and was absolutely livid, and while what's done is already done, i am hoping whoever was responsible for this knows how fucked it is to be promoting this company at this time, or just in general. i am not trying to start a witch hunt or start shit for the sake of starting shit, but i think this needs to be addressed and spoken about, as money towards israel is money towards more bloodshed and violence in palestine. this shit makes my blood fucking boil

edit: i feel like i should also put this here if this wasn't already terrible enough

please continue sharing support for palestine. links below are sites and donation links that go directly towards supporting palestinian people in need

#rain world #free palestine #from the meat beast's maw

[so-starz]

˗ˏˋ⭒ things that make their heart flutter ⭒´ˎ˗

genre ? fluff reactions/headcanons , cw ? mentions of insecurities

bf!riize x gn!reader

⋆ note: first post! check pinned :3 might do little drabbles on some of these

将太郎⭒SHOTARO

[initiating hugs]

☆ shotaro’s love language is definitely physical touch

☆ so when you hug him from behind to surprise him

☆ or pull him into your arms in bed

☆ or bury your face in his chest as you squeeze him

☆ he feels like his life is complete

☆ adores when you run and jump into his arms after a long day

☆ just the feeling of being in your hold is enough for him

☆ he always makes sure to hug you back 10x tighter too

☆ (and no, he is never letting you go now)

은석⭒EUNSEOK

[dressing up for him]

☆ he thinks you always look pretty, no matter what you wear

☆ but when you dress up really nicely for dates, or to show off some new clothes you bought

☆ oh my god he loves it

☆ makes sure to compliment you every 3 seconds

☆ “you look beautiful”

☆ “that sweater looks so nice on you”

☆ fixes your jacket for you, smooths out your skirt

☆ silently admiring you the entire time

☆ you are his angel and he can’t believe he was lucky enough to be chosen by you

성찬⭒SUNGCHAN

[public skinship]

☆ sungchan loves to make sure everyone knows that he is yours and you are his

☆ like Yes you are taken and Yes he will bark at anyone who dares to think otherwise

☆ he always has a hand on your back, an arm wrapped around your waist or over your shoulders, etc

☆ but when you do it to him? he literally does a happy dance on the inside

☆ when you grab his hand and lace your fingers together

☆ or link your arm with his

☆ or hug his middle while waiting in line

☆ you are his Baby okay

☆ he thinks its so cute when you show him off to others

☆ it always puts the biggest smile on his face

원빈⭒WONBIN

[praise/compliments]

☆ you always have a knack for telling when wonbin gets in his head

☆ when his smile doesn’t reach his eyes, or when he’s even quieter than usual

☆ so you make sure to shower him in compliments and praise whenever you can

☆ telling him how hard he’s working and how good he is at what he does

☆ commenting on how pretty his eyes are, or how you like his new shirt

☆ you can see the stress leave his body when you praise him

☆ sometimes your reassurance is all he needs

☆ especially when he’s feeling insecure, he immediately searches for comfort in you

☆ because you always know just what to say

승한⭒SEUNGHAN

[random kisses]

☆ there’s nothing seunghan loves more than when you kiss him

☆ he’ll just be scrolling on his phone and you stop to kiss him on the forehead before going about your day

☆ or you could be in the middle of a conversation and then you randomly peck him on the lips

☆ it makes him smile so hard

☆ he could be having the worst day ever, but at least he knows he’ll be able to get a kiss from you later

☆ please cup his face kiss his cheeks when you see him

☆ if you kiss his neck while cuddling, he’ll literally melt in your arms

소희⭒SOHEE

[whispering in his ear]

☆ cuddles with sohee is a mandatory step in your nighttime routine

�� and the atmosphere is always so soft and peaceful

☆ you always whisper an “i love you” into his ear

☆ or if you’re quietly talking about your day in your soft sleepy voice

☆ and he kind of dies inside everytime

☆ like his heart actually stops in his chest

☆ your voice is so beautiful to him, and when you whisper??? even better

☆ you make him feel so safe and he loves how vulnerable you can be around him

찬영⭒ANTON

[playing with his hair]

☆ it’s a subconscious habit you have, to mess with his hair, or twirl strands around your fingers

☆ and he falls for you all over again every time you do it

☆ when his hair falls into his eyes in the middle of a conversation and you reach up to brush his fringe to aside

☆ and if you make eye contact at the same time? 

☆ anton.exe has stopped working

☆ he stutters in the middle of his sentence

☆ you always make him so nervous

☆ you can see him trying not to smile when you begin to play with his hair if his head is in your lap

☆ he's so soft for you, it's crazy

MASTERLIST

reblogs + feedback are greatly appreciated!

©️SO-STARZ

#so-starz #so-starz (reactions) #riize #riize imagines #riize headcanons #riize scenarios #riize reactions #riize fluff #riize x reader #shotaro #eunseok #sungchan #wonbin #seunghan #sohee #anton #shotaro fluff #eunseok fluff #sungchan fluff #wonbin fluff #seunghan fluff #sohee fluff #anton fluff #shotaro imagines #eunseok imagines #sungchan imagines #wonbin imagines #seunghan imagines #sohee imagines #anton imagines

[ghostfacd]

LIVE LAUGH, SCREAM! | TOM BLYTH

pairing. tom blyth x fem!actress!reader

summary. where one comment could lead into an internet feud between tom blyth and yn avocot, resulting in them falling inlove ?!

author’s note. [ THIS TAKES PLACE BEFORE YN AND TOM STARTED DATING ] thank you to the nonnie that said yn gives off scream vibes bc they’re the reason i even made this post in the first place! 🤭

installment of this au | read for context

ynuser scream bts (you’re welcome!)

view all comments

jennaortega did it hurt when you fell from heaven?

➥ jackchampion no but it might’ve when she stabbed u in the movie

➥ ynuser JACK 😭😭

user1 jenna flirting, jack teasing, I LOVE THIS CAST YOUR HONOR

user2 okay but literally your performance was just chefs kiss 😭 PLEASE tell me you’re starting in other movies as well bae

➥ ynuser oh thank you!! im so honored you enjoyed it ❤️ I will get back to you on your question!! 👀

➥ user3 OMGG YN IN ANOTHER FILM WOULD BE KILLER

➥ user4 well actually 🤓☝️ she was one of the ghostface in the film which means she actually was a killer

user5 @/user4 bye

tomblyth amazing film

➥ ynuser thanks

➥ user6 THANKS?? THANKS?! girl that’s tom blyth

➥ ynuser @/user6 who?

user7 no way this girl just asked who tom blyth is

➥ user8 well can u blame her tho?? he’s in like what, billy the kid or whatever? it’s not that known..

➥ user9 nah girl stars in one film and thinks she’s all that 😭

rachelzegler YOU DID SO GOOD GIRL 💕

➥ ynuser rachel my love 😭😭❤️

tomblyth who am I? well now you know

view all comments

user10 oh he’s so fine

user11 LMFAOO is this a jab at yn not knowing who you are

user12 show that girl 🤭🤭 she thinks she’s all that after getting one acting gig

➥ user13 y’all are so obsessed with her hello..

ynuser sure. now i know

➥ user14 oh im having so much fun watching all this go down

ynuser more bts because i love scream 6 and so should you!

view all comments

tomblyth yeah the movie’s cool and all but how abt i treat you out for dinner?

➥ user15 HELLO???

user16 enemies to lovers era ?

user17 pls lord get these two together

jackchampion say yes to the dinner invite and bring me back steak

➥ ynuser 🤨🤨

➥ jackchampion and a vanilla soda too please

user18 i love jack n yn’s friendship

ynuser and tomblyth both posted a story!

ynuser eating sushi and then putting on some comfy pjs is a great way to spend a day

view all comments

user19 the way tom also posted sushi pics very similar to what she’s eating…

➥ user20 WHY IS NOBODY MENTIONING THE MATCHING HOTDOG STORY POSTS AS WELL 😭😭😭

user21 pjs TOGETHER?! im afraid we’ve lost her

user22 everybody knows.. everybody knows

jackchampion splendid way to spend the day

➥ user23 what if it’s jack?? tom and yn don’t even fw each other LOL

➥ user24 true. he did ask her for dinner tho

➥ user25 who wouldn’t? she’s yn.

Eclaté_Mode On this new episode of BTS With Your Favorites, Tom Blyth dishes on his skincare routine, how he keeps himself productive during breaks, and his internet rivalry with actress, Y/N Avocot. Full video linked in bio

view all comments

user26 THE WAY HE COMPLIMENTS YN this is definitely enemies to lovers

user27 “me and yn have exciting need to share soon” excuse me

user28 so they inlove or what

user29 yn fell inlove with a brit man it’s over for US

user30 WAIT WHAT DOES HE MEANNNN

tomblyth well surprise. enemies to lovers much?

view all comments

ynuser nice pic send me it

user31 WAITT RACHEL HIM AND YN IN A FILM?? did not expect this..

user32 hold awn..

user33 is this confirmation they’re dating

➥ ynuser we aren’t dating.

➥ rachelzegler yet.

➥ user34 RACHEL???

rachelzegler you’re welcome for this crossover, i encouraged both of them to audition for the role

➥ user35 WE LOVE RACHEL ZEGLER

jennaortega take care of my gf 😽

#Coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x you #coriolanus snow angst #coriolanus snow smut #coriolanus snow imagine #coriolanus snow fanfiction #coriolanus snow x reader #tom blyth x reader #tom blyth #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosbas #the hunger games x reader

[sanctus-ingenium]

we need to talk about Inprnt.com

Following a really good post with more screenshots and evidence by @dynasoar5 i'm going to talk about my own experiences with @inprnt and why I am about to put my shop on indefinite hiatus from Monday the 14th of August.

First of all I'll say that since starting my print shop last year it has been a significant help to me financially - I was able to not worry about affording car insurance or motor tax (together commonly over a thousand euro) when I bought my first car, for example. I am immeasurably grateful to anyone who chose to buy one and I treasure all the pictures I've been sent of my prints hanging up on people's walls. Right now they are displayed in a real (if small) art exhibition in my home town.

(top right print is not from inprnt though)

They're great prints. Never had any complaints about them. But here's what's going on behind the scenes.

Earlier this year, around March or April, Inprnt sales started increasing in regularity. I'd made as much as $600 a week during previous sales when I made proper promo posts here, but with this increase in regularity, I felt that I couldn't make promo posts every single week. And then one day, I'm not sure when tbh, the sale just never ended. It just didn't stop having that "Ending soon! 15% off your order" banner at the top of the site. Right now it says "Final Hours: $5 Worldwide shipping and save up to 35% off your order!" and not even for a second do I believe in this final hours bullshit. It's been 'final hours' for weeks now. Months, even.

Why is this a problem? Well, how tf am I meant to make a promo post for a sale that is always "ending soon!!" and then never ends. One week it'll say "this weekend only!!" and then when the weekend is over, the sale banner just changes its wording and the sale doesn't end. I can't promo this, it makes me look like a liar and a skeevy salesman by association! It makes the site look like it's 1 week from crashing and burning, and the site owners are just scrabbling to suck as much money from artists as possible before they drown.

And they are sucking money from us. To peel back the curtain, Inprnt money can only be transferred to my paypal account 30 days after the sale is made, just in case the order is cancelled and refunded. This means I used to make one withdrawal every couple of months, when there was enough build-up of money to make it worthwhile. It also forbids withdrawing any sum under $50 btw. I would make a withdrawal request and then, after a 10 business day wait, it would reach my Paypal account.

Not anymore! The past few withdrawals have taken over a month to complete. They are straight up keeping my earnings from me for longer the agreed period. This was my last fulfilled withdrawal:

Note the date.

Almost two months.

And here is the latest withdrawal request that still has not been fulfilled.

It's coming up on 1 month and if the pattern continues, it could literally be November or December by the time I fully clear all sales.

So what's going to happen to my print shop? Because my art is currently being exhibited with a QR code linking to the shop, I can't close the shop this week. Instead I will close it on Monday the 14th of August, next week. That means that on the 14th of September, I can withdraw all of the remaining money without having any left over. My account balance will go to 0 and stay there. Although I'll de-list my prints I will leave my account there, because at the end of the day I don't want to leave Inprnt. It still offers the best artist margins and as I'm now unemployed after graduating, the additional support is such a load off my mind. So this is a chance to wait and see - if they improve their services, I'll happily re-open.

It's a big deal to me because selling prints is sort of my ideal life as an artist. I never had the attention span or self-discipline for commission work and I found that it left me creatively stagnant. I always want to try new things, new concepts and ideas, and being able to think "yeah, people will like this as a print" while I experiment is honestly very reassuring. And I know that in going on hiatus, it'll break a lot of "buy a print" links in my circulating posts. Oh well lmao. If you want to buy a print right now - go ahead, it might be your last opportunity. Another way to support me would be to check out my ko-fi for once-off donations or some nice sketchbooks/comics/book samples you can buy, or subscribing to my Patreon.

As of right now, Inprnt owes me $381 (the unfulfilled request submitted above for $186.60 and my current standing balance of $194.80 which takes 30 days from each transaction to clear).

#it's so god damn insulting u know. even redbubble threw its shitty payouts directly into my paypal asap #inprnt

[jellitchi]

vat7k designs in my head...

i thought their canon designs were a eensy weensy bit Unpolished so i made these mostly for myself. erm if u rly want it i think varian is 19 here, hugo 19, nuru 18, yong 12.

i also made rhem all playlists and had to draw them a cover so thats what the last img is I linked each of em under my notes for all of em... Under the cut is Like a Huge Infodump of notes i have for each chara,,,,,,

i kept varians design basically the same, i dislike the design w the orange neck thing so i just Nuked it😭... Here's Varians playlist

Hugos design i just wanted to put him in something more Loose. hes a thief, a professional escape artist. i dont think wearing clunky metal is ideal for him. i also gave him a prosthetic arm (blond w no arm design trope!) but u cant see it in the ref so i added another drawing of him in his under layering👍 i vaguely referenced russian(?) clothes for him as well... Yeah not too much changed w him i just tried to make him slippery-er. Here's Hugo's playlist

yong came relatively easy to me, if it wasn't obvious i did rip gaming from g*nshin's hoodie. i thought the lion hood was Adorable and freaking perfect for what i had in mind for hos character. since the og notes said the fire kingdom is loosely Chinese inspired i basically just kept that. i mashed tgt a buncha diff dynasties though sorry for how inconsistent i was... i think he looks Okay. anyways i changed yongs role a bit, ill explain why im adjusting some of their roles later but i kept yong as the Jinx Type character. hes the eldest in his family and has a buncha younger siblings, hes a lion dancer and does performances w his family/siblings. he rly like special effects n keeps tryna incorporate his fireworks into their performances (it flops and he has to sew up the dmg) ill explain more of yongs role in another post maybe shrugs... Here's Yong's Playlist

miss nuru was a bit of a struggle for me i might share my full design process with her coz i did a Bunch of mockups for her😭😭😭... i didnt have a specific country of reference for her but i chose to make her vaguely south asian inspired. i also really wanted to keep the sheer fabric w the star / constellation map. i love that idea its so cute so shes still technically the navigator. but she also wields a sword too, fencing or whatever. (her and varian r Huge Cass fangirls which is probably why she started tryna use a sword (snuck out to watch cass compete) Okay ill talk abt this later) in my head, okay ill Probably make a whole nother post talking abt how im interpreting/writing each chara, but in my head i think nuru is the youngest and her kingdom's archivist. shes mostly in charge of like Her kingdoms history / artifacts / etc. ok im getting too side tracked ill save the lore dump for later but thats Nurus role in the party. Here's Nuru's Playlist

uhm below i made their character stats mostly to help me with planning / role developing. the yellow is their base stats the color behind is their end stats i guess. i was gonna explain my reasoning for their stats but ermm this post is kinda Really long so sorry😭... varian max int for obvious reasons, also max charisma just coz i feel like u kinda learn a thing or two being around a couple manipulators and spending time in jail idk shrugs... (also lets not forget the "ud b surprised what ppl would do for a cookie!") Hugo slippery guy, if a brick is thrown at him as hes running hes gonna try n run faster to shatter it, his mindset is Run Run Run! i think hes relatively agile too but yeah mostly a Speedster. i think he n varian got no Physical strength varian maybe just like A little coz Farm boy but I rly doubt quirin is making him do a Lotta heavy lifting. yong has incredible stamina and agility because hed a performer. nuru is the strongest coz this team would literally Flop without a proper Offense😭... i think varian n hugo r able to outwit plenty of their opponents but i think nuru is pretty good in a fight, same w yong. Yeah Okay Sorry for a Long Long Post thanks hope u guys enjoy

#vat7k #varian and the seven kingdoms #varian vat7k #hugo vat7k #nuru vat7k #yong vat7k #varian tangled #fanart #lizzysart

[transienturl]

Here are two non-obvious things about the Tumblr UI that I feel like I can make more clear with some images. As of July 17, 2022 2023... oops:

links to posts on blog themes:

There's a link to view a post on the user's custom blog theme—if they have a custom theme, and have their blog accessible to logged-out users, of course—as the first item in the ⋯ ("meatballs") menu. (This used to be the dog-ear corner at the top right corner of the post, if you remember that.)

Like any normal link, you can control/command click this menu item to open it in a new tab, or right click it to copy the link URL.

links to individual reblogs:

The header areas highlighted in green here—specifically their empty areas—are links directly to the individual reblogs they're the headers for. This is also true in the mobile apps!

You can control/command click them to open them in a new tab.

You can sort of right-click them to copy the link URL... but only if you have post timestamps turned on (it's in your tumblr settings in the dashboard section near the top), and only if you right click on the timestamp, or actually the dashed green area. (I wish this could be true for the whole header, but it's kind of hard for technical web browser limitation reasons.)

The above statements are true without XKit!

Now: by default, the areas highlighted in red and orange are links to the blogs in question. The "restore links to individual posts" option in Tweaks in XKit Rewritten (check out @addons!) does two things:

It changes the red-highlighted links to point directly to the reblog in question, just like their surrounding green area. This doesn't really add any functionality; you could already access that, as just discussed! Edit: I got this wrong; the reblog trail blog names should not be highlighted red.

It changes the orange-highlighted link to point to the immediately preceding reblog (i.e. the one "prev tags" refers to). This definitely does add functionality, since there was literally no way to step backward through the reblog chain otherwise!

For the record, what I would probably have done if I were Staff or if I had been the one to write the XKit Rewritten tweak without anyone else's input is:

Make the green-highlighted areas link to the reblog, as they currently already do.

Make the red-highlighted links point to the user blog, as they currently already do.

Make the orange-highlighted link, including the reblog icon, link to the immediately preceding reblog (i.e. the one "prev tags" refers to). That section is a different color than a blog link and has a special icon, after all; I think it's totally reasonable for it to have slightly different functionality.

In any case, it imo quite obviously should not be impossible to step back through the reblog chain, no matter what you think of the "prev tags" phenomena. Without an extension, there's no way to do this at all right now unless the post has very few notes and you can dig through them.

Some might argue for solving this by putting the a link to the previous reblog in the ⋯ menu. That would certainly be better than nothing, but I think using the orange-highlighted area is a better way. It's not like it's hard to get to a blog from an individual-post-viewed-on-that-blog, anyway.

[pigdemonart]

Battle Subway Depot Agents (by pig-demon)

When I made designs for these guys last year I didn’t really think they needed colored references/master post, but since then I’ve drawn them a lot! Also people have added them to their fanfics and drawn fanart! So I figured it was time I made a post for easy ref. :]

These designs are obviously free to use, just give credit (and link me your work if you're comfortable, because it makes me happy to see!) All I request is to stay respectful to their pronouns and skin colors, ya knooow… 👍 note: The pokemon on their cards are all companions, not the ones they use on the Battle Subway. Except Jackie...the litwicks are just there to fill space/give them company.

More info under cut:

Edit: Important disclaimer:

These are again my designs/interpretations for the agents. Please don’t treat them as canon or as the only, quintessential designs for these literal background npcs. Many people have done takes on them before and after me, even back in 2010. It feels silly to ask, but due to past experience, I ask that you please DONT hunt down anyone that does a different take on the depot agents!! 👍

Tags:

I'm gonna start tagging them individually, but for now all Depot Agent comics and art on this blog are tagged under Depot Agents.

Height chart:

I’m not too strict about heights, so I don’t really care about actual measurements. Here’s an approximation of what I tend to visualize though:

Sexualities/Gender Identities: I don't have official labels for each and every agent because I like keeping things fluid for characters to develop these traits on their own. However, as a queer person, I enjoy designing characters who are also queer, therefore I can safely say none of these characters are straight. The ones who are set in stone are Ramses (gay man), Cloud (lesbian woman,) Jackie (non-binary.) Furze uses he/they pronouns but their gender is undetermined. I also welcome anyone giving the agents a different gender identity to suit them (as long as it's done respectfully.)

Notes about each agent...

Cameron:

- Cameron dyes parts of his hair blonde and keeps other parts in black. This is because he is a big fan of Elesa and her fashion choices.  - Though there have been a few occasions to meet his idol, he is always way too nervous to approach her, feeling deep down that he'll mess up somehow. - He practices modeling poses in secret. He loves flourishes and flare, but is simply too insecure to put it on display. - Of his coworkers, he gets along the best with Furze. He's the easiest to talk to because Furze will do most of the talking. - Cameron is easily intimidated — even mean Pokémon can make him nervous. Though, his two worst fears are being left in a room alone with Jackie, and being left alone in a room with Isadore. - He takes advantage of his height to sometimes hide behind some of his coworkers. - Cameron is much better at Pokémon battles than he gives himself credit for. Emmet and Ingo were pleasantly surprised by this, since Cameron was promoted to fit a temporary role on the Battle Subway. They happily made him a permanent member when he proved himself capable. - His Dwebble (Pebby) is secretly very strong, and rushes to protect Cameron when it can. Cam sometimes thinks Pebby helps him feel more confident in himself too.  - If he stumbled into any of his coworkers outside of work, he would simply explode of embarrassment. - He is the youngest child and only son of his family. He lives in his own apartment in Nimbasa.

Cloud:

- Cloud (like Ramses) knew the twins when they were very young. - She used to be an ace trainer in her youth, even going so far to compete in the Pokémon league. Winning and becoming the champ was the most important part of her journey, but something happened along the way that changed that outlook. - It seems with age, her competitiveness has mellowed out. However, she maintains an intense energy when battling.  - Her favorite types are Psychic and Flying types. Swoobat (Sweetie) is her ace.  - Her favorite hobby is baking, and she often bakes sweets for the crew. She knows all their favorite flavors by now! - She prioritizes keeping a friendly relationship with all her coworkers and thinks of them fondly. She considers Ramses family after all the years of working together!  - She is a big fan of Brycen's movies and can recite the lines. - She lives with her wife in Anville. - Cloud loves doing maintenance work both at home and in Gear Station. She enjoys bringing her own tools and industrial flashlight.

Furze:

- Furze only has one volume setting (mid loud,) but he finds himself feeling right at home when talking to either one of the twins. - Furze has ADHD, and this is reflected in some of his habits, most visibly is his fidgeting when sitting still for too long. - He rides a bike to work every day. When he is late, Cloud clocks in for him so he doesn't get in trouble. - This is a kind of a guy that sits crouched gargoyle style on chairs. Only outside of work, of course. Bad posture could get him in trouble. - While working on the Battle Subway, there will be times Furze feels sorry for his opponents and offers to quietly let them pass anyways. This...has also gotten him in trouble. :[ - He went to the same elementary school as Isadore in Castelia. Though Isadore seems to have forgotten their short-lived acquaintance, Furze has not. This is part of the reason Furze claims they are in fact good friends!!! - Furze is the middle child of a big family. He lives with his mom and takes care of her, along with his many Darumakas and Darmanitan. All of his Pokemon have famous trains names. - He collects model trains. Naturally.

Isadore

- Isadore had plans to become the station master the moment he was hired as a depot agent, but alas... (sad trumpet sound.) - As a youth, he was more interested in science and engineering over Pokemon battles. He enjoys the strategizing aspect, at most. Not so much the competitiveness. - In addition, his Pokemon are all rescues and not used for battling. He's had his Watchog (Winston) since he was in his late teens. - His Electrode (Gregor) and Voltorb (Leonard) were rescued from the likes of Team Plasma. - Isadore admits he understands Pokemon better than humans. This has been apparent his whole life. - In spite of acting like a sitcom villain, Isadore cares about the management of Gear Station and the safety of the passengers to an incredible degree. He sees it as a personal life goal to assist in the management of Gear Station, as well as the success of the Battle Subway. - Though it pained him to become a subordinate to the twins, he begrudgingly accepts it for the greater good. - His almost militant efficiency certainly made up for his years of antagonizing the twins before they became the bosses. Ingo and Emmet understand this better than anyone. - Isadore keeps tabs on all of the staff members. So he very well knows all their birthdays and makes it a point to celebrate it. This is by no means a -happy- or -festive- event. It's just customary. - Like Furze, he was originally from Castelia, but now resides in Nimbasa. Isadore's only family is his mom and she lives in his childhood home with their Stoutland. - Isadore would have probably been voiced by every glasses guy ever J. Michael Tatum had he not already been cast as dear Emmet lmao

Jackie

- Jackie is a mystery and they like keeping it that way. When they talk, it's practically impossible to determine what is a lie or truth, especially if the subject is themselves or their background. - They love scaring Cameron the most and will ask to be paired with him whenever possible. They claim Cameron is their "favorite coworker," while Isadore is the least favorite. - It's plain to see why -- Jackie is the only one that doesn't passively tolerate Isadore's tirades. - Though my comics sometimes may allude to Jackie being a ghost/supernatural, this is not confirmed nor canon. I just personally enjoy toying with the concept. : ) That being said...

- Item #: SCP 7453

- Object Class: Euclid

- Special Containment Procedures: The ████ ██████ is ██████ within ████-██████. - Ingo and Emmet choose to not question anything about Jackie, since it's clear they're one of the more efficient workers. However it can be a safety concern... - Cloud and Ramses have worked with Jackie for a long time, though they've forgotten somehow. They believe Jackie is a new hire since they appear to be young. - Anyone trying to make sense of Jackie's employee records simply can't bring themselves to any conclusions. It's better to ignore the inconsistencies. - Jackie has never been seen to leave Gear Station. Jackie has never been seen in anything but their uniform. Jackie has never been confirmed to eat, drink or blink. Jackie knows your secrets. Jackie thinks it's... amusing.

Ramses

- Ramses sometimes misses having a full head of hair, but he thinks his signs of age make him look distinguished. (he is correct.) - Ramses is sort of the "mom friend," making sure everyone's concerns are heard, as well as trying to keep the peace whenever a conflict might arise. - If another coworker is feeling low, Ramses will try to cheer them up with a lighthearted joke or offer advice if they'd like it. - When the twins were promoted to bosses of the Battle Subway, Ramses cried because he felt so proud. - In most circumstances, he is a very simple and logical man. He is quick to find solutions and tries not to fret over the little stuff. It's not good for his heart after all. - His ace is his Pikachu (Musa,) though the mouse is more of a lap pet now. At home, he also has an Audino (Sara) and a Manectric (Nubi) who keep Ramses' husband company. His Klinklang (Moli) is the only one of his personal pokemon that accompany him to work nowadays. - Ramses considers Cloud family. They are best friends and love having family gatherings outside of work. They also gossip a lot, and don't mind when Jackie decides to join. - Ramses jokes about looking forward to retirement, but really doesn't want to leave until he is physically incapable of working anymore. Gear Station is like a second home to him.

In-Game Quotes

The most important reference of all are their in-game quotes, of course, so I'm adding it to the post. A lot of their personality traits can be extracted and interpreted from these few lines. And I personally love that about Pokemon NPCs -- there's a lot of room to explore and play with. Some appear very obvious. Cameron practically announces that he isn't ready for the battle that's about to ensue and seems genuinely surprised to win. Furze comes out the gate talking about the subject they actually care about, which is their job and their love for trains. The two of them are very easy to understand. Now, Ramses lines allude to a gentle and simple personality. He views himself with humility, and maybe even with a bit of humor comparing himself to a train and to his opponent to a station. If he loses he shows no signs of disappointment, he just accepts defeat with one last honest quip. It s also amusing to see the Depot Agents all use train metaphors to describe themselves since it falls in line with how Ingo and Emmet talk.

In comparison, Cloud does the same thing calling herself the terminal instead. Immediately, she is way more daring, though still keeping a sense of professionalism. To me, it's obvious she is competitive as she even admits she was expecting to win ("Ah...I didn't see it coming.") Jackie's lines are fun since it's up to interpretation if they are being literal or lying. It's almost like they are more interested in confusing/creeping out their opponent than actually beating them. To me, it gives off a mischievous vibe. Isadore's opener "There are only two roads in life." is a curious one because it almost feels like he is trying to be philosophical. Definitely a guy who views himself as an intellectual, regardless if that’s true or not. I like to think it's a saying he really believes in, and it applies to his life. The road he likes (long route) vs the road he hates (shortcut) -- fighting tooth and nail to become boss vs biting his tongue and accepting Ingo and Emmet as the Subway Masters.

Those are just my thoughts on how I write these characters. Please have fun playing with these lines too!

#depot agents #depot agents master post #my art #submas #submas adjacent ahaha #will probably edit as time goes on but who knows really #if you spot any typos no you dont kiss kiss #cameron #cloud #furze #isadore #jackie #ramses