Sauce Since That Sounded Too Spicy:

Would it make sense for clapper to have antenatal/postpartum depression vibe? not bulimia, as the brain+spinal cord in the sack implies a fetus, along with no overtures to the idea of eating (nary a gluttony in sight, canto IV says hi). There is A LOT of mechanical weight/attention to the sack. Even the egg form is all sac, basically. Like, why go out of your way to modify wrath/gloom resistances and tie them to something breakable? (not complaining, spicy design.) Wiki goes into extensive detail about it's skill rotations, and without major interruption it's roughly: Blood Sac counter goes 1->3, then Blood Cannon, then it moves to Fluid Sac. Without blood, it heals.

Hence, despair/madness as a byproduct of creating something -> JUSTICE!! for Don, new knowledge for Faust?

Do you do psychoanalyzing on other characters besides Yi Sang and Hong Lu? If so I’d like to hear you talk about Don and Faust, and why you think they share 2 egos (Telepole and Fluid Sac)

I mean! I can certainly try! Hong Lu and Yi Sang are just. I guess my field of expertise??? Since I care the most about those two??? But I can certainly try to analyze some other characters, though it might not be able to be as specific and detailed as I am when analyzing my favorites. Hope you understand!

Now then. Let's do this. Under cut we go as usual.

Fluid Sac

Let's start with the one we know less about, aka Headless Ichthys. In fact, we know... very, very little about Headless Ichthys.

Due to Meursault being the one to write the logs about this abnormality, we only get information on its physical characteristics, such as it having lost its head, and that there's something inside its sack that is said to bear resemblence to either a flower or a human nervous system.

That's it. That's all the definitive info we have on this abnormality. We can assume that it has Some religious significance due to its name, Ichthys, being the name of a religious fish symbol, but that doesn't help too much.

There is something interesting I want to note here, and that's the thing inside its sack. The fact that it's unclear whether it resembles a flower or a human nervous system is interesting... Because that mimics what Lunacy looks like. While Lunacy is described as rose-shaped by its Inventory description, the full Lunacy icon can also be interpreted as a brain on a brainstem.

I suppose, if you wanted to dig deep enough, the implications of it containing a symbol akin to Lunacy and having lost its head could could be interpreted as the abnormality being a symbol of a descent into madness. Which, honestly, that's the best I got from what little we have.

Because of just how little lore we have on the Headless Ichthys, unfortunately I can't go too in depth on Don and Faust with it in mind... But I'll still try.

Fluid Sac is a Gloom E.G.O, and though Gloom is one of those Sins I'm not entirely sure of, it does seem to represent taking actions due to one's built up negative emotions.

The main base E.G.O examples we have are Snagharpoon, which has Ishmael follow her compulsion to keep searching for "That bastard", and Land of Illusion, which implies that Hong Lu retreats from reality into his own dream world under heavy emotional stress.

As such, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Fluid Sac signifies something that caused horrible emotional stress to both Don and Faust, which would then kickstart their descent into madness. In more specific terms, this would be heroic delusions for Don and single-minded mad scientist-esque pursuit of knowledge for Faust.

As a brief sidenote, this would align quite well with the visual design differences between the two. Though the E.G.O outfits they wear are extremely similar, all the way down to both of them having green tints in their hair and fin decorations in the exact same spots, there are two notable differences.

One - the shape of the weapon. Don's weapon is shaped like a miniature Headless Ichthys clutching onto a perfectly round sack-orb. It looks almost more like a toy rather than a weapon. Faust's weapon is not only shaped almost perfectly like Headless Ichthys's sack, it also seems to have the same properties, as it bursts during Faust's Awakening attack animation.

Two - the article of clothing that mimics the Ichthys's hand-flippers. For Don, it's a cape-like piece of clothing that looks more like something you'd see on a kid's hero costume. For Faust, it's seemingly anatomically-correct recreations of the flippers that are attached to her jacket.

Both of those I think reinforce the idea of Don and Faust indulging in their methods of madness. Child-like obsession with heroism for Don (using toys and costumes), and endless scientific pursuits for Faust (only someone studying the abnormality closely could replicate its anatomy in this much detail).

It's a bit hard to tell anything from their dialogue lines as they are somewhat generic (my unrelated theory on that is that Fluid Sac is one of the first E.G.Os designed, based on its dialogue lines not having much to do with its abnormality, and due to its attack animations being uncharacteristically sparse in actual frame-to-frame animation), but they do seem to work as good reflections of Don and Faust in general.

Their Awakening lines seem to reflect their general attitudes, with Don's being jovial yet quick to resort to violence, and Faust's being self-assured and seemingly trying to predict all outcomes.

Their Corroded lines on the other hand could be a reflection of their attitudes after their descent into madness began. Don's single-minded "...Crush them." could be a reflection of how she views morality as black and white, and thus believes all that she considers 'villains' should be crushed by her. Likewise, Faust's line here implies that she's willing to do anything, even leave herself completely empty by 'disgorging everything', if it means she reaches what she's looking for.

Looking at the Sin Resources, both Faust and Don require Gloom and Lust to use Fluid Sac, and while Don also uses Pride, Faust uses Envy instead.

I already mentioned what I think Gloom means for Fluid Sac, and I think it being a requirement further reinforces it here. Both Don and Faust need to be acting under severe emotional stress to start their descent into madness.

Lust as a sin seems to represent acting according to one's desires, or more specifically, indulging in them. It also tends to have slight spiritual connotations in Limbus, making it the Sin of acting for the sake of some form of personal fulfillment as well.

Using it for Fluid Sac would make sense with the descent into madness interpretation. For both Don and Faust, their forms of madness are them overindulging in something they find personally fulfilling - heroism for Don, science for Faust.

Don's unique Sin requirement here is Pride. I already went into detail on what Pride as a Sin means in Limbus in the Dimension Shredder post, but to recap, Pride represents actions taken for their personal benefits, while ignoring their negative consequences on either other people or oneself.

This very much represents Don's madness quite well. Her heroic acts are rooted in what she personally perceives as doing good, and she completely ignores the collateral damage that she may cause in the process. Her willful ignorance of the harm she inflicts on others is one of the main things that led her to her personal form of madness.

Faust's unique Sin requirement here is Envy. Now, I won't go into detail on Envy just yet, as it's better saved for Telepole, but in very basic summary, it represents actions done in reaction to other people and their actions.

While there is still much we don't know about Faust, the inclusion of Envy as a requirement for her Fluid Sac implies that the root of her madness actually comes from someone else. There's not enough info for us to speculate on more details... but something tells me this might have to do with a certain Faustian Bargain, if you catch my drift.

So, that's Fluid Sac! For something with so little to dissect, it ended up leading to quite a good bit of analysis anyway! Call me Game Theory cause I'm about to put MatPat out of a job.

Telepole

Alright, let's once again start with the abnormality itself - Alleyway Watchdog.

The funny thing is that the Watchdog has the opposite problem to the Ichthys, as while the fish had very little lore, the Watchdog has a decent amount, but it's written by Yi Sang and as such it's hard to tell how much of its logs are facts, and how much is Yi Sang being Yi Sang and projecting onto the dog.

If there is one thing that is a definitive fact, it's that lack of being able to control oneself and being unable to tell who is controlling who is a recurring theme for this abnormality. The fact that it's unclear if the dog is in control of its own actions calls back to it, and the further muddling of what actually is in control of it only further adds to that theme.

It's unclear if the charred person on its back is controlling the dog, or if it's simply along for the ride unable to do anything to stop it, or if it is also under the control of something else. It's unclear if electricity is what is directly controlling the dog, or if it's something Yi Sang is projecting onto it due to his own experiences.

With that in mind, let's look at the three Sinners who have this E.G.O - Don, Faust, and Heathcliff. Now, I won't be looking at Heathcliff's case too closely, since this is meant to focus on Don and Faust, but I will be bringing him up when talking about Telepole on a general level, so that we have the biggest sample size possible.

In this case, having the Telepole E.G.O would imply these three have some issues when it comes to control, whether it's they themselves lacked control in their life, or whether it's their own degree of perceived control isn't as it seems. Since neither of those three have had their Cantos released yet, it's impossible for me to tell what exactly is going on here, but this is something to keep in mind.

Now, let's talk about Envy, as that's the Sin damage that all of the Telepoles deal. Envy appears to represent actions one takes as a reaction to what others do. This can take any form, whether it's revenge or following orders or being provoked or anything really. What's important here is that the action taken is a Direct Response to someone else.

The only base E.G.O that deals Envy damage is Heathcliff's Bodysack, which represents his impulsive and likely violent reaction to whatever Cathy did to him.

This all fits very nicely with the nature of Alleyway Watchdog, and Telepole E.G.O as a whole. The Watchdog's actions are all reactions to something else controlling it. Likewise, those using the Telepole E.G.O have their actions be influenced or even controlled by someone else.

Their Awakening lines (since there's nothing to analyze when it comes to their Corroded howls I don't think) all reflect a certain part of their personality, potentially implying that something about that is due to the influence of someone else.

Heathcliff's line expresses his impulsively violent tendencies, Don's ties back to her blind heroism, and Faust's has a clinical, detached feel to it.

As for Sin Resources, both Faust and Heathcliff use Envy, Wrath, and Lust, while Don exchanges Lust for Gloom.

Envy as a Sin Resource here once again ties back to the themes of control, implying that for all three, the actions they take are not entirely Just their own. Whether it's provokation or suggestion or something else, for all three of them, their actions are being encouraged, if not directly controlled, by someone else entirely.

Wrath is... hard to analyze. Partially because on first glance it seems to act as a shorthand for fire damage, and partially because no base E.G.O deals Wrath damage. My best guess based on other E.G.Os is that Wrath represents actions done out of self-righteousness. It's the "I deserve to do this, I DARE to do this." of Sins, in my opinion.

It's not necessarily tied to literal anger, as its name might imply, but rather a deeper reason that usually leads to anger - that being the idea that something should or shouldn't happen simply because you wish it so. After all, the most common reason for anger is for something to not go your way. Think children throwing tantrums over their toy being taken away, or a gamer smashing their keyboard over getting outplayed.

With all that being said, Wrath being used for Telepole could have several meanings. It could represent defiance, the idea that the Sinners act out because they believe they deserve better than the person trying to control them. It could also represent temptation, falling under someone else's control or provokation due to believing that they deserve something they don't have or to do something they can't without falling for it.

Now onto the more unique Sin resource requirements. Faust and Heathcliff both require Lust, a Sin representing indulging one's desires and seeking personal fulfillment. This would fit both Heathcliff and Faust, as their Telepoles seem to allude to the things they are already impulsive about - mindless violence for Heathcliff, and pursuit of knowledge for Faust. The actions they are being controlled or provoked to do are things they already wish to indulge in. Perhaps in their case, they are specifically being tempted into doing something, rather than being directly forced.

This however, is different for Don. Don's Telepole requires Gloom, which is a Sin representing actions done out of succumbing to negative emotions. This paints the actions she's controlled or provoked into comitting in a different light. Unlike Heathcliff or Faust, she isn't being tempted by personal fulfillment. No, in her case it's an expression of emotional stress. Perhaps in her case the control is much more forceful, causing her to act out, or perhaps her actions are a reaction to something bad happening to someone she knows. Either way, it's quite intriguing to note.

Unlike my Fluid Sac analysis, which I could get a little bit more detailed on thanks to touching on a facet of Don and Faust's personalities that are clearly evident, Telepole seems to more so reference their pasts, something that as of right now we simply have no access to.

I expect reaching Heathcliff's Canto will help a ton in this specific case, as it will help analyze the rest of the Telepoles thanks to being able to compare what it seems to reference in his revealed past to potentially similar events in both Don and Faust's pasts.

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OP you might be onto something.

However, i'm reading the pocket as a flap, which would naturally droop downwards, but is held up by multiple snaps (for ease of access). If bombs are just held up by that flap, it would put a lot of weight on both armpit stitch and snaps, so both would tear near-immediately. Instead, i'm thinking of rubber bands keeping the loosely-pinned (you made a great point there) grenades inside while enabling their weight to be tied to his arms, using however many connection points necessary.

I started typing with the idea of a white zipper instead of a flap to hide possible bulging, and to hide opening by making it look like a stitch, but now i'm not so sure… With snaps if needed you could probably just slide anything sticking out between them to pull it apart… Does that mean Kaiji would have multiple coats, depending how much stealth is needed?

also, all of this weight basically demands a lot of core strength not to fuck up his spine long-term, and as for 'good at dodgeball'… We're both thinking of Rock Lee from Naruto, aren't we.

just realised i never posted my kajii coat design here. anyways here it is!

i tried to make it make sense, but honestly i think a more realistic explanation is that he just has a pocket dimension in his coat /j

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Did someone say RANT ABOUT THE BEST MECHANIC IN YU-GI-OH!?

If one really wants to practice weaponising game mechanics - chain beat is the way to go, even if Black Garden might not be the optimal variant for it. But if you want to start small (with a chain burn), you should make a point to count Chain Links in chat/out loud anytime you do anything. This will force your opponent to keep explictly passing over their priority (right to activate stuff). Either they'll do that every single time (against chain burn it should intimidate too, as there are only two things they count up to ;D), or they'll just state for everyone to see that they'll giving you a free reign to do whatever the hell you want. Outside of chain-dependent decks, try not to use it on people who aren't trying to be cute. Once we're done with you, you should be able to out-ruleshark them. So pay attention. There will be a test later. One could argue that it's actually continuous effects that are the fastest, since they can apply in the middle of a chain (Counter Fairies are made of this and so is placing Spell Counters) For example:

P1 activates Reinforcement of the Army, thus creating Chain Link 1.

P2 (in response to Rota's activation) chains Call of the Haunted, targeting Thunder King Rai-Oh.

P1 does not chain anything.

P2 does not chain anything.

Because both players passed, chain closes and proceeds to resolve backwards (codeheads may recognise it as a LIFO stack).

First, Rai Oh is summoned.

Then, RotA 'resolves', but due to Rai Oh being on the field, the effect fizzles without doing anything. This can stop more than a single part of an effect, if the rest of it involved the word "then")

If an effect fizzles without doing anything, it's still considered to have been activated. If one attempts to make a Grand Unifying Rulebook, a trigger effect can be chained if the last thing that happened was the activation condition. And there are plenty of them so get ready to see that phrase a billion times.

Simplified example, ie. what happens in practice:

P1 tributes Treeborn Frog, summons Caius the Shadow Monarch and activates his effect, targeting Blaze Accelerator Magazine.

P2 chains BAM's effect. If P1 doesn't do anything, P2 will proceed to discard Volcanic Scattershot and draw a card

both players do the following roughly in this order:

banish BAM

mill two Scattershots

destroy Caius

subtract 1500 points from P1's LP

If they know what they are doing, this is not a problem. If they don't, it becomes a complete Clusterfuck.

Same example, once more with clarity:

Open game state: P1's MP1

it doesn't matter for the following details, but keeping track of it is makes rulesharkers knock themselves out on your SUPERIOR RULE-FU

this means that Turn player has priority

P1 tributes Treeborn Frog to tribute summon Caius the Shadow Monarch. The last thing that happened was an attempt to summon a monster (because this window of opportunity is limited pretty much exclusively to negating summons that do not start a chain, like Horn of Heaven or Koa'ki Meiru Overdose, they are usually lumped together with summon responses)

Since P2 doesn't respond, P1's Caius arrives to the field. The last thing that happened was Caius' tribute (=normal) summon. Tributing Treeborn Frog is a cost and thus promptly ignored.

Due to the fact that his effect is a trigger (responding to his own summon) and the one declaring it's activation is the turn player, it is a Chain Link 1 (CL1 for short - this notation is incredibly useful) targeting Blaze Accelerator Magazine. The last thing that happened was:

Caius was tribute=normal summoned

Caius' effect was activated, targeting Blaze Accelerator Magazine.

yes, both are consiedered "things you can respond to".

P2 activates the effect of Blaze Accelerator Magazine, thus creating CL2: BAM. The last thing that happened was:

Caius was tribute=normal summoned

BAM's effect is activated.

P1 in retalliation chains... nothing at all.

P2 passes right to chain as well, thus both players move into resolving the chain that formed.

2nd Chain Link is resolved (R2 for short): Volcanic Scattershot is discarded (at resolution, since it's not a cost), P2 draws a card.

R1: Caius banishes Blaze Accelerator Magazine.

You'd think that the turn moves back to an open state, but NOT SO FAST! In the middle of resolving that chain, Scattershot's effect trigger happened. Since you can't shove another Chain Link in the middle of an ongoing chain, trigger effects patiently wait for the current chain to finish to either politely ask if it can activate (In case it "If~, you can~" and "When~, you can~") or rudely do the thing at the first opportunity (in this example, this happens with the -500lp effect). As a result, after Caius-BAM chain resolves, a second chain is immediately created, bypassing turn players priority. Thus the example continues with a rather tame case of SEGOC, just so you'll have a taste of what's to come.

CL1: Scattershot -500LP effect activates.

CL2: Scattershot mill themselves as a cost with the intention to nuke the field.

Now that trigger effects stated their business, players can meddle some more. The last thing that happened was:

Blaze Accelerator Magazine was banished.

Volcanic Scattershot's mill'n'nuke effect was activated.

P1 doesn't chain anything.

P2 doesn't chain anything.

R2: field is nuked.

R1: 500lp worth of effect damage is dealt.

Since two other Scattershots were sent to the graveyard, yet another chain is formed.

CL1: Scattershot-A -500LP effect activates.

CL2: Scattershot-B -500LP effect activates.

P1 doesn't chain anything.

P2 doesn't chain anything.

R2: 500 points of damage are dealt.

R1: 500 points of damage are dealt.

and finally - FINALLY - the game moves to an open state (It's still P1′s MP1. If you forgot - this is why explictly asking for responses to specific things is important ;D)

...i can already tell you're internally whining "but why should caaareee?", glad you asked, buster ;> This is where a lot of hidden power/weaknesses of a lot of cards come into play.

People usually gloss over the fact that 1500 comes in three hits, so to speak. This means that Dark Room of Nightmare will deal 900 points of damage and Gorz will retalliate with whooping... -500LP.

Since Caius always activates before BAM, in a void BAM's effect will always go through.

Because BAM can destroy Caius post-mortem, it becomes sort of a mind game - especially if you throw a stray MST into the mix.

If you aim Caius at BAM, they WILL activate it (if they don't it means they do not have Volcanic Shell and that they most likely don't have Volcanic Scattershot - enjoy the free knowledge)

Say you suspect to the point of acting on it that they DO have a Scattershot. You could do the above to pave the way for something nastier. If you have a MST and they have another card, you could aim the Monarch Spite Cannon at that, instead.

If they chain BAM, you can chain MST to destroy it. That way, Scattershot stays in their hand, Caius prevails AND they do not get to draw a card. Oh, and BAM both was activated and destroyed (which means that although this turn they are completely locked out of BAM-shenanigans, they will be able to both retrieve it with volcanic Rocket and use it's 3rd effect next turn).

If they don't, you went +1 in card advantage and still can do the abovementioned later.

No trying to use Solemn Warning after your Bottomless Trap Hole spectatularly failed (or is slated to fail). This also means that summon negation stops the continuous effects of monsters-that-would-have-been (and if you gloss things over, one could even joke that they do so retroactively.)

Costs cannot be chained to. EVER. This is also the reason why Lonefire Blossom works under Skill Drain (by the time it's effect resolves, Skill Drain has already stopped applying to it.)

Volcanic player is perfectly capable of drawing into a Scattershot, which they'll have to discard.

If you want to save Caius with Forbidden Lance/etc, chain it to the second chain. If you do it do it too early, your opponent might troll you by yarding a Shell. If you do it too late you won't even have a target anymore. This also means that if you are using The Monarchs Awaken, you can both have your cake and eat it.

No matter what, doing shenanigans with Escalation of the Monarchs will end with you losing that monster to Scattershots. Whether or not you really needed that Raiza to go off is another matter.

Both players can chain Call of the Haunted to the 3rd chain - and it will ensure that the summoned monster will not fall into a BTH (since the only window of opportunity after that chain opens up only for "dealt/took damage" and "monster effect resolved")

If you are willing into "what are you doing STAHP" territory: if you can read that their only valid discard is a Scattershot - you could chain Torrential Tribute to BAM. Because they activated it, they would have to discard the little guy (as you can't activate cards if you don't have valid targets). However, they wouldn't be able to mill two others, which would be rendered mostly useless, ticking time bombs as you have to discard/mill all of them to get the nuke effect.

As a collorary, every effect that negates an activation, has to be chained directly to what it wants to stop. Negated chain links still exist for the purpose of reading the potential triggers left by the resolution of a chain. There is also a SECRET RULE-FU TECHNIQUE that never ceases to blow my mind. I've mentioned effect fizzling, i've mentioned activating fun things at fun times for fun results. Effect Veiler-Fiendish Chain interaction is what combines those two aspects. Say you have a monster with an ignition effect that tributes it as a cost. For this example, let's take Cardcar D for a joyride. But before that, a few things to keep in mind before we jump in:

Monster effects that tribute themselves for cost activate on the field.

Effect Veiler can and will negate abovementioned effect.

Fiendish Chain only negates things that activate and resolve on the field, just like Skill Drain.

The only window of opportunity to activate Effect Veiler to negate CCD is when it's summoned. Once that moment passes, it'll vroom away.

Do you see where this is going? You have CCD and a Fiendish Chain, your ornery opponent has Effect Veiler. What can happen? Go on, try to figure it out yourself.

The answer is: In response to CCD's summon a chain is formed: CL1: Effect Veiler, targeting CCD. If the turn player adds CL2: Fiendish Chain (targeting CCD), durning resolution Fiendish will negate CCD. As a result Veiler's effect will not affect CCD. After that, you can activate CCD'e effect and it will go through, because Fiendish affects only face-up monsters!

If something is done by the players 'at the same time', like with Dark World Dealings

Rule- trigger-wise, it's resolution opens up trigger conditions:

"a (normal) spell card was resolved"

"you added a card from your deck by drawing it"

"your opponent added a card from your deck by drawing it"

Physically, opponent of the person who activated it is the one to do it 1st (tho i do not have a sauce. It should be either a single-card ruling or in one of the posts of tcgplayer's resident judge).

See also: "events that do not start a chain" (=that do not form a chain link) in the rulebook. The thing that screws over sharks and what i strongly insist on doing: if you activate something in a window of opportunity for triggers as a CL1 (like activating Bottomless Trap Hole because a monster was normal summoned), you are RESPONDING TO *AN ACTION* (here, to the normal summon of a monster). If you are activating something as a CL2 or higher - you are CHAINING TO THE ACTIVATION OF *A CARD (EFFECT)*. And continuous effects APPLY. If you have aaaaaaaall this knowledge nicely sorted out in your head, the only way they could bend the rules would be to confuse you first by muddling what is really happening. Insistent, rigid terminology also point to what they don't know. Even corrected by a judge, they might operate under their old assumptions. Enjoy free knowledge=power ;>

Hey guys, I’m back with a new post!

Today’s article is pretty hard to understand; it’s usually one of those things that new and average players don’t understand or apply in the wrong way. And it’s probably one of the most important things to know to play the game. So, today I’m gonna write about...

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uh, i am pretty sure the manga didn't have so many objects sticking out of it's panels

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if you're reading this, go trawl other reblogs to this post.

Like, I'm not gonna say that the X-Men and their various imitators are anything like a perfect allegory, but "it's a bad allegory because super powers really are dangerous" has never held water for me. Like, are we really just gonna uncritically accept the implicit assumption lurking in that argument that bigotry is only wrong to the extent that its targets lack the ability to threaten the status quo? Hand-wringing over whether certain minorities are inherently dangerous is – and, critically, always has been – a smoke-screen for the real conversation about who has the right to possess the capacity for violence, and you can't engage with that conversation if your opening move is to concede that the only legitimate victim is a powerless one.

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TIL: the phrase "who watches the watchmen" originates from 2nd century AD.

You ain't solving it today.

That said, it is that time again when i start pontificating on how to make the internet P2P. Somehow. For resilience.

A lot of folks are responding to the whole Reddit situation by calling for the return of decentralised forums, and I think it's important to remember that, contrary to certain popular narratives, the reason early 2000s forum culture has fallen by the wayside is not because people are Just Lazy. Certainly, ease of use is part of it, but a much larger part of it is how vulnerable self-hosted forums are.

Basically, the problem is that even the largest and most carefully managed self-hosted forums can be rendered unusable more or less indefinitely by a single sufficiently determined hostile actor. This can take the form of both attacks on the forum's social infrastructure (i.e., via sock-puppet accounts, botting, organised "raids", etc.) and attacks on its technical infrastructure (i.e., via hacking, DDoS, etc.). In either case, a self-hosted forum has effectively no defence, and the majority of decentralised forum communities survive only by virtue of their relative obscurity; once a self-hosted forum manages to attract the attention of That One Guy who's willing to devote his life to shitting the place up over some microscopic slight, it's effectively game over.

Right now, there are essentially only two mitigation strategies:

Gathering huge numbers of communities under a single, massively centralised technical infrastructure that's simply too large and robust for any one hostile actor to bring down; and

Hardening the community's social infrastructure either by going private and invite only (i.e., the Discord approach), or by making use of a vast centralised pool of volunteer labour to aggressively enforce community standards (i.e., the Reddit approach).

To be clear, these are not intractable problems; other solutions may well exist. However, any proposed plan for bringing decentralised public forums back needs to address them; if you're going in operating under the assumption that forums have become marginalised simply because corporations are evil and people are lazy, you're just setting yourself up to learn the hard way why self-hosted forums no longer seem to be capable of growing beyond a certain point.

Huxley vs. Orwell

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the reason people get tired of educating, explaining, reasoning, sounding out

is that it just never ends

and its the same shit over and over again

people just continually fuck your shit up

and you have to smile and grit your teeth and go, ‘yo thats actually fucked, please don’t do it’

and when people you like and admire do it

do and say the same stuff you are forced to devote your energy to fighting

its like being kicked in the teeth

this is why people have flash temper reactions to bullshit, even if it was done without malicious intent

a thousand micro aggressions building up over your life

‘why are you so angry’ 'why can’t you just explain it calmly' 

maybe its because it never ever ends

and you explain it to one person and they get it and you feel good, because thank fuck, someone listened! someone grew! someone changed! someone genuinely meant it when they said sorry

turn around

and there are more people doing the same thing

what are you supposed to do

what are you supposed to do, other then scream

An interesting thing to note in regards to the Akutagawa-Tanizaki debate: their viewpoints were likely somewhat influenced by the styles of traditional vs. Western literature. Akutagawa Ryuunosuke tended to be more faithful to the emotional and abstract style of Japanese literature— whereas at the time of this debate, Tanizaki Jun'ichirou was deep in his fascination with the West, which is associated with stories that have more focus on a structured plot by comparison.

The interesting thing about this is that, later in life, Tanizaki-sensei would undergo a "Return from the West", in which his fascination with the West dwindled, and he became more invested in traditional Japanese aesthetics. In a roundabout way, the real life counterparts of Tanizaki and Akutagawa went from being at odds, to ultimately coming to an agreement— though Akutagawa-sensei passed away before he could witness Tanizaki-sensei's change of heart.

In regards to BSD, this could be paralleled with Tanizaki (the bsd character) leaving the Agency, whose members are authors who leaned more towards a Westernized style of writing, and transferring to the Port Mafia, which is composed of authors who were more loyal to the more traditional, abstract/emotional style of literature. But who knows, maybe Asagiri will surprise us.

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*Random fanfic of any gay BSD ships getting proposed to/are married/seems like they are married

“it’s cute and all but you’re forgetting that gay marriage is illegal in Japan”

Stfu, they are literally part of the mafia and have killed poeple, you really think they’d care about that💀

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