Forum › Dynasty Cafe: A Home for Off-Topic Discussion where everyone's welcome! (ღˇ◡ˇ)~♥

11
joined Jan 21, 2015

The owl is definitely real! It seems to be active early morning? I still haven't been able to see it, only hear it.

Ooh, I love owls! Let us know if you manage to see it. Keep an eye out for pellets, too.

New%20dynasty%20reader%20profile
joined Oct 22, 2018

The owl is definitely real! It seems to be active early morning? I still haven't been able to see it, only hear it.

If you catch a glimpse of it, make sure to take a photo, please. No presh.

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

Oh...cafe is ded? F

No luck with the owl. Haven't head it in a long time. Pretty boring atm.


https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/90200071
Fate/ BB X Hakunon

RadiosAreObsolete
Img_20210321_022239%20(2)
joined Mar 6, 2021

I came across a yuri anime from the 90's the other day. The love interests(?) literally looked like men lol. They looked so much like men that it sounded jarring whenever they spoke....

Sakura Cartelet
Nights%20of%20azure%20avatar
joined May 28, 2016

I'm right now working on Disgaea 6 am at the second chapter so far. Am enjoying it even though they cut the generic female healer. :(

Phpol1pm9_c1pm
joined Feb 3, 2015

Oh...cafe is ded? F

If I remember correctly, when the Cafe was created there was the European Football Championship going on somewhere around the quater-/semi- finals. Who would've thought that it would survive to witness another championship... ^^

Phpol1pm9_c1pm
joined Feb 3, 2015

Oh, btw I've forgotten, since it's July 1th, here is a song I've always associated with that date. Enjoy! ^-^
https://youtu.be/grSWdLdp7po

Sakura Cartelet
Nights%20of%20azure%20avatar
joined May 28, 2016

Ugh I got Batman on the standard banner in Genshin. I was hoping for Jean, Mona, or Qiqi instead. :(

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

Hello. I'm still in pain :'^)

If I remember correctly, when the Cafe was created there was the European Football Championship going on somewhere around the quater-/semi- finals. Who would've thought that it would survive to witness another championship... ^^

lol

Ugh I got Batman on the standard banner in Genshin. I was hoping for Jean, Mona, or Qiqi instead. :(

F. I'm either hoping for Jean or Skyward blade/Amos bow/5* book or spear next but Qiqi would be ok too, Xiao really does need a healer.


https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/79861916
Nijisanji Lulu X Gibara NSFW
ah yes, bring the pain!

mei is waifu
Ds6osxcvsaabln5
joined Dec 13, 2017

Okay...this is probably not going to be an well accepted opinion... but I don't get the hype about Catradora. I have started watching She-ra and have watched up to season 3, all I have never really shipped them? I also don't get why people like Catra cause all she's done till now is outright despicable and she is officially the character I dislike the most. I just can't ship her with anyone, let alone Adora because the repulsion I feel towards her. Damn, I somehow dislike Hordak and Shadow Weaver less than her. I'm just so fed up with her character that I feel like I can't gain any sympathy for her even if she has some sort of redemption arc later. Funny cause I started watching this show because I heard of Catradora, now I have ZERO interest in the ship but the plot has got me hooked. Idk man, let's see if my opinions change about the ship later. Thanks for listening to my rant I guess.

OrangePekoe Admin
Animesher.com_tamako-market-midori-tokiwa-deviantart-950416a
joined Mar 20, 2013

In my exp, the people who relate to Catra are disasters who consciously make bad decisions, a character type that is pretty underrepresented on TV. We stan Catra, our queen. But I do hope the plot continues to carry the show for you! It's definitely worth watching even if you're not into Catradora, some parts are just excellently done.

RadiosAreObsolete
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joined Mar 6, 2021

Ooh! I also got into She-ra recently for the same reason and ended up feeling more or less the same. I can't say I hate Catra, cause I do think that some of what she's done is kind of justifiable (and because she's a little kitty, I mean, come on), but like, this redemption arc really needs to come sometime soon cause I've started to lose my patience....

Also, I don't really see the ship so far? Is this a canon ship? I thought it was when I started the show, but now I've started wondering if I was wrong...? (Oh, don't answer this, I'd rather it be a surprise whichever way it goes)

Ah, I've also watched up to season 3, by the way. And I also ended up not really caring that much for the ship, since the plot and humour are actually quite engaging!

last edited at Jul 17, 2021 4:08PM

RadiosAreObsolete
Img_20210321_022239%20(2)
joined Mar 6, 2021

Also, I don't really see the ship so far? Is this a canon ship? I thought it was when I started the show, but now I've started wondering if I was wrong...?

I wasn't wrong!
Truth is, I didn't really ship them up until... the end of the 4th season?
Actually, I low-key shipped Catra with Scorpia for some time hehe (But then I didn't anymore, cause Catra was being too much of a jerk! and Scorpia just wanted friends... or whatever? lol)

And then the 5th episode of season 5 hit......
HOW could I not ship them after that?! It was just too good! And the rest of the season was just... hgnnn! too good for this ship. I generally avoid shipping non-canon couples too hard (I still didn't know if didn't trust they were canon at the time), cause I just can't bear it... But I couldn't not ship them! Glad it really did end up being official!
I think I actually started to doubt it, in spite of whatever signs there were in the previous seasons, because I'm too used to seeing this type of thing in anime ending up as friendship

Also

(and because she's a little kitty, I mean, come on)

Glad they recognised the adorable kittiness of Catra in the show. I mean, she purred. She. Purred. (I don't even know why I loved that so much, I'm not usually one to fangirl over catgirls.. It was probably in part because she acted so tough, when she was really just a kitty...)

Anyway,
this was a pretty cool show! I did get somewhat tired around the middle, like the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th season...? but the 5th season was such a great pay-off! Even without Catradora. Though of course for me Catradora made it even better~ hehe)
Definitely gonna make other people watch it so that I can talk about it!

last edited at Jul 17, 2021 4:09PM

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

So...I got 5 Blu-ray movies for like $5, these things are usually at 20 bucks and a store is selling them at 75-90% discount, is physical media really dying? Yikes.


https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/90645575
Original

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

Thunderstorms keep killing the power lines and I can barely function RIP


https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/87468359
Aikatsu Friends Hibiki x Alicia
Bit ecchi.

Snowfox
joined Jan 31, 2015

If anyone is interested, I came across a cool video explaining where the term "name" comes from in manga development:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZEU-sHRIRs

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

Slowly playing P5 Royal, I like the changes.


https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/90916966
GochiUsa Chino x Cocoa

joined Mar 5, 2016

Okay...this is probably not going to be an well accepted opinion... but I don't get the hype about Catradora. I have started watching She-ra and have watched up to season 3, all I have never really shipped them? I also don't get why people like Catra cause all she's done till now is outright despicable and she is officially the character I dislike the most. I just can't ship her with anyone, let alone Adora because the repulsion I feel towards her. Damn, I somehow dislike Hordak and Shadow Weaver less than her. I'm just so fed up with her character that I feel like I can't gain any sympathy for her even if she has some sort of redemption arc later. Funny cause I started watching this show because I heard of Catradora, now I have ZERO interest in the ship but the plot has got me hooked. Idk man, let's see if my opinions change about the ship later. Thanks for listening to my rant I guess.

people like Catra because she sucks, not despite it. she makes for good television but not good companionship.

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

My 2 cents on Punishing gray raven global: game is fun, don't even think about spending a dime until everything is addressed and equalised between servers, enjoy the EN version because it's probably won't last long.
Game is very good! It's easily a step up from MHY and I'm even getting full green bar connection. Lots of pretty girls so we might get some yuri art soon?

Anyways, I got visited by one of these guys except it wasn't cute. Played dead and I got worried because I thought it got stuck on some wires...then I remembered they do that.


https://twitter.com/eannagram/status/1417198365306081311
Genshin impact Baal x Unknown Tuna

118356846_1203382736693674_907001785468795444_n
joined Sep 1, 2020

Hi, is there a scan that is translating the light novel Wasureenu Majo no Monogatari?

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/91091316
Nijisanji Finana x Elira
NSFW. Reference to a Miitopia stream.

last edited at Jul 23, 2021 3:57AM

Img_20220214_023902-min
joined May 10, 2014

I just freaking popped my glasses hinge out of the frame 2 weeks before something very important...fuck! Classic me! Now, new glasses or repair? I accidentally scratched the lens on my pool literally the weekend I got them so they're kinda super busted now :/


https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/89374413
LWA Akko x Diana

OrangePekoe Admin
Animesher.com_tamako-market-midori-tokiwa-deviantart-950416a
joined Mar 20, 2013

Splitting into two posts, don't mind me.

Plebeian posted:

I’ll repeat that moral qualms people have with this manga are so foundational that they could hardly be called a trap. There’s a bigger discussion you’re touching on here about how much influence fans should actually have over the content of any work of art. Critiques that encourage authors to commit framing changes to avoid pushing a given boundary aren’t inherently good things..., really detest framing a boundary pushing decision that alienates readers as a ‘trap’.

I'll rescind my use of trap, perhaps it was a poor choice of word. When I say "framing change," I mean to say the artist could have pushed the same boundary in a way that didn't offend certain portions of their core audience. Now, if the point is to offend, then my critique is empty and so be it. I believe this particular artist wants to stimulate their audience, not offend them. If my view is correct, then a framing change would seem perfectly acceptable to me.

Personally, I’m in ‘the artists vision over all’ camp

While it's a fine view to have, it's not really one I share. Creating a 1:1 representation of an "artists vision" on paper is difficult enough in the best of circumstances, and these folks are generally subject to strict deadlines and rigorous work processes. They'll win some and they'll lose some. Their future selves will look back on some work, down to the minutiae, much more fondly than other works.

The vision also doesn't have to be static, internal and external critique can be valuable in molding that vision to be the very best it can be. Maybe the response to Linterdiction would be, "tough luck buddy, story isn't for you." Maybe it would be, "wow, those are some good points I hadn't thought of previously, I'll consider them when working next time." There's no way of knowing, but the latter being subject to external influence doesn't suddenly mean it's not the artist's vision anymore. If the artist were compelled to change their vision for editorial or commercial reasons, maybe we'd have a different discussion.

But in regards to the benefits of these reviews, I have some strong misgivings, but I can’t prove that someone doesn’t find they serve a purpose.

Majere already attested that they find those comments serving that purpose for themselves, so I've got one. Only one, though.

So, since only someone with access to the raws, which I doubt constitute the majority of ‘reviewers’, could answer definitively whether or not the positives grow/negatives wane (and even then they would be giving a review so much as a content warning. Maybe that’s just semantics) does that then leave the main benefit to these reviews in discouraging or encouraging people to continue reading a given work? How virtuous is that on a free website, for material that have generally low reader time investment to boot?

Well I don't know if it is semantics, but we'll see it aside. I'd extend the reviews idea out further. If I read for 7 chapters and am feeling weighed down by what I'm seeing but not entirely willing to drop it, seeing others doing exactly that is likely to push me to make the final decision myself. Alternatively, maybe users can give me new light with which to continue reading. I'd argue Linterdiction makes an interesting point in the third paragraph here that could change the way someone views the piece and convince them to continue. Readers aren't static either, and I find many posts inherently good for that reason.

Also lowering the bar for what we’re calling a ‘review’ to “this work does or doesnt match my morals” isn’t something I wanted to do, but then again the integrity of that word probably died with Steam “””reviews”””.

Yeah, I used it a bit tongue-in-cheek. I'm well aware of the limitations of some comments.

This is a misinterpretation of my expectation that a position held so confidently should be rightfully expected to have some strong backing. I felt Lizstar’s comment of “lol, that’s a weird thing to insinuate” was supremely smug and condescending, so I expected it must've been backed by strong arguments.

Sure, sorry for the misinterpretation.

The mere expression of one’s opinion may be all they’re after but the second they’ve expressed it it’s open to be analyzed and discussed as much as anything else posted here is, isn’t it?
To be clear: I don’t think every post should be obligated to be anything more than a blog post. But they obviously shouldn’t be exempt from responses, either, regardless of whether they aim to be part of a larger argument or not.

Sure, no issues here. To be honest, we seem to agree on all the broad issues. We agree that no artist owes it to the audience to bend to their wishes, or self-censor. We agree that any given commenter bears no responsibility further than blogging their thoughts. We agree that measuring the value of comments is tricky and in some cases impossible.

Regardless, In this specific instance do you interpret Lizstar’s post as just a blogpost? I saw his post as part of an active back-and-forth and decided to throw in.

No, it's not a blog post. Though, it starts to get sticky here, and this is the crux of my issue with...everything. I view the comments made by Lizstar and the OP as pertaining primarily to blog posts. Neither Lizstar nor MapleLovesYuri are really talking about My Younger Senpai. They're talking about the people talking about My Younger Senpai. We're in complete meta territory now. To me, these comments are perhaps more negative in nature than the comments they're referring to. We'll come back to this.

OrangePekoe Admin
Animesher.com_tamako-market-midori-tokiwa-deviantart-950416a
joined Mar 20, 2013

I disagree that one can prove value in moralistic comments based on whether they might be encouraging for someone else.

I've had a lot of thoughts of how to work out definitions like "value" in measuring comments, but I think this is sort of a sideshow, it's also not super interesting to me for now since we agree on those broad basics. I'd like to take the discussion in a different direction, to get closer to what I think is the root of our disagreement. You're of course welcome to just ignore whatever doesn't interest you.

What is "moralistic" to you? How are you using that word? I use it by this dictionary definition: "Given to making moral judgments, especially in a self-righteous or judgmental manner." I don't see a single comment on page 14 that is particularly moralistic. Yes, users are expressing disgust towards a particular character. Is the emotion of disgust inherently a moral one? If so, in what way do these moral judgements go beyond the personal?

I don't see anyone here preaching or pushing any agendas. I can't see anyone acting particularly righteous or judgemental (of real people, anyway). They're merely stating their personal reactions. On this forum, those reactions happened to be the majority (of those voiced) for a few pages. What is wrong with these comments, relative to any other? If we look at the primary responses to them, I think we see comments of an entirely different nature.

Nene laughs at and mocks them. This is poor behaviour, but it doesn't seem particularly moralistic. Blastaar takes the mockery a step further and seems to mischaracterize his opponent's views. Nobody on page 14, to my knowledge, said anything about reality or applying the "moral lessons" of this manga. If we assume that disgust as an emotion may only be expressed in moralistic terms (again, I do not), then surely Blastaar's post is also creeping into moralistic territory, as it's making value judgements about other user's views. Finally we get to Maple LovesYuri, and finally we reach a comment that I would consider completely moralistic.

why are half the people here are so sensetive...real life morals is gone.

Sensitivity as a value is dismissed, and viewing media with any moral lens is dismissed. A particular viewpoint is being pushed not just towards the manga, but towards other users here, too.

I decided to go through each specific post because I wanted to include something I consider important in these discussions; specificity. If we're just having a meta discussion about general trends in media fandoms, we're having a stale conversation that's already been had a few thousand times over, here and elsewhere. So we finally get back to...

Besides, should I really just be a cheerleader for whatever position I favour, in order to make people who cleave to the same ideals as me feel more welcome, so that they too can add their voices to the chorus? Wont that just result in less discussion and more vitriol and radicalization of opinions?

I would say that cheering on your side, or probing the other, is a far better use of our time than either the meta commentary or the mockery. There actually are a handful of comments on page 14 that had responses or which could've been worth replying to if one was interested in discussing the manga in particular.

Who does the meta commentary and mockery serve? What is the purpose, where does it lead? Is it really getting us there faster than if we bothered to actually talk to people who have interesting insights to share, rather than disparage and talk about (but never with) people we disagree with? To me, this two-track circular head-patting contest is already leading to more vitriol, less discussion, and further radicalization of opinions.

But if I wanted my posts to not be picked apart by others, then I shouldn’t have posted at all. Like, if I just said: “My Younger Senpai has no moral issues”, for instance, I’d expect that post to be torn apart, and rightfully so.

Sure, and I hope anyone doing that would address you or your points directly in a manner that facilitates actual thought or discussion.

In fact the amount of voices decrying works of fiction for their moral content on this site is sometimes discouraging, and a driving reason behind why I’ve never posted here before (been lurking just a little while, since 2018~ish).

I've already agreed a few pages back that this is a problem and we have made a rule for it some months ago, too. I've given this a ton of thought in the past year since I began moderating, but my views are still in flux. Upon a look back across this thread, I don't see "moralistic" comments from puritans as being especially concerning. Please do fill me in if you disagree.

I wanted to do exactly this, add my voice to that of people who like this work, not just in spite of some of its’ content, but who wholly embrace it. Because I sure don’t see a lot to positively identify with. In fact the amount of voices decrying works of fiction for their moral content on this site is sometimes discouraging, and a driving reason behind why I’ve never posted here before (been lurking just a little while, since 2018~ish).

Welcome. I hope we can continue to clean up the forum such that more people like you feel included enough to contribute. Take care.

F6c7d5d1-1d08-49c3-974d-d6169caf13f6
joined May 8, 2017

Just wanted to drop by and say hi! Haven't been here or on this site in a long while. Hope everyone is doing well.

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