shmorlock

[shmorlock]

timebomb as coraline and wybie :p

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im completely normal about this show

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Good Job! Your situationship worked out in the end! You have three options to proceed:

Overcome class differences to fuck in a prison cell.

Use your love to transcend humanity and save the world.

Fall in love only to be trapped in different timelines.

[shmorlock]

ALTERNATE REALITY POWDER AND EKKO HAVE MY HEART

first dance

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Only you

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Arcane: Consumerism, Art, and What it Means to Create Entertainment in the Current State of The World

Yes. I wanted to write an essay about Arcane. If you don’t care, know that my short review is simply this: that was some of the coolest shit I’ve ever see.

Note there will be no spoilers. In fact, there’s very little about Arcane in this review at all, but I promise I have a point here.

…

I don’t want the world to fall apart. I really don’t. But then I look outside and I see so much of it just going to shit. And perhaps it’s the hyperbole of doomerism that gets me down, or maybe it’s the (privileged) hurt of being disappointed time and time again - or maybe it was quite simply always broken.

I used to think hope was the key to everything. But I don’t feel that way anymore.

And there’s some nights where I question where that leaves me as an artist - egotistical, I know. But let’s face the facts: art is dying, and content is its replacement. Entire business models are built on stealing your attention and filling your life with meaningless sludge that only drives you to invest in more content and more distractions until you finally don’t have any free thought left to question the cage consumerism has trapped you in. The systems of our entire world are built on consumerism, spurred by our capitalist institutions profiting off of the oppression and annihilation of others.

So welcome to being an artist. Your only path to “financial” success is to create media that is infinitely profitable. If you truly want to be a great artist, be sure to exploit the system in any ways that you can. In entertainment in particular, we highly recommend creating a cross-media franchise that can attack as many markets as possible. Then you can use those other pieces of media to help market each other in a never ending loop of content.

Oh. You did it? Shit. That’s a lot of eyes on you…

When you end up at the top of the entertainment food chain you have the option to not really care anymore about the quality of your work; quantity is all that matters.

But maybe, just maybe, you’ll remember you’re an artist, and you carry a certain responsibility to creating meaningful work…

When I was a kid I loved Bionicle. I loved Star Wars. I loved all kinds of franchises. I still do. Every franchise falls victim to becoming a never ending content machine, but deep down a small part of ourselves yearn for it to happen, because maybe a certain spark of childhood joy will reawaken in us from new material. Maybe there’s something more to be said.

I realize my own hypocrisy in calling out the problem of fanaticism towards franchises. I’m not special for doing so either. What is it that leads us to fanaticism in the first place?

See deep down, a lot of these franchises DO succeed in stirring something deep inside us, because a lot of them ARE led by true artists. Whether they’re created with greedy agendas or not doesn’t negate the fact that art continues to thrive in these spaces, albeit spaces that are shrinking as the battle against A.I. rages on now. But maybe - just maybe - real humans with real voices can shine through these cracks and show us something truly marvelous. Maybe they can show us a path towards a better future from even inside the cage.

Riot Games is a subsidiary of a multimedia conglomerate that thrives from the content machine. It is a company that has no care for you other than your wallet.

But inside that cage are hard working artists who still believe in something.

Arcane is one of the greatest pieces of media I have ever experienced. It has some of the best visual storytelling, character writing, and world building that I have ever seen. I found myself nearly teary eyed by the end of the show. It’s a masterpiece of a series that touches on just about everything, from the complexity of geopolitics and classism, to the nuances of familial love and heartbreak. Everything is intertwined not unlike life itself, and by the end, it becomes a final fight for humanity. The show’s relationship with artificial, unfeeling lifeforms is not lost upon me.

And for so much of the shows existence, I watched it on the defense, knowing that at the end of the day it may just be nothing more than an advertisement.

But against all odds, it rises to be so much more.

League as a franchise somewhat thrives in violence and never ending conflict. With that in mind, I often viewed Arcane with a question lingering in the back of my mind: does this show *believe* in anything?

Darkness alone is not a narrative. This is a truth I believe to be the only evidence that I still hold some sense of hope for the future. Perhaps art doesn’t need to have some greater social purpose, but the best art should *believe* in something constructive.

What does Arcane believe in?

It believes in forgiveness. It believes in kindness. It believes in love. Because when there’s no hope left in the world, we find a way to keep moving on. And maybe - just maybe - that love will carry us on to that tomorrow we endlessly chase.

I hope you continue to enjoy your favorite franchise. I hope you appreciate why you fell in love with it in the first place. Because it might just help show you how to live on another day.

(small quote spoiler below)

“We build our own prisons. Bars forged of oaths, codes, commitments. Walls of self-doubt and accepted limitation. We inhabit these cells, these identities, and call them ‘us.’ I thought I could break free by eliminating those I deemed my jailors. But... I think the cycle only ends when you find the will to walk away.”

[shmorlock]

you have to outlive donald trump

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i dont consider myself a 'fashion guru' by any means but one thing i will say is guys you dont need to know the specific brand an item you like is - you need to know what the item is called. very rarely does a brand matter, but knowing that pair of pants is called 'cargo' vs 'boot cut' or the names of dress styles is going to help you find clothes you like WAAAYYYY faster than brand shopping

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👁️🫦👁️

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my heart

the transition from people needing each other to wanting each other is literally one of my greatest weaknesses that shit makes me want to walk into the sea and sit on the ocean floor for a thousand years

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Probably one of my favorites from StealingPotatoes, very touching.

i think about ahsoka's "she was my friend" line too many times a day

(commission info // tip jar!)

[shmorlock]

KIANA MAI PILOT KIANA MAI PILOT

im so excited about the voice cast i've managed to get so far for this pilot omg

[shmorlock]

it was a stroke of genius to give James T Kirk a bitchy flip phone in the 60's, truly amazing to watch him slam it shut like a pissed off socialite girl in 2000's teen shows

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credit

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I want to make movies with my friends.

If you see this on your dashboard, reblog this, NO MATTER WHAT and all your dreams and wishes will come true.

[shmorlock]

Said it a year ago and I’ll say it again.

Pirate all your favorite shows, movies and games while you still have the chance.

Oh, and never stop supporting physical media.

[shmorlock]

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa