#<- thinking about cartoon storytelling conventions

[boypussydilf]

*vibrating in place* i love media analysis i love to think about storytelling conventions, the means by which stories are told, the impressions given by sharing information a certain way and the reasons to share it in that way, the author’s intent and the way they did or did not communicate it and the reasons they either succeeded or failed,

[exactly-another-one-piece-blog]

Thinking about how One Piece is a story that is especially well suited to the medium in which it’s being told.

One of the central pillars of One Piece’s philosophy is actions over words. It values exploring and viewing the world for yourself and coming to your own conclusions. This is simply not a story that would work in a written format, both because it deliberately disvalues words and barbecue it puts us as the audience on an equal playing field with the characters as they explore the world. No matter how much time and dedication an author puts into describing the world their characters live in, those characters will always have more information about the world that we do because they can see it plainly for themselves without having to wait for each building to be described to them. An author in a written format controls the flow of information and can keep the setting as vague or detailed as they like to suit their needs. In a visual medium, there’s much less (albeit not none) room to hide.

And yet, this story also wouldn’t (and I expect won’t) work in a more conventional visual format like plays or movies. Both are too short to do the sheer scale of the story justice and too caught up in the limitations of reality. Yes, we can see people do fantastical things in these mediums but there is always a disconnect any time special effects have to be used as well as monetary concerns that will inevitably hinder a storytellers freedom and ability to tell the story as they wish. George R.R. Martin can write thousands upon thousands of people into being as he describes epic battles and country-wide conflicts but HBO has to actually find and pay all those thousands of people to make that happen on-screen. Which usually means it dosen’t.

One Piece has to be told as a manga or animated series. They’re the only mediums that can cater to this kind of cartoon-y fantastical world and story Oda has told with them.

[fantastic0fairy]

From Cherry Blossoms to Giant Robots: How Anime and Japanese Culture Captivate the World

Imagine a world where cherry blossoms float through the air, where samurai honor codes meet futuristic technology, and where everyone, from a teenager in New York to a retiree in Paris, can find joy in animated tales of adventure, romance, and heroism. Welcome to the realm of anime and Japanese culture, a vibrant, dynamic force that has crossed borders and generations, leaving an indelible mark on global society.

The importance and growth of anime.

Anime, Japan's unique style of animation, isn't just cartoons it's a cultural phenomenon. From classics like "Astro Boy" and "Dragon Ball" to modern hits like "Attack on Titan" and "My Hero Academia," anime has a diverse range of genres that appeal to all ages. What makes anime so special? It's the blend of intricate storytelling, complex characters, and stunning visuals. These aren't just shows; they're experiences that pull you into their world.

Anime is a gateway to Japanese culture. Through anime, viewers learn about traditional customs, festivals, and even cuisine. Think of "Spirited Away," where the protagonist, Chihiro, navigates a magical bathhouse filled with spirits a nod to Japan's rich folklore and Shinto beliefs. Or "Your Name," which beautifully portrays the rural-urban divide and the traditional practice of "musubi" (tying threads as a symbol of connection).

Global influence by connecting generations

Anime's influence stretches far beyond entertainment. It's a style, a vibe, a community. Fashion brands like Uniqlo and Gucci have launched anime-themed collections, while sports stars like Naomi Osaka openly express their love for anime characters. Moreover, the principles and aesthetics of anime have seeped into global pop culture, inspiring everything from Hollywood films to video games.

One of the most magical aspects of anime is its ability to bridge generational gaps. Parents and children can bond over shared favorites like "Pokémon" or "Studio Ghibli" films. For the older generation, anime offers a nostalgic trip back to their childhood while providing fresh stories that resonate with today's themes and issues.

Anime has created a global community of fans who gather at conventions, participate in cosplay, and engage in online discussions. Events like Anime Expo in Los Angeles or Comiket in Tokyo draw fans from all over the world, celebrating their love for this unique art form.

Fun Fact: The Origins of Cosplay

Did you know that cosplay (dressing up as characters from anime, manga, and video games) originated in Japan? The term "cosplay" comes from "costume play," and it has become a worldwide phenomenon. From local conventions to international events, cosplay is a testament to the creativity and dedication of anime fans.

Anime and Japanese culture are more than just entertainment they are a window into a different way of life, filled with beauty, tradition, and endless creativity. They remind us that, no matter where we are in the world, we can find common ground in the stories we love and the values they teach us. So, whether you're a seasoned otaku or a curious newcomer, dive into the world of anime. You might just find a new favorite story or even a new perspective on life.

Ready to start your anime journey? Check out classics like "Naruto" or "Sailor Moon," or dive into newer hits like "Demon Slayer" or "Jujutsu Kaisen." And if you're already a fan, share your favorite anime moments with someone new you never know whose life you might brighten with a little bit of anime magic.

Happy watching, and may your adventures be as epic as your favorite anime!

References.

Cavallaro, D. (2010). Anime and the visual novel: Narrative structure, design and play at the crossroads of animation and computer games. McFarland.

Condry, I. (2013). The soul of anime: Collaborative creativity and Japan's media success story. Duke University Press.

Napier, S. J. (2005). Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle: Experiencing contemporary Japanese animation. Palgrave Macmillan.

Noppe, N. (2013). Fanning the flames of fandom: The commercialization and transformation of fan activities in the age of media mix. In M. Ito, D. Okabe, & I. Tsuji (Eds.), Fandom unbound: Otaku culture in a connected world (pp. 104-127). Yale University Press.

Steinberg, M. (2012). Anime's media mix: Franchising toys and characters in Japan. University of Minnesota Press.

[apuckishwit]

See, it's a METAPHOR

A preview of Chapter 31 of Rolled a 1 on the Check, Rolled a 20 on the Save by APuckish_Wit on A03

The boys are acting weird.

Not bad weird or anything. He doesn’t think that anything’s wrong per se. They’re just super giggly and clearly are having private conversations in their Discord messages that they’re not letting him in on. Like…way more private conversations than they usually do during a gaming session.

It's their last gaming session before a two-week hiatus so he can attend Origins (and take a little side trip to Chicago to meet the man of his—increasingly explicit—dreams face to face for the first time and hopefully sweep him off his feet with his epic love confession), and he’s been planning an epic cliffhanger for the last month. He just needs to get Will or maybe Dustin to take the bait and convince the others to investigate the Upside Down version of the mysterious Apothecary Brenner’s estate. Ordinarily he wouldn’t care too much, besides being a little miffed that they aren’t giving his masterful storytelling its proper attention…but Steve’s acting weird, too.

He has been for the last couple weeks, honestly. Again, not so much a bad weird. He’s just been quieter than usual. Distracted, almost. Eddie kind of feels like Steve is only half paying attention to their conversations lately, but when he asks about it, Steve just says he’s fine. Has something on his mind that he’s trying to work out. Eddie tries not to be saddened that Steve hasn’t asked for his help or opinion…Steve’s his friend, not his significant other (no matter how much Eddie’s hoping, praying, and fantasizing that that might be different soon) and if Steve doesn’t want to talk about what’s bothering him, he doesn’t have to.

He tries not to let the weirdness get to him, and in the end it’s actually Lucas who takes the bait and convinces them to check out the apothecary in case there are any healing potions or herbs that could be useful. The boys howl in delighted outrage when Eddie springs his trap—dozens of the sentient vines that have been harrying the party bursting from the floor and walls of the apothecary as soon as they start searching the building and ensnaring Xerxes, Will the Wise, and Sir Stephen as loud, ominous footsteps descend from the building’s upper floor.

“And that, unfortunately, is where we’re going to have to leave it for the next two weeks,” Eddie announces gleefully, eliciting more howls and bright laughter from the boys. “I do thank everyone for joining us tonight, and don’t forget to check out my Twitch and YouTube channels for live streaming events from Origins next week! I’ve got a great panel planned and a few announcements about future projects!” For some reason, that sets off more laughter from Dustin before he quickly mutes his mic, and the boys all sign off much more quickly than usual, until it’s just him and Steve in the Discord.

“You excited for the convention?” Steve asks. In the background, Eddie can here pots and pans being moved, the clink of dishes and running water. He closes his eyes for just a moment, pretending that he’s right there with Steve, the two of them debriefing their day together over the remains of a nice dinner. God, what is his life that he’s fantasizing about clearing away dirty dishes?

It would be worth a fantasy if it was with Steve, though.

“So be honest—scale of one to ten, how fucked are we when whatever it is gets down those stairs?” Steve asks, and Eddie lets out a short bark of laughter.

“Eh, I’m not saying I’ll definitely get my first character kill in…but you might want to have a backup ready.”

“Already done.”

“Is it a human paladin named Stephano?”

“No,” Steve replies in mock-offense. “It’s a human barbarian named Stefan. Totally different.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Eddie says, so much fondness coloring his tone he was sure someone looking at him would be able to see cartoon hearts circling his head. “Dustin will hate it.”

“You say that like it’s not my main motivation.”

Eddie laughs again, gathering his laptop up and heading out into the living room. Gandalf is waiting at the door to his recording room, immediately winding around his ankles as he makes his way over to the couch. A copy of Men at Arms he’d gotten from the local library is lying on the arm of the couch, face-down and open to the page they’d left off on a couple days ago. “You up for more of Sam tonight? We’re getting to the thrilling finale.”

“It’s his wedding—how much more chaos can there be?”

“Oh, Stevie, Stevie, Stevie—haven’t you been paying attention? There’s always more chaos in Discworld.”

“Hah, true. But, um—he and Sybil get a happy ending, right?”

Eddie tilts his head, curious at the sudden shift in Steve’s tone. He sounds almost…tentative. “I mean—do you want spoilers?”

“Maybe? Shut up, I know it’s stupid. I’m just…rooting for them. They’re so different, but they really love each other.”

Eddie can feel the soft, goofy smile splitting his face. “That they do. And yeah, I promise, they get a happy ending. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not perfect. Sam gets caught up in his work…kind of a lot now that I’m thinking about it. But they always make it work. Sir Terry wasn’t real big on fairy-tale perfection. His storytelling is so real. Sam and Lady Sybil…they have problems and challenges, but they just keep, I dunno, choosing each other? No matter what. So the differences don’t matter in the end, and the mistakes can be forgiven.”

Steve is quiet for a moment. “Choosing each other. I really like that.”

Gandalf leaps up on Eddie’s lap, and he absently scratches behind the cat’s ears. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Yeah, me too.”

[spectralstitions]

THERE'S A MAP FINALLY LOL (EXPLODES)

Hey, it's Cas! In my last post about mapmaking, I wrote that the next time I posted about it, I hoped it'd be because my map was finished. Well, guess what? I FINISHED IT! It only took me, like... uh... half a year to get around to it. Well, here it is! Two versions: one plain, one labeled.

It's such a relief to have this finished. Finally, after a thousand years of just thinking about it, I have something resembling a visual resource! Yay! That said, it's not perfect, and definitely more of an approximation than anything. There are touch-ups to be made, many touch-ups, but I might just save that for an end-of-year progress check. For now, it's good enough!

The lack of labels has nothing to do with minimalism and everything to do with the fact that I really hate naming things. V-shaped icons point to major settlements. Dot icons mark settlements that are smaller, but subject to show up often for whatever reason. Those ones in particular I'm sure will get edited or shifted around over time.

Now, to meticulously explore each and every region!

I'll work from top to bottom!

Surprise, I'm starting with the name! I find myself drawn to names that sound simple but have lots of interesting connotations. In this case, I'd been searching for a name that captured the feeling of a far off, enigmatic place, something vast and always just beyond reach. Then, while I was searching, and in a manner not unlike that one Overwatch meme, the word "Hinterlands" played in the Lord Huron song I was listening to and I had my HOLY SHIT moment. There's no way a name this whimsical hasn't already been snagged by some cartoon or something, but I can live with that.

As an aside, if I were to pick just one piece of media that encapsulated what I'm going for with this project, it'd be the album Strange Trails by Lord Huron. Of all my many inspirations, it's the one that's had the most profound impact. So the name also works as a homage!

Starting off spooky with our first region, the Old Waythrough. It's a place most people don't like to talk or even think about, but it's always there, looming just under the surface. It has remarkably little presence even in local folklore, and what little there is has been cut into pieces and scattered about through generations of oral storytelling. That said, there are a couple surviving records of Parthans attempting flyovers, eager to prove their courage. None of them get very far, but interestingly, even across the centuries, their recounts have all been similar, describing endless, desolate lands that are empty save for random objects and footprints in the snow.

One famous story, and the tale behind the region's common name, recounts the miraculous journey of the first partha who made contact with the mainland using the Waythrough as a guide. If true, this partha is the only known creature to have crossed the Waythrough in its entirety—and in doing so, gave the fasa who saw them quite a scare!

Our next region is Parthesa, or the parthan homelands! Yeah, get ready for some confusing naming conventions. I'll try to break it down:

The species itself, singular and plural, is known as "partha". Its descriptive form is "parthan".

Partha born on Parthesa, as well as any outsider accepted into their flocks, are known as "Parthans" with a capital P.

All partha born on Parthesa are also called skyborn, while their mainland cousins are called wildborn.

It's a bit much, but I promise, so are they. Parthesa itself is frequently described as a paradise, mostly for the fact that there seems to be a strange lack of spirit activity on the islands themselves. Is that the full story, though? Who knows — Parthans aren't exactly scrambling to brag about how UNbetter-than-everyone-else they and their homeland are. On that note, did Parthans name themselves after their homeland, or did they name their homelands after themselves? Mysteries upon mysteries...

Famously, the islands are beautiful — flower fields, waterfalls, seaside cliffs, mountains and valleys to dip and dive through, and that wonderful ocean breeze! Plus, as long as you've got parthan feather insulation and love storms, the weather's great! Infamously, getting to Parthesa is incredibly dangerous without a Parthan guide, something that's hard to come by. Without one, travelers don't have a great track record of being seen again.

On the opposite side of the Waythrough, we've got the fasan homelands! This dashing, idyllic little landscape is defined by mountains, rivers, lakes, colorful flower fields, and forests of towering boreal trees. Also, ignore that green mountain I forgot to recolor.

Fasa like to incorporate waterways into their architecture in interesting ways, building settlements that trace the length of rivers. Despite their homeland's cutesy appearance, their deep forests harbor all sorts of dangers. Uniquely, this danger doesn't just concern spirits, but entire swathes of dangerous, predatory animals. Still, as long as you take the proper safety precautions, it's a lovely place to live. Their main city can be found by following the paths of the rivers into the mountains. Their harbor town is much newer but has quickly become prosperous!

Okay, you see this gigantic piece of land with almost zero markers in it? This one's my sandbox. Why does nobody seem to want to live here? Well, they tried. They really tried, judging by all the bizarre artifacts poking out of the ground everywhere. The place is a mass graveyard, with evidence of ancient raswa, fasa, and who knows what else engaged in constant territory spats going back centuries. However, these battles seemed to have stopped very suddenly. It's assumed that the appearance of spirits was the last straw that pushed people back into their homelands, finally convincing them the place was just not worth it, something that countless deaths couldn't accomplish. But it's been thousands of years, and people are making tentative attempts to settle again, this time in unity—and hey, so far so good! The few settlements that exist here are characterized by the diversity of their people.

If you follow the trails, you're sure to come across fellow travelers, traders, and the like, but the vast majority of the land is void of people. You could walk for weeks or longer and not come across a single soul! There's a lot to discover, but it's a bit lonely...

Down south, you'll find the Underbelly! The Underbelly is the common name given to this region of wetland and swamp. It's one of the deadliest—and in many people's opinions, the grossest—places in the Hinterlands. Miraculously, there are a hardy people who've managed to make a living in the deep swamp, their treehouse cities literal lights in the darkness. They trade with and have close relations to raswa!

Nearly done! Now we've come to the raswan homelands. Not to be an edgelord, but this region is one defined by utter darkness. Well, okay, it's supposed to be a little edgy, but that part of it comes second. On the left half sleeps an incredibly dense roofed forest, such that light rarely grazes the forest floor. Mushrooms spawn like wildfire, and only those with the grace of raswa are going to have much luck navigating it. On the other side of the mountains lies the raswan desert, a place where sandblood raswans lead nomadic lifestyles. It's also a place many go to get in touch with their spirituality. Sandblood raswa wander the depths of the desert, traveling by night, when sand in the air lights up like stars. With their unique skin colors and plain dark clothes, raswa disguise themselves as part of the night sky to avoid deadly desert spirits. The spirits are a pain in the forests, too—raswa have devised safe pathways for travelers, but all they can really do is hand you a charm and beg you not to stray. Due to the regions' conditions, the settlements here remain mostly raswa, save for their newer harbor town.

We're onto the last area! This island is in a weird spot, and it's kind of just weird in general, so I saved it for last. It's even weird in the formatting of this blog post! What is wrong with you, fae homelands? This island was created very recently by one of the gods, although they are all credited for it. "Homelands" is a strange word for fae to use, though, because most fae do not come from this land at all. In fact, there are barely any trees here! In any case, This island is what connects all people, encouraging unity in times of despair. From edge to edge, the place is a gigantic market space, full to bursting with different kinds of people, vivid colors, and overwhelming sounds and smells.

And that's that! I'll be real, I had way more fun just writing all that than I did even making the map, so I hope that even 1 person skimmed it and got something out of it. But if not, this'll be a good resource for me, too, so, I guess it's win-win.

I'm not really sure what's next for me! I kinda want to work on more visual development for the fauna, spirits, and gods, but the other, realer, and more boring side of me thinks I should probably figure out the extremely basic information like fasan & raswan government styles first. Cause, you know, the fundamental structure of their society is kind of important...

I've made progress in other areas as well, so I may make a separate post for that! But for now I need a short break. Hope you enjoyed. Yay!

[dynared]

So, a little over 24 hours later, RWBY (along with Red vs Blue and Gen:Lock) are officially for sale. But who will get them? And what will happen to them with the buyer? Let’s go over some potential scenarios -

Scenario 1 - Crunchyroll or a Japanese company buys it.

Crunchyroll, back when they were a Warner subdivision, had its fingers in the RWBY pie, even helping produce RWBY: Ice Queendom, an anime spinoff of the series (and arguably the only time the franchise has had good animation). They may be inclined to purchase the rights to the series, or facilitate a purchase to a franchise owner like Kodansha or Shuheisa (Shounen Sunday and Shounen Jump, respectively). In a situation like that, you may see the new owners call a mulligan on the series and reboot it from the ground up with animation from a studio like SHAFT, ignoring Rooster Teeth vision.

The problem with that is that well, a reboot is just that, a reboot. From scratch. They would assuredly throw out just about everything that has been done before, including the restrictions the late Monty Oum had on the franchise. While hardcore fans may not be down with that, casual fans would likely be interested to see the reboot.

Scenario 2 - Tencent or another big mobile game company buys RWBY.

It a conventional storytelling company is uninterested, RWBY may find second life as a Genshin Impact/Honkai Star Rail style gatcha game. Think about it, an ongoing game about the girls fighting Grimm and going through a rebooted storyline while people spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to roll for outfits for their favorite girl? They’re practically built for such an enterprise.

(Friends don’t let friends play gatcha games).

Scenario 3 - Nacelle buys it, adds it to the Nacelleverse, and Monty Oum spins in his grave fast enough to power Austin for the next ten years.

Nacelle, the company behind The Toys that Made Us, is set to launch its ambitious Nacelleverse, a mishmash of lost IP in the hopes of creating a shared universe. As per numerous panels from their staff, Nacelle has been looking for additional IP to add to their shared universe of eclectic characters, and the world of Remannt would assuredly be their biggest get to date.

So, who would they be sharing the universe with?

Yes, RWBY, if Nacelle buys the rights, would be sharing a universe with such franchises as the Biker Mice from Mars, the COWboys of Moo Mesa, Roboforce, and the Power Lords.

They even have a Roboforce cartoon ready to come out in a few months.

And no, it doesn’t look great.

This is admittedly the funny ending.

[astronnova]

Okay but I wouldn't purely blame LMK for the flanderization of Tripitaka. All the flanderized depictions in fan works I've seen are from people who actually read the book and made fan art of the original source. And both versions of Trip develop into better people, anyways. Also, it's a little hurtful to say that most people don't analyze what they read, no? Granted, it's a kids show so much of the fanbase are minors, but like...kids will be kids.

my bad that it came across as hurtful! thats not my intention, i meant it as more of an objective viewpoint on something that's become widespread online and irl then just an insult to people.

unfortunately, a lot of people within the uhhh lets say 15-early 20s range dont... dive as deep into literature as they should. you ever heard of that one meme about "the door is blue because the author liked the color blue" ?

this is just one of many, and you couldnt go anywhere online without seeing somebody make this kind of joke. schools dont even really teach deep analysis of literature recently (i should know, ive been in multiple english lit classes and most of them don't dive as deep as you could and should. the only one that does that is with my most recent professor), and this stuff happens in highschool. yknow, during students most formative years of learnin stuff.

kids shouldnt just get a free pass on choosing to ignore the main point of a piece of literature because "kids will be kids". literature is the backbone of critical thinking, most people develop that skill through reading, and stories have a greater purpose, especially classical ones, than just "heres a show that provides constant stimulation with no reason".

i probably sound a little crazy or something, and im not articulating this as well as i could due to me taking *checks notes* two melatonin like 30 minutes ago BUT anyway tldr for that section is that a lot of people just dont dive deep into literature and its true meaning. a lot of folks like only looking at the surface level bits because its so much easier and simplier than writing an 1000 word essay about the importance of a certain theme within a piece of classical literature or something

steering this back to monkie kid,

the thing i explained above i think is one of the sources as to tripitaka, and sun wukong's, flanderization within the monkie kid fandom. instead of looking at the characters with the original intent of the religious text, its looked at as more of a "well he did X so he's a bad person". its too literal for a religious allegory. trying to apply strict "real world black & white morals" onto characters like this just wont work and will end with every character from the original jttw with the label of "bad person".

i could go onto a whole rant about how the recent decline of deep analysis of literature is the reason so many people seem to prefer "childrens cartoons" (because of the easier to understand morality/lessons) over, say, classical work or hell even some modern classics. this isnt an insult towards ppl that like "kids cartoons" btw, like look at my whole blog its just about cartoons LOL . i think theres more than just that one reason as to why people, at least online, gravitate towards childrens cartoons (likely because theyre more fantastical rather than trying to cater towards "adult gritty realism" and are animated, which is hard to find nowadays with all this "live action remake" junk), but i do think its one reason.

again, my bad if i sound like an ass or something or if i dont make sense, its like 12 am and i shouldve been asleep like an hour ago but im easily distracted LOLOL . but yeah, i think the source of the flanderization is just people misunderstanding the point of the original text and trying to apply modern storytelling conventions to something thats meant to be a big ass metaphor for enlightenment

[sloshed-cinema]

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

It’s so refreshing to see larger animation studios begin to treat animation like it’s art once again.   Speaking as a snobby indie-head, I’ve never had to worry about compromise from smaller, more arthouse-minded studios such as Ghibli, Laika, or Cartoon Saloon compromising production design in the name of making a quick buck.  But as technology and processing power improves, one would think that it would make realizing a director and production team’s truest creative vision easier and more potent, or at least more budget-friendly.  It makes sense that Toy Story was the sandbox Pixar chose for its first endeavor: it doesn’t matter if your characters look like they’ve been molded from plastic, because they are!  And Sid, well… sometimes he keeps me awake at night.  So now, when budgets are big, technology impressive, and overworked animators bountiful, why has Disney/Pixar decided to make every one of its projects for the last five-odd years look as if it were cut from the same cloth?  When things like character design are limited to the same mould, storytelling is reduced to the strength of the script, and that’s been somewhat lacking for that studio, fair to say.  Fortunately, there has been a sea change in other studios.  Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a visual tour de force that took comic book aesthetics and ran with them in every way possible, brimming with creative energy.  The Bad Guys drops viewers into a poppy world of jewel thieves and preposterous heists, again playing with a mingling of 2D and 3D animation to draw the eye.  With Puss in Boots, action sequences take on a similar energy, feeling at points like stop-animation or almost as if one were flicking through a flip-book.  There’s something about the quasi imperfection of these moments which makes them more exhilarating: rather than trying to render plasticky perfection, the filmmakers are trying to generate a specific energy.  There’s an intentionality to when sequences are played out in twos or threes, a return to the spirit of hand-drawn animation in a medium capable of even more.  A conventional action sequence will suddenly explode into a splash panel of stylized color, or the silhouette of a character will loom in an impossible way.  Impossible little reflections or clever framing suggest excited storyboarding sessions, plotting out the funniest or smartest way to accomplish a plot beat: it’s an adventure, and it’s supposed to be fun and heightened, and about time we handled things that way.

Even beyond taking a new tack at visual storytelling, Puss in Boots couldn’t be farther from its filmic legacy.  It feels like the Shrek franchise has grown up to a certain extent, become more worldly.  I don’t remember Shrek as fondly as most do, but know the import that it had for a lot of people.  Looking back in 2023, I don’t know if it can be argued that it still holds up in quite the same way.  Even aside from visuals, the cynicism that people found an antidote to saccharine Disney trash feels more hollow now, well-trod ground.  Maybe it was needed then, but anymore that acerbic air feels more like a frustrated Jeffrey Katzenberg punching a Mickey Mouse shaped straw man.  Sure, we get some indulgences here, but I prefer my anti-Disney shade where it’s Jiminy Cricket doing a James Stewart impression vacuously lecturing about ethics.  Here we get a better sort of alchemy to the handling of satirical fairy tales: sometimes they’re just rapid-fire references, others slightly more layered jokes tying nursery rhymes to the woes of capitalism.  But at no point does the movie ever turn to the audience asking for them to gasp “oh shit he went there!”  Puss in Boots brings a new approach to mainstream family storytelling, presenting characters with problems that are simple in a universal sort of way and yet satisfying.  It’s clear from the start that Goldilocks’ journey will be one about family issues, but the inevitable bond of the bear family in the end feels sincere and endearing rather than cloying.  It’s just plain fun to watch Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Samson Kayo, and Ray fuckin Winstone be goobers.  Any story about wishes is pretty much required to end in no wish being made one way or other, and Puss’ journey to wish for more lives is bound to teach him that one life can be enough if lived well.  Zero fucking cinema sins points if you knock the movie for that.  The movie has a safe blueprint, but it cares about the characters.  Aside from his existential quest to avoid the scythes of the intimidating and super fucking sultry specter of death who could ravish me within an inch of my life and I would come back begging for seconds, Puss learns to overcome his machismo, learning to value others in his life and admit when he is wrong.  Kitty Softpaws dodges being the Token Girlboss or the trophy.  Jack Horner allows the story to indulge in a Trump metaphor without leaning too heavily into it, mostly rendering him a gleeful sociopath with absolutely bonkers proportions.  But the real coup de grace, against all odds, comes in the adorable sidekick.  Perrito somehow manages to absolutely thread the needle.  He’s cute, all of the qualities of a mini Aussie with the proportions of a chihuahua, but also a little weird—that distended belly with a scar, tho.  He’s sweet and silly to a fault, but there are cracks in the façade.  He describes his own attempted murder with naïve delight, and his kidnapping grants us the gift of the greatest occurrence of excessive bleeping this side of a RedLetterMedia video.  It just.  Fucking.  Works.  I would punt Olaf into the sun without a second thought, but I would lay down my LIFE for Perrito. 

THE RULES

SIP

Someone says ‘hero’ or ‘wish’.

The map changes hands.

Puss... in BOOTS! says his own name.

One of Jack Horner’s Baker’s Dozen bites it.

BIG DRINK

Puss in Boots wants gazpacho.

Puss in Boots’ facial hair changes.

Death shows up.

[fountainpenguin]

2,3,11,49 for the second ask meme.

[ #ridspoilers - For "Flypaper," which was posted last Friday; just me talking about the prose I liked in a scene near the end]

[Current Ask game]

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2. What’s your most recent fic and how far do you think you’ve come?

I've been writing 'fics since I was 7, when I used to write 'fics and print them out and put them in sheet protector folders. Every chapter used to be one page - with no paragraph breaks - written in size 22 font. I also used to handwrite 'fics on little stapled paper books I made.

My passion for storytelling has always been there (as has my obsession with platonic relationships, ha ha) but my skills have definitely come a long way since then :)

My most recent 'fic is "Flypaper," which is a "silly idea treated 100% seriously" cartoon crossover set at a superhero convention. I'm actually really, really happy with it and it took all my energy not to spoil my favorite scenes when I answered that previous Ask about favorite prose.

When I do long one-shots, I try to give myself one or two things to really hone in on. Recently with "Looking Back," that was "seemingly insignificant worldbuilding details" and "talking around the elephant in the room." With "Flypaper," I was focusing on my prose and sensory details the whole way through (so we get lots of descriptions about scalding shower water, greasy crumb-covered fingers, or the way hair blows in your mouth when you're on the beach).

Here's perhaps my favorite scene in the story:

He's still holding out his arm. Tentatively, WordGirl brings her hand to his. Both his palms together wouldn't be enough to cover even one of her fingernails. She does her best to give a firm handshake that won't make him feel like she thinks he's made of glass, but she's well aware of her super strength and, um… his notable lack of invulnerability. "I'm an English major too," she tells him. "Well… I'm planning to double major, but I just keep going back and forth. Two of my friends are going into journalism. I haven't decided if that's my calling too. I'm more interested in creative writing." Super Why whistles and withdraws his hand. He kicks his feet forward, floating back. "Double majoring sounds like a lot of work. That's so cool. I think I'm content chasing my lonely editing degree, but it sounds like there's a lot you want to do with your life. I gotta say, I really admire how you manage to balance your hero work and personal time." "Well, I couldn't do it without Kid Math. He's a lifesaver. I'd crumple like a tissue if he ever moved away." Huggy squeaks in agreement, sliding down from her back. The snack machine rattles, then starts dumping snack bags down the dispenser chute. WordGirl gets up, just glad to get off the floor. Super Why rises with her, using his hover boots to keep a short distance from her face. "Oh yeah," he says. "I'd like to take a look inside his book. I mean, I've gotta check it for triggers first before I get eaten alive, but I've always loved picture books. Graphic novels are basically picture books for big kids." Idly, Super Why spins his pen around his fingers. It clicks and clicks and clacks. It sounds like a train spinning its wheels on rails that lead to freedom. "You're into creative writing too? Are you signing books this weekend?" She looks away. Her blood flares with magma, but her skin stays cold. No pretty metaphor. Just plain old-fashioned cold. It's a good thing she's wearing gloves. Her nails bite through them to her palms, but at least this way, it's a lot less noticeable. "Oh," he says. The word plunks through the air between them. It's the same deep, dark sapphire blue you'd find in the ocean depths before the world fades to black because it's distant. She does not respond. Her chest beats, gnawing at the emptiness around the place her heart should be. And WordGirl does exactly what she always does, which is pluck out her soul, wring it by the throat, and stuff it back inside like she's throwing a casserole in the oven. Sometimes her soul needs a good whack against the wall, but it'll be "as good as new" by the time she's slapped the salt out of it. No one can ever know. They are not allowed to know. She'll wait and she'll wait and she'll wait, gouging gashes in her palms before she ever voices the faintest hint of disappointment. Because she can't just throw a tantrum over the cruel irony of the world.

There's a lot to unpack here. This constant back and forth juggling WordGirl has been doing throughout the story where she's trying to accommodate for Super Why's physical needs (like holding the microphone for him while they were speaking together on their panel) but she's also trying not to talk down to him or hurt him in any way.

WordGirl is such a "go, go, go" character who's always whipping back and forth, and I love the way I showed her actively being cautious and taking her time to make sure she didn't accidentally knock the Super Readers over. Just being around Super Why forces her to slow down and live in the moment, which is exactly what everyone else in the story keeps telling her to do.

When she's out with her friends on the beach and in town, she's still the "big sister." She's still "the mentor figure." "The one in charge." She almost doesn't suggest going to the beach because the mental workload of "getting ready and getting the others ready too" sounds tiresome. Before they went to the beach, she listed off some things she'd like to do (Run, dive, and fly with seagulls) and she doesn't do any of those things.

Even off-duty, WordGirl sees herself as responsible for her friends, and I just... really love this moment where she's talking to Super Why. She's trying so hard to suppress the envy she feels towards Kid Math. She loves him as a friend and coworker, but she's built this wall between herself and him - a wall that's painfully visible when she infodumps her feelings on Tobey and he just sits in silence trying not to criticize her - and I just really like playing with that.

I love this moment because Super Why can see right through her. Earlier, right after the panel ended, someone asked if she was selling books at the convention "like Kid Math" and she faltered and said no. At the end of the story, Super Why asks the same question, but he instantly picks up on her discomfort because he's Whyatt "Communicate With Me Or I Will Die" Beanstalk.

I love this bit where I wrote "And WordGirl does exactly what she always does, which is pluck out her soul, wring it by the throat, and stuff it back inside..." I like how ominous it sounds. It's the first moment she openly admits to her struggles... and she still chooses to stuff them down as much as she can.

I love this entire scene where Super Why is (unintentionally) picking her apart right where her cracks are. Whyatt has always been Mr. Scheduled. He needs to do everything by the book (literally) and he doesn't do a dang thing unless he's thought it through. His show is all about leaving the situation to calm down so you can turn the problem over in your mind and take a breath before you try to deal with it. He's got his life figured out. He knows what he wants to do with his career and he wants to ask about her life.

WordGirl has a vague direction of where she's going, but she hasn't solidified her plans. She's always been flighty and noncommittal, to the point that her friendships strain because of it and she's always pushing off things she wants to do in favor of duty or other people. She has ideas. She can't commit. She doesn't give herself time or permission to enjoy things.

I love this moment because Super Why sees WordGirl as "like me, but with a scarier life" and he's always assumed she's as scheduled and cheerful as he is... up until right here where he's like "... Oh. Oh, you've got THINGS to unpack, let's talk about that."

Earlier in the story, WordGirl does try talking to Rex and he's extremely uncomfortable with it, and she carries this fear that "Talking to Rex is uncomfy and will not make me feel better." But I really wanted to write teen Super Why as this guy who's made a life out of conflict resolution. He really picks up on her feelings and tries to help... They are friends, your honor.

If you've been following me long enough to remember the first time I ever posted WordGirl and Super Why friendship content (that drawing of them reading books in the sky, which I'm so sad I cannot find), then you've known me far too long, ha ha... I've wanted to write about the bookworm superhero kids for like 10 years and I'm happy I finally did. It was tons of fun to age them up, analyze their characterization, and play them off against each other.

I'm really happy with the prose and dialogue in "Flypaper," and it's secured a place as one of my favorite 'fics of all time <3

[More answers under the cut]

49. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?

I don't think so; I don't talk about my fanfics with offline folks. I've recommended a few of my 'fics to online friends over the years, but I'm not sure if they've read them.

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3. In your opinion, what’s your best fic?

This is always a difficult subject to talk about. My tastes as a writer, reader, or even as a fan in a fan space are usually wildly different than popular opinion. I tend not to like the popular ships, I don't like the popular characters, I don't usually enjoy romance, and I don't like writing short one-shots that are just 2 to 3,000 words.

I like tension, drama, and long introspective stories with deep worldbuilding. That's not something I often get to see in my fandoms (or even in the published novels that have been crossing my path in the last few years tbh). It's always weird to me when I remember what some of my more popular stories are, because sometimes I feel like, "?? Really? That's the one that resonated with you?" To each their own.

I gave it some thought and I think if I had to pick one, I'd say I feel my best completed 'fic is "Minion" (the one about H.P. and Sanderson bargaining with the Fairy Elder and Sanderson gets turned by her pheromones and assists her while she's there).

This is a piece that I think any reader could come across out of the blue, even if they know next to nothing about Fairly OddParents, and still pick up on very quickly. I think it's well-written, does an excellent job of being true to character, slots effortlessly in between canon episodes, fits with the quirky humor vibes of the series, I think it's fun and interesting, I think it has a lovely amount of fluff and tension and angst, and it pulls in the worldbuilding without leaving the reader feeling overwhelmed.

We get to see Sanderson's complicated feelings towards H.P. and H.P.'s complicated feelings for Sanderson. We get to meet Jorgen's mom and see an extremely powerful character that all of Fairy World respects (someone who was only namedropped in one episode towards the end of the series, and I think it's fun).

I think it's the best piece I have that shows the pheromone turning lore and it's the major piece that showcases what Sanderson's true personality is like when the pheromones are stripped away. It's often difficult to convey this idea that "Hey, Sanderson is who he is largely because H.P. is influencing him with pheromones, but he's also not a slave... he's just a young adult with eusocial insect genes that direct him to serve whomever the "queen bee" in the area is." I think "Minion" absolutely nailed what I was going for.

I'd love to show more pheromone influences, but it doesn't often come up. We've seen H.P. under Reddinski's influence a few times (he backs away, crouches low, and becomes more agitated in Reddinski's presence). Sanderson acts differently under different authority figures (like Longwood, Smith, and even Anti-Cosmo), but he's ALWAYS still Sanderson.

I really like the way that "Minion" explores this part of his life - and Fairy culture along with it - and also the way it explores how torn Sanderson feels about leaving H.P. in favor of someone else. Sanderson knows H.P.'s getting older and weaker. He also knows that H.P. isn't always kind to him. It's a struggle to think about where he wants his life to go.

Sanderson rarely gets to see himself when the pheromones are washed off. It's a weird sense of exploring his identity. I really like "Minion" and how it plays with the pheromone culture in a way that I think is easy for even outsiders to adjust to, and it's one of my favorite pieces. Nice, simple, and perfectly blends the internal and external plots.

My personal goal is to push Factor It In to be my best 'fic (Trying to stick close to canon, feature characters doing likable things, no major character death, no extreme trauma, feels very middle grade and cartoony and actiony, and doesn't go off the rails with worldbuilding). It's a project I'm genuinely passionate about and I have a lot of fun with, but I'm also trying to give it those "marketable" vibes [like fluff] that I need to practice for my future novels.

Come What May and Pink and Gray were my previous attempts to do what I want to do with Factor. That is, to write something more "middle grade" and trying to hit at least a few "commercial fiction" vibes. They both kind of got away from me when I leaned too far into the supernatural and made them sort of... ?? "sepia-toned" in their feel. They're a bit grim and aren't lively and fun stories.

CWM drags its feet a lot. It's really just a story about Kevin Crocker wandering around interacting with people or local businesses. He has his own weird plot stuff going on with witch magic and the Crocker house, but he's not truly involved with plot and action on a large scale. It's because that's not really his personality: he's guarded and reluctant to get invested, so he's basically "Okay, we'll unpack that later."

The slow, "I know this is going somewhere but I don't feel like readers know it's going somewhere" vibe was one of the reasons it fell by the wayside and I left it on hiatus for so long (that, and because I took some of the upcoming chapters to a writer's group to get critiqued and they got torn apart pretty badly, so that was a motivation killer that haunted me for years). CWM will never achieve that original "vibe of a commercial middle grade novel" goal I had for it, but I've written its next chapter and I want to finish it for what it is. Pink and Gray and 28 Cities have fallen into the same "swung and missed" crevice for me, but I hope that one day I can get back to them and wrap them up even if they've missed the intended mark.

Over the years, I did look at Factor It In a few times and wonder if I should pick it up again, but it was never the right time to give it the attention it needed. I want it to be "marketable" and "commercial" in the sense of "This is my practice story for real-world novel vibes and I want it to serve a specific purpose that will require patience and thoughtfulness." 5 years was a long time to wait, but I'm glad I didn't rush into it. It's going to be exactly what it was always meant to be- the thing that Come What May couldn't be. Whether or not it resonates with others is something that we'll find out over time, but I want it to resonate with me and be an excellent representation of my writing <3

(Also prefacing this with the warning that Factor isn't going to LOOK like a middle grade novel because I'm expecting it to be about 540k words by the time it's done, but it's meant to have middle grade vibes even though "longform content" happens to be the way the characters look in my art style.)

I do love Origin, Knots, and so many of my other stories for being what they are. I think Origin and Knots - which need to juggle pacing and worldbuilding in a peculiar way - are great in the deep dive category they're intended for.

But Factor is special to me because even though I'm still clinging onto things I personally like reading (like long passages of dialogue, slice of life moments that take their time), I'm also pushing it in a way that I don't push Origin and Knots... It has certain rules that it abides by behind the scenes, like how much worldbuilding I allow to leak into it or where I cut things. It has a steady plot and only takes place over 6 to 7 months whereas Origin and Knots take place over hundreds of thousands of years. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with it.

tl;dr - The goal isn't "write the best 'fic in the WordGirl fandom and be sad if it's not popular." The goal is just "write the best middle grade style, publication-adjacent piece I can, and succeed in the places where Come What May failed." That's what I'm trying to do by "making it into my best 'fic."

I have pieces like "Trying Too Hard" or "Looking Back" that I would never DREAM of taking to get critiqued because those are Intentional Bathtub Stories which are doing Very Specific Things You Would Not Normally Publish, because they exist as part of a larger storyline. Factor It In plays closer to publication rules even if it is still longwinded longform content. I like it and I hope others do too :)

(Some of my upcoming story ideas like Pulling Your Puzzles Apart, Francis, and Along the Cherry Lane also fit this "cartoony and skimming the surface without going too deep" vibe I'm aiming for with Factor, so keep your eyes out in the future if that's something that interests you!)

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11. Have you ever written a fic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

I dooooon't think so... I usually end up with a lot of weird ideas and/or niche favorites who are background characters, so I'm the one writing the content I want to see.

I think the closest I've come to sharing a lot of similar 'fic ideas with someone is just the general vibe of Poof's aged-up character: average little guy who struggles in school and is super brokenhearted when Timmy is no longer part of his life. I feel like that's pretty common (and I support it).

I don't actually read a lot of 'fics in the fandoms I'm most interested in-- I usually browse AO3 for specific tags of relationship dynamics or random settings or adventure tropes because "excellent portrayal of a relationship dynamic I like involving characters I don't recognize" beats "characterization in my own shows that feels OOC and likely isn't a trope I love anyway" any day, ha ha... I'm trying to get better at reading more in my actual fandoms this year, though, and supporting the community with my comments.

(FOP world is very filled with crossovers, though... I am in the market for some good non-crossover 'fics to pursue)

tl;dr - I don't remember writing a 'fic for a specific concept someone else has done before. I do remember that years ago, before Kevin Crocker existed, someone wrote a fic about Denzel's illegitimate grandson ending up in his care and getting assigned Poof as a godparent.

I remember thinking about this story a lot when Kevin's episodes were first coming out and when I was drafting "Come What May," but only 1 chapter was ever written and "Come What May" has a different plot entirely. The general "awkward young relative inside the Crocker house" stuck, though.

[ I went looking and I found it- it's called "Heir to the Throne" <3 ]

[Current Ask game]

[kelmcdonald]

Getting Shit Done!

Hey hey folks!

November was mostly work focused and December will be too. This month in my discord we’re gonna watch an indie werewolf movie called Wolf of Snow Hollow. I was told it had a dry sense of humor but I haven’t seen it yet. If it interests you, pop into my discord on December 7th at 5pm PST.

Last month I finished Murky Water. It’s all done! I’m getting the whole thing proofread now. Then I’ll repost all the old pages with the typos fixed. There is still a paper shortage so I don’t know if I’m gonna print it right away. Like it would be nice to have a new book for conventions but Cautionary Fables South America will be out next year. So it might be better to hold off with it’s crowdfund until next year.

Another thing I finished is my Failure to Launch comic. Patreon backers have been seeing the pencils posted on Fridays, but I finished coloring and lettering it last weekend. It’s written by Ryan North and will appear in the anthology Failure to Launch: a Tour of Ill-Fated Futures. I’m the editor on the book and it’s gonna be a great book. It’s a light-hearted education collection of inventions and world plans that didn’t get to become reality. Some are because they were based on bad science (like my story is about a man who didn’t account for friction or physics in general) but others fell apart because of corporate greed or government interference. I especially like a story written by Harry “Hbomberguy” Brewis about the first attempt at making a union. That’s gonna crowdfund in February. I’ll make sure to let you all know when it’s up.

While doing all this work I watched a lot of TV. So much it’s a little hard to remember it all. The big stand out is probably Interview with the Vampire. While different from the books, the changes the show made really improved the source material. I especially think the show aging Claudia up a little was a good decision. Her being turned so young in the book and movie does some interesting stuff, it doesn’t quite fit with the series as a whole. Her being older lets her run off of a bit on her own and grow into someone away from Louis and Lestate in a way that she couldn’t in the source material. It makes her interesting and nuanced as a character for the show.

And the actress playing her knocks it out of the park. All the actors in the show do. I also like the reporter being older while interviewing Louis and pushing back on him in the interview more. The whole show is just really well put together. I highly recommend it. 

Since I wrapped up a lot last month, this month I’m jumping back into You are the Chosen One. So that will be back as my patreon exclusive comic next month. I’ll post pfds of the previous chapters before I start things up again. I’m sure some folks have forgotten what’s happened since the couple of month break. 

I’m also getting ready to jump into the next The City Between story. It’s titled Shards of Reflection. I’m gonna try to experiment a little with the storytelling because the main character is an unreliable narrator. It will be interesting to see how things go and I hope I can pull it off. 

And I’m really living up to the cartoon of me spinning plates on the Iron Circus Geekshow. Because this month I also need to try and finish up the graphic novel I’ve been writing, Blue Moon. That’s the werewolf YA book I’m doing with Meredith McClaren. The script is due at the end of December. Or at least the first draft is. But it’s kinda fallen to the side while working on everything else.

I’ll be doing my usual streaming this month on Twitch. With so much going on, sometimes it’s hard to focus. So those two hour streams Tues, Wed, and Thurs really help me get at least my drawing done. One streaming thing that Spike and I are planning is on Christmas day we are gonna stream rimworld. During it we’ll be raising money for charity (but haven’t picked one yet). But it will be on both the Iron Circus Youtube as well as my twitch. We are gonna start at Noon Central and 10am PST. So join us if you don’t have Christmas plans.  Also, since twitter is exploding I figured I should list all my social medias. You can follow me at these places.

https://twitter.com/kellhound

https://facebook.com/kelmcdonaldart

https://instagram.com/keldrawscomicsoninsta…

https://cohost.org/Kelmcdonald

https://pillowfort.social/kelmcdonald

https://mastodon.social/@kelmcdonald

https://kelmcdonald.tumblr.com

https://twitch.tv/kelmcdonald

Have a good one! Thanks for your support!

[academicblog2]

The Realism Paradox; A Case for realism in animation, Grave of the Fireflies

Realism for the longest time has been associated majorly with the visual representation of the real world, so mediums like Live-action movies and photography are what many people think of when they hear the world realism.

Especially when it comes to animation as a medium. It is still widely perceived as a medium directed towards children, and many connoisseurs of realism do not even acknowledge this medium as being able to depict realism.

For example, the beliefs of famous critics like André Bazin whos depiction of realism lies in the sanctity and authenticity of photgraphic images, implying that depiction of realism is rooted to camera's ability to faithfully reproduce the real world (Matthews, 2018), which an animation cannot do in the same way.

And I would like to present "Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies" as an argument in this blog against that notion, and actually use this medium as a tool for realism. The quote from renowned film critic Roger Ebert perfectly sets the stage for this blog "Yes, it's a cartoon, and the kids have eyes like saucers, but it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made" (Ebert, 2000).

Fig: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grave_of_the_fireflies{accessed on 8th November 2024})

Main Body Argument 1; Realism is more about the emotional connection than its' life-like rendetions.

Before diving any deep into this argument, we would need to understand that Films in particular are not strictly bound to either the realistic or the anti realistic approach of storytelling. They can be seen as ground where both of these methods coexist. As quoted by Martin Seel in his article Realism and Anti-Realism in Film Theory, " Feature films invite us to experience the world created by a filmic narrative and to enjoy their filmic rendition. Films relate indeterminately to both these poles. Their particular strength lies in their capacity to let the imagination of reality and the reality of their imagination play with each other in the awareness of the viewer in such a way that they carry or interrupt each other, that they penetrate each other, or that a delicate balance is created." (Seel, 2008).

And this is an important quote, because it challenges the very notion that realism in films can only exist when there are photorealistic elements present on the screen, widening the area of realism to other medias of storytelling with movies like stopmotion, 4DX experience and of course animations. According to Seel, there has always been a tension in the world of cinemas between realism and illusionism and the very path a movie takes to navigate these poles makes them so engaging (Seel, 2008). And this particular indeterminacy is key to the argument for "Grave of the Fireflies", when looked into from the lens of Seel, this film's use of animation and its artsyle especially it un-conventional (for the time) use of smaller eyes and more wrinkles and real facial features along with it's unapologetic depiction of actual corpses, makes it different from it's rivals in the live action medium. And this difference creates an emotional and physcological connection between it's characters and the audience in a way that feels real.

The scene where Seita catches a bunch of fireflies on a random night and releases them inside his mosquito net creating a whimsical almost dream like sequence just to be followed by a smash cut and then us (the audience) seeing both the siblings burrowing those fireflies the next morning with setsuko asking "why do fireflies have to die so young", is a perfect example of how this movie explores the juxtaposition of emotions as an indeterminate space in the hearts of its' audience by blending this fantasy moment of childlike innocence with brilliant animation and the use of warm colors to the reality of life, implying the fates of millions of "fireflies" (children) who died as a direct result of this war. This makes the audience directly face the harsh realities this movie is trying to portrait making them more connected to the story and its' characters igniting an emotion of empathy and whimsy in-turn making it "feel" more real.

Fig; The stark contrast between the firefly scene and the burial scene from grave of the fireflies. (https://www.facebook.com/AnimeCorner.Official/posts/breaking-grave-of-the-fireflies-is-coming-to-netflix-on-september-16trailer-more/892770592878719/ {accessed on 08th November 2024})

Argument 2; When done affectively, movements of your characters work as a tool to for realism.

Just as how emotional realism can draw viewers into the story, Physical realism achieved through character movements can ground them to the world that the director has created for them.

Character Movements are one of the most underrated aspects of realism, as having worked in the industry and just having an eye for human movements, I can tell that most of the live action and even animation movies for that aspect, donot make there character movements human. And by humanizing character movements I mean the small mundane things that we do in our daily lives that are just not too important to take up time in a modern film, for example tapping our feet on the ground after wearing shoes to adjust the overall feeling and make it more comfortable. This is a small gesture but it makes that event more real, as when put in a movie, it communicates with the audience that yes the character in-front of you is real in their own world and that they just like us cannot perfectly fit their shoes on their feet on the first try. This is more of an argument against the more cg heavy modern style of filmmaking, because many of the modern titles like avengers use motion capture to make their characters feel, more immersive. But while refining the mocap data they donot use this fillers breaking the illusion of realism. Even Sahra Kunz from Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave, Barcelos, in her research titled "The problem of realism in animated characters: has the Uncanny Valley been crossed" concluded that the quality of movement of characters is the main concern when it comes to the future of CG movies in regards to avoiding uncanny valley (Kunz, 2015). This uncanny valley of unnatural movements disconnects the viewer from the world, making them feel more uneasy and creeped out, which are two of the emotions you dont want your audience to feel while you are trying to make them empathetic towards a character. Isao Takahata one the other hand not just portrays the character movements effectively but he takes this a step further, he traps the viewers outside of the scene. For example the sequence where Setsuko is running around with that white blanket on her head or playing stone paper scissors with her reflections with almost childlike innocent movements makes you take a breathe and actually contemplate the emotional impact of the tragic reality that this movie has brought us into. It makes us feel helpless like we would have been, if we were alive during that period, and that makes this movie more real.

Fig; Scene where Setsuko is running with a blanket on her head, inscribing a feeling of childlike innocence into the hearts of the viewers (https://static.tumblr.com/8b96890aa0ac24416cfacff61bbdf640/lffxhhs/3ixnwtclf/tumblr_static_56qc1ptxdjocw40kwosk0w8go.png {Accessed on Novenmber 8th 2024})

Argument 3; Maybe Its Fakeness makes it Real.

Paul Wells in his book "Understanding Animation", highlights that the entire premise of defining realism in animation is almost unattenable with our current level of knowledge as there is a lack of a definition of realism within the field that can be affectively and objectively used ti define realism as a whole. (Wells, 1998:25)

According to Paul "Animation does not share the same method and approach of the live-action film. Rather, it prioritises its capacity to resist 'realism' as a mode of representation and uses its various techniques to create numerous styles which are fundamentally about 'realism'." (Wells, 1998:25).

And I believe this is an excellent counterargument against Bazin's camera centeric realism. As realism consists of more than just pixels imitating a scene from real life. And animation embraces that idea, it does not shy away from its cartoonistic nature, rather takes pride in that whether it be a movie like grave of the fireflies that was released 4 decades ago, or "Acrane 2" that is yet to release as of me writing this blog. And this was actually one of the major reasons why Akiyuki Nosaka the author of Grave of the Fireflies chose animation over the hundreds of live action offers that he got for his work as he believed that it was impossible to replicate the same paddy fields and backdrops in a live action movie plus he doubted that kids can even take on the role of acting such heavy scenes, whereas with animation these were not the problems as the entire control of the frame lies in the hands of the animators (Ghibli Blog, 2011). For example, this scene (Fig 1) from the movie, where while burrowing those fireflies Setsuko mentions about the death of their mother for the first time in front of Seita and how shes in a grave now. And we as an audience could see Seita who's been holding everything in all this while, who was trying to protect his younger sister from this harsh reality finally breaking into tears.

Fig 1; Seita crying after Setsuko mentions their dead mother to him

And although these tears or the expressions may not look the more realistic or photoaccurate with its exaggerated feature and larger than life tear drops. This scene uses animation’s "fakeness"—the stylized, non-realistic depiction—to access a deeper emotional realism that resonates universally. it still very affective potrays the message to the audience, as we feel this moment to our heart, the feeling of finally letting go something that we have been trying to hold in and the calm cry that follows afterwords is something we as an audience can relate to very much.

Conclusion.

The success that came with Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies's portrayal of realism, opens the door for the exploration od animation as a medium of serious and mature storytelling. In doing so, it paves the way for a broader understanding of how different mediums can represent reality. The power of animation lies in its ability to manipulate the frame, not to replicate life, but to evoke a deeper, more universal truth. And although there is still a need for more studies in the field of realism, I do strongly believe that these archaic and almost propagandic notion of realism can only exist when the sanctity and authenticity of photographic images is preserved is out-dated and cannot be used in today's modern world. Broadening our perspective of realism only serves our hunger for immersive storytelling as it allows us to look into other medias without any biases and preconcieved notions and makes us treat a piece of art for what it is. I would like to end this blog with this quote by Nicholas G. Chernyshevsky "The first and general purpose of all works of art, we have said, is to reproduce phenomena of real life that are of interest to man. By real life we mean, of course, not only man’s relation to the objects and beings of the objective world, but also his inner life." (Chernyshevsky, 1853).

References

Chernyshevsky, N. G. (1853) The Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality, in Russian Philosophy Volume II: The Nihilists, The Populists, Critics of Religion and Culture. Quadrangle Books, 1965.

Ebert, R. (2000) Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - Great Movie Review, RogerEbert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-grave-of-the-fireflies-1988 (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Ghibli Blog (2011) 'Animerica interviews: Isao Takahata and Toshiro Uratani', Ghibli Blog. Available at: https://ghiblicon.blogspot.com/2011/04/animerica-interviews-isao-takahata-and.html (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Kunz, S. (2015) 'The problem of realism in animated characters: has the Uncanny Valley been crossed?', in CONFIA 2015 Proceedings. Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave, Barcelos, pp. 73-86. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/19661 (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Matthews, P. (2018) 'Divining the real: the leaps of faith in André Bazin’s film criticism', BFI. Available at: https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/andre-bazin-divining-real-film-criticism-overview (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Seel, M. (2008) 'Realism and Anti-Realism in Film Theory', Critical Horizons, 9(2), pp. 157-175. doi: 10.1558/crit.v9i2.157 (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Wells, P. (1998) Understanding Animation. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group. Available at: ProQuest Ebook Central (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #649

Top Ten Interpretations of Transformers

Do you know what I love? I love Transformers. I always have; there’s very little of my life where I wasn’t enjoying those big ol’ stompy robots in disguise, one way or another. I have a comic dated February 1985, when I was only just three. It’s been there all along, like Agatha Harkness (who, funnily enough, was also in disguise, and also had a bangin’ theme tune).

Anyway, one of the things about Transformers as a franchise is, really, it’s just a bunch of toys. There isn’t that one central storyline the way there broadly is in most other long-running franchises; Star Wars is (basically) all one thing; Marvel and DC comics have (basically) one core comic book storyline as well as all the various spin-offs and adaptations; even stuff like Turtles or My Little Pony, which have also had multiple reboots and varied continuities, seem to keep a lot of the basics, or at least don’t continuously contradict each other. Transformers, though, has so many different interpretations; if you ask something relatively straightforward, such as “how did the war start”, “why do they transform”, or even “where did they come from in the first place”, it’s impossible to give an answer without qualifying that it’s only true for some versions. What’s Vector Sigma versus the Creation Matrix versus the Allspark? Who knows? Who cares?

As it’s the fab bot-and-convention TF Nation this weekend, I thought I’d take a moment to celebrate my favourites of all these random, disparate, contradictory realities; what with Deadpool & Wolverine slicing up audiences like nobody’s business, it feels like a very good time to journey through the multiverse again, this time hopping from one Transformers verse to another like a giant metaphysical frog.

What am I on about?

Basically, this week’s list is me looking back on my favourite versions of Transformers, from comics to TV and (potentially) movies. I’ve not included toylines, as I sort of don’t think that counts really without a storyline behind it; and I would have included games, but I never got on with what I’d say is the really big “games-only” Transformers story, the War for Cybertron games, so that’s out. So: stuff to read and watch, essentially. And there is absolutely no surprise over what looms large in my psyche, like a giant predatory bird.

That’s all there is to it. Do you really want me to say it? Sigh… okay.

Roll out.

IDW Volume 1 (comics, 2005-2018): Of course it’s this. What else could it be? At thirteen years, this is probably the longest-running and most consistent Transformers continuity; it’s also the best, offering everything from bombastic action romps to complex and nuanced character arcs to thought-provoking examinations on the concepts and tropes of the franchise itself. From the slow-burn opening arcs to the tragi-comic odyssey of More Than Meets the Eye, this was long-form storytelling at its most impressive; a masterpiece of comic art. Spawned careers and upturned central tenets of the franchise: Megatron being a good guy in the most recent cartoon would not have happened without these comics; I don’t think we’d be getting Impactor and Xaaron toys without these comics. It’s incredibly good.

Marvel UK (comics, 1985-1990): I’m focusing here on the UK-originated stories, which began with Man of Iron (first issue I ever got!) and arguably ended with the text story Dreadwind’s Xmas. In here you have franchise-defining arcs that really helped establish what Transformers was to a lot of readers; long-form epics such as Target: 2006 and Time Wars that delved into places the US version of the comic couldn’t go. Looking back, the timey-wimey weirdness, high body count, and focus on B-and-C-list characters really helped solidify the things I look for in fiction.

Marvel US (comics, 1984-1991): even outside of the (IMO superior) UK-generated stuff, the “main” comic series still ruled. This is the cornerstone, the foundation myth of the entire franchise; this is where most of us get our bedrock knowledge of what a Transformer is, I’d say. Writer Bob Budiansky did a tremendous job wrangling so many characters for so long; once British writer Simon Furman took over (essentially marrying the UK style to the main US stories), it went full-bore apocalyptic. Timeless stuff.

Transformers: Rescue Bots (TV, 2011-2016): my favourite animated series might seem strange; but I applaud it for stepping outside the box, delivering a show for younger kids focused on new characters and scenarios. And, delightfully, it developed its own mythology and sense of style; the inhabitants of Griffin Rock grew into a large cast of beloved faces in that organic Springfield sort of way; and the core four ‘bots are just all-timers in our house.  

The Transformers (TV, 1984-1987): I suppose, really, this is where it all began; the original animated series. For essentially a forty-year-old toy advert, it’s aged pretty well for the most part; some stories are silly, some downright horrendous, but the opening More Than Meets the Eye arc still rocks. The theme tune is iconic. And, of course, this is where we get The Transformers: The Movie; something I’d argue is probably the single most important and formative piece of Transformers fiction. Yes, it’s fun in and of itself, and for its interesting production story; but also it was the seed that bore fruit in so many ways across the franchise for decades to come. Til all are one, indeed.

IDW Volume 2 (comics, 2019-2022): when IDW rebooted their whole universe in 2019, I was a bit nonplussed; you only have to scan your eyes upwards a little bit to see just how much I revered their original incarnation of the franchise. However, writer Brian Ruckley (who seemed to steer most of the story) was able to craft an intriguing and slow-burning plot that showed how various schemes and conspiracies led to the outbreak of war. Sharing DNA with IDW’s first run, I feel it lacked a bit of the heart and the smarts, but it was still a compelling tale.

Transformers: Animated (TV, 2007-2009): another great, fun animated series, and another that sort of reimagined the core of the franchise. Here, a small team of Autobots (with an Optimus who is not the big wise old leader) are, effectively, superheroes, operating on Earth like they’re the Teen Titans or something. A slow arc builds as the war intervenes, but the combination of a new dynamic, funnier and more characterful plots, and especially the kinetic and hard-edged design, makes this a classic.

Transformers: Generation 2 (comics, 1993-1994): it took me a while to warm up to this; like when the first IDW continuity ended, I was so wedded to the original Marvel run that this odd and edgy sequel felt out of place. It wasn’t my Transformers, so I didn’t read it at the time. Now, though, I can look back at it fondly as a timely curio; a gruff, bombastic, violent ode to nineties excess, like a parody of an Image Comics version of the franchise. Explosive and propulsive widescreen entertainment, with some great art.

Dreamwave (comics, 2002-2004): they get a lot of stick, quite rightly, for the way the company was run; and also, to be honest, for the quality of some of their early miniseries. But they really did pull it together; the art improved, the spin-off series were gold (The War Within!), and by the time the ongoing was unjustly cancelled (coz the company ran out of money, basically), it looked like it was going to some good and very interesting places. And really, nothing can compare to the thrill I had of seeing that preview issue in a comic book window at university; here was Transformers, looking like my Transformers, back again.

Live-action universe (movies, from 2007): there was a lot of jostling for the tenth spot here; the new comics continuity, from Skybound, is good but I’m still warming up to it; and the animated EarthSpark has some great concepts and designs but I’ve not really seen enough of it yet. So I’m going with the live-action continuity, and quite frankly even I’m shocked. Because what we’ve got here are a series of films that are, for the most part, frankly terrible. But. But! The first Transformers (2007) and last year’s Rise of the Beasts are both good fun; explosive, busy films, maybe too long, but still enjoyable and recognisably Transformers. However, I’ll be honest: this is here entirely because of Bumblebee. I wanted to put that one film on its own but felt it wasn’t fair. Perfectly distilling what made Transformers special, the story of one-girl-and-her-car is poignantly, brilliantly old; it’s essentially E.T. with a giant robot Volkswagen. So watch that, it’s great; and if you enjoy it, watch those other two. Skip the rest, though. They’re shite.

So there we are. I kinda wish I’d managed to watch more than the first few eps of EarthSpark; but to be honest I’ve bust a gut to include Bumblebee, because I genuinely think it’s the best non-comics piece of Transformers media ever produced, so even though it’s part of a stable of films I generally do not like, here it is, propping up the list.

Anyway, hope everyone has a good time at TFN this weekend. And, of course, happy fortieth birthday to Transformers as a whole! And here’s to the next forty. Because, after all… it never ends!

[frances-communication-design]

W10 Essay so far

The attraction of flaw. The unique purposes of perceived flaws, anachronisms and low art.

A vivisection of my work shows my repositioning of camp, queer culture, genre, handcraft individualism and anachronism to positions of value. These emerged from my taste in 'low' art and storytelling. Predominantly, retro sci fi, fantasy, pulp, comics, horror and genre fiction. I believe in storytelling's ability to be both entertaining and meaningful, even if it's perceived as less academic. And that mediums are defined by their 'flaws', or rather their polarizing limitations and side effects, not weighed down by them.

The Creative

My body of work is primarily illustrative and often story focused. Usually featuring defined characters, nature and elements of genre fiction. My work spans traditional and digital paintings, to drawings, to short form comics, occasional writing, and the integration of these mediums into design. This affinity for story stems from my childhood interest in ‘low brow’ genre fiction, fantasy and sci fi and international comics. The works of Shirly Barbers fairy stories and fantasy fiction set my love for the pastoral. I began to be drawn towards traditional painting and medieval styles, and the Arts and Crafts movement in particular. While I don’t think myself educated enough to have distinct political opinions, I’m drawn to handicraft methods as a reaction to over industrialization same as William Morris and other figureheads of Arts and Crafts. For the more ethical production and imperfect uniqueness of the handmade[FR1] . But for as much as these movements are reactionary rebellion, they’re often escapism as well. Since the pastoral is aspirational, I’d argue escapism is inherent to the movement to a degree, but its excess in Cottagecore and Arts and Craft spaces makes me uncomfortable. Real life isn’t escapable. Simultaneously, I don’t think fiction needs to adhere to ‘high’ art standards to be taken seriously as more than ‘escapism entertainment.’ Nor that any level of escapism is immoral. Fantasy elements allow for metaphor and emotion to heighten in ways simple depiction doesn’t capture the same way. This is taken to extremes by weird fiction sci fi/fantasy authors like China Mievile and Jeff Vandermeer. Of their works, my favorite involves eldritch horror and Romantic sublime nature as an overwhelming force[fr2] .

Horror is a genre I found through its frequent pairings of sci fi and fantasy. Until recently, it was seen as sensational, cheap, and exploitative. But its reactionary disregard for societal convention means   horror will approach strong negative emotions, non-conformist femininity, queerness, physical and societal critique because its goal is to upset. We are drawn to horror out of morbid curiosity, information [FR3] gathering about desperate and dangerous scenarios, so we can watch and learn for our own lives. (Clasen & Scrivner 2021) This is why I like storytelling; its parallels help me process my own problems. So, a genre with more conflict makes more poignant metaphors. Horror is also associated with the feminine and queer. Even if the depiction is villainizing (queerness) or villainizing and victimizing simultaneously (femininity). Horror allowing for their depictions gave me a way to see myself and my problems that other genres don’t have the same pedigree of.

Comics are also a bedrock of my work. My art style is a heavily influenced by European [FR4] artists (and often writers) like Herge, Moebius and Kerascoet, with delicate, complete cartoons with drawn back perspectives. More interested in simple portrayal than the high character drama American commercial comics I also take inspiration from. Largely works from commercial publishes like ICW, Marvel and Image comics. These inspire me narrative, with likable, character driven, emotional stories. Japanese comics are also influences, not just in story but in art style. I grew up online surrounded by artists inspired by anime and manga, which in turn influenced me.

I’ve discussed my predilution for fantasy and sci fi, but not horror. All of these interests interconnect and fuel each other. Comics are largely genre fiction. Fantasy and sci fi stories are often horror. Horror is often queer. Queer is often cottage core, which is often fantasy and sci fi, and so on and so on.

While I incorporate illustration into my graphic design, I’ve neglected interactive design, my future career. I’m inspired by the high-quality interactive fiction often found of Itch.io. Works like queer horror artist KittyHorrorShow’s avant-garde eldritch fiction and character focused slice of life Wide Ocean Big Jacket are personal inspirations for creating story focused, meaningfully interactable experiences. This is an avenue that combines all my interests and is ripe to be explored.

The Creation

William Moris and his philosophies are inspirational and analogous to my own. He was the figurehead of the Arts and Crafts movement, a late 19th, early 20th century British movement concerned with bespoke decorative and fine arts[FR5] . This was in reaction to over industrialization, a relevant issue with current matters of climate change, overconsumption, and rising cost of living. I draw both from Moris and his own inspirations, such as folk art and Romanticism. A 18th century movement concerned with emotion, individualism, and nature. My work is overly emotional and handmade, using the warmth and texture of traditional mediums. The sublime Romantics and modern horror creatives also both depict nature as existentially larger than us, both for purposes of awe and almost Lovecraftian horror, something I explore in my own work[FR6] . It represents existentialism and is also comforting somehow, playing a smaller part is less pressure. Though for all Moris’s environmentalism and ideals, it also worth noting that by his own admission he didn’t change much societally, and neither do I. I also disagree with over glorification of the past or individualism since they’re often used to justify abuse.

Jaeden Pirfano Kristofferson is an online artist I’ve followed for some time. His exaggerated surrealist colors, shapes and expressions conveys the story and emotion of his characters perfectly. His work is considered ‘low art’, often being fanart, horror, genre and queer. But he’s one of my favorite artists and I was drawn to him for these features for reasons I’ve discussed before, excepting fandom. To be honest, I came from a fandom background, like many young internet artists. I got into art because I cared about stories and wanted to communicate with the original content and from there the world at large. And I stayed the course because of the surrounding community. Online art’s accessibility for creation and distribution makes it a hot bed of passion driven, not for profit, independent art. To me, these features give the same presence as ‘old fashioned artisan’ work. A significant portion of online art is in fandom, since it’s so populated with creatives that draws in or creates more artists. Fandom continues to be associated with the feminine and queer as well. Despite being almost three decades old, John Fiske’s take on fandom rings true. Fandom is associated with culture that dominant systems denigrate. Comics, movies, shows, pop music, celebrities, and genre fiction. “It is thus associated with the cultural tastes of subordinated formations of the people, particularly with those disempowered by any combination of gender, age, class and race.” (Fiske, 1993, p. 27).

Mike Mignola is a comic artist and writer, most famous for his B.P.R.P.D and Hellboy comic series. Both set in the same alternate universe of our own. His writing and art are what drew me to him. Mignola’s worlds are filled with mythology, folk tales, pulp action and extremely human inhuman protagonists. His stories hit me in the right time of my life for me to get attached to the characters. His gothic sensibilities art clear, originally a 18th century medieval revivalist movement associated with the Romantic, before becoming a genre that’s a little different everywhere. But always with a sense of ruin, isolation, over emotion and times gone by[FR7] . He was also inspired by pulp magazines and authors like Robert E Howard and Manly Wade Wellman. Pulp magazines being names for the cheap paper they were printed on so they could be sold to the masses. He was also inspired by authors like Micheal Moorcock, a favourite of mine regarding alienating fantasy, or HP Lovecraft and his contemporaries in eldritch existential horror. (Ferno, 2014) Medieval, emotional, and unsettling continue returning themes for my work thanks to their human storytelling potential. However, it’s his art that really attracts. High contrast, styled like sharp rock, gothic and efficient. He's economical but bold, making moody impressions easily. I recall noticing how faces for his scenes could be a few lines of shadow, complex architecture would be simplified to shapes or how he'd cover a background in black, so he didn't have to draw it. Cutting corners is common in high volume productions like comics and Mignola pulls it off with style. This project’s made me much more aware of how much I need to do and as an anxious perfectionist with a limited life, this stylish and efficient techniques are aspirational.

Jeff Vandermeer exemplifies high fantasy, sci fi, and a recurring inspiration of mine: the sublime. 18th and 19th century art influences me in many ways, including the Romantics and their concept of the sublime regarding nature and atmosphere. The Romantic era began in England, it was emotional, individualistic, emotional, a reaction to the industrial revolution and emphasising illogical yet powerful emotion. To them, the sublime is the greatness of something beyond measurability, calculation, or imitation, filling the viewer with intimidation and awe. Often its applied to nature. Consider the night sky, huge waterfalls, storms, and sunsets. Or manmade structures like skyscrapers, cathedrals, or dams. Vandermeer positions nature as a supernatural sublime force in his work, creating existential horror from forces out of our control. He upholds elements like mould, microorganisms, deep sea creatures and almost alien forms, inspiring me to have a similar fascination with them. For me, this expresses my existential worries and exemplifies the beauty of nature. Vandermeer is an environmentalist, inspired by the way the local wildlife that inspired his work was degrading. “We need to stop pretending there's a nature and there's an us… we'll one day realize that there is no separation, but by then it'll be too late.” (Vandermeer, 2018, para 10). I agree perfectly with his sentiments on environmentalism. Given the power Vandermeer gives his moss and mould, it’s safe to say he doesn’t think we can defeat nature, only cause enough harm to change it as we know it. And as we’ve evolved to live in it. (Maher, 2018).

Bibliography

Clasen, M. Scrivner, C. (2021). Why frightening imaginary worlds? Morbid curiosity and the learning potential of horror. https://psyarxiv.com/nvfbt/download?format=pdf

Naylor, G. (1988). William Morris by himself. https://www.amazon.com/William-Morris-Himself-Designs-Writings/dp/0760755639

Fiske, J. (1992). The Cultural Economy of Fandom. In The Adoring Audience. . pp. 27-47  Routlendge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203181539-4/cultural-economy-fandom-john-fiske

Ferno, C. (2014, March 17). HELLBOY WEEK: MIKE MIGNOLA Talks Literary and Pulp Influences. 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture. https://13thdimension.com/hellboy-week-mike-mignola-talks-literary-and-pulp-influences/

Maher, J. (2018, February 23). “The Future Is Happening Right Now”: An Interview With Jeff VanderMeer. Pacific Standard. https://psmag.com/environment/the-future-is-happening-right-now-an-interview-with-jeff-vandermeer

[artbyblastweave]

BLASTWEAVE what does steven universe have in common with watchmen?

Both Steven Universe and Watchmen are groundbreaking entries in their respective genres that demonstrate a deep understanding of the appeal of the genre they’re working in, and engage with their ideas on a previously unheard-of level for the medium. That breaks ground and clears the way for what other works in the genre can get away with. 

Steven Universe showed that, well, first of all that you can make a cartoon that’s fundamentally ideologically queer beyond a few side characters, but also that you can have an emotionally intelligent and mature children's cartoon where the character nuance and depth and development are all taken very seriously. Watchmen showed that you could write serious and interesting narratives about superheroes if you were willing to roll with the crazy. (Neither of them was the first to do the things I’m ascribing to them, but I do think that they’re what made it stick for their respective fields.)

In doing so, though, both works create/created a catch 22 for all future works in their genre. Part of what made both of them so good is that they were willing to critically unpack and air out the ugly implications of their format that usually get chalked up to suspension of disbelief, and now that that’s out in the open it becomes very difficult not to think about how any other given work is or isn’t addressing those issues- even if they aren’t equipped to address those issues in the scope of the story they’re trying to tell. Watchmen asked questions about who sanctions superheroes, what qualifies you to do that work, where the line is between heroism and fascism or if there even is one, whether the agency to act means you have a right or a duty to act, whether anyone who seriously bought into the superhero thing could possibly be doing it for good reasons, and, if they somehow were, how long you can care with the intensity necessary to be an effective hero without suffering burnout (not long.) I literally can’t think of a single superhero thing worth reading that isn’t in some way in conversation with Watchmen - you now kind of have to answer those questions, explicitly or implicitly, even if your books thesis is “Alan Moore sucks eggs and being a superhero is very sustainable and fantastic.” If you just leave the question of whether your superheroes are justified completely unaddressed, there’s an uncomfortable discordance there, because we’ve seen the extreme end of that sliding scale in the form of the Comedian and if the narrative doesn’t engage with what makes the protagonist not Edward Blake, it can feel worrisome. If they try and then botch it it can feel alarming.

Steven Universe has a similar thing going on, at least for me. It’s the only unironic, non-parodic children’s series that’s really, seriously unpacked how fucked up and traumatic it would be to grow up as the archetypical All-loving Spirited Saturday Morning Cartoon Protagonist, how warped and dysfunctional a household that enabled that lifestyle could be at its worst, and what the future looks like when your whole childhood was centered on a now-ended conflict. ( a lot of cartoons flirt with that last one but don’t commit.) I’ve seen jokes and intended-as-cracky fan theories about this for years, surrounding lots of other cartoons (Ben 10, Pokemon, Powerpuff Girls) but almost never with the assumption that the creators are on the same page as them. I’ve seen stories that are post-modern reimaginings using the same general archetypes or whatever (Venture Brothers) but that’s not this! SU told an entertaining story earnestly, and then engaged with the emotional fallout of the story it told, with an unheard-of breadth and depth. A whole season of unpacking! No other show has ever been allowed to sink that much effort into closure. That’s usually what Fanfic is for.

I think it’s great, and that shows like Infinity Train and The Owl House are able to go as hard as they do largely because of Steven Universe’s precedent- but no matter how good a cartoon is, I can’t watch them without having this voice in the back of my head going “Oh, these children are going to grow up to be broken wrecks, bar an extensive and harsh healing process that kinda hurts to watch, huh.”

The issue is that not every cartoon can be Steven Universe, where the project was to thoughtfully and sensitively unpack this stuff. It’s a fair bet that we’ll probably never see a show with that exact project again (not least because of the loss of novelty value.) You’ve got your own stories you wanna tell that’ll run their own course, mostly aimed at children, there objectively isn’t narrative or financial room for most stories to unpack these assumptions if that wasn’t the goal going in. For example, Gravity Falls had pretty tight storytelling and a narrative that absolutely had room for a post-script "where-do-we-go-from-here” plot- it sped-run the “oh no, childhood’s ending” thing- and it’s pretty telling that the aftermath, healing process, interpersonal relationships and so forth are one of the things that that fandom heavily fixates on. The narrative had such a clean ending that it made people go looking for the mess. That’s not bad! It’s how most storytelling works! But now I look at any cartoon with kid heroes that’s meant to be taken even marginally seriously and go, Oh. Win the battle, lose the war. Then I feel sad. The contrast, of course, is that most superhero works actually can be, and in fact benefit from trying to be like Watchmen, because all the questions Watchmen raises about the ethics of power are also just.... like.... the most interesting storytelling hooks if you want to write a cape thing with real themes. They’re the kind of stories we’d have gotten years prior naturally if not for the CCA boondoggle. Admittedly it kinda creates a different problem where most “good” cape media is inescapably self-referential and draws on picking apart the conventions of a 60-70-year old canon that hasn’t been in wide circulation in years. But! I also think there’s a stronger obligation there to keep superhero fans in check- if your superhero thing isn’t making the reader question the ethics of violence and individual heroism in the face of systemic injustice, you wind up with people who unironically think Frank Castle is a role model to be emulated. We all know that guy. Children’s media doesn’t really produce that guy the same way, although it can draw them in from other corners. Superhero media often needs to be self-critical in a way children’s cartoons don’t always have to be.

[maxwell-grant]

One last one for the moment; top five superheroes who definitely AREN'T Pulp Heroes, but could be with a little tweaking?

Oof, that's a hard one. It's a hard one because, again, there ultimately isn't that much separation between the two to the point there's enough of a hard line in there to work with, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now that I've staked claims on there being differences between them.

Okay so, not counting superheroes who are deliberately modeled after actual pulp heroes, so no Tom Strong or Night Raven here. I'm sticking mainly with comic book superheroes (barring one oddball exception) since the medium separation is important), who I think could become pulp heroes with some tweaking.

5: Captain America

Sort of cheating because I already covered it here, but I definitely have to include Captain America in here, especially in the stories they actively go for a "pulp" vibe as well as the earliest ones.

Fun fact about Marvel: As Timely, they actually began life as pulp publishers. Not just pulp publishers, but specializing in some of the sleaziest, ghastliest magazines of the era, and you can bet this carried over to their superheroes. Where as DC's superheroes took inspiration from the big pulp heroes such as The Shadow and Doc Savage, Timely's superheroes seemed instead much more inspired by Weird Tales stories and Poverty Row horror films, and even in the 60s, Marvel never really abandoned their horror roots, the trick was just using them as a baseline to create superheroes. In DC, the world's first contact with superheroes begins with the world looking in wonder at a friendly strongman. In Marvel, it began with the world looking in panicked horror at a flaming monster rampaging through the streets desperately trying to not burn everything it touches. It should come to little surprise then that the majority of characters I'm including in this list are Marvel characters.

People think Captain America's first comics largely consisted of him fighting Nazis left and right, but they were actually much more often based around him encountering monsters and creatures of horror, like the above panel where it looks like Cap's staring down the beginning of Berserk's Eclipse (RIP Miura).

The early Captain America comics pretty much consisted of Kirby dipping his toe into the monster comics he'd make in the 50s which would later bleed into the 60s Marvel entourage. They even tried repackaging Captain America into a horror anthology in the 50s titled "Captain America's Weird Tales", just imagine how different the character would be today if that somehow stuck.

Imagine a world where Steve Rogers never became leader of The Avengers, never got to become the shining beacon of heroism of an entire universe, and instead, when he was unfrosted, he woke up to find a world running rampant with crawling nightmares and Nazi tyranny, and he has no idea what's become of his former sidekick. That definitely sounds like the start of a promising pulp adventure.

4: Namor

Another Timely creation. In Namor's case, he didn't so much encounter horrors from beyond imagination, as much as HE was the terrifying thing beyond us ready to rampage upon mankind, whose first on-screen act consists of the calculated slaughter of a ship full of innocents. The first true villain protagonist of comic books. Not just an anti-hero, a villain intent on wiping out the human race.

And not just a cardboard supervillain, but the beautiful prince of a race of ugly fish monsters, a momma's boy who's doing what he thinks is right by warring with surface dwellers. While Namor's become largely defined by his gargantuan arrogance, here, he's almost childlike, despite being much more brutal and villainous here, spurred on by the whims of his mother, who even acknowledges that Namor had no real reason to kill the divers but did so anyway, and now encourages him to genocide. His mom even tells him "Go now, to the land of white people!", and the very last panel of the story even states he's on a "crusade against white men".

The massacre of explorers at the hands of something beyond their understanding. A monster born of an interracial coupling. A race of fish monsters with bulging eyes, antagonistic towards humanity but are shown to have positive traits just the same. A dash of racism. There is no mistaking The Sub-Mariner's pulp horror influence.

A non-white superhuman warrior born from a Lovecraftian horror story, who gradually moves away from his villainous crusade into becoming more of an anti-hero, never truly putting aside his hatred for humanity, remaining a temperamental, unpredictable outcast, with a strong, palpable undercurrent of anger in his stories. I could very easily buy Namor as having crawled out of a Weird Tales story and I can't think of other superheroes whose origins are as steeped deeply in pulp horror.

3: Doctor Fate

Technically we already have a pulp hero version of Doctor Fate in Doc Fate, and I'll get to him separately, but even besides him, the earliest Doctor Fate stories in particular feel very much like he's a character steeped in the worlds of pulp and pulp horror who decided to put on a superhero costume and show up in comic.

He's got a similar set-up to The Shadow, from the pulp Shadow in the sense that he's a mysterious, eerie crimefighter who dwells as a presence more often than an active character and who kills criminals without remorse, always watching and waiting for the right time to strike as a a wrathful old-testament force of vengeance, and from the radio Shadow due to him using superpowers to fight crime while being accompanied by a smart, fierce love interest.

Originally, Fate was not a sorcerer, but instead a scientist who discovered a way to manipulate atomic structure, of his and other things, thus making it appear that he can do magic (although we never see his face, and he's implied to be thousands of years old, before they settled on the Nabu origin). And going back to Lovecraft, a lot of it appears in the earliest Fate stories. Fate was given powers not by a sorcerer, but an alien worshipped as a god. He barely encounters traditional monsters, but instead contends with hidden races, zombie slaves, abandoned alien monoliths, and half man and half fish creatures. Fate may have actually been the very first pastiche of Lovecraft in pop culture.

And of course we can't forget the gloriousness of Doc Fate pulling an Indiana Jones on us.

2: Wolverine

I don't even think you'd have to tweak Wolverine at all. You'd just have to get him out of the costume and Avengers/X-Men associations (although the X-Men have a substantial background in pulp sci-fi stories like Slan and Odd John, so they aren't really at odds here), maybe tone down his powers a bit and, that's it. Logan's already the kind of character who has such a varied sandbox history, whose powers can lead to so many different scenarios, that it's not a stretch at all to picture Wolverine in the usual pulp hero scenarios.

You can have half-naked Wolverine running around in the jungle with animals Tarzan-style, take him to Savage Land if you wanna throw dinosaurs in there. He's already Marvel's foremost "wandering samurai/cowboy" character which was one of the stock and trade types of the pulps. Western? Done. Samurai? Done. Wuxia? Just put him in China and add a couple extra fantasy elements. Wanna make a sword and sorcery story with him? He already comes with a bunch of knives and savagery and ability to survive grisly injuries. Horror? The MCU is crawling with them, or alternatively, tell a story from the perspective of someone who's being hunted down by Wolverine. Wanna tell a detective/noir/post-apocalypse story? Logan's right there.

Wanna have him crossover with pulp heroes? He's lived through the 1800s and 1900s and traveled all over the world, you could feasibly have him meet up with just about any of them. Logan may actually be the purest example of your question, because he's very much not a Pulp Hero, and yet, he definitely feels like a character who could have been one, at just about any point in the history of pulp magazines. He's perfect for it.

1: Wario

WAAA-okay, look, bear with me for a second here, I'm not just picking Wario because I love oddball choices and he's one of my favorite characters, I got some logic to this.

Okay so, the first question here: is Mario a superhero? While I'm usually adverse to calling characters prominent outside of comic books superheroes (hence why I'm definitely not interested in debating whether Harry Potter or Goku or Link or Frodo are superheroes), I do think it's a pretty shut case that, yes, Mario is a superhero. Superheroes don't just come in the form of skintight crimefighters, right from the start comic books have had varied types of superheroes appearing in comics and comic strips. For example, the "funny animal" superheroes are a type older than superhero comics, and they were arguably not only the most successful type of superhero of the 40s-50s era, but arguably defined trends dominating nonfunny animal superheroes, traits that predated or influenced Captain Marvel as well as Otto Binder's reshaping of Superman that defined much of superhero convention as we know it. It's part of why the question of "Is Sonic a superhero" has a very clear Yes as an answer.

So upon establishing that, yes, funny cartoon characters can be and are superheroes too, is Mario one? Well, I'd say yes. He's got an iconic uniform, he's got superpowers, he goes on fantastical adventures, he is both a nebulously general do-gooder as well as having a clear mission as protector of the Mushroom Kingdom. His adventures span multiple storytelling formats, he's got catchphrases, he even dresses up in Superman's colors and has a Super prefix iconically associated with him. Not a superhero the way we usually think of, but a superhero nonetheless.

And Wario? Well, putting aside Wario-Man who's more of a running gag than anything, Wario does just about everything Mario does. He's got all the traits that define Mario as a superhero short of a Super prefix and the selfless mission (which isn't exactly a rule). He goes around and gets into crazy adventures, he picks up items, beats bad guys, conquers the odds, and gets some kind of prize for it. He's got Mario's physical traits, and Mario's costume, and just about the same name short of a single letter. The caveat being, of course, that he's Wario, and so everything Mario is or does has to be exaggerated to gross extreme.

Mario is paunchy and strong, Wario's round and built like a powerlifter. Mario's got a friendly face and a fluffy mustache, Wario's got a massive horrible grin and jagged razors for a stache. Mario is a bit of an overeater, Wario can and will eat anything in front of him. Mario gets around with acrobatics and magic power-ups, Wario brute forces his way through everything and just rolls with whatever injuries he picks up along the way.

Mario gets fire powers by consuming magic flowers. Wario sets himself on fire and barrels around destroying everything in his path. Mario harnesses the elements or abilities of beings around him to clear obstacles and solve puzzles, Wario gets turned into a zombie, a vampire or a drunk to get the same things done. Mario befriends and rides dinosaurs who raised him from infancy, Wario piledrives dinosaurs and then uses their bodies to beat up more dinosaurs. Mario pals around with fellow heroes, princesses and friendly fantasy creatures, Wario pals around with aliens, witches, mad scientists, cab drivers, and lanky weirdos. Mario always ends his adventures joyfully leaping to the next one, Wario usually ends up either cackling in a pile of treasure or completely broke.

Mario races through plains to rescue princesses, Wario invades pyramids to hunt for treasure. Mario jumps through planets with baby stars guiding his path, Wario crashes into the Amazon jungle and fistfights the devil. You can see where I'm going with this.

If you were to take one of Nintendo's heroes to make them into pulp heroes, Wario, specifically the Wario Land Wario, may be the only one who really could do it, because in essence, he's the videogame equivalent of Professor Challenger. He's Bluto moonlighting as Indiana Jones, the weird brute adventurer for weird brute adventures where everything's off limits and you can trust our intrepid hero, who really shouldn't be a hero on all accounts, to deliver us a good time, give or take a couple deaths, scams, shams and oh-damns to complete said mad treasure hunts.