#This isn't how we rise

[bambiraptorx]

[gooperts-gunk]

im so crazy over the tragedy of everything q!bbh does being under a demon pretense even though he's a fallen angel.

do u think he just accepts the demon label because it's easier. do u think he believes it too, and catches himself in his thoughts with "oh, right. im not exactly that". and maybe he believes that he did this to himself? do u think what he did was to protect himself or someone? no matter the fall, he still has so much kindness to give and his brain just isn't wired the way a natural-born demon would be, he can't hold back instincts when time demands it, maybe that's why he fell in the first place.

and when he's finally bad, not good, it's treated like the end of the world, without empathy on why he would act out. do you think this keeps happening? the same scenario, multiple times, every timeline? he has to be used to it. so he has to take it in stride. he's good until he lashes out under extreme pressure, and suddenly he's called demon. and once again he's what heaven made him out to be. what he made himself to be, his brain would ruthlessly provide...

i don't think he wants to be that, though he hides secrets behind secrets of which neither identity is a home... but i don't think he wants to have to change, either. and i don't think that's wrong of him.

...you collapse atlantis ONE TIME and all of a sudden YOU'RE the bad guy and SURE it was FUN but REALLY now,--

[poisonousquinzel]

"a dude in Texas legally changed his name to "Literally Anyone Else" and he's attempting to run for President against Biden & Trump" [source]

okay, but putting aside the comedic aspect of this, it is concerning the amount of people who are prompted to vote for candidates just because it's funny. I'm not the biggest fan of how his policy about the boarder sounds [Site], but I do implore anyone who is able to vote in the 2024 US election to please research other candidates.

The media is only going to continue pushing the idea it's inevitably going to be Trump vs Biden 2.0 and we have no other options, that we have to vote for Biden again because of Project 2025. Is that whole thing terrifying?

Yeah, fucking absolutely.

But voting for Biden will not solidify our safety from that. Biden is exactly like the rest of them. He always has been. You can't make the lesser of two evils argument when they're both just plain evil.

You cannot say that Biden is even mildly a better choice than Trump when he is currently directly involved in a genocide. That is not some little fucking thing. That in and of itself disqualifies him as a lesser evil. Biden is just as bad as him and he will not save us because he doesn't fucking care.

Cornel West [Site] is an Independent candidate running for President in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia [Site] are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

There are options.

There are people trying to change the corrupt foundation our system is built on, but we have to help amplify them because the mainstream media will not.

[jq37]

Descendants: The Rise of Red is kind of a bizarre movie to talk about critically because, imo, it almost doesn't make sense to talk about it in the usual terms of good vs bad or enjoyable vs not enjoyable when the way more obvious tension is finished vs unfinished.

Because, more than any other movie I've ever seen, it does *not* read as a full movie. And I don't mean in a "this movie has a cliffhanger" kind of way. The Empire Strikes Back and Across the Spiderverse fit that description. They end on big dramatic cliffhangers that point to a resolution in the third installment.

But Rise of Red just sets all this stuff up and then...ends without concluding anything. It doesn't feel like the first movie in a trilogy (or duology). It feels like the first act of a two-act musical. It very specifically reminds me of the end of the first act of Into the Woods where all the main characters sing the song Ever After about how they all fixed their problems with magic and nothing bad will ever happen to them again and then the narrator ominously says "To be continued" before the curtain drops. But in Into the Woods you know there's a second act and this movie wasn't sold as the first act of a bigger story. Like sure, it has the, "You didn't think this was the end" tag at the end like all the other movies, but those movies were complete, self-contained stories even though they had sequels. This was NOT a full story. It's half of one story.

Like, if we're supposed to take this as a full story, there are so many bizarre choices:

Why did they make sure to mention that Cinderella and Charming fell in love at the ball at the top if it wasn't meant to set up Back to the Future style, "Oh no, I accidentally got my mom banned from the ball so she's not gonna fall in love with Dad and I won't be born" shenanigans?

Why did Maddox very pointedly have that bit about "you could lose your mom completely" if that was never going to come into play? Red never did anything to endanger Bridget or endanger her own birth so it doesn't make sense as a warning in that way.

Why was there all this focus on this Carrie on prom night moment for Bridget if we LITERALLY NEVER SAW CASTLECOMING? Why dance around this moment and talk about it all cloak and dagger with no specificity if they weren't building up to some big reveal that it wasn't as straightforward as it seemed? And like, they leaned in HARD with making Bridget the nicest, sweetest, cotton candy princess as a teen so I need WAY more than, "She got pranked by known bullies she's been enduring with a smile very handily up to this point" to buy that she went from that to "murderous dictator". And even if she did become murderous, I find it insanely hard to believe that she'd include her best and only friend on the list of people she wants to suffer unless there was a betrayal. I find it INSANE that there wasn't a falling out scene at any point in this movie with how thickly they were laying on the admiration and camaraderie.

(Note: And adult Cinderella def has guilty vibes re: the Queen at orientation. Which I know I'm not imagining because it's literally spelled out in the Jr Novelization!)

Before the time travel element of the movie started, I thought they were going for something like they go to the past and realize that Bridget was bullied not by the VKs but by the spoiled royals, and Ella ends up joining in the bullying once she gets with Charming, betraying Bridget and justifying her whole "Love Ain't It" philosophy. Or Ella ditching her at the last minute to be with Charming meaning she has to deal with the monster prank alone and it was the being alone rather than the prank itself that hurt her (though that is NOT a good enough reason to go all off with their heads on your subjects). The fact that, as far as we know right now, it literally was just a relatively mild and reversible prank that caused all of this is just, such flat storytelling, you know?

But! All of this makes way more sense if this is meant to be the first act of a single contained story. And I don't wanna be all "Pepe Silvia, secret good 4th episode of Sherlock" about this but I did see this picture:

Which seems to indicate that this was written as a Part One. Which, if so, idk why they wouldn't advertise it that way but whatever. The point is, if that's the case then it means that we're potentially in bad pacing territory rather than straight up bad storytelling territory. Because this isn't a bad place to be halfway through your story:

The heroes, warned that time travel is dangerous, have gone back in time to change the heart of a brutal tyrant before she can stage a coup. They seemingly succeed in their mission and when they come home, everything is great! But then, the side effects of time travel start to catch up with them. Chloe realizes that, in breaking the vase, she prevented her mother from going to the ball and falling in love with her dad (who was conspicuously absent from the final scene btw) which means she's starting to be forgotten and erased from the timeline. And Red realizes that though this new version of her mom is as sweet and kind as the teen she once met, she's a complete stranger to her (fulfilling the Hatter's warning that she could lose her mom completely). So they have to go back in time once more to make sure the Ella and Charming fall in love again, perhaps at the cost of whatever bad thing that happened to Bridget happening again and bringing back the original version of her future self. But, now with more context of how her mom became that way, Red can now talk to her mother and persuade her to give people another chance.

Boom, that gives us time to go back and hit everything we haven't yet hit. We can pay off the time travel tropes that were set up but not explored. We can go to Castlecoming which feels so obviously set up to be the centerpiece of this story (like, come on, Back to the Future literally does the school dance thing. This is Time Travel Storytelling 101). We can actually get info about what the prank was and why it affected Bridget so completely.

(Note: This is a side thing but it really strikes me as so crazy that Bridget would so SUCH a big 180 here. Like, I know the Queen of Hearts is a silly, goofy, campy villain, but she straight up murders people and there's no way to get around that if we're taking her out of the surreal story she comes from and putting her in a (comparatively) grounded story. If I wasn't doing a betrayal plot, I would make the twist that the spell that turned Bridget into a "monster" didn't just have a physical effect, it had a mental effect and it magically twisted her personality to be the way it is now. So they broke the physical half of the curse, but neglected the other half and it's been festering the whole time, turning her as evil as she was sweet. Because like, a simple physical transformation isn't that big of a deal to have such heavy security--Bridget made cupcakes with a transformative effect and that was totally fine. I'm not saying that that's what's gonna be the case. I just think it would be an explanation that makes sense for why she changed so crazy much that makes more sense than a simple prank or even a betrayal. Her mom wasn't even evil! How did she go from zero to murder without even an evil mom to push her onto the path? But I'm super digressing right now.)

(Note #2: OK, one last thing. The trap on the book presumably would have hit the VK's and trapped them in Merlin's office regardless of what Chloe and Red did, right? That's like, net zero influence on the timeline. I genuinely can't tell if that's a straight up plot hole or set up to be like, "Oh no. Actually when she said that she was turned into a monster in front of everyone it was meant in a less literal way." Like she was just made to look bad and that was the real thing that pushed her over the edge. Like idk. It really feels like the only thing they really did that would change the timeline was get Ella banned from the dance and presumably out of the way where she couldn't hurt Bridget. OK NOW I'm done.)

Anyway, my point is that this is not how I would have structured my movie and I think this was a super weird way to go into the second era of Descendants movies, but they can still tell a complete story if that's their plan. I'm genuinely really curious to see if this pans out to be a fairly competently told story that just happens to be split over two movies or a complete fumbling of the narrative bag because it could really be either at this point and it's fascinating to me.

[elllteo]

Creators I love you but it's time to wake up

Among rumors about our tumblr user data being sold off to Midjourney/Generative AI, recent Extremely transphobic events (that have been ongoing) coming to a head, another extremely concerning internet censorship bill being pushed in upper levels of government, and a general air of frustration over how the site belongs to and is operated by perhaps the second stupidest CEO (second only to twitters own) of our age, I'm very done with the last few vestiges of what the old internet held for artists.

And if you're reading this, you probably are too.

I know we're tired. We are all tired. It is not always viable to pack up shop and move, again and again and again.

From tumblr to twitter to anywhere else we've ever grown up posting, things no longer work. Our audiences are kneecapped by aggressive and hostile algorithms, our reach is abysmal - if we aren't shadow-banned or silenced for one (transphobic) reason or another, we're thrust into an ever growing pit of hostility where the only thing that drives clicks is fighting and contention.

We're tired. We're so fucking tired. We aren't businesses, we aren't content mills, we cannot keep this pace that modern social media has set for us, to wring every ounce of creativity out of us to profit from and leave us rotting.

The key to staying afloat here, and I cannot stress this enough, is to stay connected to your peers.

Pack up and move as units if you must. Exodus from the sites that are killing us. Push your entire friend group of artists to move from one site to the next that promises you a kinder experience.

Art drives movements, it drives change, it is all that encompasses being human. If you take that away from the shitty places, they will be left with nothing but a cesspit of inhumanity and the people who follow you will be more incentivized than ever to move with you.

Yes, this is terrifying. There are no guarantees. There never was, and never are, and never will be.

But stay connected. Stay human.

Support each other and be willing to hold hands and jump when we all - as a group - need to jump from the flames we're all trying to convince ourselves wont kill us before rescue comes.

Rescue isn't coming, rescue will be found hand in hand with each other. I'm offering you my hand, please take it. There's always a new start, there are always helping hands reaching for you. You have to look up from the doom-scroll long enough to see and take them.

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

ik it’s probably a classic case of extrapolating way too much but... the way raph’s character design lines up w his whole arc and role and struggles...

like the fact that he is so so so much bigger than the others. raph is big, raph is strong, raph is steady and sturdy and he can literally pick up his entire family and carry them all at once. 

and like, when raph is so big and so strong and such a reliable thing. when raph is the protector, the one calling the shots on missions, the mother hen, the first point of authority. when raph is there, overprotective, when raph (for all that his brothers poke at him not being good under pressure) always always ALWAYS comes through at the end of the day when things are serious, ALWAYS gives it everything he’s got. 

his design and his learned role/behaviors in this family are just the perfect storm of why it took up to the season finale to drive home the issue.

so much of the series carries the default energy of “raph will handle it.”

raph will hold up the ceiling above you. raph will throw himself over you and take a hit and get back up and keep fighting. raph has a power that makes him even bigger and draws more attention and makes him able to carry MORE. raph will be the substitute parent. raph will be put into the mentor role through leo’s leadership arc. 

and raph is big. he’s built to carry heavy loads. raph is strong. raph is bold and loud and always ready to try to push on. even if he doesn’t know what to do or what he’s doing, he won’t give up and we’ll all pull together and things will turn out okay.

(his room is full of teddy bears. he dipped out on a mission to try to take a picture of a pigeon carrying a slice of pizza. he’s terrified of being alone.

he’s just as much of a kid as his brothers are. he’s just as new and inexperienced with the things happening to them as his brothers are. but for him, for some reason, there’s like this double standard where that becomes a huge glaring flaw.)

idk this got very sloppy and uncoordinated. i’m very in my feelings about raph right now though.

[oddvanilla]

Why is it SO hard for me to talk to people I like. I mean I'll avoid you so bad.

Today I was at the metro train thing idk wth it's called,, but I sat down and looked around me like I usually would..and of course it's normal like just an old couple sat next to me and stuff,, UNTIL this guy sat in front of me..like across.

I was like ?? And I started taking a peak while he wasn't looking and I was like. Pause. OH GOD he is HANDSOME?? I don't think I was even crushing I IMMEDIATELY fell in love..I started smiling and kicking my feet😭💕 but THEN he looked at me back. I was like...😣 I began panicking SOSOSO BAD. Instantly started thinking if my life is really worth it and crap..I was making this even MORE awkward by looking around instead and avoiding looking at him like my life depended on it?????? But I'm glad a random pregnant woman pulled up and I had to get up for her, I no longer have to stare at him because he's LITERALLY right Infront of me ☹️☹️

PS he's still so goddamn fine like omg omg omg. He has like brown hair that's neck length and amber eyes too..also his eyebrows are PERFECT like MWAH 😍😍 and his facial features are so sharp that's like my type actually I'm losing it..SORRY U GUYS HAVE TO HEAR ME YAP I JUST CAN'T I NEEDDDD TO TALK ABOUT THIS?? AND I SUCK AT MEMORISING BUT HIS FACE IS STUCK IN MY HEAD..

[whiskeyswifty]

.

[ironinkpen]

idk Leo’s attitude during the chase scene at the beginning of the movie makes total sense if you have siblings tbh

Leo’s unresolved character arc in the show is feeling like his family doesn’t trust him. part of this is his own fault bc he withholds information from them and acts like a goof even when he’s secretly taking things seriously (like in Many Unhappy Returns), but sometimes he DOES act serious and is still brushed off. In Bug Busters, he pulls Raph aside multiple times to try to talk w him about Big Mama, no joking around, but Raph dismisses his concerns bc.... idk? it’s Leo??

I say this with all the love for Raph in my heart, but if my big brother, who is 2 for 2 on Not Trusting Me When I’m Right, came up to me saying I’m not taking things seriously enough (the exact same thing he said the LAST time I was right) I would ABSOLUTELY risk starting an apocalypse to prove him wrong lol

[change-the-rules]

*grabs your hands earnestly*

it's not about the Canon, that is not to invalidate any feelings that is to say we are fandom, our works are transformative because we take the bits and pieces of a something we love and we break it, take the pieces that speak to us a spin them into something that resonates, it's about the dynamics and the potential and putting characters we adore In Situations because the narrative failed them or it failed us, or for fun or for science or just because it's fucking hot, it's not that serious and it holds a certain gravitas

it's playing in the sandbox, pure and simple, beholding ourselves to Canon is the antithesis of Spirit of the thing

do you see?

[the-gateway-to-madness]

I kinda wish (no pun intended) that people would stop getting on disney's case for being "safe"

I don't care if a movie is "safe". My bed is safe. Drawing is "safe" because it's something I know I'm good at. Singing alone in the shower but not wanting to be a performer is "safe". There's nothing intrinsically wrong with "safe" as long as you're trying to genuinely make something good.

Society has gotten so obsessed with the idea that everything has to be groundbreaking that we forget humans and technology both have limits, that every story has been told before in other ways and other patterns, and that excellence and groundbreaking-ness only exist when surrounded by "average" content. I'd prefer that average be "watchably good" over "completely awful".

I don't care if something is considered "average" or "safe" because society has the attention span of a squirrel now and needs something new every other second to get any serotonin out of something. I'll take a little formulaic, a little predictable, if characters or a world or a story have enough care and new-ness in them, by virtue of the fact that every story is just clichés arranged in new orders. I don't think a story should have to be groundbreaking to be good.

Also, Spider-Man: ITSV was dripping with cliché, what made it "groundbreaking" was the artistry and presentation. Take any excellent movie off its pedestal and you have a flawed work of art made by flawed people who run flawed companies. Stop holding art and corporations to standards the individuals they're made of can't meet.

[kyofsonder]

I might be on Tumblr too much, and in the wrong capacity.

Not just because I'm straying from the original goals I had when making this blog (still working on fixing that), but also because I misread a poll and clicked the wrong option only to say out loud to myself, "Oh. Well. Why don't I just piss on the poor, then?" as a horribly roundabout way of mocking my own reading comprehension, implying that I can't count on myself to read things properly so I should just resign myself to always misreading them.

I even had the immediate urge to make a post about it, which is rare for me. What has this site done to me?

[birb-reblogs]

I often see some variation of ppl saying 'I loved the last episode of CW season 2 but the rest of the season was [bad/forgettable/draggy]' or similarly, 'Season 2 was rushed/ruined by executive meddling and needed more seasons to tell its story' and like... I really don't agree w/ either of these points? All of S2's exposition and plot happens at the tail end of the season, and even if the season finale was spectacular and executed perfectly, that's terrible pacing and story structure.

S2's runtime was 264 minutes; 190 minutes of that were episodes 1-8, and 74 minutes made up the finale. 190 minutes out of 264 is 71%, which is to say that much of the fandom agrees that 71% of the season was completely skippable at best to unenjoyable at worst. Imagine if a friend recommended a 10 chapter book to you, and promised you that it got good but only after the first 7 chapters- if it hadn't dropped all at once on a streaming platform, I kind of doubt CW S2 would've retained viewership going into the finale at all.

Revealing the big secret of the General/tnwk backstory and then concluding that storyline all within one episode was a whirlwind, and there's no reason for it to have been paced so jarringly outside of a desire for shock value and a dramatic twist. CW's backstory sets the stage for the series, but the impact of the 'tragedy' and the potential to explore the different characters' motivations, development, and interactions in the present is kneecaped by having its delivery be so truncated (to say nothing of the character writing). Even if you like the bones of the story, where's the time to develop these ideas and the sense of build up/payoff.

[prismatoxic]

i don't think i'm ever going to get along with greater otasune fandom (sad) because i think "snake prayed to otacon for the strength to shoot himself" is the dumbest fucking shit i have ever heard in my life

[borgeslabyrinth]

I know I'm like. Deeply sleep deprived. But I wasn't expecting Jenny Nicholson's video essay on the final brony con to make me tear up, especially since I was never a brony and only had negative impressions of the fandom, but here we are.