#as for my opinions of the reboot… it’s trash

[daiohficblog]

Jordan Fringe released a MSB video… and it’s exactly why I love the show.

[katyspersonal]

Movies should return to looking like cheap theatre plays

I feel like the biggest problem with the decline of quality of the movies is capitalism. I mean, obviously, but I just want to talk about it a bit. The huge problem with the movies is that they cannot be treated like a usual job; a company that creates them HAS to show the positive dynamics in profiting - more money with every next year. So they can convince their investors to stay and still pay them. Because otherwise they might not have enough money to MAKE more movies!

That’s why the quality of the products is dropping - to lessen the production costs. That’s why you often can see the case of ‘but this is a completely original story, it did not NEED the name of [popular brand] to be attached to it’ - to sell more tickets, because investors decided that original concept would not bring as much money (the recent animated movie about Buzz Lightyear off the top of my head. Same with endless reboots that are so tone-deaf to the original it’d be more honest to just make new universe and characters entirely.

Like... in a way, making movies is just a job like others. It is entertainment at least, education at most. Except it isn’t because people that make the movies cannot simply earn stable amount of money every year or god forbid earn less than the previous year. Studies just have to violate beloved and classic franchises and violate the art as a concept just to keep existing- I mean, Disney is the quickest examples of severe decline in quality I can recall. And like, I still think nerfing Strange World with a complete absence of advertising had to be a planned sabotage. Like a somewhat expensive way to gaslight people that ‘hey, you see, new and original universes do not sell well, we constantly make reboots or force [brand] into irrelevant stories not because we want to, but because people ONLY buy that :)))))))’

And like? The alternative is if government was to fund the movies (kind of the case in my country). And that, of course, means heavy censorship and involving propaganda of the ideas that the government wants to spread, so yet again, movies cannot be a truly free form of art.

I do not really see any legit way to escape the loop of movies being very troubled as art, because people need money to make them. If investors pay for them - they’ll be garbage and constantly torment popular brands with whatever they think is cool these days instead of telling original and interesting stories, if government pays for them - they’ll be infected with propaganda and only “approved” ideas and stories will make it through.

The only at least somewhat optimistic way out I personally see is to drop the visual quality bar very low. Like... to come back to shitty cameras, environments made out of tinfoil and wallpaper (seeing this in Star Trek TOS), very shitty low polygon CGI... all that. Because it will cut the production costs a LOT but crappy visual quality will NOT be able to ruin the good story, interesting concepts and well-written characters that’s what. The worst crappy visuals will do is to create a lot of memes in the internet - and that is even GOOD because it can draw a lot of attention. Investment of simple rich guys that want to be even richer feels like lesser evil when it comes to the movies than government funding because of lacking censorship and propaganda; companies and individual studios can do whatever they want as long as it will bring STONKS! Art must be free in expression and what it wants to tell.

But the visuals at this rate feel like a useless leech because people need to justify before the investors that the astronomical money they’ll give will pay off. And why they’re astronomical? Right, because they need the most realistic CGI and the coolest assets.

I just... I think most people can agree that ‘pretty picture’ is not only not everything there is, but also the lowest priority. People would, in fact, look at awful animation or crappy effects as long as they are being told exciting, meaningful, or simply fun story. Basically, what is making movies worse is the same shit that puts even us, simple visual artists and writers, into lasting creative block; once a masterpiece is created, it raises the bar to this level, so now everything else has to be not worse, preferably better, but it is not EVERY time a masterpiece can be created. If anything, it might be once in a lifetime deal.

TLDR; I think movies should return to looking crappy so the original, interesting, eccentric ideas do not scare the investors away with demanding too much money, because at least this way new stories will more likely see the light. And won’t have to cheat by just slapping names of a previously known brand over completely unique and new story that we’re all sick of. Visual quality is just the lowest priority, so if something to cut production costs it can only be this.

[alt3rnata]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 seemed very political to me when I started playing it and was unfamiliar with the rest of the series. (Spoilers ahead.)

What do we see there? Two nations are at war with each other, even though the people on either side are no different from each other and have no reason to be hostile. The only ones who benefit from this are their rulers. And they have elevated national hatred to an absolute. But the real reasons for war are completely different: distribution of resources and distraction. The elite see the masses as a resource, and the elite owns this resource via Flame Clock system (in this reality, it is the life force itself, but in some other reality it could be the means of production). By the way, the "leaders" of both nations are just puppets in their hands, literally. The common people wonder what they are fighting for and whether they need it (the answer is 'no'). Only by uniting can they fight back against the ruling class. And only violently, because there is no way to win peacefully. The liberated colonies of both nations and the City must work together to do this effectively.

...So, what is this idea that tells us that people who are being oppressed and used as a resource by some group of people in power should rise up, put their differences aside, and unite against that group, against their REAL enemy, if they want a better life?

As someone who has the misfortune of being a citizen of a country that is currently engaged in such a senseless war, I can say that it very much reflects the problems and questions that many people are facing right now. And it offers a solution that a communist ideology would offer, yeah. (Let us also remember that extreme militarism and nationalism, on the other hand, are features of the far-right totalitarian system.)

…But then there is the whole Queens thing, the intersection of universes, the shift in emphasis to philosophy, and the fact that the new social order built in this struggle will be thrown in the trash with the Origin reboot. It all continues the general philosophical line of thinking about the future that is characteristic of the series as a whole (yes, there is the idea of ​​"no gods, no masters" and that people should determine their own future, which echoes the idea that power and resources should belong to the people, but it is still more general). But still, the third part turned out, in my opinion, more social and relevant to our present.

[winxwiki]

Have you seen yesterday's reboot leaks? Do you like how things are coming along? I think it all looks very promising

I'd rather not comment too indepth lest Elisa Rosselli comes to my house with a kalashnikov

But my spoiler free opinions are:

Interesting reuse of concepts (it was inevitable since this was a reboot, but I was not expecting some things)

One of the writers seems to have a good portfolio. Cautiously optimistic he doesn't mess it up (american, can't be too hopeful)

Iginio will never back down on catering to the male audience and I'm grateful for that

It seems they're finally backing down on blatantly stealing from other franchise. I hope. The animation is good and fresh.

Not happy that the show is being written in english first, even if 99% of it creators are italian and it's to make it easier to sell to international broadcasters. I guess this means instead of italian Mickey Mouse magazine writers, we'll get something new. And good, I hope.

There's one design that's honestly horrible and should be trashed completely. Just completely unsalvageable

Very curious on how this new take on the classic story will play out, especially since it will be harder to make twists for well versed adult fans. But I at least hope for some good worldbuilding and foreshadowing

I seriously hope for you guys this isn't the final english dub you're getting

[hitokiri-izou]

im so glad i found someone else who knows about about and acknowledges the anti-Roma parts of HSR

I love HSR and Genshin but the racism is just...ugh

I went to Penacony and was pleasantly shocked to see NPCs with actual melanin but then I looked at the player chars and realized Hoyo could still be doing better (Arlan is great but he has his own set of issues) (plus, no dark-skinned characters since him? sus)

Aventurine is an awesome character and written really well but certain aspects of his story could definitely be improved upon to fix the blatant appropriation of irl Roma culture and struggles.

And from the leaks of Boothill's backstory, I see a lot of Native American parallels that sadden me. (let him say Fuck, he's earned te right damn it)

Also! I feel Latin American vibes from Argenti as well. I know he's supposed to be more Spanish, but I know I'm not the only one with this hc. Bro is literally a country in Latin America wdym

So yeah, I know it's a Chinese company with all the baggage that that entails but I'm still rightfully miffed (also, not like Roma don't exist in China, so they don't have an excuse at least for that one)

It sucks that the only gacha game I know with decent representation has a trash story (in my opinion, at least) (Dyslite, reboot your story from scratch please) but every game has its problems

I hope that many more people do. I've seen a good number of posts that have talked about it already so i would hope that more people do know about and acknowledge how the story takes from Romani history and culture in a racist way.

I think i can understand what they were trying to do with aventurine but hoyo really needs to learn how to be more respectful of the cultures they base off of. I want to point again to florian's channel on youtube where he talks about romani culture and history.

When it comes to pieces of media we enjoy, it's important to still be able to criticize it or talk about the problems it has or the harm it can cause. I think some people can get defensive about it but if your favorite game or show has shitty aspects to it, you should be able to talk about it and not just sweep it under the rug.

One of my favorite shows is from the late 90s to early 00s so i have an abundance of practice when it comes to tearing apart pieces of media i enjoy haha I like to say that I hate it almost as much as I love it

I was pleasantly surprised about the npc's too but having actually dark skinned characters aside from arlan would be even better. I know there isn't a lot of optimism for that and honestly i have zero expectations but god i really hope we get more diverse characters

Man I'm glad other people noticed the native american parallels in boothill's story too but goddamn it can we please have a character design that expresses that? Historically cowboys were mainly black, native, and mexican and boothill's story strongly reflects native history in this regard. I want to talk about this more or see more discussion but that's an entirely different post.

Unfortunately, gacha games aren't a good place to find representation. Characters and stories, yeah, since they are essentially selling you them but well that's the problem. I don't understand why it's so hard for gacha game companies to create a dark skinned character, or why they don't think they would be popular but ultimately it's not sense or business, it's just racism.

This response got kinda long, sorry about that, but thank you for the ask! I didn't expect to get an ask on my post about the anti-romani writing in aventurine's story but I'm happy to discuss!

(Also I fully endorse latin american argenti haha)

[nayialovecat]

The Ink Demonth 2023 - Day 30. Duck

Day 30. Duck Crossover: DuckTales "Let's split up," said Scrooge McDuck. Because what could go wrong? :D

In his "youth", Scrooge McDuck had so many adventures, sometimes accompanied by teenage Donald and Della Duck, that I assume they may have ventured into an abandoned, strange animation studio in the 1960s... Whenever I think about Della and Donald's past, I imagine her as a carefree, hyperactive girl running forward screaming "adventure" - and him as a sensible, prepared for everything, skeptical young man. Please don't deny my imaginations.

I love DuckTales. I watched this cartoon when I was a little girl - I even had a radio play based on a time travel episode on cassette. I learned to draw characters and their expressions using Donald Duck newspapers, using the tracing method on the glass. Comics about Donald was probably first I ever made. Donald Duck, his large family and, above all, Scrooge, whom I adored - this was a large part of my early childhood. Unfortunately, unlike W.I.T.C.H. my huge collection of Donald Duck and Gigants issues didn't survive - one day I discovered that my mother simply took everything and gave it to some library, hospital or simply threw it into the trash. I was very sorry :c

Let's talk about the DuckTales reboot for a moment. Generally, as an huge fan of various things, I am often quite skeptical about new products, reboots or new series and I'm strict in my assessment. Sometimes I will get into a new series, but often I will say "it's not as good as the original" (because very often it's not). But in the case of DuckTales, I think the reboot is wonderful. The characters have been refreshed, the nephews have gained individuality, Donald Duck has gained a much nicer character (just like Daisy). Sometimes a little voice inside me says "wait a minute, no, it was different in the canon" - but then I say to myself "but this is a different canon." There are three things that irritate me and I can't forgive for the reboot. The first one is Gyro. What the hell did they do to him? Where is my lovable, overworked scientist, too polite and gentle to refuse Scrooge a job for a miserable salary? No, Gyro is terrible in the reboot, I hate every single second of the show with him on the screen. The second one is Magica de Spell. Why is she completely, absolutely and totally evil? This was not the Magica whose adventures I read and loved! What did they do to her? Where is Magica's love for family (i.e. her niece)? Where's Magica, who treats Scrooge as her frenemy? Where's Magica, who cries her sorrows to her broom and is bound by a cursed fate to Number One Dime? They made her the main villain, completely leaving out cool criminals like the Beagle Boys! And the last one, but I should actually start with this... a drawing style. This one repels me. These square heads and crude drawing style irritate me terribly. But then I saw a new series of classic Disney cartoons featuring Donald, Mickey and Goofy - and I realized that there are worse drawn things. Of course, there are still a few things that irritate me, but I often dismiss them - and I enjoy watching the reboot.

Finally, I will just say that although I really like the past of the characters in the reboot, I am irritated by Della's character. I do not like her. Maybe it has to do with the fact that, being a mother myself, I give my child the highest priority - a woman abandoning her tiny children to satisfy her ambitions is something incomprehensible to me - I have neither respect nor pity for Della and I believe that family (or at least her children) should reject her and be unwilling to forgive her. I know that's a cruel opinion. I haven't watched the entire series, but the episodes I've seen of her return irritated me. I admire Donald's composure. I would probably totally beat up my sister if I were in his place. Della also annoys me in all the episodes with her and Donald's past. She's almost as annoying as Mabel from Gravity Falls.

Bendy and the Ink Machine (c) Joey Drew Studios Inc. DuckTales (c) Disney Sammy and the Ink Machine (c) Nayia Lovecat

[destinylordoffreaks]

some opinions on rainbow high

so I was on Reddit earlier and I saw someone post. What are some of your unpopular rainbow high opinions I don’t feel like I can comment because I’m not really sure if my opinions are unpopular or not but I wanted to share them with you and see what you guys think so Without further ado here are some of my opinions about rainbow high

first and foremost. Poppy is the prettiest of the ​series 1 dolls

I’m mostly here for the doll and don’t really care for the tv show but the album is a bop👌

I don’t care for shadow high series 3 I think Rosie and Scarlet are too close in color palette to have been released in the same run

I don’t like pinkie she’s the third pink doll we received in the last year and a half who’s theme is pink with cat ears,

I do actually like Oliver although his colors a little meh he is the first rainbowhigh boy we received who doesn’t have a stupid shaved sides cut so I’ll give them that one. and I do intend to buy one when they hit the stores.

I’m indifferent about lavender and Barry. Although I do think the name Barry is stupid

I think that the costume ball dolls are kind of trash I didn’t care for any of them. They were just kind of meh I mean I guess the fairy one was OK

I think MGA needs to start making doll clothing packs those would sell like hotcakes and they wouldn’t have to be themed after a specific doll. They could just be themed after color like the original dolls were and fans would eat that up I know I would, I mean we’ve already got accessory packs with the shoes and the handbags where is my clothing packs

the boy doll should have the same size feet as the girl dolls I know technically that’s not realistic, but the boy does have like next to no shoes they have the pair that came on them and then if they’re lucky like river, they have a second pair of shoes and a pair of shoes in the mystery boxes but none of the other guys have that I need more shoe options for my boys

I actually really likes the concept of the Pacific coast. All the colors were beautiful and spot on. However, none of them had second outfits. They’re all stuck in their beach clothes. I don’t like that I think that they should’ve made a separate outfit packs to go with the doll so that they would have a second outfit too. I also think the Pacific coast doll shouldget Junior high dolls I think that’ll be cool

I don’t think they’re attempt at diversity Body types is worth it. I think there is not enough of a noticeable difference for it to have been worth their time.

I also don’t like the soft reboot they’re doing they’re literally taking a large chunk of what makes rainbow high unique and makes it worth collecting away from it

I think Luna in the twin pack is way prettier than the original Luna doll but I also really dislike the sunny doll from that pack I think it’s a major downgrade.

I think the special edition dolls aren’t worth $100+ I don’t think they’re worth more than 50 but personally I tend to think that in general about the collector edition dolls from all companies I think once they get past about $75 for a single doll it’s not worth it, I know it didn’t cost you that much more to make that doll than it did to make the regular ones I get that when it comes to like say the Disney collector dolls and they’ve hired specific artist work on, the doll you’re basically paying for the artist time, it took the artist to come up with that doll, , but for the average doll that’s pretty much just labeled special edition, because they decided to do that it’s not worth that price but companies are still going to make it that price because as long as someone is out here buying it for that price, they know they can get that price so they’re not gonna lower them. The prices are just gonna get higher. I don’t like that.

On a similar note, the wardrobe is overpriced. It does not have enough outfit pieces in it for it to be worth $55+. I understand when it was a big fat where it came with a doll and her two different ways and stuff being more expensive for just the plastic wardrobe in the outfits. That’s too much. but to be fair I grew up relatively poor, so I’m not the kind of person who has an easy time throwing money at some thing

And Of course, as I’m sure you all have pretty well established. I think there should be an entire line of boy dolls I mean it give us more variety give us more characters I really like the rainbow high dolls and I want to see more guys specially with long brushable hair.

And if you see this post, please comment and list your own opinions,I won’t judge, and I always love to hear other peoples perspectives

[thattimdrakeguy]

Like if you were in charge of DC and Marvel at the exact same time and you had unlimited resources and every mandate is a given, what are some of the biggest ones you’d officially decree to make sure every character you love gets done right?

Marvel is fine enough, it's mainly Spider-Man editorial being weirdly petty about who he can be with, and this odd fascination of ever other hero bashing him

I don't know where to begin with DC. I mostly just follow Bat-Family and Young Justice, and the majority of them are all fucked up

We're in an age where writers who were in the fandom come in to make their headcanons actual canon and what not. Thinking they're finally gonna be the hero the comic book community needs because they're too oblivious to the fact that fandoms don't represent the entire damn community

At this point they're so far gone that it'd take a reboot

But I wouldn't do a New 52 Reboot or anything. I'd just do my best to research everything as much as I can, look at the statistics, the wider opinion that spans beyond the echo chambers, and try to figure out what made everyone popular to begin with

and then I'd work hard to make sure that even if we're kind of taking a step back, because we took a wrong turn at the forked road, that we're still finding ways of doing something new and refreshing, because just doing repeats isn't going to help anything either. it'd bore everyone away

it's a balancing act no ones trying

And from what I can tell, Marvel took most of the best Comic Book writers. DC has mostly scraps besides a small few

So I'd guess I'd have to do a workshop session to remind everyone how good stories and characterization work, which makes me sound so pretentious like I'm some award winning writer, but you're asking me, and I wouldn't know what else to attempt

Because even if we DO get the characters the right personalities, and the artists to try harder on drawing the characters specifically the way they're intended to look, it won't matter much if we can't have stories competently told

Not that I blame the comic book writers a whole lot, because think of the feedback they're getting. They're getting it from a source that enjoys generic, tropey, trash. How can they realize they need to improve when that's their immediately seen response?

It wouldn't be impossible to get things back on the right track. I just can't help but feel they don't have anyone willing to do what's needed to fix it up.

[spiderpussinc]

hi I know you are a Miguel o’hara fan, what’s your opinion on his supporting cast in the original comics he comes from? (Gabriel, Conchata, Xina, etc)

My opinion is practically what Marvel editorial settled on; Miguel's immediate family (gabriel, his mother, tyler) are all fine for character building but everyone else is cardboard flat and incredibly disposable.

I'm glad ATSV is doing its own thing and is not trapped to reproducing Miguel's exceedingly rebooted comic history. I've made no secret of the fact i think majority of his comics are disappointing trash or just outright racist (or not even canon!!!!!) and my REAL hope is that 2024 and beyond this character is given to an actual latinamerican creative team who can scrap all the previous bullshit and rebuild him from the ground up the same way the movie did.

(I mean come on, if Oscar Isaac himself says "please dont make me be this boring ass character," as a condition to voice a guy on your animated movie something Has Gone Wrong In The Past.)

[crystalpinesgf]

Do you have any more artwork of the Astro Boy Reboot? If yes could you maybe post :3? And what is your opinion about the entire show getting scrapped and replaced by a cgi animated show directed by Thomas Astruc?

I haven't really drawn Reboot in a long while.

I absolutely hate that the beauty of the original was replaced with A.I. generated trash. The little we saw of the original was like pure art, it was almost in the same style as the Carmen Sandiego Netflix reboot, with a line-less style that used colors to really make things POP and feel alive. I was really excited to see the Blue Core again and see what they would do with it.

Sadly the original Reboot will only live on through my art style, it influenced my style a lot, especially with things like the eyes.

[babymorte]

Which Texas chainsaw timeline is your favorite? And who do you think was weirder to see play the villian in that series matthew McConaughey's or viggo mortensen ?

honestly i kind of like the reboot with jessica biel and the prequel just because fuck franklin in the original and like it went too campy in the sequels? like 10000% the next generation is the best aside from the original we can all agree right cuz matthew mcconaughey fucking owns his role like that movie would not be what it is without him like there’s a reason it’s a cult classic.

the newest texas chainsaw is trash i don’t care if they say it’s in the same timeline as the original sally would not go down like that. and texas chainsaw is a joke. ‘do your thing cuz’ is a meme between me and my friends like its so bad. they did leatherface so fucking dirty in the new movies. like even if people don’t like the jessica biel movies cuz they’re too dark and they don’t like that she kicks his ass in the end r. lee ermey fucking KILLS like he was born to play that piece of shit sheriff and he’s honestly so funny too like he kinda reminds me of mick taylor before mick taylor?

like matthew mcconaughey is the blueprint for these crazy type of villains i think…that’s basically where i was going with that in more words that i probably should have said but you know how it is….

honestly i have very strong feelings about Texas chainsaw cuz it’s what got me into learning about serial killers and how became obsessed with ed gein as a kid so like i will fight anyone over opinions on this franchise because like ed leatherface is a sympathetic character taken advantage of by his family…not even remotely part of what you were asking i just needed to say it so sorry for that last bit

[spot-splatter-splash]

Im petty and on day 4 or 5 (I lost count) of fighting allergies. Anyway.

I do not understand (in general across any fandom) people who call themselves fans of a franchise but hate reboots no matter what.

I'm not talking about disliking elements or major chunks of a reboot. Personal preference is valid. And I've seen my fair share of rough rides when a long standing series comes back in a monkey paw way and its lost a lot of its original charm.

I'm talking about the people who are adamant and hell bent of shooting something down just because its new. Some never even consume the reboot and others do with the sole purpose of finding everything wrong with it rather than acknowledging what it did well and sepearting that from where it went wrong.

Even I, someone who is the biggest hater and critic of 1 very specific Alice in Wonderland Movie acknowledge what that film does well despite loathing it.

Theres nuance to media. What happened to nuance? Its easy to say "the writing was poorly paced and the animation was clunky so I found it less visually appealing than the previous series" or "I don't particularly like the voice acting in this one because I'm so use to and attached the older one" and still say "but I did like xyz".

When I see critical posts of something I like I'm going to have a more open mind when someone acknowledges what they did like or elaborates on what they didnt in a manner that doesnt read like a tiktok comment section or a twitter thread. If you just say "this shit is trash and the old series was better" respect for your opinion no matter how eloquently you word the post from that point on pours from my body like a glass without a bottom.

And yes I am critical of the stuff I enjoy. So it's never a blind "well its perfect because I like it and youre all wrong" because I also have criticisms. Nothings perfect.

Im more inclined to trust people who have watched spin offs and reboots open mindedly because at the very least they can genuinely convey why they did or didnt like them. When people act holier than thou over not watching or not liking a reboot my first instinct tells me their kind of an asshole or at the very least not very fun to interact with. Some people make it their personality the CB fandom is horrible about this.

[katyspersonal]

do u have any opinion on what separates good media and bad media? less to do with quality and more to do with like, messages n themes n stuff

Honestly, it is a hard question for me, because separating quality and themes is not something I usually do... For example, almost all modern media falls for "good message, awful quality", especially TV shows and movies. You know, the usual: they claim to deliver messages about equality, acceptance, women being self-sufficient human beings and not just "mothers and wives", corruption of authority, mature approach in relationship, all that.... but because corporations are lazy fucks that only want your money and promotion by wars on Twitter instead of actually making the world better, they hire the most mediocre (if not outright talentless) people to act, do awful bland writing disconnected from how real humans speak and feel abundant with plot holes more than a sieve, and don't get me started on assasinating the pre-existing characters.

I haven't named any piece of media, but you must have thought of some, be it a reboot or a new project, right? I do not believe that representation, important messages and alike automatically absolve the creators from responcibility to put in effort and do their best. "Good intention, bad media" is real and deadly- hell, all bad delivery of good intention does is just feeds into people's confirmation bias: people who were already apprehensive of said "good messages and themes" only start hating them more after being fed awful quality media and/or having their beloved classic media being turned into low-effort trash, and people who already had these "good messages and themes" internalized just get a "confirmation" that everyone in [insert gender/race/age category/etc] are violently -ist or -phobic for reacting poorly. The media that never changed anyone's mind to the better, nor raised questions that cause an actual thought resonance but only made everyone angrier, despite "good messages and themes".... isn't it bad media?

To get more subjective and personal, I strongly lean towards media that teaches complexity of things and people. Media that draws very clean defition of what people are good and what people are bad won't do anything for people in my opinion: it feeds into confirmation bias at best, makes people angrier at worst. Media that teaches people that absolutely everyone is capable of becoming bad, that all "monsters" you wanna kill were once people just like you, and that the quest of giving them a second chance despite potentially being bitten in the ass by those that are beyond saving is hard but worthy? That's gold for me. Themes of kindness, caring about other people and realising we all are idiots that live on this earth and that healing damaged people is better than throwing them away are my favourite, but this message will be kinda bad if lacking nuance and highlighting the risks! Because destroying yourself is just as bad as destroying others!

I'll say that you are asking a wrong guy about this though, because I am not very well-versed in "media analysis", especially not in the way Westerners go about it (that is a standard in the internets by now). I know Bloodborne is a very good media with very good messages: that messing with the ways to transcend humanity beyond its current "animalistic" state will lead to committing atrocities that ironically trace back to this "animalism", that fighting monsters too vigorously will make you a monster yet some of them are dangerous enough to be killed, that usually sworn enemies are not that different (deadly drinking game: count the similarities between Cainhurst and Healing Church)... heck, even my favourite "all the monsters you hate were people just like you once" is here! :D Very humane themes that provide some direction towards the good, whereas showing existencial horror and the depth of pessimism and evil in fullest!

___________________

Alright, I hope that I did make my point understandable? It is not something I can explain very clearly because, again, I am not familiar with "media literacy" as Western kids know it and just go with my own intuition and approach of my own culture. In short, I think bad and good media are defined by what they give to this world, and we live in the bad times where even poor quality of the product can ensure the media will only give something bad! But that aside, bad media is media that lacks nuance, propaganda of "burning all the witches" is bad but so is propaganda of naive optimism and self-destructive patience that can be dangerous in real life!

[thedawningofthehour]

Ep 29!

Leo has officially moved on to the acceptance stage!

Everyone thought Leo would be the one to go crazy if he found out about the library meetings (including me), it turns out the opposite, who knew!

At least the time in the library did some good!

Leo finally accepted that Donnie's memories may never come back, however, they still need to separate him from Draxum so he can learn the truth, which will be a problem, since Draxum doesn't plan to let Galois go on any more field missions.

Also, speaking of Draxum, WITH A BUTTER KNIFE!

What Draxum did can only be classified as abuse, there are no buts, and the worst part is that Galois is programmed not to notice! Arrg!!! Mikey had made so much progress!!! And Draxum threw it in the trash!

If someone were to manipulate you, you wouldn't know it.

BUT CLEARLY YOU WOULD, WOULDN'T YOU?!?

Draxum can drown in his hypocrisy.

You know, while I was waiting for this chapter, I started reading LFLS, and at no time I hated that Draxum as much as this one, maybe, because AT LEAST, that Draxum was honest!

I hope that part of Donnie's revenge can include this quote to one of my favorite webtoon.

"I don't need someone who hurts me with his passion*.

By the way, didn't you notice Raph completely absent in the chapter? *remembers fai's title for arc 3* ...should I be worried?

Final note. Splinter, by this point I think you should know better than to count on the police.

I kind of chucked at everyone predicting Leo being the one to lose his shit. Originally I did plan on having him yell too, but when I wrote it out it just didn't...go that way. Don't get me wrong, he still would have taken it with the most grace, but the way it ended up his brain just did a giant reboot and he didn't really have the capacity to be mad. (this is an opportunity to remind you all that I have no control over this fic)

I mean, Donnie's still going to be out in the field, there wouldn't be much more of a story if the fam couldn't interact with him. So much of this fic is legitimately just me trying to arrange incidents where Gale can meet up with the fam or influence shit that eventually reaches the fam, and I'm just waiting for the day someone calls me out on how stupid some of my excuses are. Realistically, Draxum would never put him out in the field, no matter how many sad eyes he made. He's too valuable in the lab. But if he did that, then the story would have ended with "and then Draxum took over the world and the fam realized he had Donnie all along right before they were shipped to Australia." And that wouldn't be fun.

Raph was originally present in the first scene, but I didn't like how that turned out so I wrote him out. It really doesn't mean anything for his character arc, just better storytelling in my opinion. There was no place to really insert him into the chapter, and I generally try not to shove characters into places for the sake of having them present. (which is why Mikey is absent so much in Book 1) Raph's stupid thing has been...I guess sort of foreshadowed? I think just like one line, but he's been vaguely talking about it a lot. As we get to the end of Book 2 we'll see some more hints towards the direction he's thinking in, and definitely with the main climax. So hopefully by the time he does his stupid thing, it'll make sense why.

[davekat-sucks]

this might be a very, very unpopular opinion here but personally I do like some of of these “headcanon” art stuff. Don’t get me wrong I completely understand why they can be a problem but personally I kinda like the designs of some of these tumblrified characters. Cringe for sure but some of them are admittedly, pretty. For me, as long as they don’t have a shown cannon race it’s kinda free game.

Hey, that's cool, you do you. I do as I do. We don't all have to be the same. Try to not say something you like is cringe though, as that takes away a bit of credibility or like you don't agree with yourself. Also genuine question, which scale are we using here, rcdart or vivziepop or twitter pinkie pie?

call me woke or whatever but it’s just my kind of cringe that I personally like. It’s stupid, it’s silly, and it’s even ugly, but I guess it just fun to see how people could change one character so much that it ends up reflecting them or whatever while still trying to somewhat look like the character they buried in a thousand “headcanons”. Plus, it’s good character ideas (as in appearance.)

I won't call you anything, you seem like a nice and polite anon that has a different viewpoint than me, that's okay. I will say though, at that point, why not make ocs instead? Being honest, I want to steal some designs from homestuck because Hussie sucks and the characters had potential, but if the objective is to make them look like a reflection of the artist or only for personal use, why even re-imagine a particular character in the first place? In my opinion, it's because deep down it's been proved that that kind of art usually doesn't sell very much, so it's the original IP attached to it that gains traction.

Think of how many reboots are created nowadays, and how every one is worse than the last, if it didn't have the OG IP attached to it in the first place, I doubt anyone would have even looked twice at something like the PPG from 2016, Tiny Toons (they made two characters who were lovers become siblings) or even Velma.

overall, I like some of these tumblrised designs. They are kinda charming. Maybe cause I’m more “left-leaning” or something but it’s just a guilty pleasure of mine to just look at designs I think are nice no matter how ugly they are to others. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Amen, brother, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But also, I think it's a slippery-slope, because remember HONE? How the same people that draw these characters as FAR AWAY from the original design as possible criticize her so much when she actually was the one drawing as similarly to the original comic style in the first place? Some people try to virtue signal with their designs to be "inclusive" so much that they circle back to being actually unironically racist because they insult a japanese artist because of their art style.

and personally I do feel bad for liking stuff like this. Like I agree with some of y’all’s points here but I don’t know, I think I’ll just put my opinion over this issue.

Again, don't be ashamed of what you like, if it makes you happy, you find something of value in it and you're not harming anybody, what's the issue? I don't think you're like the same people that try to guilt trip others for not drawing like the "tumblr style", but the reality is that that sadly is way less common than you'd think.

[real-total-drama-takes]

https://www.tumblr.com/real-total-drama-takes/729754341302534144/this-athletic-strong-girl-character-is-just-a?source=share

they...ARE mary sues. that's. exactly what they have in common and probably why they were being compared in the first place. by definition a mary sue is a female character lacking depth due to possessing immense physical capabilities and lacking any major flaws. there's certain degrees of this, but they are all definitely mary sues.

first off we know all three of them are very physically capable. we never really see them have huge failures in challenges (my memory's a bit hazy on sky but i know for sure priya and zoey never fuck it up that badly- i can't recall any failures on their parts off the top of my head except for priya's miscalculations in the catapult episode, but it really wasn't that severe and she never faced consequences for it)

the big thing with these characters is that they lack personality, especially compared to the other female characters in their seasons. sky's the most obvious case, and i think it's perfectly summarized by her "Personality" summary (taken from the total drama wiki):

"Sky is an aspiring Olympian whose sights are firmly set on winning the game. Although Sky is not opposed to forming relationships along the way, she doesn't want them to get in between her and victory. Sky is a natural team player, a leader when needed, and strives to see the best in people, even refusing to 'trash talk' unless she is angered. She can be encouraging and will give advice to those who require it. A true white knight who plays by the book with a strong sense of good sportsmanship to match, Sky easily gets along with most of the other contestants. However, she is firmly, and sometimes aggressively against anyone who exhibits foul play. She also faces difficulty when her nerves and emotions get the better of her and cloud her judgement. She also seems to care a lot about winning, as she wanted to win Total Drama so she can win at the Olympics."

the vast majority of her character is based in competition, and we never see her have a huge flaw or error that leads to her development, making her a mary sue. (take this all with a grain of salt as i haven't seen pahkitew in a hot minute and i don't want to rewatch it just for a stupid rant)

priya is also very lacking in personality. her section in the total drama wiki isn't as developed, but the summary given of her personality is still very much centered around her strength as a competitor and not her qualities as a person- this is because she really doesn't do anything except compete and befriend millie (which she still works the competition thing into). i don't want to get into this but i have a theory that priya's going to get some real character development in the second season of the reboot, which is why she's currently so bland compared to the rest of the '23 cast, so obviously my opinion on this whole thing is going to change if that does happen. but for the time being priya is a mary sue.

i would talk about zoey's mary-sueness too but this ask is getting too long so i'm gonna wrap up my thoughts

all this isn't to say that every athletic female character in total drama is a mary sue or that they can be grouped together. jo is an excellent counterexample to this- she was well fleshed out (despite getting less screentime than zoey, funnily enough), and she has a personality that is easy to define as well as flaws that make her an interesting character to watch. total drama is very capable of creating female characters who are both strong competitors and interesting to watch- heather, courtney, eva, jo, leshawna, jasmine, and julia (plus more i'm sure i'm forgetting) all fit that criteria perfectly. most female character have certain strengths, but the thing that makes them interesting is that their strengths are undercut by flaws, and those flaws cause bad things to happen to these characters. this is something that zoey priya and sky lack.

it's not misogynistic to acknowledge characters sharing similar tropes (which i assume is what the original anon was getting at, though i still don't agree with the language they used), especially in a show where all the characters are intentionally based on stereotypes. such light use of the term "misogynistic" takes away from its meaning when we use it in legitimate feminist discussions. i understand why at first it might seem misogynistic to reduce these characters to their "strong female competitor" aspects, but when you actually look at their characters, that is the aspect of their personalities that is the most important to them. grouping them together is like grouping heather and julia together as mean girls, or grouping lindsay and dakota together as blonde stereotypes. it's not meant to completely reduce these characters down to the stereotypes they're based on, but rather to acknowledge the qualities that are at the core of their personalities.

hopefully that made sense lmao. i love this show and i think it's important that we recognize the flaws in our favorite media. i don't think zoey sky or priya are flaws in total drama as a whole. i adore all three of these characters and i think they absolutely deserved the wins and screentime they got. but they are all based in stereotypes that limit how much they can be developed as characters. some might consider that a flaw. some might not. that's up to you

(my hyperfixation is too strong. i don't know why i let myself write so much about this)

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