#criticisms

[azulapunchedozai]

People need to realize that there is a difference between liking a character as a character and liking a character as a person.

I like Azula as character. Does that mean that I like and support whatever she does? No. Azula is an antagonist in ATLA and is the face of manipulation herself. She's violent, cruel and would eliminate everyone who gets on her way. Almost everything she does goes against every moral stands I have. I don't like what she does because she is a horrible person.

BUT..

I like her as a character. I like how she is written. I like how she was portrayed as a villain. She is portrayed as this perfect, precise and smart villain but what I loved the most is how the writers still managed to show that no matter how intelligent and powerful she is, she is still a human. She has a human weakness that became the very catalyst of her sanity that lead to her downfall.

I like her as a character BUT I don't like her as a person. Azula is a good/well-written character but she is a horrible person.

There is a difference between a likeable character and a well-written character. A character's likeability doesn't define how well or bad they are written. A character could be be horrible as a person but still well-written and a likeable character can be poorly written.

An example of this is how M𝚊rinette Dupain-Cheng's character from the earlier seasons (particularly Season 1-3) of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir was handled. She's one of the good guys alright. She saves people with her alter ego, she stands up against bullies, and she genuinely cares for her friends. How did I say she was poorly written you ask?

Image 1 Context: M𝚊rinette has Adrien's personal daily schedule for the next three years

Image 2 Context: M𝚊rinette stole Adrien's phone to delete an embarrassing voicemail.

Image 3 Context: M𝚊rinette snuck into Adrien's bedroom as Ladybug to give him her gift.

Flaws are what makes good characters interesting and relatable. They can make mistakes and be selfish at times because they are supposed to be human. I mean human in a sense of being imperfect.

But these flaws and mistakes are supposed to be addressed. No part in any of the episodes these scenes addresses M𝚊rinette's actions and views them as mistakes and flaws. If anything, she's being rewarded with her horrible actions instead of suffering from consequences just like how she was never busted from sneaking into Adrien's bedroom and instead got her gift cherished by him.

That being said, these criticisms of her character are only based on how she was written in seasons 1-3. I am no longer watching this show and I don't know how her character is being handled in the later seasons.

What I am trying to point out with the Marienette example is that likeable/good characters can be poorly written.

Also, the amount of a characters' suffering and their good/bad actions doesn't define how well they are written. How well a character is written depends on how thay are handled, the execution of the concepts tied with the character and how their simplicity or complexity is handled.

The same way happy endings doesn't automatically mean well-written endings and how sad endings doesn't automatically mean bad endings.

PS: You don't have to support everything a character does all the time just because they're your favourite

[nokillbananashelter]

A HUGE portion of the criticisms for BOTW and TOTK boil down to “there isnt (xyz) in this game like other games!” And the answer to it is almost always “yes there is, you are just ignoring it or actively avoiding it or willfully engaging in it in a way that is breaking it and then getting mad that it broke”

Like, if you want a tight 50 hour 3d zelda with a full ACTIVE PRESENT story and linear story/mechanical progression & big dungeons….just listen to what the game is telling you to do and inviting you to see when you see it and you will literally get a classic linear 3d zelda experience complete with “yes, we did infact have ONE PARTICULAR solution in mind for this puzzle!”, deep lore implications, extremely melodic and complex orchestral music, progression, & a zany cast of characters.

Both of these games are so much more than that though, and contains so much more content that people don’t see that meat and potatoes run because of their own choices and desire to break the game wins out over wanting to meet the game where its at. And to be fair, that is a major component to what these games are daring you to do. And you should engage with those, but if you really did want the classic experience, it should be obvious you should treat it like the OOT era games and it will LITERALLY provide that for you in neon blinking lights and guardrails.

I really do feel like these two games are sort of an exercise in discipline /listening /spotting subtly /recognizing things in their new shape as much as they are an invitation to explore experiment and fuck off, and people are mad that the option to break from the path exists at all because they dont have the control or desire or sight to focus in on whats being asked of them and they don’t want to accept the shape of what the game is working with.

I’m not saying these people are playing the game wrong, but the attitude and closed mindedness is the problem. it’s almost always the source of these kinds criticisms that want to present these games as empty repetitive experiences, when these two games give the entire franchise a run for its money on uniqueness and novelty and story depth and profoundness.

You went in for a bad time, didnt want to play, and got exactly what you worked for- a lame, monotonous level skip that jumps ahead of itself, disrespects the intention of the developers, and misses the point of very obviously and enticingly marked gametunnels they made for you.

Like, seriously here, both but totk especially is quite literally an on-rails CINEMATIC GAMEPLAY experience if you want it to be, it literally has a path that is like 99% laid out in such a way that you are directly on mine cart rails and jumping up and down on direct vertical pathways. The regions-to-temple pathways are about as much of a bee-line as you can get. The skylands & cave systems are effectively old oot era compartmentalized zones. Same with shrines. There are so many ways they have created pathways and say “GO THIS WAY” that if you ignore those and get lost its kinda on you for not being observant….. which has always been one of the top asks of the player required to beat a Zelda game.

The biggest difference between these two games and other 3-D Zelda’s is that it just has taken the roof and some walls off the design. It Lets you experience more in context to your journey at any given time and that gives you a lot of freedom and agency to break from the path or stay on your goals, and both enrich your experience and inform what links journey is going to be and how narratively/mechanically/progression cohesive it will be.

[sunshine-tattoo]

my hero academia and Harry Potter are the same:

got super popular super fast

to the point that you can buy the products at Walmart

despite this genre being a new thing for mainstream stores

(book merch for hp and anime merch for mha)

protagonists is fluffy haired and cute

story set in an interesting but flawed society

story ends with no changes to the society

despite the villains and others having good points about how certain groups are treated

(shiggy, Dabi, and twice deserved so much better as did the house elves)

chosen one protagonist who gets his powers in middle school

after being a bullied outcast most of his life

chosen by the world's most famous person and has a mentor relationship with them (Dumbledore and All Might)

lots of characters

most of whom don't really get an ending or arc

story was waaaaay longer than it needed to be

especially since the themes of societal change never went anywhere

happy ending for the protagonist and friends but the status quo remained

[quotelr]

Success needs vision to see, passion to transcend, patience to withstand and the character to overcome failures.

Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion

[catlovergirl676]

Here's proof that modern LGBTQAD+ representation STILL lacks straightfoward representation in most pieces of media outside of shows like Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, and The Owl House:

Most LGBTQAD+ characters represented on-screen are white or western or both. It's a shame honestly.

Canonically disabled/neurodivergent characters are already extremely rare to see in modern media, but canonically QUEER disabled/neurodivergent characters are almost unheard of.

While there are some female characters who are canonically queer, they are less present in media than their male counterparts for some reason.

In media, polyamory & polysexuality are still wrongly associated with cheating and infidelity, even though polyamorous and polysexual relationships are supposed to be about consensual activities between all the people involved. (I'd really appreciate it if someone could help me out with this. I know that a more complex explanation is needed here, but I can't provide one since I'm not poly nor have ever been in a poly relationship.)

Trans and nonbinary characters are rarely given any other role than a side character or background character. (And, as far as I know, Viktor from Umbrella Academy and Rain Whispers from the Owl House are two of the few notable exceptions.)

Over 80% of all the LGBTQAD+ representation I've seen in media is centered around the idea of amatonormativity (meaning that [romantic] love and sex is seen as the standard expectation for everyone in society even though some people might not be interested in either of these things). This contributes to the erasure and rejection of the experiences of ALL arospects, acespects, and aroace people. Which is an ongoing issue because acephobia/aphobia is still commonly "normalized" everywhere.

LGBTQAD+ characters should be allowed to play a central role in more pieces of media. Whether it's as a villain, a "good guy", an anti-hero, an anti-villain, a vigilante, or a neutral force, queer characters can be any of these if you want them to. Overall, "sidekick" and "civilian" shouldn't be the default roles of LGBTQAD+ characters because there is so much potential for better LGBTQAD+ representation in many settings.

In the end, none of us know how cartoons, animes, movies, and series online will handle LGBTQAD+ representation in the future. But, by supporting independent Indie animation projects like Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel we've already started somewhere. Despite all the flaws in the storyline of these 2 shows, we can't deny that they have given us better queer representation than we've ever had before the 2020's. Straightforward LGBTQA+ representation started with The Owl House, and Vivziepop's 2 shows helped to continue what TOW started. So, while there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of LGBTQAD+ representation in media, we mustn't forget how far we've come since the 2000s and the 2010s.

Edit: For the last point of this post, please check the comment that I wrote. It explains that I was wrong about Helluva Boss' and Hazbin Hotel's LGBTQAD+ rep. It was an honest mistake on my part and I'm sorry about that.

[artistrichardhfay]

To Heck with the Trolls!

Fellow artists and writers have to stop heeding what social media and real-life trolls say about their works. Criticisms from trolls carry little real weight. Such criticisms are meaningless. I'll say that again, criticisms from trolls are meaningless!

Regardless of who folks are in "real-life", if they spend their time harshly criticizing others and their art, these folks are more than likely being trolls. A troll is as a troll does. Trolls spread negativity and toxicity. If someone spreads negativity and toxicity, whether it be online or in real-life, then they're a troll. I've known a few real-life trolls in my day, long before social media platforms became common.

I will also say this — not every social media troll is an unemployed incel living in their mom's basement or a worker in a troll farm. My biggest and worst online critic is, in real-life, a published author, former journalist, supposed critic, and alleged "public figure". That doesn't stop the guy from being a rather infamous writing world troll over on Twitter/X. I'm far from the only person to have been trolled by this jerk. At one point, he tried to claim it's his civic duty to troll "morons" (apparently, in his mind, a moron is anyone who ever disagrees with him or his trollish ways). I suspect, knowing this dude is such the troll, that he'd repeat his criticisms of me and my work in a real-life situation. I certainly wouldn't be surprised by it!

I recently ran across a thread over on Cara in which an artist said they got a sour taste in their mouth after others called their art "childish". This sounds like standard troll talk to me. Ironically enough, that very same troll I mention above has called my own work (in this case published poetry and short stories) "childish". Actually, his exact words were, and I quote (I kept screenshots):

"I can't say I think much about Fay. All his stuff is embarrassingly childish and one-dimensional. On-the-nose puffed-up stuff. He self-promotes aggressively his paste gems. He needs to spend more time reading, less time writing. And his art is, to be kind, a travesty."

Other terms the same troll has used in regard to my art: "enuretic ooze" (referring to my poetry) and "tragicartoons" (referring to my visual art). He's also claimed that I'm a "poetaster disaster" and "possibly the least competent visual artist in the Western Hemisphere".

To say this troll doesn't think much of me is actually an understatement!

Thankfully, numerous editors, publishers, customers, and clients, haven't felt the same regarding my works, both literary and visual art. A plethora of my "embarrassingly childish" and "one-dimensional" poems have been published in a multitude of small-press publications, print and online, "4 the luv" and paying, American and international. As for the "travesty" that is my visual art, a profusion of my visual artworks, full-color and black-and-white, have been published in a myriad of small-press publications, at times alongside my written works, at other times in publications that never published any of my written works. I've also done work, both visual art and writing, on-invitation/request/assignment for various clients in the realm of small-press publications. Additionally, customers have bought and continue to buy print-on-demand merchandise featuring my art. Such merchandise literally sells internationally. I've sold stuff to customers in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, and so on.

So, should I start heeding what the troll says, accept that my art is a "travesty", and give up being an artist? I don't effing think so! To heck with what the troll says! My advice to fellow creatives is to say the same — to heck with the trolls! Again, let me repeat — to heck with the trolls!

[madefate]

i hate working

[marrycv]

yall dont forget that english aint my first language, if you have any criticisms about my writing tell them nicely, thank you.

[elegantzombielite]

"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed."

Herman Melville, novelist and poet (1st August 1819-1891)

[crystalsenergy]

Echoes of Separateness:

Ego, bullying, and the illogical path of the wounded ego #2

(I demand that the person be here, but in reality, I didn't even want that…)

Part 1: posted yesterday, previous post ✨

In this post, we introduced some examples of this problem that is so present in our lives:

In the case of school,

we see those groups of people who don't like person X. Person X doesn't want to participate in events that are held, for example, outside of school, and that many in the class attend. This person doesn't go because they know it won't be good for them, that there will be insincerity, and they won't feel good. This person prefers to be sincere with themselves and their peers, showing that they prefer to be themselves.

The peers, who already reinforced criticisms, gossip, and other malicious behaviors towards this person X, suddenly get offended and/or demand that this person attend. They complain that they didn't go.

Why, if in the end, there wasn't even a real desire to have the person there?

In the case of religion,

being bothered because the person you don't have a friendship with, don't have a relationship with, and, in fact, do quite the opposite, doesn't attend meetings because it didn't make sense for them to go to one or another, let's imagine due to a topic that was going to be discussed and they didn't want to participate.

You don't like the person… according to what you yourself show them. So why demand their presence?

In the case of workplaces,

situations that strengthen through exclusion, gossip, and badmouthing.

Let's suppose a group notice that a certain colleague has the habit of preferring to be more truthful, keeping to themselves, knowing that their ideas don't resonate with the group's ideas, including the ways these groups use to feel "good" (gossiping, excluding, etc.).

The people in this situation, noticing this colleague's independence and feeling bothered by it, reinforce their exclusion daily, gossiping and/or creating unpleasant situations.

One day, there is a gathering, and the colleague doesn't go, choosing instead to use their time on something that actually makes them feel good, knowing that it wouldn't be genuine, that there would be a lot of insincerity, and wanting to nurture different things in their life.

And then the colleagues get offended and believe in their minds that it makes sense to demand the presence of a person… even a person they exclude so much.

In the case of "friendships",

excluding people who are different from you because others do it, and you, unfortunately, depend on your group to feel belonging; or you do it and attract others to the same path…

and someone in the group starts to become more independent, wanting to move away from dependence, gets criticized for not attending all the meetings, outings. And the one who was "your buddy" yesterday becomes your main target for gossip and intrigue, just because the person is no longer present to nurture your ego.

My dears, it is time to learn the real concept and value of Freedom. Those who truly like us don't hold us back… if we really like someone, we don't hold them back.

And one of the ways to identify who likes us or not is: to observe what their first reaction is when we distance ourselves from them. Do they ask you why? Do they change their behavior towards you, acting sometimes with resentment, sometimes with insincerity? How do they act from a distance, if they haven't yet come to talk to you?

Unfortunately, those who are still on this path personalize everything. And they believe it will always be about them. It doesn't cross their minds that you might need to rediscover yourself, recognize yourself, self-discover, or be going through a turbulent period. Or that there really is a conflict, friction between you, and that this should be discussed.

These are people who, unfortunately, are extremely connected to their wounded ego. And they act and react most of the time based on this, on unconsciousness and the ego that at the moment is negative.

In the case of family,

people who exclude other relatives, blood-related or not, over ego issues, even very senseless things (which consciousness knows, but the person doesn't want to admit, after all, energies don't lie and not everything needs to be said for us to notice who people are):

being bothered by being near my truer, even more humble (not in terms of money, but personality) relatives, and then reinforcing the idea of exclusion to make them feel bad,

because I am still very insecure and live in the energy of appearances, of reinforcing something good about myself through my possessions and material goods… because it seems that without them, I feel empty.

Because I haven't yet realized that my meaning goes beyond anything ephemeral, that contains "glamour" in appearance and aesthetics, but often can be without content and meaning.

The person who is aware of the exclusion in relation to them, of the unpleasant things, doesn't attend all family gatherings, wisely acting in such a manner, but the relative who forces exclusion, separation, gossip, criticism, control, comes demanding this person's presence, often using as a foundation for "anger" precisely the fact that the person didn't go.

But what logic and sense does that have, if you don't even like the person's presence?

It is a cycle of nurturing bad things… that people seem not to notice!

It is important to wake up to this to put an end to these toxic processes in our lives and in others'. And this message of ending or setting a limit applies to all cases and to all "sides",

both the demanded and the demanding. Freedom and truth are the only keys and real solutions…

All this that I pointed out makes no sense, following a raw and straightforward logic, but it makes sense based on the idea that these people act this way, from beginning to end,

out of FEAR of abandonment.

FEAR of being alone.

FEAR of judgment.

And in a process of badmouthing, not accepting to look at this at the moment with openness, care, they spill this pain that they hide from themselves onto others.

[undeath1245]

I'm a bit curious if The Loud House fandom is still active or not, at least the saner part of the fandom (the ones who post fanart, GIFs, and speculation posts). It's just that I wonder if anyone here still watches the show considering its staggering ratings and admittedly dwindling writing. Lately, its latest episode, "Bye Bye Birthday", premiered on Nicktoons last month with 0.09 million views (that's probably around 90,000 views). Not to mention that its spin-off, Los Casagrandes, had been cancelled about a year ago, and its unwanted live-action spin-off, The Really Loud House, is still airing on Nickeldeon with staggering ratings as well.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the show and its abundance of characters. I especially love its comic strip-based cartoon style. It's just that I feel that the magic it had isn't there anymore. Maybe it's because that the show grew more fantastical than reality-grounded, especially with its movie and how it focused on... dragons and ghosts.

Anyway, I feel like this show isn't as popular as it used to be, and I wonder if some of the fandom here feels the same way. Maybe I'm getting too old. I don't know. Anyway, I'm going to see if I could finish up my two-year-old draft on The Loud House and what it could have been.

[interstellar-elf]

Hi. As long as you're okay to chat about OSR, I also have to admit, O's heroic sacrifice in the penultimate episode didn't land with me. This is mainly because O was barely a character up till then and the most we ever knew about him was vague connection to Satis. I legit would've been more touched if it was Ondai or Lord Furter, at least they had personality and Ondai wouldn't just die offscreen.

Same, I kind of feel like they had something more planned with O but somehow couldn't or wouldn't write that into the show. They did manage to show it somewhat in the last few episodes but honestly it wasn't enough.

I don't know if I would've been sad if it was Lord Furter, since I really really hated that guy, but I think I would've felt bad if it was Ondai, since they seemed to be doing something with his "I want to feel things" plotline that didn't really go anywhere. The original short even seems to indicate he might've had some kind of romance or connection with Molly, with his heart eyes.

I also wonder if O was a last minute addition, as he doesn't seem as developed as much as say Ning and Skun or Ondai was.

[lily-orchard-archives]

May 24, 2017

[idkimjustexistingsblog]

So I just started watching the 13th doctor I beilive and their are so manny thing off with it ive been trying to figure out where to start and one of the two places I decied to start with

1 being the world building they conplete threw off the idea that fixed point in history exsist and how you can't really mess with time and a cuple other rules

That being said I really enjoy how the doctor likes to be peaceful I think it's an inteeating side to them

And 2 is something I'm seeing in a lot of shows is that they can't do subtle the points have to be in your face and it almost always has to being moving witch leads to sloppy writing and weak plot

I'm only a few episodes in though bit evrything seems in your face and when it stops for a second you can see how sloppy it is is you don't get any of the subtle I understand I'm the smae looks I feel like it all has to be said and it makes it kinda sloppy at the end of the day

I also feel like evrything is so spead up and when this season aired that it was the start fo the downfall of current writing

[thighsxhashira]

"She's beautiful", Alex tells me, glancing at my NEW date... Again.

Nora tucks a braid behind her ear and flashes her a smile...

Mariam takes a sip from the wine glass, staring at Emily's hands. She hands me the glass and holds both Emily's hands, noticing her manicured nails.

"I love the color, what's it?", Mariam's attention is torn between the nails and the eye makeup.

"It's coral pink, it looks good on me. I would know", Emily raises her right hand to look at it, light reflecting off her nails glossy finish.

Mariam turns to give me the "seriously?" look, her head tilted one way, her expression neutral with one raised eyebrow....

"I'm tired and I'm bored" my partner lights a cigarette, looking at the mirror in our bedroom.

"Celine is holding a house party tomorrow, it's going to be so much fun. You can be Mark tomorrow, I promise". I reach into the closet and pull out a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. My partner would be a very good Mark, they'll be so happy as a Mark. A smile is plastered on my face as I think of people's reaction when they see me with Mark.

"Your fashion sense is terrible, this has been going on for years now. Switching identities doesn't move me anymore." My partner drapes her evening dress on a chair and takes a deep drag. "My mom called..." They trails off, looking at me. I know what they're going to say next. They don't know what I am doing for them, I have good intentions for them, I love them for god's sake!

Their face suddenly disgusts me, it's repulsive. Ungratefulness is a sin. Disgust flows through my body slowly, like green muck. I imagine bashing their head into a wall. The last time I tried that, their identity's physical appearance wasn't convincing, it looked like someone dumped water on a painting that was slowly drying.

I look at my partner, my expression mirrored perfectly on their face. What was I expecting? They are shape shifters after all. I smiled and they smiled too.

They laugh.

"It's probably not that serious anyway, I might visit them next month." My partner and I are under the duvet. The room is quiet, too quiet. I don't like it when it's too quiet.

"You can go if you want, I can go to Celine's alone. Feel free. You know I love you and I'd never make you do something you don't want to do. You can make your own decisions by yourself" I say, staring at the ceiling, I can't look at their face. They are moulting again.

I hear the dead skin move as they speak..

"My skin is coming off slowly this time." I hear the sound of the skin being torn slowly. I hate that sound, but it's necessary. Their identity after moulting is impeccable. It looks like gods molded them. "I'd be done before Celine's party."

I close my eyes, thinking of people's expression when I walk in with Mark. I have Mark's face, his body type documented. I am caught between the soft borders between consciousness and unconsciousness. I hear the dead skin moving again...

I feel it.

I feel the dull pain.

Metal surface of a hammer.

At my temple. One blunt hit.

Your friends are convinced that you have a new date every single day with all of the guys/girls you bring home. In reality, your partner is a shapeshifter and the two of you have been pulling a prank on your friends for years.