#huge rant

[silversoul713]

F*ck it.

Someone has to say it.

The Avatar remake is good. Honestly.

For each thing that it did wrong, it did two things right and one thing better. The casting was solid, characters felt overall believable, it explored more of the world and was dark and funny, just like they promised.

No, it isn't perfect, and as much as we all like to say that the original was flawless, it really wasn't. The truth is that the animated series was as close to perfection as it could be given the medium, budget, time etc. It was above what anyone at the time expected. It blew minds! And it is unfair to expect the same level of greatness from the live action adaptation.

You cannot compare something so beloved and incredible to something that is completely fine on its own and say it is terrible just because the new doesn't live up to the original.

It isn't one to one and if it had been then it would've sucked because we all would've seen it before but better! Obviously they had to change things because of it. But they wouldn't want to take away from the journey or spend precious minutes on certain areas, so they mixed and matched, put other things in between the lines and it works!

They made it different, they gave it more. It isn't the same Avatar we grew up with and that is fine. It's a remake, an adaptation, you knew what was coming.

If you go to see a new Robin Hood movie, or Cinderella or any other famous story retold, you wouldn't want it to be perfect and precise to the version you like the most, because you've seen it a hundred times already! You see it most likely because you like the overall story, and want something new to absorb into your obsession!

Yeah, it messed up, yeah it was wonky here and there, but the things it did right and the things it did even better more than makes up for that and people need to stop expecting things to be perfect because it's not gonna happen!

It is still Avatar.

If you want the original then watch the original. If you don't want remakes to happen then grow up and accept that you don't have a say in it.

To claim that they shouldn't attempt remakes because they can't be better is a slippery slope of thinking that could wind up extremely toxic. It insinuates that if they don't know it can be just as good or better than before then they shouldn't even try. It inspires toxic perfectionism. It inspires giving up before trying.

So either close your eyes and don't focus on the things you don't enjoy like an adult, or open them properly so you can enjoy good content without being judgemental.

[irritablesnoutband]

wTF is wrong with gege akutami

spoilers for ch 259. do not proceeed if you have not caught up with the manga or anime yet. this post contains spoilers

gege akutami. Bring all of them back. all of them you killed mercilessly in your manga, you sadist.

Take your mouth out of sukuna"s meat and listen to me!!!

now i actually hate cats in irl beacuse of him.

I hate that they killed my boi in ch 259. Where do i even begin???

I fucking started sobbing. Why is it just pure pain for us gojo and choso fans.

I have to admit that his death was well done. His death is in the same level of nanami"s death.

Now we will never get to see the holy trinity of brothers

Todo is back,but at what cost.

Even though i saw death flags waving at him.still, i thought he would make it to the end .

Now with the recent chapter, Sukuna no longer has domain or rct .

His ce outputs are at rock bottom.Yuji is gonna kill him. This is yuji"s fight. He will probably kill the binding vow merchant.

But it also means another thing for us gojo copers, our white haired shaman"s returning rate is decreasing.

If yuji kills sukuna ang gojo comes back , what even is his purpose? ,maybe stopping the merger???.

MY prediction is that sukuna will deploy his heian era technique and gojo,yuji,yuta,maki,ino,todo and maybe hakari will jump at him and commence the mass jumping session.

That would make a satisfying ending,but we all know that will never happen as gege is gege.

I hate this manga as it always kills my comfort characters.

Gege,when i catch you gege.

fiction is supposed to be a escape from reality,not a reflection of it.

edit: this is a shit post. I actually admire gege for creating beloved characters. To those reading this dont take stuff seriously. I am still sad that my fav characters are dead.

[mariegolddoesthings]

The more that I'm alive, the more I get SICK of this world.

KOSA is so close to passing. AI is taking uses from artists like me. Palestine is being attacked by Israel. Trans rights are being taken away from state laws, especially Florida, which is where I live. Yeah. I live in Florida, and I'm not happy there. And that's not even a quarter of the problems in the world. The more I scroll down Tumblr, the more problems I see. Makes me want to throw my phone across the room.

I don't know why I was born here. People are always the problem. It's always our species that are causing something like this. I wish I was born on a different planet. A different universe, even. Either way, I hate it. I hate it so much. I can't enjoy myself seeing all this.

Fuck humanity.

[buzzbuzzbowie]

Okay can we talk about the subplot with Frenchie and Colin? I feel like most of the fandom finds it stupid and unnecessary but I'd like to put in my two cents.

The whole point was that Frenchie was facing the consequences of his past by being forced to confront the long lasting effect that it had on someone. Eventually this led into having him be able to forgive himself with Kimiko and then letting colin go. It wasn't for representation or just because they wanted to shove another gay character in there. They wanted to make him a more well rounded, builded character and make him self aware of his actions.

I seriously wish this fandom wasn't just a bunch of dude bros and it was people who actually fucking understood the entirety of the show. Media literacy isn't hard guys !!

[astuteobservations]

the oompa loompification of Hugh Grant

[pussinbuss]

Abuse of women in the wrestling industry

In light of the situation with the Vince lawsuit I want to share a great article on issues in wrestling relating to misogyny, which touch upon allegations aswell as the neutral up to positive attitude some wrestlers and workers have around sexual assault and blatant disrespect of consent ( upholding r*pe culture, even by more modern wrestler ), aswell as misogyny and abuse of women : https://www.fanbyte.com/legacy/a-brief-history-of-creeps-in-professional-wrestling

I think it's important to remember what many men, with the help of other men or women, did in this business, to women and even children.

It's also extremely important to remember the women who were brave enough to talk about the abuse, and fight it. Women in this industry like in many entertainement business, from wrestling to fashion or even animation are used and abused by men on a, well, industrial level.

We have to be conscious we are watching a media built by those men, who have those ideas, and be critical of it.

It can be small like a wrestler wearing an Art Barr tshirt on TV

Or it may be big, watching the royal rumble, and hearing the name of it's creator, we have to remember the ring boys and Pat's misogynistic storylines and jokes he infused into the program.

Same can be said about Vince and the attitude and more modern era. How many women abused behind the scene, kept as eyecandy or not used for their wrestling abilities, simply because they are women.

When you are looking at a woman being humiliated in a fetish way on this show for a " storyline " ( you are looking at a women being abused, even if it's for a story ) it's because someone enjoy that power and dominance, and he feel so free about it he show it in front of you. If I say "women pro wrestling" to a woman my age in my country, they think misogynistic fetish fest !

Another point that bother me is the use an toss aspect given toward women in the business and sadly make it even more sad when women are helping men to shine, only for them to be awful men and make their legacy hidden. What would be Ric Flair without an Olivia Swithen Walker robe ?

To speak on use and abuse, I can only think of the so many female relegated to valet and manager ( as in classic celebrity manager ).

Behind Chris Benoit there was Nancy Toffoloni , who also helped tremendously Vickie Guerrero after the lose of her husband. She was horrendously killed by him.

Managing Snuka behind the scene was Nancy Argentino, who was killed by him.

How many wrestler's wife were and are holding together the household just to be beaten by their husband ? Too many

I also want to highlight the more insidious exploitation of women's ressources through unpaid labour, their body and money. ( and being educated to be kind, patient and caring help in it )

Take that awful interview of CM punk and Colt Cabana in 2005. Yes Punk is a good wrestler and speaker, did he exploit and abuse the shit out of some women for his benefice and treat her like scum ? Yes, and look at where he is now. He can wear as many "abortion is a human right " shirt as he want, because he sure did not see the humanity in the girl he used.

I'm sure this whole trial situation may bring strong emotions to people who were abused in such ways, and awarness by others of your situation is very important, even if it's simply a sibbling or close friends. The more people know it happen, and it happen often sadly, the more people will realise it's a common reality.

On a bit of positivity to end this I want to make clear the solution is not to give up wrestling, give up all entertainement and live in a cave. They actually want you to do that ! The solution is more women in charge in those industry, Shareholders, managers, creative team, places of power... Women and girl are around 50% of the world ? We got to take our sit at the table. As a viewer, we also have to "vote" with our time and money. Be vocal online about turning off the tv when an abusive wrestler you don't like is onscreen, make jokes about it even ! PR is power in our era.

Girlies, don't fall off the wagon, they want you to !

peace, Puss in Buss.

[phillytheclown]

No one cares so I'm doing this, INFO DUMP ABT OCS

Soooo, MIMES FIRST >:3

Straw, the embodiment of Cadimum Orange, she's (so far) the tallest mime (8'0) and is, of course, ageless. She keeps a positive attitude about most things, even when fighting (physically and arguments) they use they/them/She. Their main weapons when in physical fights is her fangs and a classic butterfly knife. They enjoy biting anything that can be bit, except for animals, (her favorite being Alligators and Cats)

Their host (Jacky) is human, and stands at about 6'1, she was 25 before her death, Straw is unknown of their hosts death, but doesn't really care either way. Straws alibis/closest friends are; Peah, and Auto. They enjoys anything sweet and often gets a bit too excited when offered candy or pastries (her voice can and often does, project as if they were in a theater)

Next is Auto, the embodiment of True Rouge. He stands at 7'11 and is a generally traditional Vampire. They are of course, ageless. They go by He/They, but also don't give a shit being called anything different. Often layed back, it takes a shit tone to get them to care about most things. He's not one to fight, but if they need too, his go-to weapons are his fangs, or his inevitable charm.

Although not one for fights or any sort of physical interaction, he finds his bloodlust to be high at times, he doesn't usually prefer a source of blood, (Straw usually tries to stop him from drinking from animals) but other than that, he takes any blood he can get. They're the flirty type, especially in host, and often flirts to get something he wants, or to fuck with someone.

His host (Alejandro) is naturally 5'7, but often wears platforms to make him taller. His death is known to Auto, due to the fact he killed him themself. Originally it was only for blood, but they then realized they liked the attractive look of this host. He spends more time in host then in mime or puppet form, he enjoys acting like a spoiled rich person eating cheese and wine. His closest friends are Ajax and Straw.

Next, is Peah!! The embodiment of Canary Yellow. She's one of the shortest mimes (so far) at about 6'11. And again, Ageless. She's uses She/Her, but isn't too worried about lables like that. She's a very emotional poet, her writing ability striking even the least emotional (such as Auto) she doesn't have much power or fighting ability, and often tries to sit out physical (and emotional) fights as much as possible, but when needed, she uses birds (it sounds dumb, and even I don't know why that is, I don't even remember writing it down.)

She doesn't have a host, and doesn't plan on finding one anytime soon, she enjoys her mime form. Her puppet form seems to stress her out most times, (her puppet being based on a swan, she can't write with wings or her claws.) Her closest friends are Marina and Straw (although Straws loud demeanor seems to be overwhelming, she enjoys her company.)

And then (drum roll) Marina!! The embodiment of Aquamarine! She stands at about 7'9, ageless of course, and uses He/She/They. They're definitely a fighter, taking opportunities to rile anyone up when he can, she uses her fists mostly, or a regular pocket knife (gifted to her by Ajax) she stands strong and confident, but doesn't struggle showing her emotions. They can be obnoxious at times, but can keep themselves content when needed. (Often around Peah, not liking to stress her out or make her cry.)

He has no host currently, and is very picky about what body he takes over. Their puppet form (not fully designed yet...) seems to resemble a fish like creature such as a mermaid. His closets friends are Ajax, Straw, and Peah.

And now, Thwack!! The embodiment of Coral! Ageless, uses She/Her, stands at 7'5, and is a very proud clown! She enjoys making others laugh and have a silly time. She's pretty emotional, but when she's feeling anything like sad or mad, she makes jokes out of it and does everything she can to make herself feel better! She fights when needed, and always makes it fun, using a comically large hammer with her name on it to smash down anyone she needs!

She currently doesn't have a host, but is looking for a perfect clown to represent her mime form. Her puppet form resembles a giant jester, which is absolutely terrifying to see up close. Her closest friends are Straw and Marina!

(There are about 2 more mimes, but they aren't designed or thought about enough to be in here unfortunately :3)

Next, is the Living!! Although very few right now, they're still here!!

Ajax, a simple man living his life to the fullest as a southern (cowboy dressin) kinda boy, he goes by He/Him/They, but usually doesn't care if anyone gets anything wrong. He's about 23, finding himself attracted to both Women and Men, but with a heavy Male preference. He enjoys gardening a lot, and finds growing his own food helpful (more than driving all the way to town to buy some simple groceries, when they can just grow them himself!) He doesn't enjoy fighting, and usually makes his life partner (Mav) fight for him, but when they need to fight, he usually just uses his fists and a bat.

He's a pretty expressive person, but doesn't like letting their more serious emotions show unless alone or with Mav. He makes friends very easy, and doesn't have issues with peoples more obvious flaws, his rose colored glasses only coming off when forced off. They live out on a small farm with Mav, he ran away from home at about 19 and told Mav, although at the time they didn't know eachother very well, simply school friends, Mav felt the need to help and tag along with Ajax. During the years living together, they both developed some romantic feelings, Ajax being the first to say something (not good at hiding crushes whatsoever.)

Following his boyfriend, is Mav, a 21 year old human, using He/Him but often enjoying more feminine things. He's openly pansexual, not minding labels or gender, but cuteness and personality, which he found in Ajax. Mav is more calm and quiet, but cocky at times. He doesn't let his emotions show when he has them, but always tries to support the people around him. He enjoys relaxing and sometimes baking, and tends to keep things clean and tidy. He spends time with his life partner and dog (which he of course, named Princess..) he likes the simple life he chose, finding himself sitting on the front porch in the morning looking at the sunrise, admiring how beautiful life can be.

Last, and unfortunately the one least developed, is Rosemarie (or Rosie for short), a 115 year old vampire girl, using She/Her mostly, but she also likes any pronouns you choose to call her. She keeps a soft vampire Gothic style, red and black clothing consuming her wardrobe, she usually uses very little makeup though. She's a very young vampire, but has experienced much life. She keeps quiet mostly but is a very happy person in general. She's scared to trust, due to all the people she's loved that have unfortunately died and left her alone.

THIS IS LONG JESUS, I JUST LOOOVE RANTING, I don't expect anyone to read any of this, this is mainly for me :3 <33 I have accidentally ignored too many people writing this though

[saphirafoxgirlspost1]

Me(Saphira mod) and Annmods (even though she's gone) Closure

Annmod: Listen..its..been awhile..look..i realized how wrong i am.. Saphiramod: so..your apoligizing right? annmod: yea...i'm sorry.. Saphira Mod: ok..I Don't forgive you.. annmod: umm..i thought it'll be the last time and.. Saphira mod: No...i'm not going to Forgive you after what you did to me 10 years ago..you don't get it at all... Do you know what its like? Losing all my friends and followers..after What you did to me...All i ever wanted was getting help to be a better person..and YOU...treated me like trash..and I Will Never forgive you like that...and you know what your Problem is annmod? You think your a good person and a hero...but I Know you better..i saw your rant, your cruel comments and remarks, blackmailing and Insults...you think..i'm a Naive simpleton..and what makes matters worse..is that you make some stupid baseless accusation of Plaguarism..and you made a huge deal like that...and then you made me create a Public Appoligize just to humiliate me..but you believe it wasn't good enough..so i made it 4 times....FOUR FUCKING TIMES..and you still think it's not good enough...and then you made much much worse by Posting our conservation...OUR conservation..and you ruined me..and Foxymod was no differ..he made the matters far worse...the only thing that cause this Whole mess...was over this STUPID little thing about same death and different causes..who you think it's Plaguarism! Thats what you made a big deal of...a Small little thing about it!...and Look what happens to me...i lost alot of followers because of you...If you weren't such a "bitch" and Not making a Huge deal about small shit..none of this would've happen...If you just accepted my apoligize and move on...but no...You..never..did...and where were you? huh? if you want to apolgize to me..you should've apoligize to me 10 years ago..after the whole mess you did...all because you made a huge deal about this Stupid Small things!..*Shook head* 10 years..you run away like a coward...and never apoligize to me..and I don't get why you left without Apoligizing to me..and you Know what you are...You are a Bitch who Causes so many drama and Doesn't give a Shit who she's hurting and making others look like villians..Thats you! thats the annmod i know...and also..one of your Little fans did the unthinkable to my muse..by raping her!..what do you have to say for that huh? What do you have to say for that? Because...YOU cause this!...your the root of it...all because of One Little thing we shouldn't make a big deal out of it..but now..it's out in the open...I was trying to be Nice to you..but now...not anymore...i'm not your friend..we're never friends..you wanted to get rid of me and saphira like trash..and you and everyone else..including geniemod..are no difference...telling me that "I hurt your friends and all"...you don't give a shit that the only person who you hurt is me....and you know what...you and your other friends can go to hell for all i fucking care because I ain't forgiving you shit whatsoever! Because all you can cause right now..is Drama...Everyone loves a Big drama!..including anons that wanted to cause it as well.. and if i were you annmod...I would look back..and regret it for the rest of my fucking life...admitting that I'm such a Bitch who gives no shits at all... and I..will never forgive for what i've done... Now get out of my Sight annmod...I Don't want to see your faces ever again...you've done enough damage to me for too damn long... *Sees annmod leaves with regret and close the door* End Scene

[homoquartz]

this post is not gonna be well put together but i am having feelings

mean girls is trending right now because the musical movie just came out and i feel insane. idk why i do, it was stupid of me to think that most people Got It, no one ever gets it, it was always about the memes and the aesthetic.

the first mean girls movie was based on a nonfiction book called queen bees and wannabes. it interviewed and discussed the social hierarchy system in teen girl friendships. how they hold each other to these insane standards of heternormative femininity out of sheer terror that they won't meet those standards themselves. the way they leverage their relationships for some small degree of power in a world designed to strip them of it, even if it drags other girls down.

the "you can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week and on wednesdays we wear pink" speech was not an original creation for the script. it's a QUOTE from a real teenage girl. those were REAL RULES.

then the musical came, and it was one step removed from the intended messaging of the film. OG mean girls was not perfect (and was extremely racist), but it said what needed said. the musical leaned on the comedy more, but still left a heartfelt undertone, and still critiqued the systems in place. of course no piece of media is going to be perfect, but it was about the conversation.

then this new movie comes out and it is washed over in the veneer of white hollywood feminism so thick you can't see anymore. the problematic aspects of the original movie are taken out to avoid "offending" when the offense was the point. it becomes toothless, it becomes some other thing entirely. they changed karen's line "i expect to run the world in shoes i cannot walk in" to "watch me as i run the world in shoes i cannot walk in." because choice feminism is in vogue, suddenly this character whose entire point is that she doesn't think deeply about WHY she does anything is suddenly hip to the fact that the world is against her.

i think of sokka losing his misogyny arc in the new atla. i think of the Heathers remake casting the bitchy, identical heathers as queer and hollywood-fat outcasts. as if the story, the meaning, the allegory is hidden in the sets and the jokes and the music. it's a whole new thing now, and it's a thing that means nothing in particular.

the plastics should not wear jeans. they should not have curves. their queerness should be suppressed, painful. their sexuality is not a slay, it's the only thing they think they have of value. the santa dance isn't sexy, it's shocking, it's mortifying - they are children.

they're not mean because "we are all mean." they are mean because they are girls in a world that brutalizes them and crushes them into a standardized shape. they are mean because the world is mean to them. they are mean because it gives them some power back. they are mean because it's the only weapon they have.

the landscape of femininity today has shifted to camera-ready makeup at the age of 10, stringent performative hygiene standards, and avoiding being caught on film while having a genuine emotion. the consumerism, the fatphobia, the racism, the classism, the homophobia remain. We could have had a conversation about that.

[fluentisonus]

☞ THUS

[rubyscarbuncle]

“I don’t know the trans experience enough to do a trans character properly so I won’t put one in my story” hi that’s repackaged transphobia :)

we’re not some kind of mythological creature that needs to be studied, you don’t have to make a trans character’s whole identity that they’re trans or treat it as this thing that would HAVE to be addressed in depth. You can just be like “yo this dude’s trans” and wow, boom, you’ve made a trans character. Nobody is asking for you to go into insane depth, nobody needs you to go into their entire transition process or to do a whole song and dance about it. you CAN, it’s great representation to see characters’ who go through big arcs or have all these things about them being trans, there’s a reason I’ve read like a bazillion trans webcomics specifically about this. But if your character just… Is trans. That’s fine. That’s great even. Like, Raine from Owl House is non-binary, they don’t have a whole song and dance about it, they just… Exist. Fuck, you don’t even have to really address it much if you make a character that’s been on hormones for a few years. Just someone that exists and is trans.

I can even list more examples too, Miko from touhou is the first one that comes to mind. Someone who was a prince and when given the option to reincarnate chose the form of a woman. Nobody really dwells on it, it’s just kind of a thing and everyone moves on. Chau from ShootAround has a couple moments where it talks about how she’s trans but she just exists and is happy. Takao also from ShootAround is the same deal. Zoe from Monster Prom is a canonically trans character, and is amazing. And her transition is from unfathomable nightmare eldritch deity to cute eldritch anime girl who writes crack fics and ships garfield and naruto and wants her former cultists to fuck off or at least start calling her the right name. It’s great! You can write trans characters that just exist it’s not that hard.

Think about it though, imagine if a straight person said the same thing about writing a queer character. The average LGBT person would have the same reaction. You can just make a character that likes the same gender, it’s not a big crazy deal. You just write them how you would write, oh i dunno, a fucking person. Wow, crazy how that works. Because that mindset is internalized homophobia, because you’re declassifying them as so non-standard that you would feel the need to do excessive research (of which the people saying this stuff are never going to do) to write that. I’m not saying doing research about a group of people that aren’t yourself is a bad thing to do, it’s great! But this person would be seeing someone as gay first and a person second. The same could be said of pretty much anything like that, I feel like this happens a lot to a bunch of different types of people. It’s the same reason we have so many people that write about a bunch of cishet, white, allo, neurotypical dudes. “ohhh i’m not qualified enough to write abou-“ THEY’RE PEOPLE. JUST WRITE PEOPLE. HOLY SHIT. YOU CAN JUST WRITE HUMAN BEINGS WITH WANTS AND NEEDS AND DESIRES.

This is the same principle I’m talking about. It’s infuriating, and the worst part is that it gets to fly under the radar as allyship when it’s really the opposite. It tries to give space for trans people to write trans stories but all it really does is reduce the total amount of trans representation we could have. And rather than do even the bare minimum amount of research, to ask any friends you know that are in that group about something like that (I myself would be thrilled if someone asked me about trans experiences for character writing and I can only imagine others would be the same), you instead mark off your ignorance as something that disqualifies you from even having to try to be an ally, while still claiming that to be allyship in itself. Shit sucks.

I cannot stress this enough, you don’t have to make being trans, or queer, or anything, a huge part of the character. You can just have them be… A person that just so happens to be these things. CRAZY CONCEPT I KNOW. and if you’re willing to do that with certain things but not others, really re-evaluate that. Because it’s probably some form of internalized bigotry you haven’t addressed in yourself, for trans people or otherwise.

[allinllachuteruteru]

Duolingo is NOT what it used to be.

“Duolingo is ‘sunsetting the development of the Welsh course’ (and many others)”.

I’ve used Duolingo since 2013. It used to be about genuinely learning languages and preserving endangered ones. It used to have a vibrant community and forum where users were listened to. It used to have volunteers that dedicated countless hours and even years to making the best courses they could while also trying to explain extremely nuanced and complex grammar in simple terms.

In the past two years it feels like Von Ahn let the money talk instead of focusing on the original goal.

No one truly had a humongous problem with the subscription tier for SuperDuolingo. We understood it: if you can afford to pay, help keep Duolingo free for those who couldn’t.

It started when the company went public. Volunteers were leaving courses they created because they warned of differing longterm goals compared to Duolingo’s as a company; not long after it was announced that the incubator (how volunteers were able to make courses in the first place) would be shut down. A year goes by and the forums—the voice of the users and the way people were able to share tips and explanations—is discontinued. A year or two later, Duolingo gets a completely new makeover—the Tree is gone and you don’t control what lesson you start with. With the disappearance of the Tree, all grammar notes and explanations for courses not in the Big 8 (consisting of the courses made before the incubator like Spanish/French/German/etc. and of the most popular courses like Japanese/Korean/Chinese/etc.) are removed with it. Were you learning Vietnamese and have no idea how honorifics work without the grammar notes? Shit outta luck bud. Were you learning Polish and have absolutely no clue how one of the declensions newly thrown at you functions? Suck it up. In a Reddit AMA, Von Ahn claims that the new design resulted in more users utilizing the app/site. How he claims that statistic? By counting how many people log into their Duolingo account, as if an entire app renovation wouldn’t cause an uptick in numbers to even see what the fuck just happened to the courses.

Von Ahn announces next in a Reddit AMA that no more language courses will be added from what there already is available. His reasoning? No one uses the unpopular language courses — along with how Duolingo will now be doing upkeep with the courses already in place. And here I am, currently looking on the Duolingo website how there are 1.8 million active learners for Irish, 284 thousand active learners for Navajo, and even 934 thousand active learners for fucking High Valyrian. But yea, no one uses them. Not like the entire Navajo Nation population is 399k members or anything, or like 1.8 million people isn’t 36% of the entire population of Ireland or anything.

And now this. What happened to the upkeep of current courses? Oh, Von Ahn only meant the popular ones that already have infinite resources. Got it. Duolingo used to be a serious foundational resource for languages with little resources while also adding the relief of gamification.

It pisses me off. It really does. This was not what Duolingo started out as. And yea, maybe I shouldn’t get invested in a dingy little app. But as someone who spent most of her adolescence immersed in language learning to the point where it was literally keeping me alive at one point, to the point where languages felt like my only friend as a tween, and to the point where friendships on the Duolingo forums with likeminded individuals my age and other enthusiasts who even sent me books in other languages for free because they wanted people to learn it, the evolution of Duolingo hits a bitter nerve within me.

~End rant.

[agentbobr]

mildly peeved bc my partner keeps making plans w/ me and i get excited and then he never DOES them -_-

like he said yesterday oh yea,,, tonight! we should talk! <33 so obviously, i stayed up last night waiting. and waiting. til 5am. T_T like- and this isnt the first time, shes said that we can talk soon and then didn't talk to me for 2 days after. and the time i suggested we suggested times to talk so i wouldnt be up til 4am everynight waiting on them and they just ignored it, not ever saying oh yea uh idk what times tho,,,, so im stuck having to hyper analyze what times they message me to possibly know when shes free auughhhh

theyre so lucky that i love them bc otherwise id be so mad omg

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

"You and me, Ethan. Together we go save Rose, and then we can grind Miranda into paste!"

[cheesythicdoritolegz]

Wow, this is pretty good criticism for the show. Something has been bothering me about season 2 for quite awhile now.

When I watched it the first time, I'm gonna be honest... I had fun with those recent episodes. They were a lot more action packed and I was ecstatic when I saw some of the legacy characters made more appearances. However, in the last 4 episodes, I felt conflicted with how they went more into this dark direction. Especially when it's supposed to be directed towards a young audience (13+). When I saw this post today, the internal conflict I have towards this direction increased quite a bit.

For the last couple hours, I have been having this question linger in my head: Who is this show really for?

It's like this show is trying to do this "have cake and eat it too" route. Where there's one part where it goes pretty wholesome and sweet, and it goes into this other part where it acts all serious and dark.

When it comes to going towards the dark direction, I think it worked well in TFP since it had some mature themes at the very start of the show. However, when it comes to Earthspark....I don't know. It just doesn't work out well at times.

Especially when they're literally displaying scenes of Robby getting seriously ill and later on possibly dying in some form of alternate scenario. This was a way to prove to Mo how she's that needed for such heavy responsibility, which is fucking crazy looking back at it.

What's even worse is that she had to fight Mandroid ALL BY HERSELF!!!!!

A little girl had to fight a robo hating maniac (who doesn't even mind hurting her and her brother too) , and her parents just watch being all proud of her. LIKE BRUH!!!!

If that was my kid, I would have been mad at Quintus Prime for giving my kid such a responsibility and doubling down on that. I would kick both him and Mandroid's ass, and find some way that my kid doesn't have to go through this heavy burden anymore. She and her brother are already going through so much, and they're freaking kids. And, I don't care if Optimus Prime tries to stop me. I'm going to swing REAL hard on these assholes.

Along with that, the fact that they even shown the possibility of Dorothy and Alex dying in front of their kids, and Mandroid almost succeeding in committing GENOCIDE...I don't know, it's freaking crazy. I don't know how they even thought it would be a good idea showcasing this to kids when these themes are kinda pretty dark.

Also, the idea that throughout show is that they want to enforce to these kids that they are THAT deeply important in the powers they possess...I don't know. It makes me somewhat depressed. It's even worse when you have to think about the Terrans for a second. The idea that they were just created not too long ago, and they're constantly put on this pedestal that it's their responsibility in re-establishing and preserving relations between other OLDER cybertronians. They're all kids and seeing all of them having to act more like adults to fix actual adults kinda breaks my heart.

They shouldn't be exposed to the dark realities of the world so quickly. They shouldn't be given and enforce a great amount of responsibility. They shouldn't be the ones to manage how actual adults act towards one another. They should be kids by maintaining their childhood and have fun with the limit amount of time they have.

Just for ONCE, let these kids be kids and stop making them be the adults. FFS.

The fact that people are more concerned about a Nonbinary character...I don't know, I feel a bit pissed off. If people are worried about this show's direction, it SHOULD be about THIS!!!

I had a lot more criticism with the storyboards being revealed and how some parts of these episodes didn't have more screentime/context with how certain things turned out. It's something I could talk about for another day, but my brain is all fried from rambling.

What do you feel is more concerning for children with what is in the EarthSpark series; all of the clear terror and death, or having a they/them pronouned character?

Because the terror and death is seemingly entirely looked over but the ONE CHARACTER going by different pronouns is apparently nothing short of outrage.

Anon, I Am Nonbinary.

I’ll put a more thought out response under the cut

Earthspark drinking game take a sip every time an extremely young child has to emotionally support an adult or is put in life-threatening danger.

1. Steven Universe really ruined a generation of children’s media by making showrunners think they had to tackle issues like PTSD and trauma.

However, to give SU some credit, Steven was not 9 years old at the start of the show. It’s a really jarring choice that was probably made to capitalise on a more marketable demographic for TF and to keep the children’s play more lighthearted, but you get some really weird moments like (checks notes) a nine year old giving advice to an adult on how to handle trauma.

The issue with this is no nine year old should ever have to do this for an adult. They do not need to be wise beyond their years. They do not need to be a therapist for their caretakers. Grimlocks PTSD episode is one of the most egregious examples of this, where (not only is this depiction extremely one-note and weird) the narrative punishes Jawbreaker for not realising Grimlock is having a panic attack in the middle of their play.

As a framing device in a kids movie, what is a nine year old viewer supposed to take from this? The child brain is going to think ‘the adult lashed out and hurt Jawbreaker, it was his fault for being too rowdy.’ LIKE YOU WOULDNT SEE THIS IN PEPPA PIG.

And you do need to consider this when you’re writing children that young in your media, because kids are going to watch shows that have other kids the same age as them in it. There’s an almost instinctive camaraderie in seeing a fellow nine-year-old on TV when you’re at that age. So, the show is very likely going to be watched by 8-15 year olds which brings us to

2. JESUS CHRIST. THIS SHOW NEEDS TO CALM DOWN.

This show is way way way too interested in putting children in extreme danger. Constantly, towards the end of the series.

I’ll make a note first that it’s okay if kids shows have fun play-violence; kids like action. Children like low-stakes explosions. It’s not super serious and most TF media does this well, even if it’s tonally a bit more serious. This is not really an issue in a show like TFP or TFA which also had young kids.

Earthspark does not make its action low-stakes. Earthspark treats its violence extremely seriously; children cry, they scream, they get bruised, their parents wail when they see them in danger. Violence has a lasting impact, it has to because the show constantly wants to talk about trauma, so they can’t have video game rules. If they get hurt it has to impact them. Robbie and Mo are in consistent, life-threatening danger. They’re always being shot at or dropped off cliffs or almost killed and it always harrows them.

And kids can pick up on this. They’re going to realise that this is something that’s Serious, and Scary, and they’re going to be FREAKED out.

They’re also going to be freaked out when the children are fuckin. Tied into the bio-wall with tubes by Mandroid, or when Robbie has alien leukaemia and his parents are so so scared and has to rush him to the hospital and Mo is crying so much, or when their parents are seemingly killed and the kids are screaming and punching the ground and blaming themselves.

And that last part is important, because on several occasions the narrative reinforces this. The narrative. Of a children’s show. Says yes; Robbie and Mo have powers, and this makes them responsible for the well-being of the adults around them. Mo literally gets told this. By GOD. Before her parents proudly watch on without interfering as she fights in hand to hand combat with the villain (WHO IS, AS WE HAVE SEEN, FUCKING DERANGED AND WOULD LOVE TO KILL A TEENAGER JUST ONCE PLEASE PLEASE)

In conclusion, what this tells me is the showrunners are inexperienced. They didn’t consider what is appropriate for the subject matter of a children’s cartoon. They wanted to write about trauma, and war, and think kids are cute! And didn’t want their TF fanfiction to be narratively compromised by having to ‘dumb it down’ for kids.

The result is this is never a show I would ever put on for a 4th grade class in break time, at the risk of severely upsetting a lot of them. And it’s also a show I can’t enjoy as an adult, because it uses the language of a children’s cartoon to make nuanced topics more binarised and soppy.

[theribbajack]

"Now, the vow will be honoured, and my Lord brother's soul will return."

Radahn stans keep winning, but I personally am in Miyazaki's walls rn