#i can see why people have nostalgia for it but 90% of the story is only implied and

[jheselbraum]

So I just finished playing ocarina of time for the first time.

Y'all told me these fuckers were dead!

They're fucking fine! Rauru isn't but he's an idiot and also started out the game in the sacred realm we don't care about Rauru in this house. The only other sage not present is Zelda and we know she's fine cause we just saw her! Everyone's fucking fine why'd you guys tell me they were dead???

[scrapyardboyfriends]

After that ask yesterday I've been trying to think how I would even attempt to fix Emmerdale.

I really just want to lock all of the producers and storyliners and decision making creatives into one room and ask them a lot questions.

I'd want to go through each and every character and be like "tell me this character's job (cause some don't have any), tell me what this character's hopes and dreams are, career ambitions, tell me what their purpose is in the village, tell me about their family, their romantic relationships/prospects and why they actually like/love those people, tell me about their friendships and the last time they had any meaningful interaction with those friends (cause most don't have any or don't talk to them if they do)" and if they don't have answers to some of those questions, we'd sit there and figure some out. I want everyone to have a prospective friend or at least address why they don't have one and what that says about their character.

I'd want to go through all of the businesses in the village and figure out which ones are actually worthwhile and how many are just blatantly ignored. I'd want them to give me story ideas to incorporate all of those businesses. I'd want them to explain to me why the HOP exists and why the Woolpack no longer feels like the heart of the village.

I'd want to force them to go through every terrible story from the past 5-7 years and tell me what impact they had on the show so they can see how 90% of them were pretty pointless in the end.

I'd want to challenge them to find me one character introduced in the last 5-7 years that didn't have a convoluted backstory that connected them to a current character or two. And ask them why that's their only means of brining in a new character.

I'd want to ask them what they think the public perception of each character is and whether that matches up with what they've theoretically been trying to do with them.

The biggest problem with the show is that they don't care about the characters anymore, or the village as a character. They're just chasing big headlines and things that get people talking for a moment. And yes, part of what goes into that is the way the world has shifted and our attention spans are garbage and part of the reason people respond to the older episodes is due to nostalgia, but it's also because there was a level of care with the characters that's not present on the show now. The reason those big hyped up events of the past worked better than they do now is because there weren't as many, but also because we cared about the characters affected by them. And they had longer lasting impact on village life. Now everything feels meaningless because you don't care about the characters or whether they live or die and these events happen every other week and there's zero lasting impact moving forward.

So I'd want to lock them all in a room and make them care about and understand their characters again and if there's any that are falling by the wayside, maybe they're not needed anymore.

And then from that basic level of care and understanding, I'd want to challenge people to build stories out of that. Stories that matter to the characters and therefor to the viewers. Maybe if they cared about the characters they were writing for, they'd want them to succeed every now and then and they could find the occasional positive story to tell.

I don't know. It just feels like without that level of caring about the characters, there's no hope for the show and that's why it just makes me sad these days.

Sure maybe a lot of robron things I loved happened kind of on accident but they just had so much more depth than anything happening in the last five years and I miss that. I miss caring about it and if the creators don't care, I'm sure not going to.

(and...end rant)

(wow I haven't done one of these long winded rants in a while. you should be thankful I'm not actually watching anymore or they'd still be happening frequently I'm sure)

[sweetmariihs2]

A headcanon-like thing I would like to share about Queen Lorelei

Tw: death during childbirth and some light mentions of suicide and grieving

I love Queen Lorelei (King Roland's deceased wife). She barely appears or it's mentioned in the show? Yes. But oh well. Fandom.

We believe she's that genuinely kind deceased character, that everyone remembers as sweet and beautiful, always more gentle than the world was to her, like a ray of sunshine. She's absolutely adored by everyone and her beauty and kindness always brought all the eyes in the room to her and her sweet laughs and smiles.

But unfortunately she died some time after she got married, during the childbirth of the princes that her body wasn't made to support, because the only reason she got pregnant in the first place was the wishing well, and that action had consequences, which means, she got pregnant indeed but that didn't changed the fact her body wasn't capable of enduring this.

And well, she died because of that. I usually feel really bad about childbirth deaths, because I feel like that could have been avoided months earlier. She was well and healthy but trying to have children took her life, and that just happened because she wanted to have a family and live a happy life.

But well, despite being something that lacks information, her story and character fascinates me, and we try to suppress that desire to see her story through fanfiction and fanmade content.

In my case, I have a constant habit of relating characters to songs, in some cases to whole artists if their whole discography match this character or fandom. For example I can't hear some of Aurora's songs without thinking of Cedric.

In Lorelei's case, it was something I never spoke about, but since we're in a fandom and in constant search for STF related stuff and fan content to keep enjoying our favorite show, I decided to share this.

Basically, I'm a HUGE Lana Del Rey fan since around 2019. I know 90% of her released songs and I also listen to some of her unreleaseds (that despite me knowing a ton of unreleaseds there are more than 200 wandering through the internet so there's no way I know all of them)

During the start of her carreer (actually, her first albums, since her career started years before the debut album) Lana's songs told us stories. Some key words that I would like to relate to her songs are: girlhood, nostalgia and melancholy (+or tragedy if you think about it)

In her first albums (Born to Die + The Paradise Version which is a deluxe of BTD) her songs were centered around nostalgic stories and feelings surrounding girls' experiences. Because she is so beautiful and often delicate while singing about darker topics, it's like her voice and lyric choice just interconnect. She sang about girls who lost their lovers, about beautiful girls that felt unhappy or/because they wasted their youth, about tragic endings, like being taken away from your friends during your teenage years because you guys were doing all kinds of crazy stuff at that time (this song is called This Is What Makes Us Girls), all of this surrounded by a feeling of nostalgia, as if those stories had happened a long time ago.

(Her songs weren't made to romanticize anything, like some people say they were; in fact, a huge part of these songs were inspired by her own life and feelings, and Lana is just telling us stories.)

So, going back to Lorelei, some of Lana's songs remind me of her. Based on what I said you can understand why. But not only that, Lana has some very specific songs that kinds match the fandom's headcanons of how Lorelei would be like (since we have no official info about her character).

Like in the song Blue Velvet, which is a cover from Bobby Vinton's song, but Lana brought a whole different feeling to it. Bringing it to the context of her album, her version sounds a lot more heartbreaking than the original one. The lyrics are about a male character missing his lover, singing about her blue velvet dress and how he will never forget about his love for her, even after she passed. Lana's version has a whole orchestral instrumental through the song and mostly at the end of it, making the song sound nostalgic, tragic and even sounds like some kind of anthem close to the end.

There's also the song Carmen, where there is a girl called Carmen, who attracts all eyes to her and is known for her beauty, but deep inside she's not mentally well, and people seem not to care about or notice how she's feeling. By the end of the song she even gets a love confession (in french), probably hinting at the fact that she receives many of them, but it doesn't matter because those who give them don't really know her or care about it. Despite her state "she's still shining" (in Lana's words), because even though she's suffering, she's still beautiful and loved by people.

In the song Born To Die, Lana sings about enjoying your life while it's still happening, because we're gonna die sooner or later. In the music video the scenes interwine with her sitting in a throne and spending time with a lover, who seems to give her an unhealthy relationship, judging by his aggresive behavior. At the end of the music video they're travelling together by car and her boyfriend, the driver, tries to force her to kiss him back, and because of that their car crashes and she dies in his arms, making him face his guilt because he was the one who did this to her. Tragic ending.

Dark Paradise is a song about grieving a loved one. It was made based on her feelings and her life.

These are some of the songs that match because of the lyrics, but being honest, because of the album being so concrete, the lyrics don't even need to match for me to remember her, because as I said this album is about nostalgic girlhood and melancholia, and she often sings about memories like in the song This Is What Makes Us Girls, that was also inspired by her teenage years when she was taken from her friends, but the memories she carries with them last till this day and it makes her miss those times.

Going to the unreleased, there are so many more. Like the song Angels Forever, where she's singing about memories that at her youth she never thought they were going to end: "we were angels forever, forever angels".

Or Fine China, where she is watching a friend having their first child, and remembering that at her own wedding years ago her groom left her at the wedding, depriving her of the dream life she would have liked to have had, singing "I'm going down now, with all of my fine china and fresh linen, all of my dresses with them tags still on", hinting at what was left of the wedding, of a life she couldn't have, but that she was watching others around her having it in her place. This song kinda reminds me of Roland to be honest, even thought his story with Lorelei isn't really related to their wedding, he was also deprived of a life he wish he could have had. And he had her dresses packed, her stuff still there in the castle, just like in the song the pov had her fine china and dresses with tags still on (they were never used).

It kinda fits even more with that headcanon that Cedric was in love with Lorelei. He never had the chance to live a life with her, and he's a bachelor till this day, watching all the weddings and happy lives through the years but never being a part of them, thinking about what would have happened if life wasn't so cruel.

I had these thoughts and despite being a bit niche I still felt like it should be shared. I know that not many people are fans of listening to recommended songs (at least in my case that's true), but I also made this post for those who already know some of those songs and didn't noticed these connections with Lorelei's story. Those who don't know the songs and want to listen to them now are also very welcomed.

I think about how amazing would be if I made a fanfic about this and using these songs. But I won't do it, it's just a thought. Feel free to do it though, I would absolutely love to read that.

[mikeywayarchive]

SDCC 2024: Mikey Way Rings in Holidays All Year Long with Christmas 365 (Interview)

By Justin Epps - Published Sep 7, 2024

Dark Horse Comics

☰ SUMMARY

• Christmas 365 from Dark Horse Comics releases this year, a festive series about a family celebrating Christmas all year round.  • Co-writer Mikey Way talks about the nostalgia and magic of Christmas, and the importance of family in his work.  • Way collaborates with Jonathan Rivera and Piotr Kowalski to craft a dream project embracing the 80s/90s Christmas movie feel.

Full interview under the cut:

Christmas has come early for Dark Horse Comics readers. During this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the publisher revealed it would be releasing Christmas 365 later this year. This festive new series comes from the creative team of Mikey Way, Jonathan Rivera, Piotr Kowalski, Brad Simpson, and Joshua Reed.

Christmas 365 tells the story of a family who has gone through a particularly challenging year and their attempts to come back together through a Christmas season that lasts the whole year round. Screen Rant caught up with Christmas 365 co-writer Mikey Way and dug into his thoughts behind this unique holiday story.

Screen Rant: From the premise I'm guessing you're a big fan of Christmas. But why Christmas 365?

Mikey Way: As a child of the 80s, a lot of my favorite movies were Christmas movies. I think the holiday stuck with me, the the mythology of it, the imagery really resonated with me. I know I'm not alone on this, the world is obsessed with Christmas. You go in stores and the Christmas stuffs out in August. It was after 9/11 I noticed Christmas started earlier at the store. I remember taking a mental note of that. People needed it at that time. I feel like with social media people have been able to express their love of Christmas and find like-minded people that are like-minded. There's Christmas podcasts, there's Christmas basements.

Mikey Way: Anyway, child of the 80s. Christmas Story, Scrooged, Christmas Vacation, Gremlins, Die Hard, Santa Claus: The Movie, all those great Jim Henson movies. These were important stories to me. And so I've always had that itch in me to tell a Christmas story. And I think it was around 2013 I watched a bunch of Christmas movies in a row and it wasn't Christmas time, it was summertime, I think. I remember watching Home Alone and Christmas Vacation and being like "What stories are left to tell?". Then it hit me like a bolt. "What about a family that're kind of disconnected and one of them gets the the wild idea to celebrate it all year long?". Like that's gonna fix everything.

With Christmas, there's this effort to see the world through the eyes of a child and recapture that feeling of wonderment. Is that what you wanted from your story?

Mikey Way: It's the one month out of the year where you can forget about life's pressures a little bit. And there's wonder and magic and hope and promise. Especially when you have children. It's the Super Bowl. For a child things revolve around "Christmas is coming!". So getting to see it through my two girls' eyes...that's what it's all about. There's so many layers to it. It's a layered holiday. But it's just something that's so great. In a world full of gloom and doom, it's something that's just awesome and great. Like there's a velvet cloud around you in December. Even November.

Mikey Way: There's there's a lot of bad stuff that happens in the world. People get busy, people get stressed, people have responsibilities. And it's the time where you can celebrate being a family, celebrate the people you love, and you could show them how much you love them.

You're co writing this with Jonathan Rivera. Both of you guys did books for DC Young Animal which was definitely a more experimental line, but you guys are trying to tell a more grounded story here, correct?

Mikey Way: We're very like-minded. He went to art school with my brother. We all like the same stuff. Trainspotting, Britpop, Stone Temple Pilots, The Crow, action figures, X-Men, anime. Jon was a kindred spirit. He's one of my best friends in the world. He's someone I wanted to write a story with. This was the perfect opportunity because he feels the same way about this 80s/90s Christmas story. He's got the same itch to scratch.

Your previous book, Collapser, had a real strong family theme to it, which seems carry on in Christmas 365. What is it about family that speaks to you so strongly in your work?

Mikey Way: Family's everything. As you get older you start to realize that. And it plays into the holiday of Christmas. When it comes down to the family's all you got. You can have an important job. You can have all the material possessions in the world. You could have fancy this and that. But when it comes down to it, who's sitting at the dinner table with you? Those are who's important and the people that pick you up when you're needing it. They're there for you, you're there for them. So the family unit has always been something extremely important to me. Especially as I get older and have children and extended family. That's really all you got in this world and it's the most beautiful thing there is.

In addition to Rivera, you're also working with Piotr Kowalski. How was it crafting this dream project with him and his art?

Mikey Way: What's interesting about him is he's mostly a horror guy, really. When we got his artwork, most of the demonstration pages and pieces were horror and then I went on his Instagram recently and it's all horror and I'm like "It kind of works, because this is supposed to be an 80s/90s Christmas movie.". If you watch these movies, they're all dark and they always tried to sneak a horror element into it. In Home Alone there was the scary boiler.

For me, it was A Christmas Story when Ralphie goes on the slide and the Santa just boots him down.

Mikey Way: There's always a moment of playful scariness in those movies. So I think it fit the tone, because you want it to look a little VHS. I feel like he was able to tell it exactly. Like if we closed our eyes and we were envisioning Christmas 365 as a movie, that's what it would look like. Me and Jon saw his art and were like "This is the guy.".

You previously spoke about the influence of suburban genre movies like The Burbs and Better Off Dead. How did these movies inform your Christmas story?

Mikey Way: So the story goes me and my brother watched Better Off Dead probably a couple of times a week for years. That and One Crazy Summer, those those two movies for me and my brother were very important. There was this Gonzo stuff in it. It was a slightly grounded, suburban comedy that had all these kind of wacky, fantastical ideas in it. All those movies had a sport. Better Off Dead was skiing.

Oh, like Heathers and croquet?

Mikey Way: Team Wolf had basketball. They all had a sport. Also there's a weird claymation dream sequence, remember? There was all this weird stuff, but there's something about that movie that struck a chord with me and my brother and we watched it literally once or twice a week for decades. But yes, Savage Steve Holland was a big influence on me and Jon Rivera.

Christmas 365 #1 is available on December 4th from Dark Horse Comics.

[gamerbearmira]

Ballet au thoughts and ideas

Yes,  they do have a big dance studio and a record player to play some classical vinyl records on a gramophone record player. Most of the music is from Alma’s time, gramophones were invented in 1887 so I think Alma would have one.

Alma isn’t hard on her if Mira makes a mistake. Alma, of all people, knows that mistakes happen and you can’t be mad or upset at them. Just get up and try again. Neither does she tell Mirabel to watch her weight, she’s seen all body types doing ballet back in her day so she would never say anything of the sort. 

She also likes sharing stories of her past ballet experiences with Mira. She does sometimes get a little choked up about it but pushes through to tell the story. 

Also, Alma told her all about the famous stories ballet dancers danced to such as swan lake, the nutcracker, la bayadère, Giselle, and the sugar plum fairy. 

I have a feeling that the sugar plum fairy is her favorite story because 1. It’s a good story and 2. She was in a play about it when she was little. 

And yes, Alma is on a nostalgia kick and pressures Mirabel to do it more. And doing ballet with instruments is not the “perfect” way to go. But I believe Mira isn’t as stressed out as the others, she just feels like she is being a little forced to limit herself (don’t worry, she dances with instruments when Alma isn’t around)

Bruno doesn’t really mind though, he sees a new side to his mother that he rarely ever saw so he’s happy for both of them. 

You know how everyone headcanons that there’s a big stage in Camilo’s room? Well Mirabel’s is a little bit bigger than his, like dis

That was by Alma’s request as well

When Mira’s in the mood for it, she’ll do a couple shows inviting the whole village to watch. When it comes to shows, she sometimes does solo ones, shows with alma, or with the village ballet dancers. And if she can, she’ll sing in them, which is 90% of the time. 

Casita often helps with the props or FX just to make things a little more magical, and they're kind of like a built-in stage hand too. 

Angst section, you don't need to take it seriously, but I needed to put these thoughts somewhere:

For angst, everyone thinks Alma’s playing favoritism (like in the werewolf au). But no one talks about it. We all know she isn’t but y’know. 

On top of that, Imagine how flabbergasted the triplets (yes, Bruno stayed) are when they see Alma doing ballet. They do know what it is, they’ve seen the small ballet class in the village. But they didn’t know Alma knew it, you gotta know how hurt they felt knowing that they’re mother didn’t let them know something that their sabrina/daughter knows. 

I would be a little upset, how you gon let my child/niece know something that I never knew about you? And TEACH it to her?! 

Julieta and Pepa however, feel there is some favoritism going on. 

Bruno doesn’t really mind though, he sees a new side to his mother that he rarely ever saw so he’s happy for both of them. 

More angst tehe; for some “odd reason” most of her family, ( except bruno, antonio, luisa, agustin, and felix) can’t come to her shows. They're either “too busy” or “too tired” or “ it’s too loud”. All of those things are lies, of course. Pepa, Julieta, Isabela, Camilo, and Dolores are never that tired, or that busy, and Mirabel made Dolores ear muffs just so she can watch the show. 

You best believe Alma isn’t pleased with this behavior and sometimes has to force them to come. 

“You can’t be that tired to miss your prima/daughter/sister’s show. You have missed them for the fifth time and I’m tired of it. I expect you to be there on time or else, and I’m NOT taking no for an answer” 

And of course, they are blown away by Mirabel’s flawless work of ballet. But they won’t admit that they’re too pressed. 

RAHHHHH❗❗

Nice to see there's a company. Can't really get behind the family for their excuses tho like. Seriously, why are you so pressed, shouldn't you be happy??? I mean it's not like she just acquired the skills through magic, she has to work hard everyday to get that good. Like stop being so salty and just admit that she's good 😭 pride isn't a good color <33

Shootout to Bruno for staying and going to the performances❗❗❗ And the other family members who go to the performances as well. Major W's on their parts <33

Funny little idea. A suggestion. Luisa absolutely ADORES watching Mirabel and loves going to her shows and watching them. Like Luisa is arguably one of, if not the busiest Madrigal, and she still will straight up drop whatever she's doing (or rather finish up whatever she's doing) and go straight to wherever Mirabel's preforming. And if she's doing a public performance in like the plaza or whatever, she'll just. Stand there and watch. She'll have whole donkey's on her shoulder and just stand there and watch.

Luisa ties the ribbons on her shoes so they look like pointe shoe ribbon and. She helps Mirabels tie her bun when she goes to practice. I think Luisa would peek in on Mirabel's practice when she's at Casita.

Luisa trying not to scream out and throw flowers at Mirabel while she's performing:

Just an idea of course <333

[keysmashhhhhhhh]

Tag Games!!! :))

thank you to @fandomchaosposts and @grandprixwinnerlandonorris for tagging me!!!!! dude i love tag games so much :)))

Who is your favorite driver?

SEBASTIAN VETTEL <3333 always and forever ever since i was a kid its always been him :)

Do you have other favorite drivers?

Ex Drivers: Nico Rosberg (started off liking him because it annoyed my gran who is a massive lewis fan but genuinely he grew to be one of my favourites, especially since retiring) and Jenson Button (my first memory of watching F1 is my gran thirsting over jenson haha)

Current Drivers: LANDO NORRIS (grand prix winner ahhhh), Alex, Oscar, Yuki are the drivers who i cheer for most often but honestly i love most of the current grid

Who is your least favorite driver?

Ooh actually a hard question, i dont "hate" any driver particularly if i dont like them i sort of just dont watch them you know? i know some people love to hate but im not really about that life haha

Do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?

Its 50/50 - mclaren was always sort of "my" team because when watched f1 with my gran she cheered for lewis and jenson so mclaren always felt like the team to support but when i started to become a seb fan i hopped from red bull to ferrari to aston as he moved.

If you like teams, what team do you pull for?

Mclaren all the way 🧡 

How long have you been into F1?

I have very hazy memories of jenson winning in 2009 but i was 4 years old so i didnt have any critical thinking skills to understand what that meant. i wasn't really "into" it until i a couple of years ago

What got you into F1?

its hard to say, id say the nostalgia of watching it as a kid plus the fact that the community has grown a lot more in the last 10 years plus a seriously improved attitude towards women as fans (i remember in primary school one of the boys used to make fun of me for liking a "boy" sport whenever i talked about f1 - this was only 10 years ago which is crazy)

Do you enjoy Fanfic/RPF?

im a tumblr girl for a reason of course

How do you view new fans?

there is a noticeable difference between newer fans and older fans but i think its all about perspective. i mean i talk to my friend at work and he tells me about the races he watched in the 80s and 90s so of course to him im a new fan of f1 but when i talk to people who got into it in the last couple of years they see me as an older fan so i think its all about respecting the people who were fans before you and also welcoming the people who have become fans after you :)

If you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?

Williams (my qualifications is i can sort of use Microsoft excel haha)

Are your friends and family into F1 as well?

My gran is the og lewis hamilton fangirl, my mum is into it (she's a george russel fan) and my sister is a charles fan - funny story my dad absolutely hates sports so he's the only one not interested but he absolutely LOVES LOVES LOVES nico rosberg and says he dresses like a bond villain

Are you open to talking to other fans/making friends?

OMG YES!!! its so funny though because i always assume my mutuals are like wayyyyyyy cooler than me haha

Tagging (no obligation if you're not feeling up to it!) @love4lando @sof1shticated @multiseb21 @formulapisces @481boxboxbaby @georgeinamerc + anyone else who feels like it!!!!

[dawnanddorisqna]

How do you two feel about Disney's recent "live-action" remakes? I mean I can safely assume you're not fans but could you be more specific?

I don’t mind some of them really. The ones that tell a new story are kinda fun for me. Like Cruella. And Doris is shaking her head at me so I’m going to keep talking out loud while I type. Seeing real actors do a new twist on something can be fun. It’s just when they tell the same story that I think it’s boring, and the CG characters rarely hit as well as the hand drawn ones. Those full on remakes that just rinse and repeat are not really allowed in this house. Only 90’s Lion King here. A movie like the Little Mermaid could be great with a new story. Go closer to the crazy dark story or something, but don’t just retread. And Doris is pacing and wanting to rant probably….so…I…won’t….take…..toooooooo….much…..time…to…

Thank you so much for this question, it’s something I do think of a lot. Now of course, remakes of animated properties isn’t anything new. It’s been something of an event for years, having major stars play live versions of animated characters. It never overshadowed the animated characters, and actually brought more attention to them, and Disney was at the forefront of this, producing live versions of classics.

Yes, This is a Disney produced film, and I enjoyed it.

It wasn’t until about the 1990s that they brought an adaptation to theaters based on one of their own films. The Jungle Book.

This was under the leadership of Michael Eisner, who would also see the studio create remakes of 101 Dalmatians. His protege Bob Igor would take these same practices and continue them once he became CEO. I was honestly fine with these remakes, mostly because they were telling new stories or a different perspective. That changed once Alice in Wonderland came out in 2010

This was a troubling film. Not for being a poor view in my opinion, but for being so successful. This film made a Billion at the box office. When something makes that much, that’s basically film now. It hit that mark and I saw a flood of remakes coming, and they did.

Animation has always had a difficult time in the minds of studio execs. They see it as for kids and rarely want to try anything new or invest in stories with it. Alice breaking the box office confirmed to them that live action and photo realistic is for kids AND adults. So why invest in what’s only for kids when they could also get the adults?

I really hate this form of thinking, because these films wouldn’t exist without the original animated version. That’s all they stand on. There’s a reason the Aladdin trailer has the cave of wonders and why the Lion King showed the circle of life. It’s all just nostalgia bait. No creativity, nothing new, just a checklist of familiar things. It’s lazy and unfortunate that it keeps bringing in so much money for the studios.

Like Dawn said, Some of these films do tell new stories, and I wish all went that route, but most are simply painting over films to retell the same story but with lifeless visuals.

Animation is so deeply undervalued, and this is a crime, as it’s one of the most heartfelt methods of storytelling. Every frame is cared for, characters becoming so expressive and visuals that can connect to any generation and grip your heart. It’s magic on film, and there’s now people in charge of this industry who couldn’t care less about it.

This was on full display at the 2022 Academy Awards (at really every Oscars, but this one is of note)

These ladies are lovely, but this was a low moment. Taking the time before the award to show a trailer for the live action little mermaid, having the host put down animation, and then the award presenters being 3 actresses who play live action versions of animated characters, the message was clear. This industry doesn’t care about animation, live action is what really matters.

There were apologies after this, but if you look at how Disney advertises their films, the live action remakes get the brunt of the advertising, animation gets the scraps. Where the 90s remakes were simply fun, we’re now in a full overdrive of them.

None of this should be a surprise. Studios go for whatever makes money and what seems easier, and these films have a formula they find very simple. Choose something people remember, get a popular actor, add CG and a lot of familiar scenes and watch the money flow in.

A real show of how greedy this system has become came in the same year as that Oscar display. A year Disney would take one of their most beloved films, one that was Walt’s favorite, one that became part of the theme of Disney and was considered untouchable…and they remade it.

The original Pinocchio didn’t perform well when it opened (due to a war breaking out on its premiere date). This was crushing for Walt, but when it was rereleased it found an audience and became a classic. This film has a lot of amazing effects with water, magic and references being used in a clever way. Ideas of a sequel or any continuation were always shut down because this was one of the special films of the studio. But as time went on, and the remakes proved wildly profitable, we were bound to see this care fade away and bring us what many of us feared.

Nothing is untouchable after this. And sure enough, we’ll soon be getting Bambi, Moana, Lilo and Stitch, the Aristocats and countless others. While on the animation front? Those are announced, like Wish, but not with the fervent need that the live action films are.

Now, do I hate the idea of live action remakes? Not really, but obviously there are things I wish they’d change. For one, I think it would be great if animated films were treated equally and given the same amount of attention by studios. If they were, I think we’d have another renaissance on our hands.

Second, STOP JUST TELLING THE SAME STORY! It’s all nostalgia references, and if the studio couldn’t plug in familiar songs, scenes and lines throughout, these films wouldn’t be made. But I think it would be far more rewarding to get a new experience with familiar characters. Tell us what happened years later, focus on a new character, or retell it and stick to the original story or let a director really put their stamp on it and create something different. Right now these films are amazingly dull with the same story and visuals that are pointlessly realistic. How do you remake something and take the life out of the characters and call it a feature!? If you don’t know how to show an animal with emotion (embarrassing, that’s animation 101. The directors should trust animation more), then find another way or just don’t do it.

Third, use these remakes as a vehicle to lift new artists. Give a new promising actor a chance to become the live face of this character. Let a new director show their style and start a career. These are guaranteed hits and it would be good to bring some new talent into the industry with it.

And last, limit yourself on these. With so many being rushed into live action remakes, I feel like Pixar films aren’t far behind. And now that Universal is getting into it by remaking Dreamwork’s How To Train Your Dragon, we seem to be on a path of over abundance. Wild, as we seem to already be there, but it’s getting worse.

I would much rather see a remake that takes a new path come out every few years, than the constant barrage we have now.

Thank you again for the question,

Doris.

[thedaytheworldburned]

'Deja Vu' First Rections - Part 2

Part 2! Thoughts below the line. Part 1 HERE

Taehyun is... looking at old memories? I guess? Looking at memories of Gyu? Since yellow is associated with Gyu in this MV...

...and the next shot we get is Gyu crying the same odd magic that Taehyun did. I hope those are tears of regret for murdering Taehyun.

This is also the first shot we get of Gyu where he ISN'T glowing all MV - tying him as an opposite to Taehyun who was in the dark/grey all MV.

... He's... trapped in the mirror? Probably not - it's probably more of a 'mirror leads to the magical world' thing. Interestingly, the tears in the mirror are BEHIND Taehyun's head - really showing how trippy all of this is. And suggesting a complete blurring between the real and magical worlds, which is also, fun fact, a motif in TXT's story.

Taehyun's office/room looks like it's from the 90s or something, so we have; Yeonjun in the 30s, Kai in the 40s-ish, Soobin in the 70s or something, Taehyun in the 90s-ish, and Beomgyu being the mandatory dead member for this MV.

A bus - a symbol of transit, and also a way to get to Magic Island if needed. Also very reminiscent of the Eternity/Drama concept images, where Gyu was indeed the main character.

Also, he's in Yeonjun's world.

Yet, inside the bus, he is in a magical world - as expected. And also asleep. As expected.

Soobin, wtf are those shoes? If they're not supposed to be a stand-in for Gyu, I don't know what to say to you, man.

Speaking of, we now get Gyu's tears falling in Soobin's room - or, magic bleeding into the real world, which it only seems able to do via suffering (ahem, CROWN, ahem).

HE'S AWAKEEEEEEE. In a room that seems like a hospital or something - cold and no personality - and in a blue room, which means now we have Gyu, Soobin, Yeonjun, and Kai all associated with blue in this MV.

But Gyu and Taehyun are still connected (as always) through the blue sky, and seem to be having some joint experience.

I mean, Gyu was in a sky with clouds.

Is Gyu... the girl from Eternally who hugged Soobin....?

Also I only just realised that Kai is on a bridge thing, not a boat. My time/period judgement still stands, though.

Well, we all know that gravity only goes funny when you start messing with time and magic, don't we, Yeonjun? Hmm, who burnt down Magic Island, Yeonjun? 'Tis all your fault, Yeonjun.

Anyway, at least he gets to dance his feelings out in this pseudo dream world while he loses grip of whoever he was holding onto in that hand shot.

TXT's storyline? More like sad-Yeonjuncore.

Colour has come back to his world, but I don't think he's happy about it.

Anyway, Kai is running after Yeonjun now too. He's got his hands full looking after everyone.

And Yeonjun is still sad, and Gyu still glows.

See?

I just realised I've been assuming this is Gyu the whole time because of the hair extensions. Pretty sure it is him, but still.

Doesn't that look nice and peaceful?

Anyway, somehow Yeonjun managed to do the impossible and bring Gyu back. Unsure why how or what is going on but it's a nice moment I guess, and probably a reversal - chances are, Gyu slipped from Yeonjun's hand before, and now Yeonjun has to fall so Gyu can save him.

And now the colour is back and everyone is together and happy, right?

Right?!?!!?

Yeah wait until the next album lol I bet.

And that's it for the MV! But we still have the lyrics, and before we have a look, let me just say that I am validated in my music opinions - I can see many people saying in the comments that this feels like a 2nd or 3rd gen song, and like a SHINee song. I'd also like to add Infinite to my original judgement.

Alright, time for -

The Lyrics.

Well, I'm a happy camper. There's a LOT, and I mean A LOT of references to Dream Chapter themes in these lyrics (A RETURN TO THE DREAM CHAPTER IS COMING EVERYONE BOW DOWN FOR THE QUEENS OF TXT ALBUMS).

For instance;

Dreams

Names

Crown

More code

Promises

Nostalgia

Stars and starlight

Memories and friendship

Running to leave things behind

Fate

Beginnings vs the future - past vs present vs future

Rain vs fire

Eternity

Togetherness and friendship

Becoming beautiful BY each other/sorrow becoming beautiful through togetherness

Soulmates

The desolate outside world

Repetition/time/repeats

Light

Yes, a lot of these things have appeared in later comebacks, but they were ALL cemented/introduced as concepts in THE DREAM CHAPTERRRRRRRRR!!!! YEAH.

So yeah, the song feels like it's entirely a reference to TDC. They even brought back Morse code to title one of their songs on this album.

Now, in this song Kai uses the word 'anomoia,' which is basically just a kind of nostalgia - for a place or time you've never known - aka, a Utopia, or some other dream-like, magical place. Very on-brand and fitting for both the DREAM chapter, and this song.

Conclusions

As I said, I am a happy camper. This is, as I predicted and hoped, a return to/reference to The Dream Chapter - in concept, in story, in music, in lyricism, and more.

I suppose you could say, it evokes Deja Vu of The Dream Chapter?

:)

[kamenstrikerace]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Side Of Dimensions Review:

Nostalgia Bait Gone Wrong!

This movie was made to cash in on my childhood, and it failed miserably since I outgrew Duel Monsters years ago.Today I decided to review a movie that I've had a visual loathing problem with since its inception back in 2016. I need to go into more depth because I can't simply ignore it.I have finally decided to review Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions and its mixed reception at the box office. There's a lot to talk about with this movie, and I hope I can cover it all since MyAnimeList has a limit on the amount of text and characters I can use.I am also going to explain two major topics. One is about production problems and nepotism, and the other is about reception and box office gross.

Oh god, this movie is going to suck, isn't it? Oh, wait. It is!

In The End It has to be this way: To me, Dark Side of Dimensions will always be the movie that killed my interest in Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, despite it being the third movie primarily focused on Duel Monsters. Let's delve into a bit of history regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! movies. Firstly, there was the Toei Yu-Gi-Oh! movie from the late 90s, which was never released on DVD or Blu-ray, either because it was non-canon to the story or simply never considered canon. It's never been explained why it wasn't released on DVD. Then, in the early 2000s, we got the first movie for the Gallop Yu-Gi-Oh! series, Pyramid of Light, which received mixed reception. In its defense, it was created to rival Pokémon movies, but unfortunately, it didn't succeed. This led to the fandom's first uproar, with some blaming Takahashi for it. However, Takahashi wasn't responsible for it; it was actually 4KIDS who commissioned it from Japan. It's surprising that people are still misinformed about this in 2024. Next, we had Bonds Beyond Time, which was the only good movie in my opinion. And then, we have this disaster I'm reviewing.

Two Birds and One Stone Troupe: Now, let's delve into two topics I want to cover simultaneously: Animation and Directing. I'm going to be quite salty about this one. You see, one of my pet peeves is the apparent nepotism and the overemphasis on pretty colors and stereotyping in this movie, which I strongly oppose. This isn't me being biased or offering subjective criticism; I detest the prioritization of 'pretty colors' over substance. In today's media landscape, there's a tendency to mock older shows for not being 'flashy action,' 'self-inserted,' or 'well-made.' People often jump on the bandwagon and promote fake agendas like 'nepotism,' which is another problem I need to address. You cannot judge a movie solely based on animation. This isn't just the recurring issue with My Hero Academia and its animation; it's a problem I like to call the Yugioh Zexal fiasco.Animation production is expensive and often costs way too much. Despite how much money a show or movie makes, its value is ultimately determined by its reception at the box office. Personally, I disliked My Hero Academia because its cinematic animation received more positive reviews than its main series did. It felt like MHA was using the movies as a platform to showcase better fights because the main series itself seemed lazy and uninteresting. So, what does this have to do with the review? Well, people tend to be aggressive towards the media and often blame anime studios for being outdated or lazy. Studio Gallop was never a mainstream studio nor was it financially stable. The Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and movies had above-average production quality before the Zexal era, but then it shifted towards flashy visuals and over-the-top animation, which I found to be a mishap of nonsense. In fact, this movie is why I've disliked its production since 2014 because Konami seemed to be on a death wish to produce another movie that would likely result in financial losses. The movie was primarily focused on impressing the audience, trying to position itself as a 'savior,' but it ultimately failed miserably since people could see the excessive cost of production. The biggest problem with the movie lies in its direction, which was mediocre and poorly choreographed. To make matters worse, it was helmed by the same director I loathe, Satoshi Kuwabara. His tendency for poorly paced animation hiccups makes him a prime example of how not to hire a good director. Kuwabara comes off as lazy and immature in his approach to production. However, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans seem to get upset when his work is criticized, even though it's riddled with flaws. People often only point out issues with localization, blaming the wrong sources. But in reality, the direction of the movie was mediocre at best. He was responsible for the previous screw-up known as Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal and its mixed reception in the West due to the disaster of the anime. He was in charge of that series from day one. What I found particularly strange is that he never gave interviews or tried to explain what was even happening in the show. He appeared mostly lazy and inconsistent, in my opinion.

Nepotism Is as it's peak: This section is about Takahashi, who didn't understand his own logic in the first place. While people defended the movie for its flashy animation and nostalgia bait, Takahashi received universal criticism because he is solely at fault for this movie's failure. In the 2010s, people didn't blame him enough for Zexal, but he was blamed for this movie being a total disaster. It focused on stereotypes, dehumanizing the first Yu-Gi-Oh! show by portraying the characters as nothing more than jerks, and in the process, proving the critics right. In fact, this movie catered to those wanting another political card game war, leading to many people being divided due to his ego once again being involved.

Nepotism characterized the movie, with character assassination and story points being dropped in favor of it being a love letter to Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 6 that never happened. This whole movie is just Pyramid of Light recreated with dumb animation borrowed from Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V's production, solely to improve the movie and divide the fans once again. He tried to cover the movie's tracks under the rug because he couldn't take the fact that he knew personally if he stole animation or writing budgets from another ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! project, it would lead to fandom wars.

Many Yu-Gi-Oh! fans know that he screwed up big time and never apologized for the movie's faults. People are split because of Takahashi's opinions and his ego regarding how Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal turned out to be a disaster, as he was involved in that series but left at some point to start early production on Dark Side of Dimensions. Many fans say that Takahashi wasn't very involved with the series, but for reasons he doesn't want to take part in a show. The reason for this is that Takahashi has an ego that lets him anger the fandom because the story wasn't in favor of anything but solely overpowering the show's credibility and creating a dumpster fire, just like how Zexal became that way.In short, he is the reason why Yu-Gi-Oh! is doomed. He can't seem to improve the story and let it progress, as his original anime, Duel Monsters, was never fully adapted. The manga was left with plot holes and a lack of depth due to arcs being cut too soon. In short, Yu-Gi-Oh! was doomed because any show past 5D's became unlikable and disrespected. This man wanted to push an agenda, much like how Zexal was supposed to be Duel Monsters 2.0.

We hated ARC-V for this? That brings me to the production itself, which was undermined by his lackeys and others who tried to make this movie happen. The movie was made sometime between 2014 and 2016, and it's largely at fault for stealing the budget from shows like Arc-V. I'm not one to just jump on the bandwagon and start supporting a movie because someone told me to. There is no movie in the whole universe I have ever been hyped about just because many people tell me to support its production rather than focusing on the actual story and characters.Studio Gallop was never a mainstream studio like Studio Mappa or Studio Bones. Gallop was a studio meant to handle shows made for children, not mainstream abominations that performed terribly at the box office. These movies were universally panned because their stories were either handled poorly in the manga or never completed. The studio often misled their fandom, promising that the movies would be gold standards, but this was a lie. The movies were more meant to be tie-ins rather than delivering what the fandom demanded.

The Box Office Disaster The movie was a box office disaster, failing to recoup its production costs and falling short of expectations. Despite the hype and nostalgia surrounding the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, The Dark Side of Dimensions couldn't draw in enough viewers to be profitable. This was partly due to the overly ambitious budget that prioritized flashy animation over a coherent and engaging story. Fans were left disappointed, and critics panned the movie for its lack of depth and substance, leading to its poor performance at the box office.

The Duels The duels, which should have been the highlight of the movie, were also a letdown. They were poorly choreographed and lacked the strategic depth that fans loved in the original series. Instead of thrilling, intellectually stimulating matches, the duels in The Dark Side of Dimensions felt rushed and overly reliant on flashy visuals. This focus on style over substance left many fans feeling cheated. The duels failed to capture the essence of what made Yu-Gi-Oh! great in the first place, ultimately contributing to the overall disappointment with the movie.

Overall The movie is just nostalgia bait 101. You can't tell me that many people have a bias for it just because of the animation and pretty colors. In fact, people hated this movie because it was made with money taken from another project, which left their fandom unhappy. If you tell me that I'm being negative because I prefer 5D's, which was universally better than this movie, it's only because you refused to watch 5D's. I'm starting to believe that Konami never planned for this movie; it was a last-second attempt to make money.

[antibioware]

would you do that thing where you review/rate the op movies, if that's ok? :3c

ok NOW that I'm mostly done with the One Piece movies, it's finally time to start writing this monster of a review post. I'm gonna say sorry in advance for how long this post is gonna get.

1) One Piece: The Movie -> 6/10

This movie is fine, not much to say about it. It's old enough that Sanji is not even in the crew, and it feels more like a longer than usual filler episode of the East Blue saga than anything else, but I found it very charming, it had some good gags and it smacked me upside the head with 90s anime nostalgia.

2) Clockwork Island Adventure -> 6,5/10

Just like the first movie, it's fine, nothing extraordinary and it had some kinda weird plot choices, but most of the gags and crew interactions are solid enough to make the whole experience enjoyable. Would love to see Luffy throw bombs at his friends more often in the future.

3) Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals -> 6/10

I know a lot of people hated this movie so I came into it expecting the worst, and instead it was a cute enough movie. Again, nothing special but all early movies suffer the curse of the One Piece world being still largely unknowable and having to make something up that makes sense within the context of this early stages. Chopper's characterization is Eh, but I think the movie was trying to see his very first interactions with the crew while still knowing little about him, and I can excuse it. I like most crew interactions and gags. This movie also features Sanji fighting a swordsman VS Zoro fighting a guy who uses kicks and I really loved it - what can I say, I'm biased, so sue me.

4) Dead End Adventure -> 9/10

THIS ONE. This is one of best One Piece movies. You want a classic yet enticing seafaring adventure? You want all the good and fun aspects of the pre-timeskip crew? Do you want an interesting side character who kinda reminds you of All emo One Piece guys? Did you, just like me, miss when Nami and Robin used to be shit to children? THIS IS THE ONE. I don't wanna say much more to not ruin it for people who have yet to watch it, but I really missed when the crew had to find a way to work around fighting Logia type Devil Fruit users, and seeing it again sealed my absolute love for this movie.

5) The Cursed Holy Sword -> 3/10

So this is another movie that I know a lot of the fanbase hates, but since the Chopper movie turned out to be okay, I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt again. Instead, this movie just plainly sucks, and it's not because of the general plot, because of bad crew interactions, but because Zoro specifically is written like shit in here, and since the movie revolves around him, the movie is shit as well. My best way to resume this movie was "Zoro wouldn't fucking say that". Not only he drops the crew out of nowhere to follow a friend's shady request without questioning it, not only he fights Sanji and immediately wins despite their entire deal being that they're on the exact same level (also the fact that he breaks Sanji's arm got on my nerves massively), the thing that got on my nerves the most was honestly that the childhood friend was a new character and not like, some echo of Kuina, which emotionally would have made the movie have so much more sense for me.

This movie is written by a Zoro fan who doesn't get why Zoro is the great character that he is. Also the elements of mysticism in this movie are just damn weird for One Piece, but as I said for the Chopper movie, I can excuse it as it's still relatively early into the story and I can see why they thought magic would work as a plot element. It didn't.

(Still better than Stampede tho)

6) Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island -> 10/10

This one is an insane and unsettling experience from start to finish. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't, go watch it now. I promise it's gonna be a wild fucking ride and that you're never gonna forget it for the rest of your life.

7) One Piece The Movie: The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle -> 7,5/10

Was this movie objectively bad? Yeah. Was this movie also objectively good? Yeah.

I'm gonna try to elaborate: this one is purely a comedy, with sparse elements from the previous movies taken and used for parody. The tits on the girls have the worst animation you've ever seen, but it works in favour of the comedy because, voluntarily or not, it seems to parody the One Piece anime itself. I swear the animation budget on this one was like 100 yen and the concept of hope. Despite all this, it works and it's funny as fuck. Zoro gets set on fire on this one. Also, apparently Chopper's VA was on maternity leave for this one and you can barely notice it.

8) Episode of Arabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates /

9) Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura -> ??/10

They are arc recap movies, an Alabasta arc recap and an AU version of the entire Drum arc set post-Water 7 respectively, and as such, I don't intend to watch them, so I'm skipping them ✌️ if I eventually decide to give them a try, I'll come back and add them to the post.

10) One Piece Film: Strong World -> 8,5/10

A huge favourite of mine since I was a kid. This movie came out around the same time as when I read One Piece the first time and I remember loving it then and I'm happy to say I still love it as an adult. The outfits are amazing, the villains are amazing and the plot was damn good. Yes, this movie has Nami as the damsel in distress (and some really bad and gratuituous ass-tits shots of her, but nothing worse than say, the anime itself), but I really liked how it's handled and the spotlight on her character is well handled for the most. It's a "crew as family" movie first and foremost, and you can really tell Oda himself took part writing this one.

12) One Piece Film: Z -> ??/10

So I'm gonna be honest here, I haven't watched this one either and I don't intend to because Nami gets aged down to a child as a major plot point and I don't trust whoever wrote it to handle it normally. If anyone gives me a good motivation to watch it I will, but until then, I refuse to.

13) One Piece Film: Gold -> 8/10

When my girlfriend and I started watching the movies again, we were really skeptical about all post-timeskip movies, and I'm glad to say Gold proved us wrong. I love this damn movie: it's a really good experience for long time fans, but it can also be shared with friends who barely know/never got into the show. The villain is so damn compelling, and the original character (Nami's blatant ex-girlfriend) is fun and interesting.

What else can I say? It's a Las Vegas heist movie. It's flashy, it's fun, all the outfits are fucking amazing, and most importantly, Zoro is the damsel in distress in this one. I can't suggest it enough to people.

(Also Sabo makes a cameo in here by using a Firefist, and both of us for a solid second thought Ace was gonna descend from the heavens to fight instead of the most logical answer, because we're both idiots.)

14) One Piece: Stampede -> 1,5/10

Fuck this movie and fuck whoever liked it. This is nothing but fanservice garbage and I hope whoever wrote it is in jail. It exists as proof that good animation and good voice acting and a solid cast cannot make a good movie by themselves. The main villain is the most boring, uninteresting piece of trash in the universe. This movie was made just to animate cool fights for fanservice, and it didn't do even that well. I cannot believe they wasted Luffy's Gear 4: Snakeman like that, I cannot forgive wasting my favourite Luffy fight form for a moment and THEN decide to solve the movie final fight with a fucking genkidama. Fuck this movie. Didn't even have the guts to have a proper Hancock fight scene.

The only reason is gets a little more than a 1 as a rating is because having so many damn characters in the movie appear at random accidentally turned it into a fucking comedy. Towards the end I was half-ready for either Gol D. Roger's corpse or Goku to show up. Maybe even Naruto or the Jump Force. Kurapika was in this one to me.

15) One Piece Film: Red -> 7,5/10

We conclude with a good one, and a musical on top of it all. I really liked this movie, I think Uta was a well written new character and I can't deny I cried a bit towards the end of it. This movie has still a lot of fanservice, but in my opinion it's much more tasteful and tolerable, and I would be lying if the hype of every character cameo didn't get to me, especially with Brulèe and Katakuri, I have such a soft spot for the Charlotte offsprings.

Ado is a really good singer and a lot of the songs are really nice to listen to, I can't deny I currently have more than half the songs in this movie among my spotify favourites. The occasional usage of CGI is Eh, but aside from it this movie has damn good animations as well.

What this movie lacks, and it's really less of a Red specific problem and more of a general post-timeskip One Piece issue, is crew interactions. While a lot of early One Piece movies are kinda trash, it's the crew interactions that have always captured me about the story, and I'm willing to forgive even the worst plotline if it means I get to see those fucked up kids have fun and be all together. It got to a point that the amount of characters in the story takes time away from the main crew, and considering this was the first movie with Jinbei as a crewmate, it was a damn shame that this fact almost wasn't used. Still, I liked Red! I just hope the next movie that will inevitably come out is a crew-focused one, on the same wavelength as Gold. I'm kinda sick of constantly seeing Law.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

I was kind of thinking of something, randomly, concerning TOY STORY 5. Perhaps the most questionable upcoming Pixar film, and animated sequel period.

And this kinda ties in with the whole news swirl about Disney execs mandating Pixar to tone down all the directors' personal quirks in upcoming features...

I think about how Pixar is sometimes presented, aesthetically. That star ball that first appeared in their debut project, the 1986 short film LUXO JR., seems to dominate their name. Red, yellow, blue, loud primary colors.

Almost synonymous, and not so much the individual aesthetics of the films themselves. I feel I see this in the parks, social media stuff, etc. As if a Pixar film is a genre: Kooky "What if?" premises, tearjerker moments, cuddly characters, "relatable" for "all". That new live-action/hybrid movie IF seems to strive to be "like" a "Pixar film", and I've seen plenty of other animated films try to do this too. It's like how "Disney animated movie" is sometimes pigeonholed as "fairy tale princess musical/once upon a time".

Someone on twitter also put it best, when describing why a film like TURNING RED was a welcome change of pace... Pixar was, for the longest time, films for dads, by dads. And yeah, that tracks. John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, Brad Bird... The directors whose original films are often considered the "true" Pixar films, the foundational films at that... They're dads, and their lives as dads absolutely informs many of those pictures.

And you look at TOY STORY 3 and TOY STORY 4 in comparison to their relatively looser, even somewhat '90s edgier predecessors...

... They reflect Lasseter/Stanton/Docter/Unkrich in their near-middle age. Those films are visually a lot more vibrant, warmer, and while still very humorous throughout, they have a cozier vibe that's absolutely SMOTHERED in emotion, big damn goodbyes, sauteed in those signature Pixar cry juices. "When She Loved Me", but the whole damn movie. The young and edgy energy of those guys in their 20s and 30s vs. a more mature adult phase. I feel you can see this in their other films made during the 2010s, like INSIDE OUT.

And the 11-year gap between TOY STORY 2 and TOY STORY 3 really cements that, for good reason. Time passing and real life essentially informed the story, and it was the just-right mixture that really hit it with audiences. The story wisely played up that cozy nostalgia, the weepies one would get when the baby birds finally leave the nest... and the filmmakers gave the gang the proper send-off. But because of how it wore its heart on its sleeve, for some, TOY STORY 3 seemed like the perfect ending even though it definitely left things open for future adventures with Woody and Buzz and Bonnie's toys.

And for a little while, some short films and TV specials filled that gap quite nicely. Short little adventures, and the characters being fun and funny for a little while. TOY STORY OF TERROR! is the best of those, in my opinion. Felt much more '90s TOY STORY, a straightforward story that didn't have a mini-goodbye in it or some massive emotional moment. Halloween aesthetics, nighttime motel setting, horror movie homages. Good stuff! TOY STORY THAT TIME FORGOT, by contrast, kinda goes for that at the end when the Battlesaurs are being played with. Which makes sense, really, it was a Christmas special.

TOY STORY 4 arrived nine years after TOY STORY 3, and is much similar in tone and quite similar visually. It's still pretty, vibrant, and sunny, and it still reflects that "we're much older now" vibe. More sentimental, packed with those big emotional moments and an ending that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reportedly couldn't bring themselves to record their voices for. A big goodbye, but this time, for Woody. I think for some people, that felt like overkill after how emotionally heavy Part Tre was... when TOY STORY 4 could've just been a feature-length TOY STORY OF TERROR!-type adventure... Which, funnily enough, it was going to be at one point... Upon its announcement in 2014... One iteration was a peculiarly weird story about one of Bonnie's cousins swapping the heads of Woody and Buzz. Sounded very experimental and different, a complete 180 from the tone of TOY STORY 3. This is probably what was being worked on for a 2017 release, but after a lot of writer changes and delays, it became TOY STORY 3 Redux with Woody saying goodbye to his lifelong friends and going off with Bo Peep. I personally quite like the film, myself, so this is more an observation than a knock. It ended Pixar's 2010s the way TOY STORY 3 started them.

So with that, I feel a lot of the reactions to TOY STORY 5's announcement a year ago (in addition to reminders that it's in the works) stem from the thought that we're going to get - 7 years after TOY STORY 4 - yet another movie like this. How many more goodbyes can there be? How many more losses? How many more hyper-emotional adventures? The ongoing "we say goodbye to our kids"/"softer middle age" era of the old Pixar guard, many of which are off doing other things now. It's really only Docter and, to a lesser extent, Stanton, nowadays. The last two of "Team TOY STORY", as I like to call them - because Brad Bird came to Pixar after the fact, and was the only outsider for a while who got to direct features.

But what if... What if TOY STORY 5 wasn't that? And it theoretically goes back to the core essence of the original? You look at the original TOY STORY, released in 1995 and its 1999 sequel, and you compare them to 3 & 4... What if TOY STORY 5 circled back to that kind of simpler buddy comedy adventure? With less of that cozy vibe and more '90s in presentation? With all the clever wordplay and character stuff? That doesn't have to be a bad thing. The original TOY STORY may not have the goodbyes and "feels" of TS3/4, but it launched everything for a reason: It's still a rock-solid, sharply-written buddy comedy in the vein of the films that inspired it, like THE ODD COUPLE and MIDNIGHT RUN. That's what helped it stick out in a sea of Disney musicals and the imitators. Maybe just that, TOY STORY as it is on the tin, works out? It'd be like their ABBEY ROAD, in a way. No tricks or gimmicks, it's just straight up TOY STORY. Could be a fresh new way to revisit those characters and not have to "top" the endings of 3 & 4. Maybe it could even be a midquel set in between 1 & 2, or 2 & 3, or 3 & 4. How Woody and Buzz are back together remains to be seen, unless the movie follows two plots and they never meet up. Or do very briefly. I dunno, Bonnie and her family go on vacation and they cross paths for a moment and have a brief "old pals" hug? Again, we'll see...

Either that, or they could straight up SPIDER-VERSE/PUSS IN BOOTS 2-style reinvent the whole thing in a wild, dynamic new way... So that it doesn't feel like a stale chestnut, a moldy oldie anymore.

But we'll see. This is from big bad Disney after all, and that new interview seems to indicate one thing... And maybe at D23 in August, we'll hear something about its storyline. It is certainly one I'm keeping my eye on, though...

[artificialgrinder]

THE DARK SEEPING IN (BRATZ FASHION PIXIEZ REIMAGINING) CH. 7

Breeana and the girls prepare for the upcoming Magnolia Ball, surprised to find Cymbeline has flaked out.

AN: Okay, so this one is kinda shorter so I apologise! The next one will be longer however, I promise. Also, I just want to say, I noticed the increase in traffic on this story and I really appreciate everyone's kind comments! Thank you so so much, you're all so sweet.

Breeana really wanted to stop in the hall and just ask Dylan outright. She  really  wanted to. But with all those people around…And the fact she had already missed so many chances…

And the fact she had other matters to tend to, there was no point.

Her stomach was still in knots since fleeing the cafeteria like that, especially knowing many people probably saw the dramatics. From their perspective, she imagined it was like something out of a teen movie or a soap opera. 

Fortunately, Felicia was kind enough to walk with her all the way from the school, all the way to the town centre. The other girl lived in that area anyway, which was a win-win for both parties.

"You meeting your sister here?" Felicia had asked to which Breeana said yes. 

But that was a lie. She knew Cymbeline wasn't going to show up. 

Now pinning fake flowers to a vine-covered lamp post, she thought of all the things her sister could have been doing at that present moment. 

Funny how weeks prior, Cymbeline could have torn the house down with her ranting of how the organisation for the Magnolia Ball was. She needed all the help she could get to bring it all together. And now that preparations were well underway, what with everyone gathered in the town centre setting up the scenery, Breeana still wasn't surprised Cymbeline flaked out.

"What's up, bitch?"

The voice caught her off guard, turning to see Yasmin approaching with a folded banner in her hand. "Sorry about earlier. You know, the cafeteria. I mean, I don't know why you got up and left like that, but sorry anyway."

Breeana blinked, unsure of what to say. "Oh, um. Sorry about that. I just…had bad cramps."

"Ugh, I feel that." Yasmin stroked Breeana's shoulder. "Fuck having a uterus."

Breeana managed a breath of a laugh. "Yeah, for real."

Then Cloe came next. "Hey, guys!" She hurried over, holding a small object in her hand, "Look! It's a petal. It fell from the tree. Like, wow!"

"Never change, angel." Yasmin rolled her eyes yet smiled.

"Hey, ladies!" Yet another voice came. Sasha and Jade were now joining the equation. Breeana's stomach churned. Of all of Cymbeline's friends, she always found both Jade and Sasha to be the more upfront ones. And she knew what was to come.

"So we got the music line-up from the DJ. It's gonna pop." Sasha waved the piece of paper in front of Yasmin's face.

The Latina took the list, her eyes scanning it. "Nice mix. Current tracks with some '80s and '90s. Just getting the nostalgia in there."

Cloe peeked over Yasmin's shoulder, also analysing the words on the paper. "Oh my God, yes. They got Spice Girls on there! Can we all recreate that act we used to do in kindergarten?"

"You still remember that?" Jade blew out a cloud of smoke, having pulled out her vape.

"Um, yeah? It was only like, uh, one of our most iconic moments ever," Cloe said as if it should have been a given. "Cymbeline and I know it off by heart still."

And there it was, the invitation to the topic. If only Breeana had just run away.

"Where is Cymbeline anyway?" Sasha's eyes scanned the square.

"Oh, shit. I didn't even realise." Cole shrugged.

Breeana turned back to the lamp post, starting to decorate in the hopes the older girls would just take this discussion elsewhere.

"I don't know why you're all acting brand new and surprised." Yasmin unfolded her banner just to fold it back up. "Kinda knew she wasn't coming, what with her being so busy around her girlfriend these days."

"Bitch, are you crazy? Her Dad funds this shit. She organises everything. It's, like, her life's mission to make this shit a success!" Jade ranted.

"Unless something came up?" Sasha shrugged, then peered past Yasmin to the youngest Devlin. "You know where she at, Bree'?"

"Fuck, I," Breeana faked a sigh, "I'm not sure. I mean…I think she's on her period or something. She had to go home real quick."

"Oh, shit. You're both synced. You guys must be witches," Cloe suggested with a giggle.

"Haha. Yeah."

"No - No - No. Seriously," Sasha waved her hand around, not in favour of the distraction, "Cymbeline would never let a period stop her from doing shit. She would - - Fuck, we have a party tonight. You gonna tell me next that she ain't going to that?"

And Breeana panicked, "I-I don't know. She hasn't really - -"

"Tone it down, Bunny Boo," Cloe put a calming hand on Sasha's shoulder. "It's not that big of a deal."

The flared-up girl turned back to Cloe with a raised brow. There was something in her eyes as if telepathically communicated to Cloe. But all that left her mouth was, "Alright. Cool."

That should have relaxed the younger Devlin sister. But she wasn't dumb enough to miss the insincerity in Sasha's voice.

"Let's just finish decorating. We still gotta get ready for tonight," Yasmin then looked at Breeana, " You  coming later?"

"I actually wasn't invited to whatever it is," Breeana said, sounding more sorry for herself than she meant to.

"Viper's party," Sasha said like it was common knowledge.

"Viper?"

"You know, Cade." She elaborated.

"His birthday party at  Basement.  Koby's band's playing," Jade added.

"And Cymbeline would never miss a Blaze gig," Sasha just had to go on, much to Breeana's dismay.

" Sasha ," Cloe said more sternly.

"Yeah, come on, bitch. Let's just…get this shit done and go get ready." Yasmin steered Sasha away, nodding apologetically to the younger girl.

There were a few murmurs amongst Cymbeline's friends, but Breeana paid no heed. She had a job to do. A job her sister was once so passionate about.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You sure you don't wanna come, Bree'?"

"I just wasn't invited in the first place, you know?" Breeana explained on the phone, rubbing moisturiser all over her face and neck. When Dylan's name appeared on her phone, her stomach flipped, practically jumping into her throat. But how could she ignore this opportunity?

"Girl, everybody is invited. Coulda just showed up, you feel?"  Dylan continued. There was the sound of him drinking from a bottle and the music thumping in the background. Very Oliver Tree-type beats.

"Yeah, but still. I don't know. Social anxiety and all," Breeana blushed, scooping the phone up to her ear, turning speaker mode off. Venturing out of her bathroom, she flopped down on the bed. "I know it's not a huge issue, but…my brain just doesn't work that way, you know?"

"Yeah, I feel. Cloe used to be like that. But having those other girls around her, it kinda just brought out the side she always wanted everybody to see, you know?" 

"Yeah…"  Easier said than done, though,  Breeana refrained from saying. "Are they there?" She asked for no reason in particular.

"Nah, ain't seen them around. They better show up soon. Cameron is hounding me so much, already asking where Blondie is. What about your sister and her gothy lady friend. Are they on route?" 

Breeana sighed, hoping it wasn't heard. “Cymbeline’s just…exhausted and, you know - -”

"Don't worry, I know what you're saying. Well, shit. Next time there's a party, you can be my plus one, right?" 

Breeana flushed, allowing a smile to appear on her face. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, girl. It would be the highlight of my year, honestly.

"You drunk, Dyl'?"

"Not at all."

Breeana giggled. "Okay. Yeah, sure. I'll be your plus one."

"Sick." 

Breeana could just hear the smile in his voice. Fuck, everything about this boy just had her melting.

"I saw you in the hall earlier, by the way. I was gonna talk to you, but that bitch ass Zach got in my way."  Dylan sipped from whatever he was drinking.

And Breeana knew what was coming. But now, she was less on edge.

Well, that was until she heard the clacking of heels.

 "I was supposed to ask earlier."

Cymbeline zoomed passed Breeana's bedroom door, clearly in a hurry.

"What did you want to say in the cafeteria?"

It was now or never. "Hang on, Dylan. I gotta go. I'll call you back."

Before she could give in to his protests, she hung up.

Breeana breathed in deeply. She got up off her bed and followed her sister.

[gaykarstaagforever]

MOVIES I AM SURPRISED I HAVEN'T SEEN

Predator (1987)

This is weird to me, because I love the Predator(s) as a monster, and I've seen a bunch of terrible Italian and Hong Kong movies that were shamelessly ripping this off. And I love Arnold more than I should. But I was 5 when this movie came out, and by the time I was old enough to see it without it giving me terrible nightmares, I didn't have an older brother or cousin to illicitly show it to me (which I'm pretty sure is how most people around my age saw it). Plus it was immediately eclipsed by all of the "Xtreme" 90s action movies it inspired, many starring Arnold, so it kind of immediately got lost in the shuffle of that VHS world.

Going into it without nostalgia and only an eye-rolling regard for most of the other movies in the franchise (most of which I also don't remember seeing more than bits of), I can say that it is a better movie than it has any right to be. But it is also kind of a mess. Basic B-.

The performances are pretty good. Carl Weathers (RIP) is fantastic as always, and Arnold is Arnold, though he seems like he's playing three different characters at various points. Which makes sense, because this feels like it is at least three different movies edited together.

One is a serious war movie about big men killing in a jungle, because they got tricked into doing it by the CIA. Another is a goofy macho over-the-top action blockbuster parody, where Arnold does one-liners and everyone else is hamming it up with random sex jokes and wacky character beats. Then the third is an action-horror movie where a lone desperate man is hunted and hunts a murderous alien monster. Accompanied by a score from a hypothetical Steven Spielberg movie about toys coming to life to save Christmas from a mean old troll.

No part of any of this gets to work on its own for more than 3 minutes, before another part of one of the other movies, or the godforsaken score, elbows its way in to throw it off. There is absolutely no tonal consistency. Which isn't automatically a bad thing, but kind of is here. I'm supposed to care about these characters enough that I care they are being murdered by a Space creature; but I don't, because I'm too distracted by which movie is doing what to them right now. If I was 14 I probably wouldn't have cared, but as an adult, I just can't get into it.

Especially not with that score. Oh my god. It's a good score, just for a totally different movie. This story needed some incidental drums and maybe a synth hook as a theme for the Predator. What it gets is a full orchestral score that has to scream the intended emotion of a scene at me like I'm not paying attention. It is unbearable and ruins everything, constantly. I very nearly watched the last 20 minutes on mute. It is just...stop. Leave me alone, inappropriate string section.

Another highly unnecessary thing is the stupid "Predator vision" sequences. The Predator is only on screen for like 15 minutes of the hour, 47 minute runtime, but I swear it feels like 45 minutes of this movie is eye-straining incomprehensible fakey thermal vision POV shots from the Predator's helmet cam.

Was this exciting new technology in 1987? It must have been, because why else would there be so much of it? And no, it doesn't build tension or reveal anything notable about the Predator. It serves no structural purpose. It just wastes valuable time that would be better used actually showing the Predator. There is exactly one cool shot using it, and that shot would have been just as cool as a regular camera shot:

As for the legitimate good, the special effects - the practical Predstor costume, his invisibility shield and weapons, all of the gory killings and explosions and gunfire - are great. As I said, Carl Weathers is the only character who is tonally consistent throughout, and I have no doubt that is mostly due to his skill as an actor. It is a genuine shame he isn't the one who survived long enough to force the Predator to rage-quit.

The last 20 minutes are the absolute best part and should have been most of the movie, where Arnold is unarmed, caked in mud, using the jungle and improvised traps to confuse and abuse the Predator. It unfortunately raises questions about how skilled the Predator actually is at the one thing he does, since with all his advanced alien tech, he can't see you if you're muddy for some reason, and he also won't kill you with a gun unless you have a gun, even if he's been hunting you and you've been seriously wounding him with sticks for like 2 days. I realize he has to folllow these kinds of rules to make the fight fair. But it also makes me wonder if the Predator is just a big narcissist whose hubris makes him a shitty hunter. You're whole thing is hunting sentient creatures in swamps, you boob. Probably get mask goggles that can see them when they get dirty?

Especially when the movie makes it clear that he, or other Predators, have been doing this shit in this exact area for decades, at least. Like, figure it out already, guys. You have interplanetary space flight, but Earth mud kills your laser / nuclear advantage? Please.

Also, how does the "fair fight" crap apply when you're strapped with both an advanced first aid kit AND a suicide vest? Those are a perpetual unfair advantage. Being weird about things because the prey dropped their gun or ran out of ammo seems arbitrarily pedantic.

Also also, you as a species are 8 feet tall, can leap from tree to tree, and have massive punching daggers mounted on your wrists. Tossing your own gun to wrestle a tired human man isn't being fair, it is cheating a little differently. Why bother? What do you gain by this?

Especially when you know that if you lose, you're going to explode, and take several surrounding acres out with you?

It is still a cool premise and a cool monster, and the movie overall is way, way better than it could have been. It has parts that are good, and lots of fun, idiotic 1980s action movie lines that we have been rightly quoting for 37 years. It is gratuitous fun, and that feels like all it intended to be, so good on it. But it's no RoboCop or Total Recall or anything. Paul Verhoeven always nails the hambone tone of these kinds of things, even when he's making something awful like Showgirls. That's hard to do, and Predator doesn't quite manage it.

I think a lot of the intense love for this movie is simple nostalgia. And that's fine. But that doesn't make it a great movie.

[navree]

what do u think about zeglar and how she talks about the snow white movie? what are ur thoughts on the situation?

Is this about the Rachel Zegler thing? Cuz I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea what that was about at all. All I saw was that she maybe said that her version of Snow White might be more proactive than in the original? Or something similar to that? And that doesn't seem like a bad thing to say, to me, it's not that revolutionary to point out that some of the early Princess movies had somewhat more passive protagonists than people my age are used to having from Disney (seeing as we grew up with Disney Renaissance of the 80s and 90s, which focused heavily more on active protagonists than the classics did).

It doesn't seem like she was passing an indictment on the original movie, moreso just saying that they were attempting to make this new one resonate with the audience of the 2020s rather than the 1930s, especially considering this is a retread of a story they've already seen before and are familiar with, whereas the original 1937 Snow White was entirely new territory (it's literally the first Disney animated movie, it Is the prototype for everything that's come about since then). It doesn't seem like she said that people shouldn't enjoy the original, or that it was bad to like a more passive protagonist (honestly mood, one of my favorite Disney princesses is Aurora and she does not do a lot in her original movie). Nor do I think her saying her version is updated for the times is out of bounds, these dumb fucking remakes need to justify themselves somehow and seeing as Snow White likely won't be as CGI heavy as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast or The Jungle Book or the terrible awful horrible disgusting nasty trash ass The Lion King (can you tell I don't like the TLK remake?), trying to make it more "updated" means that the studio can pretend that this is about creativity and not cash grabs and monetizing childhood nostalgia.

What I know I don't like is that apparently a young actress, who by and large seems to be nice and not have a problematic online presence and is just doing her own thing, said something Some People didn't like and got an internet blood mob after her for no reason. Like, you dumb assholes need to get a hobby, so she said that her Snow White is more "active" apparently, so fucking what? Did she hold up a banner saying death to women who want to be rescued by men? Did she demand that everyone burn their copies of the original movie? Did she break into your home and personally destroy every piece of Snow White merchandise you clearly have since this movie from the 1930s is so fucking important to you? Oh wait no? She didn't? She just voiced her opinion on a movie that's still in the process of being made and attempted to explain why it was worth existing at all because nobody is going to be honest about the fact that these movies are easy money and that's it? Because that's exactly what it is, and then it's people being whiny babies because of this idea that's becoming increasingly more prevalent in a LOT of circles that if you like something, everyone should like it too, and if you don't like something, no one should like it. It's the death of subjectivity and the inability of a good chunk of people on the Internet to grow the fuck up and touch some godforsaken grass, it's a bizarre resistance to just dislike something and move the fuck on like a normal person.

And it's misogyny for me, honestly. If a woman says something that you don't agree with and you blow your fucking lid and think she should be dragged through the streets, you really gotta examine why. Were any of you complaining about the fact that the Beast or Aladdin might have gotten more of a different arc in their remakes than in the originals that might be considered more compatible with a 21rst century audience, or is it just that a young woman said it that pisses you off so much? It's ridiculous, and it's embarrassing.

So yeah, those are my sorta thoughts on it, as someone pretty far removed from the situation who hasn't really given it much thought.

[hanarchy]

ok i understand why people dont like the simpsons i really do (habitual depiction of child abuse, casual racism, the horrors it has birthed (south park, family guy et al.), the insane ubiquity it had in the 90s and early 2000s, ironic detachment as a show, personification of gen x which is without a a doubt the worst generation to ever exist etc etc) but i really really cannot stress enough how intelligent that show actually was and how good a lot of it was too and how obvious it was that the people behind it cared for the characters and the stories they told.

like i think i’m weirdly uniquely suited to make this observation because i think to a lot of americans the simpsons probably just seems kind of obvious but when i was a kid and started watching it i didnt know a ton abt the US but i was 12 and it was animated and so i felt i should watch it.

and years later i 1. moved to the US, 2. took a lot of sociology, history, politics classes and 3. traveled around the country a lot.

and i remember so vividly how i would regularly sit in class or see a new place and think ‘oh i heard this on the simpsons, oh they made fun of this on the simpsons’

like it’s been years and years since i’ve seen a simpsons episode atp so i dont have examples anymore but i’m so serious when i say they dissect american life and especially american life at the HEIGHT of the american cultural hegemony and the countrys status as economic and military superpower like bothing else did.

i do very seriously believe that if you understand the references and can analyze the first like 10ish seasons of the simpsons in its historical context (honestly maybe just seasons 3-9 or sth, the 10th and 11th are just personal nostalgia favorites) you understand a lot more about the US and why and how the world was influenced by american power after the end of the cold war than almost anyone…

and now i’m someone who has a very sincere and deep love of like. heartland america, like ive travelled around appalachia on my own, ive been to more southern and ‘fly-over’ states than most americans i know, and i think part of that was sparked by the simpsons because the show was acerbic and satirical and could be mean but it DID have very genuine love for the average people in it and it made exaggerated caricatures but never denied their humanity.

like it taught me in a way that both of these things can exist at once and that their co-existence in one story/one show is what actually makes it good and makes it profound.

[drsp00n]

Some amateur (and even high budget) horror pet peeves of mine

I'll try to be as brief as I can be (lie) but feel free to ask me to ellaborate if I don't make sense:

Takes place in middle class USA: That's it, that's the post. I feel like one of my biggest issues with modern horror is just how americacentric it is. There's a treasure trove of concepts and stories that can be found in other cultures yet we are recycling the most mass appeal shit possible. As someone who isn't white and isn't living in the US, I'm tired of mascot horror. I went to chuck e cheese once, I don't know what an animatronic is. I want to see a horror story about indigenous people's interactions with creatures of the forest from the 7th century, I don't care about your US high school experience.

Relies heavily on nostalgia to build atmosphere: I think we are actually stagnating culturally. "REMEMBER THE 2000s!?" has become the new "REMEMBER THE 90s?", which itself has not fucking died because of the aesthetic in emulating things from the past. The culture of consumption and instant gratification has only gotten worse and offers nothing in the realm of substance. Why build atmosphere when you can just rely on people's sentimentality? Hell don't even be accurate, just grab a bunch of shit from different eras and throw it in there.

Liminal space/impossible space/Non-eucledian geometry: Listen, I love me a good infinite pit of death. I love me a good blood lake. I love an endless staircase. Abandoned city, empty school, love em. But I feel like some people's concepts of liminal space is just going outside??? When you want to rely on the vague recollection of a shared experience, much like relying on nostalgia, you also have to recognize that some of these things are just... normal? These environments only make sense from a human point of view. The way they're placed is uncanny, but also very calculated. To me, it works against the genre itself because only another person could come up with something like this.

Digital and analog horror: There's a ghost in my computer dick, aahhhh. This goes kind of hand in hand with the reliance on nostalgia. But it really seems like not many people have delved into the genre further than the typical possession story or zombie-adjacent apocalypse. Within a year it became saturated. There are a few fun stories here and there, but these stories can only function in the realm of having all the time in the world to lead you around an easter egg hunt, or having a youtuber do it for you. ARGs can be fun, but most of them are tedius and pedantic. The payoff is usually not worht the buildup and the aesthetics get old very quickly. They're neat as something you can do basically from your bedroom with a shitty laptop, but beyond that they're not that remarkable because most are lacking in that creative spark.

It was capitalism all along: Alright, time to throw hands. Greed has been a driving force for most of the tragedies in human history. Many stories have themes of capitalism that are not outright addressed, but are just visible enough for you to realize that it's one of the main causes for the events of a story. However, I feel that we have reached a point in social awareness that gives people the resources and information needed to say meaningful things. We KNOW capitalism bad, but what do we do with that? Nothing! Political themes and horror are at odds because while we are running around from big scary monsters, people in the real world are actually dying by the thousands due to corporate greed. Horror itself is not something that HAS to say very meaningful things on a large social scale, but I just tune out when the villain is a CEO that turned 7 children into ghost fuel to make a 4% profit on the 2019 fiscal year. Someone in the story died because their boss exploited them too much and now they're a wraith? That sucks, that happens all the time in the real world. Have a little bit more tact with this subject matter or don't use it at all.

Mascot horror: As stated above, I can't take these kinds of stories seriously because they rely on such a dumb premise to begin with. These are stories for literal children, so I shouldn't complain too much. But they take center stage on most social spaces, so I will complain. In stories where the ghost of middle class children get to possess robots or costumes or whatever, EVERYTHING should be fucking possessed. You've probably heard every other criticism about how lazy and saturated the field is so I don't have to bring it up. But I can't engage with the premise in general.

I get that this is mostly a mainstream issue, but sometimes I wish people would just pick up a book sometimes and tell something new instead of trying to be barely deritative of something else lol