#i had to insert all the girl characters into this because it's just oversaturated with boys

[knbposting]

i filled in @akashirl 's fun knb meme! it revealed too much i'm going into hiding now. also momoi knits, i feel like that fact is not talked about enough!!! my girl knitted kuroko a scarf and i crochet so that's close enough :')

[mirrormirrormag]

horizontal hostility

I recently listened to a podcast called “The Process” from Noor Tagouri where she has a conversation with a creative about their process for creating their content among other things, and in this episode that I listened to, Noor interviewed filmmaker Minhal Baig who made headlines in late 2019 for her movie “Hala” that featured a Muslim girl wearing a hijab as the protagonist. For many Muslim Americans who heard the news, this was a huge step in the direction of authentic representation in the media, but for others, the premise featured in the trailer that announced the film, seemed to highlight a trope that continued to put the archetype of a White Savior over that of the coming of age or internal shift in the main character; others thought that the story of Hala was inaccurate to what Islam “actually” is and thought it was too Western-ized to capture the actual nature of the maligned religion. 

In the interview, Noor brings this up to Minhal, along with a phrase I wasn’t familiar with: horizontal hostility. As it turns out, horizontal hostility is essentially a term that describes a situation where people of the same background, whether it be ethnic, religious, racial, or sexual orientation, etc., accuse each other of not representing the ideal standard of what (insert blank) is in a way that reinforces a system of oppression. 

For example, there is a long history of black men mistreating black women; this would be horizontal hostility because though these people belong to the same racial background and have experienced similar notions of oppression, black men still benefit from the privileges that come from living in a patriarchal society and can exploit that to hurt black women, whos intersectionalities of race and gender furthers their disenfranchisement.

When it comes to Islam, this term illuminated precisely what I had felt plagued my community for centuries and has played a large role in the disillusioned way that the media portrayed Muslims. 

It’s no secret that many Muslim majority countries are in a third-world state after being exploited by colonialism and imperialism from Western countries, and continue to stay in a state of unrest through the many despots and dictators that attempt to take over these countries and overrule democracy. In many ways, this has lead to the reinforcement of an oppressive patriarchal state because of the distorted interpretation that many men in these cultures have of Islam that are simply tradition— not religion. 

Muslim majority countries share the same interpretations of religion that tend to be oversaturated with cultural contexts that aren’t representative of Islam. Things like oppressing women by forcing them to wear a hijab and keeping them inside the house to raise children and not make money of her own are all sins in Islam yet many people don’t regard it this way, including women. 

"To suggest that Hala wouldn’t have felt liberated or free if the white boy hadn’t “saved” her from her oppressive religion and culture perpetuates the exact assertions many Americans have about Muslim women: that they need to be saved or freed from the confines of their scarf that is slowly choking them to death. "

The internalized misogyny and lack of autonomy in these countries makes it difficult to retain any agency to speak against these injustices and as it continues to be passed down by generation and generations, it’s taken as Bible, no pun intended. 

The double standard involving men and women in the East is rejected by the West that prides itself in maintaining gender equity, yet there are other implicitly misogynistic parts to the West that still exist— we’ll get into that a bit later.

Needless to say, reconciling the Muslims that live in the West that aren’t necessarily assimilated to the point that they forget their identities but simply treat others with equality and the Muslims that live in the East who maintain a dated perception of the role that gender plays in society yet still believe in the same facets of Islam is difficult and speaks to the levels of misogyny that has bled through many aspects of society and culture. 

It’s often difficult for people to understand groups, especially Muslims, who seem to come from irreconcilable backgrounds and mutually exclusive beliefs, and place a label on them so that they are easily digestible. 

"for Muslim women who live in the West, “liberation” doesn’t end at the right to vote, because many other aspects of their identity inhibits them from full equality due to the patriarchy and xenophobic nature of the West. "

I’ve come across many questions from non-Muslims and Muslims alike such as “but you don’t seem Muslim ‘enough’” as if there is a equation I have to fulfill in order to ordain my beliefs. 

These sentiments came up a lot with the release of Minhal’s movie “Hala”. Although I haven’t seen the movie, from what I can tell, the main character, Hala, explores her sexuality in a way that is not even discussed in Muslim households with a White boy, though this isn’t the main focus of the movie. 

Growing up, my perceptions of who a Muslim could be was very limited; I couldn’t comprehend in my mind that anyone who called themselves a Muslim could drink alcohol, do drugs, have sex with multiple partners, etc. But what I’ve realized as I’ve grown older is that though there may be some inconsistencies in the way that someone practices their religion, they can still be as much of a Muslim as someone else. Portraying the different lifestyles of a vast group of people who have been tied down to one narrative can create more open mindedness but it’s difficult. 

While it’s important to portray as many realities of Muslims as possible, as multifaceted as they may be, it’s equally important to not associate the religion itself with the lives of the people. The mistake that the media made when showing Muslims was that they associated the oppressive cultures with the religion and that’s not how Islam is. Similarly, just because someone has many intersections within their religion and their lifestyle, it may not be accurate to the literal religion itself. 

Like I said, people like to label the things that they see so it’s easier to understand, but we can’t ignore the dimensionalities of people who may belong to one group but are a part of many others or associate a rigid definition with an interpretative group. 

While some said that the movie wasn’t Muslim enough or accurate to the exact rules of Islam, others pointed to the suggestion that Hala had some type of relationship with a white boy in the movie to call out the trope that existed in Western media that implicitly suppressed the story of Hala, in place of a superficial relationship that hid all of the dimensionalities of the protagonist. For some, the movie’s progress for representation was eclipsed by the presence of a misogynistic archetype that took the spotlight away from the girl, who happened to be Muslim, to the boy. 

I want to make the disclaimer that this is how it appeared in the trailer, not how it actually went down in the movie, according to what the filmmaker said. 

This is a very valid point because for Muslim women who live in the West, “liberation” doesn’t end at the right to vote, because many other aspects of their identity inhibits them from full equality due to the patriarchy and xenophobic nature of the West. 

To suggest that Hala wouldn’t have felt liberated or free if the white boy hadn’t “saved” her from her oppressive religion and culture perpetuates the exact assertions many Americans have about Muslim women: that they need to be saved or freed from the confines of their scarf that is slowly choking them to death. 

It appeared that this attempt for accurate representation was conducted through the male gaze, like many other media portrayals, and continued to ignore the realities of Muslim girls in America.

Regardless of the impression you may have about the movie, there is only one way to get a true interpretation of it and it’s by watching it. For those who have, the progress for representation is undeniably there as it captured the emotion and nature of growing up as a Muslim girl in America. 

[alexsprincessparty]

Oh Boy, What a Week

Disney is a lot like Survivor in the way that "just when you think you know what's going on, you have no idea what's going on." (Shoutout to Sebastian from Survivor: Ghost Island...) A company can campaign all it wants about inspiring young girls to Dream Big, Princess while its men (both in the company and within its fandom) get away with belittling women and girls of all ages. Just this week, it was announced that John Lasseter would step down from his role of Principal Creative Advisor, following allegations of sexual misconduct from numerous women he's worked with. Earlier in the week, newly-minted Star Wars star Kelly Marie Tran disappeared from Instagram following overwhelming harassment from angry male Star Wars fans. As this is a Disney blog that discusses gender-focused issues (especially surrounding females), I feel compelled to discuss these issues as a kind of break from Princess discussion, as Disney Princesses are just one facet of so-called Disney Feminism. What happens in our films is one thing, but we still need to focus on what is happening around us, behind the scenes and off the page.

Monsters, Inc, or, the Scary Stuff Behind Pixar's Closed Doors

Let's begin with Lasseter. John Lasseter is best known as one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios, the studio that brought us Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Cars. Up until recently, he was Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios (Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Moana) as well as DisneyToon Studios (DuckTales, Planes), as well as Principal Creative Director of Walt Disney Imagineering. So, naturally, we all associate Lasseter with his achievements and creations (as well as his trademark Hawaiian shirts). In late 2017, just days before the theatrical release of Disney-Pixar's Coco, Lasseter came under fire for sexual misconduct towards several female employees. Numerous women came out in protest of Lasseter, claiming the 61-year-old Disney head had repeatedly tried to kiss other female employees on the mouth without their consent, give very lengthy and inappropriate hugs (particularly with the actresses of the Disney Fairies franchise), touch inappropriately (one employee stated he would rub her leg under the table at meetings), and make comments about employees' appearances. This led to an apologetic statement from Lasseter, who subsequently took a six-month sabbatical from Disney, after which he will take on a lesser role before leaving for good this December. As I said, Lasseter is renowned for his art and his leadership, as well as his innovative contributions to the animation medium. Rightfully so. 1995's Toy Story, directed by Lasseter, was the first-ever feature film to be animated completely in 3D animation. Pixar specialized in this medium, but Walt Disney Animation Studios would not give it a shot for itself until 2005's Chicken Little, just before Lasseter took over WDAS. Today, nearly every Disney animated feature since 2010's Tangled has been animated in CGI. Lasseter and Pixar blew the door wide open on CGI animation, which dominates the animation industry today, Disney or otherwise. Add that to the work he's done as a writer or producer on films as early as The Fox and The Hound, through the Disney Renaissance, numerous Studio Ghibli classics, all the way up to the upcoming sequels to Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and Toy Story--the film that put his company on the map. These are all great accomplishments, but are they really worth putting over the basic needs of security and safety for women in the workplace? Should we really excuse habitual predators and violators based solely on the fact that they're great artists, actors, athletes, musicians? Perhaps it's best left to an individual basis, as some people are better at separating art from artist. For example, I love Toy Story. It is indeed a revolutionary film, a well-written one, and incredibly memorable. In fact, I love a lot of the work Lasseter has done with Disney, and Disney-Pixar. That said, while I cannot put myself in the shoes of the women he affected, I won't simply forgive him because of how much I loved WALL-E. It doesn't work like that. So then, why are so many supporters of the #MeToo movement quick to initiate boycotts of someone's work after these allegations come out? Great question. It's as simple as cutting off a supply, so to speak. Since the allegations against Lasseter came out just before Coco's release, some had planned to boycott the film in protest of Lasseter (which I don't recommend, because 1. a loooooot of other people worked on that film, and 2. it's the only feature film Disney has produced around Mexican culture that also features Hispanic voice talent). What it says is, "if you hurt or violate other women, we will no longer support you." The accused no longer have that supply. It could be a financial supply, an emotional supply of "but you're still so great though!" or "it's okay because I'll still be up at the Oscars/Golden Globes/Annies this year anyway." That, again, is probably best left to an individual basis, that is, you do what you feel is right. 

For example, T.J. Miller very quickly lost favor with me after he came under fire for numerous actions (including violence, transphobia, and also calling in a fake bomb threat! A piece of work, this one), yet still, I saw Deadpool 2...mostly because Ryan Reynolds and Zazie Beetz. And Yukio. (Hi, Yukio.)

If Disney wants to continue to promise a safe workplace environment for women, then it has to commit to punishing violators within its doors, no matter how high on the food chain they are. Nobody should be "too big to fail." Misogyny: A Star Wars Story

You could argue that Star Wars has declined in quality since Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in the early-to-mid 2010s. Perhaps it got too...you know, Disney. Too soft? Maybe. Too predictable? Yeah, sure, I could see that. But the most common scapegoats for this tend to be not Disney, and not Lucasfilm. Not even J.J. Abrams, or Rian Johnson, or Ron Howard.

Nope. It's the women. Earlier in the week, actress Kelly Marie Tran suddenly disappeared from Instagram amid a flurry of hateful comments from angry Star Wars fans. Tran made her Star Wars debut in last year's polarizing eighth installment, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as Resistance tech Rose Tico. Since the film's release, many have criticized and questioned the need for Rose, as well as Tran's talents as an actress, in addition to her appearance. I know. Surprise. Granted, a lot of post-Disney Star Wars has seen its fair share of criticism, and it's normal to criticize cinema, regardless of how much you like it. However, I have to point out a glaring pattern with some recent Star Wars gripes. A lot of issues, particularly with male Star Wars fans, are with its new streak of female protagonists. Rey. Jyn Erso. Rose Tico. Maz Kanata. Captain Phasma. Qi'ra. Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo. These are just a portion of the cinematic female characters introduced by Lucasfilm since its acquisition by Disney, many of which have been panned by the saga's male fanbase not only as "useless" or "boring," but also "pandering to women because representation/SJWs/libtards/[insert buzzword here]!" While I think all those characters invite their own well-deserved criticisms. However, simply blaming the new films' failures on the fact that they have female protagonists? Sounds fake, but okay. "Rey is the hero? But Finn was holding the lightsaber in the trailer! WTF is this?" You didn't complain about Poe Dameron essentially being the new Han Solo. "Captain Phasma is a waste of space! She didn't do anything!" Boba Fett though? "Rose stole Finn's heroic moment, what a bitch!" BECAUSE WE'RE NOT FIGHTING THE THINGS WE HATE, WE'RE SAVING THINGS WE LOVE, KEVIN "Jyn Erso is such a flat character, why is it all about women now?" Because maybe, just maybe, it would be awesome for female fans of Star Wars to see other females in Star Wars. Sounds pretty novel if you ask me. This seems to be a long-running problem with Star Wars. In fact, Tran is not the only Star Wars lady bullied off Instagram by overzealous male fans. Only a few years ago, Rey herself, Daisy Ridley, suffered the same fate and still hasn't returned to the website (honestly? Probably for the best). You can't claim that just because Emilia Clarke, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong'o, and Laura Dern haven't buckled as well, that Tran and Ridley are "sissies" and not oppressed. Believe me, they are (Clarke and Christie probably deal with this crap as Game of Thrones stars as well so they're probably just used to it). "But we didn't harass Carrie Fisher!" You reduced Princess Leia to a metal bikini until Disney intervened and conveniently forgot about it when it came to merchandising.

Again, you can argue that Disney is ruining Star Wars. I might even agree. But it's not because they keep utilizing female protagonists. In fact, Disney's only Star Wars film with a male protagonist, Solo: A Star Wars Story, has been the least profitable of the Disney/Lucasfilm era. That's not to say the male protagonist was to blame, of course. Personally, I think the problem is Star Wars fatigue, that is, Disney oversaturating us with Star Wars to the point where we just can't take it anymore. But yeah, go ahead and blame the women, sure. Clearly it has been an interesting week for female Disney fans. Some good, some bad. But, hakuna matata, I guess. The world still sucks. But remember the Fairy Godmother's words: "Even miracles take a little time." (I don't remember if she actually said this, but there's a lot of cute Tumblr gifs of her saying it, so she must have said it, right?) I'll be swimming back this way soon for The Little Mermaid, so hang tight. I've just got some bigger fish to fry at the moment. Dream Big Princess!

[protectoriisims-blog]

1 & 2

Let’s. Get. SAAAALLLLTTTYYYY *insert John Cena horns*

What’s the worst role playing experience you’ve had?

Hmmm... I’ve had a few in my like nearly 2 decades (15-16 years-ish) of RP so I can’t remember anyone specifically. In general they were just people whose writing wasn’t on par or they took a plot and ran with it WAAAAY too far. Sometimes I found they weren’t very faithful to a character and that made it hard for me to keep going. I know I said I didn’t remember anyone specifically BUT there was this girl in this group I was a part of and mod’d for and her characters were just so over the top and unrealistic it became really hard for anyone to write with her. Eventually she just left because people refused to interact with her. We tried to sort of intervene but she considered her characters to be fine as they were so it was rather useless. 

What would cause you to leave a fandom? 

So the numbers got wonky but this is #2. Hahah is this the part where I tell you and everyone reveals they just want me out???  Uhm... I don’t know. I’ve said for a while now I was going to leave the Sailor Moon fandom but a: others are just too bleak or oversaturated with blogs and b: I love Sailor Moon way too much. And I honestly do love seeing all the blogs being made and such. I get excited to follow a new Minako or Mamoru, or find that one lone blog for a minor character. I love seeing people put new spins on these ideas and I also love to see writers of the same muse come together and sort of confer and agree on aspects. Eventually I’m sure I’ll leave tumblr for good altogether, and honestly it will probably be because of having a career, husband, home, etc. But not necessarily because the fandom did anything to me. ALTHOUGH some of ya’ll could play a little nicer with each other from time to time

[rei-reviews]

Rei Reviews: Konosuba Season One

(aaand here is my review of the first season of Konosuba! I had a lot of fun writing this review and watching this anime! I’m hoping on posting more reviews on this account in parallel to my art because I’ve always wanted to write more of these I would also love to hear some feedback from you guys! what did you think of Konosuba if you watched it? did my review convince you to watch the anime? any tips that I can write better reviews? do comment them bellow~as for the next show I’m planning to review, it’ll either be Voltron: Legendary Defender or Michiko to Hatchin)

I don’t think it should surprise anyone when I say that one of, if not the most influential anime to come out this decade, is Sword Art Online. Whether you like it or hate it, there’s no denying that this show gathered a lot of attention and popularity. After all, its initial premise tells of a seemingly, average teenager who gets trapped in a videogame only to become the one of the strongest players and get all the ladies. The premise had a lot of appeal to its demographic and the anime industry realized this, which led to a significant increase of anime that shared a lot of elements that made SAO appealing both good and mostly bad.

And when a certain subgenre of a show starts becoming a trend, parodies of the subgenres will start appearing. And Konosuba just happens to be one of them. Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World, was produced by Studio DEEN and aired in the winter season of 2016. It was adapted from a light novel of same name which was written by Natsume Akatsuki.

The Substance Konosuba’s main character is Kazuma Satou, a video-game loving hikikomori (the Japanese term for a shut in), who rarely leaves the house unless he’s buying a new game. In one of said shopping trips he ends up losing his life when he tried to save a girl from getting run over by a truck. In the after-life, he meets aqua, a powerful goddess and she gives him the chance to be reincarnated in an RPG -esque fantasy world and become its savior from the powerful demon king with an overpowered weapon she will bestow him.

Now, I bet that so far, The show’s premise sounds completely cliché BUT there are two aspects of this scene make it completely subvert from the norm:

1) It turns out that Kazuma didn’t die from getting run over. The “truck” he thought had seen, was in fact a tractor. His true cause of death was from shock over a situation that didn’t even happen in the first place.

2) The ‘overpowered weapon’ that he chooses to take from the goddess is the goddess herself because he was irritated with arrogant behavior. and Aqua is CERTAINLY not pleased with it

And both of these subversions are executed with such great timing and exaggeration, it’s hilarious.

And so, this unlikely team is sent into the fantasy world with Kazuma hoping to get the video game adventure he has always dreamed of and Aqua desiring to defeat the demon king so she could return to her realm. Their party soon expands to include an explosion obsessed wizard named Megumin and masochistic knight named darkness. And many, many hijinks ensue. Like I mentioned before, Konosuba is a parody of anime like SAO as well as JRPGs in general. it mercilessly pokes fun of the genre’s tropes and contrivances with an upbeat nature that keeps it from becoming too mean spirited.

But what I really like about the gags in Konosuba is that they’re not just there for the sake of making fun of videogames. They help to flesh out the RPG inspired setting by the excessive attention of detail to its ridiculous lore and each gag or a character’s action has an impact on the plot’s direction. Even the raunchier jokes (and trust me when I say there’s a fair amount of rauch in this show) aren’t just there for fanservice and they help to contribute to the narrative. this doesn’t just make the writing in konosuba hilarious, but also genuinely clever. The main cast of konosuba is also what makes this show work. At first glance they seem to be completely characterized in an archetypical manner but this far from the case with each and every one of them.

Aqua appears to be a high and mighty tsundere and while she is very prideful, she is also a complete idiot and making fun of her never gets old. Megumin could’ve easily been the stoic yet powerful loli but in truth she’s completely childish and immature. This is best shown in the fact that the only magic she knows is explosion magic, which is so powerful she can use it once per day. But it doesn’t matter to her because it’s the coolest. Darkness may seem as a loyal and selfless knight who wants to defend her people, but in truth she’s a masochist who dreams of being tortured by ferocious monsters and gets very turned on whenever she’s insulted. And finally, there’s kazuma who could’ve easily been yet another bland, self-insert protagonist who happens to be very powerful. Except he isn’t. Yes, he shares a lot of common traits of the hikikomori trope like his obsession with videogames and waifus, and his occasional perversion, but he’s not glorified for any of it and he constantly complains about how the life he desired as an adventurer completely suck.

All of these characters end up comedically suffering because of their decisions and none of them are glorified. They’re not good natured people at the slightest but what that makes them likable is how despite their flaws, they still try achieve their goals despite failing. The characters don’t really change when it comes to their behavior but throught the episodes, they do get closer to each other and some sort of bond is formed between them.

and I’m just going to praise this show for NOT going the easy route and making all the girls fall in love with kazuma and become his harem.  It’s a SHAME this is such a rare occurance.

The Presentation Studio DEEN has never been when It comes to animating and thus, konosuba isn’t the mostpolished. The colors of the fantasy world are vibrant and managed to make the setting pleasant, but the locations that the characters lived in weren’t that memorable. The animation itself isn’t very consistent and for the most part tends to look rather wonky But the aspects of the animation that are strong manage to shine through its flaws.

Takaomi Kanasaki, the anime’s director brilliantly managed to direct the show so that every joke hits. The pacing and timing is always tight and the wonkiness of the character animation actually helps to bring out the humor of the scenes to some extent. The action scenes that occur in the show are also well paced and have some brilliant sakuga moments sprinkled in.

The music in the show is also well made, not necessarily because of how memorable or epic it is, but because how its utilized in terms of comedy. sometimes the songs are used as a queue of a specific gag such as megumin’s casting an explosion, and sometimes they abrupltly end to highten the effect of a certain punchline. In addition, the OP to the show is a lot of fun to listen to. The song that accompanies is “fantastic dreamer” is relatively standard, but it’s filled with a lot of inside jokes and small gags that help to convey the chemistry between the main characters.

By far the strongest point of the overall presentation is the voice acting. Each and every actor from the main cast fit their characters to a T and the lines are delivered with a lot of energy and charisma. The best performance in the cast belongs to aqua’s voice actress, Sora Amamiya because she really gave that character her identity.

Final Verdict The first season of Konosuba is probably one of the best comedies I have seen in a while and not just in anime. Despite its short length, It’s an excellent parody of shows in the “trapped in the video game” subgenre but it manages to construct a fleshed out yet ridiculous fantasy world with very entertaining comedic leads. I recommend it for people who are tired of the oversaturation of anime like SAO as well as to people who just want to enjoy a good comedy. I can’t necessarily say that those who can’t stomach raunchiness will enjoy, but for the most part the tasteless fanservice is well… in good taste. And with that. That’s all I have to say about konosuba. Check it out if you’re interested because like its title says: it’s a blessing on this wonderful world