#i have a hard time engaging with communities online so I typically just kinda do my own thing and observe things from the sidelines

[spectrearia]

Do you have an artfight 👉👈

nooooo I do not;; I've considered it before, but I don't fully understand how it really works and I don't have the mental capacity to draw a lot in general, so I didn't want to disappoint anyone by not drawing other folks' characters in return ;n; hence why I've opted out of it even tho I've seen ppl do art fight throughout the years.

I suppose it's just what happens when you're extremely introverted and relatively antisocial tho, even online xD

[lettucedloophole]

hi, I'm a trans feminist and I've been saddened by the lack of feminism in many of my communities. I'm wanting to follow more feminists on here but honestly it's a bit terrifying because so many people claiming to be feminists or trans inclusive are not remotely so and will throw you under the bus in the blink of an eye, if not slowly spread insidious essentialist ideas about gender that hurt everyone but especially those like me.

as a former terf (from your bio) I was wondering if you have any signs, green or red flags, for people and bloggers in particular, regarding radical feminism that may indicate some form of more subtle terf-y beliefs so I can keep an eye out from them, as typically I stay far away from terf spaces for the obvious reason that they hate me, but I've noticed there's some mixing in more rad fem spaces that can be very hard to disentangle, but I don't want that to stop me from engaging with feminism for again, obvious reasons.

also if you have any trans feminist or trans friendly feminist bloggers you'd recommend, especially transfeminine ones, that would be really cool too.

ty for your time! have a great day

hi! not gonna lie its difficult out here 😭 you're dead on that most ppl claiming to be trans-inclusive or feminists are not remotely. i follow people and then have to unfollow when they post or like something strange still ...

i would say chiefly, follow your instincts. as a trans person, especially if you're tma, if you're getting bad vibes you are probably correct. if you're not in a space to deal with bigotry then don't worry about giving the benefit of the doubt, avoiding feminism online won't revoke your feminist card but i know looking at feminism online can also be very healing when dealing with misogyny uh Everywhere so i'll give some other tips.

- the classic "look up trans on their blog before you follow." depending on what type of blog they are, it can be kind of suspicious if they never mention trans people. and then you can very easily weed out the obvious transphobes with this too.

- i would say some red flags are using the adjective "natal" (as in natal women), referring to cis women's oppression as sex-based while trans women's as. Not sex-based, and buying into "trans women are male socialized" rhetoric. this may seem kind of obvious but even if a person doing this identifies as a tirf they're revealing a clear lack in understanding of what transmisogyny is and how trans women exist in the world. this is often how people think before fully deradicalizing, but a lot of people also just begin here or never leave this mindset.

- avoid guys who talk about transandrophobia 🥶🥶 this is a specific thing bc speaking about transmasc issues in itself is obvi good and not bad but sooo many transmascs will try to pose their issues in opposition to transfems and try to do a "well but does transmisogyny exist really because i am Also tma" thing. usually these guys are gonna come out with some real fucked up talking points about trans women because they think they're oppressed by them 🙃 the term "transandrophobia" has kinda been overrun with people like that from what ive seen but ppl can use "anti-transmasculinity" and still mean the same things yk. you have to use your judgement a bit but once you're familiar with them it's easy to spot them out

- this is less of a tip and just a heads up but even blogs who themselves r trans inclusive or profess to be, or are run by a trans person, can still rb terf blogs, i probably have sometime as well though i try to avoid it and i'm not saying you have to avoid that but it's just a common thing, so if that bothers you you should look for a page that's more in the trans community or another community

- honestly the radfem tag is a cesspool and even the tirf tag can be Questionable �� it's going to behoove you most probably to just look for transfeminist and other sorts of patriarchy-averse individuals lmao. i looked at the transfeminism tag for the first time today (don't know why I hadn't sooner actually) and it's good! there's some stray weird posts but definitely better than the rf tag on here 💀

i would rly just recommend you check out some blogs, follow them if you think they're neat, and unfollow if you want to later on. that's generally what i do and i've followed some cool people on here from it :]

i don't have as many recommendations as i would Like to give but that's not to say there isn't transfeminists out there. they're just in their own circles. don't feel like u need to settle for terfy tirfs or antifeminists because you can find ppl you feel kinship with!!!

- i really like @taliabhattwrites ! she has a substack where she gives good insight on feminist issues, not only transmisogyny but lesbian issues as well. she also writes EPIC fiction about lesbians and trans women 🙏🙏 has taught me a lot over the years

- shey're not active rn, but i've really liked looking through @transmisogyny-explained 's blog. very informative and good to either unpack transmisogyny in yourself or perhaps help others do so.

- @leftismsideblog mostly talks about youthlib, but when she does talk about gender, they r Correct lol

- if u have a twitter, this is a must-- FOLLOW BLOOMFILTERS. they are so incredibly kind and smart and the mixing of that compassion and intelligence in a person is just bound to make Good Takes. she is an icon

i hope this can kinda help you and stay strong out there :')) it's rough but im rooting for u 💪 my asks or messages r always open if you need some help or just someone to talk to. i hope u have an awesome day too!!!

[highschool-rooftop]

oct. 27th, 2020

man its weird to think this blog is 2 years old isnt it? like when I started this i thought that i was anyday from just killing myself, i had no hope, no job, and was about to love my living situation but thanks to a few nice friends and accepting people, i was able to land a job at *generic sounding name for local seafood joint* and then after that place stressing me to the point of panic attacks and taking it out on the wait staff... then i ended things nice with that place despite how much i hated it and i apologized to the wait staff alot.. probably too much...

now ive worked at *big store chain* a year now and i hate it just as much as i hated *generic sounding name for local seafood joint* for a similar reason too!! i fucking despite the people that run the places i work because i know i could probably do their job 30× better, i just choose not to because thats also 30× more responsibility on my shoulders and ive already got broken legs from the shit i feel like im dealing with outside of work.

the more i focus for a minute the more i feel like my life is in shambles and that im barely functioning right anymore. ive been horribly depressed again as of the past couple months and my family i live with barely talk to me because im always in my room which is like totally fair, but if im not sleeping up there im using whatever energy is left from work to hang out with my friends because theyre actually engaged in the topics i talk about, they show interest and actually talk to me not at me. my aunt and uncle and i have few interests in common so its incredibly difficult for me to keep a conversation going for long with them. theyre always playing card games or board games but im not interested in them, theyre not really that fun for me. my uncle plays xbox but hes typically on COD which i dont enjoy because of how toxic those communities are, hes got minecraft but the last time he played he never told me he was getting on at all otherwise i would've joined! then theres me and my cousin who are currently on nearly completely different schedules and really only see each other when hes taking me to and from work which makes it hard to hang out and play games, and thats of hes even willing to play any of the games im comfortable with and not trying another Survival-Crafting-RPG-Game of the week or something like factorio which is hyper complicated and i dont have the time to dedicate to learning how to play correctly so i just end up being a resource collector and its kinda boring..

and all of thats just the at home situation. my friends at least hear from me more but since alot of them have moved out of town for college at this point i haven't hung out with a friend outside of work irl in like 5, maybe 6 months... and i dont interact with many people at work. im really really lonely.

small bit of good news i feel i should add here in case i dont come back again for a few months is that ive scheduled an appointment to see someone abt getting hrt, itll be Jan 19th! ill also be seeing a few of my online friends in December too!! i hope i can stay alive at least until then. sometimes i feel like im in the same situation i was in when i started this blog but those two things are the two things giving me the hope to keep pushing on i guess.

oh and my old friends birthday will be this weekend, i probably shouldve just forgotten them by now like they probably have me but in the off chance that they ever find this stupid blog: happy birthday BXXXXX, hope you have been in good health and that you are happy ! please be well and enjoy Freddy VS Jason and the Scary Godmother, and the live action Scooby Doo movies again this year !

with that i think thats all ive had to say. im neglecting mentioning new speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, and all the terrible horrible things i want to say abt him and how im worried it will fuck with my healthcare before i even recieve it due to the fact that im typing this up outside, its cold out, my phones almost dead, im tired, and i still have a bit of this bowl of the married iguanas to finish up with before unwinding and going to bed to repeat this living nightmare of a life all over again tomorrow. maybe ill watch adventure time before bed ..?

[incorrectcatfacestudios]

MID Fusion headcanons 2

A part two to this post 

Noi & Pierce 

They would definitely become a superhero esque character 

Would have a highlighter yellow color to them

Would have a cockiness that neither Pierce nor Noi outwardly show. 

Definitely would have a cape of some kind, also would be able to fly. 

Very VERY caring, just...the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet 

Shows a lot of Noi’s love and compassion mixed with Pierce’s genuine understanding of people. ((Noi can be callous sometimes and while yes he is the friendliest daemos he isn’t exactly the most...umm, Caring? Its hard to explain. Pierce shows more genuine compassion where as Noi’s seems to come from a slightly different place despite him being the sweetheart he is. Noi’s more selfish? I suppose)) 

Very good at understanding others. 

This fusion would normally form not for combat but for helping people out with their problems. Their more of a therapy fusion, but when they do form for combat its usually in a superhero~esque form. 

 New powers would include flight, and the ability to make thunderstorms. Other than that just Noi & Pierce’s abilities

Would probably sea green horns and eyes, 

He’d just be the most slick and just happy dude ever. VERY fun to hang out with. he’s positive but down to earth? 

He’d wear a superhero outfit. other than that not much else

ADORES CHILDREN & ALL THINGS CUTE AND INNOCENT. 

Not THAATT good with kids but LOVES being around them. They can be a bad role model at times...well not bad but-NOT GOOD either? 

has moments of brain farts 

Similarly to the Avarce  

Noi & Rhys

Curiosity given form. 

WOULD DEFINITELY BE A GEEKY GAMER KID 

Tries to entertain others like an online personality 

Almost always studying everything 

HAS THE PUREST SMILE OUT OF ALL OF THEM. Like just he often engages in PURE WONDER 

Extremely childish but with a certain level of grace to him. He definitely has poise 

Talks....all the fucking time. LIKE A LOT 

Loves hearing the sound of his own voice and announcing things. 

GETS VERY EXCITED VERY EASILY! Tends to jitter with excitement when faced with a new thing. Can’t hold said excitement in 

Probably one of the most curious people you’ll ever meet. 

REALLY GOOD AT SINGING! and acting. 

Similarly to the Leif & Noi fusion a good smooth talker. BETTER even. 

BIG SWEET TOOTH this boy has no self restraint. Noi ate any that Rhys had left. 

Extremely prone to getting absorbed in the world around him. and has the attention span of an ant. 

Wears a backwards cap 

Main color is a green. 

almost always carrying a notepad. 

Ava & Rhys

HIGH AMOUNTS OF FEMININE ENERGY 

Always gets the most ANNOYINGLY smug look on their face when their right

Goes by They/Them, She/Her pronouns preferring nonbinary ones but not really upset by being referred to with feminine pronouns 

They are a NEUROTIC MESS, & constantly worrying about things

Looks like a typical anime witch she has a hat and everything. 

Indigo color scheme

intense growling. 

Fuses Rhys’s vest with Ava’s hoodie wearing the white shirt underneath. 

Gains Rhys’s trench coat and turns it more into witchy robes that they wear. They’d have little indigo or periwinkle crystals hanging from their hat. 

Their weapon instead of a wand is a magic broomstick that’s ALSO a wand. A wandbroom thingy. 

Using magic is a lot trickier with Rhys by her side this time. Ava has to be careful unlike the others he won’t easily forget what she does with him. 

They basically have Rhys’s abilities boosted. They aren’t that powerful so not much comes from Ava. Mostly due to the lack of Genuine love coming from Rhys, and the confusion from Ava’s side. 

Any power they do gain is from admiration and the more they focus on that the stronger they become. They can create powerful magic barriers, Levitate objects or people ((and control them in the air)), and due many of the things Rhys believes Ava to be able to do with ease. IF they both focus on how much they admire each other, If they don’t then- Not much will happen. ((They can also make brooms fly )) 

Stressed 24/7 

The “mom” of the group 

Drinks coffee like theirs no ones business 

LOVES THE HELL OUT OF ICE CREAM 

Will hurt people to gain ice cream 

Acts 10x wiser than they actually are. Tries to be an all knowing source of information 

IS a know it all, presents themselves as a knowledgeable sage, who is ENLIGHTENED,  

Can float if they take the meditating pose 

IF they really wanted to they could have Asch melting into puddy in their hands

Pierce & Leif

BY FAR one of the weakest of the fusions ((up their with Rhys and Leif))

ABSOLUTELY NOT IN SYNC AT ALL WHATSOEVER they don’t even know who they are ((same as the rhys and leif one. after a while they gain a grip on their personalities)

A dark turquoise color. going on for most of the design 

They’d have brown hair with a pure bleach white stripe in the front & a long spikey ponytail 

TEAL eyes 

When formed they usually make a dirty dishonest yet dopey looking fool..  Though they aren’t...either. 

when they do eventually mix together they have that more ,Cold hard angsty Killer vibe to them. Like a veteran mercenary. Your not sure if this guy is trustable or not. 

HELLA shady 

Looks dirty 

Is known to randomly sneak up behind people without realizing it. his steps are very quiet 

Has a gruff sounding cool dad/uncle voice. 

If he really tried he could probably feel the life of the world around him. 

Definitely gains some stubble 

Has a tendency to be extremely vauge, ambiguous or Trolly.

This is because Leif has this urge to be a dick. Most of it is just Leif trying to dick around and Pierce not really doing anything but his personality affecting Leif’s  

EXTREMELY streetsmart. Could probably help you get to the right places in a black market. 

Interestingly enough Flower petals blow through the wind as he passes by. Depending on his mood at the time. Sakura Blossoms when something new is starting for him, when he falls in love, or during a samurai style fight. Rose petals during dramatic scenes ((or romantic ones)), white Lilies when he greives, and most commonly Dead flower petals or dead leaves.  

Pierce & Asch 

Usually only communicates in grunts roars and other primordial noises

If they DO talk its always a large speech. 

These speeches can drag on and on.  

They don’t normally form for fun. Usually just for battle 

Their mostly fueled by mutual trust, not...exactly love though?

HAS LARGE AMOUNTS OF FAITH IN THEIR ABILITIES 

Has a lot of determination once they decide their going to do something THEY DO IT. No question, they are IMPOSSIBLE to reason with 

gains mostly physical strength. No special new abilities gained for this one. 

Their clothes are a bright white. Their horns as well (With a minty green tint). their eyes a dark cyan color. 

Okay they have a Firesword. but that’s about it. 

they have the design of a warrior. Much more so than Asch or Pierce’s designs. Their hair is just a long disheveled spiky mess  their shirt kinda vanishes. the only other color on them besides white is maybe gold I guess. 

If they did do any magic it would most likely just be a simple fire tornado. (A fire Whirl)  

Ava & Leif

They’d wear  black or dark maroon clothing. ((if not just a green and purple hippy shirt with flowers on it and a headband)) 

They’d have long spoiky hair, or fluffy spiky hair. 

They get bored easily and have a generally carefree attitude 

The most likely to get high. 

Goes by He/ Him 

far more daring than Ava and far more composed than Leif

They’d probably have a hippyish accent sometimes.  

“Duuuuuuddddeeee....I just saw the most WICKED-” They’d talk like that. 

They are very impulsive and have more energy than it seems

They would be Ava with even less impulse control. So they would be an absolute mess. And probably wouldn’t think before they say anything. Which would lead them into a lot of problems. 

Lowkey suicidal. Not because they hate themselves but because they want the thrill of killing one of their components. 

Would probably enjoy watching sports a lot. 

They’re A lot more forward than Ava when it comes to flirting. They do it on occasion but�� they always end up stuttering when they do. 

[kingofthewilderwest]

you know... i only got to be in the httyd fandom for a short while but i never knew it would look like this? i mean, the httyd3 criticism. it even occurs on positive posts that got me clearly scared to ever stumble into one ;__; my previous fandom's only negative parts are the cringy memes but not this. and its been draining me a lot. i've blacklisted the tags already but post replies wont really help on that so u__u im really lost right now. sorry about this kinda-negative ask...

First off: Don’t turn this post into whining about any problems with the HTTYD community you might have. This is meant to be an encouragement to our friend here, not a sounding board of negativity or a place to perpetuate any negative vibes you might have.

Hey there, friend! Please don’t feel sorry!

I understand what sorts of posts you’re worried about and what you’re seeing with unsolicited negative replies, and I’m not going to downplay that you’ve had these experiences. Those are real experiences and I’m very sorry it’s bogged you down emotionally. Negative comments can come unexpected, but as you’ve been doing yourself, there are ways we can take control. We aren’t “helpless” in our online experiences and we aren’t subject to a ticking time clock of “they’re going to get me in something negative.” We don’t have to be suspect to the whims and emotions of the random, unimportant grouchy-ass - someone who’s a small bugger in a sea of positive experiences we can have. Their opinions are meaningless drivel that have no bearing on what’s actually important to our lives. We can block tags and people, we can learn who to avoid, we can find the right people to hang out with, we can learn how to not give a flip for what some Random Childish Sore-ass Josephine thinks (who we can block in half a second and not deal with the rest of our lives, problem solved), and we can surround ourselves with amazing humans that provide us a powerfully awesome experience celebrating together the material we love.

If it helps to encourage you: you’re not going to have to be dragged down into unwanted negativity, friend. I’m not saying this to pretend like any part of the internet is faultless. But from personal experience, I’m saying that is not the core of the HTTYD fandom, nor the majority of its members, nor its actual atmosphere, nor the typical sorts of interactions you get in a day-to-day experience with the fandom. At all. That’s not anywhere typical HTTYD fandom personality.

I know it can be hard, confusing, disorienting, or anxiety-inducing to enter a new fandom on its own. I don’t know what your experience is here, but I know for many people, when we first enter a new fandom, we sometimes tend to see bad sides because we don’t know anything about how to navigate it yet. Sometimes a small vocal minority of upset people skew our experiences, and make us think that what we’re entering is a lot more negative than the actual community is. This isn’t to excuse the few people who’ve been making negative posts, but to say that the fear and experiences you have aren’t going to be typical to your time hanging out with us.

You might be getting odder waves because the new movie’s come out, admittedly, but at least from the circles I’ve been in, it’s been either polite (and tagged) constructive criticisms, or outright exuberant screams of excitement. I’ve gotten a few very rare negative comments that have been unsolicited, too, so I haven’t been exempt.

As I’m sure you may know, most of fandom is finding its core good circles. With HTTYD, honestly, I’ve found far fewer toxic circles than most fandoms I’ve been in. You’re in good company, friend, and I hope you make friends here; there’s lots of long friendships I’ve made here on tumblr from people because of our shared love of Dragons. I for one am thankful to have you here and would love to create a very safe space on my blog that is free of drama, free of anger, free of rudeness toward anyone, and full of positive hype for the things we all love. 

I’ve been extremely active and involved in the HTTYD fandom since 2014. If this helps, friend: I’ve found this is a very ongoingly positive community and one of the most positive fandoms I’ve ever been in online. It’s a young fandom, so with that comes some people just learning how to socialize, or people who get scared over things that we later learn is the natural safe course of life... but I find it a lot... purer and more thoughtful and considerate... than other fandom circles I’ve engaged in myself. As with any group of people, it’s got some of its controversies and challenges, and there will be some rare people you’ll learn to block, but all-in-all this is a REALLY awesome group of human beings with a lot of creativity, energy, and love for dragons.

Whatever part of the internet we go into, let’s not let a small subset of people define a large group of people that really isn’t like that. They are nothingness, meaningless whispers gone from the wind, in the powerful ocean of dragon love that we here can create. And I for one will pull around me everyone who wants to have a positive time and positive time alone!

[monkey-network]

Steven Universe is Anime Garbage (And That’s Okay)

WARNING: This is gonna be a very weebish brain fart. I didn't come into writing it for any purpose, I just decided to write out my general stream of thoughts to see where it took me. This was the result. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

A key to enlightenment is the severance of attachment

Can’t deny it. Steven Universe is a cartoon practically on the boundary with its many fans. Some find it engaging and wonderful, others find it wasted potential and struggling, and others are terrible fans with no sense of control or integrity, like most fandoms really. But I, a fan since its beginnings, wish to make a case that could potentially bring everything and everyone together in somewhat reasonable understanding (a stretch, somewhat). Steven Universe is a trash anime....and it is the best trash out here. Now I’m not saying this because it has an anime look, or that Jasper is a tsundere, or especially...

“Hey it’s a reference to that one anime that’s also very aesthetic™ and sad with lesbians and allegories!”

Nah, I’ll be real with you here. Now we really can’t deny that Steven Universe has its major flaws, not a hard pill to swallow way I see it. Wishy washy in tone, seldom in world building, basic animation, off putting character models, and so forth (though the last point is a malleable nitpick tbh). Furthermore, we can’t deny that the “plot” is up in the air and really not in the mood on coming down with anything truly shaking yet (putting a pin in that). But, I won’t deny that it looks good, some characters are worth my investment, and there is some development to be had in all this, for better or for worse. You could say it’s down the middle, so where am I going with this? Well, I think I found something that may be able to bring this together: Sword Art Online

*imitating Austin Powers* YEAH, BABY!

For those unaware, Sword Art Online is a light novel turned RPG Game turned full series anime about thousands of people getting trapped in a VR game with one seeking to escape by beating the 100 levels of the game. It has action, death, good game feel, wonky gameplay, and fanservice.... I do not and will not recommend this to anyone, nor am I just comparing this to Steven U because both have OP protagonists, a myriad of female characters, and how one character is generally Lars if a better person initially. To repeat, I’m not saying these shows are the same in plot and such. Though the similarities certainly come in their perceptions and reactions.

Also dual wielding

Let me sidetrack a bit and do understand, at the time SAO premiered, otakus, anime fans, and even esports fans were hyped! This was before My Hero Academy blew millions away, before Attack on Titan throttled its theme music onto people, many were stoked and kept up that stokeness for this for quite a bit. This was SAO’s keepsake: Mass Appeal and timing. Then people started seeing the cracks of the show’s true faults, and now we’re at the point where more of the franchise is coming and the fandom is dragging between people that find it sucks or never should’ve been invested in the first place, people that continue to make the lemons into lemonade regardless, and the creeps (you know who they are). Sound familiar?

I mean we could say the same thing for the current Star Wars fandom, but that’s a tad more complicated

But this isn’t enough to say this is trash anime. No, like SAO, there is one thing that can tie everything together to implode into an enveloping infinite wormhole of foolishness and cleverness. One moment that just brought everything together and is gonna put everything together in the end. The definitive proof that...

Rose Quartz was the Origami Killer all along!!

But seriously, this was a twist that certainly cemented itself into being on par in writing with SAO and similar trash series. I mean, from a meta perspective, it’s pretty hilarious that the biggest twist the show presented was mostly considered a joke in the same way people thought The Simpsons could predict the future with the absurdist jokes they made. And really, all the symbolism and foreshadowing from every episode previously doesn’t excuse the blue balls I felt with the recent two seasons. I’m sorry guys, the eye opening revelation can go so far with someone who was only glad something actually came together after so long (even if the episode leading up to it lacked that “special shit”).

But as for Pink Diamond being the real Rose Quartz, the twist admittedly lack that impactful-ness and really shows how they’re twanging a string in the efforts to make you take the story seriously. For one thing, it’s pretty stupid to believe that nobody questioned the abilities the one Rose had compared to a typical quartz, not to mention that it felt pretty convenient that she never lost her form revealing her gem to anyone beside Pearl. Secondly, it kinda bait and switches not just the ideal, but a reasonable idea of Rose Quartz for just being the ambitious dictator turned anti-villain bent on liberating the Earth from her bigger than thou parents and more or less her own armada. Like, “Ha ha, you thought Rose Quartz was an ordinary gem that had to make genuine sacrifices in her efforts to best the higher ups and liberate her kind. But in reality, she had the abilities to win all along and generally did everything for the sake of not being a dictator anymore. MWAHAHAHAAAA” We can examine the complexities behind her motivations all we’d like, but that just feels like rewriting the already stupefying concept to make it sound more sensible.

Funny enough, Rose could’ve definitely working as the Charles Xavier of this series but they never delve into that reasonably valuable concept*

Lastly, it sort of--lack of a better term--irons out the whole show up with Steven being Pink Diamond, if that makes sense. In the back of my mind, I’ve generally lost my suspension of disbelief in believing that a fourteen year old child is not only the reformation of a failed rebel leader, but said failed rebel leader actually being the supposed antagonist and jumpstarting source behind everyone’s frustrations, ambitions, and tragedies. As if Steven wasn’t special enough on the fact that he can revive the dead, like Sword Art Online, it’s already apparent that he’ll generally win in the end due to him being the Special, the Ninetail, the Last Jedi, the Hollow, and the Fullbring all in one. It’s kinda hard getting invested in your story when I can’t care about your protagonists! Maybe he might actually suffer long term consequences, but I don’t have much in the future since it now feels hard to relate to the protagonist, who by the way is the central protagonist meaning no episode can go without his presence apparently.

He’ll enter your dreams if he must

And I’m afraid that Steven Universe has officially sunk to trash tier anime. And frankly, it’s always been anchored to this. I mean with SAO, as much as I saw before quitting, there was plot variety, not plot flips. It is one thing to have your series shift from light villain of the week slice of life to something like Oedipus Rex, but to get this far, nose diving into this belly flop of a reveal, to then ask to be taken with a modicum of seriousness, what? To put so much ambition into your work, that you’re essentially believing your own hype, barely exploring a big handful of your own ideas, until now, trying to make sympathy and reason coincide with the villain(s) instead of making them somewhat real. One could say “Monkey, it’s not about taking on villains, it’s about achieving resolve within the group’s personal struggles.” And while that is a reasonable and pathetic way of saying violence can’t resolve things, it doesn’t bear the fact that the Crystal Gems were essentially fighting villains beforehand while achieving resolve, so why change things up now? Especially when the villains before don’t bear any quirk of their own besides being relative to the plot. Or a plot, since again, it wants to be taken seriously with the “story” it has, but juggles way too many things that it can feel hilariously jarring when the show actually gets somewhere.

And as a character drama, the establishment of its world and idealogies don’t feel as valuable when the importance and passion to them are continuously muddled or dull

And this is the way of trash anime. People shouldn’t have to continuously think of how things could’ve been better, why plotlines and characters don’t mesh well, why it can just feel so contrived. Yeah it’s unfortunate that an SU Critical community exists, and yeah sometimes they deserve scrutiny because some try to make it deeper than it is, but we can’t deny that this all appeared from a vacuum. With criticisms can come a consistent string of logic that some things have turned up wrong, something that the series failed to grasp previously. Like SAO, most Shonen works, and “those” shows that I won’t speak of, this series was and has become a glorified gamble on your interests and the anticipation to see where it lands, how cathartic it’ll be, and what’s to look forward to and look back on.... has somewhat slimmed. While it is most certainly its own thing, it doesn’t bear that evolutionary yet timeless nuance Avatar and Adventure Time has, nor the continually captivating hook the best anime can have with its episodes and characters. This series has gotten stupid...and I say it’s not wrong to think that way.

Anime isn’t that big of a mistake, you guys. Come on.

If there’s anything I learned as one of the smartest idiots around, it’s that stupidity can be enjoyable; trust me, I know. So while I say SU’s anime garbage, I’m not saying it’s the bad kind that kills your mood/investment like the shit I found. it’s the Rocket Raccoon of Cartoon Network (and if you’ve seen Guardians 2 and get where I’m coming from, I love you for it). It’s still enjoyable, for the most part, and I’m not gonna ignore the influence it had on its fans. Hell, Black Panther is a movie I find flawed as fuck, but I and the millions (and the millions) still recognize and appreciate it for what it provided, for black people especially. While it can be predictable, there are some good moments to think over, for better or for worse, like how the Rose Quartz was subtly hinted at throughout the seasons. It’s still competent in some aspects, there are a few characters I still love and, to unpin, things look like they’re finally heating up. It still has that “Fuck yeah” spirit buried underneath, like many anime good and trash. It’s certainly better than Star vs th- Point I’m getting at is that this series sure as hell ain’t bulletproof, but I’ll gladly bandage it up and see it through to the end. Not as some guilty pleasure, but as a series that staggers constantly and consistently but makes up in keeping it compelling (in a way). That’s a quality only the best trash anime achieves, shooting itself in the foot while proudly making that run to the finish line. I’m not just blatantly criticizing it or supporting all the hype it makes, I’m embracing it for going this long with this many bruises, willing to take more hits, all the while never really losing sight of what it set out to do. I’ll still smack it upside the head for the stupid shit it might pull, because I know it can and will, but that smack is delivered with love. And really, is that not a reasonable feeling to have?

Steven U is anime garbage... and I’m fine with that.

[askullandbones]

Hi, thx so much... ugh, where do I start? I hope this doesnt seem too open or anything. Basically, Ive been having some problems with my best friend. Were both in 2nd-year uni and we go to school in diff cities. Weve been close since we started high school. And I love her, and shes usually my goto person to talk to or shoulder to cry on. But the thing is, shes much more social and Im not. She was my only friend in high school and while shes still closest with me she had others. (1/?)

Now in uni she still has tons of friends and I haven't really been able to make any. We havent rlly drifted apart but our convos are mostly limited to FB texts. Shes now rooming with another friend & I just have this crippling fear of being replaced. Bc it would be so much easier for her. And sometimes she does things that are sort of weird. I feel like im always shifting plans to suit her needs. She doesnt respond to half of what I text her. (2/3) (3 is the limit I promise, so sorry!)

Ive also begun a big Undertale fic and Im super excited about it, but even tho I've started posting it she doesnt seem to want to read it, she said she might someitme "if she has time" & "if shes bored." Which hurts. I tried to talk to her abt all this stuff last year, but she seems to have... forgotten. & I feel so bad & dont know how to deal with it, much as i ❤ her i dont always like the way she treats me. Its so hard to tell the line b/w actual worry and bein whiny. (3/4 sorry!!!!)

I know she has her own stuff going on and I try to be there for her but its so hard. Parts of me have stopped caring about her stuff as much as I should which I KNOW is awful of me as a friend, like when she told me the girl she loved didnt love her back, stuff like that, and I just dont know what to do. My loneliness has gone into hyperdrive basically, and its very confusing. Am I just being self pitying? Any advice would mean so so much to me. (4/4 I am SO SORRY for spamming you with this)

Wow this got long. Gonna put it under a cut.

Hey. Hey? First, deep breath. This might seem like the end of the world, but it isn’t. Trust me.

When you reach this point in your life your whole social dynamic is going to shift into what I’ll call ‘adult friends’. When you went to school it was super easy to make friends (or easier than it is now), because you were put in a small group of people your age and you were basically forced to interact. You might still have some of that in college, but it’s much less forced. The things that held you together with your peers isn’t really guaranteed as much to be there anymore.

First thing you need to tell yourself is that friends typically don’t get ‘replaced’ when you’re older. At least, not if you’ve stopped acting like a kid. Most of the time the friends you had in highschool are just gonna... drift apart. It happens all the time and it’s natural.

And while I can’t relate, I know a lot of people just have a large circle of friends they talk to about various things. Each friend has a different appeal. It’s not so much ‘replacing’ as it is ‘adding’.

Now I won’t speak for your friend, but from what you do mention about her not being flexible and not responding to texts, it could be a whole host of things. Maybe her schedule is just super rigid. Maybe she just forgets to respond to your texts, especially if she’s got about five different other people she’s talking to. Maybe she has nothing to say. Unfortunately these are things you’re probably going to have to talk to her about if they’re bothering you. Friendships thrive on communication.

As for her not getting into your fic... it might hurt? But try not to let it bother you.

When I was getting into Undertale and back on the writing bus I did the same thing with a friend of mine. While she’s always been supportive, she never really wanted to read it even if I asked what she thought, and after awhile I realized it just wasn’t something I could really engage with her back and forth with. She just didn’t know what to ask, didn’t really want to read a subject she knew very little about.

It hurt a little at first, but then I just realized she didn’t have the same interest in it as I did. I just sorta pushed it to the side when it came to talking to her even though it was such a big thing in my life. Instead of saying “I’m working on this Undertale fic omg you wouldn’t believe what--” I’d change how I worded what I wanted to say to be a little less restrictive. Instead I would say “I’m working on some writing and these characters are being--”

See the difference? The second is much more inclusive to someone who has no idea what the fuck Undertale is. They can still engage. I can’t force her to enjoy something I do just like she can’t force me to enjoy something she does.

And no, you are not being self-pitying. You’re worried about a friendship you cherish. You’re worried about how your friend treats you. You’re worried that things are coming between the two of you. You care enough about this friend that you don’t want to lose them, but that also means you’re going to have to work on it. You’re gonna have some awkward, intense moments coming up even if they’re scary.

You gotta be brave.

What you need to do is think. Think about your friendship. You mentioned that you think she treats you bad sometimes. Make a list of the things she does that make you feel bad. Can’t come up with an answer as to why she might do these things? Ask her. Bring it up. It’s scary, but if she values your friendship she’ll listen and you two can work things out.

But friendship is a two-way street. There are ways you can improve too. Find interests you share. Try not to feel bad when she doesn’t like the same things anymore, you’re both starting to grow up and get different interests.

Set boundaries and stick to them. You say you’re always shifting your plans and not the other way around. Stop. Put your foot down. Say no, you can’t shift these around. Don’t bend to her whims all the time. Set a hard line. She will work with you and bend her own plans too if your friendship is valued.

Most importantly though, as scary as it is, don’t be afraid that you two might just be drifting apart. A lot of friendships end after highschool and most of them aren’t because of fights. They’re just... from drifting apart. It might seem like you won’t find more friends, but you will.

I’ve been friends with the same girl since I was a teenager. She lives in Canada. I love her so, so much. When I got a divorce and she started college again we kinda just... didn’t talk much. We used to talk every single day but we didn’t anymore and that bothered the fuck out of me. I thought we were drifting apart, and in a way we kinda have.

She has a boyfriend she plays games with a lot, games that I don’t enjoy. I like to roleplay and write and play games that she doesn’t enjoy. She’s busy as fuck and I’m absolutely incompetent at conversations half the time. We don’t have all the same interests anymore and sometimes we go a full week without saying a word to each other, and we both realize things have changed a bit, but it hasn’t changed how we feel about one another. We still love each other a lot.

College is when you’re going to start to realize that, maybe, a lot of your friends you make are gonna be online. Chatrooms. Games. Writing. Roleplaying. They’re gonna scatter the globe. I have friends from Canada to the states to Indonesia and Germany. I visit the friends within an hour of me maybe... once or twice a month. That’s fine with me. It doesn’t bother me much. I talk to one friend I had in highschool maybe... once every... three months? I don’t hate them, I just don’t have much in common with them anymore. It happens.

But I should wrap this up.

Breathe. Take a nice, deep breathe. This isn’t the end of the world even if it’s scary and you wish you didn’t have to deal with it. You’ll survive even if the outcome is the worst thing you can imagine.

Friendships change over time.

Communicate your feelings.

Evaluate your own role in the relationship and if you need to make some changes too.

Set hard boundaries.

If you need more advice, I’m here.

[enberlight]

^^^ Basically this. "Furry" can also cover the anthropomorphic character themself, but is applied mostly to bipedal characters with fur. (Scalie for dragons and lizards.) It generally means someone who is a fan of the artform or an anthro artist, though, but is a self-label for the most part. A lot of people are very reluctant to take it up or advertise it because public perception is way off. If you stick to just the quadrupedal and monster art you can get away with "illustrator" in public.

Plenty of people are fans of The Lion King, Disney's Robin Hood, Looney Tunes, DuckTales, BNA, Beastars, etc, but don't call themselves furries.

But from those fandoms you can certainly run into them, and get absorbed into the furry fandom at large, where you'll run into fans and artists with furry OCs. Often it has more to do with a particular species or aesthetic than a particular show, though, so unlike most fandom OCs these personal avatars usually are NOT connected to an existing series. (Big exceptions being TLK and some popular webcomics and books like Warrior Cats. Bronies and MLP OCs are kind of furry-adjacent but a whole different group that has some overlap.)

Furries (the fans/people) may also sometimes do a bit of dressing up as their OC. Ears & Tails, full "mascot" costumes. Quite frankly the costumes are expensive (easily $600-$3,000) and take a lot of time, materials, and talent to create. And must be carefully cared for. Most furries do not have full suits! (Or even partial ones, typically head & hands, plus feet and tail, worn with regular clothing.) Most do not want them and they're kinda pricey to commission if you have a particular character in mind.

And no, furry conventions Do Not look like that one episode of CSI where everyone piles together for a mascot costume orgy. Are there people who get kinky in the suits? Yeah, I guess, but not many. The suits are hot and expensive and hard to clean. Very few suiters actually engage in "yiffs." It's kind of a joke topic or more of an online RP term. Unfortunately it's virtually the only thing people "know" about furries.

So what will you find at a convention?

Artist Alleys and Dealers Dens, with tons of artwork, pins, lanyards, costumes and props, clothing, soaps and candles, jewelry; you name it. Not all furry-related either. Definitely more furry stuff in the commissions booths though.

Dance contests - in suit and out. A lot of the furry fandom are composers and DJs and are amazing choreographers and dancers. If you have never seen a fursuit dance competition, get thee to YouTube and look up one for FWA. (Note: I have seen a $3,500 suit wrecked in one of those contests. If attempting, wear kneepads instead of giving the crafter a heart attack...)

Panels and Raves just like other conventions

Really friendly people

A fundraiser. Usually for a wildlife rescue or rehab but other animal welfare groups as well. Sometimes there will be a benefit event for a member of the fandom who's having trouble with medical bills. Furries really rally together to help each other.

Nearly everyone is queer or questioning. A lot of the fandom is either gay or nonbinary. Which, if you ever question "why are furries so maliciously maligned outside the community?" Well there you go. Queer cartoon fans and progressive rights activists! Those groups are more accepted these days but the backlash stuck on furries. Also Thanks CSI for such a great first intro to fursuiters. (/sarcasm)

That's basically it though. It's just another fandom full of queer creators and crafters. (Actually kinning the animal and feeling like you are a nonhuman critter mentally/spiritually is conflated with furries, but called by other terms.)

I thought furry means someone who has a weak spot to any creature or character with fur

That's one type of it. The character needs to have a little of anthropomorphic features to make the person a furry. Being behavior or a physical feature. I would say the creature needs to be sentient, imho.

If anyone who is more inmersed in the furry community can give light to this i would appreciate it. Feel free to reply/reblog

[amourete-blog1]

(( opinions.

the “realistic” approach to online interactions doesn’t work. it’s a fundamentally flawed system for several reasons, which is exacerbated by the fact that people on tumblr are afraid of face-to-face interactions. even if one singular person isn’t afraid of it, the community as a whole is, and that’s a BAD habit.

fact: some characters will not get along unless they are literally forced to spend time together. this is one of several dynamics that makes rp interesting for quite a few people. if it’s not your fancy, more power to you, but for some people it is, and the current community approach to rp is crippling their ability to explore that. characters can have WILDLY different views on certain subjects, which are usually formed by people they look up to, people in their life, things they’ve researched or things they’ve personally experienced, among likely several other sources. these differences should be encouraged, not smothered. it’s not fun to rp when every character is exactly the same.

the usage of ic blocking so flippantly is a huge factor in smothering those differences in characters. as rpers, interactions are our lifeblood. without them, we can’t rp. rp is one of the few things a person cannot do by themselves, like it’s literally impossible - if you’re rping by yourself, you’re writing a novel. it’s no longer rp.

when characters icly block each other, that cuts off an avenue for those characters to interact, which means one less interaction for both those characters, ESPECIALLY because again: we as a community are afraid of ftf roleplay, so there’s no other alternative route. some rpers can take that hit, of losing one possible rper. most can’t. if your character is one of the types that is hard to love, you get a lot of people blocking you, you’ve now effectively cut off a whole circle of interactions, and here’s the worst part: when someone blocks you, there is virtually nothing you can do.

therefore, we as rpers learn that we “can’t” have our characters have those opinions/do those things, or else they will be blocked and we will be rendered incapable of rping. for “survival” in this community, we sacrifice diversity, because otherwise we know we literally won’t be able to rp. that’s not okay. and yes, some brave souls will do it anyway, but i would urge anyone to consider: how many people have you actually seen rp with those people? because all the numbers i come up with are typically pretty low.

oocly, it makes sense to block people you don’t want to talk to. it makes perfect sense, and i’ve done it several times myself. blocking is a wonderful tool that absolutely should be used. however, when used in-character, it presents massive problems, like this. rp does not strictly follow the rules of real life. that’s why we have aliens, and magic, and “coincidences” that add up to the conclusion both/all rpers want. if you’re looking for truly, flawlessly realistic rp, go talk to someone offline and have adventures. we write fiction here.

solutions: stop using in-character blocking except as a very, very last resort, and provide a way for the character to be unblocked. if a character blocks another character, expect character b to be unblocked at a later time, whether by character a’s choice, by a malfunction, by outside interference or anything else - and moreover, put plans in place for that to happen. provide a means.

fact: characters do not have their own autonomy. they are fictional. they can’t think or act for themselves, we as muns are always in control. if a mun is not in control of their character 100% of the time, that is actually, truly dangerous to everyone involved, and should not be encouraged.

we make judgements about what our characters would do in situations based on information we’ve gathered about them. it’s a really remarkable ability our brains have. we can put ourselves in their shoes, but at the end of the day, we are still making that choice to have them act on whatever they act on, think whatever they think, and so on. yes, impulses are a thing. yes, sometimes they greatly benefit an rp. no, they do not always have to be followed.

having characters react to every single thing they see can sometimes be good for sparking interactions, but most of the time, it’s exhausting. perpetuating an atmosphere where characters that DON’T interact with absolutely everything they see is frowned upon/discouraged is ultimately harmful. if an rper, ooc, is uncomfortable with something, or just doesn’t want to rp it, the atmosphere we should be perpetuating is one of “that’s okay. you aren’t obligated to rp this.” and if it’s brought up to them personally, rather than just being flung out in the abyss, we should be encouraging them to break character and talk ooc.

reacting to content, whether directly or indirectly (vagueposting, purposefully loudly ignoring by trying to redirect the topic) rewards behavior and furthers that content. if you don’t want to interact with content, don’t. don’t have your character vague. don’t have them scream at the top of their lungs about how nice the weather is where they are. that’s still an interaction. when you interact ic, you are confirming that you are okay with what is going on. if that’s not true, rpers need to stop interacting. they need to break character, and they need to say “i’m not okay with this.”

no, this isn’t a matter of “don’t assume consent.” online we have literally no other indicators of whether someone is uncomfortable or not. we just have the text we’re given. it is impractical at absolute best to constantly ask “are you okay with this,” and impossible at worst, because we’d be accenting every line with that question to the point where it would be just the same as before: assumed. we must, must start pushing for people to communicate ooc, immediately, when they are uncomfortable or otherwise not cool with what’s going on.

solutions: if an rper doesn’t want to have their character engage with a certain topic, have them do something else. not out of spite, not as if they’re trying to distract, just... something else, for its own merit. they can hit someone up in ims. they can start a different post. sometimes this doesn’t work because the discussion is so widespread, but that’s kind of... just how it goes. we as a community should also try to encourage this method by interacting with that content too, but sometimes it’s not what people want to do, sometimes it just doesn’t happen. whatever it is, though, it’s still better than icly interacting with the thing you don’t want to interact with.

that being said, widespread dash discussions of bad shit, like we’ve seen with the hemoism, slavery, etc discussions, are a problem. it would be good to mitigate those, a lot more than they are now. tagging is a good step, but interacting with non-Big Bad Discourse (BBD) topics will help too. like sandwich discourse - that was good. if someone’s trying to make a joke, we can help them! we can interact with them and help them make their joke, then we get something funny and everyone wins. if someone starts dropping hints in a post/dropping interesting information, it’s probably because they’re seeking interaction. scratch that: if they make a post, period, it’s because they’re seeking interaction because again, it’s the lifeblood of rp. it’s what we do. likes are great, replies are better, reblogs are top-tier. interact with content you want more of. we all want more diversity in the content we see here, so let’s make that happen, and “vote with our feet.”

and no this post isn’t actually solely re: hemoism discourse ooc talk. it’s actually opinions i’ve had for a while. i kinda just woke up and was like “hey i maybe want to talk about this.” the purpose of this post is me hoping to make a couple ripples in the community as a whole and maybe change the way we do/think about certain things. i really like this community, i love the people i’ve met, and i want to see it get better. if you don’t agree with me, that’s your prerogative, but i do hope you’ve at least thought about what i’ve said.

floor is open to discussion if anyone has anything to say/add.

[lynchgirl90]

#TwinPeaks: The Return Takes on Peak TV — and Wins 

Sonia Saraiya TV Critic

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Part 9,” the July 9 episode of “Twin Peaks: The Return.”

To get metatextual for a minute, possibly the most quintessential phrase of modern television writing is in the above sentence: “spoiler alert,” that phrase which warns an interested reader that they might not want to know what lies ahead. It’s a helpful warning, of course, because surprise is such a potent emotion, and especially unique to a serialized medium like television, where you could be just one week behind a beloved story. But the phrase is perversely irritating, too: The implication is that all that matters about a piece of writing is whether or not it engages with plot details — and that merely stating the basics of plot is enough to ruin it, when so much of storytelling is not about what’s being concluded but how it’s being concluded.

There are a lot of things about “Twin Peaks: The Return” that challenge present norms of television, and some are a lot bigger than the phrase “spoiler alert.” But a satisfying thing about the Showtime revival of the 1990 series is that it feels un-spoilable. There are some clues, of course. You can let slip that a certain cast member is in an episode, or that an unexpected celebrity cameo occurs. You can attempt to explain the status of the mystery. You can even try to describe, frame by frame, the central images of “Part 8” — and you would convey at least some of what “Twin Peaks: The Return” is up to. But any successful effort to really spoil a viewer would become so involved, and so tedious, that it would eventually become more practical — more efficient! — to just watch the hourlong episode. I am reminded of the comically large maps that pop up in Lewis Carroll and Jorge Luis Borges’ work, which are so successful at modeling the world that they become as huge and cumbersome and unnavigable as the world itself. On Twitter, writers who cover TV have been morbidly joking that David Lynch’s return to the medium strains recapping culture to the breaking point. It certainly proves a challenge.

It’s interesting that starting July 16 (next week), “Twin Peaks: The Return” and “Game of Thrones” will be competing for viewers’ attention at 9 p.m. on Sunday nights. If “Twin Peaks” is completely immune to recapping, “Game of Thrones” — with its wide-ranging source material, online databases of character names, and sudden deaths — is eminently recappable. Both shows are beautiful in their own ways, but “Game of Thrones” tends to be a show where the audience sees things happen, while “Twin Peaks” tends to be a show where the audience is made to keenly feel the uncanny — so keenly, that it is unsettling, horrifying, and often even comical. (Maybe the humor of “Twin Peaks: The Return” is really the key to its essential ephemerality. It’s hard to recap a joke; you kinda had to be there.) Sunday night’s episode marks the halfway point of the 18-episode season, but it’s hard to say what has happened in the first several episodes of “Twin Peaks: The Return.”

Indeed, when the show tries to explain itself to itself, it turns into incredulous sarcasm. Last night in “Part 9,” Albert (Miguel Ferrer) heard the plot of just a sliver of “Twin Peaks: The Return” — the sliver taking place in Buckhorn, S.D. — and deadpanned, “What happens in Season 2?” As far as we know — for now! — this particular limited series won’t get a Season 2. But Albert’s joking is one of the more metatextual moments of “Twin Peaks” — a singular phenomenon, both in 1990 and in 2017, because of how auteur David Lynch puts avant-garde filmmaking through the paces of contemporary television. In 1990, “Twin Peaks” was an otherworldly window in a TV schedule that otherwise fielded “Wings,” “Full House,” and “Who’s the Boss?” — a moment before TV’s redefinition, expansion, and explosion.

In 2017, TV means something very different. There are exponentially more scripted shows than ever before and each is fighting for an ever smaller share of the audience. Albert’s skepticism is both an investigator commenting on a melodramatic chain of events — and that of a TV executive questioning uneconomical storytelling. “Twin Peaks: The Return” positions its plotline as a pitch — knowing, even as it does, that the outcome isn’t what the industry looks for. “Twin Peaks: The Return” is slow, bloated, full of exposition, violent, and opaque — the same criticisms lobbed against “True Detective’s” Season 2, for example — and yet it makes an unlikely but arresting case for these disruptions. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why; part of Lynch’s genius is that he can get away with what other creators can’t. But these inversions of episodic television as it is typically practiced are what make up the substance of “Twin Peaks: The Return,” a series that could only exist because of Peak TV and at the same time completely defies it. The multitudes of television in Peak TV creates anxious movement, because networks are desperate to create buzz in a crowded environment. David Lynch could care less about buzz — perhaps he just knows he already has plenty of buzz to work with — and as a result “Twin Peaks,” already a slow universe, seems even more absurdly plodding in “The Return.” “Part 7” indulged in an 184-second long scene of a man sweeping the roadhouse floor, and more broadly, the audience has been watching no one realize that there’s something seriously wrong with Dougie Jones (Kyle MacLachlan) for hours now.

“Part 8,” so far, is the pinnacle of “Twin Peaks: The Return’s” refusal to be either summarized or sped up. It unfolds with slow, radiant grace, using an atomic bomb test in 1945 as the starting point for a moral history of “Twin Peaks.” It’s both incomprehensible and obvious — a surreal sequence of scenes, leading towards one very strange but very unequivocal moment in which a creature crawls into a girl’s mouth. “Maybe I’ve been too immersed in all things Lynch over the past several months,” said New York Times recapper Noel Murray, “but I didn’t think that any of the above was as opaque as it seemed.” If television typically uses the constraints of quick production and cheaper budgets to tell workmanlike stories with complex implications — consider how much there is to ponder and unpack in the average episode of a multi-camera sitcom — David Lynch’s television uses ultra-high production values to tell extremely abstract stories with what turns out to be very simple implications. In “Part 8,” it’s that the universe is governed by forces good and evil. And to paraphrase Murray, that subconscious, extra-planar war, and how humans engage in it, is the fundamental spine of the “Twin Peaks” universe. Perhaps we let Lynch get away with more than other creators because we are confident that he will deliver something extraordinary on the other side of it. Or perhaps we sense that Lynch believes so fervently in what he’s communicating that it goes beyond fiction for him, toward some articulation of the moral order of the world. That sincerity — and its utopian wholesomeness — is also at odds with the subtlety and grit of prestige dramas. And yet it’s also, confusingly, captivating.

Maybe all of “Twin Peaks: The Return’s” charms can be summed up in the totally unnecessary but ever-so-pretty concert scenes, in which high-profile and/or bleeding-edge-of-cool bands play at the town Roadhouse. How Nine Inch Nails ended up performing a highly produced concert in a town with a population of 51,201 is beyond the average person’s intellect or reason. But there is probably no greater example of mutually agreed-on upon value of the ephemeral than live concerts, which offer a chance for intimacy and experience with a creator’s work that can’t be reproduced in a recording. But so many concerts struggle to provide that experience — there are so many barriers between you and the music, whether that is the hurdle of a hundred-dollar ticket, the traffic jam on the way to the parking lot, the mediocre opening act, or the irritatingly tall person standing in front of you. The Roadhouse’s concerts are the fantastical ideal of concerts — tiny, intimate, effortlessly cool, booked by someone who has exactly your taste in music (electronic pop numbers about death, apparently). “Twin Peaks: The Return” positions these concerts as moments of total, blissful immersion into art — no livetweeting, no second-screen Candy Crush, no frantically googling who Evil Cooper’s companion of the week is. I don’t know if it’s always working. But it’s a brilliant goal to have.

link (TP) 

[maxthommusic]

Uncharted: A New Legacy

 Thanks to Sony and the CoronaVirus, I've decided to replay the Uncharted series. I'm currently racing through 1-4 in quick succession. Not only is it good timing and the right price (read: free), but Uncharted is a beloved gaming IP. I enjoyed Drake and Co. immensely during their heydey and it's a little bizarre I haven't returned them at all. It probably has something to do with raging on UC3s online multiplayer literally every day for about a year, but either way, I haven't touched Uncharted since The Lost Legacy dropped in 2017. And the only other Naughty Dog property I've engaged with since then is The Last of Us Remastered, which, if I'm being perfectly honest, I did not finish. I couldn't finish it. I was bored to death. The story is dull, the world is depressing and the gameplay is mediocre most of the time. So of course after diving back into Uncharted I'm more than a little surprised that a) it still rocks and b) I kinda just want more Drake in my life. 

We all knew our introduction to Nathan  wasn't that great. Drake's Fortune didn't garner much critical praise and I don't think I even knew a single person that had played it. But when Uncharted 2 dropped, heads started to turn. And that same transition is incredibly noticeable in 2020. Since we've progressed so far with gaming in terms of fidelity, control and presentation, the evolutionary leap made from UC 1 to 2 is nothing short of jaw dropping. Playing through the first entry is a bit of a slog; the mechanics can be frustrating at times (jet skis), the graphics are pretty dated (the remaster does a nice job up-resing though) and the motivations for Drake are limited at best (why is he a treasure hunter? why are we killing so many people?). However, the characters are there and the promise of lush, international locales could prove to be very promising in the future... 

Which... spoiler alert! It is. Uncharted 2 opens up with the infamous "train" scene and proves confidently it's not quite the same studio at the helm. Witnessing that "glow-up" is fascinating and great for your historical edification. We see the combat improve, the characters grow deeper together and overall UC 2 is a smashing success. My only real complaint is that it's a bit long in the tooth. Some scenes drag on just a little bit too long and the ever typical argument that Nate is just a psychopathic mass murderer feels hard to overlook. 

But then we enter UC3 and everything starts to feel a little more familiar. We start seeing the groundwork for The Last of Us, not only in assets, but in storytelling. Nate shoots far less and there's a lot more of an "experience" at hand. However, while it bowled me over at the time, it somewhat only frustrates me now. Going from 1, to 2, then 3, I had just played some kick ass treasure-hunting "shooters" only to have the story try and get far too involved for my liking. I was constantly fighting the camera trying to investigate various corners of the map only to have it draw my attention elsewhere. Scenes of great dramatic action, while remarkable, were far too scripted, making it seem like I simply had to push the joystick in a direction and hit X when appropriate. And as I push my way through UC4, something makes itself prevalent: Uncharted is a better game than an experience.

UC3, in my mind, is still the pinnacle of what Uncharted can and should be. Marry the Third's grand scope with its narrative and fluid gameplay to the Second's gameplay-focused presentation and we'd have one of the greatest serialized franchises ever. Can you imagine playing a new, nearly bite-sized Uncharted every year? Set in a different location? This brings me to The Lost Legacy. From what I remember it's exactly what I'm describing. All the polish and sheen from 4 blended with the pulpy action of 3 tossed into a shorter (cheaper) game. Because as of right now, Uncharted 4 isn't winning me over. It's too dark, too serious. It has lost sight, completely, of what makes Uncharted so enjoyable, likable even. While a lot of the graphical impressiveness truly does provide a sense of wonder, the story doesn't feel right, the characters aren't realized the same way as I've come to love them and its obvious Naughty Dog has moved on from Drake.

Yet not long after A Thief's End (UC4), the crowning achievement for Uncharted gets released in The Lost Legacy. And more wondrous than Uncharted is the Tomb Raider franchise. Rebooting itself shortly after Nate began making waves in the gaming community, I knew it then and I stand by it now: Tomb Raider is the better game. Crystal Dynamics absolutely ace what makes this "adventure thriller" genre exciting, wrapping in some RPG elements even, giving gamers a total feast of gaming excellence. However, its story is garbage. Okay, maybe not garbage, but it's essentially throw-away (like garbage) and impacts your actions little to none. In fact, after playing through Tomb Raider, I didn't mind the lack of story, but thought to myself, "I really hope this [aspect] improves." And after playing the sequel, I thought to myself again, "Man, still not a great story. That was a kick ass game, but can I really play the third?" Sure enough, when Shadow of the Tomb Raider came out not only did the community not seem to care, when I finally got around to playing it I also couldn't find any reason to dig deep and complete it. I even texted a buddy exclaiming how incredible the gameplay / presentation is. But after only a handful of hours I gave up because I asked myself, "Why am I playing the same game for the third time?"

There's hope for Uncharted yet. The Lost Legacy was a standout release, in my eyes, and can absolutely be the future blueprint. We've seen Drake's story executed in a few different manners thus far and if you toss in what can be learned from the Tomb Raider franchise, all signs point to more of The Lost Legacy. Because not only does that game understand what Uncharted is, it also recognizes that Drake does not need to be at the center. While I don't care for Nadine at all, Chloe is a bad ass protagonist. Elena, Sully-- they would be sweet too. And if the speculation proves correctly: why not give it to Nate and Elena's daughter?

It's amazing to me how the future seems so wide open for Uncharted even when the series is so lauded and realized. But in replaying all the mainline Uncharteds, it's even more amazing to me how disappointed I am by their legacy. In revisiting Drake's story I'm realizing now how much room for improvement there is and while I originally was glad to see Sony say goodbye to Uncharted... maybe it truly does need to be revisited.

Like any good treasure hunt, sometimes you need all the right pieces of the puzzle first. And with Uncharted, if anything, we've only begun to realize Drake's legacy. 

[thebookrat]

Disclaimer: a review copy of this book was provided by the editor for review purposes. Affiliate links are not used in this post, but are used on this site. All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own. Edited to add: as you can see in the banner below, this post was supposed to be up yesterday, but I apparently don't know how to 'days of the week'... That is entirely MY BAD, sorry about that, internet!

You may have already seen me talking about this book online, as I listened to it while I was decorating for Christmas, but today -- before we dive into a guest post from one of the book's authors, Amy D'Orazio -- I'm going to dig a little deeper into why I loved Yuletide, an anthology of Christmas-oriented Jane Austen stories. And love it, I did! Generally when I read short story anthologies, I skip around to whichever story is calling my name most, with little care for the flow of one into the next. I also tend to only read them in bits and pieces, fits and starts, and never cover to cover. But because I was listening to Yuletide on audiobook*, and because I was flitting around the house, clipping evergreens that were politely pilfered from my neighborhood (ahem) and working them into wreaths and such, I just hit play and went along for whatever was in store. *it is still possible to skip around to stories in an audio anthology, btw. Chapters still exist. And man, I enjoyed this. The first story in the book actually gave me butterflies, but even when stories hit a flat note (which was rare), the immersive experience of listening to someone tell me Christmas stories about characters I love (who at this point feel almost like family, I've sent so much time with them), while working on Christmas myself? SWOON, it was so enjoyable. Harry Frost's narration was excellent, as well, even if I did occasionally chuckle at his "American" accent. ;) I'm not going to give you my whole spiel about how short story anthologies are great for discovering new authors, or as palate cleansers between books, our any of that (except I kinda just did), but as Austen anthologies go, this is one of the stronger ones. Each story felt entirely unique from the others, while still cohesive in context of the theme, and the different approaches mean that there's likely to be a story here to suit most Janeites. The book feels tightly and thoughtfully curated, and I did, in fact, discover some authors whose JAFF I now want to look into! And the best part of all? Proceeds from sales of the e-book and paperback go to benefit Chawton House! This mini review was turned out to be less mini and more review, but basically, I recommend this book, and I especially recommend reading it in the wintertime, when there's snow on the ground and the days are short, when your brain has turned towards Christmas but you're out of new Hallmark movies to watch... 10/10 experience, would recommend. And now, a piece from our special guest, Amy D'Orazio!

Eight Reasons Why Writing Modern JAFF Adaptations is so Much Harder than Writing Regencies 

by Amy D’Orazio (contributing author to YULETIDE “The Wishing Ball”)

The Yuletide anthology [collection of five Regency era and two modern holiday stories] explored some new ground for me — it is the first time I have published a modern adaptation rather than the regency-based stories I typically write. Part of that was because this story was originally part of a Christmas challenge at A Happy Assembly. The idea for it came from fellow author Pamela Lynne who challenged me to write something to do with Christmas ornaments.

I know many people believe writing a modern adaptation is easier than a Regency. Both have their challenges but of the two…? Writing moderns is harder, in my opinion, and here are my reasons why:

1. Prejudice. Okay so this is a big one and often one I find takes a good modern and makes it shaky. Heaven knows there are plenty of things people are prejudiced about in this day and age but translating that into a feasible Darcy & Elizabeth-type situation isn’t easy. Elizabeth Bennet wasn’t poor—yet— in P&P. She was part of the upper echelon of wealth in England, but Darcy was, by comparison, stratospheric. So, a story about someone wealthy marrying someone else who is uber-wealthy? —not really anything notable today

2. Location, location, location. The first challenge any modern author faces is where to put their main characters. Jane Austen put hers in various spots around England, and when I am writing a Regency, I feel comfortable enough with my research to do likewise. But modern day? I’ve been to London a few times but that’s about it—I would have to do a LOT of research to find the exact restaurant on the exact street or the specific house with the certain features I need for my characters. The chances of getting it wrong are so much higher! In my story in this anthology I placed Darcy and Elizabeth in New York City (gasp… they’re American!)

3. Show of hands—who has had a family member voice an expectation that you should marry your cousin? But it was an important custom then and had super important implications for bloodlines and fortunes and etc. So, it’s sort of a hard issue to translate into a modern circumstance even though it was an important part of many of Austen’s books.

4. Or for that matter —who has really allowed their family members to have much say into their marriage at all? I mean, sure, I wanted my family to like my husband but if Aunt Martha didn’t…well…I guess we’d have just cut her off the Christmas card list.

5. The whole Lydia-Wickham and Georgiana-Wickham thing. Let’s be honest, in modern times, the only proper place for the likes of George Wickham (age 26/27) is jail for being a sex predator on teenagers. Would the military even take him? Let’s hope no one would force one of his victims to marry him! It’s storyline that is very tricky to translate to the modern era!

6. Modern life changes fast which brings with it another pitfall of books set in modern eras (not just for JAFF but any modern story)—when you have your hero check email on his Blackberry, or your heroine snap her Razor phone closed, you automatically dated your story. If you mention a song, a book, a news event, or a particular celebrity, five or ten years from now someone reading your book might not get what it is you’re talking about. Horse technology, on the other hand, rarely changed throughout the Regency period and the main forms of communication—writing a letter or walking to your neighbors house to talk about it—were the same. 7. By far, I think the most difficult thing about modern translations is how the characteristics of the our main characters are when placed into a modern setting. I’ve seen some intriguing takes on this — Elizabeth’s wit becomes almost supernatural intelligence, Mrs Bennet’s illiberality becomes racism or homophobia, Emma’s tendency to matchmake turns into a wedding planning business. To me, this is where writing moderns can really be tricky—in a Regency you don’t have to decide all of this but in a modern, you need to decide how you’ll bring it all into a modern era. 8. Marriage. By far the trickiest part of creating a modern is the aspects of marriage. In modern times, there are dates, there are non-monogamous relationships, there are engagements that end with no dreadful outcome to either party—in short there are many complexities to modern relationships that didn’t exist back then (for better or worse). If you’re writing a Regency and your hero and heroine dance twice, have a whispered conversation behind a potted plant and then decide to marry— sure! True love! But a modern couple? I think most of your readers would think it was a bit unrealistic! So, there you have it! It should be noted of course that all the opinions expressed herein are solely those of me, the author! Love to hear your thoughts on the subject below! AMY D’ORAZIO is a former scientist and current stay-at-home mom who is addicted to Austen and Starbucks in equal measure. While she adores Mr. Darcy, she is married to Mr. Bingley, and their Pemberley is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has two daughters devoted to sports with long practices and began writing stories as a way to pass the time spent at their various gyms and studios. She firmly believes that all stories should have long looks, stolen kisses, and happily-ever-afters. Like her favorite heroine, she dearly loves a laugh and considers herself an excellent walker. She is the author of The Best Part of Love, A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity, A Lady’s Reputation and various anthologies. Below you'll find an except of Amy's story in Yuletide; find samples from the rest of the anthology here!  ABOUT THE BOOK:

Yuletide: A Jane Austen-inspired Collection Of Stories, edited by Christina Boyd  190 pages / audio 5 hrs and 50 mins Published November 26th 2018 by The Quill Ink, LLC BUY HERE: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZPBZSFB ttps://www.audible.com/pd/B07ZP9R3QW?

“I went up to the Great House between three and four, and dawdled away an hour very comfortably...” –Jane Austen  A holiday short story anthology with some favorite Austenesque authors, YULETIDE is inspired by Jane Austen, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, and the spirit of the season. Regency and contemporary alike, each romance was dreamt to spark love, humor, and wonder while you dawdle over a hot cup of tea this Christmas.  Stories by: Elizabeth Adams * J. Marie Croft * Amy D’Orazio * Lona Manning * Anngela Schroeder * Joana Starnes * Caitlin Williams Edited by: Christina Boyd  All proceeds from e-book and paperback sales to benefit Chawton Great House in Hampshire, former manor of Jane Austen’s brother Edward Austen Knight and now the Centre for the Study of Early Women’s Writing, 1600-1830.

via The Book Rat