#it's just. movie-games in relation TO GAMES are reductive as fuck

[caernua]

fr tho i think we've been hearing this shit about 'it'S a NoT A gAmE it'S A GaMe anD a MovIe' and 'new form of media' like it's some groundbreaking innovative design and the future of gaming for at least 10 years now and it's. NOT ?? maybe it's the future of movies but certainly not the future of video games. the best part of gaming imo is the versatility in storytelling and how many forms that can take. i'm just thinking like. when you have rpgs where actions and lines of dialogues affect your choice and the narrative greatly, when they make you stop and think and care about every element of that world (depending on the worldbuilding) are you seriously trying to tell me that some set narrative full of a listers full of pretentious arthouse indie film bullshit is going to be better than that??? that games in general WILL EVOLVE TO THAT?? fuck no. interactivity is the pinnacle of gaming, that shit is never getting replaced

[devildom-moss]

Current request list (updated)

in no particular order

amab!MC floating the idea of marriage once the realms are at peace (Lucifer, Diavolo, and Barbatos)

MC with a stereotypical New York accent that only comes out around family headcanons (brothers + dateables)

The characters spending the holidays with the reader headcanons (brothers + "extras" - I'm pretty sure that means all the other characters including Mephi, Thirteen, and Raph, so all)

gn!MC who casually flirts back and then has the audacity to be surprised that they're being seduced (brothers)

MC getting a kiss on the cheek (all)

Monster!Simeon with gn!MC NSFW + some anger, jealousy, and devotion/worship sprinkled in

Religious guilt Raphael tapping out during his first time with MC because his body is, in fact, not ready

Hurt/comfort after a (dealer's choice) traumatic incident with MC - high angst (the others/dateables + side characters)

Simeon (and Barbatos) dad content

Simeon x Barbatos x MC angst - no comfort

Strong MC carrying them (and carrying them around like a princess) (the others/dateables + side characters)

They get jealous over gn!MC jokingly simping over Just Some Fucking (Fictional) Guy (brothers)

Reacting to a moss-eating MC (brothers) (is this at all related to my blog name?)

Simeon + Barbatos angst (No MC, I think?)

Reacting to MC eating sand headcanon (all?) (MC with PICA? Don't do this though - some mosses are edible, but sand is not and can be dangerous)

Reacting to s/o MC wanting to fan over/discuss their favorite novel with them (all)

Insecure first relationship with MC (all)

No nut November headcanons (demon brothers) (Complete)

MC with an eating disorder comfort - with extra Beel comfort (type of ED was unspecified so I will do my best there; also I'm really sorry you're struggling anon M. I love you. Try to take care, and please practice harm reduction where/when possible)

Lucifer getting jealous that gn!MC is spending more time with a plush of him - SFW specified

Simeon dad content with BoF!MC (obey me au/ 💜 anon's au)

Barbatos October poll post (monster kink) pt. 2 - aftercare version

Hard core sex with tons of aftercare (side characters - remember this means Thirteen, Raph, and Mephi on this blog) (this request required deciphering on my end, so lets hope that's correct)

gn!MC choosing not to become immortal while on the brink of death headcanons (the others)

MC introducing Diavolo to the game Katamari Damacy

The guys having gay panic / an awakening over m!MC

amab!MC having a movie date with soft dom!Thirteen that ends in sex (anon. I love you so much for this one.)

MC who scratches their skin and bites their nails to fidget (+ blood) reactions (Barbatos and Thirteen)

Reader refusing Lucifer's and Belphie's pact (extra angst flavoring)

Poly DiaLuci asking gn!MC out

MC returning the favor and giving roses back (the others) (I'm not sure if you meant "the others" grouping/everyone but the brothers or others in general, but because it'll probably take me a long time for this one, I'll start with the others grouping)

Finding out MC used to be aggressive in high school but has since mellowed out (the dateables)

MC who doesn't talk unless necessary headcanons (the brothers)

Luke telling MC he wants to marry them when he's older fluff (This should go without saying but 100% platonic with no room for romantic interpretations)

MC character study

I am going to try to pick one of the shorter ones and get started on it tonight (I always have so much trouble picking something to start). I already have ideas written down for the Simeon x Barbatos x MC angst, though.

And remember, if you don't see your request but you sent one in, you will have to resend it because this is everything so far. Additionally, if you notice something wrong in the interpretations of these asks, you're welcome to correct that. I'll edit/update this post periodically until requests close.

Requests close at the end of Sunday, November 5th PST. It may take a while to get through all of them since I will probably only post once or twice a week throughout November - it just depends on what I can get through.

[kingofthewilderwest]

One of the major flaws of HTTYD 3 in comparison to its predecessors is how childish the movie felt. The first two movies had the occasional joke but were still extremely mature in their storytelling. Have you read the article "Dreamworks execs have an incredible reason for why their films are unpopular" ? It came out a year after the second movie, and explains why they dumbed down the third.

It’s an interesting article and I’ve always thought there was some truth in the opinion: to their detriment, DreamWorks’ latest films haven’t focused on the creatively wild, often more mature spark that made things like How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, Rise of the Guardians, Megamind, or The Prince of Egypt quality films. As the article writer notes:

Animated films, if anything, attract a much broader audience of older children, teens, and adults than they ever did in the Eighties and Nineties. Ironically, DreamWorks’s own films in the 2000s played a significant role in expanding the public’s perception about animated features. Now, DreamWorks is betting against its own history as they try to get back on track.

That said. Many of the earliest DreamWorks productions have a somewhat mature appeal to them, but I feel like DreamWorks has long played the game of wide audience appeal commercialism. For a period of time, they balanced their “artistic” or “venturesome” films against their “safer cash” films. The fluffier Turbo was released just one year before HTTYD2; Kung Fu Panda 3 and The Boss Baby were released a year apart, too. There was a sense of balance, letting the fluffier, probably more kid-appealing films earn money, while allowing them to take risks on more unique ventures. I’m not sure if that was their actual strategy, but regardless: balance of maturity. (And for the record, calling some DreamWorks movies “fluffier” is not intended to be an insult; I myself love their Mr. Peabody & Sherman).

And I think the reason I was so hardcore on board the DreamWorks train is that, whether it was an ill-conceived mistake (Shark Tale) or a big “what the fuck” (Bee Movie) or feeling somewhat adult (Antz), DreamWorks was willing to take those risks. DreamWorks was willing to be quirky. And DreamWorks was willing to put heart into everything; Mr. Peabody & Sherman definitely has heart to it, as does Home, as does Turbo from what I remember (only saw that one once).

I feel like advertisements for Trolls and The Boss Baby is where my friendship circles started to feel less enthused about DreamWorks. At that point, I saw some trust failing for DreamWorks’ creative direction - that DreamWorks was dumbing down their movies for children rather than making fluff family films with heart. The key phrase is “dumbing down.” There’s a huge difference between writing children’s stories and dumbing down for children. And that’s what this article writer was calling out, too.

Ghibli movies are written for children. Disney 2D animated films bring awe to children. How to Train Your Dragon understood that lots of its audience members would be children. But you breathe life into a quality story that children and adults can enjoy! Making a bunch of crappy jokes dumbed down to children is stuff like... at its worst... Norm of the North. When you’re making something shoddier, with half-assed fart jokes, because of an implicit idea children’s media doesn’t have to be as quality... because children allegedly aren’t going to notice quality... that’s where we run into problems.

Now, I’m not going to say whether or not I think DreamWorks has actually begun dumbing down its films. I know that’s the impression in my peer group. I know that’s an impression I’ve felt inside my heart, too. But I haven’t seen Trolls or Trolls World Tour or The Boss Baby so I can’t judge. But I think it’s safe to say there has been a gradual shift over time. And that escalated post-2014, where we got this from DreamWorks execs:

…the company's slate changes are more realistic/in-tune with the evolution in changes in the box office market as the 2012-2014 film challenges were tied to films which skewed older right as the box office began to see changes whereby animation demand was increasingly skewing younger as kids began to age out of the genre earlier. While we view the ability to reduce P&A as more difficult given the need to advertise to two distinct groups (kids and moms), the combination of both cost reductions in production and a younger skewing slate, do position the slate better in our view.

And my impression is it’s escalated lately (but I only have a small sample size of films, so I take what I say with a grain of salt). I remember during the NBCUniversal acquisition in 2016, fans feared DreamWorks would lose its sometimes mature, sometimes quirky heart. That the company would be in a downfall state for quality.

I had hoped that HTTYD3 might be a bastion against efforts to commercialize with cash-easy, not-as-heart-ful “kid” appeals. THW grossing a lot of money could help leadership remember that diverse audiences, not tiny children, can and do watch animated films - 3D animation’s just not a guaranteed success because it’s a more saturated market. It could at least let the tradition of some DreamWorks gutsier creative films perpetuate.

And I do think that THW doesn’t have as many problems as, say, The Boss Baby probably does, when it comes to “kid-specific appeal”. I feel like the tone in THW has a middle ground. THW was never going to be as dark as HTTYD2; DeBlois made that clear since the release of HTTYD2; but I do think there might have been an effort to lighten tone in places (ergo the large number of gag jokes that cluttered the film). There’s absolutely mature ideas inside THW: the concept of parting ways with someone you love because it’s better for both of you... that’s meaty... that’s something that even adults grapple with. Hiccup’s flashbacks with Stoick have the simple but in-depth storytelling mood I know of the How to Train Your Dragon brand. So I would phrase it as it’s not a case of complete dumbing down so much as it is some imperfect tonal choices and plot focuses (too much spotlighting on the Light Fury romance, for instance, and not weeding out an excessive amount of jokes... that again... cluttered the film). The first two HTTYD movies feel like carefully honed storytelling, capturing the essence of what their story needed. The third needed tonal and content reorganization. The presentation of stakes and plot progression weren’t on par with the first two films. The Hiccup-Toothless separation didn’t pack a hard punch to me because the steps we took to get to the end weren’t the tonal footsteps we needed.

There’s a reason I charged to theatres the weekend Abominable released (mind, this was before the map controversy over the film came out). I was hoping Abominable could be a DreamWorks film with art and heart. And you know? I think that Abominable was one draft short of being *INCREDIBLE*. The problem is it was one draft short. It stayed superficial instead of diving into the meat. The plot pacing was slow because we didn’t get into the meat, the characterization felt awkwardly paced and whiplashy because it didn’t get into the meat, and the humor felt childish rather than taking full advantage of things like character relations. But the inside heart - the inside potential - of Abominable is monumental. It’s still not a bad film! If they’d gotten that next draft, Pearl and DreamWorks could have had a piece on par with Megamind and The Croods. I absolutely believe that. If I had time, I would rewrite Abominable in fanfiction and show how much potential this thing had.

DreamWorks is no longer a young studio exploring whatever the crap it wants because it’s the new guy finding his voice or rebelling against the other voice. DreamWorks is an established powerhouse. And with establishment comes a certain degree of safety-playing and standardization of content. I don’t expect we’ll get as many wild tone shifts as Bee Movie (11/2007) to Kung Fu Panda (6/2008) or How to Train Your Dragon 2 (6/2014) to freaking Penguins of Madagascar (11/2014).

That’s not to say DreamWorks does or doesn’t make quality films. I admit I don’t have high hopes on some things like The Boss Baby 2. I do have my fingers crossed for The Wizards of Once; I hoooope that DreamWorks can treat TWOO as they did HTTYD... something with simple, powerful, overflowing, artistic heart.

Who knows. Guess we’ll see.

[dreaminterlude]

here’s a longer than necessary response that i spent too much time on

obviously there are two issues here: the selling of the necklace and the criticism of the music video as an orientalization/appropriation of chinese culture. i am talking about the latter because OP’s critique of the necklace doesn’t rely off the implications of selling that necklace as much as it does about the actual music video that 127 partake in. we can say that they’re linked but honestly when OP says that the yelling of “hwah” in the bridge of the song is another example of stereotyping and orientalism, i think there’s a lack of resonance that needs to be addressed.

i’ll preface this by saying that my research thus far has been related to orientalist reimaginations, the reconfigurations of temporality, and the blurring between past/present, arab/berber/european (particularly spanish as it has a “dark half brother” narrative in relation to the rest of europe), and subsequent violence on muslims prior to and during francisco franco’s fascist regime in the spanish protectorate in morocco and imaginations of the arab as the “other” and the gross fetishization through colonial artistic and literary mediums. the idea of orientalism as it was conceptualized by edward said focuses on european (particularly french) distortions of the arab and particularly north africa. i’m telling you this because the way that orientalism is thrown around without any regard to its particular muslim and arab contexts, history of violence, and relational dynamics between east (the east as clearly defined as the muslim world, not by me, but by said and those who have written about orientalism) and west (europe) as it pertains to its systemic decimation of the “muslim world” and establishment of empire from the colonial period through the war on terror, diminishes its significance and the ramications that people have endured for over the last century.

the thread started because OP had a problem with necklaces another fan made that used the chinese characters SM chose to include in the title of the music video. specifically, the music video is entitled: 영웅 (英雄; kick it), using the korean, chinese, and english. the korean/chinese mean “hero,” which obviously doesn’t mean “kick it,” but there’s a long list of korean titles where the korean/chinese title of a particular medium does not match the english because like…..the problem with translations as an idea. a word for word translation doesn’t make for a better translation. additionally, something can have two titles to signal a colon ( : ) or semicolon ( ; ) as the mv does. for example, a book title like the universal enemy: jihad empire and and the challenge of solidarity. here we have: 영웅 (英雄; kick it). anyways the point here is that the music video doesn’t specifically focus on the chinese characters as appropriative aesthetics but all three languages are incorporated to title the mv. if the mv was titled in korean/english only or even just english, that discredit would underscore an appropriation.

the mv is referred to as a “culturally blind ass” concept and there is “absolutely no differentiation between chinese/korean culture they made into one giant mess of aesthetics to market to ignorant international fans” through the referencing of orientalism for the consumption of a western audience. as stated in my original response, 127 make it clear that bruce lee is the inspiration and central to the concept of the video. bruce lee is a household name as a martial artist and actor, among many other things, all around the world. his global significance cannot be diminished strictly through the “ownership” discourse as his cross-cultural interactions between his own lived experiences are as chinese AND american. if we even consider the implications of him being born in san francisco, dying in hong kong and being buried in san francisco, this conversation cannot be reductive. furthermore, the doctrine of jeet kune do was conceptualized by him and his filipino-american martial arts instructor dan inosanto at the jun fan gung fu institute in seattle in 1960. jeet kune do itself is a martial arts philosophy that is based on the hybridity of bruce lee’s own personal experience and philosophy and he specifically referred to it as a non classical form of chinese kung fu. his establishment of the institute/jeet kune do coincided at the same time as mao zedong, founder of the PRC, began the cultural revolution, where the hong kong film industry started to prepare for an international/western market. you just cannot ignore the dynamic cross-cultural phenomena at play to build bruce lee’s social and political movement.

as paul bowman writes in his Beyond Bruce Lee: Chasing the Dragon Through Film, Philosophy, and Popular Culture, “the popularity of Bruce Lee and of martial arts per se are both clearly inextricably linked with the processes and effects of internationalisation or globalisation of and within cinema.” [page 6] further, “Bruce Lee often features as a countercultural motif, in much the same way as (and sometimes even alongside) the likes of Che Guevara and Jimi Hendrix. As testified by innumerable autobiographical accounts, filmic allusions and popular cultural juxtapositions and combinations, Lee functions in diverse popular narratives of struggle.” [page 42] this entire chapter delves specifically into bruce lee as an icon of popular culture that is so globally entrenched that it’s hard to even begin to list instances of his presence in movies, art, films, video games, political inspirations, and music. these are actually all modes of aesthetics, and this is actually really important because the idea of aesthetics is that it has the power to be self-reflexive and provide commentary on itself that derives its source from a real life phenomenon.

127′s use of hiphop, rock, 90s concept, bruce lee and martial arts (in addition to the motif of struggle/trauma), samuel jackson, and the film enter the dragon (a joint american/hong kong production) as a korean pop culture group is not a blurring of eastern cultures as OP says, but rather an example of the globalization phenomenon represented through song using a wide array of references. crystal s. anderson has written an amazing chapter about this, specifically within the context of kpop and black culture:

Rather than relying solely on potential connections between Korean artists and the historical and social conditions of African Americans, an examination of the aesthetics of the performances of both K-pop artists reveals how K-pop bears the imprint of transnational black cultures, which circulate the globe and are redeployed in new, hybridized forms. Focusing on music aesthetics extends the script of authenticity to account for the ways that these Korean artists adopt and adapt black musical culture. These K-pop artists also show us how the circulation of cultures affect reception, for it is the fans who are familiar with black musical cultures who mark K-pop performances as authentic. Such recognition is yet another by-product of the circulation of cultures, which raises the ability of fans to see one culture in a variety of global contexts. Knowledge- able global audiences may also construct meaning from music aesthetics that transcends cultural and historical context. Gerald Early argues for the transcendent nature of the Motown sound, “The Sound of Young America,” in the 1960s, describing it as something “beyond and before words.”55 Thus, examining K-pop artists’ engagement with black musical aesthetics reveals the impact of traveling cultures, which transcend national boundaries in new and exciting ways. [page 301]

i am “annoyed” because of the way the colonial legacy of orientalism and cultural appropriation is utilized to argue that the mv is culturally insensitive. i also think using sicheng’s name to imply that if he were in the group it would be “more” okay for 127 to utilize this concept and bc he’s not in the group anymore (for whatever unjust reason that SM decided to fuck that up) it’s “wrong,” is blatant tokenism and inappropriate to say the least.

i also don’t think my “take” should be dismissed because i’m an “educated” person speaking from an “academic perspective.” i took the time to provide sources in this response because i think reading about these issues, instead of using academic jargon to try to prove your point, is more productive. i only brought my academic stance because of the terminology that OP used, and i think terms need to be defined, contextualized, and carefully considered. otherwise we’ll just be writing twitter threads that are easily misconstrued and shift away from the issue at hand.

[thescarletgarden1990]

For the fanfic questions; 4, 9, 26, 30, 47 and 50 (sorry, I couldn't choose which ones I wanted to ask most)

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

No, I don’t, even when the incels insurge or the drama arises.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

I’ve met a bunch of really wonderful people in the Jonerys fandom, and most of the readers are incredibly supportive. We also have some AMAZING creators, the quality is really mindblowing. And damn, some of the most interesting, deep and articulated ASOIAF meta I’ve seen come from the Jonerys fandom. 

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles? 

Titles are the worst. Usually, if there isn’t a title that comes to mind in relation to the fic itself, I resort to shuffling through my music library in search of inspiration. It that doesn’t work as well, I pester my friends until some good idea pops up.

30. What inspires you to write? 

Inspiration comes from everything, I think it would be reductive trying to narrow it down only to a source or two. It can really be anything, things I’ve read or heard about, things I’ve seen, music, real-life experiences, daydreaming... there is no limit. In the end, it’s all about wanting to tell a good story.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why? 

Everything I write is posted on AO3, but I also use Tumblr to boost updates and publish the shorter stories. I don’t have a FF account, I hate that site with a passion because I find it hard to navigate - especially when you want to avoid certain tags. AO3 has a great tagging system and formatting, it’s neat and tidy and makes it easy to understand what a story will be about even before opening it. Tumblr is nice to advertise but I hate that old posts get really hard to find after a while, so I would never post a story of mine exclusively here.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction? 

Ah, this is a fun story. It actually started out of desperation. Season 7 had just aired, I was STOKED and suddenly a shipper. I was also working on my thesis to finally graduate, and of course, stressed af. At some point, I found myself bordering on insanity due to lack of entertainment. I didn’t have a tv, and my VERY old laptop was so fucked up it couldn’t be used for much more than writing the goddamn thesis praying it wouldn’t crash. Whenever I tried to watch a movie or even just a YouTube video, the fucker would freeze for up to five minutes while making loud, terrible noise from the speakers. I couldn’t watch any kind of video, I couldn’t listen to music, let’s not even begin with videogames. I played some games on my phone but that hardly felt like the ideal solution. I also didn’t want to start reading proper books because I KNOW I have zero self-control and would end up not studying anymore. That’s when I found out there were fanfictions on Tumblr. I started reading them out of boredom (contrary to books, most where short, so I could manage them in between my study sessions), and I soon started to LOVE them with a passion. I started writing shortly after, thanks to the encouragement from @tomakeitbeautifultolive, my first real fandom friend, and now here we are (with a much better computer, lol.)

Thanks for the ask! 💕

Fanfiction Questions

[necropsittacus]

tag game tagged by: @circus-to-air-missile name: ren. nickname: nope, unless occasionally being called "scientist" counts (which i am very fond of tbh). that said certain people might be permitted or even outright encouraged to come up with one for me (though i obv have veto power on anything i am called). i do quite like the concept, just like..."ren" doesn't really lend itself to nicknames, esp ones i wouldn't find vaguely undignified. (also yes ren is my real human first name not an internet pseudonym) zodiac: as far as i'm concerned i'm a scorpio. height: 5'7"-5'8" ish. measurements have varied. nationality: american languages: english is the only one i'm really fluent in; two years of college russian, conversational but not fluent. did japanese long enough that i can still understand some and i really want to start learning it seriously again, but i'm out of practice, barely literate (fuck if i remember most of the few kanji i knew to start with), and have limited vocabulary. similar situation for spanish. i've done other things (finnish, french, latin, a little bit of danish back in the day...) but either didn't get nearly as far to start with or have forgotten almost everything. favourite season: fall and winter favourite flower: idk i like roses i guess? honestly a lot of things though, i'm bad at favorites but Flowers Good favourite scent: fuck if i know tbh i barely smell things nail polish remover smells nice in a toxic chemicals kind of way? or cinnamon i love cinnamon favourite fictional character: far too many; most of my si's for a while have been media so this is uhh a Long List. examples include but are not limited to starscream obv (really most of decepticon high command; i am a lovey-dovey little bastard to most people's slight consternation), turin turambar, anakin skywalker, ??most of the skeksis??, king ghidorah, sansa stark, probably still vriska on some level... coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: tea. hot chocolate good though if i'm willing to play the "will this specific chocolate item at this specific time make me vaguely ill" roulette. can't have coffee. dogs or cats: birds and reptiles lmao; fuck this dichotomy. but cats because i'm a bit scared of dogs. tbh i'm a bit scared of cats too but it's more "ah fuck i will Break This Animal and also it could hurt me i'd better be careful and give it space," where with dogs...it's more Immediate Concern About Oh God Look At Those Teeth. i don't hate them and they can be cute but i would prefer them to be a safe distance away from me. number of blankets: one at a time unless it's very cold. i have four blankets in my room but they all have slightly different homes and functions. dream trip: antarctic pelagic birding tbh; there's a lot of places i'd like to go but that's one that i think about relatively often blog established: this one probably uhh sometime around early 2015? sometime while i was in high school idk. but i remade; i've been on this hellsite since like 2013 Maybe? random fact: uhh idk is this meant to be a Fact About Me or just like a fact in general? Fact In General: penguins are (or were last i checked) thought to be more closely related to petrels and albatrosses than any other living group, which is wild because they went apeshit in like almost exactly opposite directions re the whole "flying" thing. fun fact about Me: i've fallen asleep in the vatican multiple times gender: The Void; horrible gaping wound in reality; boy but a little to the left; seeker. i tend to find Standard Gender Words that other people use to feel somewhat reductive; traditionally masculine terminology is acceptable. current time: 7:18 pm favourite musical artists: once again being able to pick favorites is not stored in the ren but i'm still on my months-long puscifer kick? uhh i think i'm legally required to say marina and the diamonds every time i get this question bc she was such a formative influence, what i've heard by garbage i've liked, i like starset. that really isn't a representative sample of anything though song stuck in my head: keep myself alive - get scared last movie i saw: the color out of space last thing i googled: thomas aquinas other blogs: edgy aesthetic sideblog i hardly ever remember exists anymore @theophagies. i've got a nsfw sideblog for a safe place to overshare about my thought processes and latest fixations around such things as needed, but i'm not giving the url to that out publicly. also i keep meaning to make a proper kin blog bc i don't really want to talk about that a ton on main. besides that, a few like vent or character-specific aesthetic sideblogs i haven't touched in years. lucky number: don't think i have one? if i have to pick a number at random for like. idk theater seats or whatnot. i tend to go for 8s or 13s, the former for embarrassing reasons, though. currently wearing: star wars t-shirt, black jeans, and octopus hat. dream job: some sort of bio thing i think? failing dark god-emperor of the world of course. maybe marine bio or genetics; i'm not sure favourite foods: general tso's tofu, cake, coffee creamer, this one place down the street's vegetarian lak sa which i had all of once but it impressed itself on my memory. in general, fried/crunchy things good, and Cake Texture good. i'm probably forgetting things tbh instruments: no. i did violin in elementary school and that's the main one i still have any sense of fondness for (obligatory piano and recorder lessons as a kid but didn't care) but would have no idea what to do with one now. also did vocal ensemble in high school; i DO miss that. favourite song: can't pick favorites. brain currently stuck on passive - a perfect circle. tag: uh. @red--thedragon @autisticsansa @outlier-roddy idk if yall have done this already but if desired. ALSO anyone else who wants to please say i tagged you!! my brain’s kind of shorting out but i love hearing things about people

[tomiyeee]

longtime lurker of the borderlands tag and huge fan of your artwork here! i genuinely would love for you to answer all the borderlands questions from that "borderlands asks" post

oh heck dude ok

splitting these in half with the other ask i got like it, just to shorten them a little. again sorry mobile users :(

1) How did you get into Borderlands?

i honestly watched jacksepticeye’s tales playthrough on a whim, but ended up falling in love with the story and characters. i hadn’t planned on touching the other games (ironically enough, i think my brother had told me way earlier, before i knew anything about borderlands, that he thought it wasn’t my type of game and that i wouldn’t like them), but i saw that he had bl2 in his steam library and decided to try it out, loved it, and it all went downhill from there.

2) Which is your favorite game in the franchise?

tales! the gameplay is not as engaging sure, but god is the story frickin amazing. the writing is so much better and i loved the ending and how developed the characters were. plus the humor is..11/10

10) A NOTP?

rhy/sha

14) A gun or skill you can never seem to get along with?

any skill/character that is not a siren and/or pretty lady i cannot stand. furthest i got was with axton at lvl 20 something, then quit. rocket launchers i hate to use and literally have never used one in battle. also any dahl weapon, eugh.

15) Favorite mission?

“kill yourself”

16) A mission you found extremely easy?

barring fetch quests and simple one-task joke quests, cuz those are boring, i really liked the “bffs” quest in bl2 (the one where the four ppl are accusing each other of stealing money). as someone who loves prof layton games and puzzles, this one was super fun to figure out

17) A mission you found extremely hard?

god fuckin....dukino’s mom was the hardest boss, especially for a side mission, like what the fuck.

18) Which game has the best ending and why?

taaaaales~~

like i said, best writing. i mean besides the final fight scene (i really hate mechas and big, epic action movie scenes), the entire first half of ep5, rhys crashing helios/destroying everything he/jack worked for, that final dialogue with jack, the cliffhanger at the end, and just...the thought of how far all the characters have come? big ouchies man.

20) Character of choice in Borderlands (Mordecai, Roland, Lilith, Brick)?

lilith! love me some sweet sweet sirens. plus her speedy fast phasewalk is really fun. i love being speedy fast.

21) Your preferred skill tree for said character?

fuck man i dunno, the skill trees in that game are so confusing, i just went with whatever upgrades gave me most damage, duration, and cooldown reduction.

22) Character of choice in Borderlands 2 (Maya, Salvador, Axton, Zer0, Gaige, Krieg)?

maya!! again: sirens. plus i mean they’re the only female options (besides gaige but i didn’t have the dlc’s until way later).

23) Your preferred skill tree for said character?

i’ll usually go for her support tree first cuz i’m a bottom, and then her elemental tree. blight pheonix is so good when you’re running through low level areas and seeing enemies just drop dead around you.

24) Character of choice in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (Athena, Wilhelm, Claptrap, Nisha, Jack, Aurelia)?

aurelia~~~

pretty lady? check. cool ice/elemental theme? check. super op op build? check. bitch? check.

25) Your preferred skill tree for said character?

oh. my god. her elemental tree paired with the machine is sooooooo op, it just chews through enemies/bosses like nothing. also not related to lia, but tim is my 2nd fav pre-sequel vh and his magic slug (aka wrist laser glitch) is also super op and i love it so much.

26) Favorite character in Tales from the Borderlands?

rhys!!!!!!!!!!!!! (also favorite character in the series overall)

27) Least favorite character in Tales from the Borderlands?

ehhhhhhhhh....................august

[utopianparadoxist]

Jake English is the most intelligent character in Homestuck. And he hides it deliberately.

For a given value of “intelligence”, anyway. I don’t hold that much truck with the concept in general--there are different kinds of intelligence that run the gamut of human skills, and reducing that to a single concept is reductive, to say the least.

However, it’s hard to deny that there are real cultural forces in our society that do treat intelligence as a monolithic descriptor of skill and worth, and it’s a cultural idea as pervasive in reality as it is in Jake’s character arc. For that reason alone, I’ll be using “intelligence” as a term referring to Jake’s awareness of and competence at identifying and solving problems throughout this sequence. The term as I am using it here is only relevant in the context of the themes and language Homestuck sets up. 

Intelligence, competence, and awareness are key parts of Jake’s relationship with the people around him, and particularly with the way he is dehumanized, taken for granted, and abused. 

In fact, almost every character Jake is close to in canon questions his intelligence at some point:

And this dynamic isn’t just present in the characters. It’s in the fandom as well.  Fandom perception of Jake English often considers him comically unaware of his surroundings and reality, dense and slow or even straight up unable to pick up on ideas that come naturally to many of the other characters. This is true across the board of opinions of his character: Some consider Jake a self-absorbed, thoughtless asshole, others still consider him a helpless victim who isn’t quite quick enough on the uptake to keep up with how he’s manipulated by others. It’s hard for us--the fandom, I mean--to be sure of just how much Jake understood about how badly Lil Hal treated him (and by association, Dirk, in much of the fandom’s eyes). Or that Jane liked him. Among other things. It’s part of the general air of helplessness and incompetence that surrounds Pages, I guess, and air set up around Jake for quite a lot of his narrative:

(Note: This is Brain Ghost Dirk specifically questioning Jake’s intelligence.   I hope you’ve got some good note taking pens, because this is going to be important later.) It’s pretty much accepted that the degree and reach of Jake’s intelligence is, at the very least, a matter of debate. I am here to say that it is not. At all. And I can prove it. By allowing ourselves to doubt Jake’s intelligence, we--the fandom-- have performed the equivalent of deciding Dave’s cool guy act is the real deal. 

We have fallen for Jake’s bluff. I’ll explain. 

Plenty of people are aware that Knights, as a class, tend to act out personas that reflect ideas about how they think they should act.  For Dave, that’s the stoic Cool Guy archetype, which he eventually grows out of:

For Karkat, it’s his ideas of being a Ruthless Big Shot Leader, which he also outgrows by the end: 

And Latula has the thing about being a R4D SK4T3R G4M3G1RL!!! I don’t really think we need a quote to establish that--Dave and Karkat prove my point well enough, and this is pretty much common fandom knowledge.  What I don’t think is common fandom knowledge is that Pages do the same thing, but for a different purpose. Pages and Knights both set up Personas that they project into the outside world. And both of them do it to control how other people perceive them. But for different reasons. Knights do it because they want to be perceived as capable, in control, and unflappable, basically. Karkat wants everyone to rely on his executive ability as a Leader. Dave wants to be admired and validated by his friends, or. Well. Anyone. In essence, Knights want to be relied on by others.  Pages, on the other hand, develop this fabricated identity for themselves. At this point, I should mention I’ve come to agree with Tex Talk’s view that Knights are a passive class and Pages are an active one.  Knights use their aspect to benefit others. Pages use it to benefit themselves.

Horrus develops a strangely blank persona, so conspicuously fake it is hard to tell if he even reacts to input--so it’s easy for him to just pretend he didn’t hear it when Rufioh tells him he wants to break up--again, I don’t really feel like going through all of Openbound to get all the screencaps and I don’t think they warrant that much space on this post.  Tavros does the same thing, enveloping himself in his games and fantasy so much that he veers away from almost any responsibility in the session, and does only what he wants to...unless Vriska is stealing that ability from him. However, even through her abuse,  Tavros manages through sheer presentation of his person to encourage the other trolls to help take care of him. 

Specifically, by giving him increased mobility--mobility and freedom of movement being concepts closely related to Breath. It’s worth mentioning Tavros is able to inspire this care not just in Kanaya, but in Equius, who looks down upon lowbloods and whose culture would have encouraged him to KILL Tavros for his weakness rather than help him.  But because of Vriska’s exploitative and cruel influence on him, I’m not sure to what extent he really lives up to his full potential. That said, he DOES manage to completely live out his own personal fantasy, coming to embody both his childhood image of Peter Pan...

BUT ALSO being the only one of the Alternian trolls to accomplish his original childhood goal: Becoming a Cavalreaper.

Get it? He’s literally cavalry. Ha ha. Is this kind of a fucked up victory? Maybe, yeah. But it’s fitting that the character obsessed with the Peter Pan fantasy of leading a troupe of “Lost Boys” never really grows up with the goals he sets for himself. Maybe it says something about Tavros, or about the nature of Ghosts--either way, it definitely seems intentional.  Anyway, the Ghosts are another essay for another time. Time to talk about the kid I actually want to talk about:

Jake English has a fabricated persona, too. For Horuss, it’s nothingness. For Tavros, it’s endless childhood and Peter Pan. But Jake’s persona is a contrast to Dirk’s (and Dave’s) Cool Guy persona. Personas that, for each of them, sit at the dead opposite end of the spectrum from who all three characters actually are. 

And for Jake’s constructed persona is that of the Hot-Headed Hero.

And like Horrus and Tavros, Jake indulges this fantasy version of himself even when he actively knows it makes no sense to do so, simply because it’s the fantasy about his life he wants to live out. 

But like Dave and Dirk’s presentation of themselves as cool guys unphased by anything, this persona is a complete lie. Jake is demonstrably extremely nerdy... He collects pointless minutiae about his favorite movies and comic books. He looks up to comic book heroines so much he wants to dress up like them.  And also intelligent, curious, and good at evaluating the potential consequences of his actions--traits he literally willfuly holds himself back from. 

His Modus is by far the most complex of all the kids. He uses a Puzzle Modus that allows him to fit any amount of items he wants in it’s storage space...so long as he can successfully spatially fit every single object within a finite space. 

And Jake captchalogues a LOT of shit. Meaning he has to keep all of this inventory and know how to spatially navigate it to fit everything he wants at all times. And he does this casually, as a part of his daily interactions with the world around him.  But perhaps more telling than that is how Brain Ghost Dirk describes his own creation: 

Brain Ghost Dirk implies that he is a Dirk splinter, but specifically a Dirk splinter that exists entirely through the ideas Jake has about Dirk. 

In other words, Jake knows and understands Dirk so well that he can pretty much perfectly remember his body, movements and mannerisms on command. Again, not even actively, it’s just kind of how Jake English rolls-thinking about Dirk all the time is the status quo. 

And Brain Ghost Dirk claims to be Jake’s literal brain, talking back to him. Which means when Brain Ghost Dirk calls Jake out on something, he is forcibly communicating important information to Jake that Jake is actively choosing to ignore. It’s Jake talking to himself, not Dirk giving Jake information he doesn’t have by talking to him through Brain Ghost Dirk. We have reason to believe the Ghost about this, since Dirk never expresses having any awareness of Brain Ghost Dirk’s existence.  So what important information does Jake willingly ignore? Well, earlier we saw him justify beating up a random alien girl even though a part of his brain knew she wasn’t actually Sea Hitler, and he kind of just wanted to play the part. But surely we can do better than that. How about everything about his friends’ feelings about him that makes him uncomfortable? Callmearcturus wrote this brilliant thesis outlining why she thinks Jake deliberately manipulated Jane into failing to confess to him, but I’m gonna run over it real quick to ground it in this context and sell you on the idea that this is, in fact, not a theory and explicit canon. Because we don’t need to guess at this by reverse-engineering Jake’s well-established feelings for Dirk. Roxy literally tells him Jane has these feelings before Jane herself does:

Jake recognizes what Roxy is saying, and guesses what she was alluding to on her own. Roxy doesn’t deny it by any measure, and when she asks Jake to drop the issue, Jake says he understands the dilemma this puts her in with Jane.  To stress: He received this information in confidence and knows it for a fact. And he trusts the information he receives so much that he then ACTS on it. After talking to Roxy, Jake messages Jane himself, OPENING by mentioning Roxy told him Jane was going to be contacting him.

And then he himself broaches the subject of their romantic feelings for each other:

But when Jane outright asks him if he has something he wants to say to her, Jake expertly dodges the question, keeping his options open while putting the onus of taking the first step and revealing her feelings on Jane again. 

And then, once he’s got her trying to answer...

He KEEPS asking her, interrupting her several times while she starts to try sorting out her thoughts. He puts Jane under a LOT of pressure here, which...considering Jake literally KNOWS the answer, is a pretty shitty thing to do! Even if Roxy hadn’t LITERALLY TOLD HIM mere minutes ago, Jane’s reactions here would have confirmed Jake’s suspicions beyond a reasonable shadow of a doubt. 

Unless, of course, one has a reputation for not thinking things through or being aware of their surroundings. 

Once Jake has his answer, he doubles back, making sure to ask her AGAIN while she’s off balance....

And he then shuts her down when she tries to take the initiative on taking it back and being honest, quickly following up by IMMEDIATELY letting her know he’s relieved about this--signaling his disinterest BEFORE she has a chance to reveal she actually does have a stake in the matter.

He then uses his goofy, unaware, trusting persona to set up a status quo where Jane continually helps him by acting as a sounding board for all his thoughts about Dirk--essentially, putting Jane inside a gender-flipped version of the laughable stereotype of The Friend Zone.

But wait a minute. Jane is one thing. But if Jake is actually this smart, aware, and capable--then it kind of has ramifications across all of his character interactions. What else changes if we read Jake this way? I know I said my next post would be on Roxy, but, uh...yeah. This one kind of got away from me. 

In our next entry, we’re going to talk about Why Jake does what he does, and Why he seems so genuinely confused about it later into his narrative. We’re also going to look at some of the other consequences his Jake’s approach to his friendships has for his friends. 

We’ll also make a case for Why exactly Jake ultimately falls in love with Dirk Strider, how and when Jake demonstrates and acts on that love, and if I can manage to squeeze it in--maybe even uncover the way the Heart aspects’ two different themes of  Souls and Romance/Shipping are conceptually connected.

And on that note, it’s worth pointing out that there’s one notable exception to the list of people fooled by Jake’s presented persona. One character who not only never talks Jake’s intelligence down...

But instead talks Jake’s intelligence UP when he talks badly about himself. 

Dirk Strider.

See you again soon, everyone. 

Until then, Keep Rising.